The Sun.
London, England, 1804-06-23 00:00:00

1

could- only be achieves] ty %ifs' Yoitinttersi and it t•
• ,appeared more probable sll4t.they Would land .in the
iN:',rthi. than direct their attacks, agaiest Etiinbofeh •
tself, Those are the observations I have to
.older I:
respeaing the itatrof Scotland at 'that time,' -as td.i
the informations which we had received. Letters had
. been-received by all the.,Lorkts .lieutenant 'of Coon-
ties, from the Secretary of State; that theinforma-
tion of Government- was' such, that an immediate attempt waS to be expo led on the parts of ,the Enemy ;., this infortnation arrived in,Scotlayd only a ,
few days before my, writing.thidetter. Lord Moira
attached such credit to it, that he would :not sleep
otit of Edinburgh a ,single nighr,
.and positively re-..
Inset] to pass a night at balkeithlonly six miles dis
-
tan!) for.ftat;-:ih case of invasi•ni,it
to -
the delay ol'an hour in giving orders to the troops to
March. He conferred -with, me. upon the ,subjed ;-
and I, too,.considered the Country, in such, a crisis,
that though it Was in'ille-Chtisstmas-holidaTi when .
•i
,
every. body left Edinburgh that•could leaveit,•l did •
not think it safe to sleep a nillr•(?kkt of the town.
Such was our opinion at.the iime in which I, wrote
that Ittte.r.; anti I declare., sir, upc,,,n4o,y honour, that
lAlien I wrOte'ir, I did expea the•Frencli would land
in Scotland before' the Sheriff of..llanffshiro had. rei.
tstiVed my letter.. 'Under such circumstantes, 1110
• lint ao-tottch .speak of the legality of the as of:
• the necessity of
.it. .I time now. to speak of the na-
, tuft and duties of the
-situation of Lord Advocate of
Scotland': it is by no mean s art office so dry, formal, •
and precise in-iis diture, as the office of A ttotney Gs-
Inctal in England. The power's of a Lord,Advocate.
..:•e not-ems-id). defined: I wish that' the Hon,Gentle7...
man'e;,uld.'dtfine thein, as there are-no. burden's lie could possibly -lay on in; which I suyose:woulii.
be equal: to. what are, in Invortiniott, The 'duties of
it Lnrd Advocate, 'Formerly the- Gov.eintrient .of Scotland was carried on by a, Cabinet Council; cont.: Posen] of the gieat OrTicers of State. About the time
of•WilliaM 111. the Privy Council of Scotland was
abolished,. the OffiCes of Chancellor and Lord
Justice 'General were. also ','abolished, and - the
• -whole power's- of th resident Government 'of ; Scotland - devolved .upons the' Lord 4,diocite and.
I Lotil justice Clerk; btit note the L:erd justic6Clerk
is merely a Criminal
„judge, and the Lord. Ad:
vacate in Scotland eXereises th 6 whole',peiwer of the
Government. Every ditThrent department of Govern-
ment looks to in for advice.and. assistance, even in
141111,ity matters which arernost foreign my pro,
fe:isi ieal studies ; the Gent.
I's
of FOreesto daily Con.
fir .withrne , and.ioA for MyadVice and assistance.
iThis burthen is' now indeed considerably 'lighten.
ed. by the .Noblerrian who, is the Cor,ainander- in
Chiefof ;lie Forces the're.'at.Plesent.;—ht, to all that
military knowledge and taleritswhich 'I do not *Pos,
sess, adds all the civil ind.politiCal.knowledge whiCh
, • 1 %%Sold otherwise be exOedids-to contribute. He
has. conceived 19 insplre,Seotland,withthe most en-
thusiostic ardour ,to iepel.any" enemy 'that Shall dare ;
,to illi,:ade it, and witti tlie_utmost confidence in, his
-talents, and affedion forehiinself p y
erionall •a.s. lam
convinced .he • would with plealture. shed hi's, blood
in the .defence of that _Country, i.vhieli liar been
entrusedto him,- -sal am convinced that: the people
of Scotland would . 'Vvirli equal, pleasure -encoun.
ter all the dangers of, battle to add to .his Well-
earned military tame. ' I take then, pride to my
Tenuptry., ln stating the •distirlifished reception
that .Nbleman.has' met with there, and pi:ide_to
myself .in 'blasting .of, his friendshi t.. Had I
„been that wicked arid om'Asive.man Itli.,lt I have
beerr represented to be.----liad I been that despiser'
. _ .
of law, and enemy to, •'personal liberty: that fam
drip to be, could 1.-nOvv. boast" of the friend- '
ichip of Earl IVIoItA ? ...I appeal tor that re..
tsPeaed Nobleman, •whether), under
,tnY Admini---
41.6-tiOri 6r The Giireitifilinq the People of Sant-
- land do Jive in tha
which t
~
the abjed and
.degraded-situation
has _ been represented i To judge rightly
441
Polio of
,Legislation, Scotland is, in a man_
an independent kingdom. 'ln England, the dif-
:ferent departments of the State arc so arranged, that
every body knows where-he. ShOuld 'apply .on any
-emergeney; It is noi• so in Sentlapd-..- The weight
-of all the -departments' dr the -State- rests
.upon' -the
!houldets of the 'Lord Atheacate.. If I haVewritten
-oneletter, I have Written-ar least eight hundred let:.
tones to iVlagistrates, with ter a to-trie instr)dainns
rue=sdo'mfroemidGeao.voefrninhieenpt.owPlln order
. to give the
wets which have been
always assumed by the Lord Advotates of -Scotland;
inning shall mention one
or two instances • ---In the be..
sng of the American War, the Lord 'Advocate
of that time hearing that there were many vessels
]motet} td America, full of emigrants, and who, he
conceived, would be forced • into the AMerican
events be lost to tkeir Country, assumed' upon
himself of laying those vessels under an absolute
embargo ; and for so doing, he not only receiv-
'edan ihclemnity, but the Thanks of Parliament. My
-predecessor in, the orce wai certainly never reckon-
ed'aliarsla or oppressniv the r6po„,ibility
on
ie. man,
,and'yet he has taken
he mnself for an ad
law- is felony : which. by,
letter being put in the receiving certain informatini of. a
burgh, Post Offiee at Perth for-Fdtri_
whiCh he apprehended to be 'Of important
eausequence to the State,. did not he-s. irate,
'own' responsibility,
.to did
it roken'outupon his
of- the '
host:<)ffi. et: it was (HS:letter ivilia lid to the dis-
vo_v_e'fy' and ekect:tion of the-Traitor Watts. I my..
toett,f,, having once' learnt that ' seve-ral veseli were
en hoard above
~ 1. 1- W ' '
the"
point °F "ilinb'b" lsr A -ericl • which bad not
a f.ltrk.... of the provisions
• • ' " neces.Eary. fur.
la. i L the
Hersto serve ti n •the - voyage, Positively
lt. t,-,,,,,... , . ,
1., -. unuer-an embargo, ' until rho Captain
shup'sa-tisly the Custon-Nlieuse Officers of having
taken a sufficient .quantity-of rrovisions-for the-vo.y-
4e, 'and .since 1,11,1 t time I have•had the satisfaftion
01' finding that an Aft of-Parliament has been'pasSed
!141 pievent such prJaices for the future,
Again,
but I di
2 that Case, I aaed, perh ap s', contrary :to law,
did not think it
detimit necessary to ask for an in-
. Y• Again, in the, time of the rpsurredion in
jr:elinti, last year (I will not dignifrit wit'hibe name,.
of'Rebtliims,), I thou
fives 'A ght irpeoliable Jhat many mgt..
ould.come to bcottind'; TrecOlretta-t,,lat
. °J.I.
a. fUtiner' ovc,a.sion . thp, Itishilovemirteng. %.,,ou Id
n.-ot all any p(rson to leave- tir.ii'COtmtryl,witittiut
Pdrr.""s) liters was no liii= iii-'-tiii;nd-zie-11 re-
, it qkt4rd ti.e la-w-
-of such paispartsi..buti. took
!Tun 10 u:ln'responSibility to 'order thatriol)er-
_

