Company This will still be further evident from the Proclamations publish'd against our Colony in Iamaica Barbadoes and New England which were not only treacherous to the highest degree but such an Invasion upon the Sovereignty and Independency of our Nation as ought not to be pass'd over by our Parliament without a Protestation against them and a strict enquiry after the Authors and Advisers of them That they are full of Treachery and Malice against our Country is plain from their being emitted as appears by their Dates before ever any Complaint was made against us by the Spaniards before we were heard what we could say in our own defence and at the same time whilst our Lord President and Advocat were sent for from Scotland to hear what they could say in Justification of our Colony's Settlement The Treachery is also plainly demonstrable because the said Proclamations were publish'd without consulting the Council of Scotland and that they were contrary to the solemn Promises made by the Commissioners and Presidents in our Parliaments from time to time wherein His Majesty promis'd to encourage and protect our Trade of which those Proclamations are utterly subversive If it be objected that His Majesty was obliged to publish those Proclamations out of regard to the English Nation and His Foreign Allies We answer that his Majesty by his Coronation Oath as King of Scotland is oblig'd to govern us by our own Laws and not by any Consideration of Foreign Interests but admitting that he ought in this Case to have giv'n the preference to the English Nation and his Foreign Allies It will by no means acquit the pernicious Counsellors of Treachery towards us since the least they could have advis'd in this case was that we should have had notice of such Proclamations before-hand that we might have been upon our Guard and have done what we could to have prevented our Colonies being frightened or starved from Darien the omitting of which alone had there been nothing of an actual concurrence to destroy us makes those Counsellors chargeable with the Blood of our Men the Loss of our Treasure and the Disappointment of the just Expectation we had from that Expedition That the publishing of those Proclamations was an unsufferable Intrenchment upon the Sovereignty and Independency of our Nation is undeniable since thereby the King of England takes upon himself to condemn the Subjects of Scotland as Invaders of the Dominions of Spain and thereupon forbids his English Subjects to have any Correspondence with them or to supply them with any Necessaries which by the Law of Nations must be interpreted an Act of Hostility when done by one Nation to another That this being done by the King of England is an Invasion upon the Sovereignty of Scotland is evident because he hath no right neither as a Liege-Sovereign nor Conqueror to judge of our Actions If he did it as King of Scots then it concerns our Parliament to enquire by what Law he could do it without their Consent or what Scotsmen advis'd him so to do and whether it be true what Mr. Vernon said That it was done with the Lord S 's Privacy and Consent That the emitting of those Proclamations was a deliberate Action of the pernicious Counsellors and full of Malice and Treachery against the Kingdom of Scotland appears further from the publishing a Second Proclamation Sept. 5. 1699 at Barbadoes against entertaining any Correspondence with the Scots at Darien tho the Lord President and Advocate had so long before given in sufficient Reasons to justify our Settlement This will appear yet more plainly if the Tenor of that Proclamation be considered which is not so positive as that at Iamaica in condemning our Settlement at Darien as contrary to the Peace with his Majesty's Alâ—ies but is express'd doubtfully Lest the same should derogate from the Treaties His Majesty hath entered into with the Crown of Spain or be otherwise prejudicial to any of His Majesty's Colonies in the West-Indies Whence it is evident that we have a positive Injury done us tho the Court could not be positive but only suppoâ—'d that our Settlement might derogate from his Majesties Treaties with Spain or be prejudicial to his Majesties Colonies in the West-Indies The Authors of this Proclamation knew well enough the state of our Colony's Provisions and how fatal those Proclamations would be to them and therefore no Art can palliate their Malice and Treachery That the said Proclamations were emitted with a design to ruin our Colony is demonstrable from this That tho our Company upon the dismal News of its Disaster did in a very dutiful manner petition his Majesty put him in mind of the several Acts of Parliament and his Letters Patent authorising the Natives of this Kingdom to settle Plantations in Asia Africa and America upon the Faith and Encouragement of which they form'd themselves into a Company and had made a Settlement at Darien precisely according to the Terms of the said Acts and Letters Patent at the same time informing him That they had too much reason to believe that the said Proclamations had been of fatal Consequence to our Company and Colony desiring that the effect of the Proclamations might be taken off and that they might be supplied from the English Plantations in the ordinary way of Commerce Yet notwithstanding all this Application they had a meer trifling Answer returned them and Couch'd in such Ambiguous Terms as might leave room for farther trifling viz. That we should have the same freedom of Trade and Commerce with the English Plantations as ever we had formerly which was just none at all So that this was nothing but a meer Evasion and no direct Answer to our Companies necessary and reasonable Petition Certainly it concerns our Parliament to enquire who were the Authors of this scandalous Breach of Publick Laws upon the Faith of which our Country ventur'd so much to Sea and by the violation of which in such a manner the Sovereignty of our Nation is trampled under foot and we have lost so much Blood and Treasure The Malice of these pernicious Counsellours against our Country and Colony is further display'd by their doing all that 's possible â—o preclude us from having our Grievances redressed we have in vain Petitioned the Court ever since the last Sessions of Parliament and therefore had no way left us but to Petition that the Parliament may meet again at the day appointed in November next that His Majesty may have the Advice and Assistance of the Great Council of this Nation in such a Weighâ—y and General Concern This those blessed Counsellours are so far from thinking fit to be Granted that they Advise His Majesty to Adjourn our Parliament further till the 5th of March following just when they heard this Petition was coming up and at the same time we are told that His Majesty will Order the Parliament to meet when he judg'd the Good of the Nation did require it as
