as we cannot once doubt that our Parliament will take care to assert the Honour of the Nation against them but perhaps there may be some difficulty in getting proper Resolves taken against the late measures of some Courtiers in opposition to the interest of the Country such are the trifling and fraudulent dealing with us as to the Hamburgh Memorial the like as to the West India Proclamations the denying of the Companys reasonable Petitions the Proclamation against the National Petition c. the unreasonable delaying of the meeting of the Parliament when the Honour and Interest of the Nation did so londly call for it c. It is not to be suppos'd that a Parliament who have retriev'd so much of our Ancient Constitution that was Usurp'd upon or giv'n away by pact Parliaments during the frâ—ntick transports and prevalency of the Cavalier Faction in Charleâ— II. time will be huffed or frighten'd out of their Rights by the bugbear words of Treason and Sedition those are Crimes with which Parliaments lawfully call'd and acting with the Consent of the People can never justly be Charg'd Freedom of Speech and Debate in Parliament being retriv'd by the Claim of Right Members who speak freely for the Honour and Interest of their Country are not now to be frighten'd by Red Coats and other Court Pensioners with the Castle the Castle as in the late Reigns If any such thing should now be offered the said Claim will justify sending the Proposers of it to the same Quarters By the same Instrument of Government or Claim of Right we are also deliver'd from that overgrown Prerogative or Excrescence of Tyranny that made it Treason to say the King is accountable to his Parliament since a freedom from those incroachments upon the Liberties of the Subject that the late Reigns were guilty of are made the foundation of this present Government and that His Majesty accepted our Crown upon those terms in the Claim of right promising to protect us from the violation of those Rights we therein asserted and from ALL OTHER ATTEMPTS upon our Religion Laws and Liberties all which were to no purpose and a meer empty piece of formality on both sides if our Representatives in Parliament might not freely remonstrate against the breach of one or all of them and if upon obstinate refusal of redress when such of them are violated as tend to the overthrow of our Constitution they have not a right to betake themselves to the last Remedy from all which it follows as a natural Conclusion that all those tyrannical Usurpations upon the people and stretches of Prerogative since King Charles the II's Restoration contrary to the said Claim of Right are as fully abrogated as if there were an Express Act of Parliament annulling every one of them and His Majesty's agreeing to that other Clause to protect us FROM ALL OTHER ATTEMPTS upon our Religion Laws and Liberties extends to the things now under Consideration but more especially to those that have been made upon our Sovereignty Independency and Trade His Majesty has no reason to think this a Hardship or Innovation upon him since it 's evident from our Histories and Acts of Parliament that our Ancestors did many times claim a much greater freedom in relation to their Princes than any thing here demanded We know there were a Sett of Judges and Clergymen in the late Reigns that condemn'd this as Treason and Sedition from the Benches and Pulpits but without a grain of Truth on their side as hath been sufficiently evidenc'd since others had liberty to write and speak as well as they Sir George Mackenzy was one of the ablest Penmen on their part but his Character and Interest are too well known in Scotland to suffer any man to lay much stress upon what he wrote on that head in his Ius Regium or other pieces His ipse dixit must not outweigh the Credit of all our Historians and old Acts of Parliament in this Matter and so much the less since his wild Conceptions about the form of our Original Government as being an absolute Monarchy are sufficiently contradicted by Caesar Tacitus and other contemporary Historians They do all of 'em expresly say that the Spaniards Gauls Irish and Britains had each of them many Kings and in Britain particularly that Kent alone had 4 Kings and that almost every City had its own King He describes Cassibelan's Boundaries and gives an account of his making War with other Cities The Silures and Bigantes had each their own Kings and question is made of Gethus a King of Orkney all which proves the truth of what Buchanan asserts of our Ancestors who first inhabited this Island that they livd ' sine Rege ac certo Imperio per Cognationes tributim sparsi which fully overthrows what Sir George Mackenzy hath asserted as to our Government being originally an absolute Monarchy and overturns all the train of Consequences he would deduce from thence This was so much the more inexcusable in Sir George that being a Highlander he could not but know that that manner of Government by Clans or Kindreds continues still in the Highlands and that the experience of all Ages hath made it apparent that