gall c4rn i ut- r-atb . are lioti •wi tho-ut .a pa&spott 51.,,w):4 I
be suffered to land in Scotland. I knew that there
was tip positive la w,which gay; me .povrer'to do so; '
and that not- hiving applted for an indemnity; I
may.. be - now- liable to aaions -of damages from
many of those people who by my orders were pro.,
hibited from landing ; ' but still I coneeied it was ~
.my duty, and that it is the duty of a, Lard Advo.
eat.'-ot. Scotland, Who, unites in himself ,the ,powers
orthe Government, to act decidedly in all such cases,
where the State is in danger, upon his own respon.
sibilitr. -I will till the Hun. Gentleman fairly,, 'that
if his: Mdtioti does not depri'Ve me of my Place, I
shall af again and again in the same manner, under
similar circumstances; , Applying:lbis' prin'ciple to
- the present- case, I must Mention:, that in 061ober
Ifrst,' after .catiferti'ng with General' Vyst, then -our
Military 'Commander; we -weft- agreed, that if the
• Enemy shoed' land; there ciught•tri be immediately
a Commission for declaring Martial Law in Scdt.
land. .: Such- Commission - ought to have been sent
down-to me solely, or to me in ccinjunaion with
otherS, I stated this to His Majesty's Ministers, and
I added, that if I received an answer from theta eon-
' fidentially, I was content co:- burn their Letter,' and
aft upon- di), own responsibility-. I should certainly,
if the Enemy had, landed in Scotland,. have -taken
upon myself the respo :sibility of declaring Martial
Law.- If the House are now • disposed to resit-id
:iii- responsibility; and take upon themselves- the
office of Lord Advocate of•SCotland; I; for my part,
-shall. feel- much obliged to them. The alarm .at
1 Edinburgh was then so great, and such wets the
distribution Of the -forces, that it would have been
• iinposs:i*..to have defended Edinburgh against a
body of
.sooo.r.nen,.. The Rankers were among the
must .alarmed, and. the foremost to (pit the town.
,I certainly, considered, that if Edinburgh should
_he. .taken, and twenty thousand men, assemble in'
the neighbourhocid of it. in, a few days without pay,
the: consequences: would=-have' been, ,dreadin.l.—l,
therefote, had resolved on the measures which,
in Inch case, it would be •necessary to take.. If,
. then, , in the case.'.of aaual 'invasion (and cer-
taioly it teas only- in . case of aanal invasion that .
- rny' orders were. to
,be. executed), 'Mr. IMcirrison
hao been imprisoned, =it does not follow that, that
would be an aft ec.
of injustice. anppression. - It
waftnot always oppres:don to, imprison , persons
suspected of treason. There are many_ persons
-who now hold their- hea'ds very high, and whose:
heads should be Lowered,.' that have ftind a
temporary imprisonment, which kept them - from -
mischief, was no such serious oppression. . The
opinion I gave as a Lawyer, might or tnight not be
a libel, which would subject Me to a civil action,
but certainly is. not a hatter 'worthy of the Considera.
tiOn.Of Parliament. The Memorial of Garrow had
. nothing to do with the cliaratler of Morrison ; there,
fore it may be suppbsed I had some farther infortna- '
tion. :The Sheriff-Substitute-of the
.CountY, Whose
business officially it is to report to me whatever_re-
laled.tO the internal police or defence ofT the. County,
did report to me, that this conduct of Mprriacindiall,
produced 'the "Worst-passible effeek.among the Volun...
,leers of his neighbourhood.. I. allow ,that I had no
particular infOrmation against" Morrison, but on this
' single tran.saftion; but. still When t 1.1" head Magis-
trate-Of' the County did wait upon me and represent
the ill effetßi Of this conduct, it struck me inorefOr-
cibly than froth the simple memorial of: Garrow. I
shall-how'tell the real story of the transaaion : GA;-
-roiv had-with the knowledge of his master entered
into a Volunteer'Cbto; by attending after his work
was finished, he had . qualified. himself as a sOldier,
and in order to obtain those exerriptiona that the Law
gave' it was necessary- that'he, should -be inspitled ;
'before the day of inspeaion, he.-asked his Master
leave,to go, but was refused : he was So anxious then
to reconcile his-duty to his Counto to his duty to his
Master, that he got Up in the middle Of the night and :
-performed that tilsk'which his Master had assigned
him, and then went to itiSpeOlon 'On hiS return,
Mr; Morrison turned him offi, notwithstanding -he
offered to make 'any anieridS by additional- labour, or '
by dedu'aion 'from his wages; but lioiv did he turn
him off ? Not as .the Hon. Gentleman '(Mr. Wityr:
sit ci,o) would have turned off his sets ant ; no, he
refused to pay kiln the Wages be had earned be.:
fore that d.ay, 'and would not pay him till he was
compelled by a Decree. of :the Sheriff's Court. The
time when-'he discharged him was also Material :
it was on-lhe 13th Of Oat:6er, When 'a lahOurer in
Scotland, who is,generally engaged by /he half year;
could' not easily get ethploymeot : aS there are no
Poor Rates in-Scotland; Gatrow'a-nd his family. tniht
have starved in The winter, if they could not find- ern.'
ployment. This then.is the real ease ; and' now I
will appeal to every man-in this House, where. ought
the charge of injustice anti oppression. to. attach ? I
I almost doubt now that my:legal opinion. was not cot--
1 red, and that, under all the circumstances of the case,i
1 Mr. Morrison could be compelled to pay Garrow his
I wages for the remainder of the half year, as there

