the desires of His People or to shift them off upon the Generality of their Desires But what they plainly desire He gives a distinct Instruction to it and when they point at any thing which they do not distinctly Express He Remits the whole Affair to themselves and in this Case because there was no necessity of Adjusting Narratives but only to Rescind some Acts of that Parliament therefore the King doth not Require His Commissioner to Transmit the Proposals as in many other Articles but Authorizeth him to give the Royal Assent in this Matter and in the Settling of Church-Government and in Redressing of Fines and Restoring of Forfaultures which were the greatest Tokens of his Intire Confidence in the Parliament and that He did not Proceed Cautiously or Narrowly with them Who could have expected such unsuitable Returns that some persons should press to proceed to Votes in Matters new not offered in their Grievances without Representing to His Majesty any thing of the Matter before they were previously engaged and put the King to the necessity of a Refusal But that you may have a Swatch of the Acts of that Parliament and how far our Great Men did Outvey one another to Depress the Nation and Raise the Prerogative I have set down the Second Act of that Parliament by which you will see that they have not rested in the Doctrine of Passive Obedience but for what I see we owne Active Obedience without Reserve and yet I am told this Act passed with very few or no contrary Votes A Declaration and Offer of Duty by the Kingdom of Scotland with an Annexation of Excise to the Crown April 28. 1685. THe Estates of Parliament now Conveened by His Majesties Soveraign Authority Taking into their Confideration how the Nation hath continued now upwards of 2000 years in the unaltered Form of our Monarchical Government and uninterupted Line of 111 Kings whose Sacred Authority and Power hath been upon all Signal Occasions so Owned and Assisted by Almighty God that Our Kingdom hath been Protected from Conquest Our Possessions Defended from Strangers Our Civil Commotions brought into Wished Events Our Laws Vigorously Executed Our Properties Legally Fixed and Our Lives Securely Preserved so that We and Our Ancestors have Enjoyed those Securities and Tranquillities which the greater and more Flourishing Kingdoms have frequently wanted Those great Blessings We Owe in the first place to Divine Mercy and in Dependance on that to the Sacred Race of Our Glorious Kings and to the Solid Absolute Authority wherewith they were Invested by the First and Fundamental Laws of Our Monarchy Nor can either Our Records or Our Experience Instance Our being Deprived of those happy Effects But when a Rebellious Party did by Commotions and Seditions Invade the Kings Sacred Authority which was the Cause of Our Prosperity yet so far hath Our Primitive Constitution and Fundamental Laws Prevailed against the Innovations and Seditions of Turbulent Men as that these Interuptions never Terminated but either in the Ruine or at least the Suppression of these who at any time did Rebell or Rise in Opposition to Our Government And since so many Ages hath Assured to Us the great Advantages that flow down to all Ranks of People from the happy Constitution of Our Monarchy and that all Our Calamities hath ever arisen from Seditious Invasions upon these Sacred Rights Therefore the Estates of Parliament for Themselves and in Name of the whole Kingdom Judge Themselves Obliged to Declare and They Do Declare to the World that they Abhor and Detest not only the Authors and Actors of all preceeding Rebellions against the Soveraign but likewise all Principles and Positions which are Contrary or Derogatory to the Kings Sacred Supreme Absolute Power and Authority which none whether Persons or Collective Bodies can Participat of any manner of Way or upon any Pretext but in Dependance on Him and Commission from Him and as Their Duty formerly did Bind them to Owne and Assert the Just and Legal Succession of the Sacred Line as Unalterable by any Humane Jurisdiction so now they Hold Themselves on this Occasion Obliged for Themselves and the whole Nation Represented by Them in most Humble and Dutiful Manner to Renew the Hearty and Sincere Offer of their Lives and Fortunes to Assist Support Defend and Maintain King James the 7th their present Glorious Monarch and his Heirs and Lawful Successors in the Possession of Their Crowns Soveraignty Prerogatives Authority Dignity Rights and Possessions against all Mortals And withall to Assure all His Enemies who shall Adventure on the Disloyalty of Disobeying His Laws or on the Impiety of Invading His Rights that such shall sooner weary of their Wickedness than they of their Duty And they firmly Resolve to give their intire Obedience to His Majesty without Reserve and to Concur against all His Enemies Forreign or Intestine and they solemnly Declare that as they are Bound by Law so they are voluntarly and firmly Resolved that all of this Nation betwixt Sixty and Sixteen Armed and Provided according to their Abilities shall be in Readiness for His Majesties Service where and as oft as it shall be His Royal Pleasure to Require them And since the Excise of In-land and Forreign Commodities Granted to King Charl. 