and most assuredly expect That Your Majesty will in Your Royal Wisdom take such measures as may effectually vindicate the undoubted Rights and Privileges of the said Company and support the Credit and Interest thereof And as we are in Duty bound to return Your Majesty most hearty Thanks for the Gracious Assurances Your Majesty has been pleased to give Us of all due Encouragement for promoting the Trade of this Kingdom So We are thereby encouraged at present humbly to recommend to the more special Marks of Your Royal Favour the Concerns of the said Company as that Branch of Our Trade in which We and the Nation we represent have a more peculiar Interest Subscribed at Edinburgh the 5th of August 1698. in Name Presence and by Warrant of the Estates of Parliament SEAFIELD J. P. D. P. By all this it is evideht that the whole Kingdom of Scotland was unanimous in this matter and proceeded deliberately in it as that which highly concern'd their Interest yet we see that all their Endeavours were to no purpose for our Enemies were so resolute in opposing our Trade that rather than it should succeed they will not only trample under foot the Laws of Scotland but the Laws of Nations and exactly follow the Pattern set them by the French in huffing and tyrannizing over their Neighbours when at the same time they pretend to make War upon Lewis XIV for practices of the same nature and whilst they cry out upon the Decisions of the Chambers of Brisac and Mets and of the Parliament of Paris as tyrannical and unjust for invading the Rights of Neighbouring Princes and Nations they set up a Cabal at Whitehall to do the like by Scotland and Hamburgh Then let the World judg whether the King of England had not less reason to say that he was ill serv'd in Scotland than the King of Scots had to say that he was ill serv'd in England since one single Address from the Parliament of England prevail'd with their King to forbid all his Subjects to join with the Scots whereas the repeated Supplications of the Company of Scotland the Address of their Parliament and the Authority of Law and his own Letters Patent could not prevail with the King of Scots to do Justice to his own Subjects We wish these Gentlemen would consider this who were so very angry at the Author of the Defence of the Scots Settlement for saying that the King of Scots was detain'd prisoner in England It is very certain that never any King of Scotland before the Union of the Crowns dar'd thus to trample upon their Laws or to oppose the General Interest of the Nation or if they attempted to do it they were quickly made sensible of their being inferior to the Law and the States of the Nation assembled in Parliament who till the Accession of our Princes to the English Throne remain'd in an undisputed possession of calling their Kings to an account for Male-administration and of disposing of thei Lives and Liberties as they saw cause We need not go so far back for Evidence to prove this as Eugenius the 7th who was brought to his Tryal on suspition of having murder'd his own Wife and acquitted upon discovery of the real Murderers or of James III. whose Minions by whose Council he governed were taken out of his own Bed-Chamber by the Nobles and hanged over Lauder-bridg and he himself persisting in those Courses was killed in flight after being defeated in Battle by the States and in the next Parliament was voted to be lawfully slain We have a later Instance and the Power of our Nation on that Head was largely asserted and accounted for by the Earl of Morton then Regent of Scotland in that noble Memorial he delivered in to Q. Elizabeth and her Council in defence of our proceedings against Q. Mary whom we dethron'd and in her stead set up her Son so that it is not the principle or practice of any one Party of our Nation tho it has been of late fix'd upon the Presbyterians as peculiar to them but was an Hereditary Right conveyed to us all by our Ancestors practised by Papists before the Reformation and justisied by those of the Episcopal Perswasion since particularly by the Earl of Morton beforemention'd who was the first that introduc'd Bishops into our Church after the Reformation Those things are not insisted upon with any Design of applying them to his present Majesty or of incensing the People of Scotland to do so but only to inform those that put his Majesty upon such Courses that they are his greatest Enemies and do what in them lies to destroy him It is the common Right of Mankind to be protected by those they set over them and to complain of Governors when they find themselves aggriev'd and their Privileges torn from them by Violence This Generation has prov'd it beyond possibility of Reply that the greatest Pretenders to submission to Princes and the most zealous Patrons of Passive Obedience will resist and dethrone their Kings too when they find themselves oppressed by them They that maintain the contrary are nothing but mean-spirited Flatterers or such as temporize with Courts because of their own private Advantage and be their Quality what it will are far from being so noble and brave as that poor Woman who told Philip of Macedon that he ceas'd to be King when he refus'd to hear her Petition Upon the whole it will appear that he Author of the Defence of the Scots Settlement made the best Apology for his Majesty that could be made when he said that he was a Prisoner in England and therefore forc'd to act thus against the Interest and Dignity of his Crown as King of Scots It is demonstrated thus If his Majesty were in Scotland and another Person upon the Throne of England it is certain his Majesty would have encouraged the Trade of Scotland and resented such practices in the King of England as contrary to the Laws of Nations and the Soveraignty of his Crown If he did not he would be look'd upon to be mean-spirited and not fit to wear it and if he took part with the King of England against the Dignity of his Crown and the Interest of his Kingdom he would not only be looked upon as an Enemy to his Country but as felo de se From all which it is plain that as it is the best Apology that can be made for the King of Scots when he acts thus contrary to the Honour and Interest of himself and his Country to say he is a Prisoner in England so it is a sufficient Justification of the People of Scotland to refuse Obedience to what he commands by the Influence of the English or other Councils in opposition to their Interest because they are the Commands of a Captive and not of the King of Scots If our Enemies say he is no Captive but at Liberty to go to Scotland if he pleases it is so far from