was no negleet of diity on his parr.. The House, will
now judge' whether it is. Mr. Morrison Or Darrow
whp is theinjured man ? Although I confess I had
no particular information against Morrison,_ yet
must, in .my -defence, mentionanother qirctunstance
which-I was informed of.
,- Early,ip the French Re-
volution, there had existed at the town of Portsoy,
within twotniles cf. Morrison'} house, a S3ciety
''cailed The Friends of Universal Liberty," who
, corresponded with the jac,;bin Club of France. I
. knew that the head and•.primum mobile of that
Society,
.was a man who. was, likely to have
,considerable influence over Mr, Morrison.—
I.know: that after the Meetings of. that Socie-
ty had been Sp seditious, that, the Sheriff ;.was
obliged to cra.ye leave " to be,admitted to the ho-
pourof their sittings", they splitinto smaller parties,
• and that one of their favourite measures was tc, ul'-
struft. and discourage, as much as, they could, the
raisingof the Volunteer Force., If a. man in Mr.
=YlPrlison'osituation had been aEtually,solci to the
First Cansul,•ikhd.was.to ask his hist rudions huw he
• cR;Ild strve hint-best, Alie,„inStruaions he would pro.
bably receive, ,would be, to go on exat`tly. a 5 he was
asite could.,-by his in.
Apit4ce. inks migiAbpariloqc,),, the.Voluuteering Sys-
tern, and persecute and oppress every. Sirvant,or La.
bourer.pf his, that. should,' join)in i to, Taking all
.thotp'epl.: th ircuetiriHstoarnik'eC,s,sitrg; Would submij to the can-
clir d hoe beer, ,c,lpabie in
1 causing; Morason tp b.OPTr4sied in cise:p,l the A 044

