from the undertaking; and insisted that the Scots should prosecute the undertaking
by themselves. There was, no doubt, in this something very heroic; but alas, it
was vain, and he himself was speedily brought to confess that it was so. It
was agreed to, however, by all, that a communication should be made to their
English friends, that, unless they were determined to act with more vigour, they
were not to expect co-operation on the part of the Scots any longer. In the
meantime they wrote to their friends in Scotland, to suspend their preparations
till further notice. This was a very proper and wise determination; only it
came too late. The English conspirators had no unity of purpose, and they
had no decision. They had talked away the time of action, and the whole
scheme was already falling to pieces by its own weight In short, before they
could return an answer to their Scottish brethren, the whole was betrayed, and
they were alone to a man in the hands of the government.
The prudence of the Scots saved them in part ; yet the government got immediate information, that there had been a correspondence carried on with Argyle by the conspirators, and Major Holmes, the person to whom all Argyle's letters were directed, was taken into custody, having a number of the letters, and the cypher and key in his possession. The cypher and key belonged to Mr Oarstairs, who had sent it to Monmouth only two days before, to enable him to read a letter from Argyle, which having done, he returned it to Major Holmes, in whose hands it was now taken. The earl of Melfort no sooner saw the cypher than he knew part of it to be the handwriting of Carstairs, and an order was instantly issued for his apprehension, as art and part in the assassination plot. Though Mr Oarstairs was conscious of being innocent as to this part of the plot, he had gone too far with the conspirators for an examination on the subject to be safe either for himself or his friends. He therefore assumed a fictitious name, and concealed himself among his friends in Kent the best way he could. Being discovered in this situation, he was suspected to be the notorious Ferguson, of all the conspirators the most obnoxious to government, and as such was seized in the house of a friend at Tenterden, and thrown into the jail of that place on the Monday after the execution of lord Russell. Here he continued for a fortnight, when orders came for his being brought up to London, where he was for some days committed to the charge of a messenger at arms. During this interval Sir Andrew Forrester brought him a message from the king informing him, that though his majesty was not disposed to believe that he had any direct hand in plotting either his death, or that of the duke of York; yet as he had corresponded with Argyle and Russell, he was convinced that he knew many particulars relative to the Rye House plot, which if he would discover, with what he knew of any other machinations against the government, he would not only receive an ample pardon for the past, but the king would also show him all manner of favour for the time to come. If, however, he rejected this, he was to abide by the consequences, which, in all likelihood, would be fatal to him. His answer not proving satisfactory, he was committed to close custody in the Gatehouse, where he continued upwards of eleven weeks. During this time he was often before the privy council, but revealed nothing. At length, finding that he could obtain no favour through the king, but upon dishonourable conditions, he petitioned the court of king's bench for his habeas corpus, instead of which he received an intimation, that he was to be sent down to Scotland within twenty-four hours, to take his trial in that kingdom. It was in vain that he represented it as a breach of law to send him to be tried in Scotland for a crime said to be committed in England. He was sent off next day with several other of his friends, who were consigned into the hands of the Scottish privy council, to be tried for compassing the death of the king in London, or at the Rye