the Help of Spectacles may plainly perceive that he sticks at nothing to advance his Cause either by wresting or perverting the Truth of the History by reason there can be no Parity in the Example between the several Cases of these dead Kings whom he now brings on the Stage and King William nor is there any Colour of Allusion to introduce them here for Scare-crows For the Truth of the Story runs thus After the Death of Alexander the Third Ten or a Dozen far-fetched Relations of the Royal Family standing Competitors for the Scots Crown it was agreed on by the different Parties to prevent the Effusion of Blood that the Trial of their several Claims should be referr'd to Edward the First of England Edward accepting the Office came to Berwick then a Scots Town where after a long time spent in canvassing the several Titles he found Bruce Baliol and Cummin stand fairest for it To make a long Tale short he now found it in his Power to accomplish that which his Predecessors struggl'd for for some Hundred Years before to wit a Submission of the Scots Crown to that of England He felt Bruce's Pulse but it did not beat to his Mind then he sounded Baliol who had more English Blood in him by half than Scotch who easily condescended to his Terms Edward declares John Baliol King of the Scots and the Scots Nobility having swore Allegiance to him in his Presence proceeded to his Coronation That being over the new Scots King with his Nobility came to King Edward to thank him for his Civility at Newcastle where having been splendidly regaled for some time and the English King being to set out for London John Baliol with his Train of Nobles came in a full Body to kiss his Royal Fist where on a suddain King Baliol claps down on his Knee and swore Fealty to Edward as his Sovereign Lord and to hold the Scots Crown for ever of him and his Successors Kings of England Baliol having ended this Ceremony pointed to his Subjects to follow his Example which being needless to dispute on that Ground no Body stumbl'd at it save a peevish Old Gentleman by Name Douglass who was Caged up for the Remainder of his Life for want of good Manners Baliol and his Nobility march'd home to Scotland as chearfully as Half a Dozen Citizens Wives return to their Husbands after they have been decoy'd into a Ramble and kiss'd by strange Fellows and they being all alike Scabby made no Words on 't for some Years and perhaps had not then if a rash Sentence had not been pass'd by Baliol in his own Court in Prejudice of a certain Thane or Earl who thinking himself injur'd appeal'd to Edward as Sovereign Lord King Edward being willing to show his Grandeur summon'd Baliol up to London and being seated on a Throne in his Court of Judicature his Fellow King had the Honour to set by him till such time as the Tryal came on and then he was oblig'd to step down to the Common-Bar and Plead for himself The Gentleman had got so much Scotch Blood in him by his Three Years Government of that Kingdom that he stomach'd the Disgrace and could not tell how to digest it till he went Home and consulted his Nobility who were all alike tardy with himself It was soon agreed on to bid Edward Defiance declaring That their King and they were only trick'd into their Submission by his foul Artifice Both Nations Arm'd but Edward got the Better on 't for having over-run Scotland and made them once or twice swear heartily anew and having caught John Baliol by the Neck would never afterwards trust him with such an Office but kept him Prisoner at London for many Years till at the Intercession of the Pope and French King his Imprisonment was enlarg'd to France where he died a Quondam King Now whether this Fate of John Baliol has any Relation to what your Author designs since 't is plain that Edward both made and unmade him and not the Scots I refer it back to himself to reconcile As for the other Baliol by Name Edward and Son to this John he finding that Robert Bruce was the Second time dead came from France to England and there having Edward the Third's Leave to raise what Men he could to seat himself on his Father's Old Throne found Voluntiers enough who were the Relations of those who were foil'd at Bannocksburn and with those and a few of King Edward's Ships he lands in the Heart of Scotland and set young David Bruce's Crown on his own Head without asking the Scots Leave and kept it till Dâ—vid with the Assistance of his father-in-Father-in-Law the French King took it from him again Neither can I see the Paralel in this with King William's Case for Edward Baliol took the Crown at his own Hand nolens volens whereas King William had it press'd upon his Head by the unanimous Consent of the Scots Nation As for the other Two Examples of James and William the First what they did while it was their Misfortune to be Prisoners in England could not stand in Law neither did I ever hear that after their Freedom and Restauration to their Dignities their Scots Subjects did ever reckon it to them for Sin But as there 's no great Advantage or Credit to be purchased by ripping up such old Sores so I am willing to leave tracing this Gentleman's Evidences and rather take Things on his own Authority than foul Paper about it Mean while I 'll be as impertinent as he is with his Earl of Strafford and some others and acquaint you with something that may be nearer the Case It has been observ'd in Scotland in the Course of several Ages that it hath been ever fatal to Families when they became so powerful as to swell beyond their Proportion Witness that of the Cummins in Robert Bruce's Reign the greatest that ever has been in Scotland Witness that of the Gouries of a latter Date And if I should add that of a latter Family within the Reach of our Memory which might have reasonably been reckon'd in the same Class had it not been for the happy Accident of the Revolution I cannot be far mistaken I say most of these Gentlemen being too great for Subjects lost themselves with Jearus in their Flight Some got red-hot Iron Crowns and others Halters but that which was more Tragical their whole Families and Dependants were hung up like Haddocks to dry in the Sun that they might never afterwards rise in Judgment I heartily wish there may no such Examples happen in our Age and that no suspected Persons sit so close to the Machine of your Colony nor wind up its Spring further than it will go least it should snap and the Ingineers get o'er the Fingers End Being sensible that I have trespass'd in the Epidemical Crime of my Fellow-Scribblers by swelling my Dedication beyond its Proportion and perhaps said more than some Persons care
of being attack'd by his Fleet as they that advis'd the emitting of those Proclamations must needs think his Majesty was oblig'd in Honour and Justice to order if he was of opinion that the Scots had broken the Alliance betwixt him and Spain Let any reasonable man consider what Anguish and Perplexity these Considerations join'd to their pinching Wants and other Circumstances must occasion in the minds of those poor men and whether it might not give a handle to those of them that were unwilling to stay to mutiny against the rest and put all into disorder which might be fomented by other ill persons amongst them for we are not to suppose that with 11 or 1200 men there went no other ill man but H s since it 's not improbable that they who opposed our Company so much from the very beginning might be prompted by the same Malice to send Spies and Traitors amongst our Men on purpose to defeat their Design If it had not been that they were thus discouraged and brought to their wits-end by those Proclamations they would certainly have had so much Conduct as to have sent away a great part of their Men to Jamaica or any of the English Plantations where they might have subsisted till the arrival of a Convoy from Scotland and so with those Provisions that were sufficient to carry them as far as New York and a great deal further if they had not been retarded by Tempests might have maintain'd a competent number of their Men to keep possession of the Colony till Supplies had arriv'd but the Proclamations disabled them from taking this Method and by consequence are chargeable with the ruin of the Colony In the next place it is undeniable that those Proclamations must needs have incouraged the Spainards and other Enemies in their Opposition against our Colony and animated them to go on with their Preparations to drive us out So that had they deserted upon no other account but