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
none but Scotsmen be Consulted in our Affairs it 's also requisite that our Parliament should have the Chusing and Swearing of the Privy Councillors as our Ancestors had and a Power to call them to an Account and punish them for Male-administration The present Calamities our Nation groans under makes the necessity of this more evident than ever which if obtained we might then have hopes that the Addresses of our Trading Companies should not be thrown over the Council Bar nor our American Settlement opposed as if our Privy Councillors were rather Chosen by a King of Spain than by a King of Scotland then might we hope that our Arcana Imperii should not be betray'd to our Enemies and that the Affairs of our Church and State should not be managed by the Capricio's of Favourites English Courtiers or Prelates who improving the opportunity they have to Debauch Covetous Necessiâ—ous or Weak Ministers that attend our Affairs sometimes at the Court of England make them the Instruments of ruining our Country That this is no groundless suggestion will appear but too plain if our Parliament think fit to enquire into the truth of that Report that a Spanish Consul at Iamaica should have generously told some of our Caledonians there that we were betray'd by one of our Country men that was entrusted with our Affairs at Court and perhaps it may yet appear more plain if they enquire whether any of our own Secretaries knew of the West India Proclamations against our Colony before they were issued as it 's confidently said the English Secretary V n hath given out that one of them did We have found by woful Experience that 't is not safe to trust the Management or Representation of our Affairs to one or two Men chosen for that end at the Discretion of the Court of England therefore it seems highly necessary that we should be reinvested with our Native Right of chusing our own Publick Officers our selves or at least that none be advanced to Posts either Civil or Military without the Advice of the Council of Scotland otherwise since our Kings can now no more be said to be Scotsmen it 's a parting with our Sovereignty and lays us open to have all our considerable Posts fill'd with such Men as will certainly fall in with the Measures of the English Court and Govern themselves wholly by the Dictates of Princes that must now of necessity be Educated in a Country who think it their Interest to keep us low and to thwart us in every thing that our own Parliament and People think most conducible to our Honour and Advantage Nay they are so jealous of us that they are unwilling any of our Country-men though unexceptionably well Qualified should be so much as concerned in the Education of those Princes in whom we have as great a Right as they Thus they removed a Scots Gentleman of the Name of Murray from having the Charge of Ch. the First 's Education learing he might have inclined him to Presbytery and thereupon made him such a Bigot the other way that he himself and the three Nations had occasion afterwards to bewail it in Tears of Blood It 's well enough known what attempts of the like Nature have lately been made upon the Duke of Glocester Because under the Conduct of a Scotsman though a Bishop whose Order we have thought fit to Abolish in our Nation If our Parliament should insist upon the having the Nomination of our Privy-Council as it 's no more than our Birth-right so it 's no more than what His Majesty in effect Granted to our Neighbours in England when he submitted the List of his first Councillors to the Judgment of their Convention Parliament The next thing we shall propose to Consideration is that a Restraint if possible might be laid upon the Creation of Lords As it 's only Vertue that can truly make Noble so Advancement to the Degree of Nobility ough only to be the Reward of Vertue It 's an unreasonable thing the Power of making Hereditary Law-givers to our Nation should be at the sole disposal of our Princes who are now Kings of England and by that means have an opportunity of strenthening an English Faction among us by conferring Peerage or the higher Degrees of it upon Ambitious Persons who devote themselves to their Interest and perhaps are Advanced for no other Merit sometimes but for having been Ministers to their impure Pleasures or Instruments of Tyranny What pity is it that the Illustrious Nobility of Scotland many of whom aâ—â— Noble without a Patent as being the Heads of Ancient and Greâ—t Families should be mixt with such a base Alloy It would certainly redound much to the Honour of the Nation and much inhance the value of the present Nobility if none were admitted into their Rank but with Consent of Parliament and on the account of true Merit What pity is it that the Freedom and Honour of a Country should be endangered by such an Hereditary Power of Legislation when Experience shews us but too often that Wisdom and Vertue is not Entail'd upon the Posterity of Nobles more than others We come next to propose the State of our Trade with France The loss of our Ancient Alliance with that Famous and Great Kingdom and of the Honourable and Advantagious Priviledges we enjoyed there is one of the great Dammages we sustained by the Union of the Crowns neither our Princes nor our Neighbours have thought fit to allow us any Compensation for this hitherto but have rather pleased themselves to see our Honours and Priviledges there gradually wrested out of our Hands so that now they are brought to a woful and final period instead of having the Preference there of all other Nations in point of Honour and Trade as formerly we had we are now because of our Union with England not only deprived of the same but are in a worse Condition than other People Thus our Salt Fish is discharged there and the Dutch have engrossed that part of our Trade and sell them dearer to the French than we offered them but could not be accepted though at the same time great Sums of Money are exported yearly from our Kingdom to France for Wine and other Commodities This is a thing that certainly deserves our Parliaments Consideration it ought to be a Subject of Enquiry whence it came to pass that the Honour and Interest of our Nation was so much neglected and despised as never once to be mentioned at the Treaty of Rijswick our Council and Ministers about the King ought to be examined as to this matter for we cannot think that His Majesty who took so much Care of the Honour and Interest of the Little Principality of Orange would had he been put in mind of it have so much neglected his Ancient Kingdom of Scotland since he owes all his present Grandeur to his Descent from our Royal Line and his Alliance with it This deserves the Thoughts of our
