erused. Nottingham was suspected of a design
to stifle the conspiracy. Complaint was made in the house of commons
that he had discharged an officer belonging to the late king James, who
had been seized by the governor of Berwick. A warm debate ensued, and
at length ended in a resolve, That the earl of Nottingham, one of her
majesty's principal secretaries of state, for his great ability and
diligence in the execution of his office, for his unquestionable
fidelity to the queen and her government, and for his steady adherence
to the church of England as by law established, highly merited the trust
her majesty had reposed in him. They ordered the speaker to present this
resolution to the queen, who said, she was glad to find them so well
satisfied with the earl of Nottingham, who was trusted by her in so
considerable an office. They perused the examinations of the witnesses
which were laid before them, without passing judgment or offering advice
on the subject; but they thanked her majesty for having communicated
those particulars, as well as for her wisdom and care of the nation.
When the lords proceeded with uncommon eagerness in their inquiry, the
lower house, in another address, renewed their complaints against the
conduct of the peers, which they still affirmed was without a precedent.
But this was the language of irritated faction, by which indeed
both sides were equally actuated. The select committee of the lords
prosecuted the inquiry, and founded their report chiefly on the
confession of sir John Maclean, who owned that the court of St.
Germain's had listened to Lovat's proposal; that several councils had
been held at the pretender's court on the subject of an invasion; and
that persons were sent over to sound some of the nobility in Scotland.
But the nature of their private correspondence and negotiation could not
be discovered. Keith had tampered with his uncle to disclose the whole
secret; and this was the circumstance which the queen declined imparting
to the lords until she should know the success of his endeavours, which
proved ineffectual. The uncle stood aloof; and the ministry did not
heartily engage in the inquiry. The house of lords having finished these
examinations, and being warmed with violent debates, voted that there
had been dangerous plots between some persons in Scotland and the
courts of France and St. Germain's; and that the encouragement for this
plotting arose from the not settling the succes