Note 134 — ORIGINS OF THE ’FORTY-FIVE PAPERS OF JOHN MURRAY OF BROUGHTON

I mentioned before that the King had ordered a Sum not exceeding £900 Ster yearly to be payed to Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] provided money could be raised he had hitherto gott no more than £200 Lord T[ra]q[uai]r had payed him so I was instructed to know why it was not answered as promised, which I accordingly did, when Mr. Drummond said he thought it very odd that the people in Scotland could not give him that small pension when Lord T[ra]q[uai]r had offered Lord Semple credit for £1,000 the year before when in London. I told him people had little money to spare and that since the Gentlemen was in a manner starving I would write to the King about it as directed, upon which he said in a passion I had better not do it for it would hurt them in the King’s Eyes as it must look bad that people who profered doing so much could not advance such a trifle, and I remember he said the King would not fail to look upon them as tamperers which I never did mention to them looking upon it as the heat of passion. He then said as he had all along made it his Business to advance their Interest and Honour, he would fall upon a method of raising a sum of money to the Value of 5 or 6,000£ upon a bond payable at the Restoration with six per cent. of Interest and that D[uke of] P[erth] L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r L[ochie]l and I should bind for it and that he would even endeavour to gett an equall sum for D[uke of] P[erth] on L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r’s particular Use upon the same Conditions. As I then did not know my man I went on to what he proposed and did not write to the King about it, neither did I till after I found out the double fetch he had in it, he at this time was applying to have a Pension settled upon himself which my writing in behalf of Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] would certainly have prevented as the King had ordered him to stay at home in the view of receiving the forementioned Sum, then his proposing to raise this sum for the D[uke] of P[erth]’s use was a means to encourage him to advance him £100, which he desired I would tell his Grace he would draw upon him at my leaving London, which he accordingly gott.