the noise of the great Preparations making against them by the Spaniards at Carthagena Porto Bello c as Sir William Beeston seem'd to insinuate in his Letter it makes the Proclamations directly chargeable with the Ruin of the Colony since they had good reason to remove from thence when their own Prince had forbid all Commerce with them and when their Enemies were making formidable Preparations against them It is likewise plain that those Proclamations must necessarily prevent their having any Supplies from the Dutch at Curassaw if they had any to spare for since the Influence of ours and the Dutch Court prevented our Company 's having any Incouragement in Holland it is reasonable to believe it would have the same influence in reference to our Colony in the Dutch Plantations We have likewise all the reason in the world to conclude that the Influence of those Proclamations might hinder the Natives from giving our Colony those Supplies that it was in their power to have done for there 's no doubt but they had information of 'em industriously sent them by some of our Adversaries when Capt. Long was so malicious as to endeavour at our first arrival to possess them with an opinion that we were nothing but Pirats and that the K. of Great Britain would disown us and indeed by the event it would seem he had Instructions so to do It is true that at first the Natives seeing our Men have a Competency of all sorts of Provisions might not believe his Report but they must needs have been confirm'd in the truth of it afterwards when they saw them dying for want and deceiv'd as to their Expectation of further Supplies and upon that account might think they had sufficient ground to withdraw their Assistance from them and not further provoke the Spaniards in favour of a People that they found were not able to do any thing for themselves and by consequence uncapable to protect them which was the thing they were to expect from their Alliance Having thus made it evident that the Opposition our Company met with from Court at first and the Proclamations issued against our Colony at last are justly to be reputed among the principal Causes of the Miscarriage of that Design we come in the next place to consider his Majesty's Answer to the Address of the Commons of England on that Head and the Proclamations issued out against us in his Name in the West-Indies We are sorry that ever there should have been any occasion for such an ungrateful piece of work but think it a Duty incumbent upon us and what we owe to the Constitution of our Country which we have reason to believe is industriously conceal'd from his Majesty to write freely on this head that the World may see what just cause we have to complain His Majesty's Answer That he had been ill serv'd in Scotland c. is such as our Ancestors if we may believe our Historians would have thought inconsistent with the Trust reposed in a King of Scots a manifest Reflection upon the Justice and Fidelity of the Nation and a discovery of their Arcana Imperii to those that were quarrelling with them We are not to suppose that his Majesty would give an Answer to an Address of this Importance without Counsel If he consulted with our Dutch or English Opposers it was the same as if he had consulted our professed Enemies if he consulted with Scots-men and was advis'd to this Answer by any of them they are Traitors to their Country and have betray'd its Soveraignty for they ought to have advis'd him to answer that as King of Scots he was not to give an account to the English for any thing transacted in that Kingdom but if they found themselves any ways aggrivev'd or thought their Trade endanger'd by the Scots Act he should be willing to have the matter debated and adjusted by Commissioners of both Nations as became the Common Father of both This could not justly have been look'd upon by the English as a refractory or stubborn Answer but must have been imputed to his braveness of Temper and fidelity to his Trust But at once to give up the Soveraignty of Scotland without demurring upon it argues that his Majesty was advis'd to this Answer by Enemies to the Scotish Nation Our Parliaments have originally a greater Power than that of England for what the States of Scotland offer'd to the touch of the Scepter their Kings had no power to refuse or if they did the Resolves of the States had the force of a Law notwithstanding Thus our Reformation was established in 1560 by an Act of the States and tho our Queen Mary then in France and her Husband the Dauphin afterwards Francis I. refus'd to give their Consent it remain'd a firm Law which Q. Mary when she return'd to Scotland was so far from offering to dispense with tho she was a great Asserter of her Prerogative that she was oblig'd to intreat of the States so far to dispense with
wall'd Towns and the reach of their Guns or they must be allowed the usual extent round them as all other Collonies in America have The Company might with the same Justice Land on the North-side of Jamaico where for 20 Leagues running there 's neither English Man nor Beast to be seen altho' there are as many if not more Wild Negroes in the Mountains of Jamaico who have deserted their Masters than Indians on thrice so much ground of the Isthmus of Darien By the same Title the Company might have seated themselves on the Island of Tobaga where there 's never a Man without asking the D. of Courland's leave On the other hand the Company has settled their Collony in the very Bosom and Centre of the three chies Cities of the Spanish-Indies to wit Carthagena Portobello and Panama the first being about 45 Leagues and the other two not above 30 distant from the Collony besides several smaller Towns and Garrisons which are much nearer viz Sancta Maria Tubaconti c. Nay the Spaniards are at work in their Mines within 12 Leagues of Fort St. Andrew As for the de facto right 't is evident that these Captains who are over the Indian Clanns have Spanish names to distinguish them from the Vulgar speak Spanish generally their Wives go valed and cover'd after the same fashion the Spanish Women go altho their Men go naked Besides one Paragraph of the Collonies Journal makes this very Spot of Ground where they are settled to be the Propriety of the Spaniard by their acknowledging Captain Andreas to have been a Spanish Captain As for the defences which Batt Sharp adduced on his Tryal of the Indian Emperor there having been no such person on the Isthumes of Darien these hundred years and King Golden Cap and the forg'd Commission he produc'd from that Emperor it was all trick Neither was there much pains taken to hang him or disprove the Forgery The Privateers indeed gave the title of King Golden Cap to the Indian Captains Son who commanded these Indians near Golden Island and he was this Andreas his first Cousin but kill'd by the Spaniards after the Privateers left the Isthmus as those may now be who entertained the Scots so friendly The Irish admitting some French Troops into their Country does not take away the King of Englands Title and Right to that Kingdom The Spanish Title is likewise confirmed by the Concession of all Princes and Treaties of Peace whereby the Spaniard does not only cut off the People of all Nations whom he finds cutting Logwood in the Bay of Campechy a great many Leagues distant from any Spanish Town but keeps the Barlevento Fleet and an Armadilla always ranging along that Coast and makes prize of all Foreigners he finds trading on his Coast without his Commission If they have so much as a stick of Logwood or three