In4AO-irt'of. Sckitland *,,,nly!Opit4orr,
ella-ratkerized the -concida, of rvlr: ,Morrison as
Cr'ou'r,: it Ayas theritny opinion, it is still 05.1;
:.proiriulgated a libel; rain-liable.tu aq
action for slander, and the' damages would r.loubt_
less, be. Intich enhanced by -my, sitttation in the
Country. The condird of Mr. Morrison,,however;
appeared to his neighbours nearly ;rt the, 'Same.light
as it did to-me. At a Meeting, .on the 30511 of
April last.; a•Gentleman who was a Friend of his,
'brought forward a Mution.in,his behalf, but it was
kicked over the Table. Itwas glad. the Honoura-
ble Gentleman 'read the Ad ;If and
I recommend 'it to his serious attention : he will
reColled, however; when.he quotes it, that there
no longer exists a rrivy Council in Scotland, and
that Since that time almost the whole powers of
the Government h5Ve devolved on the
.Lord Ad-
vocate. There is another doltine I will never ad.
Mit, that whoever' commits. one at of oppression.is
responsible, for every consequence which may by
possibility follow from it. I deny that this is either
true in law, or in morality. I trust I have already
said enough to Thew that, in the very critical situa-
tion I was placed, and with such information as Wai
theo before me, I might have undertaken, on my
own responsibility, 'to have Mr. Morrison arrested
'in the event of Invasion.- lam 'now assured that
Mr. Morrison is a loyal and respedahle man. It
may be so;, but -in times of -grest-danger we., must
od for the safety of the State, on the evidence then
hefore,us, He concluded by throwing himself upon
the candour of the House, and apologizing for hair-
ing..so long detained them. . -
Mr. WH ITBitE AD,: then moved,,« That it appears
to this House that -the conduit of the • Right Hon.
CHARLES Hope, His Majesty's Advocate for Scot-
landyin. writing the said letter, has been oppressive,
illegal, and contrary to his official duty." .

