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<DATE>2014-05-27</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140414.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="1">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A LETTER Giving a particular ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE Scots Parliament, Relating to &s;ome of the <HI>Mini&s;ters of State of that Kingdom.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Am &s;orry I cannot at pre&s;ent give you a Satisfactory An&s;wer to all your Queries about our <HI>Scotch</HI> Parlia|ment and Parties: But having informed my &s;elf &s;uf|ciently of what related to the Vi&s;count <HI>Staire,</HI> I here &s;end you what I know in that matter. And in place of An&s;wer to your other Que&s;tions, I give you an account of the Impeachment of another of our Peers of that &s;ame Party.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<P> But fir&s;t know, our two Parties have got ju&s;t now each of them a new Name; the <HI>Mob,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting (as the other pretends) of the meaner People, and a few of the Nobility, but the&s;e very incon&s;iderable, as being inferiour to the re&s;t both in Parts and E&s;tates; and the <HI>Nob,</HI> becau&s;e the Per|&s;ons of greate&s;t Quality and E&s;tates, and to tell truth, the whole Nobility almo&s;t are on that &s;ide. Before the Parlia|ment &s;at down, there was a great noi&s;e of mutual Im|peachments. <HI>Mob</HI> was to be accu&s;ed of infamous Bribery, whereof he was guilty la&s;t Se&s;&s;ion of Parliament; and <HI>Nob</HI> of having mi&s;applied the King's Money: But when our States-Men came from <HI>London,</HI> we were informed that the King had given &s;uch &s;trict Orders to &s;hun all occa&s;ion of Heats, (as being prejudicial to his Affairs both at home and abroad) that the&s;e Accu&s;ations were to be laid a&s;ide until a more convenient time. Truly, I think there is no ju&s;t Ground for the&s;e Accu&s;ations; for <HI>Nob</HI> doth now lay their Account-Books open to the view of all who who de&s;ire to know how the King's Money was imploy|ed: And all that can be &s;aid of <HI>Mob</HI> is, what he openly owneth, that he accepted of a Civil Compliment of &s;ome Thou&s;ands of Guineas from &s;ome of the principal <HI>Burghs</HI> of this Kingdom for good Services he did them by his Vote, and his Power in the Parliament.</P>
<P>We were plea&s;ing of our &s;elves with the hopes that things &s;hould be carried on with &s;ome tolerable modera|tion for the good of the Country, when <HI>June</HI> 3d. all broke out to open War; for one <HI>Duncan Robert&s;on,</HI> in|&s;tigated, I fear, (at lea&s;t encouraged and &s;upported) by <HI>Mob,</HI> pre&s;ented a Petition to the Parliament again&s;t the Vi&s;count <HI>Staire,</HI> Lord Pre&s;ident of the Se&s;&s;ion, complain|ing that the &s;aid Vi&s;count had pronounced an unju&s;t Sen|tence again&s;t him, whereby he had preferred Mr. <HI>Patrick
<PB N="3" REF="2">Smith</HI> to the Executry and moveable Goods of the de|cea&s;ed Bi&s;hop of <HI>Galloway;</HI> and <HI>In&s;inuating,</HI> that this was done upon a view of a Tran&s;action with Mr. <HI>Patrick</HI> of a Debt due by the &s;aid Vi&s;count to the Bi&s;hop, and that accordingly the Vi&s;count got an ea&s;e of the &s;ame, and <HI>Craving</HI> that the Vi&s;count might be &s;ummoned to compear before the Parliament to an&s;wer to this Accu&s;ation.</P>
<P>It was urged and carried for the Vi&s;count, that one of his Character and Quality could not be &s;ummoned up|on the meer a&s;&s;ertion of &s;o incon&s;iderable a Per&s;on, un|til the Parliament &s;hould con&s;ider what Grounds there were for it; whereupon it was propo&s;ed by &s;ome, that the precognition thereof &s;hould be remitted to a Committee to be cho&s;en for that particular end: but it was carried again&s;t the Vi&s;count by very few Votes that it &s;hould be remitted to the Committee of Safety, who were appointed to give their Report in open Parliament the 10th. of the &s;aid Month. The Committee accordingly having examined many Wit|ne&s;&s;es upon the fir&s;t and mo&s;t material Article of the Complaint, <HI>viz.