were said to have Commanded over all Britain by which no more was meant but that part of it which was Subject to the Romans and secur'd against the Incursions of the Scots by Adrian's or Severus's Walls That the Company 's Address of Iune 28th 1697. Complaining of that Memorial and asserting like true Scotsmen their own Right and those of the Nation against the Invasions of our Neighbours should have no Answer from the King till the 2d day of August after deserves also the Enquiry of our Parliament but much more that His Majesty's Promise according to the said Answer was never fulfilled nor a Declaration to Indemnifie the Hamburgers against the said Memorial Granted by which the Company was so much injured and the Independency of our Nation openly violated Yet it 's still more to be wondred at and deserves our Parliaments most serious Enquiry Why after so many repeated Addresses from the Company and one from the Parliament it self Iuly 22d 1698. our Nation should be so much contemned and injured and the Authority of a Parliament which had been so kind to His Majesty so much trampled upon and undervalued that the said Memorial was so far from being recalled that Mr Stevenson the Company 's Agent acquaints them in his Letter of the 4th of October That the English there did constantly say the Company would never be Redress'd and in his of the 18th of October following That he understood by Mr. Cresset the English Envoy to the Court of Lunenburgh that if the Memorial were yet to be given in it would have been done and that the said Cresset had Private Orders to act quite contrary to our Company 's Expectations This was such a black piece of Treachery and shews so much Contempt of our Nation and such Rancour and Malice against it that we cannot see how the Parliament can in Honour to themselves and Honesty to the Kingdom which they represent omit Addressing His Majesty to discover the Authors of such pernicious Councils that they may be proceeded against according to the Law of Nations or at least to make a Resolve That the Authors and Abettors of such Councils if Scotsmen are Traytors and if Foreigners are Enemies to the Kingdom of Scotland and that the Company has a Right of Reprisal against them and their Supporters when discovered This may perhaps seem too severe for which we shall make no other Apology but if what followed upon the Company 's representing this Information to the Lord Seafield be duly considered it will appear that our Nation has no reason to be much softer in the Matter for by that it is evident that Mr. Stevenson's Information was but too too true and that the same wicked Counsellors who had advised that Opposition still oâ—tain'd the Ascendant What else is the meaning of the Lord S s trifling Answer upon the receipt of the Company 's Letter with Mr. Stevenson's inclos'd could any Man think that a sufficient Answer that he could not as yet expect an opportunity of representing the Matter to the King because he was so very much employ'd in the Affairs of his English Parliament Had his Lordship forgot that he himself as President of the Parliament of Scotland had Sign'd their Address to his Majesty to have this very Grievance removed and did his Lordship think the Parliament of Scotland so very contemprible that an Affair of theirs might not find room amongst the Affairs of the Parliament of England Did his Lordship never know his Majesty go a Hunting all that Season and could not he have prevailed with him to have allowed a Hunting day or two to consider of an Affair wherein the Parliament of the Scotland was so much concerned What pity 't is his Lordship should not give our Parliament an Account whether this Answer was made by himself or put in his Mouth by somebody else to paum a new delay upon our Company The Contempt put upon our Nation in this Affair is further demonstrable from that continual Series of trifling with the Company and their having no other answer to those important Letters of theirs abovementioned tho they wrote another to Seafield to put him in mind of them daâ—ed Ianuary 13 th till the 7 th of February following and then he sends to them that he was commanded by His Majesty to let them know that there being Accounts that the Ships belonging to the Company were arriv'd upon the Coast of America and the particular Design not being communicated to His Majesty he therefore delays giving answer till he receive certain Information of their Settlement Whoever advis'd His Majesty to deal thus by our Company took as little care of his Honour as they did of our Welfare Such evasive and disingenuous Answers in a private Person would have been call'd by very hard Names What Consistency is there betwixt this Answer and the Promise made by the two Secretaries the 2 d Day of August 1697 That he would order his Ministers at Hamburgh and Lunenburgh not to make use of his Name and Authority for obstructing our Company in the prosecution of their Trade with the Inhabitants ' of that City This Promise was absolute and the Court stands now charg'd by Mr. Crescet with giving private Instructions contrary to this and other publick Promises yet tho His Majesty's Honour and the Interest of Scotland be so much concern'd that the Scandal should be wip'd off by a speedy and punctual performance of his Promise here 's a new delay put upon the Company and a Promise which was absolute before now made conditional a Year and an half after and before they are to expect an answer whether it shall be fulfil'd or not His Majesty requires certain Information of the Collonie's Settlement as if those pernicious Counsellours who advis'd to this Conduct could think this sufficient to absolve His Majesty from a Promise he had made so long before to take off the stop he had put to their Subscriptions at Hamburgh But that the pernicious Counsellours design'd this only as an amusement and delay without any design that our Grievances should be redress'd will appear by the Sequel For after the Company had acquainted His Majesty with the Settlement of their Colony in the Terms of his own Act of Parliament and that a very Loyal and Pertinent Address was also presented to His Majesty from the Colony it self yet this Interdict laid upon our Subscriptions at Hamburgh was never taken off to this Day tho the Company did again press it in their Letter to His Majesty with an Account of their Colony's Settlement nor had they ever any Redress for Capt. Long of the Rupert Prizes traducing their Colony as a Company of Rogues Vagabonds and broken Officers without any Commission from the King and that His Majesty would not own them all which makes it evident that there was nothing of Sincerity in the Conduct of those who were His Majesty's Counsellours as to the Affairs of our