pieces of Eight aboard Which if hed did not act Legally to be sure the Soveraign heads of those Subjects would long e're now have demanded satisfaction or made reprisal This was the Substance of what I offer'd to Sir J. S. and what use he made of it I never inquir'd after as for that part of the Champions defence describing the Isthumes of Darien I must tell you that it is calculated in all the matterial passages of it for a Scotch Meridian as the Darien News were for six Months by the Companies Agents here in Town who knew that what was Printed here and sent to Scotland was far better believ'd than the Apocrypha The Edenbrugh News-monger was never wanting on his part for he still had something new from St. Germains to frighten us with the Cabals there and private meetings between the late King James and Lovis but however necessany such hob-goblin stories might been an inchanted Country yet they never went down within the found of Bow-bel As for the Champions endeavouring to prove the Scots interest by a separation I will excuse my self from medling with that part of the Subject knowing at the same time that the Wisemen of that Country know the benefit of that Union better than this Author or some more who make use of the Machin of the Collony to set the two Nations together by the ears the better to advance their own private Ends. As for his other fiery Ejaculations I have no inclination to meddle with them their being little to be got on either side by ripping up of such Sores and it not belonging to me to say any thing on that Head I 'll take my leave of the Company and their Champion at present and only say that if he is resolved to separate I would have him pick some quarrel that 's honester than this and the next time he enters the Lists to advande juster reasons for it than what he now does for Caledonia Novissima FINIS AN ENQUIRY INTO The Causes of the Miscarriage OF THE Scots Colony at DARIEN OR AN ANSWER TO A LIBEL ENTITULED A Defence of the Scots Abdicating DARIEN Submitted to the Consideration of the Good People of England Paries cum proximus ardet Res tua tunt agitur GLASGOW 1700. The Introduction THE just Horrour that all honest men conceiv'd at the harsh and unneighbourly Treatment of the Scots Colony at Darien laid the Gentlemen who have been most active against it under a necessity of blackening the Reputation of those concern'd in that Settlement This they thought necessary in order to prevent any enquiry that perhaps might be made Why a Neighbouring Nation united to the Kingdom of England by Situation Government Interest Religion Affection and constant Inter-marriages should be provok'd and trampl'd upon in such a manner contrary to their own Laws and Original Constitution and which may pave the way in time for Treating our Neighbours in the same manner To prevent any such Enquiry those Gentlemen that have been pleas'd to signalize themselves as much by their hatred to the Scotish Nation as the latter have signalized their Valour and Affection for our common Liberty and Religion have been at pains and expence to save the Libeller H s from the Gallows by putting a stop to his Trial and filling his Pockets with Money on condition that he would bespatter the Reputation of the Scots Colony and their Masters The Crime is indeed unnatural for a man to turn Renegado and a Traitor to his Country none but a Monster like H the Surgeon could have entertain'd such a Thought He sold his God in the Last Reign by turning Papist and therefore 't is no great Wonder he should sell his Country in this and solemnly renounce his going Northward for ever provided he might he secur'd against going Westward for once This being the Case of the Doughty Evidence that the Faction have produced against the Scots Colony we leave it to the World to judg what credit ought to be given to his Testimony since it appears that he harh giv'n it in to save his Life to gain
own number to transact and negotiate our necessary Affairs beyond Sea and at the same time to treat with such Foreigners of any Nation in amity with Your Majesty as might be inclinable to join with us for the purpose aforesaid In the prosecution of which Commission to our said Deputies vested with full Power and Authority according to Law We are not a little surprized to find to the great hindrance and obstruction of our Affairs That your Majesty's Envoy to the Courts of Lunenburgh and Resident at Hamburgh have under pretence of special Warrant from Your Majesty given in a joint subscribed Memorial to the Senat of Hamburgh expresly invading the Privileges granted to our Company by Your Majesty's said Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent as by the herewith transmitted Copy may appear By the which Memorial we sustain great and manifold Prejudices since both the Senat and Inhabitants of the said City of Hamburgh are thereby contrary to the Law of Nations expresly threatned with Your Majesty's Displeasure if they or either of them should countenance or join with us in any Treaty of Trade or Commerce whatsoever which deprives us of the assistance which we had reason to expect from several Inhabitants of that City For redress whereof we do in all Duty and Humility apply to Your Majesty not only for the Protection and Maintenance of our Privileges and freedom of Trade but also for reparation of damage conform to Your Majesty's said Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent And we further beg leave humbly to represent to Your Majesty that tho by the said Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent we conceive our selves legally and sufficiently authorized to treat even with any Soveraign Potentate or State in Amity with Your Majesty for the support and advancement of our Trade yet we by our said Deputies have only treated with particular and private Merchants of the said City of Hamburgh without ever making any the least Proposal to the Senate thereof and this we humbly conceive to be the natural Right and Privilege of all Merchants whatsoever even tho we had wanted the Sanction of so solemn Laws and without some speedy redress be had therein not only this Company but all the individual Merchants of this Kingdom must from henceforward conclude that all our Rights and Freedoms of Trade are and may be further by our Neighbours violently wrested out of our hands We therefore to prevent the further evil Consequences of the said Memorial to our Company in particular do make our most humble and earnest Request to Your Majesty That you would be graciously pleased to grant us such Declarations as in your Royal Wisdom you shall think fit to render the Senate and Inhabitants of the said City of Hamburgh and all others that are or may be concerned secure from the Threatnings and other Suggestions contain'd in the said Memorial as well as to render us secure under Your Majesty's Protection in the full Prosecution of our Trade and free Injoyment of our lawful Rights Privileges and Immunities contained in your Majesty's Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent above-mentioned Signed at Edinburgh the 28th Day of June 1697. in Name Presence and by Order of the said Council General by May it please your Majesty Your Majesty's most Faithful most Dutiful most Humble and most Obedient Subject and Servant Sic subscribitur Yester P. The King's Answer to the above written Address By the Right Honourable the Earl of Tullibardin c. and Sir James Ogilvie Principal Secretaries of State My Lords and Gentlemen WE are impowered by the King to signify unto you that