Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A44054
|
A Defence of the Scots abdicating Darien including an answer to the defence of the Scots settlement there / authore Brittano sed Dunensi.
|
Hodges, James.; Harris, Walter, 17th/18th cent.; Foyer, Archibald.
|
1700
(1700)
|
Wing H2298; ESTC R29058
|
118,774
|
233
|
into any thing he does against us As to that positive Sentence of our having acted contrary to the Peace betwixt his Majesty and his Allies we have all the Reason in the World to complain of it Is our Kingdom then become so mean and contemptible that what is transacted according to the Acts of our Parliaments and Patents of our Kings is liable to be annull'd or declared illegal by any Person that has the hap to be made an English Secretary of State Governor of one of their American Plantations or a Member of their Council of Trade If it be so his Majesty's Dignity as King of Scots is well defended in the mean time when it is liable thus to be trampled upon by his own Servants as King of England This does indeed verisy what has been said that our Kings since the Union leave their Antient Kingdom to the disposal of their Servants but whether this be agreeable to the Coronation Oaths of our Kings let them determine that are concern'd to enquire and perhaps it may be worth the consideration of our Neighbours whether since we have been govern'd by Servants they have not for the most part been subject to Minions and that the one does naturally pave the way for the other So that they are no great gainers by the Bargain If it be answer'd that the Proclamations are issued by his Majesty's Authority and that therefore our Sentence proceeds from his Bar. We answer 1. That there are shrewd Suspitions that a certain Gentleman or two who have affected all along to shew their Zeal against the Scots in this Affair have push'd this matter beyond their Instructions for there 's no man that knows his Majesty's Justice and Wisdom can admit a thought that he would condemn us before we were heard 2. We don 't at all question his Majesty's Authority as King of England to forbid his English Subjects to give any manner of Assistance to the Scots at Darien tho we might say it was unkind but we absolutely deny that he has any Authority as King of England to condemn the Proceedings of the Subjects of Scotland for any thing they transact without the Dominions of England If it be otherwise his Majesty as King of Scots is bound to appear at the King's-Bench-bar in Westminster-Hall for what he hath done as King of Scots upon the Lord Chief Justices Summons and of what Consequence this may be to himself or his Successors may be easily judg'd Had Oliver and the other Regicides bethought themselves of this it had been more for the Honour of England and would have taken off a great deal of the odium that is charg'd upon them for cutting off King Charles had they search'd for something Criminal in his Conduct toward the English Nation as King of Scots and condemned him for that Tho they did not think upon this perhaps others may and then the English will be able to justify themselves as not having cut off their own King but their Enemy the King of Scots as there 's no doubt they would have done by King Charles II. had he not made his escape after the battel of Worcester This may perhaps deserve the thoughts of his present Majesty and others concern'd in the Succession and so much the more that the dependence of the Crown of Scotland upon that of England hath been lately asserted by some English Historians and indirectly hinted at in a pretended Answer to the Defence of the Scots Settlement at Darien p. 24. But to satisfy that Gentleman and others who please themselves so much in vilifying the Scotish Nation they may turn to the Reigns of Edward I. II. III. and they will quickly find that Sir William Wallace K. Robert Bruce James Lord Douglas Thomas Randolph Earl of Murray and others that we could name did so gallantly defend the Soveraignty of Scotland against those bold Pretenders to a Superiority over us that their Successors have had no great stomach to pursue their Claim to it since So that if ever they had any it is forfeited by Prescription Oliver's imaginary Conquest so much insisted on by the dull Answerer of the Scots Defence and others will be of no use to the Faction in this matter since that was no National Quarrel nor did the English pretend to any such thing as a Conquest of us but immediatly withdrew their Forces upon the Restoration So that Oliver's Conquest as he calls it was only the Victory of one Party over another in a Civil War it being well known that he had Friends in Scotland as well as England which if that Wise Author will have Oliver's Victories to be Conquests he had conquerâ—d too before ever he came near Scotland We don't insist upon this with any design to derogate from the Valour of the English Nation which is known all over the World but to stop the mouths of those pitiful Scriblers and to give a Caveat to those Gentlemen about Court who talk so big of conquering Scotland upon this present occasion But we wish them to consult beforehand how England in general stands affected to such a Design and how they will justify the Lawfulness of it lest it fare with them as it did with K. Charles I. and his Cabal who not only in Council advis'd TO REDUCE US TO OUR DUTY BY FORCE RATHER THAN GIVE WAY TO OUR DEMANDS as may be seen in the Representation of the States of Scotland in 1640. but rais'd Money and levied a formidable Army to carry on their Design and yet the Hearts of these Bravos fail'd them when they came in view of the Scots who repuls'd them twice with shame the first time when they encamp'd their great Army near Barwick and the next when we charg'd them at Newburn And at last the best of the Nobility and Gentry of England thought fit to put a stop to those dangerous Proceedings and follow'd his Majesty with a Protestation against them as well knowing that if Scotland were once subdued the Liberties of England could not be long liv'd That it is the Interest of England now to prevent the Ruin of Scotland as much as it was then will appear by the following Arguments 1. That the present Juncture of Affairs makes it necessary for the Kingdom of England rather to strengthen themselves by making new Friends than by procuring new Enemies They are not ignorant that they have a controverted Title to their Crown entail'd upon them and that the Pretenders against those in possession are in the French Interest and under their Protection Nor can they be ignorant that to the old National Hatred betwixt France and England the French have added that of the Protestant Religion Of late years they have declared themselves the most implacable Enemies of it and their King in all his Triumphs has that ascrib'd to him as his greatest Exploit that he hath quelled the Monster of Heresy The case being thus it must needs be against the Interest of
