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all persons remaining in the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling received the same benefit; and, in short, the prison doors were thrown open in both kingdoms. Besides the Earl of Oxford, there were some other exceptions named, especially Lord Harcourt, Prior, and Thomas Harley; but, on the whole, no act of grace in like circumstances had for ages past been clogged with fewer."*

The clemency of the Government was amply justified, for not a few of the prisoners had been coerced into the ranks of the rebels-as we learn from petitions of this kind :—

"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

"Petition of Charles Garden, of Bellastren, prisoner in Carlisle Castle, sheweth,—

"That I was in my younger years brought up in the true Protestant religion, in which, by the blessing of God, I have Petition of continued stedfast to this day. That consequently Garden. I was ane enemy to popery and all popish pretenders whatsomever to the Crown of Great Britain, France, and Ireland; and upon all occasions evidenced my inclinations to the succession of these realms as at present happily established.

"That for many years, in defence of the religion and liberties of my country, with the utmost peril of my life, I fought against the French and under the auspicious banner of the late immortal King William of glorious memory.

"That after the late unnatural rebellion commenced, I embraced all the opportunities of evidencing my dissatisfaction with the measures of the late arch rebel Marr and his adherents, that I refused to enter into any rebellious measures, notwithstanding of the threats and menaces of the Laird of Auchterhouse, curator to, and manager for, the Earl of Aboyne, my superior.

"That thereafter the said Auchterhouse, upon my declyning to join the rebels as aforesaid, did send a party of sixteen armed Highland men, with orders to drive away my cattle and burn my small interest, unless I should join the rebels, which I declineing

* Mahon i., 418; Tindal Hist., vii., 100; Lockhart's Memoirs, ii., 5.

to do, the said party, in consequence of their orders, did drive away my cattle and burn a great part of my household plenishing, and at last threatened, and were about putting my house on fire, whereby my wife and six infants would have infallibly perished. By which manifest acts of force and unchristian violence, I was to my great grief and shame, though contrair to my inclynenations, obleidged in person to joyne the rebels. These facts are so weill documented, viz., by the declaration herewith produced signed by Alex. Garden of Troup, one of the King's counsel at this place, and by the concurring evidence of four witnesses herewith likewise presented, that it is hoped there is no ground or sheddow of dubity left. Your Majesty's humble petitioner begs leave furder to represent that during my short time of abode with the rebels, I was so narrowly watched that no opportunity offered for my escape, except once at Perth-where I deserted the rebels, but was unfortunately retaken by a party of armed men, by whom I was made a prisoner, and carried back to Perth ; and that when the rebels marched to Auchterarder, where I fell sick, they, notwithstanding of my indisposition, carried me along with them, until they passed Allanwater, where they were obleiged to leave me, and where I was found by the King's forces in a very deplorable condition. Since then I am but a poor man -my estate not exceeding five pounds and ten shillings per annum—and that I am the first prisoner at Carlisle who had the honour and happiness of throwing myself upon your Majesty's mercy and clemency and pleading guilty-I do with the utmost submission. "CHAS. GARDEN." "1*

The Dissenters, on the suppression of the Rebellion, presented to George I. a loyal address. It was the desire of the King to acknowledge the support they had given to the House of Hanover; but the obstacles in the way for a time were insuperable. The Bishops could not be conciliated, as we learn from the following extract of a letter from the Bishop of Carlisle to his brother, dated March 19, 1716 :

S. P. Dom.

Opposition of the Bishops.

"Yesterday I waited on his Majesty from the Archbishop and Bishops. The King had been told that the Bishops would consent to the repeal of the late Acts against Occasional Conformity, and a Bill was proposed and intended to be moved in the House of Commons. I presumed to acquaint his Majesty that 'twas most certain that eighteen of the Bishops would not agree to the repeal, whereupon this dialogue ensued:

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King. What reason have the Bishops for not consenting to the Bill ?

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Dialogue between the Bishop of

Answer. If I, who confess myself to be one of the eighteen, may guess at the reason of others by my own, I believe it to be a general persuasion that the Act (which was consented to by the whole Bench of Bishops, and thought to be for the service of the Established Church) would not so easily be given up by the Prelates, some of whom voted for the enacting of it. 'King. But have not the Dissenters since that time given good proofs of their loyalty?

Carlisle and the King.

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"Answer. Yes, sir; but the Toleration wa sthought a sufficient recompense for their fidelity to King William, and the security of that is all that the honest men amongst them seem to desire.'