The question being pur,
Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON obseried that

the mode adopted, by. the Learned Lord was, . in his
opinion, a considerable aggraVatiou olhis eondal,
particularly when :he. expressed an expeClation that
Mr. Morrison should come to him.. He thought the
Learnid.Lord should either have retracted ,the, stn.

timents he had expressed' against this_man, br have
proved them.- [He- did not commend the conduEt of
Mottison; but he thought that of the 'Learned Lard

was 'folly as discouraging to. the, Volunteer-System
as Morrison's. He should_therefAre. vote most 'de.
cidedly for, the Mori
The ATTORNEY GENERAL observed, that
aftet,the very full, and, to his, mind, very able and
satisfactory statement the House had heard from the
Learned Lord .himself, against whose condua this
Mtion was direled,: he thought the House would
not think it necessary that this question should be
very long considered ; a 'reference to the statement
of the Learned Lord, was sufficient to satisfy the
tiotise in this case, because it,. by -that statement,
.saw the .circumstances under. which he aCted ; and,

upon considering theft), he was led to think that a
Motion of thiskind was unnecessary, although there
might be some points which-were far front meeting
his approbation., The Learned Lora had written
from, what he thought to be the 'true state of the
case at. the time, and he aced on information regu-
larly laid before him, and therefore all the circuns.
?iani:es of aggraVation, as to injury to the iridi.
Vidual, were.completely done away, for he acted on a
pbblic infOtattiion, and according to the* best of his
.
opinion. There was no proceeding had upon this; it
was only directions how the Sheriff, was to a6t in an
event which had not happened. There were two ways
of examining' the conduit Of the Learned-Lord, anti
the way to consider it appeared to him to be_this
Whether the subject matter noiv .before the House.
was such a prktate grievance of. public enormity as
to justify Parliam-ent for proceeding in it ? On the
first, he did not think that, taking the whole matter
colle.itively, it would appear to call for Parliamentary
interference,, because the Law was open to the party
.comi;bining-, if he iwas aggrieved. As to the let-
ter„ there were some expressions in ii, which per.
haps the Learned Lord would not, upon refiedion,
justify, although upon thcCircuinstarKes, they might
be excu.sed.• He did not attempt to defend the Whole

of the letter; perhaps it partook a' little of the cha_
-rakalr of a libel, but Mi. Mi4riion-could appeal to a
entirt of justice if-he felt himself aggrieved, althosugh
he might nnt,.under all the' circumstances-of his case,
expea, much damages, on account of, his having by
his os rt Condua, brought this' inconvenience, upon
himself, and that perhaps made him less pa'tiW to an
appeal to the Laviis of his Country. Gentlemen
said, that the Lord Advocate should have applied for
,an indemnity in
._this case,. if he was conscious his
Coridet was warranted under the circ.urn,tances, al-

thdugh not•Jegal;- but that'he Would not do, for
he had nut dorm any one a 6, he had only dirctted the
Sheriff to do an aEt which had not been done; and
therefore could, not apply for any an of indetrinity.
Considering. the state. of the Country at the time
this topic! place—the information' the 'Lord Adyo.:
care received---the impression made upon his; Itti,nd-7
the manner in which the man hail behaved ro'his
NJ:aster; Mr. MorrisOn,. aril Mr. Morrison to him—
and all the circumstances of the case taken together,
he (honglvt the House. would not entertain this sub,
j:tt in die way,in which ;he Hon. Gent. proposed it,
namely, with a'itie4 of addressing HiS NDjesty; to
distiri'Sti•thel!.earned 'Lordfrom. a station which he''so
ably filled : he hoped the House would assentio his
Motion, which Was) to pass to the Order of the
Oay.,
The Question was then put, That the Order: of
the aty be now read, •