2 of ever blessed Memory by the 14th Act of the Parliament 1661 during all the days of his Lifetime and Prorogat by the 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 for five years thereafter will shortly Terminat And the Estates of Parliament Considering the Usefulness of this Grant to Support the Interest of the Crown Do as the first Evidence of their Sincerity in the foresaid Tender of their Duty Humbly and Unanimously Offer to His most Sacred Majesty King James the 7th their present Monarch and to His Lawful Heirs and Successors in the Imperial Crown of Scotland the said Excise of In-land and Forreign Commodities exprest in the said 14th Act of Parliament 1661 to be Collected in the manner Prescribed by the said 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 for ever And His Majesty and Estates of Parliament by the force of this Act have United Annexed and Incorporated and Unites Annexes and Incorporats the same to the Crown of this Realm to Remain therewith in Annexed Property in all time coming And in respect that the Alteration in the method of Collecting the In-land Excise from what it was by the Act 1661 to that Prescribed by the 8th Act of the Parliament 1681 will require some time to establish it in Collection Therefore His Majesty with Consent of the Estates continues the Collection Prescribed by the 14th Act of the Parliament 1661 for the said In-land Excise for six Moneths from the first of May next allenarly Art. 12. Griev THat the Marriage of a King or Queen of this Realm to a Papist is dangerous to the Protestant Religion and ought to be provided against This is Answered by the Fourteenth Instruction Instruct 14. YOu are to pass an Act that
men who make such a noise about the Authority of the Grievances that the King must satisfie them and yet when they please to bring in any little Overture it must take place and justle out the other 2º As to the Vote of Incapacities it is indeed a Vote incapacitating the King to imploy any person in his service but whom they please for the Terms are so lax and the Nation so universally involved that there are few men of Business Fortune or parts but they may be reached and most part of the Addressers themselves as far as they are capable they are guilty but when a man turns upon that side the most abominable and monstrous faults are covered whereas trifles are mustered and magnified if a man be on the King's side And I cannot forget the last Member of the incapacities that all who have obstructed the designs of the House after they came the length of Votes shall be incapable of Publick Trust though the Royal consent neither is nor I believe will perhaps ever be adhibited so they are no Laws but abortive Attempts which never had a precedent and it may be will never have a parallel So it was above measure hard to inflict the severest pain of incapacity where there was no Law Transgressed as appears by the words of the Statute Act 3. Par. 1. K. Ch. 2d So no Acts Sentences or Statutes to be past in any Parliament can be binding upon the people or have the Authority and force of Laws without the special Authority and Approbation of the King's Majesty or His Commissioner interpon'd thereto at the making thereof the punctual observance thereof is injoyned that none offer to call in question impugn or do any deed to the contrair hereof under the pain of Treason 3. As to that Article concerning the Session I have already told you how it was thrown out by the Committee of the Estates I dare say to you upon my reputation that there is not one word in our Law giving the Parliament any power in Tryal or Admission of the Lords of Session I shall refer you to two short Acts in Anno 1661 the second eleventh Acts of the first Session first Parliament K. Ch. 2d Where the King 's Right in this point is as clearly stated as can be exprest These Acts are as follows ACT and Acknowledgment of His Majesties Prerogative in the choise of His Officers of State Counsellors and Judges THE Estates of Parliament considering the great obligations that do ly upon them from the Law of God the Law of Nations the Municipal Laws of the Land and their Oaths of Allegiance to maintain and defend the Soveraign Power and Authority of the King's Majesty and the sad consequences that do accompany any incroachments upon or diminutions thereof do therefore from their sence of duty declare that it is an inherent priviledge of the Crown and an undoubted part of the Royal Prerogative of the Kings of this Realm to have the sole choise and appointment of the Officers of State and Privy Counsellors and nomination of the Lords of Session as in former times preceeding the year 1637. And that the King 's Sacred Majesty and his Heirs and Successors are for ever by vertue of that Royal Power which they hold from God Almighty over this Kingdom to enjoy and have the full exercise of that Right And therefore the King's Majesty with Advice and Consent of his Estates of