that sir John Maclean should be next day brought to their house.
The queen, who was far from being pleased with this instance of their
officious interposition, gave them to understand by message, that she
thought it would be inconvenient to change the method of examination
already begun; and that she would in a short time inform the house of
the whole affair. On the seventeenth day of December the queen went to
the house of peers, and having passed the bill for the land-tax, made a
speech to both houses, in which she declared that she had unquestionable
information of ill practices and designs carried on by the emissaries
of France in Scotland. The lords persisting in their resolution to
bring the inquiry into their own house, chose their select committee by
ballot; and, in an address, thanked her majesty for the information she
had been pleased to communicate.

{ANNE, 1701--1714}

A REMONSTRANCE PRESENTED TO THE QUEEN.

The commons, taking it for granted that the queen was disobliged at
these proceedings of the upper house--which indeed implied an insult
upon her ministry, if not upon herself--presented an address, declaring
themselves surprised to find that when persons suspected of treasonable
practices were taken into custody by her majesty's messengers in order
to be examined, the lords, in violation to the known laws of the land,
had wrested them out of her hands, and arrogated the examination solely
to themselves; so that a due inquiry into the evil practices and designs
against her majesty's person and government, might in a great measure be
obstructed. They earnestly desired that she would suffer no diminution
of the prerogative; and they assured her they would, to the utmost of
their power, support her in the exercise of it at home, as well as in
asserting it against all invasions whatsoever. The queen thanked them
for their concern and assurances; and was not ill pleased at the nature
of the address, though the charge against the peers was not strictly
true; for there were many instances of their having assumed such a
right of inquiry. The upper house deeply resented the accusation. They
declared, that by the known laws and customs of parliament, they had an
undoubted right to take examinations of persons charged with criminal
matters, whether those persons were or were not in custody. They
resolved, That the address of the commons was unparliamentary,
groundless, without precedent, highly injurious