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
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
exposed to publick Redicule and Contempt without any Animadversion upon Authors or Publishers Nor had any of our own Secretaries of State the Courage to take any Course with those Libellers or to complain of them though Appâ—ication was made to them for that end But if any thing be wrought to vindicate our Nation from such foul Caâ—umnies a greater Reward is offered for discovering the Authors than was offered for apprehending some of the Regicides Proclamations are published with more Zeal and Virulency for that end than against Popish Priests and Jesuits who by their Principles and Practises destroy Mens Souls and Bodies What eagerness did our Enemies at Court evidence in prosecuting Booksellers for the Enquiry into the Causes of our Colonies Miscarrying at Darien What paâ—ns and expence to find out the very Porters that Carried the Books aâ—out VVhat illegal and barbarous Treatments and Threaâ—s did they make use of to a poor Fellow taken up on Suspicion on that account keeping him Close Prisoner for a Week without anâ— Oath against him when his Wife lay-in in Child-bed and and his Family at the same time in a Starving Condition having nothing else but his Labour to depend on With what fury and heat did they Prosecute some People in Ireland for but reading it in publick And what pains and expence were they aâ— to bring over a Scots Bookseller from thence to witness against another Scots Bookseller in London that he had sent him a parcel of those Books What caâ—e to have extravagant Bâ—â—l from that London Bookseller and oâ—heâ—s and what threats to ruin that Dublin Bookseller if he would not câ—nâ—rary to Conscience and Knowledge swear against the Scots Bookseller in London and at the same time did not prosecute English Booksellers that were taken up for actually selling the Books And what pains and expence were they at to discover the Author though they had all the Reason in the World to think that he was not within the Jurisdiction of England and yet at the same time they suffer our Nation to be daily abused and ridiculed impunè These things are so plain and notorious that the Faction cannot but think the World takes notice of them and curses their Scandalous Partiality from their very Souls That pernicious Faction for still we would be understood to be far from charging any thing here said upon the whole English Nation may very well remember that they looked upon it to be a good Justification of their War against Holland because the Dutch reflected upon the Honour of the English Nation with their their Pens and Pencils drew their King with his Pocket turned inside out and his hands in his Breeches running after his Whores and represented the English Nation by their three Lions with their Tails cut and some such Device as this if we remember it right Angli Castigati latrant non mordent Is it not strange then that a Nation so jealous of their own Honour should suffer their Neighbours to be so scandalously revil'd in theirs but such is the Temper of the high Tory Faction and some sneaking Court Wigs that are fallen in with them in opposition to us that it seems they would have the Power of calling Kings to an account or cutting them off appropriated to England alone the latter we believe our Country will scarcely grudge them since they have been in the sole possession of it this 100 years and therefore have a Right to it by Prescription but as to the former we must beg their Pardon By our Claim of Right it is possible still for our Kings to forfeit their Crowns by Maleadministration whether they Abdicate or not We were under no obligation to mince the matter nor to manage the Credit of Passive Obedience and save our own Reputation for acting contrary to that pretended Principle by imposing a falshood upon the World We had no need to say that that Prince had voluntarily resign'd his Crown when he was obliged to quit it by an Armed Force therefore we acted fairly above-board according to the Genius of our Nation and declared he had forfeited his Right by acting so and so which being according to former Presidents may prove the way for others to come Whereas there 's no great likelihood of our Neighbours being so happy as to have all their â—uture Tyrants run away and perhaps it 's for that reason they are so Ambitious to ingross the Right of Lopping off Kings to themselves this we have the more reason to say since they were so mild in their Censure to Mr. Stevens who on the 30th of Ianuary defended that Practise before them and yet were so severe upon the Author of the Scots Enquiry for a meer Historical Relation of what Power our Ancestors clâ—imed over their Kings The next thing we are to consider is the Project of an Union 'twixt the English and us We shall not ofâ—er to call in question His Majesty's Sincerity in the Proposal because he made it formerly when there were none of those Controversies on foot betwixt us but we have all imaginable reason to question the Sincerity of those from whom it came now and to look upon that and his Majesty's Promise of holding our Parliament in Person to have been both of them contrived to gull and amuse us The very making of such a Proposal and the forwarding it by those Lords that had almost in the same breath charged themselves with the loss of onâ— Blood and Treasure at Darien and all the disappointments that our Company had met with was enough to make us suspect that no good to us was intended by it They that had just declared our Trading to the East and West Indies to be inconsistent with the Trade of England were not like to come to any Union that would allow us a share in their Trade when they will grant us none of