we,
as such, at the mere nod of a monarch, drag them from following their
plough in the valley, or attending their hirsels on the hill--shall we
do these things, and lay contributions on their cattle, on their corn,
and on their coffers, merely because His Majesty wills it? Pause, my
countrymen. The king has no authority to compel such a measure, and it
can only be rendered legal by the concurrence of the assembled
representatives of the people."

"Treason!" vociferated the Duke of Lauderdale, who was the arch-minion
of Charles; "before the Parliament of Scotland, I denounce Sir Patrick
Hume as a dangerous man--as a plotter against the life and dignity of
our sovereign lord the king!"

"What!" exclaimed Sir Patrick, indignantly fixing his eyes upon
Lauderdale. "Though there may be amongst us a slave who would sell his
country for a royal smile, I still hope that this is a FREE Parliament,
and it concerns all the members to be FREE in what concerns the nation."

From that day, Sir Patrick Hume became a suspected man, and the eyes of
the king's creatures were upon him; and when, two years afterwards,
Charles endeavoured to put down the people by the sword, and establish
garrisons throughout the country, again the Laird of Polwarth stood
foremost in the ranks of opposition, and resisted his power. The king
accordingly ordered his privy council to crush so dangerous a spirit;
and Sir Patrick was confined in Stirling Castle, where, with the
exception of a short interval, he was imprisoned for two years.

Britain had long been distracted with the pretended discovery of
fabulous or ridiculous plots against the royal family; and the perjury
of paid miscreants, like the infamous Titus Oates, was causing the
scaffolds to run with gore. But tyranny being glutted with Catholic
blood, and the extinguishing of what were called Popish plots, the
myrmidons of Charles (who lived a libertine, and died a Papist)
professed that they had discovered a Protestant plot against his royal
person. In this plot the incorruptible Algernon Sydney, Lord Russell, Mr
Bailie of Jerviswoode, and Sir Patrick Hume, were included. They beheld
their common country withering and wasting beneath the grasp of a
tyrant; and true it is they had united together to restore it to
freedom, but they were innocent of designs against his life, or even of
a wish to dethrone him. They did not, however, act sufficiently in
concert, and were unable to bring their plans