Appearances
are, however, in their favour: so strongly, indeed, that one would
think they had forgotten that you are their lawful king, and had
mistaken you for a pretender to the crown. Let it be admitted, then,
that the Scotch are as sincere in their present professions as if you
were in reality, not an Englishman, but a Briton of the North. You
would not be the first prince of their native country against whom they
have rebelled, nor the first whom they have basely betrayed. Have you
forgotten, Sir, or has your favourite concealed from you, that part of
our history when the unhappy Charles (and he, too, had private virtues)
fled from the open, avowed indignation of his English subjects, and
surrendered himself at discretion to the good faith of his own
countrymen? Without looking for support in their affections as
subjects, he applied only to their honour as gentlemen for protection.
They received him, as they would your Majesty, with bows and smiles and
falsehood, and kept him until they had settled their bargain with the
English parliament, then basely sold their native king to the vengeance
of his enemies. This, Sir, was not the act of a few traitors, but the
deliberate treachery of a Scotch parliament representing the nation. A
wise prince might draw from it two lessons of equal utility to himself.
On one side he might learn to dread the undisguised resentment of a
generous people who dare openly assert their rights, and who in a just
cause are ready to meet their sovereign in the field.
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