as soon as his Majesty shall return to England he will take into Consideration what you have represented unto him and that in the mean time His Majesty will give orders to his Envoy at the Courts of Lunenburgh and his Resident at Hamburgh not to make use of his Majesty's Name or Authority for obstructing your Company in the prosecution of your Trade with the Inhabitants of that City Signed at Edinburgh the 2d Day of August 1697. Sic subscribitur Tullibardin Ja. Ogilvie The Company finding that the said Resident did notwithstanding this Answer continue his Opposition and deny that he had any orders to the contrary petitioned his Majesty's Privy Council afresh as follows To the Right Honourable the Lord High Chancellour and remanent Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council The humble Representation of the Council General of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies May it please your Lordships 'T IS not unknown to your Lordships how that in several successive Sessions of this current Parliament his Majesty's Instructions to his respective High Commissioners and their several Speeches pursuant thereto have been full of repeated Assurances of his Majesty's good Inclinations for incouraging the Trade and Manufactories of this Nation And whereas accordingly by the 22d Act of the fourth Session and the 8th Act of the fifth Session of the said Parliament together with his Majesty's Patent under the Great Seal of this Kingdom our Company is established with such ample Privileges and Immunities as were thought most proper for encouraging both Natives and Foreigners to join in the carrying on supporting and advancement of our Trade we in pursuance and upon the publick Faith thereof not only contributed at home a far more considerable joint Stock than ever was yet rais'd in this Nation for any publick Undertaking or Project of Trade whatsoever but have also had all the promising hopes and prospect of foreign Aid that our hearts could wish till to our great surprize the English Ministers at Hamburgh have under pretence of special Warrant from his Majesty put a stop thereto by giving in a Memorial to the Senat of that City threatning both Senat and Inhabitants with the King 's utmost Displeasure if they should countenance or join with us in any Treaty of Trade or Commerce as by the annexed Copy thereof may appear Upon due consideration whereof we have in all duty and humility addressed his Majesty in June last for redress thereof in answer to which Address his Majesty was then graciously pleased to signify by his Royal Letter That upon his return into England he would take into consideration the Contents of our said Address and that in the mean time he would give Orders to the said Ministers at Hamburgh not to make use of his Royal Name or Authority for obstructing the Trade of our Company with the Inhabitants of that City In the full assurance of which we rested secure and took our measures accordingly till to our further surprize and unspeakable prejudice we find by repeated Advices from Hamburgh that the said Resident continues still contumacious and is so far from giving due Obedience to his Majesty's said Order that upon application made to him by our Agent in that City with all the respect due to his Character he declared that as yet he had got no such
Order on our behalf which by a further Address we are now to lay before his Majesty But whereas we humbly conceive your Lord ships to be more immediatly under his Majesty the Guardians of the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom We think it our duty to represent to your Lordships the Consequences of the said Memorial both with relation to our Company in particular and the Privileges Interest Honour Dignity and Reputation of the Nation in general Your Lordships very well know of what concern the Success of this Company is to the whole Kingdom and that scarce any particular Society or Corporation within the same can justly boast of so solemn and unanimous a Suffrage or Sanction as the Acts of Parliament by which this Company is established So that if effectual measures be not taken for putting an early stop to such an open and violent Infringement of and Incroachment upon the Privileges of so solemn a Constitution 't is hard to guess how far it may in after Ages be made use of as a Precedent for invading and overturning even the very Fundamental Rights natural Liberties and indisputable Independency of this Kingdom which by the now open and frequent Practices of our unkind Neighbours seem to be too shrewdly pointed at And should this Company wherein the most considerable of the Nobility Gentry Merchants and whole Body of the Royal Burroughs are concerned be so unhappy which God forbid as to have its Designs rendered unsuccessful through the unaccountable evil Treatments of our said Neighbours most certain it is that no consideration whatever can hereafter induce this Nation to join in any such other publick Stock tho never so advantageous an undertaking as not doubting but to meet with the like or greater Discouragements from those who give such frequent and manifest Indications of their Designs to wrest our Right and Freedom of Trade out of our hands For which cause we humbly offer the Premises to your Lordships serious Consideration not doubting but you will in your profound Wisdom and Prudence take such effectual measures for redress thereof at present and to prevent the like Incroachments for the future as may be capable to remove those Apprehensions and Jealousies which the bare-faced and avowed Methods of the English do now suggest not only to our Company in particular but even to the whole Body of this Nation in general Signed at Edinburgh the 22d Day of December 1697. in Name Presence and by Order of the said Council General by May it please your Lordships Your Lordships most Obedient and most Humble Servant Sic subscribitur Francis Scot P. And therewith they join'd another to the King as follows To the King 's most Excellent Majesty The Humble Address of the Council General of the Company of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies May it please Your Majesty BY a former Address of the 28th of June last We have humbly represented to Your Majesty that Your Majesty's Envoy to the Court of Lunenburgh and Resident at Hamburgh did under pretence of special Warrant from Your Majesty give in a Memorial to the Senat of the said City of Hamburgh contrary to the Law of Nations and expresly invading the Privileges contained in the said Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent by which our said Company is established Copies of which Address and Memorial we have for Your Majesty's better Information hereto annexed In answer to which Your Majesty was then graciously pleased to signify by your Royal Letter that upon Your Majesty's Arrival in England You would take the Contents of our said Address into consideration and that in the mean time You would give Orders to Your said Minister not to make use of Your Majesty's Name or Authority for obstructing our Comapny in the prosecution of our Trade with the Inhabitants of the said City of Hamburgh In the full assurance of which we rested secure and took our Measures accordingly till to our further fur prize and great disappointment we find by repeated Advices from Hamburgh that Your Majesty 's said Resident continues still contumacious and is so far from giving due Obedience to Your Majesty's said Order that upon Application made to him for that effect with all respect due to his