our own yet it must be confess'd that we can never mention with Honour enough those Noble Lords who with a Generous and Impartial Justice protested against that unaccountable Address about our American Settlement But to return to the Union the unmanly and scurrilous Reflections thrown upon us in the House of Commons by some noted Torys on that occasion are Indications sufficient that such an Union as they design would only compleat our Ruin But at the same time we must own that our Nation is eternally obliged to those Worthy Members of the lower House who declared they rejected the Bill because they would not concur in putting a Sham upon their Neighbouring Nation that had been so much injured and so barbarously treated by the West India Proclamations c. It were easy to shew that an Union upon good and honourable Terms would be the greatest Happiness this Island could enjoy that it would certainly enrich and strengthen it and secure our Religion and Liberties against all Attempts from abroad and at home that it would bless boâ—h Nations with an oppoâ—tunity to rectify
a Government is not what we are oblig'd to submit to by the Law of God As to our own Constitution it 's well enough known what our Ancestors did in relation to those Kings that subjected us to the English and how they vindicated themselves from that Invasion both by their Pens and Swords when we were reduc'd much lower by the Court of England in conjunction with our own Traytors than we are now as to the Laws of Nations whatever Gulielmus Cardinalis may possess some of his Brethren of the Clergy with to the contrary we are sure that Alexander Cardinalis Iason and Imola maintain that a Prince who governs a free People cannot render them Slaves or subject to the Dominion of another Prince nor can the Barons of that Kingdom transfer the Prerogative of that Liberty they have receiv'd from their Ancestors upon any other than their own Lord and the famous Bodinus says if a King who is subject to none do either of his own accoâ—d or be forc'd against his Will to serve and obey another be loses the Title and Rights of Majesty We see then in what a Condition these pernicious Counsellors who have advis'd the King of Scots to do such things as make the Kingdom of Scotland subject to that of England would bring His Majesty we never lov'd any Prince so well as King William and are willing still so sacrifice our Lives and Fortunes for him as our Lawful Sovereign But there 's no reason we should make a Surrender of our Freedom and Trade to the Humour of those pernicious Counsellors about him who betray his Honour and Sovereignty in betraying ours It being certainly more for his Majesties Glory to be Sovereign of two â—ndepenâ—ent Kingdoms than to be but Sovereign of one and Vâ—ssal to himself for another From all this it follows that the Parliament of Scotland have a right to address his Majestâ— that such Persons as advise him to those things ought to be remov'd from his Presence and Councils forever as Enemies to the Dignity of the Crown and the Peace of the Nations It were also proper for retrieving the Honour of our publick Justice that an Address should be made for removing those from his Presence and Councils that stand charg'd with being privy to a design to assassinate King Charles II with having Pensions in the late Reigns for secret Service and with Accession to the Massacre of Glenco and that the Actors in that barbarous Murder should be punish'd according to merit Nor ought it to pass without enquiry by what means those Persons under Condemnation for a bâ—rbarous Rape and other inhuman Treatment of the Lady Lovett come to be reprieved from time to time to the scandal of the Justice of the Nation and that one of them should be suffer'd not only to lurk in Englâ—nd but have access to our Great Men in the Government tho a declared Rebel and Traytor and ought to have suffered in Scotland for Theft and Murder Certainly it is not for his Majesties Honour that the Court should be made a Sanctuary for the blackest of Criminals and much less that we should be govern'd by the advice of any such who besides have no Estate nor Interest in our Kingdom But this is the effect of our not having insisted to have the chief Instruments of the Tyranny and Cruelty of the late Reigns made publick Examples Others are not only encourag'd to follow their Steps but it seems our Administration must be chiefly entail'd upon Men of that Kidney It would also seem absolutely necessary that an enquiry should be made into those that advis'd the turning so many Persons of Quality out of Council and other Posts of Honour and Advantage for opposing a Standing Army c. last Sessions This is not only contrary to the Claim of Right which demands freedom of Debate and Speech in Parliament but tends to the utter subversion of all our Liberties for Parliaments are of no use if Members may not have liberty to vote there according to the Dictates of Honour and Conscience This is a plain â—emonstration that the Courtiers design to carry on an Interest opposite to that of the Country and that we are riding Post to the Tyranny of the late Reigns It shews also the height of Contempt for our Nation since our Neighbours of England are not so treated it being well enough known there that Lords of the Bed-Chamber and Officers of the Army voted against a Standing Force in that Kingdom without being turn'd out of their Posts or any ways disgrac'd for it To what a miserable Condition are we reduc'd then when the Parliaments of Scotland that formerly gave Laws to our Kings cannot now espouse the Interest of their Country without being thus trode upon This proves the absolute necessity of keeping Officers and others that hâ—ve dependence upon the Court or Pensions from