Then that part of the report of the commission, as to Glenlyon, captain Drummond, lieu tenant or adjutant Lindsay, ensign Lundy, and serjeant Barber, read with the depositions of the witnesses against them; and the question stated and voted, If it appeared that the said persons were the actors of the murder of the Glenco-men under trust; and that his majesty be addressed to send them home to be prose cuted for the same according to law, or not? And carried in the affirmative. Therefore voted, If it should be remitted to the committee for the security of the kingdom to draw this address, or a new committee elected for drawing thereof? and carried remit. The report from the committee for security of the kingdom in favours of the Glenco-men, read and remitted to the said committee; that there be a particular recommendation of the petitioner's case to his majesty brought in by the said committee. July 10, 1695. The Address about the slaughter of the Glenco-men to be sent to the king, read, with several of the master of Stair's letters to sir Thomas Levingston and colonel Hill: and after some debate upon the paragraph touching the master of Stair, it was voted, approve the paragraph as brought in from the committee, or as offered with amendments: it carried, approve as brought in from the committee. Thereafter the whole Address was put to the vote, and approved as follows: The ADDRESS of the Noblemen, Barons and Burroughs in Parliament, humbly presented to his most Sacred Majesty upon the Discovery communicate to them, touching the Murder of the Glenco-men in February, 1692. "We your majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects, the noblemen, barons and burroughs assembled in parliament, do humbly represent to your majesty that in the beginning of this session, we thought it our duty, for the more solemn and public vindication of the honour and justice of the government, to inquire into the barbarous slaughter committed in Glenco, Feb. 1692, which hath made so much noise, both in this kingdom and your majesty's other dominions but we being informed by your majesty's commissioner, that we were prevented in this matter by a commission under the great seal for the same purpose, we did upon reading the said commission, unanimously acquiesce to your majesty's pleasure, and returned our humble acknowledgments for your royal care in granting the same; and we only desired that the discoveries to be made should be communicated to us, to the end that we might add our zeal to your majesty's for prosecuting such discoveries; and that in so national a concern, the vindication might be also public as the reproach and scandal bad been; and principally that we, for whom it was VOL. XIII. most proper, might testify to the world how clear your majesty's justice is in all this matter. "And now your majesty's commissioner, upon our repeated instances, communicated to us a copy of the report transmitted by the commission to your majesty, with your majesty's instructions, the master of Stair's letters, the orders given by the officers, and the depositions of the witnesses, relating to that report; and the same being read and compared, we could not but unanimously declare, that your ma jesty's instructions of the 7th and 16th of January 1692, touching the bighlanders who had not accepted in due time of the benefit of the indemnity, did contain a warrant for mercy to all without exception, who should offer to take the oath of allegiance, and come in upon mercy, though the 1st of January 1692, prefixed by the proclamation of indemnity was past; and that these instructions contain no warrant for the execution of the Glenco-men made in February thereafter. And here we cannot but acknowledge your majesty's signal clemency upon this occasion, as well as in the whole tract of your government over us; for had your majesty, without new offers of mercy, given positive orders for the executing the law upon the highlanders, that had already despised your repeated indemnities, they had but met with what they justly deserved. "But it being your majesty's mind, according to your usual clemency, still to offer them mercy; and the killing of the Glenco men being upon that account unwarrantable, as well as the manner of doing it being barbarous and inhuman, we proceeded to vote the killing of them a murder, and to inquire who had given occasion to it, and were the actors in it. of Stair his letters had exceeded your ma"We found in the first place that the master jesty's instructions towards the killing and destruction of the Glenco-men: this appeared by the comparing the instructions and letters, whereof the just attested duplicates are herewith transmitted; in which letters the Glencomen are over and again distinguished from the rest of the highlanders, not as the fittest subject of severity, in case they continued obstinate, and made severity necessary according to the meaning of the instructions; but as men absolutely and positively