BOOK V.

1703. Fraser's

Plot,

In the course of the present session a discovery was made of a plot which excited much atten tion, and some alarm, though scarcely deserving of either. Simon Fraser of Beaufort, head of the clan of the Frasers, who assumed upon questionable authority the title of Lord Lovata of a character infamously profligate, of intuch low cunning and plausible address, had been deputed from the court of St. Germaine's into Scotland, with a commission to treat with the highland chieftains who were still attached to that interest. After much intrigue and cabal, not only with the highlanders but divers of the Scottish nobles, he obtained an introduction to the duke of Queensberry, high commissioner, to

Morley and Mrs. Freeman, her real and secret inclination in favor of the tories is strongly expressed. She says, "I must tell you Mr. Bromley will be disappointed; for the prince does not intend to go to the house when the bill against occa sional conformity is brought in. But, at the same time that I think him very much in the right not to vote in it, I shall not have the worse opinion of any of the lords that are for it. For though I should have been very glad it had not been brought into the house of commons, because I would not have had any pretence given for quarrelling, I cannot help thinking, now it is as good as passed there, it will be better for the service to have it pass the house of lords too. I must own to you that I never cared to mention any thing on this subject to you, because I knew you would not be of my mind-but since you have given me this occasion, I cannot forbear saying, that I sec nothing like persecution in this bill."

whom he betrayed the whole secret of his em- BOOK V. bassy, And it appears that Queensberry took an 1703. ungenerous advantage of this discovery, to expose, if not to ruin, several persons whom he accounted his personal or political enemies, particularly the marquis of Athol, for whom Lovat pretended to have a letter from the queen at St. Germaine's, thanking that nobleman for his assurances of fidelity and attachment. The direction of this letter, said to be intended for the duke of Gordon, was observed to be in a hand different from the contents, to which it was affirmed by the friends of the marquis to be insidiously affixed by Lovat, between whom and Athol subsisted a deadly feud. Intelligence being conveyed by Queensberry to the ministers in London of this secret mission of Lovat, which was also corro-* borated by the seizure about this time of several Jacobite emissaries her majesty on the 17th of December, 1703, acquainted the two houses in a formal speech, "that she had unquestionable information of very ill practices and designs carried on in Scotland." A very long and tedious examination of particulars followed hereupon, upon which the house of commons passed no judgment, and offered no advice; but the house of peers, at the result of the whole, towards the end of the session, came to a resolution, which they expressed in an address to the queen, “that

BOOK V. there appeared to have been a dangerous conspi

racy carried on for raising a rebellion in Scotland, and invading that kingdom with a French power; and their lordships gave it as their opinion, that nothing had given so much encouragement to her majesty's enemies to enter into this detestable conspiracy, as that the succession to the crown of Scotland was not declared to be in the princess Sophia and her heirs, being protestants." To which the queen replied, That she had already declared her intentions of endeavouring the settlement of the protestant succession in Scotland as the effectual means of securing their quiet and our own, and the readiest way to an entire union between both kingdoms, in the perfecting of which it was very desirable that no time should be lost."

66

The secret correspondence of Fraser with Queensberry could not long remain unsuspected by the Jacobites. In consequence of a pass proeured for him under a feigned name by that nobleman, of the earl of Nottingham, he returned to the continent, and, repairing to the court of St. Germaine's, delivered a long and confused memorial to the queen regent, containing a pompous account of the success of his mission, knowledging without reserve his intrigues with Queensberry, Argyle, Leven, &c. On the perusal of this memorial, the earl of Middleton, clearly

ac

perceiving the falsehood and treachery of Lovat, declared in a letter to M. de Torcy (Jan. 16, 1704), "that, although he never had a good opinion of him, he did not think him fool enough to accuse himself. The informations given against him by others," said his lordship," are out of the question. He acknowledges plainly a formal disobedience; for he was absolutely forbidden to treat with any but the highlanders. He told me that Queensberry, Argyle, and Leven, were the greatest enemies of the king in that country; yet he communicated to them the whole of his commission. He rejects extraordinary offers, but obtains a pass to go to London; and from thence the same Queensberry obtains another pass for him, under a borrowed name, to secure his safe return to France. It is therefore clear as daylight, that these noblemen wanted to employ him here as a spy-and for seizing letters and commissions which might serve as proofs against the men of honor in that country*." In conclusion, Lovat, in reward of the great services he boasted to have performed, was thrown into the prison of the Bastille. The most remarkable circumstance attending this futile conspiracy, was the extreme ardor with which it was investigated by the peers, and the indifference approaching to contempt ap

*Macpherson's Papers, vol. i. p. 651.

BOOK V.

17Q3.

BOOK V. parent in all the proceedings relative to it in the

1703.

house of commons, affording a good political barometer of the general state of parties and opinions in the legislative body.

The ability as well as fidelity of the earl of Nottingham, in the discharge of the high offices occupied by him since the revolution, had been conspicuous. It seemed therefore superfluous, and even invidious, for the house of lords to appoint a select committee to examine into the particulars of this plot. The choice of the house fell upon the dukes of Somerset and Devonshire, the earls of Sunderland and Scarborough, and the lords Somers, Townshend, and Wharton, seven of the most zealous whigs in that assembly. The house of commons immediately took fire at this procedure, and presented an address to the queen, declaring their surprise to find, "that, when several persons suspected of treasonable practices against her majesty were taken into custody in order to be examined, the lords, in violation of the known laws of the land, had wrested them out of her majesty's hands; and, without her majesty's leave or knowledge, had, in a most extraordinary manner, taken the examination of them solely to themselves, and they avowed their resolution to support her majesty in the exercise of her just prerogative against all invasions whatsoever." In reply to this accusation and menace,