Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
important political secrets, which he had come to know
through his brother William, High Treasurer in
Scotland, and among others the proposed mission of an
extraordinary envoy to Sweden. Months passed again before
De la Gardie could make up his mind to send the prisoners
off to Stockholm. Well did he know the fate that
threatened him, and he pledged his word that they should
not be put to death on Swedish soil. The trial
commenced on the 16th of July, before eight senators of the
kingdom and fifteen members of the nobility. Charles de
Mornay, who had also been sent to Stockholm after an
unsuccessful attempt to escape, was the first to be condemned
to death (August 21st). His guilt was admitted; and his
cock-and-bull story of the hidden treasure which was to
serve as a dowry for King Eric’s daughter, and last, not
least, for the payment of the Scottish legionaries, did not
avail him. On the fourth of September he was executed
on the “ Great Market in Stockholm.” His last words
were, “ To-day Carolus shall die, he by whose leniency
King John lives.” Balfour who had been condemned
likewise “ to the loss of life, goods, and honour,” was
retained in prison whilst the trial of Ruthven proceeded.
Numerous are the petitions the latter sent to the king,
the queen, De la Gardie, and others. He protests his
innocence, and begs to be punished most severely if he had
in word or deed offended against the Sovereign.
Attachment to King John had made him mortgage his estates in
Scotland. He did not yet know, he maintained, the reason
of his imprisonment. His friends and kinsmen were dead,
his soldiers miserably shot. He himself, being wounded
and a prisoner, had no other hope but the king and his
well-known leniency. When asked why he had
introduced more Scottish soldiers into the country than had
been agreed upon, he referred to Keith’s letter of the year
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