ordered to be destroyed, without any further consideration, than that of their not having taken the indemnity in due time; and their not having taken it, is valued as a happy incident, since it afforded an opportunity to destroy them; and the destroying of them is urged with a great deal of zeal, as a thing acceptable and of public use; and this zeal is extended even to the giving of directions about the manner of eutting them off; from all which it is plain, that though the instructions be for mercy to assist all that will submit, though the day of indemnity was elapsed, yet the letters do exclude the Glencomen from this mercy. "In the next place we examined the orders given by sir Thomas Levingston in this matter, 3 N and were unanimously of opinion that he had were the actors in the slaughter of the Glencoreason to give such orders for cutting off the men under trust, and that we should address Glenco-men, upon the supposition that they your majesty to send them home to be prosehad rejected the indemnity, and without mak-cuted for the same according to law. ing them new offers of mercy, being a thing in itself lawful, which your majesty might have ordered; but it appearing that sir Thomas was then ignorant of the peculiar circumstances of the Glenco-men, he might very well understand your majesty's instructions in the restricted sense which the master of Stair's letters had given them, or understand the master of Stair's letters to be your majesty's additional pleasure, as it is evident he did by the orders which he gave, where any addition that is to be found in them to your majesty's instructions, is given not only in the master of Stair's sense, but in his words. "This being the state of that whole matter as it lies before us, and which, together with the report transmitted to your majesty by the commissioner (and which we saw verified) gives full light to it; we humbly beg that considering that the master of Stair's excess in bis letters against the Glenco-men has been the original cause of this unhappy business, and hath given occasion in a great measure to so extraordinary an execution, by the warm directions he gives about doing it by way of surprize; and considering the high station and trust he is in, and that he is absent, we do therefore beg that your majesty will give such orders about him for vindication of your government, as you in your royal wisdom shall think fit. 66 "We proceeded to examine colonel Hill's part of the business, and were unanimous that he was clear and free of the slaughter of the And likewise considering that the actors Glenco-men; for though your majesty's in-have barbarously killed men under trust, we structions, and the master of Stair's letters were humbly desire your majesty would be pleased sent strait from London to him, as well as to to send the actors home, and to give orders to sir Thomas Levingston, yet he knowing the your advocate to prosecute them according to peculiar circumstances of the Glenco-men law; there remaining nothing else to be done shunned to execute them, and gave no orders in for the full vindication of your government of the matter, till such time as knowing that his so foul and scandalous an aspersion as it has lieutenant-colonel had received orders to take | lain under upon this occasion. with him 400 men of his garrison and regiment, he, to save his own honour and authority, gave a general order to Hamilton, his lieutenantcolonel, to take the 400 men, and to put in due execution the orders which others had given him. "Lieutenant-colonel Hamilton's part came next to be considered, and he being required to be present, and called, and not appearing, we ordered him to be denounced, and to be seized on wherever he could be found; and having considered the orders that he received, and the orders which he said before the commission be gave, and his share in the execution, we agreed that from what appeared, he was not clear of the murder of the Glenco-men, and that there was ground to prosecute him for it. "We shall only add, that the remains of the Glenco-men, who escaped the slaughter, being reduced to great poverty by the depredation and vastation that was then committed upon them, and having ever since lived peaceably under your majesty's protection, have now applied to us that we might intercede with your majesty, that some reparation may be made them for their losses. We do humbly lay their case before your majesty, as worthy of your royal charity and compassion, that such orders may be given for supplying them in their necessities, as your majesty shall think fit. "And this the most hunible Address of the estates of parliament is, by their order and warrant, and in their name, subscribed by, may it please your majesty, your majesty's most humble, most obedient, and most faithful suband servant, "ANNANDALE, P. P." July 10, 1695. This Address Voted and approven." "Major Duncason, who received orders from Hamilton, being in Flanders, as well as