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
SCOTLAND's Grievances Relating to DARIEN c. Humbly offered to the Consideration OF THE Parliament Vos quibus potior est turpis cum securitate servitus quam honesta cum periculo libertas istam quam magni estimatis fortunam amplectamini Ego in Patria saepe defensa liber libens moriar nec me prius ejus caritas quam vita relinquet Vallas ad Brussium Buchan Hist. lib. 8 Which for the benefit of those that don't understand Latin is English'd thus You who had rather like Cowards submit your Necks to a Yoke of Ignominious Slavery than expose your selves to any Danger in asserting the Public Liberty Hugg that Fortune which you value so highly For my part I shall cheerfully Sacrifice my Life to die a Free-man in my Native Country which I have so often Defended Nor will I cease to Love it till I cease to Live Wallace to Bruce when he join'd with the English against his Country Printed 1700. ERRATA OUr Nation being so Unhappy that those who Write or Act against it are Rewarded and Carested whereas those that Write or Act for it must do it at their Perril It is not to be wondred at that many Faults should escape the Press in those few Sheets when all must be done in Hurry and Fear And therefore the Readers are not only desired to Pardon but also to Amend the following Errata before they peruse the Book because they marr the Sense Page Line   9 36 read the Claim  12 18 Councellors  16 36 for too late read truly 20 24 for Wrought wrote 21 37 prove pave 44 care taken taken care 24 28 unequal equal 25 2 for made by by 14 pact pack'd 26 26 for question mention 27 43 read the Government  28 24 read that Nation  32 9 read the Parliament  PART I. SINCE our Nation bethought themselves of advancing their Trade by the Act for establishing a Company Trading to Africa and the Indies a greater Invasion hath been made upon our Sovereignty and Freedom than hath happened at any time since we were ingloriously betray'd by Baliol. 'T were needless to offer Instances to prove this had we not to do with a Sett of Men who having basely betray'd us would willingly bereave us of our Senses that we should neither perceive nor resent it The Matters of Fact being notorious we shall only mention them here with some short Reflections and take them in order of time as follows The Addresses of both Houses of Parliament in England against our Act above-mentioned was such an Invasion as to which it may be a proper Enquiry for our Parliament Whether those Addresses were not Contriv'd and Promoted by some about the K. as the last Address of the House of Lords was and whether any Native of Scotland was concern'd in Contriving or Promoting the same In the next place it will appear That the Parliament of Scotland has as much Right to signifie to the King by Address or otherwise that the said Addresses were contrary to the Law of Nations and an Intrenchment upon the Sovereignty of Scotland as the English Parliament had to present the said Address to him against our Act. They that Advis'd the King's Answer to the said Address are guilty of such an Invasion as to which it would seem that the Parliament of Scotland have as much Right to Resolve That whoever Advis'd His Majesty to the said Answer had done as much as in them lay to create a misunderstanding betwixt him and his People of Scotland as the Commons of England had to Resolve so upon His Majesty's Answer to their Resolves about the Irish Forfeitures The Memorial given in to the Senate of Hamburgh April 7th 1697. against our Company 's making any Convention or Treaty with that City for Promoting our Commerce was such an Invasion This may certainly be a just Cause of Enquiry to the Parliament of Scotland Whether the said Memorial was not a breach of the Law of Nations since the King of England has no Right to take Cognizance of what is done by the Subjects of Scotland out of the Dominions of England If the Faction say he did it as King of Scots let them produce their Authority In the next place they have Cause to enquire whether the Assertion in that Memorial that the Commissioners of our Company were no ways Authorized by His Majesty to make the said Treaties was not false And whether the said Memorial was not an actual Dispensing with and acting contrary to the Law Establishing our Company which Empowers them to Treat for and to procure Exemptions and other Grants as may be convenient for Supporting Promoting and Enlarging their Trade and Navigation from any Foreign Potentate or Prince whatsoever in Amity with his Majesty It would also seem to be a proper Enquiry for the Parliament of Scotland Whether all the Dammages the Company has sustained by the said Memorial and other Opposition made them by the Court ought not to be made good out of the Estates of those who gave His Majesty those Advises and that in order thereunto His Majesty be Address'd to know who they were or else that he would be pleased to make good the said Dammages some other way for effecting of which he stands obliged by the said Act to interpose his Authority upon the Publick Charge Since in the Close of the said Memorial His Majesty's Ministers threaten the Hamburghers with the Consequences of a breach of Friendship and good Correspondence with England if they did not put a stop to the proceedings of our Commissioners in that City This together with the before-mentioned Proceedings of the Parliament of England gives the Parliament of Scotland a more just ground to Address His Majesty to put a stop to those Intrenchments made by an English Faction for we don't charge it upon the whole Nation upon the Sovereignty and Freedom of Scotland than the English Parliament had to Address His Majesty against our Act. It may also deserve the Enquiry of the Parliament of Scotland Why the King of England's Ministers should dare to have call'd themselves Ministers to the King of Great Britain in that Memorial which was in direct opposition to a Scots Act of Parliament and Letters Patents Granted by the King of Scotland Since our Country is included in the Denomination of Great Britain and that His Majesty as King of Scots neither did nor could give them any Authority to present that Memorial This deserves their Enquiry so much the more that by this means our own Authority and Name may always be made use of against our selves as it was in this Case if care be not taken to prevent it and besides it may in future Ages be made use of as an Argument by the English Historâ—â—ns to prove that the Scots were Subject to England as their former Historians ignorantly made use of it as an Argument to prove the same thing that some of their Kings
