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'This
parliament cannot accept that statement,' Montrose answered
strongly, authoritatively. 'Lord Balmerino, as a peer of this realm,
knows full well that I, and the Lord Napier, have the right to trial
by our peers, and by them only. That right I claim.'

A
murmur ran through the assembly. Balmerino coughed. 'This is an
enquiry. A questioning. Trial is not yet.'

'I
will answer no questions, sir. Save to a properly constituted
court of my peers. And I demand that I, and these my friends, be
released forthwith.'

Amidst
much stirring on the benches, Balmerino, looking flustered, glanced
at the Earl of Loudoun, chairman of the Committee.

'The
Committee of the Estates, which ordered your arrest, my lord, alone
can order your release. It will be considered,' the Campbell rasped.

'That
Committee, of which Lord Napier, Sir George Stirling and myself are
all members, yet were not informed, is a committee of this
parliament,' Montrose gave back. 'Therefore this parliament can and
must overrule it. I request that parliament does so. Now. Orders our
immediate release.'

'That
request is out of order,' Balmerino said. 'Since the Earl of
Montrose is here not as a member of the parliament, but as a
prisoner and witness.'

'A
prisoner of whom, sir? Not of the King. Not of this parliament. Not
of my peers. While parliament is not sitting, the Committee has its
full powers - But when it is, the Committee is powerless in
law. The greater cannot be bound by the lesser. As an earl of
Scotland, prisoner or none, I am a member of this parliament. And
demand a decision.'

Johnston
of Warriston, that white-faced, strained and nervous young advocate,
now a great man in Scotland, Clerk to the Assembly and Procurator of
the Kirk, rose. 'My lord President,' he stammered. 'May I speak?
This parliament cannot make any decision, save after heaving the
facts. Those facts have not been laid before it. What are those
facts?'

Montrose
opened his mouth to challenge that, since the decision that he
requested was not on the facts of any alleged offence, but on the
right of a committee of parliament to overrule the parliament
that appointed it. But he paused. For he, as much as any, required
to know with what he was charged - otherwise he was the more
hampered in his defence.

Balmerino
was not slow to take up Warriston's point. 'My lord President - the
facts are these. The Earl of Montrose has declared, before
witnesses, that the Earl of Argyll did seek the deposition of our
liege lord King Charles, on three counts - that of desertion of his
ancient kingdom, of invasion thereof with English soldiers; and of
vendition and bribery. My lord of Argyll entirely denies ever having
said anything such. Yet one of my lord of Montrose's creatures,
Stewart of Ladywell, Commissary of Dunkeld, now admits that the
accusation was false, and that he aided in the forgery thereof.
Nevertheless, the Earl of Montrose did cause him to send word of the
said damnable forgery and traducement, which he knew to be false, to
the King's Majesty in England. To His Majesty's misleading, and to
the hurt of my lord of Argyll and this realm.'

There
was a great uproar in the chamber now. When he could make himself
heard, Balmerino asked, 'Does the Earl of Montrose deny this? We
have full supporting testimony.'

'I
neither deny nor confirm it, sir. I have no need. I answer no
questions, save before a due court of my peers.'

After
a pause, Robert, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, President of the
parliament, spoke. 'My lord of Montrose seems to have the right of
this.' He was a cautious, scholarly man, occupying a curious
position, one which had no precedent. The chairman of the Scots
parliament was always the Chancellor. But since the Archbishop
Spottiswoode was in theory still Chancellor, and the King had
appointed no other, parliament had elected its own president.
All knew that, hereafter, the whole proceedings might well be
declared null and void, in that they were unconstitutional, without
the Chancellor's presence, even though the Lord High Commissioner
attended.

'My
lord President - may I suggest that the Lord Balmerino puts his
question to those who can claim no such right as trial before their
peers?' That was Johnston of Warriston again. 'Namely the accused
Sir George Stirling and Sir Archibald Stewart.'

'Ah,
yes. Well said. Lord Balmerino?'

'Aye,
my lord. So be it. You then, Sir George Stirling of Keir, I require
you to answer before this high court of parliament, as you
value your life. First - did you hear the Earl of Montrose make this
slander upon the Earl of Argyll's honour?'

Agonisingly,
Stirling looked at Montrose. That man nodded, smiling a little.
'Answer, George,' he said calmly. 'As you value your life! And your
honour. This is no trial of mine. You can harm me nothing here.'

'Silence!'
Burleigh exclaimed.