thoseject to whom he gave orders, we could not see these orders; and therefore we only resolved about him, that we should address to your majesty, either to cause him be examined there in Flanders about the orders he received, and his know-commissioner, to transurit to the king the said ledge of that affair, or to order him home to be prosecuted therefore, as your majesty shall think fit. "In the last place, the depositions of the witnesses being clear, as to the share which capt. Campbel of Glenlyon, capt. Drummond, lieutenant Lindsey, ensign Lundie, and serjeant Barber bad in the execution of the Glencomen, upon whom they were quartered; we ree that it appeared that the said persons Then it was recommended to his majesty's address, with duplicates of the king's instructions, and of the master of Stair's letters. Moved, That his majesty's commissioner have the thanks of the parliament for laying the discovery made of the matter of Glenco before them, and that the commissioners have the like for their careful procedure therein; which being put to the vote, approve, or not, carried in the affirmative, nemine contradicente; which his majesty's commissioner accepted of. 401. Proceedings against THOMAS AIKENHEAD, for Blasphemy: 8 WILLIAM III. A. D. 1696. [Now first printed from the Records of Justiciary in Edinburgh, and MSS. the property of Lord King.*] CURIA JUSTICIARIE, S. D. N. Regis tenta in Pretorio Burgi de Edinburgh, vigesimo tertio die mensis Decembris 1636, per honorabiles viros Adamum Cockburne de Ormistoune Justiciarium Clericum, Dominos Colinum Campbell de Aberuchill, Davidem Hume de Crocerig, Joannem Lauder de Fountainhall, et Archibaldum Hope de Rankeiller, Commissionarios Justiciarij dicti S. D. N. Regis. Curia legittime affirmata. Thomas Aikenhead, sone to the deceast James Aiken head, chirurgeon, in Edinburgh, prisoner in the Tolbuith thereof. YOU are indyted and accused, att the instance of sir James Stewart, his majesties advocat for his highnes interest, and by speciall order of the lords of his majesties privy councill, that where by the laws of God, and by the * These MSS. for the use of which I am indebted to his lordship, appear to have belonged to the great Locke, the maternal uncle of lord chancellor King. "No counsel appeared for the prisoner; nor does it seem that one word was urged in his behalf during the course of the trial. Four or five witnesses were examined, one of them a writer in Edinburgh, the rest students at the University, lads from eighteen to twenty, or twenty-one years of age. They proved niost of the articles of the libel, with this addition, that the prisoner said he was confident Christianity would be utterly extirpated by the year 1800. There was however a material defect in the evidence. The article most highly criminal, viz. the railing against God, and cursing our Saviour, was not proved at all, but was an inference drawn by the jury from the prisoner's cursing Ezra, and saying that the inventors of the scriptural doctrines would be damned, if there be such a thing as damnation. "The jury unanimously found the prisoner guilty of railing against God, railing at and cursing Christ, and of the whole other articles in the libel. This verdict the jury, even by the statute, were not warranted to pronounce. The railing against God, and cursing Christ, ought to have been facts directly proved, and not inferences drawn from cursing the inventors of scriptural doctrines; and as for denying any of the persons of the Holy Trinity, it was not the denial, but obstinately persisting lawes of this and all other well-governed Christian realmes, the cryme of blasphemy against God, or any of the persons of the blessed Trinity, or against the holy Scriptures, or our holy religione, is a cryme of the highest nature, and ought to be severely punished: Lykeas by the act of parliament, first parlia ment Charles 2d, act 21, Intituled, act against the cryme of blasphemie, it is statute and ordained, that whosoever not being distracted in his witts shall raill upon or curse God, or any of the persons of the blessed Trinity, shall be processed before the cheife justice, and being found guilty, shall be punished with death; and by 11th act, 5 session of the present current parliament, the forsaid act is not only ratified, but it is farder statute, that whosoever shall in their wryteing or discourse denye, impugne or quarrell, or argue, or reason against the being of God, or any of the persons of the blessed Trinity, or the authority of the holy Scriptures, of the Old and New Testaments, or therein, which by the statute subjected the offender to a capital punishment. "Besides these defences, had the court been endued with the humanity to appoint counsel for the prisoner, it would undoubtedly have been pled for him, that these were rash words, drawn from him in the heat of controversy, which by no means coincided with his serious notions; and that he heartily repented of the warmth which betrayed him into expressions so dissonant from his own sentiments, and so offensive to the feelings of others.