</HI> the Inju&s;tice of the Sentence; nothing was proved again&s;t the Vi&s;count. On the contrary it was proved by the expre&s;s Depo&s;itions of the Lords of the Se&s;&s;ion them&s;elves, and of Mr. <HI>Duncan</HI>'s own Advocate, that the thing was fairly done, &s;o that he thought it not fit to in&s;i&s;t in the other Articles. Upon the 10th. of <HI>June,</HI> the Day appointed for Reporting, it was de&s;ired that the Parliament would call for the Report of the Committee, and either declare the Lord Pre&s;ident Guilty, or, if nothing &s;hould be proved again&s;t him, that they would acquit him, and appoint a &s;uitable Puni&s;hment for the Libeller for &s;o impudent a Calumny; nothing of that could be heard that Day, there was a greater Bu&s;ine&s;s then in hands which put a &s;top to all others, I mean the Im|peachment of the Earl of <HI>Breadalbane,</HI> which was carried on thus.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<P> There was exhibited a Depo&s;ition of <HI>&mdash; Mac Donald Glengary,</HI> wherein he deponed, that in the year 1692. the Earl of <HI>Breadalbane</HI> being imployed to treat with the <HI>Highland</HI> Army, did by Articles agreed upon betwixt him and them, engage that &s;everal Conditions there particu|lari&s;ed falling out, he, the &s;aid Earl of <HI>Breadalbane</HI> &s;hould with all his Friends and Followers, join the &s;aid <HI>Highland</HI>-Army again&s;t King <HI>William;</HI> this Depo&s;ition being read, it was urged that the King's Advocate &s;hould be ordered to commence and in&s;i&s;t in a Proce&s;s of High Trea&s;on again&s;t his Lord&s;hip, and that he in the mean time &s;hould be committed to the Ca&s;tle of <HI>Edinburgh.</HI></P>
<P>It was pleaded for the Earl that this Accu&s;ation being an ab&s;olute Surpri&s;e, it could not be imagined he could &s;a|tisfy this Hou&s;e &s;o well immediately, as after a little de|liberation he might be able to do, wherefore he intreat|ed the Impeachment might be forborn until the next meeting, at which time he doubted not but that he &s;hould make it clearly appear that there was no ground for it.</P>
<P>This not being granted, it was further pleaded for him, that this Depo&s;ition of <HI>Glengary</HI>'s being <HI>&V;ltroneous,</HI> he never being &s;ummoned for that effect by the Authority of any Judge, cannot be &s;u&s;tained in Law, and con&s;e|quently cannot be a Foundation of a Proce&s;s of High Trea&s;on; e&s;pecially, con&s;idering that the &s;aid <HI>Glengary,</HI> being a Roman Catholick, continued in Rebellion again&s;t his pre&s;ent Maje&s;ty, never having &s;ubmitted to the Go|vernment, unle&s;s he had privately done it at this time, and that he carried an inveterate enmity to the &s;aid Earl and his Family; neither did this prevail.</P>
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<P> It was further pleaded for the Earl that he had an ample Commi&s;&s;ion from the King to do in that Affair all that he &s;hould judge fit for effectuating it; That his Maje&s;ty and all the World know that in &s;uch Negotiations, there mu&s;t be allowances for men to go, or at lea&s;t to pretend to go &s;ome lengths, and to u&s;e &s;uch conde&s;cendencies as in pru|dence they &s;hall find mo&s;t taking and fitted for accompli&s;hing the de&s;ign; That the Effect had ju&s;tified the Methods he had u&s;ed; That not only they there Sitting, and their Con&s;tituents at home, who &s;uffered mo&s;t in that unnatural War; but al&s;o the Kingdom of <HI>England,</HI> who for its own &s;afety was obliged to maintain &s;ome Regiments here for &s;everal years with little or no &s;ucce&s;s, yea, and all the Confederacy had reaped advantage by his Conduct in that Treaty: many Troops and much money being now im|ployed again&s;t the Common Enemy abroad, which that trouble&s;ome War had for &s;everal years exhau&s;ted here at home. That, &s;eeing the thing it &s;elf was beyond all que&s;ti|on good and advantagious for the Nation, it was thought &s;trange that the&s;e per&s;ons who were mo&s;t Advantaged by it &s;hould take exceptions again&s;t the particular Methods which his Prudence obliged him to take in carrying it on; however, his Lord&s;hip had made known to their Maje&s;ties whatever he had &s;aid or done in that Affair, and had their approbation.</P>
<P>Upon &s;ome one's pretending that the things now libelled were not then known, it was an&s;wered, that upon a Com|plaint given again&s;t the Earl for the&s;e very things he is now accu&s;ed of, his Maje&s;ty recommended to the Privy Council to make enquiry into the Matter, which accord|ingly was done and tran&s;mitted to the King: That the Minutes of the Council did clearly &s;how all this; there|fore it was begged the&s;e Minutes might be called for. But
