CAR STARES. 



557 



pular deed of court, and distinctly recorded in tlieir 

 hook:;. Thii aj-rvi'im-m, howvver, was shamefully 

 ;cd by the government, who printed what they 

 ralli-d Mr Camares's confession, containing a very 

 fret and false account of the transaction, and 

 I , employed it to procure the conviction and 

 condemnation of Mr Baillir of Jerviswood, one of 

 hi, m<"t intimate friends. This circumstance affect- 

 ed him deeply, and had nearly overwhelmed his spi- 

 rit. During his confinement in the castle, where 

 nobody had access to him but his enemies, and where 

 he had to struggle with the infirmities of a shatter- 

 ed constitution, as well as with the peculiar evils of 

 his situation, he endeavoured to relieve the irksome- 

 ness of his captivity by the frequent perusal of Thu- 

 anus the historian, a copy of which he had fortu- 

 nately procured, and which he carefully read over 

 no less than three times. 



After being released from imprisonment, he was 

 permitted to retire to Holland, where he arrived a- 

 bout the beginning of the year HiH5, and was soon 

 appointed chaplain to the Prince of Orange, and mi- 

 nister of the English Protestant congregation at 

 Leyden. He was now more than ever both able and 

 willing to serve the Prince. Accordingly, he was 

 much with him, informed him accurately of the state 

 of affairs in Britain, gave him complete insight into 

 the temper and character of the principal men by 

 whom public affairs were conducted in that country, 

 made him acquainted with the dispositions and views 

 cf such of the British mal contents as resorted to 

 Holland, and at last accompanied him, in the capa- 

 city of domestic chaplain, in his ever memorable ex- 

 pedition to England in 1688. At the revolution 

 which then took place, he was always consulted by 

 William, and gave his advice with so much frankness, 

 and at the same time with so much wisdom, that he 

 continued to possess the confidence of William, who, 

 though he appointed him his chaplain for Scotland, 

 and annexed to that office the whole revenue belong- 

 ing to the Chapel Royal, yet signified to him that 

 he required his constant attendance upon his person, 

 assigned him apartments in the palace when in Eng- 

 land, and, when abroad, allowed him L 500 every 

 campaign, for camp equipage. Mr Carstares was 

 instrumental in procuring a loyal address to his mas- 

 ter from the Presbyterian clergy of Scotland, which 

 was very acceptable to the Prince. On the other 

 hand, he was instrumental in procuring for his na- 

 tive country the establishment of that form of church 

 government, to which he himself and the great body 

 of the people were so partial ; and this object was 

 not attained without some difficulty, as the King was 

 anxious that the same ecclesiastical regime should 

 prevail in both parts of the island. But he agreed 

 with his Majesty in disapproving of the act which 

 was passed for abolishing the right of patronage, be- 

 cause he feared that it might lead to dangerous con- 

 sequences, and be attended with an abuse of that 

 power which it lodged in the hands of the people. 

 He also gave an advice to William, which shewed 

 that his zeal for royal authority was beginning to 

 encroach upon his attachment to public liberty. His 

 advice was this, that the King should be extremely 

 cautious in giving up any branch of his prerogative, 



a danger to which, as he alleged, William was the Cam*r: 

 more exposed, because he haa been rained to the **"" """"" 

 throne by the voice of the people. In 1()93, an act 

 was passed in the Scottish parliament, obliging all 

 persons in office not only to take the oath of alle- 

 giance to the King and Queen, but also to subscribe 

 an assurance, declaring that William was king dr 

 jure, as well as dcfucto. The Presbyterian clergy 

 refused to sign the declaration, and applied to the 

 privy council for redress ; but they thought proper 

 to withhold the indulgence, and, under sanction of 

 the King's authority, which they procured when 

 Mr Carstares happened to be absent from court, ei- 

 ther to require every representative to the General 

 Assembly to obtemper the act, or, in case of dis- 

 obedience, to dissolve the assembly in his Majesty's 

 name. The clergy sent up a memorial on the sub- 

 ject to Mr Carstares, who immediately waited on the 

 King though at late hour, awaked him out of 

 his sleep, represented to him the unjust nature and. 

 dangerous tendency of that measure which his go- 

 vernment in Scotland had adopted, and prevailed 

 upon him to countermand the order that had been 

 given, and to dispense with the oath to which the 

 ministers objected. This act of William's admini- 

 stration had the effect of making him very popular 

 in Scotland, and restored Mr Carstares to the good 

 opinion of his countrymen, who had, on several ac- 

 counts, begun to suspect the sincerity or the ardour 

 of his attachment to their cause. 



Mr Carstares continued to have the chief direction 

 of Scottish affairs ; and he conducted himself with 

 such ability, prudence, and uprightness, that Wil- * 

 liam's confidence in him increased with the duration 

 of his services, notwithstanding the many attempts 

 that were made by his political enemies to lower or 

 supplant him in that monarch's estimation. He had 

 a difficult part to act ; but the difficulties of his si- 

 tuation were not too much for his wisdom and vi- 

 gour to surmount. He equally checked the hostility 

 of his foes, and secured the affection of his friends ; 

 and was so impartial and disinterested, that though he 

 could only gratify the views of some, he commanded 

 the respect of all. At the death of William, which 

 could not fail to afflict him most sensibly, he was 

 just as poor as when he first entered into that prince'a 

 service, a circumstance highly creditable to him, 

 since he had such fair and excellent opportunities of 

 securing for himself an independent fortune. 



In the succeeding reign, Mr Carstares's connec- 

 tion with public business was but limited, though 

 he was of too much consequence to be entirely over- 

 looked. Queen Anne, unsolicited, appointed him 

 her chaplain for Scotland. He was also made prin- 

 cipal and primarius professor in divinity of the uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh ; and, in the same year, be- 

 came one of the ministers of that city. The duties 

 of his pastoral office he discharged with equal abi- 

 lity and success ; and though he had been long out 

 of the habit of preaching, his discourses were very 

 much and generally admired. His close attention to 

 politics did not seem to have injured his literary at- 

 tainments ; for we are told that his first oration after 

 his introduction into the university, which was de- 

 livered before a numerous and respectable audience, 



