Page 22 - Fenning_Scoland

'The Incident' of 1641 -An historic letter delivered by Parliamentary Messenger
The Letter from the House of Commons
The entire text of this letter is recorded in the 'Journals of the House of Commons' for
22nc1 October 1641 (17 Car.I, page 292). The letter is also recorded in the 'Calendar
of State Papers' for 23rd October 1641 .
The record of this letter from the 'Journals of the House of Commons':
17 CA.R. I. Journals of the Hollie of Commons.
Ordered, That Mr. Speaker do write a Letter unto Mr.
Secretary Vaine;_ that, if -in cafe the Committee of both
Houfes be come out of Scotland, before the Letters and
. lnftruaions, now to be fent, can be ddivered there unto
them, that then ·he fi;Wl ~ defired, by this Hou:e, to pre-
fent the fame unto his Majefty: And Mr. Pym is ordered
to draw this Letter : .
· THE Advertifement which you have given, in your.Let:
ters of the Fourteenth of this Month, concerning the
Defign · againft the Perfons of the Lord Marquis Hamilton,
the Earls of Argile and Lanerick, hath been communicated
to both Houfes ; who do very much commend your Wif-
dom and Diligence, in fending them timely Notice of an
Accident. of fuch great Confequence to the. Peace both of
this and that Kingdom : And . do give you. Thanks for
your Care therein : And I am to let you know, that we
have received no other public:k Intelligence thereof: Where-
fore the Delire of both Houfes is, that, fo long as you ffi.y I
there, you continue to inform the Houfes of Parliament
of the further Proceedings in this Matter, and fuch o.ther
Accidents, as may any_ way concern the Safctj.of boch
Kingdoms : And thereupon they have thought go9d to
make a further Addition to your former foftruaions,
touching fome things, which they conceive fit to be repre-
fc:nced co his Majefty, from the Lords and Commons cif
his Parliament here, as you may perceive by the Inclofed,
which I am commanded to fend co you, and to commend
to your Care and Wifdom ; not doubting but you will
herein fully anf wer their ExpcCl:acion and Confidence: And, · 1
for chc Performance herc:of, their Pleafure . is, chat you
fhould continue there, to wait upon his Majefty,- tiU you
receive funher Direction, or that his Maje!l:y be. plcafed
to come away for E11gla11d. · := . . · .. · ,, '·
. -~ .. . : . : ..... -
References:
'Journals of the House of Commons' Vol. 2, 1640- 1642
'Calendar of State Papers' Vol. XVI/ & XVI/I, British National Archives
22"d October 1641. An historic letter sent by Parliamentary
Messenger from Edward Littleton, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal,
at the House of Commons to Edward, Lord Howard of Escrick in
Edinburgh.
The address does not specif~ Edinburgh, but it is certain that
was the destination. From 14 August to 18th November 1641 ,
King Charles I was visiting Edinburgh to arrange an alliance with
the Scots.
In 1641, Parliament had named Lord Howard as one of a
committee charged with observing the King's Scottish
negotiations. As a Parliamentary Commissioner to Scotland,
Lord Howard was accompanying the King on the visit to
Edinburgh.
Lord Howard was an ardent Parliamentarian, and this letter
thanks him for providing the first intelligence to the Houses of
Parliament concerning a major plot against several of the Lords.
The plot later became known to history as The Incident'.
'The Incident'
During the visit of King Charles I to Edinburgh in 1641 , the plot known as The
Incident' was discovered. The loyalty to the King of the Earls of Argyll and Lanark,
and the Marquis of Hamilton (Secretary of State for Scotland) had been brought into
question. It was discovered that a plot existed in which these three were to be
arrested as traitors and delivered to the King's ships at Leith, and, if necessary,
murdered. On the night of 11th/12th October the peers fled the city to Kenneil House
only to return after the King had announced publicly that he had had no part in the
plot and that he regarded the three as completely loyal.
However, although surviving this plot, all three lords did, eventually, meet violent
deaths ... Hamilton was executed on the scaffold at Tower Hill on gth March 1649·
Lanark died of wounds after the Battle of Worcester on 12 h September 1651 ; Argyli
1
was beheaded at the cross in Edinburgh on 27 111 May 1661 after the Restoration of
the Monarchy.
Sir Edward Littleton, signatory of the letter
The letter ordered by the House of Commons to be drawn up by Mr Pym was signed
by Sir Edward Littleton, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.
Sir Edward Littleton became a famous historical
character in his own right.
He was Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and it
was he who, in January 1642, firmly refused to
put the Great Seal to the King's Proclamation
for the arrest of five Members of Parliament.
This act of defiance was a key event in the lead
up to the Civil War .