in the
Gowrie conspiracy, and his own foreknowledge. He was tried, solely on
the evidence of guilty foreknowledge alleged in his own confessions, and
of extracts, _given by him from memory only_, of a letter from Gowrie to
Logan (_not_ one of those which he claimed to have forged), and another
of Logan to Gowrie, both of July 1600. On August 12, Sprot was hanged at
Edinburgh. He repeated his confession of guilt from every corner of the
scaffold. He uttered a long religious speech of contrition. Once, he
said, he had been nearly drowned: but God preserved him for this great
day of confession and repentance. But 'no unbeliever in the guilt of
Gowrie,' says Calderwood, 'was one whit the more convinced.' Of course
not, nor would the death of Henderson--which they clamoured for--have
convinced them. They said, falsely, that Sprot was really condemned as a
forger, and, having to die, took oath to his guilt in the Gowrie
conspiracy, in consideration of promises of help to his wife and family.
{164}

Nearly a year later, in June 1609, the exhumed remains of Logan were
brought into court (a regular practice in the case of dead traitors), and
were tried for treason. Five letters by Logan, of July 1600, were now
produced. Three were from Logan to conspirators unnamed and unknown.
One was to a retainer and messenger of his, Laird Bower, who had died in
January 1606. These letters were declared, by several honourable
witnesses, to be in Logan's very unusual handwriting and orthography:
they were compared with many genuine letters of his, and no difference
was found. The Parliamentary Committee, 'The Lords of the Articles,'
previously sceptical, were convinced by the five letters, the evidence to
handwriting, the energy of the Earl of Dunbar, and the eloquence of the
King's Advocate. Logan's children were all forfeited, and Dunbar saved
the money which he owed to Logan's estate. This trial is not alluded to,
either by Calderwood or Archbishop Spottiswoode, in their histories. The
five letters produced in the trial of Logan exist, and have been accepted
as authentic by Mr. Tytler and Mr. Hill Burton, but not by writers who
favour the Ruthvens. We print all five letters in Appendix C.

Meanwhile what had Sprot really said, under private examination, between
July 5 and August 12, 1608, when he was executed?

This question is to be answered, from the hitherto unpublished records,
in the following chapters. But, in com