Earls of Middleton, Lords of Clermont and of Fettercairn

John Middleton, Fust Earl of Middleton. 99
well's, offered to excite the Levellers in England
against the usurper; but the Spanish Government
postponed the expedition on divers pretexts until the
death of Cromwell. 1
Middleton seems to have had some hopes of
making another attempt upon Scotland at the same
time. From the following letter, he would seem to
have gone to Dantzic to endeavour to raise men and
money for the purpose from his countrymen in that
town : —
[An original.]
Lieutenant-General Middleton to Sir E. Hyde.
" Right Honble. Sir,
" Yesterday by post I received yours, wherein
you did very fully resume the whole business, with the
reasons inducing my coming to this place, to which I
shall say little; only, if I had not certainly believed the
king's business to have been in that ripeness that
some attempt would have been made this past spring,
and that in order thereto money would have been
sent me for the business of Scotland, I had not been
so forward, for I was not twelve hours in this place
when I knew that nothing could be done with my
countrymen ; and the truth, most of them, nay, I may
say all of them (one excepted), are ruined by the war,
so that I did not present any of them with his
1 Clarendon ; Thurloe ; Cartes' Letters.