<PB N="6" REF="4">that being refu&s;ed, the Earl of <HI>Melvil</HI> Lord Privy Seal, and then Secretary of State, avouched the truth of what had been &s;aid, and po&s;itively a&s;&s;erted that the Precognition taken by the Council was upon a Complaint, if not in the &s;ame words, at lea&s;t to the &s;ame purpo&s;e with what was contained in <HI>Glengary</HI>'s Depo&s;ition: That it was &s;ent by the Council to him: That he &s;hewed it to the Queen, (the King being then in <HI>Flanders</HI>) who kept it a whole night. That the next day he tran&s;mitted it to the King, who (he knew by the returns he got from <HI>Flanders</HI>) received, and peru&s;ed it. And all this upon his Honour.</P>
<P>The Duke of <HI>Queensbury</HI> declared likewi&s;e upon Honour that it con&s;i&s;ted with his knowledge that his Ma|je&s;ty received the &s;ame, he being then in <HI>Flanders</HI> with the King, and having heard him di&s;cour&s;e of the Matter very often.</P>
<P>Whereupon it was urged, &s;eeing his Maje&s;ty had taken to his own con&s;ideration the Earl's behaviour in that Affair; &s;eeing that he had been informed of all the Methods of his procedure in it, and &s;eeing he had &s;hown his Satisfaction with the Earl's Conduct, by prefering him at that time to &s;everal Places of Honour and Tru&s;t, as that of Privy Councellour, Commi&s;&s;ioner of the Trea&s;ury, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> That the Parliament would not proceed in a Matter of &s;uch im|portance again&s;t one of his Maje&s;ty's Mini&s;ters of State, until he were fir&s;t acquainted with it; but this was re|fu&s;ed al&s;o: Whereupon it was de&s;ired again in behalf of the Earl that they would delay their proceeding at lea&s;t until the next meeting. Upon this the Hou&s;e divided as to the State of the Vote; Some would have it to be <HI>Proceed</HI> or <HI>Delay,</HI> and others, <HI>In&s;i&s;t</HI> or <HI>Not.</HI> This was put to the Vote, and it was carried by eleven that the latter &s;hould
<PB N="7" REF="4">be the Vote. And afterwards by another Vote, it was carried that the King's Advocate &s;hould in&s;i&s;t immediately; whereupon there was an order of Parliament &s;igned for committing the Earl to the Ca&s;tle, whither accordingly his Lord&s;hip was carried Pri&s;oner, at the ri&s;ing of the Par|liament, the &s;ame day.</P>
<P>There happened one thing I mu&s;t not forget: The <HI>Peers</HI> &s;eeing every point carried again&s;t them, in the heat of their Debate ro&s;e up all at once, &s;eeming to be in great rage. His Grace the Commi&s;&s;ioner, &s;omething &s;urpri&s;ed, told them this looked tumultuous-like, (and truely it did di&s;cover that they were highly provoked) they an&s;wered they meant no &s;uch thing, but to &s;how their common and unanimous di&s;&s;enting from &s;uch precipitate practices. I never did &s;ee the Nobility &s;o unanimous as in this Affair, there being but five or &s;ix of the mo&s;t incon&s;iderable who join'd with the other Party. I mu&s;t be &s;o ju&s;t to the Earl, as to tell you likewi&s;e that all this was done on a <HI>Monday,</HI> when the Hou&s;e is not &s;o frequent as at other times; for many going to the Country on the <HI>Saturdays,</HI> the&s;e who are not &s;o intrigueing as the others, not knowing that there is any bu&s;ine&s;s of importance to be done, do generally not return until <HI>Monday's</HI> Evening.</P>
<P>Its probable we may have abundance of &s;uch News as this for &s;ome time; it being confidently talked that the Earl of <HI>Argile</HI> is likewi&s;e to be Impeached. I am told he is threatned with it, unle&s;s he join to the other &s;ide; and not inclining to do that, it's &s;urmi&s;ed his Lord&s;hip is to withdraw &s;ome time, until the heat be over. The di&s;af|fected per&s;ons hope to make &s;ome advantage of the&s;e dif|ferences, and to work up the irritated humors to &s;ome|thing for their purpo&s;e. <HI>I pray God &s;end Peace in our days.</HI></P>
<PB N="8" REF="5">
<P> One thing more I mu&s;t &s;ay of my Lord <HI>Breadalban</HI>'s Affair. I know not whether it be of de&s;ign, or by chance, that in the Minutes of Parliament relating to it, there is &s;till mention made of the Ma&s;&s;acre of the <HI>Glenco|men,</HI> which makes the le&s;s con&s;iderate &s;ort of people be|lieve, That that is a part of the Crime his Lor&s;hip is now impeached of. Doubtle&s;s your Prints will run in the &s;ame &s;train. But, after the mo&s;t diligent &s;earch into that matter, nothing is &s;ound that can be charged on him.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE>June 14. 1695.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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<P>Printed in the Year 1695:</P>
<PB REF="5">
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