Air..GREY opposed the Motion for the Order, of
the Day, att supported the original one.. Hie ex..
prt::sseil alarm at the •First Law Officer of the Cfciwn
in Ehgian~fi; defe.nding•condtfl so illegal in 'the first
Law Qfficer.of ,the crown itt Scotiand.. vi-as 4p,.
pr:hensilre of dativrtothe Adininistration of ,us.
tics: if such doatities were supported. miiin-
tained'tlut a griat idart of iVtiarhad been nrgedin
defenee,of the LeArturd-Lorilhadixtothing todoiwith
the case helore the otpe.; "Ihe Q.Lteition
was, whether this Learned Lord,. in the exercise of
his high °Eke of Loid Advocate dt Scotland, had
been g Li y. of ..inisearaluti;pf:illegaliYy, an& oppresl
sion ? That
,Lea Piled Lord had eillexed into an his.
tor iCal desaiution of Abe C5O,5Cc Adi:PC4/C cif
SCOri:t ea, with w'hict-i•the:llicftYst 'Had' nowtog to do:
hi; only questiOn was, Whetlf4r !Elie `iuwer. h. 4,

. I

71"-r1 0.Cr0c,;,(1 $ thAe ref', ir !"-;-•••
•
Ole subjcili f[1;): ?-t) 17- g:11,1:c:
Accartii!lg to any. ttry Ctlt4 i 01 ;8 ~
according .cointpcsn sense, the tr.:.:
immutable of, 30:t ice..

rvaint3inc,i

all the Casescasesofemoitrgo, kc.,quAted by fi.e
Lord as' haying :taken:place,under his„pf&igF.es..sors:,
did not apiiiy to the present c.ase,.beciuse they were
alI
.jkltifiM by necessity. Herr, 4e it:untended, 11..,..7c
cvas co bitch necessity... It was ~troc, the, Le:Amt-cl
4ord.hui aced tin iinfortnatiop, but he hall_ not. in-
quired ifito.the truth of it, nor giver;
cipplrt,}nity,of being heard. He thought ,that this
person hid been very improperly tignt.•ti ~ and
11 t.thz: 116 use ought to interftre ; :for which reason
he should 'vote for the original Motion ()ibis Hun
Friend:

Mr. DAL LelSweiy warmly .supported.the
of the L rd' Advocate. He said there were :three
distinCt considerations in this case. First, whether
the Hotise way prepared to say, ,that the conduit of
the Learned Ltird,W,is it egal 'Next; whether, if
illegal, it was oppressive And the third was a con.
Sequence of the other two, if decided in:the-affirrna.
five, namely, that it was contraiy to the duties of
his Office. On the first ground, whether the'condut.
of the Lord Advocate was illegal, he had no diffi-
culty in• sayjrig ,it was perfectly legal. II; ata,.d
_upon it-dot-citation which justified him, under al; the
circumstances, in' what, he 'did;; he was-so well con-
vinced of this, that he should have been proud to
have afted irt like manner• himself, under similar
citcumstances. Being orthis .flpitii6-ri upon the first
point, he. Was, of cOurse, in' 1 of .the Learned
Lord on the other: t ; -and, instead of censtirc, he
had his hearty thanks.• , •

