I Cannot but acknowledge, that when I look upon my self in this Station His Majesty hath been pleased to Honour me with, and considers the greatness and weight of the Affair, with the want of Experience, and many other personal Unfitnesses I lye under; it could not but add Confusion to my just Apprehensions, if I were not in a great measure assured, when I look upon your Lordships, men of such eminent Abi­lities, Integrity and Skill in the Laws and Constitutions of this Kingdom; whom His Majesty hath with so much Care and Judg­ment pick'd out to be Lords of the Justiciary and Assessors in this Court.

This, My Lords, is my Encouragement; as I hope it will prove the En­couragement, as well as Security of the Kingdom: And indeed nothing being of more Consequence to the Establishing of the Crown, the Peace and Flourish­ing of the Nation, the Calming of the Minds and Apprehensions of the People, then the Assurance of the Impartial Administration of Justice; I am perswad­ed this Choice of your Lordships, will have that desirable Effect.

I desire not to look back, or make any Reflections upon the by past Mis­carriages; I wish they were so buried in Oblivion, that there were no Remem­brance nor Vestige, but in so far, as to be a Beacon to make us hold off from making Ship-wrack upon the same Rocks: I pray God save us from yet un­discovered Shelves.

Neither shall I (My Lords) pretend to discant upon Justice, it being a more common Theme and beaten Road in Discourse, than impartially put in practice: Yet this, I hope, I may adventure to say; That tho' the vicissitude of humane Affairs in the lapse of Time, diverse Designs, Corruptions of Men, even Eloquence it self, the grand Sophister of Reason, hath Disguis'd, Mask'd and Perplex'd the plain naked Truth: Yet Right and Wrong are such Antipods, are at so great a Distance, hath so different an Aspect, that they are alwayes known, Talk'd, yea Decided in the very Mercat-place, what ever hath been the Endeavours of unjust Power to the contrary: So that which hath been of­ten renderd difficult and intricat to the most Learned, ought and may be Ad­justed, to the Capacities of the meanest Artizans.

Tho' I must confess the Corruptions and Wickedness of Mankind hath ne­cessitate even Justice it self (which of all other things ought to be most equal) to encline more to Rigour and Severity then were to be wished; yet it ought to be dispenced with such Moderation and Candor, that even the Sentence it self might convince the World, if not the Pannel, that there hath not been wan­ting in it, even Grace and Favour.

And tho' it be an old received maxime, That there is equal Injustice in ac­quitting the Guilty and Condemning the Innocent; yet the first, as it Savours more of Humanity, so the surer to be leaned to: But if we would follow the Divine Precept, of doing to another what we would have done to our selves; tho' perhaps we came not alwayes up the length of the Rigidity of Humane Laws, yet we would Act by a good Conscience, and seldom commit an Error.

So if this one Point were gained (without which Humane Society can never be establish'd upon a sure foundation) as it would do more to suppress the Vil­lanous Cruelty, Robery, Murthers, and Depredations of the Barbarous High­landers, and the subtil Contrivances of the Thieving Borderers, than many Troops of armed Men; so it would give the Countrey, that Assurance, the Court that Lustre, the Government that Reputation, and our selves that Peace of Conscience; that as it would appear in the Satisfaction and Serenity of our Countenances, and in the Confidence of Innocency appearing before us, so it would exceedingly shew it self to the contrary, in the Apprehensions and Amazement of the Guilty.

But farther, My Loyds, since it is neither the Goodness, nor Fertility of the Soyl, the being nearer, or at a more remote distance to the Warmth of the Sun: These, Experience hath shewn, hath by their Luxury more contribute to the Misery, Slavery, and Bondage of the Inhabitants, then any Advan­tage: Neither is it the Goodness of the Laws, most of the Nations in the World, even Pagans themselves, having excell'd in them; but it is their pas­sing through such Impure Channels, (their unclean Hands,) whose Ambition; Luxury. Pride and Covetousness have rend red such fit Tools, for Tyrannical and Arbitrary Men, that they are never wanting to be made use of for the Oppression and Destruction of their Country. So if for the future, these could be guarded against, and all of us would esteem it our Duty, Honour, and Interest, to imitate our Religious, Prudent, Valiant and Just Prince and Deliverer; It would not only render us, the most Happy People upon Earth, but would give us more true Reputation, than the Glory we boast of, by a Suc­cession of above one hundred Kings, His Majestie's Royal Predecessors.

And if (for my part) I should be so Happy, as but to add one grain weight to the Scale of Equity, I should esteem it the greatest Advantage, and my self over payed of all the Pains I could ever be capable of, But I shall give your Lordships no farther Trouble, desiring you to proceed to the Constituting of the Court in its due Forms, that Justice may have a straight Course, by run­ning in its proper Channel,