"It is hoped the Archbishops will put an effectual stop to this project to-morrow, at least for this Session. The scene now opens, and all men see their designs, the early discovery of which may, it is hoped, be a means to prevent them." *

Sir John Fryer, one of the Nonconformist members of the London Corporation who had retained his office after the Act of Occasional Conformity, freely expressed his sentiments to one of the Ministers of State :

"SIR,-Some little time since, Sir Thomas Abney and myself were to wait on you with our sincere thanks for the espousing of the cause of our friends. We had not the happiness Letter of Sir John to meet with you, but imparted the same to Mr. Fryer. Buckley, who, we doubt not, communicated them to you. The design of those last Bills against us and our friends,

*S. P. Dom.

it is evident, was to exclude us out of those places in which we could any way contribute to the interest of his present Majesty. For our parts we were so sensible of it, that it engaged us to frustrate that device, and on no other view have we continued in them to this day (though the separation from our friends is matter of uneasiness), it is now no small satisfaction to us to hear of so many worthy patriots joining with yourself to release us from those fetters; and since you have surmounted those difficulties (now, we hope, incapable of clogging the wheels), endeavoured to lay in the way to retard it, we are not without hopes of seeing it effected, and are very sure it will be a strengthening of the King's Protestant interest to show that favour to a body of men who, by all the threats, tricks, and designs of a party in several reigns, could never be brought from adhering firmly thereto, when the Ministry that laid these last irons on us would fain have cajoled the Dissenting Ministers to come into their measures. I had some share in advising against that, and so had that valuable gentleman, Mr. William Benson, who met many of them at my house. His services, not only in that but as making the first stand against them (by publishing the seasonable letter to Sir J. Banks), and his indefatigableness to serve the true interest of his country, together with his capacity for further service, gives me no small hopes of seeing him now regarded. May you have the Divine assistance to enable you to surmount all those difficulties which the enemies of God, our King, and yourself may any way contrive, and be under His continual direction, are the sincere wishes of-Your faithful servant, "JOHN FRYER."

"London, April 13, 1717."

That the Nonconformists suffered in their exclusion from municipal affairs, is clear from communications like the following:

Treatment of

"LEEDS, 15th April, 1717. "May it please your Excellency,—At a time when we might expect to live happily under the best of Princes, your Excellency will permit me to represent to you Dissenters our very hard fate. We live in a corporation the by the most arbitrary of any in Europe; the subjects of France Corporation and Sweden are not greater slaves than we are to the caprice and humour of our governors. There are not above seven

of Leeds.

or eight families in all this very populous place that frequent the Church of England as by law established, who are hearty friends to the King and his family. We have great numbers of Dissenters; they are all vigorous assertors of the right of King George, but not being qualified by law to serve their country, they are useless. On all occasions these Dissenters, as well as our few Churchmen, have to bear the burthen both as to assessments, and in all offices our persons are daily insulted. In the night-time our windows broke; many designing assassinations on our persons, as will appear by the enclosed copies of information; but the King's evidence, by the threats and other indirect methods of some Jacobite Aldermen, is now unwilling to give any evidence at all. The King is openly proclaimed an usurper in the Market Place on a market-day by Alderman Preston's servant, yet no prosecution. The indignities daily offered the King, and the affronts put upon the few friends he has here, are such as no true English spirit can bear.

"Whatever we are assest by our Corporation and their tools —either land-tax, church, poor, or any other assessment—we are obliged to pay, though it be double to our Jacobite neighbours. To appeal for a redress of our grievance is only to subject ourselves to be laughed at or menaced with heavier impositions.

"Whenever any vacancy happens in the Corporation, immediately 'tis filled with the hottest Jack they can find; a notorious instance of which lately happened in the choice of one Pease, who has forty times been seen to drink the Pretender's health on his knees.

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May it please your Excellency, hitherto we have opposed their vile and scandalous practices against our present happy establishment; nay, in the worst of times we have stood in the gap. We therefore humbly hope for the protection of the Government. If some method be not taken to purge and reform the Corporation, we are resolved to leave the town. These arbitrary proceedings are to any Englishman intolerable.

"I am, may it please your Excellency, your Excellency's most humble and most obedient servant,

"JAMES IBBETSON.

"To his Excellency James Stanhope, one of his Majesty's

Principal Secretaries of State. Present."*

S. P. Dom.

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