owever, does not in any
way blame Mr Spence for what happened. He was sent back to prison,
strict orders being given that he was not to be permitted to see
Carstares, and when the Council adjourned for the holidays on September
13th, he was removed to Dumbarton Castle, and granted liberty within
the walls. Whether he escaped, or was allowed to go out of the
country, we cannot tell, but it is clear at any rate that he rejoined
his old master in Holland, and the next we hear of him is that he was
one of those who accompanied Argyle when he made his disastrous descent
on Scotland in the spring of 1685. When the little fleet arrived off
Kirkwall Mr Spence must needs go ashore to visit his uncle who lived
there, along with one of the Earl's scouts. "Both," says Wodrow,[21]
"were discovered and catched by the old bishop there. The Earl was
peremptorily resolved to recover the two gentlemen, and ordered Sir
Patrick Hume with a party of Fusileers to attack the town"; but the
captains were obdurate {205} and nervous, and gave the Earl time only
to seize seven islanders and a vessel "lying ther with meall and
money," when the ships sailed away, leaving the unfortunate secretary
to his fate.[22] He was sent down to Edinburgh,[23] indicted for
treason, and remitted in due form to the Assizes, tried, and found
guilty, and we seem at last to be near his end when we read that the
Lords ordained Mr William Spence to be taken to the Cross of Edinburgh
on Wednesday next, July 22nd, and there to be hanged. Before that day
arrived, however, he got a reprieve, and on August 17th he was allowed
to remove to a chamber in Edinburgh because of sickness--quite
unaccountable leniency at a time when the authorities did not scruple
to hang dying men in their night-shirts. The Magistrates were made
responsible for his safe keeping, and he undertook to re-enter the
prison on the first of September. His reprieve was now continued till
{206} November 1st, and the last we hear of him was that in a letter
from the King, dated October 14th, orders were given that he was to be
kept a close prisoner. His master had been executed on June 30th, and
had testified before his death that Mr William Spence had been to him a
faithful friend and servant. It is impossible to say what became of
him between this time and the Revolution, and unless he succeeded in
escaping, it is highly probable that he remained in prison till the
general clearance made by the