ffer, or to acquit the guilty. In this
situation he continued, till the Tender was imposed, when he, with many
other eminent lawyers, withdrew from the bar. On June 26th, 1657, he was,
by a commission signed by General Monk,(92) in name of the Protector's
council of Scotland, appointed to be one of the Judges, which was soon
confirmed by a nomination directly from the Protector himself, in the
month of July thereafter, which he had no inclination to accept of, being
himself no favourer of the usurpation. For as he had been secretary to the
commission which had been sent to the king to Breda, he had waited upon
his majesty upon his landing in the North. However, being importunately
pressed to accept by many eminent men, and amongst them by several
ministers, who all distinguished between his serving as one of the Council
under the Protector, and exercising the office of a Judge, by
administrating justice to his fellow subjects, he did accept, and his act
of admission only bears his giving his oath, _de fideli administratione_.
After the Restoration, he was made by the king one of the ordinary Lords
of Session, by his majesty's nomination, dated at Whitehall, February
13th, 1661-2. And in the year 1671, he was created President of that
Court, in the room of Sir John Gilmour of Craigmiller. In the parliament
1681, he made a great appearance for securing the Protestant religion, and
by reason of the difficulties of the times, he desired leave of his
majesty to retire from business, and live quietly in the country. But in
this he was prevented by a commission, dated the 14th of October, 1681,
which having passed the great seal, was produced the 1st of November
thereafter, by which commission he was superseded as President of the
Session, and in the year 1682, was obliged for his safety to retire to
Holland. For though he had the king's promise that he should live
undisturbed, yet he was let know that he could not be in safety, and after
his retreat to Holland, several unjust but fruitless attempts were made to
have him tried for treason, both before the parliament and justiciary, for
no other reason than that he had always with sincerity and firmness, given
his opinion to the king and his ministers, against the measures that were
then followed, and which in the following reign, at length brought about
the glorious Revolution, at which time, anno 1668, he attended King
William in that expedition, by the success of which we were