it out of our Parliaments Let us do all we can in that matter the Court will have always more than its proportionable Influence there by such Lords as have a dependance upon them and those Officers of State that are allow'd to be in the House The Farming of the Customs by the Royal Burroughs ought also to be taken into Consideration for if that be found to have an influence on their Votes in the House i'ts â— much against the Claim of Right as these Proceedings complain'd of there that were judg'd to be equal to the King 's naming that entire State of Parliament It 's therefore hop'd that the Royal Burroughs will by their behaviour in Parliament vindicate themselves from all Suspicion in this Matter and that they will not concur with any Design against the Trade of the Nation wherein they have so great a Concern especially when they consider that the more Restraints there are upon it of the less value will their Farm be if it be thought fit that it should be continued We might enlarge in Iâ—finitum the Grievances and Wants of our Country are so many but must draw to a Conclusion after having proposed some few things more It seems absolutely necessary our Parliament should enquire what good Laws are needful to secure our Constitution and to provide for it accordingly In order to this it would seem requisite that a Committee should be appointed to consider what our States insisted on in 1641 as our Native Right and what the English have obtain'd since the Revolution for securing their Liberty and Property His Majesty if he be allow'd by our Enemies to testify his paternal Affection towards us cannot nor will not think it hard if we demand that and more since we are reduc'd so low by the Oppressions of former Reigns have lost so much by the Absence of our Kings now almost for 100 Years and are depriv'd of all hopes of having them reside amongst us any more The Damage we must of necessity sustain by that alone is very great and not to be compensated by any
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
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
whence it follows that our Kings have no Prerogative but what they must plead from Act of Parliament and that whatever they cannot justifie that way is an Usurpation of that Right which we still keep in our Hands Our Case is not like that of other Nations who obtained their Priviledges from the Favour and Clemency of their Conquerors without whose Consent they could make no Laws on the contrary we always reserv'd the Sovereign Power in our selves and hence it was that our Ancient Parliaments or Meetings of the States did so frequently call our Kings to their Bar and met without their Consent when the urgent Affairs of the Nation did require it Hence it was that their Resolves had the force of a Law whether their Kings consented or not and that they dethron'd them for Male-administration as happened to Baliol Q. Mary and others and by that same Authority they forfeited the late King Iames. Is it not strange then that we should now suffer our selves to be bubled out of our Sovereignty and Trade by the idle Stories of Parasitical Courtiers who tell us His Majesty is forced to Grimace to Please the English Will not all the World cry shame upon us and Posterity curse us if we be hectored out of our Liberties by the Bugbear of a Prerogative cryed up by a Mercenary Lawyer or two who betray all Causes that ever they take in hand Such Gentlemen we doubt not will presently cry our Treason and plead that this Book ought to be burnt as the Enquiry was in England but if what is here said be not our ancient and true Constitution let us burn our Histories and Acts of Parliament that mislead us let us cancel all our Acts establishing the Reformation let us condemn our Claim of Right to the flames and abjure Parliaments for ever let us cancel our Coronation Oath and to crown the work let us send over to St. Germains and pray the late King to return again and Govern us by his Absolute Power uncontrolable Authority and Proclamatious cassing and annulling all our Laws and to this let us promise him Obedience without reserve If it be not this it is something as bad the Faction seem to be aâ—ming at when they make Invasions upon our Sovereignty and Commerce give frivolous Answers to all our Complaints falsify Promises of Redress murder our Subjects abroad by fraudulent Proclamations delay the Meeting of our Parliament though our bleeding Honour and Interest require it forbid Petitioning for a Redress of those things by Proclamation and seem rather to upbraid than to answer us when it is presented If to give Money to keep up a Standing Army to protect the Advisers of those Grievances and compleat our Slavery be of more consequence to the Nation than to have those Grievances redressed let us begin with that the Faction calls the Kings Business but if the Crys of an Ancient and Gallant though oppressed Nation that reach up to the Heavens be of any weight let 's give the Redress of those Grievances the preference Our Company for trading to Africa and the Indies have by their Memorials and Addresses asserted our Rights as became true Patriots of their Country May it never be said we are so much degenerated that our Parliament shall not as much outdo the Company in this as they are Superior to them in Interest and Power This Company is the Creature of our States for the Faction will not suffer His Majesty to own it therefore they are oblig'd in Honour and Duty to support it we hope then it will be no unreasonable Request if the Nation desire that the Money that was spent on a Mercenary Army to enslave us be given for the Support of a Trading Company to enrich us and that our Law-givers would likewise be pleasâ—d to consider the Groans of our