Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: INTRODUCTION. i HE Scottish Parliament constituted the Earls of Cassillis and Lothian, on the part of the nobility, ?Alexander Brodie of Brodie,1 and George Winram of Libberton, Lords of the Court of Session, on the part of the barons, ? Sir John Smith, and Alexander Jaffray, Commissary of Aberdeen, on the part of the burghs, ?and the Rev. Messrs James Wood, Professor of Church History in St Mary's College, St Andrews, John Livingstone, minister of Ancrum, and George Hutchinson, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, on the part of the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland?as a deputation to wait on Charles II. at Breda. These with their Secretary, Mr James Dalrymple2 (afterwards Lord Stair), and followers, embarked at Leith on Saturday the 9th of March 1650,3 and arrived at Campvere on the Tuesday following. They had a letter of credit toborrow, beyond seas, upon the credit of the kingdom, the sum of ?300,000 (Scots), to give to the King, on condition, and not otherwise, of his agreeing to their terms. This was no more than,25,000 sterling; and small as the sum was, it was afterwards found that they could not raise so much on the public credit of Scotland, or rather, perhaps, of the then existing Government; and all that the Commissioners could do was to borrow 100,000 merks, or about 5500 sterling on their own personal security, to be repaid on the Jst of August following.1 1 This Commissioner has left a large MS. Diary (extending from the year 1636 till about the time of the Restoration), which I have seen. It is written in eypher or short-hand, so as to be almost illegible without a key. A small part of it, however, but subsequent to the period we are now going to sur- view, was deeyphered, I know not by whom, or by what means, and printed in 1740. It abounds with pious reflecti..