DISPUTES IN THE PARLIAMENT.

Nor were they less obstinate in the affair of the judges whom the king had ventured to appoint by virtue of his own prerogative. The malcontents brought in a bill declaring the bench vacant, as it was at the restoration; asserting their own right to examine and approve those who should appointed to fill it; providing that if in time to come any such total vacancy should occur, the nomination should be in the king or queen, or regent for the time being, and the parliament retain the right of approbation; and that all the clauses in the several acts relating to the admission of the ordinary lords of session, and their qualifications for that office, should be ratified and confirmed for perpetual observation. Such was the interest of this party, that the bill was carried by a great majority, notwithstanding the opposition of the ministers, who resolved to maintain the king’s nomination even in defiance of a parliamentary resolution. The majority, exasperated at this open violation of their privileges, forbade the judges whom the king had appointed to open their commissions, or hold a session until his majesty’s further pleasure should be known: on the other hand they were compelled to act by the menaces of the privy-council. The dispute was carried on with great acrimony on both sides, and produced such a ferment, that before the session opened, the ministry thought proper to draw a great number of forces into the neighbourhood of Edinburgh to support the judges in the exercise of their functions.