1

Dr Dauney cannot deny he is Steward, Chamberlain, Commissioner, or Factor for two or three subjects within the County, besides Trustee on an Estate in Kincardineshire; but as by Law he can derive no emolument, directly or indirectly from said trust, but as he holds it entirely from a regard to the Family, that alone would not disqualify him.

As he held all these factories at the time the Sheriff-Depute granted him a Substitution, and still continues to hold them, I affirm he neither IS, nor at any time WAS HE LEGALLY a Sheriff-Substitute, and that his appointment was illegal, ab initio, in the highest degree, being in contempt of aforesaid Statutes.

Can any one affirm any of these Statutes have gone into disuetude? In that case they must prove that an immemorial contrary practice has prevailed. In one trifling particular it may be said they are gone into disuetude, Stat. Rob. III. No. 9. and Stat. Jac. VI. No. 17. which ordains Sheriffs to do Justice without delay. But with submission I presume to say, all the other enactments remain to this day in full force, viz. That equal Justice should be done without respect of PERSONS; that Sheriff-Deputes and Substitutes, should understand the LAWS of the Realm, and ACTS OF PARLIAMENT, whereof the execution is committed to their charge. Quid sit scire Leges? Scire Leges non hoc est, "VFRBA tenere, sed VIM ac POTESTATEM." Digest.

Lib. I. tit. iii. sect. 17. and that Deputes are answerable for their Substitutes, who ought to be "Gude and wise, substantious men of best fame, knowledge, and experience, and least suspect within the Schireffdome." Stat Jac. V. No. 15.

Had I the least tincture of vanity, I might pride myself (as I have the honour of being descended from the same Stock*) in remarking, that Scotland is indebted to JOIN LESLIE, Bishop of Ross, for the publication of these Laws, commonly called the Black Acts of Parliament, from the Saxon character in which they were printed. At his most earnest desire, (when a Member of Queen Mary's Privy Council, and a Senator of the College of Justice), the revision and correction of them, were committed to the Great Officers of the Crown. This circumstance is not so generally known, as from his attachment to his unhappy Sovereign, he was ex. patriated; and as they were published in the reign of her son, the credit was transferred to others, who only fulfilled his intentions, as happened in the case of Columbus, and Americus Vespucius, and others too tedious to mention,

* Andrew III. Baron of Balquhane, our common Ancestor, (Laurus Leslæana, No. LV.

AD JUDICES.

OMNIS qui judicare debet, Stateram in manu teneat: nam æqualia et sine personarum exceptione, esse debent judicia. Qua enim bilance judicabitis, eadem judicabimini. Quapropter, TU JUDEX, timeas Deum judicem; ne forte eo judicante damnerisProinde sis Deum bonorans et timens: Sapiens et in scientia potens : veritatem sequens, et amans, Gave justitiam subvertas odio, per quod inventa aliqua maliciosa cautela, contra partem tibi exosam reddis judicium indirectum; vel timore, dum metu potentioris vere judicare non audes; vel amore, dum causa amicitiæ defendis amicum et supprimis inimicum. Facias igitur justitiam æqualiter, tam pauperibus, quam divitibus. Quia omnes judices et magnates, qui plus favent his, quam illis in judicio. sunt Falsi ac perjurati, contra Deum, Regem, Populumque Regni.

PART V.

Edinburgh, March 21, 1808.

NOTICE.

WHEN the last sheet of Part IV. was in the

press, a few honourable Justices of the county of Aberdeen presumed to take a step, which, with due humility, I will venture to say, was most unconstitutional. These proceedings will be fully detailed in Part VI. The complainer was Mr John Watson, Advocate in Aberdeen, acting as Procu rator Fiscal to the Justices, without concourse, for the public interest; he brought a charge of blasphemy against me. On being questioned by me, where the blasphemy lay? he declared he knew not, were it not in the phrase, the god on earth, but that he was but a tool. The Apostle Paul says many make gods of their bellies, which are certainly gods upon earth. They have seized my property, and to this day most illegally retain it in their possession.The god upon earth, alluded to by me, will be found, RABALAIS, Book IV. Cap. XLVIII. which I extract for my justification.

K

"Having left the desolate Island of the Popefigs, we sailed "for the space of a day very fairly and merrily, and made the "blessed Island of Papimany. As soon as we had dropped an"chor in the road, before we had well moored our ship with "ground tackle, four persons in different garbs rowed towards 65 us in a skiff. One of them was dressed like a monk in his "frock, draggle-tailed and booted: the other like a falconer, "with a lure and a long winged hawk on his fist: the third like "a solicitor, with a large bag full of informations, subpoenas, "breviates, bills, writs, cases, and other implements of petti"fogging the fourth looked like one of your vine barbers about "Orleans, with a jantee pair of canvass trowsers, a dosser, and pruning knife at his girdle.

"As soon as the boat had clapped them on board, they all "with one voice asked, have you seen him, good passengers,

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have you seen him? who, asked Pantagruel? you know who, "answered they. Who is it, asked friar John, s'blood and "oonds, I'll thrash him thick and threefold. This he said, "thinking that they inquired after some robber, murderer, or "church-breaker. Oh wonderful! cried the four, do not you

foreign people know the one ? Sirs, replyed Epistemon, we do "not understand those terms; but if you will be pleased to let us know who you mean, we will tell you the truth, of the "matter without any more ado. We mean, said they, be that is; "did you ever see him? he that is, returned Pantagruel, accord"ing to our theological doctrine, is God, who said to Moses, "I am that I am. We never saw him, nor can he be beheld by. "mortal eyes. We mean nothing less than that Supreme God. "who rules in Heaven, replied, they, we mean the god on earth; "did you ever see him? upon my honour, cried Carpalim, they mean the Pope. Ay, ay, answered Panurge, yea, verily, "Gentlemen I have seen three of them, whose sight has not "much bettered me. How! cried they, our sacred decretals "inform us, that there never is more than one living. I mean "successively, one after the other, returned Panurge; other"wise I never saw more than one at time.

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