some circumstances show it to have been without foundation. Had there been such a will, Philip would certainly have produced it on his projected invasion of England; and the existence of it is irreconcileable with the circumstance related of Mary, that, a few hours before her death, she perused a will, which she then recognized, and directed to be delivered, as such, to Elizabeth. De Thou himself treats the story, which we have related from him, as doubtful*.

It is, however, certain, that "The Conference on the Succession," published, as we have seen, under the name of Doleman, gave James great uneasiness. In 1596, he entered into a negotiation with the king of Spain through lord Ogilvy †. That nobleman presented to the king's ministers a memorial, stating the reasons, which induced his Scottish majesty to desire a league with the Spanish monarch. These e re, his wish to revenge the death of his mother; -to provide a defence against the act of the

* Yet it long continued to be a subject of conversation. Sir Charles Cornwallis, writing in 1606 to the earl of Salisbury, says, "They, (the Spanish government), busily, as I am "informed, seek for the testament of the king's mother. By "that will, (written, as it is said, with her own hand), the

queen, in case the king her son should not become a catholic, "devised her kingdom of Scotland, and all her rights in Eng"land, France, and Ireland, to the king of Spain. Having "lost the force of their own arms, and almost the hope of recovery or continuance of their own dominions, they would "now, as it seems, perfume themselves with some smoke "of title of other princes." Winwood's Memorials, vol. ii. p. 230.

+ Winwood, vol. i. p. 1–20.

English parliament, excluding from the throne the kindred of those, who had conspired against queen Elizabeth; which act, he said, was levelled against him;-to enforce the promise, which Elizabeth had made to him, at the time of the armada, that she would, without delay, declare him successor to the crown, and prince of Wales;-to revenge also the murder of his father, and the various seditious practices within this kingdom, both during and subsequent to his minority, which he attributed to that princess;-her encouragement of the turbulent preachers; her protection of the rebels against him; her detention of his English property, and her attempts to get his son, the prince of Scotland, into her power.

To induce the king of Spain to accede to the proposed league, his Scottish majesty offered to be reconciled to the see of Rome; to conclude a general offensive and defensive league with Spain; to restore to their blood and fortunes all the Scottish noblemen, who had forfeited them for adherence to the catholic faith; to give protection to the English and Irish catholics, who should fly to Scotland from persecution in England or Ireland; to recal to Scotland all its navies, serving against Spain; to supply the Spanish monarch with a certain number of Scottish troops, as a security for his performance of his engagements, and to deliver up his son to the Spanish monarch.

For this, he required that neither the king, nor any person in his right, should pretend to any title to the crowns of England, Scotland, or Ireland;

and that the Spanish monarch should furnish the king of Scotland with money, and commence the war against England.

These offers becoming public, Dr. John Cecil, an English priest, employed by the earls of Angus, Errol, Huntley, and other catholic lords, presented to the Spanish government a counter memorial: they objected personally to Ogilvy; they accused him of being connected with the adversaries of the Spanish party, and charged him with known hostility to cardinal Allen, Persons, and others, who sincerely wished the conversion of England'; and they alleged that the document itself was of a suspicious nature.

+

They further suggested, that James had not discovered, even by a single action, the least indication of partiality towards the catholic religion; that, in some written works, he had expressed himself against it; that his delay in revenging the death of his mother showed the insincerity of his actual professions; that he had often checked the exertions of those, who wished it to be revenged ; and that he had betrayed them, and even confiscated their estates. They then reflect on his personal honour and courage; and conclude by saying, "that the true cause, which had really "moved the king of Scotland, and the politicians "who favoured him, to make a show of intending "to embrace the catholic religion, at that time, "was Doleman's book on the subject of the suc"cession of the crown of England, wherein it was "declared, that the king of Scotland had many

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companions in the pretension to that succession; "that all of them had very probable rights; and "that no pretender could be admitted by the catholics, whatsoever his right might be by blood, un"less he were a known catholic. The king of Scot"land," they say, "found that the book had made "much impression on all sorts of people, and there"före would willingly secure his own interest, by "the way of league and union with his holiness, " and with his catholic majesty

It appears that Dr. Cecil's counter-memorial produced so much effect, that Ogilvy was detained at Barcelona, till it could be ascertained, whether the commission which he produced from James was genuine. What afterwards became of this affair, the writer has not been able to discover. From some passages in Winwood's Memorials, it is probable that Dr. Cecil afterwards made his peace with the English government. The writer suspects that, if Ogilvy were not altogether an

* It is observable that Dr. Cecil's memorial accuses king James of having not only consented to the death of his mother, but actually promoted it, by the master of Gray his ambassador. The editor of Winwood's Memorials intimates his disbelief of the charge; the master of Gray being no better than a spy and tool of Burleigh: but Dr. Mc Crie, in his Life of Andrew Melville, recently published, (vol. i. p. 365, 366), mentions some facts, which may be thought to countenance, to a certain extent, Dr. Cecil's assertions. Hume (ch. xlii.) mentions the general belief that the "master of Gray had "been gained by the enemies of Mary, and secretly gave his "advice not to spare her, and undertook in all events to pacify his master."-See also Burnet's Hist. of his own Times, fol. ed. p. 312.

impostor, he greatly exceeded the commission with which he was entrusted.

Some intercourse between James and the see of Rome also took place during the reign of queen Elizabeth. In 1599, Mr. Drummond, a Scotsman, was the bearer of a letter, and of some verbal communications from the monarch to Clement the eighth, who then filled the pontifical chair*. The instructions given to Drummond import that "he "was sent to the pope, the duke of Tuscany, the "duke of Savoy, and other princes and cardinals;" -he was directed to represent to them, among other things, that, "though his majesty persisted "in the religion which he sucked in from his in

fancy, yet he was not so void of charity, but to "think well of all christians, if so be they continue "in their duty, first towards God, and then to"wards the magistrate, whose subjects they are :" and that "his majesty had never exercised any "cruelty against the catholics for religion." Queen Elizabeth had notice of the letter soon after it was sent, and reproached James with it. James denied it; and sent to her a person of the name of Drummond, who was said to have taken the monarch's letter to the pope.-Drummond, with the most solemn imprecations, disclaimed any knowledge of it, to her majesty. Here the matter rested, till James's contest with cardinal Bellarmine, respecting the oath of allegiance proposed by the English catholics. Bellarmine then produced the letter: James still denied it, and charged Balmerino, his

* Dodd, vol. ii. p. 460. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 162.