ly at Balcarres, till, on the accession of the House of Hanover, he joined the Rebellion of 1715, induced by his attachment to the Stuarts, and the belief that his example would induce others. His son, Earl James, then a youth of twenty-five, who had just returned home from foreign service, did his utmost to dissuade him, considering the cause hopeless. As, however," to use his own words, (speaking of himself in the third person,)" he found his father inflexible, he would not desert him, especially as our poor country was recently betrayed and sold, its liberty and independency, so nobly defended for ten ages, given up to a nation who were never our friends, and this done by a parliament, in opposition to the general voice and petitions of every town. and county in the whole nation; this rebellion, then, seemed to him as the only means left to recover our lost liberty."

The issue of the insurrection is well known.-" When the Rebellion ended," continues Earl James," the Duke of Marlborough, without any solicitation, wrote to General Cadogan to do whatever was in his power to help his old friend. The Duke of Argyle was put in mind of Colin's having interceded with King James, and got L.800 a year to his father, then in extreme want at London, upon the family being forfeited. They agreed, upon Colin's surrendering himself, to send him a prisoner to his own house, with one dragoon to attend him, and he remained there till the indemnity."

And there too he passed the remainder of his life, seven years, in tranquillity, enjoying alternately the resources of his "great

bibliothek," commemorated by Sibbald, and the society of his family; and there he died, in 1722, "much lamented by his children and friends, who passionately loved him,” and was buried in the Chapel of Balcarres.

May 1841.

MEMOIRS

TOUCHING THE

REVOLUTION IN SCOTLAND,

M.DC.LXXXVIII.-M.DC.XC.

I HUMBLY lay before your Majesty a short view of your affairs in Scotland, from the year 1688, when the first alarm was given of the Prince of Orange's intentions to invade your dominions, until that all the loyal party were obliged either to capitulate, abscond, or retire out of the nation.

I do not pretend this to be an exact relation of all that passed in these few unhappy years, my design being only to let you know the reasons [which] were made use of by your enemies, for appearing so violently against you, shaking off the allegiance they owed you, and overturning the government, so well established both in Church and State; and likewise to give you an account, true and impartial, of the actions both of your friends and enemies, that, being all laid before your Majesty, you may the better judge, when it pleases God to put you in a way and capacity to assert your just right, how to shun those rocks your government has split upon.

Neither attachment to one party, nor hard usage from the other, shall make me say anything to your Majesty but what is consistent with knowledge, and verified by the most concerned in these transactions.

A

my own

I know there are many of your subjects capable to have given you an account of your affairs in a better dress than I can pretend to; but having [had] the honour to be trusted so much by your Majesty before these unhappy revolutions, and having been since so deeply concerned in all the unsuccessful attempts for your service, I have the vanity to think, there is none of my nation you will trust to more, or that can give you a view of your affairs more justly, or with more zeal for your royal person and interest, than myself.

Never King succeeded to a throne more with the love and esteem of his subjects than your Majesty, nor had ever reign a more fortunate beginning; the chiefs of those discontented in the reign of King Charles II., and most of your own enemies, undertaking so rash an enterprise as brought them to their ruin, and fixed your authority, (as unsuccessful rebellions never fail to do,) which could not in all probability have been ruined, considering the good inclinations of your subjects of all persuasions, every one striving to outdo the other in panegyrical addresses and humble offers of venturing their lives and fortunes for your service against all your enemies. But the unbounded ambition of some, and the fears and jealousies of others, industriously spread and heightened by your enemies, soon blasted these hopeful expectations of a prosperous reign.

The first symptoms of discontented humour, or jealousy, that appeared in Scotland after the happy restoration of the Monarchy, were in the Earl of Moray's Parliament,-not regarding the debates and jarrings betwixt the Duke of Lauderdale and Duke of Hamilton's parties, (they striving only who should be most in power,) nor the tumultuous risings of the western shires, [which] little affected the generality of the nation; on the contrary, they gave evident proofs of their affection to the interest of your Majesty and crown, whenever that came to be debated by your few and insignificant enemies. In this Parliament of the Earl of Moray's, affairs took another turn; your Majesty desiring the penal laws against Roman Catholics to be rescinded, gave a jealousy beyond ex

pression, as if some greater alterations were designed; and the more, that these laws never (except once) had been put in execution. But that which gave the great alarm was the noise of your Majesty's intending a general liberty of conscience, to the ruin of the Established Church.

If that had not been too firmly believed, and the bringing back the Presbyterian party (scattered through the world) too much feared, there would have been little doubt of obtaining all you desired in that Parliament. But the terror of bringing back a party who had ever lain at catch for the bringing down of the Monarchy, and that had cost your predecessors so much time, blood, and treasure to humble, made even your firmest and faithfulest servants comply with your demands but with an unwilling mind. The Earl of Moray not succeeding, both from these apprehensions and his small skill in managing so ticklish an affair, where there required no small art to be used, in a meeting full of bad impressions, difficult humours and interests, your Majesty dissolved that Parliament, and issued out a proclamation for a toleration and indulgence to all persuasions. This put the Episcopal clergy into such a rage that they could not conceal it, either in conversation or their pulpits, and the Presbyterians became insolent by it, and the letter your Majesty wrote to them, then assembled at Edinburgh, wherein you told them your predecessors had been severe and ruined them, but that they might be confident of your protection against all their enemies; this, and the Earl of Melfort's employing James Stewart in drawing all the public papers, (who was looked upon as an inveterate enemy to the established government, both in Church and State,) made the Episcopal clergy act and say many things they heartily repented when too late, and their dislike of the toleration had no small influence upon the greatest part of the nation.

The order your Majesty sent down, commanding all in office, civil and military, to give up their commissions, and take out new ones without taking the test, brought all in employment liable to severe penalties, and put them in no small consternation; but nothing to what was commanded by another order, wherein [it was enjoined that] all those who had broke the law should take out remissions for it, though they thought themselves sufficiently in safety; as may appear by a letter from the Council