HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



107 



Ihe volunteer service, as Morrison 

 had done. In the case, that had 

 been stated to him, it appeared that 

 the servant had been so anxious to 

 reconcile his volunteer attendance 

 with his duty to his master, that he 

 actually got up in the middle of the 

 night to finish the task which had 

 been assigned him, and offered to 

 atone by any extra labour for his 

 absence as a volunteer. Notwith- 

 standing this, Morrison discharged 

 Jiim, without even paying him the 

 wages due at the time. Such con- 

 duct, at such a period, was, in his 

 opinion, highly suspicious. The 

 lord advocate then stated, that the 

 powers of his situation in Scotland 

 were almost unlimited : the whole 

 burden of the executive government, 

 with its responsibility, rested upon 

 his shoulders: that he had no ma- 

 lice to Morrison ; but acted merely 

 from a sense of what his duty re- 

 quired him to do in critical times. 

 If in so doing, he had gone beyond 

 the letter of the law, he relied upon 

 the candour of the house to deter- 

 mine upon his real motives. 



Alter a few observations from 

 lord A. Hamilton, in support of Mr. 

 Whi thread's motion. 



The Attorney-General, (Mr. 

 Percival) said, there were certainly 

 many of the expressions in the let- 

 ter which were by no means justi- 

 fiable ; but still, they did not lay a 

 sufficient ground for parliamentary 

 interference. If Morrison had 

 really been apprehended, the law 

 was open to him for redress ; but it 

 appeared to him, that he had acted 

 right in choosing this mode of ap- 

 plying, as he was convinced a jury 

 would have given hira little or no 

 damages. Although, as Mr. Whit- 

 bread had stated, men were not to 

 be dragooned into being volunteers, 



yet, on the other hand, ihey should 

 not be dragooned out of that ser- 

 vice. He concluded, by moving the 

 other orders of the day, 



Mr. Grey supported, at consider- 

 able length, the motion of Mr. Whit- 

 bread. He thought the house was 

 bound to come to a decision on the 

 case that was laid before thera ; and 

 not get rid of the question in the 

 manner that was suggested by the 

 attorney-general. 



Mr. Dallas would ratlier have re- < 

 je6ted at once the motion of Mr. 

 Whitbread : he thought the conduct 

 of the lord-advocate justified by the 

 circumstances; and instead of cen- 

 suring him, he would be ready to 

 support a vote of thanks for that 

 very act. 



J\Ir. Windham thought it abso- 

 lutely necessary, that when any 

 man was invested with such extraor- 

 dinary powers as the lord advocate 

 claimed, great care should be taken 

 that such power was exercised with 

 moderation and discretion. He 

 thought there was no case that de- 

 manded parliamentary interference 

 more, for it was ridiculous to send 

 the weak to their aftions of law, 

 against the strong and powerful. 

 The lord advocate himself had stat- 

 ed, that he was so powerful in 

 Edinburgh, that even the life of the 

 man would not be safe, who would 

 charge him there with injustice or 

 oppression. If so, it w ould be ri- 

 diculous to tell Mr. Morrison, that 

 his only redress was by an action in 

 the Scottish court of law. 



Mr. Fox also contended, that it 

 Avas incumbent upon parliament to 

 interfere, and take care that no 

 such formidable authority, as the 

 lord Advocate had described him- 

 self to be possessed of, should be 

 used again in a similar inauuer. If 



the 