-Had these defences been offered for him, the jury could not, without being guilty of perjury, have convicted him of obstinately persisting to deny the Trinity, which the statute required." Aruot, 326. "April 20. James Aikenhead apothecary in Edinburgh is pursued before the privy council, for selling poisonous and amorous drugs and philters to provoke lust, whereby a woman had narrowly escaped with her life, had not doctor Irvine given her an antidote. The council referred the trial and report thereof to the college of physicians, as being periti in arte; who thought such medicaments not safe to be give without first taking their own advice." Of the case of this man, (miscalled Aiken) there is a short report in Maclaúrni. contradictione as. Hircus Cervus, or a quadra- the Providence of God in the government of the world, shall for the first fault be punished with imprisonment, ay, and while he give publict satisfaction in sackcloath to the congregatione within which the scandall is committed; and for the second fault be ffyned, besydes his being imprisoned as above, and for the third should be punished with death, as ane obstinat blasphemer: Nevertheless it is of verity, that you Thomas Aikenhead, shakeing off all fear of God and regaird to His majesties lawes, have now for more than a twelvemoneth by past, and upon severail of the dayes within the said space, and ane or other of the same, made it as it were your endeavour and work in severall compainies to vent your wicked blasphemies against God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and against the holy Scriptures, and all revealled religione, in soe far as upon ane or other of the dayes forsaid, you said and affirm ed, that divinity or the doctrine of theologie was a rapsidie of faigned and ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the morall doctrine of philosophers, and pairily of poeticall fictions and extravagant chimeras, or words to this ef. fect or purpose, with severall other such reproachfull expressions; Lykeas you scoffed at, and endeavoured to ridicule the holy scriptures, calling the Old Testament Ezra's fables, by a profane allusione to Esop's fables, and saying that Ezra was the inventer therof, and that being a cunning inan he drew a number of Babylonian slaves to follow him, for whom he made up a feigned genealogie as if they had been descended of kings and princes in the land of Canaan, and therby imposed upon Cyrus who was a Persian and stranger, persuading him by the devyce of a pretendit prophecy concerning himself; and as for the New Testament, you not only scoff at it, but in your scoffing did most blasphemously raill upon our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, calling the said New Testament the History of the Impostor Christ, and affirming him to have learned magick in Egypt, and that coming from Egypt into Judea, he picked up a few ignorant blockish fisher fellows, whom he knew by his skill and phisognomie, had strong imaginations, and that by the help of exalted imaginatione he play'd his pranks as you blashphemously terme the working of his miracles: Lykeas you affirmed Moses, if ever you say thier was such a man, to have also learned magick in Egypt, but that he was both the better arteist and better politician than Jesus; as also you have The lybell at the instance of sir James Stew cursed Ezra, Moses, and Jesus, and all men of art, his majesty's advocate, against Thomas that sort, affirmeing the holy Scriptures to be Aikenhead, sone to the deceast James Aikenso stuffed with maddness, nonsense, and con- head, apothecary, for Blasphemy, being this tradictions, that you admired the stupidity of day called in presence of the lords of his mathe world in being soe long deluded by them jestie's privy council, and the lord advocate and Lykeas you reject the mystery of the blessed sir Patrick Hume his majesties sollicitor, comTrinity, and say it is not worth any man's re-pearing personally for his majesty's interest; futation, and you also scoffe at the mistery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, affirming blashphemously that Theantropos is as great a * So in the Original. Sic Subscribitur, My Lord Advocate produced an act of councill for pursueing the pannal, wherof the tenor followes : Act and Remitt of Council for pursuing Thomas Aikenhead before the Lords of Justiciary for Blasphemy, &c. EDINBURGH, November 10, 1696. and the defender compearing also personally, the lybell and answers therto being read, the saids lords of his majestie's privie councill have remitted and bereby remitts the said Thomas Aikenhead defender to be pursued befor the INTERLOQUITOR. ASSISA. James Bowden, late baillie, of Edinburgh. spired by the Holy Ghost, and to be of divine authority and set down as a rule for our obeThe lords justice clerk, and commissioners of dience and faith, and by