gave His Majesty such Council that they may be punished according to Demerit We come next to consider his Majesty's Answer to the Contents of the Address brought up by my Lord Basil Hamilton viz. That he was resolved in the Terms of the Treaty to demand that Capt. Pincartâ—n and those of his Crew who are detained Prisoners at Carthagena be released and set at liberty That the Subjects of Scotland shall be allowed the same liberty of Trade that others enjoy with the English Plantations that it was his Resolution to Promote and Advance the Trade of the Kingdom And the three Frigats they demand having been given by Parliament for Guarding the Trade of the Coasts he was not resolved to dispose of them till he had the Advise of his Parliament By this His Majesty owns that Capt. Pincarton and his Crew were detained Prisoners by the Spaniards contrary to the Treaty Then what can his Counsellors in Scots Affairs say for their not having Advised His Majesty to demand him sooner especially since he was obliged to it by the Act Establishing our Company had the Zeal of those Counsellors who pretend to be concerned for the Wellfare and Honour of our Nation been equal to the malice of those that Advised His Majesty to issue Proclamations against our Colony in the West Indies before he knew whether we had done any thing in contravention to his Treaties with Spain or not they would certainly have put him upon demanding Satisfaction sooner for a manifest breach of those Treaties This we conceive deserves also the Consideration of our Parliament In the next place by His Majesty's Promise that we should have the same Liberty of Trade that others enjoy with the English Plantations It is owned by the Advisers of it that it was in His Majesty's Power so to do and that he might lawfully do so which is a plain Conâ—ession that we had acted nothing contrary to his Treaties with Spain nor to the detriment of his English Plantations and that the former Prohibition was the Act and Deed of those Pernicious Counsellors for had it been contrary to the Laws of England or Treaties betwixt the Crown of Great Britain and Spain that our Colonies should be supplied with Provisions c. from the English Plantations it had not been in His Majesty's Power to dispence with it now The matter then being so it concerns the Parliament of Scotland to enquire who they were and upon what motives they Advised His Majesty to emit those Proclamations against supplying our Colony with Provisions c. Since it was settled in the precise Terms of the Act of his Scots Parliament and his own Letters Patent and that our Colony had done nothing contrary to his Treaties with Spain or to the Interest of his English Plantations At the same time it may be proper for them to enquire why Capt. Pincarton and his Company as also the Ship and Goods are not restored all this while And whether the promise of demanding them from Spain hath not been as ill performed as was that of recalling the Memorial at Hamburgh As to His Majesty's Promise of our having the same Liberty of Trade to the English Plantations as others have it is worth the while to observe the management of the Pernicious Counsellors in this point It would seem they were sensible that His Majesty's Promise if performed might be of advantage to our Colony and would make shew to the World that he really Countenanced our Undertaking and by consequence oblige those that oppose us to greater Precautions and therefore though this Promise was made us to calm the Spirits of our People whom they knew to be in a general Ferment they were resolved it should never be performed but how to bring His Majesty handsomly off was their next Enquiry This they found a method to do by endeavouring to have the Parliament of England approve what his Majesty had done against our Company and Colony and they thought no doubt that His Majesty would be sufficiently absolved and the mouths of our Nation for ever stopped as having neither Courage nor Power to call the Kingdom of England to an Account This was in vain attempted upon the House of Commons but carried at last in the House of Lords viis modis yet not without a Proâ—estation against it and several sharp Speeches inveighing against the Courtiers who had promised that very thing to the Scots against which they were then soliciting the House to Address His Majesty The Address it self we shall view anon after some further Considerations on His Majesty's Promise to our Company as to the three Frigaâ—s they demanded which he says Because they were given by the Parliament for Guarding the Trade of the Coasts he is resolved not to dispose of till he have the Advice of our Parliament It is certainly an essential part of our Constitution for a King of Scots to Advise with his Parliament Why then was not the Parliament summoned to meet speedily at the Companies desire since the Honour and Interest of our Kingdom required it And we would willingly know of those that Advise His Majesty in Scots Affairs whether they think the Parliament meant those Ships when the Peace had rendred the Guarding our Coasts unnecessary should have been denied for Guarding the Trade of the Nation and the Coasts of our new Settlement at Caledonia And in the next place we would willingly know of them why the Granting of this necessary demand should be deferred till the Parliament can be Advised with concerning it since the Granting of it in all common Interpretation must be supposed to be according to their Act and why their Advice was not also staid for or desired before the emitting the Proclamations against our Colony in the West Indies This is certainly worth our Parliaments enquiring into For 't is not to be supposed that they entrust our Kings to do whatever Pernicious Councils Advise them to against the Interest of the Nation and only to delay doing what is visibly for its Advantage till they have the consent of Parliament Upon the whole it is demonstrable beyond contradiction that they who have His Majesty's Ear as to Scots Affairs and by whose Advice he has Governed himself as to our Kingdom designed no good to our Company Colony or Country otherwise such reasonable Requests as they have from time to time desired of His Majesty could not have been refused as they have constantly been in manifest violation of our Laws and to the irreparable Disgrace of our Nation This will appear convincingly to those that consider the Proclamation issued in Scotland by His Majesty's Order against carrying on a Naâ—ional Petition for a Parliament in order to redress our Grievances as to Darien c. The frivolous pretext of the Pernicious Counsellors that the same was promoted by Persons who had given no proofs of their Affections to the Government and that they endeavoured to charge the miscarriage of the