Character he pretended that he had never as yet got any such Order on our behalf Which we thought fit in all duty and humility to lay before Your Majesty renewing withal our most humble and earnest Request that Your Majesty would be now graciously pleas'd to take the Contents of this and our said former Address into consideration and in Your Royal Wisdom order some speedy and effectual Redress of our Grievances therein mentioned and a just Reparation of the manifest Damages which our Company has already fustain'd by reason of the said Memorial And grant us a declaration under Your Royal Hand to render the Senat and Inhabitants of the City of Hamburgh and all others with whom we may have occasion to enter into Commerce secure from Threatnings and other false Suggestions contained in the said Memorial as well as to render us secure under Your Majesty's Protection in the free Enjoyment of our lawful Rights and Privileges contained in Your Majesty's Acts of Parliament and Letters Patent above mentioned Signed at Edinburgh the 22d Day of December 1697. in Name Presence and by Order of the said Council General by May it please your Majesty Your Majesty's most Faithful most Dutiful most Humble and most Obedient Subject and Servant Sic subscribitur Francis Scot P. Notwithstanding all this humble Application there was no stop put to that Opposition So that the Hamburghers dar'd not venture to subscribe and the Company after great loss of time and Money and leaving two Ships unfinish'd to the great Dishonour as well as Disadvantage of the Nation were oblig'd to recal their Agents after having spent 30000 l and not receiv'd one Farthing there tho the Hamburghers were so willing to join that they were sorry there was not room left for subscribing more than 200000 l The Company finding themselves thus injuriously dealt with made application to the Parliament of Scotland for redress Upon which the Parliament presented the following Address to his Majesty An ADDRESS to his Majesty by the Parliament WE Your Majesty's most Loyal and Faithful Subjects the Noblemen Barons and Burgesses convened in Parliament do humbly represent to Your Majesty that having consider'd a Representation made to us by the Council General of the Company trading to Africa and the Indies making mention of several Obstructions they have met with in the prosecution of their Trade particularly by a Memorial presented to the Senat of Hamburgh by Your Majesty's Residents in that City tending to lessen the Credit of the Rights and Privileges granted to the said Company by an Act of this present Parliament We do therefore in all humble Duty lay before Your Majesty the whole Nations Concern in this Matter And We most earnestly do entreat
making his Case better that it makes it ten times worse for if his Affections be captivated we are without remedy except we either sue for a Divorce as in case of wilful Desertion and denying conjugal Duty or withdraw from under his roof and remove to another Family as God and Man will allow one Sister to do that is oppressed and denied the Privileges of paternal Love and Protection whilst another is caressed and dandled and has her Fortune raised by diminishing that of the neglected Sister The Jamaica Proclamation against our Colony at Darien comes next to be considered and is as follows By the Honourable Sir William Beeston Knt-Governour and Commander in chief for his Majesty in the Island of Jamaica and of the Territories and Dependencies of the same and Admiral thereof WHereas I have received Orders from his Majesty by the Right Honourable James Vernon one of the Principal Secretaries of State importing that his Majesty was not informed of the Intentions and Designs of the Scots in peopling Darien which is contrary to the Peace between his Majesty and his Allies commanding me not to afford them any Assistance In compliance therewith in his Majesty's Name and by his Order I do strictly charge and require all and every his Majesty's Subjects that upon no pretence whatsoever they hold any Correspondence with the Scots aforesaid or give them any Assistance with Arms Ammunition Provision or any thing whatsoever either by themselves or any other for them nor assist them with any of their Shipping or of the English Nations upon pain of his Majesty's Displeasure and suffering the severest punishment Given under my Hand and Seal of Arms the 9th of April 1699. and in the 11th year of the Reign of William the 3d King of England Scotland France and Ireland and Lord of Jamaica Defender of the Faith It contains a heavy Charge against the Scots Company as having settled in Darien without informing his Majesty and having thereby broke the Peace betwixt his Majesty and his Allies As to their not intorming his Majesty with their Design there was neither any need of it nor had they reason to do it that there was no need of it is plain enough from the Act of Parliament impowering them to settle any where in Asia Africa or America upon places not inhabited or any other place with consent of the Natives and not possess'd by any European Potentate Prince or State So that they were under no Obligation to acquaint him where they design'd to settle provided they kept to the Terms of the Act. And that they had no cause so to do is evident from that unreasonable opposition that a Faction of Court had prevailed with him to make to them all along which gave them just cause to expect the like treatment in time to come Then as to the Breach of the Peace betwixt his Majesty and his Allies by the Settlement they had no reason to think themselves guilty of any such thing and so much the less that Dampier Wafer and all others that wrote of the Country gave an Account of the Natives being in possession of their Liberty and almost in continual Wars with the Spaniards Besides it was a rul'd Case in England since Capt. Sharp was by Law acquitted in King Charles Il's time not only for having marched through Darien in a Hostile manner but for attacquing Places that were really in possession of the Spaniards as St. Maria and Panama because he acted by virtue of a Commission from those Darien Princes This together with their not finding a Spaniard or Spanish Garison on all that part of the Isthmus was enough to justify the fairness of the Scots Settlement there and to have put a stop to this hasty Sentence till both sides had been heard But instead of that the Advisers to this Proclamation take upon them in a very Magisterial manner to declare the Scots guilty of a Breach of the Peace betwixt his Majesty and his Allies which is so much the more remarkable that this Proclamation is publish'd in the West-Indies before ever it was known what the Scots could say in their own defence and sent away before the presenting of the Spanish Memorial which was on the third of May 1699. and the Proclamation bears date April 9th 1699. The unfairness of this Proclamation is evident from this that at the very same time it is publish'd in the West-Indies the Lord President of the Sessions and his Majesty's Advocate for the Kingdom of Scotland were sent for from hence to see what they could say to justify their Pretensions to Darien which they did by such Arguments as have not yet been answer'd We leave it then to the impartial Thoughts of the good People of England whether we have not occasion to say that our King is in the Hand of our Enemies since we are thus condemn'd without a hearing and our Nation put tothe trouble and expence to send Lawyers out of the Kingdom to defend themselves before those that had