poor oppâ—ess'd People throughout the Kingdom mâ—ke Laws for encouraging our Husband-men to plant and inclose to advance and incourage our Foreign and Fishing Trade and to prevent the levying of our Men for English or any foreign Service Must we be perpetually condemn'd to breed up Men to be destroy'd in the defence of other Nations after we have been at the Expence of their Maintenance and Education Must we still be depriv'd of the Fruits of their Labour that should rewaâ—d us and of their Offâ—pring which would strengthen and enrich us What vast Sums do we lose every Year by the Multitudes of our People that are forc'd to go abroad for want of Imployment at home and how much our want of good Laws to incourage their Industry and secure their Property discourages such of them from returning again as acquire Estates and Substance abroad is obvious from many Instances but from none more than that late one of Sir William Brown the great Dantsick Merchant who upon that account chuses rather to become a Purchaser in England than to return to his native Country Thus we have spoke our Mind freely as we think it incumbent upon all true Scots-men in this present juncture to do The Grievances here pointed at are to be remedied no otherwise but by Parliament and tho it be scarcely consistent with our Safety that one Parliament should continue so long as this hath done because of Members being liable to Tentations by Pensions or Places yet there may perhaps be a Providence in it that God would reserve the Honour of compleating our Deliverance from Tyranny by the same Parliament that had so gloriously commenc'd it Our Kingdom never had greater Provocation to resent the Treatment of wicked Counsellours than at present nor could we expect a more favourable opportunity for it The House of Commons in England have set us a noble Example pour'd Ignominy and Contempt upon some of those Evil Counsellours and have squeez'd the Purses of others we have as good reason as far as our Case requires it to take the same Method We have reason to apprehend that our Grievances proceeds from some of the same Persons It 's well enough known that those by whom we are chiefly govern'd have all their dependance upon them and since we find them to be such as are capable of Bribes to give His Majesty such Advices as are inconsistent with his Promises to the Parliament of England and by them declared capable of creating a Misunderstanding and Jealousy betwixt him and that People Why should we not think they are guilty of the same things in relation to us If they be such as take Money to act contrary to the Interest of that potent Nation what should hinder them from taking Bribes to ruin the Honour and Trade of ours if they shew such favour to Irish Papists against the Interest of Great Britain and the Protestant Religion Why may they not take Bribes from the Spaniards or French nay from the Pope himself to oppose our Settlement in America since he dreads it so much At the same time it s known we have Enemies nearer home and such as understand the Art of Bribing too They have declar'd themselves so much in opposition to our foreign Trade as demonstrates they would not grudg some Money to have it totally obstructed This makes it necessary to enquire how our Treasury has been manag'd at home which way our Forfeitures here have been dispos'd of and whether we have any within our own Bowels that have the Art of taking Money or are possess'd with Souls mean enough to become Deputy Pensioners to those great ones It were one good way to try it to see who would oppose a Vote in Parliament that such as shall be found guilty of taking Bribes Pensions or Places to vote for a Standing Army and against a Tax for maintaining our American Colony be for ever declar'd uncapable of sitting in Parliament or of bearing any publick Office in the Kingdom This is so much the more necessary that 't is openly discours'd in England as if a great Sum of Money were to be dispos'd of for that end and that Precepts are drawn to pay it accordingly upon the opening of our Parliament It 's to be hop'd that none of our Nobility and Gentry who have been formerly so renown'd for gallantly defending their Country will be bought off from espousing its Interest in this critical juncture Pensions and Places can't be assur'd to their Posterity where as the Shame and Ignominy of such a Practise will render their Name and Memory as execrable to the Scottish Nation as are those of the infamous Baliol and Menteith and be eternal Monuments of Disgrace and Reproach to their FAMILIES Vitam quam Patriae debeo ei devovi cui si aliam opem affere non possim piis erga eam conatibus immoriturus sum FINIS
what is amiss in their respective Constitutions and make us the impregnable bulwark of true Christianity and human Liberty but some those about His Majesty discover sufficiently by their Conduct that those are the things in the World they are most afraid of and therefore think it their Interest instead of uniting to divide us and instead of reforming to debauch us What else is the meaning of the prodigious increase of Popery and Profaneness and the perpretation of so much unnatural and formerly unheard of Villany in the Nations What else is the meaning of it that foreign Protestants were so little care taken of at the Reswick Treaty that since the Conclusion of the Peace they have lost more than they did during the whole War and are every where expos'd to be devour'd by the Papists in France Germany Hungary c. without any interposition in the Name of Great Britain Whence comes it to pass else that now when the power of these three Nations and Holland are in the Hands of one Prince the Hero of his Age and the Representative of a Family that for 100 Years past hath