GOWRIE CONSPIRACY, one of the most singular events in the history of Scotland, took place in Aug. 1600. On the 5th of that month, as king James VI., then residing at Falkland palace, in Fife, was going out to hunt, Alexander Ruthven, brother of the earl of Gowrie, whose father had been executed for treason in 1.584, came to his majesty, and informed h mn that, on the previous evening, he had seized a person of a suspicious appearance, and evidently disguised, with a pot full of foreign gold hid under his cloak, and had confined him in his brother's house at Perth. Conceiving him to be an agent of the pope or the king of Snain, the king agreed to examine the man himself, and without waiting to change horse, set out for Perth, attended only by the duke of Lennox, the earl of Mar, and about 20 others. Soon after his arrival, while his retinue were at dinuer, Ruthven conducted the king up a winding staircase and through several apartments, the doors of which he locked behind him, and brought him at last to a small study, where stood a man in armor, with a sword and dagger by his side. Snatching the dagger from the man's girdle, Ruthven held it to the king's breast, and said: "Who murdered my father? Is not thy conscience burdened by his innocent blood? Thou art now my prisoner, and must be content to follow our will, and to be used as we list. Seek not to escape; utter but a cry, make but a motion to open the window, and this dagger is in thy heart." The king expostulated with Rutliven, who so far relented that he went to consult his brother, hiaving the king in charge of the man in armor. In the meantime, one of Gowrie's servants hastily entered the apartment where the king's retinue were, and announced that the king had just ridden off towards Falkland. All hurried into the street, and the earl, with the utmost eagerness, called for their horses. On Alexander Ruthven's return to the king, lie declared thatthere was now no remedy, but that he must die, and proceeded to bind his hands with a garter. The king nap
pled with him, and a fierce struggle ensued. Dragging Rtithven towards a window the street, which the man in armor had opened, the king cried aloud for help. 'His attendants knew his voice, and hastened to his assistance. Lennox and Mar, with the greater number of the royal train, ran up the principal staircase, but found all the doors shut. Sir John Ramsay, of the Dalhousie family, one of the royal pages, ascending by a back stair, entered the study, the door of which was open, and seizing Ruthven, stabbed him twice with his dagger, and thrust him down the stair, where he was killed by sir Thomas Erskine and sir Hugh Herries. On the death of his brother, Gowric rushed into the room, with:a drawn sword in each hand, followed by seven retainers, well armed, and was instantly attacked. Pierced through the heart by sir John Ramsay, he fell dead without uttering mt. word. The inhabitants of Perth, by whom, Gowrie, who Was their provost, was much beloved, hearing of his fate, ran to arms, and, surrounding the house, threatened revenge. The king addressed them from a window, and admitted the magistrates, to whom he fully related all the circumstances, on which they dispersed, and he returned to Falkland. Three of the earl's servants were executed at Perth. The man in armor, Andrew Henderson, the earl's steward, was pardoned. All who were extuniced were totally ignorant of the motives which prompted the brothers Ruthven to such a deed, and they still remain in some degree of mystery, although recent discoveries have led to a pretty general belief that the object of the con spirators was to possess themselves of the kinefs person, to convey him by water to Fast castle, and either to give him up to England, or to administer the government in his name in the interest of that country and of the Presbyterian leaders at home. Most of the documents relating to the plot are printed.