Stirling
swallowed. ‘I heard my lord say that he had been told it by
Stewart of Ladywell,' he faltered.' 'In what circumstances?'

"During
the Earl of Argyll's punitive raiding on Atholl and Lochaber, last
year. Ladywell, Commissary of Dunkeld, was taken into custody, along
with his master, the Earl of Atholl. He heard the Earl of Argyll
make the statement that King Charles should be deposed, in the
Earl's own tent at Bridge of Lyon.'

'Fool!
Think you that the Earl of Argyll - a wise lord who knows how to
keep his tongue if anyone does! - would speak such traitorous things
before any soever? Even if he thought so - as he does not. In
especial before this Commissary of Atholl's?'

'I
do
not know, my lord. Who knows what any man will say, on occasion? But
I do know that, on that campaign, the Earl of Argyll acted so as to
astonish many. Who would not have believed him capable of it. As the
burning of Airlie Castle. And the harrying of the Lady Airlie!'

'Silence!
Silence, I say! How dare you, sir! Answer the questions asked only -
do you hear?'

'Well
said, George,' Montrose remarked genially, loud enough for all to
hear. 'My lord of Argyll will no doubt wish to explain that,
himself!'

There
was a deathly hush, as all looked expectantly at the dark-clad
Campbell. But that strange man did not so much as blink an eyelid.
He had a great gift for silence.

Balmerino,
frowning, went on - but it was now at Sir Archibald Stewart that he
looked. 'Blackhall,' he said, 'answer this, and truthfully, as you
would before Almighty God. You also heard the Earl of Montrose
repeat this slander? You, and others not here present?'

'I
heard my lord say that he had heard Ladywcll declare it as truth.'

‘
But
Ladywell has admitted that it was untruth, a wicked forgery.'

"Of
that I know nothing, my lord.'

'I
think that you do. That you all, with others, contrived this with
Ladywell. At the Earl of Montrose's instigation. To injure my lord
of Argyll.'

"No,
my lord.'

'And
in concert persuaded the perfidious Ladywell to write this slander
to the King, in London ?'

"No.
I know nothing of any letter to the King.' ‘Nor I, my lord,'
Stirling added.

'You
lie, I say - both of you! For Ladywell has confessed to it.'

'Under
torture, perhaps?' That was Archie Napier's first contribution.

"Will
you inform us where the Laird of Ladywell is now, my lord?'

Balmerino
glared, and glanced round for guidance. Argyll offered none. But his
fellow Campbell came to his aid.

'It
ill becomes the Lord Napier to make question of this matter,'
Loudoun declared, rising. 'As an extra Lord of Session, former
Treasurer of the realm, Privy Councillor and member of the Committee
of the Estates, he was offered absolution from these charges, and
his freedom. He rejected it, declaring that if any were guilty, he
was guilty. Who is he to speak of torture and ill-using... ?'

Montrose
reached over to press his friend's arm.

'My
lord President -
I
asked
a question, as
I
have
a right to do as a Lord of Parliament,' Napier went on firmly. 'Like
my lord of Montrose, if trial there is,
I
require
it of my peers. But these friends of mine, having no such right,
have at least the right to know how such testimony against them was
obtained - since Stewart of Ladywell is not here present, and
therefore his evidence is mere hearsay.
I
would
remind all that
I
am
a lord of Session, a judge, and know the law.
I
require
to be informed - where is Stewart of Ladywell? And was the alleged
retraction obtained by means of torture?'

There
was complete silence in the great hall.

"Very
well, my lord President. Since this parliament is not to be supplied
with the evidence it requires to make any decision in this matter,
I
move
that it proceeds to the next business.'

The
Earl of Dunfermline stood.
'I
second
that motion,' he said.

There
were not a few cries of agreement from around the hall.

The
President glanced at the Lord High Commissioner, and nodded. "Very
well.
I
so
rule. Remove the Committee's prisoners. The next business...?'

Amidst
some tumult, all four captives were hustled out, and marched back to
their cells in the Castle.

Seventeen
weary days later, on the 13th of August, Montrose was again taken to
a renewed sitting of the parliament -alone, this time, his enemies
at least having learned that the captives gained strength by
supporting one another. Now, although still close guarded, he was
treated more courteously. This was no trial, he was informed; merely
an enquiry by parliament, which had taken the matter out of the
Committee's hands; but which, as the Lord Napier cogently had
pointed out at the last sitting, required information before it
could come to any decision. Would the Earl of Montrose, therefore,
answer certain relevant questions?