while another fet of witneffes fwore it was another man fired his gun over the Captain's fhoulders; but the fact was, he had fired his piece. He infifted Mackay was most active at the head of the foldiers, and was one of those who broke from the ranks and difobeyed their officers, and the cause of the bloodshed that followed on this occafion.Sutherland, he thought, was equally guilty, which he endeavoured to establish by going over the evidence as to his fhare of what he termed this military murder. He then faid he would speak of a very delicate question indeed, namely, how far the military can act without the civil magistrate. This queftion, however, it was neceffary now to investigate. Here was the military acting without confulting the magistrates, although they were at hand. There was no martial law in this country, nor could the magiftrate act, without reading the riot act. What would be the cafe if an officer infulted on the streets of this city fhould call his regiment to his affiftance? Where would it end? The ferjeant, the privates might do the fame. But an officer and every military man might feek redress of injuries from the civil law. The town guard of Aberdeen, and in every other city, is a guard under the magiftrates of the place, and not under the command of their officers when fo employed. Cooper, a witnefs, faid the military were always affaulted in rejoicing days. This was denied by other refpectable witneffes, who faid the fift part of the evening was remarkably quiet. He thought the officers, particularily Enlign Lanigan, behaved very improperly, and provoked the people very much, and though both parties behaved very ill, yet Lieut Col. Mackenzie and Capt. Macdonogh, by their own command, ordered out a whole regiment to act against a mob, which fo far from being dangerous, allow. ed firft Corporal Douglas, and then Capt. Macdonogh to go through them for the purpofe of procuring the interference of a Magistrate. Mr Clerk then contended, that from all the circumstances of the cale, it would appear that though Lieut. Col. Mackenzie ordered the regiment out to protect the guard, he did not believe he meant to kill any perfon. Capt. Macdonogh alfo order ed out the regiment rafhly to protect the guard, and to revenge an infult offered to himfelf, yet he did not mean any perfon fhould fuffer for it; on the contrary, he endeavoured to draw off the foldiers, yet in point of law they were both guilty of all the confequences that followed. This he illuftrated by a variety of cales both in law and practice, and by a quotation from the work of Mr Hume on criminal Cafes. After going throngh the whole cafe with much ingenuity, he concluded a speech of nearly three hours, by saying, that if the Jury could acquite the pannels, he would have no objection, all that was wished be. ing a fair trial, and that he was certainthey had obtained. faid, at the outfet of the trial it had been The Hon. Mr Erfkine, for the pannels, pleaded that there were many questions of law, which ought to be decided. But there was no queftion of this kind in the least difficult for any man.-Murder is the crime of taking away a man's life by a malice aforethought. This was known to every man, and therefore he would fay no more of it. -He gave Mr Clerk credit for what he faid of the characters of the pannels, but denied the inference he drew. Character in their cafe was of the greatest confequence, and all of his clients were men of excellent characters and amiable difpofitions. After difcufling the different parts of the indictment with great ingenuity, he took notice of the expreffions in it, which faid themfelves, as is ufual on fuch occafions. What? the populace of Aberdeen proceeded to amufe Aberdeen. He had fometimes been there, was this the amusement of the populace of and had fome dear friends in that part of. the country, but if this was their amufements-if breaking of heads, and spoiling of cloaths, particularly of military men, were their pastime, he hoped never to fet a foot people of Aberdeen. They a were clever in it again. But this was a libel upon the Scotland. and fentible people-as much fo as any in veftigation of the law with respect to the Mr Erskine then entered into a full inmilitary acting without the authority of the civil Magiftrate, in which he agreed in many points with Mr Clerk, but differed be kept muzzled like wild beafts; and it in his conclufions. Military men could not was hard, if these men were