already condemned them And since this is a visible effect of the Union of the Crowns by which we are every day more and more oppressed let them speak their Consciences if we have not all the reason in the World to dissolve that Union except the Nations be more closely united and upon a better footing That we were so treated in former Reigns we had no great cause to wonder when the Court was engaged in a Conspiracy against our Religion and Liberties And our Nation being inferior to none in their Zeal for both it was but natural to think that we should be the first Sacrifice But to be treated thus by a Prince who hath ventur'd his Life to save us from Popery and Slavery a Prince who for Courage in War and Conduct in Peace is not to be match'd in Story a Prince who is under God the Great Champion of our Religion and the bold Asserter of Europe's Liberty a Prince whose Family we revere and whose Person we adore a Prince for whom we have so chearfully ventur'd our Lives and lost so much of the best Blood in our Veins to be so treated by such a Prince hath some thing cutting beyond expression and proves that our Disasters are no way to be remedied but either by a total Separation or a closer Union of the two Kingdoms We cannot be so unjust to his Majesty's Character as to think a Prince of his Magnanimity could be guilty of so mean a thing as willingly to subject the Crown of his Antient Kingdom which he received free to that of another We cannot once suffer it to enter into our thoughts that he who dares to out-brave Death in the Field a thousand times a day should act so unworthy a part as first to condemn and then to try us These and all other things of that sort we must needs charge to the account of our Enemies about him who misrepresent us and therefore surprise his Majesty
England to suffer any froward and headstrong Faction to embroil them with Scotland or to ruin that Kingdom the Consequence of which will be the exposing themselves as an easier Prey to the Conquest of the French or any other Enemy That the French had a hand in fomenting our late Civil Wars and made use of their Firebrands in all Parties is beyond dispute and that it is now more their Interest to divide us than ever is so palpable that it cannot be denied Nothing in human probability could have stop'd the impetuous Current of their Arms but the Interposition of Great Britain and therefore it concerns them both in point of Interest and Revenge to dash us against one another and if the ill Usage that we meet with from the Court of England should force us again into a French or other Alliance the World cannot blame us since the Laws of Nature and Nations are for us Put the case that a smaller number of Christians should be unjustly attack'd by a greater whom nothing will satisfy but the utter Ruin of the former Could any man in conscience blame the weaker Party to call in the Assistance of Jews and Pagans to preserve their own Lives Is it not the same case with the Scots have they not ever since the Union of the Crowns been oppressed and tyranniz'd over by a Faction in England who will neither admit of an Union of the Nations nor leave the Scots in possession of their own Privileges as Men and Christians Was it not a Party in England that impos'd upon us first in Matters of Religion Did we send first to oblige them to submit to the Geneva Disciplin as they call it or was it they that first imposed their Ceremonies and Forms of Prayer upon us Was it we who first invaded them with an Army to subvert their Civil and Religious Liberties or did not they first invade us Was it we who first made Acts against their Trade or they who made Acts destructive of ours Did we issue Proclamations against their Colonies or have they done so by ours In the name of God then let them declare what they would have us to do They will not unite with us nor suffer us to live by our selves Nor must we have any share of their Trade or carry on a Trade by our selves Is it not plain then that the Faction oppress us and yet we must not complain of this sort of Treatment 2. If the State of Affairs in Ireland be consider'd it will appear to be such as may make it dangerous to suffer the Scots to be oppressed and provok'd in this manner It is well enough known that the People of Ireland are not very well pleas'd with their Treatment by some in England This together with the great numbers of Scots in the North of that Kingdom who bear a natural Affection to their Country and would be very uneasy to see its Ruin may prove of dangerous consequence in case of a Rupture with Scotland 3. It will further appear to be the Interest of England not to suffer the Scots to be so much run down if they consider the posture of their own Affairs at home The Divisions and Animosities betwixt the several Parties in England are well enough known So that besides the Sport it would afford to the common Enemy of our Religion and Country to see those two Nations engaged in War the Enemies of the present Government would be sure to improve it and watch for an opportunity to avenge themselves for what has been done against the late K. James and his Friends It is well enough known what hopes they and some People beyond Sea conceive from the Differences that this Treatment of the Scots may probably occasion and as they have an irreconcilable Hatred against our Nation because we declar'd so generally against the late King and are so zealous for his present Majesty there 's no doubt but they will foment our Divisions as much as they can and insinuate themselves with both Parties in order to set them together by the Ears They know that so many as fall in England of those who adhere to the present Constitution and so many as fall in Scotland for supporting the Trade and Freedom of their Country so many Enemies they are rid of therefore there 's no question but they promise themselves a plentiful fishing in such troubled Waters It likewise deserves the consideration of our Neighbours that they don't stand at present in very good terms as to matter of Trade with France Holland and Flanders nor is it well known what the Issue of the present Controversy with Spain about regulating their Succession may be The impending differences betwixt the Northern Crowns may perhaps in a little time imbroil them with one or other of them and affect their Trade also on that side All which being consider'd it would seem to be the Interest of England to assure themselves of the Friendship of the Scots by treating them in a kind and neighbourly manner 4. It will appear in particular not to be the Interest of the Dissenters and sober Churchmen that the Scots should be thus run down because their own Ruin will be the unavoidable Consequence of it This they may soon be convinc'd of if they will give themselves leave to consider how they were treated in K. Charles the First 's time when the Court did swell with so much Rage against the Kingdom of Scotland for asserting their Liberties then as they do now All those Church of England-men that could not conform to the Innovations brought into the Church by Laud and his Party were treated as Puritans and Schismaticks and those that appear'd for the Liberties of the Nation against the Ship-money and other Arbitrary Impositions of the Court were treated as Rebels and Traitors If they look into the two last Reigns it will appear as plain as the Sun that when Scottand was oppress'd and their Liberties wrested from them the Dissenters and moderate Church-men in England were brought under the lash the former were depriv'd of their Religion and Liberties and the latter expos'd to destruction by Sham-plots c. because of their appearing for the Laws of their Country We need mention no more Instances to put this out of Controversy than those deplorable ones of the Earl of Essex and Lord Russel to which we may add the shameful and barbarous Treatment of the worthy Mr. Johnson Chaplain to the latter because he so excellently defended with his Pen the Birth-right and Freedom of all true Englishmen From all this it will appear that England in general must suffer by the Ruin of Scotland and that those who have all along stood up for the English Liberties must lay their Account to come under the lash if once our Necks come under the Yoke therefore we dare appeal to the sober Men of the Church of England Whether it be their Interest that a Nation which agrees with them in all