Parliament doth hereby Rescind all Acts Statutes or Practices to the contrair Follows the acknowledgment of His Majesties Prerogative FOrasmuch as the Estates of Parliament of this Kingdom by their several Acts of the 11th and 25th of January last have from the sense of their humble duty and in recognizance of His Majesties just Right declared that it is an inherent priviledge of the Crown and an undoubted part of the Royal Prerogative of the Kings of this Kingdom to have the sole choise and appointment of the Officers of State Privy Counsellors and Lords of Session c. I shall only tell you that the Session is sitten down with as great satisfaction as ever it did and several of the most eminent Lawers have accepted whose Practice was much better than their Sallaries and you must allow me to say since they must know the Law they are great fools if they be not safe And I am sure the greatest Lawers that did oppose this would have been content to have run the hazard of the Parliaments censure if they could but procured the King's Commission and would have parted with the Club to the Boot when they had got their own Staik And as to that part of the Vote that the President should be chosen by the Lords this did not concern the Parliament since the Lords did not complain And the five last successive Presidents are named by the King in the same manner Besides my Lord Stairs is not made of new President but restored to an Office whereunto He had been formerly Admitted by the Lords conform to the King's Declaration from which he was unjustly thrust out And withal the Lords did unanimously by a Vote acquiesce in His Majesties nomination and reponing the President and declared if the matter had been intire to themselves they would all and every one of them have chosen him so this dust has been very idly raised 4o. I must again take notice of that grief they express for the want of that Church-government they themselves hindered to be established and the design of the Address is to Imprint in the apprehensions of the people that the King is slow or backward in that matter 5o. As to the Apology for not giving Cess it is very pleasant they did not refuse it absolutely but till some things were first exped which might give them satisfaction that is to say they would give no Cess or Subsistence for the Kings Troops though they must quit the Countrey if he withdraw them till such time as the King shall renounce the remainder of his Soveraignty And I shall not say that he hath been prodigal of his Prerogative but I am sure he hath been so liberal of it that it might at this time have given contentment for once It is needless in this case to remember either the obligations we owe to our King or the necessity we have of his Protection but I shall offer two things to show the ingratitude and foolishness of refusing this Supply 1o. The King hath expended above Threescore thousand pounds upon his Troops in Scotland out of his own Pocket for our defence and in sending Arms Ordnance and Ammunition thither and if he should abandon us this Winter the best part of the Nation would be forced to leave the Countrey 2o. By a standing Law the Parliament settled Eight Months Cess upon King James during his lifetime which we payed pleasantly for supporting that Government was it discretion to refuse the King four Months Cess which is but 24000 Pounds
the King or Queens of that Realm shall not marrie with Papists under this Certification that a Popish Queen Consort or the Husband of a Soveraign Queen shall not be capable to enjoy the benefit or advantage of any Provisions which the Law provides or particular Contracts or Agreements may have secured to them This is a most just Grievance and at this Port much Mischief hath been Landed to these Nations and a great Danger to our Religion in general No Popish Princes do Marry with Protestants but all the Daughters of Popish Princes are assumed into the Throne of Protestant Kingdoms whereby the Royal Issue to sad experience may be poisoned with Popish-Principles from the Mother and her Priests which is unavoidable if a Papist can be a Queen If the Grievance had proposed any particular Remedy the King would not have refused His Consent who is above all Suspition in this Matter and therefore the King hath proposed in His Instruction to make a Law Disabling the King or Soveraign Queens of Scotland to Marry with Papists as to which at present they are under no Limitation by any former Law and for a further Penalty to deter all Papists to Marry with them it was to be Declared that the Popish Husband of a Soveraign Queen or a Popish Queen Consort should be incapable to enjoy any Provision or Benefit either by Law or Paction during the Marriage or after its Dissolution and if the Parliament could fall upon any further Securities it would be worthy of their pains to fortifie this Passage yet further which is in so great probability to be Attaqued and hath so great opportunity to sink the Interest of these Nations and endanger the Protestant Religion thorow the World. Article 13. Griev THat the levying or keeping on Foot a Standing-Army in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament is a Grievance This Thirteenth Article of the Grievances is Answered by the Nineteenth Instruction Instruct 19. YOu are to pass an Act against a Standing-Army in time of Peace but so as Guards Garisons and necessary Standing-Forces may be Continued By this Instruction tho the King hath the Power yet He is Content to pass a Law against a Standing-Army in time of Peace beyond His Guards Garisons and necessary Standing-Forces Article 14. Griev THat all Grievances relating to the Manner and Measure of the Leidges their Representation in Parliament be Considered and Redressed in the first Parliament This Fourteenth Article of the Grievance is Answered by the Fifteenth Instruction Instruct. 