Robert Ferguson ( minister ) Robert Ferguson ( c . 1637 – 1714 ) was a Scottish presbyterian minister , conspirator and political pamphleteer , known as " the Plotter " . Ancestry . He was the eldest son of William Ferguson ( d . 1699 ) of Badifurrow , Aberdeenshire , Scotland and Janet Black . His father disinherited him so the lands of Badifurrow passed to Ferguson ' s younger brother William , who pre - deceased William senior , so the lands were inherited by James Ferguson who immediately sold the estate and purchased Pitfour . Another younger brother was Major General James Ferguson . Life . After receiving a good education , probably at the University of Aberdeen , became a Presbyterian ( Church of Scotland ) minister . According to Bishop Burnet he was cast out by the Presbyterians , but whether this be so or not , he soon made his way to England and became vicar of Godmersham , Kent , from which living he was expelled by the Act of Uniformity 1662 . Some years later , having gained a reputation as a theological controversialist and become a person of importance among the Nonconformists , he attracted the notice of the Anthony Ashley - Cooper , 1st Earl of Shaftesbury and the party which favoured the exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne , and he began to write political pamphlets just at the time when the feeling against the Roman Catholics was at its height . In 1680 he wrote " A Letter to a Person of Honour concerning the ' Black Box , ' " in which he supported the claim of the Duke of Monmouth to the crown against that of the Duke of York [ there was said to be a black box that contained a marriage contract between Charles II and Lucy Walter ] . Returning to the subject after Charles II had solemnly denied the existence of a marriage between himself and Lucy Walter . He took an active part in the controversy over the Exclusion Bill , and claimed to be the author of the whole of the pamphlet " No Protestant Plot " ( 1681 ) , parts of which are usually ascribed to Shaftesbury . Ferguson was deeply implicated in the Rye House Plot , although he asserted that he had frustrated both this and a subsequent attempt to assassinate the king , and he fled to the Netherlands with Shaftesbury in 1682 , returning to England early in 1683 . For his share in another plot against Charles II he was declared an outlaw , after which he entered into communication with Archibald Campbell , 9th Earl of Argyll , Monmouth and other malcontents . Ferguson then took a leading part in organizing the rising of 1685 . Having overcome Monmouth ' s reluctance to take part in this movement , he accompanied the duke to the west of England and drew up the manifesto against James II , escaping to the Netherlands after the Battle of Sedgemoor . He landed in England with William III of Orange in 1688 , and aided William ' s cause with his pen , but William and his advisers did not regard him as a person of importance , although his services were rewarded with a sinecure appointment in the Excise . Chagrined at this treatment , Ferguson was soon in correspondence with the exiled Jacobites . He shared in all the plots against the life of William , and after his removal from the Excise in 1692 wrote violent pamphlets against the government . Although he was several times arrested on suspicion , he was never brought to trial . He died in great poverty , leaving behind him a great and deserved reputation for treachery . It has been thought by Macaulay and others that Ferguson led the English government to believe that he was a spy in their interests , and that his frequent escapes from justice were due to official connivance . In a proclamation issued for his arrest in 1683 he is described as " a tall lean man , dark brown hair , a great Roman nose , thin - jawed , heat in his face , speaks in the Scottish accent , a sharp piercing eye , stoops a little in the shoulders . " Works . Besides numerous pamphlets , Ferguson wrote : " History of the Revolution " ( 1706 ) ; " Qualifications requisite in a Minister of State " ( 1710 ) ; and part of the " History of all the Mobs , Tumults and Insurrections in Great Britain " ( London , 1715 ) .