X. 1694. BOOK qualify to government within the appointed time. The law intended for their protection might have proved their ruin; but, to the surprise of the presbyterians, they were still protected and preserved in their livings. The last assembly had been abruptly dissolved; but the clergy proceeded, in the name of the church, to dissolve themselves. The king was persuaded, by an insidious, advice, to exact the assurance to government from the approaching assembly, to whom it was little less. intolerable, as an erastian usurpation, than to the episcopal clergy, as a solemn disavowal of hereditary right. The commissioner was instructed to dissolve the assembly if the assurance should be refused; the clergy were prepared to sit and to assert their independence on the civil magistrate. The consequences were mutually deprecated as ruinous; but in this perplexity they were relieved by the timely interposition of Carstairs, who persuaded the king to countermand the oaths; and the assembly, as a mark of gratitude, adopted the act of comprehension, to which the episcopal clergy refused to accede 39. Influence and cha racter of Carstairs. During a scries of campaigns unconnected with our history, William, from his frequent absence on the continent, became remiss and inattentive to the affairs of Scotland; the direction of which was consigned by Portland to Carstairs, who had 39 Parl. 1693, ch. 22. Burnet, iv. 127-76. Carstairs, 58. Brown's Church Hist. ii. 326-9. 1694. formerly endured the torture. From his silence BOOK then respecting some important secrets with which he was entrusted by Fagal, he became confidential chaplain to the king, and is to be considered henceforth as first minister of state. All applications passed through his hands; all employments, honours, and offices of state, were left to his disposal; and, without the public responsibility, he engrossed the secret direction of public affairs. Few Scotsmen obtained access to the king, unless through his intervention; and in his correspondence with every department, it is curious to remark how the haughty nobility condescended to stoop and truckle to a presbyterian clergyman, whom their predecessors in office had tortured and deceived.. His moderation, secrecy, and a prudence apparently disinterested, recommended him to William: but he is represented as a cun. ning, subtle, insinuating priest, whose dissimulation was impenetrable; an useful friend when sincere; but, from an air of smiling sincerity, a dangerous enemy 4°. His ascendancy commenced be. Dec. 28. fore the queen's death; and, amidst every change of administration, his influence continued entire during the remainder of the reign, 1695. Parliament, On the death of Hamilton and Queensberry, the marquis of Tweedale was appointed commis- May 9. sioner to parliament, which was never summoned except to provide supplies. The money voted for 40 Macky's Characters, 209. Ralph, ii. 579. BOOK X. 1695. new levies, but not appropriated in the former session, had been ungenerously diverted to other purposes; and the troops intended for internal defence, were employed to recruit the regiments abroad. The nobility were thus disappointed of commissions for themselves and their friends. The people were disgusted at William's supine inattention to Scotland; and an enquiry into the massacre of Glenco was so loudly demanded, that some extraordinary concessions were required from the crown. An enquiry was no sooner proposed, than the parliament was informed that a commission had been issued to investigate the massacre; and thanks were returned for a measure obviously intended to supersede a public examination, and to screen the offenders from public justice. But the result of the enquiry, by the artifices of the ministers to supplant' a rival, was reported to parliament at its repeated request; and after a diligent investigation, the guilt of the massacre was transferred to Dalrymple. The king. was literally tried, and acquitted, by a vote that his instructions contained no warrant for the slaughter; but the offenders, instead of being surrendered to public justice, as the parliament requested, were pardoned or preferred. The necessary supplies and levies were provided. The episcopal clergy were permitted, on accepting the oaths to government, to remain exempt from the jurisdiction of presbyteries, and an hundred 1 BOOK X. and sixteen, who were persuaded to qualify, retained their livings under the protection of the king. But these grants and compliances of 1695, liament were dearly purchased, by a concession of which William had reason to repent. par and Indian established. When the charter of the English East India African company was renewed, the opposition of numerous company merchants, desirous of a free, or of a more extensive trade, suggested to Paterson, a director of the bank, the most extensive schemes for the aggrandizement of Scotland. It is said that this obscure Scotsman was originally a buccaneer, who had acquired the spirit of romantic adventure. from his association with this desperate race of men. It is certain that he was the first projector of the bank of England; but that he was defrauded of a recompense by those who adopted his plans 42. His resentment concurred with his patriotism, to confine his future schemes to his native country, through which he persuaded the disappointed merchants that a share might still be acquired in the Indian trade. Without explaining perhaps the particulars of his designs, he represented to the Scottish ministers that a foreign trade might be concerted, and fixed in Scotland by a foreign capital; and a plan that promised to enrich the country was eagerly embraced. The 41 De Foe's Hist. Union, 72. Burnet, iv. 177.217. Carstairs, 203. State Tracts, iii. Parl. 1695, ch. 27. 42 Burnet, iv. 230. Ralph, ii. 478–81. BOOK X. massacre of Glenco was not yet expiated; and, ta soothe and reconcile the parliament to the king's 1495. demands, the commissioner was authorised to assent to acts for the encouragement and extension of commerce, without detriment to the trade of England. But an act was passed to erect a trading company to Africa and the Indies; with permission to establish colonics, towns, or forts, in places not inhabited or possessed by European powers; with an exemption from duties for twenty-one years. A national bank, a more beneficial institution, was also created; but for some years the African or Indian company was the exclusive obs ject that engrossed the annals and the attention of Scotland. The religious disputes of the former age had begun to subside. When the people, re, lieved from the tyranny of their hereditary sove, reigns, began to contemplate their comparative situation, the genius of the whole nation under, went a sudden and surprising change. Their country appeared to be poor and contemptible to the rest of Europe. The reason was considered as obvious, that it was the only maritime country inattentive to trade. The removal of the court, and the frequent resort of the nobility to England, were supposed to impoverish the kingdom, or to prevent the gradual accumulation of a capital for the exercise of industry; and while other nations, during the last century, were rapidly progressive in arts and commerce, Scotland appeared to be |