ordered home to their barracks by their officers, and did not obey, that thefe officers fhould be blanied for what followed. Much trefs had been laid by Mr Clerk on the circumftance of the regiment being lately from Ireland, the rebellion. This would be found not where they had been employed in fuppretting to be the cafe. The regiment was railed alter the Irish rebellion, and had never fired a shot in that country. There feemed to be a fort of antipathy againit this regiment on although many of the most refpectable of the part of the mob of Aberdeen; for, the witneffes, inhabitants of the town, were walking about among the mob, yet none of them were affaulted, but the officers of the corps were, particularly Col. Mackenzie who was knocked down, as alfo Captain Captain Macdonogh, whofe hat had been knocked off, and his cloaths dirtied, by these people amusing themfelves. It had been afferted by Mr Clerk, that the guard at Aberdeen was merely a town-guard, and fubject to a civil Magiftrate. This Mr E. denied. The City Guard of Edinburgh had no analogy to the cafe, they being fervants of the town. It was evident from the proof that the guard had been attacked, and it was Colonel Mackenzies' duty to reinforce them; the true way to do this was to beat to arms, which was done, and Captain Macdonogh took the command of & detachment of 24 men, drawn up by the ferjeant-major, and the reft of the regiment unluckily followed, hearing their officers were attacked. Mr Erskine then went over the whole evidence refpecting Captain Macdonogh, from which he inferred, that his conduct was perfectly innocent, and in fome cafes praife-worthy, and concluded his and Lieut. Col. Mackenzie's defence by faying, that he had no hesitation in believing the Jury would exculpate them of the charge-if they thought otherwife, let God's will he done; but, were it fo, he could not fee any temptation to be an officer in the army. Mr Erkine was just beginning the defence of the two ferjeants, when he was fuddenly taken ill, and obliged to retire.-Having recovered in about half an hour, he refumed his fpeech, in defence of Suther land and Mackay, and went over the evidence as it affected them, in the courfe of which he noticed what had failen from Mr Clerk refpecting the Lord Advocate not profecuting this cafe. The refpectable character, whofe official fituation was equal to a Grand Jury in England, had declined profecuting, and no man who knew his Lordfhip would doubt that he had fuf. ficient reafons for fo doing; and he thought this was in favour of his clients. He concluded a very able and eloquent fpeech, to which we are forry we cannot do justice, by calling on the Jury for a verdict of acquittal. Lord Craig fummed up the evidence with the utmost impartiality and candour, in a 1peech of confiderable length, which was liftened to with much attention. The pannels were offuilzied and difmiffed from the bar. The feverity of the weather, during the whole of this month, has been very unfavourable for the operations of hufbandry. Severe frofts and thaws, with high and boisterous winds, have alternately prevailed, and much da mage has been done at fea. The markets continue much the fame as in left report: the herring fithery in the Forth has not proved to fuccefsful as in former years, The price of wheat is very low, and has been fo for fome time, yet the price the quartern loaf-At Haddington of bread at Edinburgh continues at ød (where the markets are always as high as in any part of Scotland), on Friday it was reduced to fixpence three farthings. LISTS. MARRIAGES. At Manfefield, Lefmahagow, Robert Robifon, Efq. of the Leddriegreen, to Mifs Rachel Hay Clark, daughter of the late Rev. Thomas Clark, minifter of Eaglefham. the icat of the Earl of Hopetoun, George At Hopetoun Houfe, Linlithgowshire, Hope, Efq. Captain in his Majesty's Navy, to Lady Jamima Hope Johnftone, youngest daughter to his Lordship. At Edinburgh, Charles Jenkinson, Esq. of the 3d guards, to Mifs Catherine Campbell, fifth daughter of Walter Campbell of Shawfield, Etq. At Edinburgh Mr Andrew Storie, writer to the fignet, to Mifs Penelope Fyfe, danghter of the late Barclay Fyfe, Eiq. merchant in Leith. At Ballindean, in Perthshire, the Hon. Dorothea Wedderburn, daughter of Sir Major-General John Hope, to Mifs Louisa John Wedderburn, Bart. At Lebary, John Herdman, M. D. Edinburgh, to Mils Mary Hay, daughter thumberland. of William Hay, Elq. of Lefbury, Nor fon, rector of the grammer fchool, to Miss At Dumfries, Mr Aglianby Rofs CarAuna Irving, of that place. The remainder of our Lists will be given in our next. Edinburgh, Feb. 28. Oatmeal, 1s. id. Barley-meal, 108. Peate-meal, rod. Haddington. Feb. 26. Wheat, 275, 6d. Barley, 18s. Oats, 14s. 6d. Peafe, 158. 