believing whereof a justiciary, having considered the indytment happy immortality may be obtained, and no pursued at the instance of his majestie's ad- otherways. And I do also believe, and assent vocate against Thomas Aikenhead prisoner, to the whole other principles of our holy Prothey find the cursing or railieing upon any of testant religion, such as the celebration of the persones of the blessed* relivant to inferr baptism and the holy sacrament of the Lord's the paine of death; and ffinds the other crymes supper, as truely institute and ordained by our Jybelled relevant to inferr an arbitrary punish-blessed Saviour, and thereafter practised by his ment, and remitts the indytment to the know-holy Apostles and their successors to this very ledge of the Assyse.† Sic Subscribitur, AD. COCKBURN, I. P. D. *So in the Record. It appears that Aikenhead before his trial endeavoured by the following Petition and Retraction, to prevail upon the Court of Justiciary to desert the diet against him : Unto the right honourable the Lord Justice General, Justice Clerk, and remanent Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Justiciary. The Supplication of Thomas Aikenhead, now prisoner in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. hour, and that the said sacraments are to this moment celebrated with the greatest purity in our reformed Protestant churches in Brittain and Ireland. "All which premises I do not only own and acknowledge to be the true grounds of my own faith and beleif. but that I am obliged to own and mantain the samen albeit with the hazard and loss of my life and all things earthly, and I do believe, own, and acknowledge the haill heads of our reformed religion, contained in our confession of faith as approven by act of parlialiament. And I firmly believe that in case I should hapen to depart from a true belief of the premises or any part thereof, the just punishment due therefore could be no less than the eternall ruine and tormenting of my body and immortall soul in hell for ever, as is threatned by our blessed Lord and Saviour in his holy Evangells. "This being premised, it is furder represented to your lordships, that denying the haill articles of the indictment raised against me as they are lybelled, so whatever expressions might have escaped me relateing to any of the articles in the said indictment, the samen was uttered or expressed by me not as my own privat sentiments and opinions, but were repeated by me as sentiments and opinions of some atheisticall writers whose names I can particularly condescend upon, and whose books I did receave from "Humbly Sheweth; That your petitioner being indicted and cited to appear before your lordships to underly the law for the crimes contained in the criminall indictment raised against me, and which crimes therin contained are so odious and abominable in themselvs, that I do not only from my very heart abhorre and detest them, but I do tremble and abhorre either to repeat the samen myself, or to hear the samen repeated and objected against any person born of Christian parents. And therefore your petitioner doth with all humility and ingenuity represent to your lordships, that he doth ingenuously acknowledge it to be his greatest hapyness that he was born and educat in a place where the gospell was professed and so powerfully and plentifully preached, upon a true imwho is not only insert in provment of which benefite he doth truely be- the list of the witnesses to be adduced against lieve the salvation of his immortall soul doth in- me, but was the cheif and principall instrument tirely depend. (2.) I do firmly believe the im- who constantly made it his work to interrogat mortality of the soul, and that ther shall be a re- me anent my reading of the said atheisticall surrection of my body at the last day, at which principles and arguments therin contained, and time they shall be again united, and there of which I am now very sensible and heartily after either made eternally happy in heaven, or sory for: and am convinced that these books otherwise condemned in everlasting and endless are most villanous and atheisticall, and ought torments. (3.) I do firinly own and believe in neither to be printed nor exposed to public view: the unity and Trinity of the Godhead, and that but I absolutely deny that ever the expressions ther is no salvation to be expected otherwise contained in the indictment were uttered by me than by the blood and merits of our Lord and in the terms lybelled, at least that ever they Saviour Jesus Christ, and by a firm believing were spoken by me as my own privat opinions and relying upon the samen. (4.) I do also or sentiments, but that whatever expressions I profess and ingenuously believe the scriptures had relating to what is lybelled, were only exof the Old and New Testament to be cannoni-pressed by me as the arguments, set down in the call, and written and dictated by holy men in- said atheisticall books, which had unhappily |