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DIARY OF                            LONDON

incensed the people, that had lie not been guarded and
got away, they would have torn him to pieces.

The Duke made no speech on the scaffold (which was
on Tower Hill), hut gave a paper containing not above
five or six lines, for the King, in which he disclaims all
title to the Crown, acknowledges that the late King, Ms
father, had indeed told him he was but his base son, and
so desired his Majesty to be kind to his wife and children.
This relation I had from Dr. Tenison (Rector of St.
Martin's), who, with the Bishops of Ely and Bath and
Wells, were sent to him by his Majesty, and were at the
execution.

Thus ended this quondam Duke, darling of his father
and the ladies, being extremely handsome and adroit, an
excellent soldier and dancer, a favorite of the people, of
an easy nature, debauched by lust; seduced by crafty
knaves, who would have set him up only to make a prop-
erty, and taken the opportunity of the King being' of
another religion, to gather a party of discontented men.
He failed and perished.

He was a lovely person, had a virtuous and excellent
lady that brought him great riches, and a second dukedom
in Scotland. He was Master of the Horse, General of the
King his father's army, Gentleman of the Bedchamber,
Knight of the Garter, Chancellor of Cambridge, in a word,
had accumulations without end. See what ambition and
want of principles brought him to I He was beheaded on
Tuesday, i4th of July. His mother, whose name was Bar-
low, daughter of some very mean creatures, was a beauti-
ful strumpet, whom I had often seen at Paris; she died
miserably without anything to bury her; yet this Perkin
had been made to believe that the King had married tier, a
monstrous and ridiculous forgery! And to satisfy the
world of the iniquity of the report, the King his father
(if his father he really was, for he most resembled one
Sidney who was familiar with his mother) publicly and
most solemnly renounced it, to be so entered in the
Council Book some years since, with all the Privy Council-
lors* attestation.*

* The « Life of James II.» contains an account of the circumstances
of the Duke of Monmouth's birth, which may be given in illustra-
tion of the statements of the text Ross, tutor to the Duke of
Monmouth, is there said to have proposed to Bishop Cosins to sign aways to use him well, and thereforechamber (a mostr childwere sick, so as she was exceedingly beloved ofe of James II.,»