not out of any respect to us that the English allow that Importation but they find their own Account in it because they buy them cheap find them better meat when fed than their own and that they eat up the Gâ—ass which their own Cattle will not touch and by consequence would be absolutely lost to them were it not for our Câ—â—tle and â—esides they would not be able to provide their Fleets and Merchant Ships so well without ours which puts them in a Condition to dispâ—se oâ— their own larger Cattle for that end But that which is an answer once for all we do not in the least bouâ—t if those of our own Countâ—y be consulted who have most Cattle to dispose of but they will satisfie our Parliament that this Oâ—jection is of no weight and we know the common Proverb That Interest will not lye Beside If the Parliament pleases to take effectual methods to encourage our Seâ—tlement in Caledonia and our Foreign Trade elsewhere we have reason to expect by the Blessing of God upon our Endeavours that we shall have every year less occasion than other to be obliged to our Neighbours for taking off our Cattle and so much the less since we know now by Experience that our own Beef will endure Sâ—le so as to make it fit for Sea It likewise deserves the Enquiry of â—ur â—arliament Whether it be not prâ—per to discharge the English from Fishing in our Seas Creeks and Harbours which their Company called by the Name of The Royal Fâ—shery pretend a Right to by a â—atent from King Ch. II. who had no Power â—o Grant it without the Consent of our Parliaments The English themselves cannot justly find fault if we do this they know their Selden maintained a Mare Clausum against Grotius's Mare Liberum so that out of there own Mouth we judge them and we have so much the more Reason to do this because of their late insolence to come into our own Harbours and Roads where they search our Ships and take out what they think fit in defiance of the Laws of Nations to the great interruption of our Trade and the dishonour of our Country These things together with their pressing our Seamen out of our Merchant Ships in time of War as if they were their own Subjects are Grievances which we ought not to put up but insist upon an effectual Redress of them as being utterly inconsistent with our Liberty and Freedom If the Faction object that such proceedings may occâ—sion a War with England we can soon answer them That it is not the English Nation but a Court-Faction supported by some hot headed Ecclesiasticks and their Superstitious Bigotted Adherents that is at the bottom of this unneighbourly Treatment of our Country England is a wise and clear-sighted Nation and will never make War against us upon such a Quarrel their present Conduct proves beyond contradiction that they have no such design they disarm instead of putting themselves in a Posture for War and are sensible of the danger they are in themselves from that very Faction that are now oppressing us and therefore will not intrust them with a Standing Army nor Monâ—y sufficient to keep one on foot So that we have so littâ—e Reaâ—on to fear a Rupture with the English Nation on that account that we rather have cause to expect their favour if we imitate â—â—â—ir Conduct â—nd take the same or the like measures that they do for securing our Liberty and Property from the Invasions of Court Parasites and pernicious Counselâ—ors We hear every day what brave efforâ—s they make for advancement of their Trade and pulling Arbitrary Government up by the Roots they are no ways afraid of telâ—ing their Kings freely when they are misled and act any thing conâ—rary to the Honour and Interest of the Nation They make no scruple of sâ—â—prâ—aching the Chief Ministers of State and Favourites when they find them guilty of any thing thâ—t may be pâ—ejudiciâ—l to their Constitution They boldly order their Kings Speeches and Promises and their own Resolves upon them to be published to the Worâ—d in justification of their Conduct and make Laws to disabâ—e those that have a dependence upon the Court from being Memâ—ers of Parliament These and much greater are and were our Bâ—rth Right as well as theirs and it 's evident to the World we have much more reason to assert and demand them which will demonstrably appear if we consider 1. That since the Union of the Crowns our Kings prefer their Interest to ours in all matters relating either to Church or State 2. That ever since that time we have nor been Governed by our own Councils but by theirs and with a prospect of advancing their Interest though utterly subversive of our own 3. That ever since then our Interest has been by turns either Sacrificed by our Kings to them or by them to our Kings Thus King Iames I. and the two Charles's made a Sacrifice of our Church to theirs and they in requiral did together with a mercenâ—ry Faction of our own make a Sacrifice of our Civil Liberty to them witness the great Army they furnishâ—d King Charles I. to carry on the Bellum Episcopale against us and the Treachery of our own mercenary Tools at home by procuring and agreeing to the 18 th Act of the Duke of York 's Parliament which Enacâ—ed that all Iâ—â—isdictions did so reside in His Majesty that by himself or his Commissioners he might take the Cognizance of any Cause and deciâ—e it as he pleased Thus King Charles II did a so make a Sacrifice oâ— our Interest in Trade to theirs by the Acts above-mentâ—oned and thus our Interest in Trade in this Reign has been also made aâ—rince to theirâ— and their House of Lords in requâ—â—al with the concurrence no doubt of many of their Commons have again made a Sacrifice of us to the King by their Address approving his West India Proclamations c. against us Thus we are bandy'd about with the utmost disregard and contempt according as their different Interests and Humours require it These things demonstrate that we have more reason to insist upon those above-mentioned Priviledges than the Englsh have nor can we expect to have our present Grievances Redressed or future Grievances Prevented till we obtain if not all at least some of the most material of those things that that Parliament of England insist upon There ordering an Address to the King on the 10th of April last That none but Natives of his Dominions Prince George excepted be admitted to his Councils in England or Irelond is a Pattern fit for our Imitation and what we have as good a Right to demand as they None but Scotsmen ought to be consulted with in Scots Affairs for Experince teaches us that since we have had Secretaries of State who Consult English Ministers in every thing the Honour and Welfare of our Nation hath gone Retrograde Nor indeed is it enough that