generally speaking they paid a greater defference to the respective heads of their Clans than to the Kings themselves and seldom sail'd espousing their Quarrels against their Princes so little did absolute Monarchy ever obtain in Scotland This is so much the more remarkable in our Nation because the Heads of those Clans Tribes or Families had not their Original or Estates from the Gifts or Patents of their Princes on condition of Military Service c. as happen'd in those Countries where the Feudal Law took place and where Conquerours such as Charlemagne divided their Conquests amongst their Captains on condition of serving them in their Wars or other occasions and they again subdivided their Lands amongst their Vassals on condition of the like Service but on the contrary our Kings receiv'd their Power originally from those Heads of Families or Clans who were in being long before the Feudal Law was heard of which is generally agreed to have had its Rise in Lombardy came from thence into France was first practis'd there by Charlemagne and brought into Britain by William the Conquerour We don't deny however that our People might afterwards incorporate some things from the Feudal Law into their own Customs but this is plain if our Histories may be credited that our ancient great Families don't owe their Original to our Kings and that from time to time those Heads of Families who were our real Nobility when the pompous Titles of Duke Marquis Earl and Lord were all together unknown chose and gave Laws to our Kings who without them could do nothing and when they acted contrary to their Advice and the Constitutions of the Country they were by them call'd to an account and dethron'd or continued in the Government as they saw cause This is
exposed to publick Redicule and Contempt without any Animadversion upon Authors or Publishers Nor had any of our own Secretaries of State the Courage to take any Course with those Libellers or to complain of them though Appâ—ication was made to them for that end But if any thing be wrought to vindicate our Nation from such foul Caâ—umnies a greater Reward is offered for discovering the Authors than was offered for apprehending some of the Regicides Proclamations are published with more Zeal and Virulency for that end than against Popish Priests and Jesuits who by their Principles and Practises destroy Mens Souls and Bodies What eagerness did our Enemies at Court evidence in prosecuting Booksellers for the Enquiry into the Causes of our Colonies Miscarrying at Darien What paâ—ns and expence to find out the very Porters that Carried the Books aâ—out VVhat illegal and barbarous Treatments and Threaâ—s did they make use of to a poor Fellow taken up on Suspicion on that account keeping him Close Prisoner for a Week without anâ— Oath against him when his Wife lay-in in Child-bed and and his Family at the same time in a Starving Condition having nothing else but his Labour to depend on With what fury and heat did they Prosecute some People in Ireland for but reading it in publick And what pains and expence were they aâ— to bring over a Scots Bookseller from thence to witness against another Scots Bookseller in London that he had sent him a parcel of those Books What caâ—e to have extravagant Bâ—â—l from that London Bookseller and oâ—heâ—s and what threats to ruin that Dublin Bookseller if he would not câ—nâ—rary to Conscience and Knowledge swear against the Scots Bookseller in London and at the same time did not prosecute English Booksellers that were taken up for actually selling the Books And what pains and expence were they at to discover the Author though they had all the Reason in the World to think that he was not within the Jurisdiction of England and yet at the same time they suffer our Nation to be daily abused and ridiculed impunè These things are so plain and notorious that the Faction cannot but think the World takes notice of them and curses their Scandalous Partiality from their very Souls That pernicious Faction for still we would be understood to be far from charging any thing here said upon the whole English Nation may very well remember that they looked upon it to be a good Justification of their War against Holland because the Dutch reflected upon the Honour of the English Nation with their their Pens and Pencils drew their King with his Pocket turned inside out and his hands in his Breeches running after his Whores and represented the English Nation by their three Lions with their Tails cut and some such Device as this if we remember it right Angli Castigati latrant non mordent Is it not strange then that a Nation so jealous of their own Honour should suffer their Neighbours to be so scandalously revil'd in theirs but such is the Temper of the high Tory Faction and some sneaking Court Wigs that are fallen in with them in opposition to us that it seems they would have the Power of calling Kings to an account or cutting them off appropriated to England alone the latter we believe our Country will scarcely grudge them since they have been in the sole possession