bring them to Tryal 3. That some effectual Method be taken to prevent spending so much of our Money in England by our Nobility and Genty this is a Disease which feeds upon the Vitals of our Nation exhausts our Treasure and consumes our Substance which ought to circulate at home amongst our own poor People who labour for it with the Sweat of their Faces It depraves our Principles and Morals as is but too demonstrable from many sad Instances How many of those who liv'd unblamably at home have been debauch'd by the licentious Practises and the Example of the Court of England and the bad Conversation they have met with in London and how much has their bad Example tended to spread the Contagion when they return'd to their native Country There 's nothing in the World that renders our Nation more contemptible in the Eyes of the English than the frequent Recourse of our Nobility and Gentry to their Court for they presently conclude that we are come either to complain of one another or to sue for Places and Pensions and in any of these Cases they are sure to make their advantage of us They know well enough that the favour of Minions or of that Party that has most Interest at Court is absolutely necessary for such Parties or Persons in our Nation as would succeed in their Suits to the King and that we must either bribe the Favourites or make a Sacrifice of the Interest of our Country to the Court if not both before we can obtain what we seek they know likewise that for our own Honour we must make a Figure there answerable to those of the same Quality in England which occasions our consuming a greâ—t deâ—l of 〈◊〉 in their Country and many times obliges persons of Qualâ—â—y 〈…〉 Trâ—aâ—esman's Debts at London and to Mortgage their 〈…〉 Security all these things together keep us in a Slâ—vish Subjection to the English which they being willing to perpetuate use all possible endeavours to nourish Discord amongst us and to keep us Low This was plain from those barbarous Proceedings against the Presbyterians which the Court of England fomented and from the successive Imposts upon our Commerce which they enacted in the late Reigns and is equally demonstrable now from their Practises against us and raising Divisions amongst us in relation to our Trâ—de This one would think should be sufficient to put our Parliament upon finding out Methods to prevent this constant Recourse of our Nobility and Gentry to London and to take effectual Measures to have our Affairs duly represented to His Majesty by such as it shall not be in the Power of the English Court either to bribe or to frighten from their Duty It 's humbly conceiv'd a Committee of Parliament chosen by the Parliament it self at every Sessions and accountable to them for their Administration were most proper for that end and that they should depute one or two of their Number to attend His Majesty constantly with Power to send and recall them as they saw meet foâ— His Majesty's Secretary being his own Domestick and by consequence under command and liable to be turn'd out at pleasure cannot be presum'd to be so fit to be intrusted with the Afâ—â—iâ—s of a Nation which is unhappily depriv'd of the Presence of their Sovereign as Persons who are chosen by the Nation it self This it 's humbly conceiv'd would oblige the Court to have more regard to the Welfare of our Nation and to be more cautious how they invade our Freedom and Rights than hitherto they have been It is not reasonable that we should be govern'd at home by His Maiesty's Domesticks and such as he pleases to join with them for Privy Counsellors It 's enough for them to attend His Majesty's Houshold Affairs Nor is it at all proper that we should be govern'd by the Servants of a Prince who in relation to us is not his own Master The English Courtiers will be very angry at this Assertion we doubt not as they were at some of the like nature in the Enquiry into the Miscarriages of our Colony at Darien and particularly that the K. of Scots was a Prisoner in England for which though they burnt the Book as â—alâ—e they themselves have now prov'd it to be true beyond Contradiction by telling hâ—â— in their Adâ—ress that what he had done against us was agreeable to the seâ—e of both Houses and acquainting him further that our Settlement at Darien is inconsistent with the Plantation Trade of England This is so far from convicting us of Fâ—lshood for â—ayiâ—g they keep our King Prisoner that on the contrary it is 〈…〉 him in Chains to prove it to be true having thus 〈◊〉 thâ—t our Settlement is contrary to the Interest of Englâ—â—d 〈…〉 they had bid him look to himself if he 〈…〉 to encourage it for by their Treatment of him in other respects we may rationally infer that they would never have digested such Invasions upon their Sovereignty and Trade so calmly as we have done We know that His Majesty's Circumstances as to England and Holland are made use of by our Courtiers to excuse those Invasions that have already been made upon our Soveraignty and Trade but we hope this will be so far from prevailing with a Scots Parliament to comply with the Measures of the Court that it will rather put them upon effectual Methods to secure us against them since our King is so unhappily circumstantiate that he is not in a condition to perform his Duty to us it 's so much the more incumbent upon our Parliament to perform theirs and to supply what His Majesty cannot do He is as much our King as if he were no way concern'd with England or Holland and is as much oblig'd to promote our Interest as if he had no other to promote but ours If the Union of the Crowns make it otherwise it is a fundamental and insupportable Defect in our Government that makes it uncapable of answering its end which by the Laws of God and Man is the good of the People or govern'd Society therefore the States of the Kingdom are concern'd to look to it and redress it as they will answer it to God to the Nation and their own Consciences It 's plain from the 13th of the Romans which hath been so much wrested to maintain the wicked Doctrine of Passive Obedience and Non-resistance that before Governments can lay any Claim from that Text to Submission or Revenue from the Subjects they must make it appear that they are such Powers as are there described viz Ministers of God for good to the Subjects which is plain and demonstrable the King of England can never be to the People of Scotland if the Union of the Crowns make him prefer or espouse their Interest to the Dammage of ours which the Houses of Parliament in England do plainly demand in their Addresses From whence it 's evident that if these Grievances cannot be redress'd such
