1st Duke of Gordon

87
oerns, to obey you as our lieutenant aforesaid.
And you are hereby empowered, bo aofc according
to the 'tenor 'thereof, and ■powers therein con-
tained, to suppress all who shall rise in arms
against our authority, within the limits of your
jurisdiction; and to send such troops, as you
shall think fit for our service, to the assistance
of others.
We do nowise doubt, of your acting for us in
this conjuncture, as becomes yourself ; and there-
fore we shall add no more to this, but to require
you to send us your advice, what you think may
be bast for our service, in all the branched
thereof. And so assurinsr you of our Royal favour,
and declaring this to be ©sufficient warrant for
what ye shall do in our service, we bid you
heartily farewell. Given at our Court at Dublin
Castle, the 29th day of March 1689, and the fifth
year of our reign. By His Majesty's Command,
Melfoet.
On May 15, Gordon was proclaimed a rebel,
and the lieges were forbidden to intercom mune
with him ; but His Grace may have found solace
in a letter which was sent him by Melfort, dated
May 17 (William Gordon's "History of the Gor-
dons," ii., 631): —
James R. — Right truly and right entirely be-
loved cousin and counsellor, we greet you well.
Some time ago we wrote a letter to you, a dupli-
cate whereof is here enclosed; but that we are
informed fell into the hands of our enemies, to-
gether with the officer that carried it to you.
We do still find more and more reason to ap-
prove of your exemplary loyalty and service to
us, shown in the defence of that our Castle, of
which whenever it shall please God to put it in
our power, you shall reap the 'benefit due to your
merit.
And since we do not now think it fit that you
should leave our said Castle (where your presence
is so necessary for our service) so long as you
are in a condition to defend it, we do hereby
empower you to make choice of one or more
persons, such as you shall think fit, to be your
deputy-iieutenamts within the whole bounds of
your last commission of lieutenancy, with power
to them to act as if you yourself were present,
that thereby our service may suffer as little pre-
judice as possibly can in your absence. And
for doing all that is above said, this shall be to
you and all others a sufficient warrant and
authority. So hoping you shall have good success
in all that is relating to our service, we bid you
heartily farewell. Given at our Court at Dublin
Castle, the 17th of May 1689, and in the fifth year
of our reign.— By His Majesty's Command,
Melfobt.