of it this 100 years and therefore have a Right to it by Prescription but as to the former we must beg their Pardon By our Claim of Right it is possible still for our Kings to forfeit their Crowns by Maleadministration whether they Abdicate or not We were under no obligation to mince the matter nor to manage the Credit of Passive Obedience and save our own Reputation for acting contrary to that pretended Principle by imposing a falshood upon the World We had no need to say that that Prince had voluntarily resign'd his Crown when he was obliged to quit it by an Armed Force therefore we acted fairly above-board according to the Genius of our Nation and declared he had forfeited his Right by acting so and so which being according to former Presidents may prove the way for others to come Whereas there 's no great likelihood of our Neighbours being so happy as to have all their â—uture Tyrants run away and perhaps it 's for that reason they are so Ambitious to ingross the Right of Lopping off Kings to themselves this we have the more reason to say since they were so mild in their Censure to Mr. Stevens who on the 30th of Ianuary defended that Practise before them and yet were so severe upon the Author of the Scots Enquiry for a meer Historical Relation of what Power our Ancestors clâ—imed over their Kings The next thing we are to consider is the Project of an Union 'twixt the English and us We shall not ofâ—er to call in question His Majesty's Sincerity in the Proposal because he made it formerly when there were none of those Controversies on foot betwixt us but we have all imaginable reason to question the Sincerity of those from whom it came now and to look upon that and his Majesty's Promise of holding our Parliament in Person to have been both of them contrived to gull and amuse us The very making of such a Proposal and the forwarding it by those Lords that had almost in the same breath charged themselves with the loss of onâ— Blood and Treasure at Darien and all the disappointments that our Company had met with was enough to make us suspect that no good to us was intended by it They that had just declared our Trading to the East and West Indies to be inconsistent with the Trade of England were not like to come to any Union that would allow us a share in their Trade when they will grant us none of our own yet it must be confess'd that we can never mention with Honour enough those Noble Lords who with a Generous and Impartial Justice protested against that unaccountable Address about our American Settlement But to return to the Union the unmanly and scurrilous Reflections thrown upon us in the House of Commons by some noted Torys on that occasion are Indications sufficient that such an Union as they design would only compleat our Ruin But at the same time we must own that our Nation is eternally obliged to those Worthy Members of the lower House who declared they rejected the Bill because they would not concur in putting a Sham upon their Neighbouring Nation that had been so much injured and so barbarously treated by the West India Proclamations c. It were easy to shew that an Union upon good and honourable Terms would be the greatest Happiness this Island could enjoy that it would certainly enrich and strengthen it and secure our Religion and Liberties against all Attempts from abroad and at home that it would bless boâ—h Nations with an oppoâ—tunity to rectify
it hath met with to be National Rebukes Yet since the Compliance of that Assembly so far with those that are Enemies to our Colony hath in a great measure disgusted the People it 's the more incumbent upon the Presbyterians in Parliament to retrieve it and by a steady and firm adherence to the Interest of the Nation to oppose a Standing Army and to concur in every thing that may tend to the Security and Advancement of our Colony We are sure if they don't act contrary to their own Principles they must do so The poor Country Ministers who for the most part have more Honesty than Policy may be imposed upon by the sly Insinuations of crafty ill Men that if the Presbyterians don 't fall in with the Party another Parliament shall be call'd to establish Episcopacy But we hope Gentlemen and Members of Parliament know better Things Admitting it to be true that the Faction hath threatned to do so it is contrary to the Divine Rule to do Evil that Good may come of it or to commit Sin to avoid Suffering Nor will it be in the power of the Faction to abolish Presbytry so long as it has the Affections of the People It is likewise evident that if the Presbyterians adhere at this time to our Civil Rights the Nation will be more and more endeared to their Constitution and it will be one of the most effectual means to convince its Enemies that our Discipline is not only best accommodated for the preservation of Religion but likewise for the Support of Civil Liberty It 's also evident that if the Presbyterians adhere to the Interest of the Nation it will be impossible to overturn their Church Constitution without shaking of the Throne since it is one of the