the Help of Spectacles may plainly perceive that he sticks at nothing to advance his Cause either by wresting or perverting the Truth of the History by reason there can be no Parity in the Example between the several Cases of these dead Kings whom he now brings on the Stage and King William nor is there any Colour of Allusion to introduce them here for Scare-crows For the Truth of the Story runs thus After the Death of Alexander the Third Ten or a Dozen far-fetched Relations of the Royal Family standing Competitors for the Scots Crown it was agreed on by the different Parties to prevent the Effusion of Blood that the Trial of their several Claims should be referr'd to Edward the First of England Edward accepting the Office came to Berwick then a Scots Town where after a long time spent in canvassing the several Titles he found Bruce Baliol and Cummin stand fairest for it To make a long Tale short he now found it in his Power to accomplish that which his Predecessors struggl'd for for some Hundred Years before to wit a Submission of the Scots Crown to that of England He felt Bruce's Pulse but it did not beat to his Mind then he sounded Baliol who had more English Blood in him by half than Scotch who easily condescended to his Terms Edward declares John Baliol King of the Scots and the Scots Nobility having swore Allegiance to him in his Presence proceeded to his Coronation That being over the new Scots King with his Nobility came to King Edward to thank him for his Civility at Newcastle where having been splendidly regaled for some time and the English King being to set out for London John Baliol with his Train of Nobles came in a full Body to kiss his Royal Fist where on a suddain King Baliol claps down on his Knee and swore Fealty to Edward as his Sovereign Lord and to hold the Scots Crown for ever of him and his Successors Kings of England Baliol having ended this Ceremony pointed to his Subjects to follow his Example which being needless to dispute on that Ground no Body stumbl'd at it save a peevish Old Gentleman by Name Douglass who was Caged up for the Remainder of his Life for want of good Manners Baliol and his Nobility march'd home to Scotland as chearfully as Half a Dozen Citizens Wives return to their Husbands after they have been decoy'd into a Ramble and kiss'd by strange Fellows and they being all alike Scabby made no Words on 't for some Years and perhaps had not then if a rash Sentence had not been pass'd by Baliol in his own Court in Prejudice of a certain Thane or Earl who thinking himself injur'd appeal'd to Edward as Sovereign Lord King Edward being willing to show his Grandeur summon'd Baliol up to London and being seated on a Throne in his Court of Judicature his Fellow King had the Honour to set by him till such time as the Tryal came on and then he was oblig'd to step down to the Common-Bar and Plead for himself The Gentleman had got so much Scotch Blood in him by his Three Years Government of that Kingdom that he stomach'd the Disgrace and could not tell how to digest it till he went Home and consulted his Nobility who were all alike tardy with himself It was soon agreed on to bid Edward Defiance declaring That their King and they were only trick'd into their Submission by his foul Artifice Both Nations Arm'd but Edward got the Better on 't for having over-run Scotland and made them once or twice swear heartily anew and having caught John Baliol by the Neck would never afterwards trust him with such an Office but kept him Prisoner at London for many Years till at the Intercession of the Pope and French King his Imprisonment was enlarg'd to France where he died a Quondam King Now whether this Fate of John Baliol has any Relation to what your Author designs since 't is plain that Edward both made and unmade him and not the Scots I refer it back to himself to reconcile As for the other Baliol by Name Edward and Son to this John he finding that Robert Bruce was the Second time dead came from France to England and there having Edward the Third's Leave to raise what Men he could to seat himself on his Father's Old Throne found Voluntiers enough who were the Relations of those who were foil'd at Bannocksburn and with those and a few of King Edward's Ships he lands in the Heart of Scotland and set young David Bruce's Crown on his own Head without asking the Scots Leave and kept it till Dâ—vid with the Assistance of his Father-in-Law the French King took it from him again Neither can I see the Paralel in this with King William's Case for Edward Baliol took the Crown at his own Hand nolens volens whereas King William had it press'd upon his Head by the unanimous Consent of the Scots Nation As for the other Two Examples of James and William the First what they did while it was their Misfortune to be Prisoners in England could not stand in Law neither did I ever hear that after their Freedom and Restauration to their Dignities their Scots Subjects did ever reckon it to them for Sin But as there 's no great Advantage or Credit to be purchased by ripping up such old Sores so I am willing to leave tracing this Gentleman's Evidences and rather take Things on his own Authority than foul Paper about it Mean while I 'll be as impertinent as he is with his Earl of Strafford and some others and acquaint you with something that may be nearer the Case It has been observ'd in Scotland in the Course of several Ages that it hath been ever fatal to Families when they became so powerful as to swell beyond their Proportion Witness that of the Cummins in Robert Bruce's Reign the greatest that ever has been in Scotland Witness that of the Gouries of a latter Date And if I should add that of a latter Family within the Reach of our Memory which might have reasonably been reckon'd in the same Class had it not been for the happy Accident of the Revolution I cannot be far mistaken I say most of these Gentlemen being too great for Subjects lost themselves with Jearus in their Flight Some got red-hot Iron Crowns and others Halters but that which was more Tragical their whole Families and Dependants were hung up like Haddocks to dry in the Sun that they might never afterwards rise in Judgment I heartily wish there may no such Examples happen in our Age and that no suspected Persons sit so close to the Machine of your Colony nor wind up its Spring further than it will go least it should snap and the Ingineers get o'er the Fingers End Being sensible that I have trespass'd in the Epidemical Crime of my Fellow-Scribblers by swelling my Dedication beyond its Proportion and perhaps said more than some Persons care