THE EARL OF LOTHIAN JUSTICE GENERAL OF THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND, HIS DISCOURSE TO THE LORDS of the JUSTICIARY At the Opening of the COURT At Edinburgh January the 27th. 1690.  
EDINBURGH, Printed by the Society of Stationers at their Printing-house in Harts-Close over against the Trone-Church, Anno Dom. 1690.   

THE EARL OF LOTHIAN HIS SPEECH.  
MY LORDS,  
I Cannot but acknowledge, that when I look upon myself 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 lie 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 Judgement picked 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, than the Assurance of the Impartial Administration of Justice; I am persuaded 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 Shipwreck 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, divers Designs, Corruptions of Men, even Eloquence itself, the grand Sophister of Reason, hath Disguised, Masked and Perplexed 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 always known, Talked, 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 rendered difficult and intricat to the most Learned, aught and may be Adjusted, to the Capacities of the meanest Artisans.  
Tho' I must confess the Corruptions and Wickedness of Mankind hath necessitate even Justice itself (which of all other things ought to be most equal) to incline more to Rigour and Severity than were to be wished; yet it ought to be dispensed with such Moderation and Candour, that even the Sentence itself might convince the World, if not the Panel, that there hath not been wanting in it, even Grace and Favour.  
And tho' it be an old received maxim, 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 ourselves; tho' perhaps we came not always 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 established upon a sure foundation) as it would do more to suppress the Villainous Cruelty, Robery, Murders, and Depredations of the Barbarous Highlanders, and the subtle Contrivances of the Thieving Borderers, than many Troops of armed Men; so it would give the Country, that Assurance, the Court that Lustre, the Government that Reputation, and ourselves 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 show itself 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 Soil, the being nearer, or at a more remote distance to the Warmth of the Sun: These, Experience hath shown, hath by their Luxury more contribute to the Misery, Slavery, and Bondage of the Inhabitants, than any Advantage: Neither is it the Goodness of the Laws, most of the Nations in the World, even Pagans themselves, having excelled 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 majesty'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 myself over paid 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 strait Course, by running in its proper Channel,  
FINIS.