ministry and of the country, his services were left unrewarded. =18. Abolition of Slavery.=--In 1756 the lawfulness of negro slavery was first questioned in Scotland, and twenty years later it was settled that negro slavery should exist no longer. There were still, however, some natives of the soil who were in a state very little better. The _colliers_ and _salters_ were sold like serfs with the works in which they toiled. This shameful servitude was not the remains of ancient villanage, but had simply arisen out of custom. So strong, however, had the force of custom made it, that Parliament did not venture at once to sweep it away. It was settled that all the colliers and salters born after a certain date should be free, and those then at work after a certain term of service. In 1799 their freedom was established by law. =19. Attacks on the Romanists.=--When the penal laws against the _Roman Catholics_ in _England_ were repealed in 1778, _Henry Dundas_, the _Lord Advocate_, proposed a similar measure for Scotland. On the strength of this, riots broke out in _Edinburgh_ and _Glasgow_. In _Edinburgh_ the mob destroyed the Roman Catholic chapels and the houses of several persons who were suspected of being Romanists. In _Glasgow_ they destroyed a factory belonging to a Romanist. So great was the excitement raised throughout the country by the fanatics, who bound themselves together in _Protestant Associations_, and the property and persons of the Roman Catholics were treated with such violence, that they themselves petitioned that the Bill might be dropped. It was not till 1793 that a Bill was brought in and passed without opposition to relieve the Roman Catholics in Scotland from the penalties to which they were liable on account of their religious opinions. =20. Trials for Sedition.=--The excesses of the _French Revolution_ led to a reaction of feeling in Great Britain against all liberal opinions, as being likely to bring about a similar revolution in this country. This led to much injustice and oppression. Persons were charged with stirring up sedition on the slightest grounds, or on no grounds at all; were found guilty, and punished on the most scanty evidence. In Scotland the panic was even greater than in England, and the proceedings of justice more unjust. In 1793 _Thomas Muir_, an advocate, and _Fyshe Palmer_, a clergyman, were tried, and sentenced to transportation, the one for fourteen years, the other for seven, for no other crime than that of discussing _Parliamentary Reform_. Others suffered a like fate; and though these cases were brought before the House of Commons, and though the sympathy of the people was with them, they met with no redress. _Braxfield_, the _Lord Justice Clerk_, gained an infamous notoriety by his violent language towards the prisoners, and by the illegal sentences which he passed against them.