fundamental Articles in the Claim of Right upon which His Majesty received the Crown But if the Presbyterians should at this time take part with the Wicked Counsellors against their Country and by that means lose the Affections of the People they infallibly ruin their Church Constitution which may be demonstrated thus Presbyterian Government was first settled in Scotland at the time of the Reformation by the Affections of the People it hath been supported by that same Means against all our Courts to the late Revolution and was restor'd to be the National Establishment then because most agreeable to the Inclinations of the People and 't is for that only reason it hath been continu'd since because the Court found it the best Method for securing their Interest in Scotland But if once it lose its ground in the Hearts of the People as it must unavoidably do if the Presbyterians at this Juncture act contrary to the Interest of the Kingdom then the Court will overturn Presbytery of their own accord both from a Principle of Interest and Inclination That it will be their Interest so to do is plain for if Presbytery once lose the Affections of the People of Scotland it can be of no more use to the Court but will afford them as good an opportunty as heart can wish to ingratiate themselves with the Church of England which is by much the greatest Interest in that Nation That it 's the Inclination of the Courtiers so to do we have no great reason to doubt it being well known that they have several times broke in upon our Laws since the Revolution in favour of the Episcopal Party Witness the long time they took to consider whether they should allow us Presbytery or not after Prelacy was Annull'd by the Convention of States and their Adjourning and Disolving the General Assemblies of our Church contrary to the express Statute when the E. of Lothian was Commissioner besides several Arbitrary Letters sent to the Assembly and Commissions of Assemblies to put a stop to the Exercise of the Jurisdiction the Law had invested them with It 's no way improbable that the pernicious Counsellours who endeavour to make Tools of the Presbyterians for carrying on their present purposes have also the ruin of Presbytery in view in Conjunction with their other designs against our Nation they put them upon those Measures to disoblige the People and divert their Inclinations from Presbytery that so they may have a fair pretence for getting the Law that Establishes it repealed since it 's founded upon the Peoples Inclinations If they be able to effect this all the Laws in fâ—vour of it will be but so many Cobwebs our Parliament themselves will be provok'd to Annul them or if they should not think it their Interest so to do the Faction will certainly break through them It 's in vain to suppose the contrary for since they have broke in upon our Sovâ—reignty and Trade which all but those who depend upon the Faction are unanimous to defend they will find it a much easier task to overturn Presbytery when back'd by the Church of England abroad and a strong Party at home We heartily wish this may never happen to be the Case for abstracting from all Theological Arguments in favour of Presbytery which we are satisfied are unanswerable we are fully convinced that it 's as much the Political Interest of our Nation to maintain that Form of Church-Government in opposition to Episcopacy as it 's the Interest of the Wise Venetians to exclude Church-men and their Dependants from having any share in the Civil Government and upon the same account too That Sage Republick excludes their Ecclesiasticks because they depend upon a Foreign Head and therefore are liable to tentations to espouse an Interest opposite to that of their Country It always has been and must be the same with Bishops in Scotland since we have no King of our own but in Partnership with another Nation who Claim Ten â—arts in Twelve or to speak the plain truth allow us no share in his Government at all but in order to subject us to themselves or to secure or promote their own Interest and therefore since all our Bishops must depend upon the King of England for their Nomination and Conge d'Eslire since they must be acted by the Church of England an irreconcilable Enemy to our Nation since we have found by our own Experience that the Bishops went always along with the Court to enslave the Country and since they concurred in Parliament to exalt the Prerogative to that Blasphemous heiâ—hâ— over Church and State it arrived to in the late Reigns It must of necessity be the Interest of Scotland to oppose that Form of Government and so much the more that our Episcopal Party don't think it of Divine Institution as appears by the first Act of Lauderdale's Second Parliament By parity of Reason it 's our Interest to maintain Presbytery because that Form has no dependence on the King of England our Ministers have no Honours nor Benefices from him and â—y consequence are under no such â—entations as the Bishops are to aâ—â— contrary to the Interest of their Country Besides Presbytery admits Laymen