been the scourge of Popery and Tyranny that the Church of Rome should sport her self with the Blood and Misery of the Protestants every day and kindle a War amongst the Protestant powers of the North when it were easy for us humanly speaking with the united Naval Force only of Protestant Princes and States to oblige all the Popish Princes in Europe to come to a better Temper in relation to their Protestant Subjects or to sack Rome the Seat of the Antichristian Empire make the Whore desolate and burn her Flesh with Fire But instead of such great and generous designs we are rendred uncapable of protecting our selves that Popish Inâ—erest grows within our own Bowels Proclamations against Priests are not obtain'd without Sollicitation new Laws against them are but faintly carried on the three Nations are dash'd one against another each of them subdivided into Factions within themselves and the endeavours of the Protestant Kingdom of Scotland to settle a Trade which hath a promising Aspect for the Protestant Interest opposed with more Vigour Industry and Cunning by some about Court than ever they oppos'd any thing else whether it be the influence of some Spanish and French Gold or the effects of some secret and unknown Bargains God knows but we think our Nation has very great reason to enquire into the Cause of it and together with their Trade to take more than ordinary care of the Protestant Interest amongst our selves and not to suffer this Kingdom to be a receptacle to any of the Priests banished from England This we humbly conceive we are the more oblig'd to look after since that part of the Administration is wholly devolv'd upon our selves because His Majesty who is of a larger Soul than to do any thing that looks like persecuting people upon the account of Principles declin'd being any ways obliged to use force in matters of Religion by taking that Article of our Coronation Oath which obliges him to root out Heresy with an explanation and therefore it is the more incumbent upon us to see the Laws against Popery put in execution our selves lest our Lenity to them prove a Cruelty to our Country it being very well known that their Principles and Practises have a natural Tendency to subvert all Civil Societies which makes the execution of Laws against them a Prosecution as necessary as that of other Criminals and so much the more necessary amongst us that it is by the interest of those of that Opinion and of them that are addicted to their Superstition that the advancement of our Trade is so keenly and maliciously oppos'd Whilst publick Affairs aâ—e under the Influence of such Men as have testified so much Rancour against our Country those Gentlemen who spoke of an Union with us in such unbecoming Terms as one Civiliz'd Nation ought not to allow towards another need not trouble themselves with the Fears of our pressing it It 's better to be alone than with ill Company How desirous soever we may seem to have been of a Union our Neighbours may assure themselves that our Nation never design'd to purchase it at the expence of their Sovereignty and Honour We are under no Obligations yet to treat upon such disadvantagious Terms what we may be reduc'd to when the Faction begin that War which Capt. Baker the King of England's Sollicitor threatens us with we cannot tell We doubt not he speaks the Sentiments of the Courtiers that are so much imbittered against us but we despise it as a bâ—utum fulmen This they may be satisfied of that by proposing an Union we never design'd to become a Province to them and to resign our Parliament without a proportionable share of the Legislative and Executive Power and of the Presence of the Government and all its Influences without which the Union would make us worse instead of making us better Nor must they think that we design to give up our Consciences to be new molded according to the pattern of Damascus or their Pleasure There 's no question to be made but an Union without any of those Inconveniences might be effected to the Honour and Advantage of both Nations were things in a proper disposition for it but if our Neighbours grasp at a larger Government than what they are already possessed of it s not our Interest to become the Subjects of it Great Governments like other Great Bodies become unweildy and where one Member has too much and another too little the Frame will quickly come to decay Mutual Affection and an unequal distribution of Advantages are the best Cement of Civil Society but where some engross too much and allow others too little Friendship can never be firm nor durable If they design to be our Masters and not our Neighbours they may assure themselves that our design and theirs is not the same and that we shall never unite with them upon those Terms Thus we have taken a brief view of some of the principal Grievances we labour under as to our American Settlement to which we may add the discourting of those who have shew'd themselves zealous for advancing our Trade and the advancement and continuing of such in great Posts as ingloriously concur with those measures that are taken to ruine their Country The great Difficulty lies in geâ—ting those Grievances redress'd and in falling upon Methods to have the like prevented in time to come neither of these are to be done without our Parliaments assuming to themselves the Ancient Spirit and Courage of the Nation if we tamely digest those Invasions upon our Soveraignty our Enemies will be encouraged to go on and if we don't take effectual measures to restrain all stretches of Prerogative we shall unavoidably fall into the Tyranny of the late Reigns The Invasions made upon our Soveraignty and Freedom made by the English Court are such
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