Equivalent we can propose for do what we can our Princes must be educated in a Country that as His Majesty himself has been pleas'd to express it is like to interfore too often with us in point of Trade and he plainly sees they have no Disposition to an Union with us by which it might be prevented Since we are so unhappy as to have our Princes educated by those who differ from us both as to Church and State and that by consequence they must needs be bred up in an Aversion for our Constitutions It 's absolutely necessary we should have Laws to secure otherwise it will be a perpetual Source of Discord betwixt Prince and People and a Seminary of Division betwixt the two Nations to prevent which as it's the Duty so it ought to be the Care of every Prince that wou'd shew himself to be a true Father to his Country That this fear of creating in our Princes an Aversion for our Nation and Constitution is but too well grounded time past hath prov'd beyond Contradiction and we wish that time to come may not prove it farther If we take but a cursory view of the behaviour of our Kings to us since that Union the marks of their Aversion towards us stare us in the Face K. Iames our Sixth and their First tho a Native of Scotland and swore at his Accession to the Crown of England he would visit us once in three Years never came near us afterwards but once and that only to strengthen the Faction amongst us that had joined with him in endeavouring to inslave us K. Charles I tho likewise a Native of Scotland the first time that ever he came near us was with an armed Force to subdue us because of our struggling against that Slavery of which his Father had laid the Foundation Having after this under Pretence of a mock Treaty sown the Seeds of an unnatural War which soon after broke out in our Nation by Montrosse and the Irish Rebels that join'd him he never came near us more till Necessity constrain'd him to flee to our Army At that time it 's known we made honourable Terms for him with the English and such indeed as neither his Circumstances nor our own could oblige them to make good which considering the Provocations he had given us and the Slights put upâ—n us in all Treaties during that War as is testified by Whitlock in his Memoirs and other English Writers could proceed from nothing but an Exuberrant Affection to a Prince that all along had testified such an Asiersion for us His Son K. Char. II. he came to us in his Distress or to speak more truly we invited him to a Crown when he had not so much as a Cottage and exposed our selves to Ruin and Devastation for his sake yet after the Restauration he never came near us but ungratefully overturned our Constitution in Church and State cut off the Marquis of Argile's Head that set our Crown upon his own and made those injurious Acts which ruined us in our Trade with England King Iames our VII and their II. when chased from England as a Traytor and in danger of being excluded from their Crown we received him with open Arms Settled our Succession upon him and turned the Balance in England on his side Yet he never once came near us afterwards but by his despotical Proclamations overturned the small remains of our Liberties that his Brother had left and wounded our Religion and Laws both at once King William for whom we have shed so much of our Blood in Britain Ireland and the Netherlands and whom we allowed a Standing Army when the Parliament of England would scarcely allow him his Guards He hath never yet honoured us with his Presence and we see how we have been treated by wicked Counsellors about him how our Sovereignty is trampled under foot our Trade opposed our Men starved and our Colony by that means deserted Certainly these Instances are enough to justifie our demands of having Laws for the security of our Liberty as good at least if not better than those of our Neighbours since our Kings have ever since the Union been in the Hands of our Enemies and that there 's little probability of its ever being otherwise To come to a Conclusion our Trade is the thing that 's now struck at and tho' we be a Soveraign free People have Heads Hearts Hands Commodities Harbours some measure of Shipping and good Laws to encourage our carrying it on yet our Neighbours will not allow us to do it but break through all the Laws of God and Man to put a stop to it Our King that should protect us and go in and out before us is in the Hands our Enemies that plainly tell him our Trade is inconsistent with theirs and that they expect the preference and in a word he is forced to act against us What shall we do then Because our King is a Prisoner must our Parliament be so too Because he cannot do what he would and what he ought must not they do it neither Because some of our Country-men about him and who have posts under him concur with our Enemies to betray us must not the Representatives of our Country redress us Must we who never allowed our Princes when at home and governed by our own Councils to plead their Prerogative contrary to Law suffer our Princes now when govern'd by Foreign Councils to swallow up our Laws and Constitution by pretended Prerogative We see that no Kings can either by the Laws of God or Man plead any Prerogative that 's inconsistent with the good of the People and our Kings least of any Our Neighbouâ—s may boast of their Magna Charta and other Priviledges granted them by their Kings We have something more Glorious to boast of ond that is our Kings have no Prerogative but what was granted them by us Our Ancestors who first inhabited this Island did not receive their Lands from the Gift of a Conqueror or General who afterwards made himself Prince as happened to most other Nations in Europe but being possessed of a Country we sent for Fergus and made him King and let his Eldest Son Ferlegus know to his cost that we chose a King for our own good to be our General fight our Battles and not to to Luxuriate in Wealth and Pleasures that Ambitious Youngster was quickly made sensible that we never intended our Crown should be Hereditary in such a manner as to be entailed upon the Heads of Fools and Madmen in like sort when we were banished the island by the Britains Picts and Romans we sent from the Western Islands where we kept Possession for Fergus II. and made him King and under his Conduct recovered our Country In a word in all the Revolutions of Time and Government it 's plain from our Histories that our Kings always received their Crowns at our Hands upon such Conditions as we thought fit in the respective Junctures from
