ship's humanity was owing the protection King James obtained
from the Lords in London, upon his being seized, and insulted by the
populace at Feversham in Kent; before which time, says he, 'the Peers
sat daily in the council chamber in Whitehall, where the lord Mulgrave
one morning happened to be advertised privately that the King had been
seized by the angry rabble at Feversham, and had sent a poor countryman
with the news, in order to procure his rescue, which was like to come
too late, since the messenger had waited long at the council door,
without any body's being willing to take notice of him. This sad account
moved him with great compassion at so extraordinary an instance of
worldly uncertainty; and no cautions of offending the prevailing party
were able to restrain him from shewing a little indignation at so mean a
proceeding in the council; upon which, their new president, the marquis
of Hallifax, would have adjourned it hastily, in order to prevent him.
But the lord Mulgrave earnestly conjured them all to sit down again,
that he might acquaint them with a matter that admitted no delay, and
was of the highest importance imaginable.

Accordingly the Lords, who knew nothing of the business, could not but
hearken to it; and those few that guessed it, and saw the consequence,
yet wanted time enough for concerting together about so nice, and very
important a matter, as saving, or losing a King's life. The Lords then
sat down again, and he represented to them what barbarity it would be,
for such an assembly's conniving at the rabble's tearing to pieces,
even any private gentleman, much more a great Prince, who, with all his
popery, was still their Sovereign; so that mere shame obliged them to
suspend their politics awhile, and call in the messenger, who told them
with tears, how the King had engaged him to deliver a letter from him to
any persons he could find willing to save him from so imminent a danger.
The letter had no superscription, and was to this effect;

'To acquaint the reader of it, that he had been discovered in his
retreat by some fishermen of Kent, and secured at first there by the
gentry, who were afterwards forced to resign him into the hands of an
insolent rabble.

Upon so pressing an occasion, and now so very publickly made known,
the council was surprized, and under some difficulty, for as there was
danger of displeasing by doing their duty, so there was no less
by omitting it, since the Law mak