She did not say that this is all true, nor will she talk on the subject, but one may see through a millstone with a hole in it." "Perhaps Hamilton's complicity in the crime may save us the trouble of sending him abroad," said the king.

"We may be able to hang him instead." "Surely you would not hang him for so small an offence?
The murdered man was only a tanner!" cried Nelly, fearing she had brought trouble on Hamilton by her gossip.
"Of course, if there were no reason save the demands of grasping justice, we should not trouble ourselves to look into the matter," said Charles, "but stern justice, if used and not abused, is often a ready help to kings." Charles laughed, doubtless showing his yellow fangs, as was his habit when uttering a cruel jest, and Nelly began to coax him, hoping to avert the unforeseen trouble she had set afoot.

At last the king promised that he would take no steps against Hamilton, but I knew that royal promises were never worth the breath they cost in making.
* * * * * As soon as Nelly and the king left my lord's closet, I hastened to the river and took a boat for the Old Swan, intending to find Hamilton and to warn him.
When I told Betty that I wanted to see Hamilton on an affair of great urgency, she admitted that she knew where he was, and that she had refused to tell me when I asked her the last time because he had exacted a promise from her to tell no one.
"But I shall see him," said Betty, "and if you will come back to-morrow, I'll tell you where he can be found if he consents." During the last month or two a _News Letter_ had been circulated by thousands throughout London and Westminster, in which the character of the king had been assailed with great bitterness.

At first Charles paid no attention to the new journal, but soon its attacks got under his skin.
I was told that efforts had been made to discover the publisher and his printing shop, but that nothing could be learned save that the sheets were left at taverns and bookstalls by boys who declared they found them in bundles in the churchyards.
It was impossible to find even the boys.

The bookstalls and taverns were ordered not to sell the _News Letter_, but the people hated the king so bitterly that the circulation increased rather than diminished after the royal interdict, and as the sheets sold for the extravagant price of one shilling, it was impossible to stop the sale, since every one who handled them was making a rich profit.
Judging from many articles appearing in the _News Letter_, I suspected that Hamilton was a contributor, if not the editor.