our Parliament against whose Act they have so expresly declared themselves will protest against this Address and declare it to be an invasion of our Freedom and such an interposition in our Affairs as is inconsistent with the Sovereignty and Independency of Scotland We have already taken notice that this Address was the procurement of the Court which shews how fraudulently the pernicious Counsellors have all along acted with us and what our Nation is to expect so long as we are governed by such Advice But to come to the Address it self It is evident that the natural Tendency of it is to render our Kingdom subject to that of England and a plain Declaration against our Settlement at Darien or any place in the West-Indâ—es It is also plain from this Address that they presented it on purpose to defeat the hopes that we might still entertain of recovering our Losses by further engaging in that Design and that they have taken upon themselves the Loss of the Blood and Treasure which we have sustained in the West-Indies by declaring that his Majesties Pleasure signified to the Governours of the Plantations in relation to our Settlement at Darien was agreeable to the Address of both Houses of Parliament of the 17 th of December 1695. It 's observable also that by this Address the Lords take upon them to say the Commons are of the same mind with themselves which since the Commons seem to comply with by their silence wants very little of a formal Declaration of both Houses against our trading either in the East or West-Indies It is also evident from this Address that they demand his Majesty should prefer the Advantage of their Trade to ours from all which together its demonstrable that they have no more to do but to alledge any branch of our Trade they please to be inconsistent with and disadvantagious to theirs and so may at last deprive us of our whole Trade since those who are his Majesties Counsellors in our Affairs think it sufficient it seems to absolve him from his Coronation Oath to us or any other Obligation he is under to govern us according to our own Laws if what he does against our Interest and Honour be but agreeable to the mind of his Parliament of England These things make it evident beyond Contradiction that except some speedy redress be had Not only our Company but all other individual Merchants of this Kingdom must from henceforward conclude that all their Rights and Freedom of Trade are and may be further violently wrested out of our Hands by our Neighbours As our Company well express'd it in their Address to his Majesty Iune 28 th 1697. By those barefac'd and avow'd methods the Conjecture of our Company in their Address to the Council of Scotland of December 22 d 1697 hath been also too much verified viz. That if effectual means were not taken for putting an early stop to such an open and violent Infringement of so solemn a Constitution its hard to guess how far it may in after-ages be made use of as a Precedent for invading and overthrowing even the very fundamental Rights natural Liberties and indisputable Independency of this Kingdom which by the now open and frequent Practises of our unkind Neighbours seem to be too shrewdly pointed at and give cause of Apprehensions and Jealousies not only to our Company in particular but even to the whole Body of the Nation in geneneral It is no less evident by those proceedings that the Authority and Credit of our Parliament is struck at through our Companies Sides As the Company likewise truly express'd it in their Address to the Parliament Iuly 22 d 1698. And from this Address they may as well foresee that they are to expect all the opposition from the Faction that can be as they formerly predicted but too late in their Address to the Parliament That their Enemies would either directly or indirectly pursue their Designs of ruining all their Measures For we may assure our selves that those Persons about his Majesty who were so officious to procure Proclamations against our Colony when there was no such Address to countenance their Proceedings will not be wanting to press his Majesty to oppose us to the utmost since they have been at so much pains to procure this Address tho at the expence of His Majesty's Reputation who had promis'd us the contrary This is but too evident from the Advices we have already receiv'd that the Captain of the Sloope who brought 2 of our Colony from Darien to Iamaica since our repossessing our selves of it was imprison'd there and his Vessel seiz'd on that Account We come next to the Causes they assign for this Address viz. That our Settlement may occasion a breach of the Peace betwixt them and Spain and be prejudicial to their Plantation-Trade The first they have no Cause to fear since there is no offensive and defensive League 'twixt us and England that we are a distinct and independent Nation and that they have sufficiently declar'd their opposition to our Settlement to the loss of our Blood and Treasure the second is frivolous and against the Law of Nations since every free and independent Kingdom has a right to seek their own advantage without any regard to the Interest of another as much as two Freemen of the same Employment have a right to set up a Shop in the same Street or next Door to one another if they find their account in it If it were otherwise the English have as much right to oppose the old French Settlements in the West-Indies and their new one at Mississipi as they have to oppose ours so that their proceedings against us in this matter is a piece of the blackâ—st Injustice that one Nation can be guilty of towards another And we wonder very much at it since some of their Council of Trade who are amongst the Chief of those that advise to this way of proceeding against us seem to place all their hopes of Heaven upon Justice 'twixt Man and Man and yet seem to have no sense of Justice betwixt Nation and Nation We come next to consider His Majesties Answer His Majesties most Gracious Answer to the Address was to this Effect Viz. HIS Majesty having received a very dutiful Address from the House of Peers in relation to the Endeavours lately used by some of his Majesties Subjects of the Kingdom of Scotland towards making a Settlement at DARIEN in which they humbly represent to him their Opinion that such a Settlement is inconsistent with the good of the Plantation-Trade of this Kingdom Is pleased to let the House know That he will always have a very great regard to their Opinion And to assure them that he will never be wanting by all proper means to promote the Advantage and Good of the Trade of England At the same time His Majesty is pleased to Declare that he cannot but have a great Concern and Tenderness for his Kingdom of