6d Beans. 17s. STOCKS.-Feb. 20. Bank Stock 190 5 per C. Ann 101 EDINBURGH; Printed by ALEX. CHAPMAN, & Co. Forrester's Wynd, And Sold by ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE, High Street, Edinburgh. And to be had of the Principal Bookfellers in the United Kingdom. TO CORRESPONDENTS. THE Life of Argyle will be concluded in our next number. THE Communication entitled, Remarks on the New Edition of Chatter. ton's Works, hath been received, and will be inferted in our next. We were much pleased with the accurate and just obfervations it contains, and request the continuance of the author's correfpondence. THE "Sentiments and Obfervations" with which we have been favoured by an anonymous Correfpondent, feem to contain nothing new; and, we fufpect, would not be interesting to the public. R's paper on Politeness will probably appear in our next. OUR Correfpondent who ufes the fignature H. is refpectfully informed, that we took the trouble to make confiderable alterations and corrections upon the paper to which he refers, but after all we judged it unfit for publication. The author requests that, if the compofition be defective, we fhould correct it, and that the public fhould be allowed to judge of the reafoning. The impropriety of this request is too obvious to need a fingle remark. THE verfes entitled "An Extract from a Gothic Poem" have been received, and will be inferted in our next. We with the author all manner of success in the profecution of his defign, and fhall be glad to receive fuch other extracts as he may think proper to fend us. BONNY Jean; a Scotch Song, by the author of the Journey through the Highlands, has come to hand, and will appear in our next number. THE Gleanings from a celebrated deceafed poet are of fuch a nature, as to be entirely unfuitable to the nature of our miscellany. THE paper on Religious Establishment has just come to hand, but the author carries his principles to a dangerous length, and thus lays us under the neceffity of refufing it a place, T Continued from p. 12. HE Parliament of England, known by the name of the long parliament, met at London on the 3d of November 1640. It may be proper here to take notice of its character, and the defign of its meeting, fince the character of Argyle in the future part of his life. is much interwoven with its hiftory. The proteftants in England, who formed the majority of the people, had long been diffatisfied with the measures of the government. James entertained very high ideas of the royal prerogative, and hence was frequently led to thwart the inclinations of the people. His fucceffor, Charles I, inherited the fame difpofition to defend the power of the crown against the encroachments of the fubjects. Befides, the people were now utterly difgufted at the authority and conduct of the bifhops; while the king, from a regard to his own intereft, confidered himfelf bound to fupport them to the utmost of his power. But the arbitrary proceedings of Laud, who had almoft the fole direction in ecclefiaftical affairs, at once inclined the English to favour the caufe of the Scots. They were likewife highVOL. LXV. ly offended that the parliaments were prorogued before they could procure a redrefs of grievances, or before they had time to deliberate upon what might be most beneficial to the profperity and happiness of the nation. HENCE the prefent meeting of parliament diffused an univerfal joy. The people looked for redrefs from an affembly, which the neceflities of the king had forced him to convene. From the character of the members, whofe fentiments were pretty generally fimilar to their own, they had reafon to entertain very flattering expectations; and the friendship and co-operation of the Scottish army, gave thefe expe&ations an additional ftrength. In electing the members, they were careful to choose the most pious and patriotic, fo that the parliament was chiefly compofed of reformers, who were diffatisfied with the prefent administration of affairs. THE fentiments of thefe reformers were foon manifefted by their public proceedings. Making the neceffities of the king a matter of fecondary moment, they immediately proceeded to examine the peti X tic |