This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1869 edition. Excerpt: ...But Mr. Napier's chief corroborative witness is Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Advocate during the reigns of Charles II. and James n. ' The last act, ' says Mr. Napier, ' of his life, the last act of his able pen, was to vindicate himself, and the Government he had served so well, from the unscrupulous accusations ...
Read More
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1869 edition. Excerpt: ...But Mr. Napier's chief corroborative witness is Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Advocate during the reigns of Charles II. and James n. ' The last act, ' says Mr. Napier, ' of his life, the last act of his able pen, was to vindicate himself, and the Government he had served so well, from the unscrupulous accusations of the anonymous pamphleteering Cameronians.' This Vindication was published in September 1691, four months after the death of Sir George; and this naturally gave rise to some suspicion of its genuineness. Granting, 1 Mr. Napier endeavours to prove an alibi for the provost, and we think his proof on this point more satisfactory than his proofs generally are; and as we see some think he has failed to establish even this point, we are glad to add a ' corroboration' to his proof of the provost's innocence. We learn from the old Wigtown session-book recently found, that when in 1704 Bailie M'Keand of Wigtown appeared before the kirk-session, to profess repentance for having ' sitten on the seize' when the two women were condemned to die, the provost was one of the members of session present. He, therefore, was most probably free from that scandal for which his brother magistrate was doing penance. Still, the fact that he was one of the three who undertook the odious task of tendering the test to the inhabitants of Wigtownshire in 1684, shows that he aided the Government in their measures, and his name is not much maligned by the tradition that hands him down as a persecutor. After the Revolution, he served in the kirk as an elder, attended the meetings of church courts, and watched over the morals of the people of Wigtown, taking his turn, week about with the other elders, in perambulating the town at a late hour, to see that all was orderly in..
Read Less