Scotland and a desire to advance their Well-fare and Prosperity and is very sensibly touched with the loss His Subjects of that Kingdom have sustained by their late unhappy Expeditions in order to a Settlement at DARIEN His Majesty does apprehend that difficulties may too often arise with respect to the different Interest of Trade between his two Kingdoms unless some way be found out to unite them more nearly and compleatly And therefore His Majesty takes this opportunity of putting the House of Peers in mind of what he recommended to his Parliament soon after his Accession to the Throne That they would consider of an Vnion between the two Kingdoms His Majesty is of opinion That nothing would more contribute to the security and happiness of both Kingdoms and is inclined to hope that after they have lived near 100 years under the same Head some happy Expedient may be found for making them one People in case a Treaty were set on Foot for that purpose And therefore he does very earnestly recommend this Matter to the Consideration of the House This Answer is indeed something more like the Answer of a King of Scots than that to the Address of both Houses of the 17 th of December 1695. Yet the mâ—nagement of our Friends his Majesties Counsellors in Scots Affairs is still obvious to our view in this Answer the transports of Joy they were filled with upon the receipt of the Lords Address discovers it self by visible Ebullitions in the very first Line His Majesty having received a VERY DVTIFVL ADDRESS What pity 't was that new Patents of Honour were not sent to every one of those Lords that were for this Dutiful Address But when it comes to be weighed in a Scots Ballance it appears to be undutiful to the highest degree 1. Because they take upon them to advise his Majesty to act contrary to what he had promised to the Scots And 2. Because instead of owning him as an independent Sovereign of Scotland they treat him like their Vassal as he is King of Scots by pretending to direct him in the Affairs of our Nation where they have nothing to do and that also in opposition to the Sentiments of the Parliament of Scotland who must rationally be suppos'd to understand the Interest of our Nation better and to consult it more than they either can or will do Certainly they must have a very mean Opinion of the Wisdom of our Nation if they think we can be gull'd with their pretending to be sorry for our great loss of Men and Treasure when at the same time they charge themselves with advising to those measures which occasioned the loss of both and indirectly threaten us for we cannot interpret it otherwise WITH FAR GREATER DISAPPOINTMENTS IN THE PROSECVTION OF OVR DESIGN for justification of which they have already form'd their Declaration viz. That our Settlement at Darien is greatly prejudicial to their Nation and disturbs their Peace with Spain when all this while the Spaniards have never offered to make the least Reprizal upon them for it whereas they have committed actual Hostilities upon us His Majesty's declaring that he cannot but have a great Concern and Tenderness for his Kingdom of Scotland and a desire to advance our Welfare and Prosperity discovers a Paternal Affection to us but considering how he is circumstantiate is like to be of as little use to our Nation as the Affection of a Natural Father to his own Children for whom he dares not do any good Office because of a cursed ill-natured Step-mother that has him at command Thus His Majesty was graciously pleased to grant us an Act for Encouraging and Promoting our Trade but by the Malice of our Enemies who have him in their Hands was forced to Counteract it Thus he has been pleased again to promise our Colony the same Liberty of Trade that others have to the English Plantations but must be forced to recal his Word or at least to be worse than his Promise because he is told that the Sense of both his Houses of Parliament in England is against it To these straights those pernicious Counsellors have reduced His Majesty for though the Faction will promise to support him in aâ—ting contrary to Law and his Coronation Oath against us yet they will not suffer him to do any thing against what they are pleased to call the Interest of England but he is in danger of being Lop'd off or Abdicated They will not allow us to complain of our Kings when misled by Ill Council or to say that by our Ancient Constitution they were accountable to their Parliaments for Male-administration but strait they will burn our Books as False Scandalous and Trayterous yet they themselves fly in the Face of their Prince every day suffer his Administration to be tamely Libelled and his Person reflected on in all their Pampblets against a standing Army they will tell him to his Face that they who advised him to the Irish Grants had not consulted his Honour And that they who advised him to such and such Answers had done as much as in them lay to create a misunderstanding betwixt him and his People If we quote our Historians or Laws for asserting that the Supreme Power of our Government risided formerly in the Stateâ— who could dispose of the Lives and Fortunes of our Princes they strait condemn it as Trayterous but at the same time they quietly suffer Books to be published asserting their own Power of doing so by their Kings and justifie the cutting off of King Charles the I. as Milton's Works and others If their own Kings dispence with their Laws and Invade the Rights of their Church they kick them from their Thrones and then tell the World they have Abdicated yet at the same time they support them in acting Arbitrarily and contrary to Law against us and tell them that in so doing they act according to the Sense of both Houses If we complain of Injuries done us and Affronts put upon us by a Faction of theirs in conjunction with some ill Men of our own straitway we are accused of reflecting upon the Honour of both Nations and endeavouring to stir up War and Sedition and Proclamations are issued offering 500 l for discovering the Authors of such Complaints yet at the same time they suffer us to be Libelled railed upon vilified and belied and God himself and the Holy Scriptures blasphemed in Villanous Pamphlets without taking the least notice of it Thus in a Scurrilous Pamphlet called A History of Darien we are bantered and laughed at with Romantick and Foppish Stories in the Defence of the Scots Abdicating Darien the Honour of our Nation is outrag'd our Company belied and Religion blasphemed yet the Author Rewarded and Caressed by Mr. V n now a Minister of State but formerly a Licenser of Books for taking off the Penal Laws and overturning the Protestant Religion In a Villanous Lampoon called The Pedlar turn'd Merchant we are