SCOTT, THOMAS [or Henry Hexham]
An Experimentall Discoverie of Spanish Practices. Or the Counsell of a well-wishing Souldier, for the good of his Prince and State herein is manifested from known experience, both the cruelty, and policy of the Spaniard, to effect his own ends... London: s.n., 1623. 19th century half morocco, cloth sides embossed with the arms and monogram of William Stirling. 6 3/4 x 5 inches (17 x 13 cm); [ii], 54 pp. Light binding wear, repaired tear on E1 extending well into the page with no loss of legibility, small holes in C3 and C4 affecting a few letters, pale stain in the lower corner of the text, lacking the terminal leaf H2, presumably blank. William Stirling's armorial bookplate with his (printed) signature.
An exceedingly rare little work with some interesting American and West Indies content, of which we trace only one copy offered for sale in the past century or more (quite possibly this copy, as a copy of the catalogue entry for that is enclosed). The book is equivalently rare in institutional hands. The author writes "To prove that the King of Spain has no general consent of the people and the Nations of the Indies [to be governed by Spain] appeareth most evident by this reason: for that no Spaniard inhabiteth farther northward than Florida, where they have but two little Forts or villages, the one called St. Augustine, and the other St. Helena; all the rest of that huge tract is such (no mortall tongue can express, or eye hath seene) doe not so much as think there is another world but that they themselves inhabit..." Addressed to James I of England, decrying the folly of a truce or treaty with Spain, Scott disputes the rights of Spain to sovereignty in the New World, citing Cabot's priority over Columbus, and other arguments.
The author is almost certainly the eminent protestant polemicist and pamphleteer Thomas Scott, 1580-1626, a preacher and a rabid anti-Catholic, with a particular enmity towards Spain. In an earlier pamphlet, Vox Populi, he claimed to reveal schemes for bringing England under Spanish subjugation, though his text was almost entirely fictitious, it was generally received as authentic, and caused much alarm. It was suppressed by royal decree, and Scott briefly fled the country. On his return he became chaplain to William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, among other roles, but after became preacher to the English garrison at Utrecht. He was murdered by an English soldier, John Lambert, on 18 June 1626. It was widely thought that Lambert was instructed to kill Scott by Jesuits or Catholic priests, but he seems instead to have been a deluded madman. STC 22077; Sabin 78363.