long before the Union but continue still in the Highlands which we can scarocly think is unknown to our Author who was born so near that Country as Dumbarton The Macdonalds have been several times in Arms against the Earl of Argile since the Restoration and there 's a Fend now depending between the Frazers and the Murrays or rather the Family of Athol Non did we ever hear of any thing that look'd so like an unnatural Massacre in Scotland as that committed since tho Revolution upon the Inhabitants of Glenco which had it not been for the Union of the Crowns would not have been suffer'd to go unpunished But admitting it to be true that the Union had deliver'd us from those little Feuds we are no gainers by the Bargain since it hath occasion'd greater pavticularly that unnatural Feud which rag'd so long betwixt the Episcopal Party and Presbyterians and had its rise altogether from the Union of the Crowns the very prospect of which was the sole cause why the Earl of Morton when Regent set up the first Protestant Bishops in Scotland Into what Couvulsions that Imposition threw the Nation is well enough known and how besides the bringing down K Charles I. with 30000 Men against our Kingdom and contributing to engage the Nations in a Civil War it occasioned King Charles II. to plunder the West of Scotland first by Sir James Turner which gave rise to the Insurrection at Pentland and twice afterwards by the Highland Host which occasion'd that of Bothwel-Bridg And afterwards the Oppression run so high that it forc'd some of the Presbyterians into unaccountable Actions which gave occasion to oppress the whole Party so that it was made punishable by Death for any of their Ministers to preach or for the People to hear them From this indeed we were totally delivered by the Revolution tho our freedom in that respect was partly begun by the late King James's Declaration But our Enemies unwilling that our Nation should be long at ease have found other Methods to set our Court against us And because they know that his present Majesty has too great a Soul to persecute any man on the account of Conscience our Enemies have chang'd their Battery and instead of pointing their Cannon at our Religion they level them against our Civil Liberties The Powder they prime their Artillery with is That we are Enemies to Prerogative But because this would not go down with the good People of England who are strenuous Assertors of Liberty and Property they must gild it over with the specious Pretence that we have a design to undermine their Trade and have unjustly invaded the Spanish Dominions This is the Design of H s and his Suborners and therefore they insist so much on our Clandestine Declarations as they call them that we publish'd in the English Plantations on purpose to drain them of their People but unhappily overthrow what they advance at the same time when they tell us That the Jamaica Sloops were Witnesses that we had neither Provisions nor Money for the sustenance of our own People pag. 148. And therefore it cannot reasonably be suppos'd that we had any such design as he malicioufly charges us with to draw over the People from the English Plantations since we had not wherewith to support our own but more of this anon Our Author learn'd the Maxim of Calumniare audacter aliquid barebit when he was a Papist And if he and his Suborners can be any way instrumental to set the Nations together by the Ears by this Method or if that fail if they can but raise Animositys between them they know it will be a good pretence for some people to put his Majesty upon pressing for a Standing Army and perhaps for having it enlarg'd it being necessary say they to overaw the Scors but in reality to protect such evil Counsellors from being brought to Justice that have advis'd to such Measures as visibly tend to the disadvantage of both Nations It may perhaps be worth the Enquiry of our Neighbours whether this be not the real meaning of this intolerable Oppression exercis'd upon our Nation as to their Trade both at home and abroad viz. that knowing our prafervidum Ingenium as they are pleas'd to call it to be impatient under Tyranny the Faction think thereby to provoke us to a resentment that may give occasion for raising an Army against us which if it have the good hap to subdue us or force us to digest our Oppresslon without any more to do shall be made use of afterwards to chastise themselves and bring them to better Manners then to limit their Monarchs in their Grants and leave them no other Troops but their Garisons and Guards It was the Observalton of the Earl of Shastsbury whom his Enemies will own to have been a great Statesman that Scotland is a Door to let in Good or Evil upon England which is verified in the latter at least by the whole Course of our History since the Union for when K. James I. succeeded in trampling upon us he quickly began to huff his Parliaments in England and notwithstanding all the Remonstrances of Church and State would needs have a Popish Match for his Son tho he should sacrifice the Great Sir Walter Rawleigh his own Daughter the Queen of Bohemia and her Children together with the Protestant Interest in Germany to make way for it When Charles I. obtain'd footing for his Impositions on the Church and State of Scotland it 's well enough known what Methods he took with England and how he sacrific'd the Protestant Interest in France whilst he eagerly pursued an Arbitrary Sway at home When Charles II. got his Prerogative exalted and an Army at his Call allow'd him in Scotland i'ts too late to be forgotten how he trod under foot the Liberties of England seiz'd the Charters of their Cities cut off whom he would by Sham-Plots and pav'd the way for Popery and Arbitrary Power When K. James II. did by his absolute Power and unaccountable Authority cass and annul all the Laws establishing the Reformation in Sootland it was not long e're he suspended the Laws imprison'd the Bishops and fill'd with Papists his Council Army and Universities in England From all which it is evident that our Neighbours have reason to look to themselves when we are oppress'd for in all probability their Acts of Parliament will not be long regarded when ours are annull'd and made void by the Intrigues of the Courtiers and West-India Proclamations The very Advocats of Tyranny make use of this as their Herculean Argument That the People having once resign'd their Privileges to the Crown have no more right to demand them which tho we will not allow to be any ways concluding yet we may very well make use of it ad hominem that a pari ratione when once a Prince has touch'd with his Scepter a Law for the benefit of his Subjects it is not in his power