15. YOu are to pass an Act that the greater Shires of that Kingdom such as Lanark Air Perth Eyse Aberdeen and Mid-Lothian and others where it shall be found Convenient may send three or four Commssiioners to Parliament that the Representation may be the more equal The Parliament of Scotland is a Feudal Representation of the whole Nation wherein every Bit of Land within the Kingdom is represented The King as Leidge-Lord Jurae Coronae is not only Invested in the Kingdom and hath the Dominium directum as Superior as well as King of the whole but likeways has the particular Patrimony of the Crown and whatever falls to the King Jure privato by Succession Emption Excambion or any other Title and also what befals to Him by Confiscation or what is Caduciary or where the King Succeeds as Vltimus Haeres Nam quod nullius est Regis est The great Barons or Lords they Sat in Parliament for their Lordships and Baronies whether they be Bishops or Temporal Lords And by the Antient Custom of Scotland every Free-Holder that is to say not as in England he who is Seased of a Proportion of Lands belonging to Him in Property but he who Holds a parcel of Lands in Capite or immediatly of the King is understood a Free or Noble Holder in Scotland and because the Divisions and Multiplication of Baronies hath rendred many of the Free-Holders small so that their Attendance in Parliament was Chargeable and Burdensome to them and it was a Disparagement to the Kings great Court of Parliament that the Mean Free-Holders should be Pares Curiae with the Nobility or Peers therefore the small Barons who do not Hold an Hundred Merk Land of the King are Allowed to Send their Commissioners to the Parliament and the Barons of each Shire are Allowed to Send two or moe Commissioners to the Parliament The Royal Burrows make up the Third Estate to the Parliament and each Royal Burrow doth Send One Commissioner but Edinburgh which Sendeth Two to Represent in Parliament the Lands given out by the King to their respective Burrows to be holden of Him Burgage whereby unaquaeque Gleba every Bit of the Kingdom is represented in Parliament But the Number of the Lords being Increased at the Kings pleasure they are now become as many as the Commissioners of Shires and Burrows if they were all present and it hath been the custom of our Kings to Erect Royal Burrows as they think fit the Shires always remaining the same The Commissioners for Shires who do Represent the greatest part of the Property of the Nation they are not proportional in Number and they have made many Attempts that the Shires being unequal in Extent Value or Number of Inhabitants that therefore the great Shires might be Allowed to Send more Commissioners which is agreeable to the Act of Parliament to Send Two or More that the Representation in Parliament of the Nation might be the more equal This Design hath been always Obstructed by the Lords or great Barons that they might have more Votes and Influence in the Parliament as also the Court hath Considered the Barons as that part of the Parliament which could be least Pack'd or Influenced being persons generally of the best Sense and Substance as being chosen by the rest of the Barons to Represent them Therefore the Court hath never Favoured this Adjusting of the Representation having greater Influence upon the Royal Burrows who are Weaker and upon the Noblemen who are generally more Necessitous and so more easily brought over to the Sentiments and Designs of the Court. But this King Regarding Equity and Justice more than Power He hath Consented that the Representation in Parliament be rendred as equal as can be and that the greater Shires shall have a greater Number of Representatives Article 15. Griev THat the Grievance of the Burrows be Considered and Redressed in the first Parliament This is Answered by the Sixteenth Instruction Instruct 16. YOu are to pass an Act Ratifying the Priviledges of the Burrows and Securing their Rights in Electing their own Magistrats for the Future and that the Burrows of Glasgow and St. Andrews shall have the Electing of their own Provosts Baillies and Town Council as the other Royal Burrows of that Kingdom have The Royal Burrows have a peculiar Interest in the King for as Burghs of Barony and Regality are Incorporations belonging to Noblemen and Gentlemen so the Royal Burrows are in