Mr. K.- rll A supported the
The. S ECRET •ht,114 Al? observed, that,sv„me
Gentlemen. who had spoken in this Dzbate,-o.irtieu.
larly.the 'llone.iVle-mber w!u spoke last; 'had forgot:
ten the adm mition of the Hon. MoVer, thati)f dis-
cussing the'subjeCtdispassionatelY. On the contrary,
he had heard two very, inflammatory. Speeches. He
did • not -say. there were' not expr'essinns'. of great
-:?t'd' indiscreet warmth in the Letter of We Lord
Advocate; • bur when it was considered 'Under
what. circumstances of hurry and apfirche'nsion it
waS written, and when all, the riot of. the case
was considered, he trusted the House would not ex_
pelt it to ,be so corred, as •if it had been wri•!en
under. other circumstances. The Learned Lord
'had. none ,but the purest intentions; and he was
one of the most honourable Men in the Country :
he had become the most intimate friend 'of• tire
Earl of MOIRA, although they were (tiredly op-
posite to each other in some political ouiniori4,
and this friendship was a proof of the virtue of
them both. The House would remember' how
uncommonly naive. the Lord Advocate had been
in. promoting the System *of the. VolUnteer Serviee
in Scotland. He had formed the first battalion That
was ever raised .there ; had-hirnstif,. notTith4tand-
ing his avocations, personally attended 'drills regu_
larly; and he had such an enthusiastic spirit fur the
lervice, .that he could not bear*any thing that
looked like irripedibient to it; and it was tinder
:these impressions he' had written this letter, under
which circumstances lie hoped the House would not
think it'too much to pass this Subjed by witrinut
censure. Gentle Men seemed to apprehend, that
the person complaining could not in this case prefer
his bill of Indidment, because all indiament's in
'Scotland are in the name of •the Lard Advocate;
that was an error ; for although ail indiamentis
Were in his• name, yet_ that was mere matter of
form, for he had no power to withhold. from
'any one who chose to make the application.—
_ Mr. KSMITII approved of .the manner 'in c,dhicll
the Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke last defended
the Learned Lord, since: it poly went toiiailiate,
and not to juatify his conc* ; but heionsdrell very
'severely' the. manner- in which the• Laid Atleotate
had defended himself, :and '.morellvartily -the
.course. Mr„, DArt.ns had taken in this'case.' He
professed entire resped for.-the Judges of. the, Cougt
of Session inScotland, but .maintained, that from
the manner in which their authority was constitut-
ed, the complainant was not to expel`} the same re-
dress from them in this case, as he .might before a
Jury in this country. ,: • , ••
Mr. T./INDll44.Msaid, they were to consider;. in
this.case,,what was likely to be.the effect. of the ex-
ample, the difficulty, to the, individual. Wronged of
obtaining ,redress, and in .the.next place as to the
fitness ulleoingtheTo.wer in the hands of the Lord
Advocate. He, admitted that „there .were. cases
of,urgency, where law, Was over=ruled, arid where it
might be necessary to use,a. yigour.which the laww, did
not saodien.„ The cases, however} quoted by: the
Leatned _cord, if they were intended t 9 support
toe general principle, .v ere unnecessary ; if to j ast ifs
the ad complained,uf,. they .were • If
the Learned Lord could have made our a case, that
the safety 'of the Country required the arrest of this
man, he should have said that the Learned Lord was
not only justified, but-thatit was his duty taarreit
the man in case of an enemy's landing ;-no such case;
however, had been made out. He denied the in.
ference drawn 'from this case of Morrison; was
a man to' be stigmatized as an. improper .charae.:
ter, and as it were, excommunicated, becatie he
(par:died with his servant ? It had .been 'said that
the-case was too inconsiderable. to come' under the
notice of the Mollie ;7 it might be.sO in the first ir,l
stance, but notafter the principle had-been 'justified-
upon deliberation. As' to saying that the Min. had
a remedy at.. law, that was a mockery,. particularly.
after • what had been said by the. Learned Lord,
that a person who had broughtlotward such' a bust:
ness in Edinburgh would 'not have been in saferv.
Would they then hazard the danger of passing over
such an ad as- this without censure? It had been
formerly said that Scotland was.-a singular instance
of attaining the ,liberal arts before the mechroic,tl.
ones; and S.O.,whils,c they had a wise sysiehi 1;1*
jurisprudence, it. might •be doubted whe•ther they
had anycorrea,coAtitutional ideas, fora Lord AO.
.vocate. had dove !AR; this., case what. no Attorney:
Gendal in this Cpuirtry for, twe.ohundred years p. 14
wso-41t1 have ventured. to haVe done. - wished the
House would e("0-le' co a'4 decision, upon the main sub-..
jed, .and ntit ge‘i %rid aof brthe'prev ions .que,tit,n.
,Lord 11.STL)dRE4CH tr) Mr.' Vt'ttir.
H AK. He adipitted,thot the words. tic Leese
were-a litrte werai -and isa