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hope may enable us to prepare such terms of union, as may prove satisfactory to her majesty, and the parliament of both kingdoms."

To this speech the lord chancellor of Scotland made the following reply:" My lords,-The lords commissioners for Scotland have desired me to assure your lordships, that they meet you on this occasion with great willingness and satisfaction, to treat of an union betwixt the two kingdoms, and of such other matters and concerns as may be for her majesty's honour, and the maintaining a good understanding between the two kingdoms. We are convinced that an union will be of great advantage to both; the protestant religion will be thereby more firmly secured, the designs of our enemies effectually disappointed, and the riches and trade of the whole island advanced. This union hath been often endeavoured, both before and since the kingdoms were united in allegiance under one sovereign, and several treaties have been set on foot for that end, though without the designed success; but now we are hopeful that this shall be the happy opportunity of accomplishing it. Her majesty hath frequently signified her good inclinations towards it; and we are the more encouraged to expect success in this treaty, by the good disposition that appeared in the parliament of Scotland to it, and by the friendly proceedings of the parliament of England, which give general satisfaction. We have a great confidence in your lordships' good intentions; and we shall be ready, on our parts, to enter into such measures with you as may bring this treaty to such a conclusion, as may be acceptable to her majesty, and the parliaments of both kingdoms."*

Ceremonies being exchanged, and certain rules of procedure agreed upon, the negotiations were opened on the part of the English commissioners by the following proposal:-"That the two kingdoms of England and Scotland be for ever united into one kingdom, by the name of Great Britain-that the united kingdom be represented by one and the same parliament, and that the succession to the monarchy of the united kingdom, in case of failure of heirs of her majesty's body, be according to the limitations mentioned in the act of parliament made in England, in the twelfth and thirteenth years of the reign of king William, intituled, an act for the further limitations of the crown, and the better securing the rights of the subject." The Scotish commissioners having demanded time to consider of this proposal, and being convened for that purpose, all of them, Mr. Lockhart excepted, who, as he has told us himself, by the orders of his faction, "sat silent, making his observations," were willing to accept it; but as they knew that a federal union would be more agreeable to their countrymen in general, they agreed, that without positively rejecting the above, a proposal to that effect should be made. This was done accordingly, but meeting with no encouragement from the English commissioners, all of whom were bent upon an incorporating, or what they called an entire union, it was dropped. Nothing else seems to have occurred that occasioned any thing like a serious difference of opinion. Her majesty attended their

• Defoe's History of the Union of Great Britain, folio ed. pp. 21, 22.

deliberations twice, on the twenty-first of May, and the twenty-sixth of June; on both of these occasions she inquired particularly into their progress, and on the last, addressed to them the following speech:→→ "My lords, I am come hither once more to see what further progress you have made in this treaty, and to press a speedy conclusion of it, in regard my servants of Scotland, cannot, without great inconveniency, be much longer absent from that kingdom." On the twenty-second of July, 1706, the treaty was completed, and next day, in name of the commissioners, presented to the queen at St. James', by the lord keeper of England and the lord chancellor of Scotland, each of whom complimented her in a short speech upon the happy issue of their negotiations, to which her majesty, made the following gracious reply :"My lords, I give you many thanks for the great pains you have taken in this treaty, and am very well pleased to find your endeavours and applications have brought it to so good a conclusion. The particulars of it seem so reasonable, that I hope they will meet with approbation in the parliaments of both kingdoms. I wish, therefore, that my servants of Scotland may lose no time in going down to propose it to my subjects of that kingdom; and I shall always look upon it as a peculiar happiness, if this union, which will be so great a security and advantage to both kingdoms, can be accomplished in my reign." Care was, at the same time, taken to keep the articles secret, till such time as they should be laid before parliament; and an order of council was issued the same day, forbidding all books and wagers upon the subject.*

On their return to Scotland, the commissioners, though they were not at liberty to specify the articles of the treaty, were careful to give such representations concerning it, as for a time made an impression on the public mind of a favourable kind; but no sooner did the particular provisions of the treaty begin to transpire, than, principally through the indefatigable exertions of the Jacobites, it became the subject of the most violent reprobation. Dreading the confirmation of the Union, which they considered as the grave of their hopes, and able to obtain no assistance from abroad, the party became perfectly frantic. His grace the duke of Hamilton, in the prospect of what had now taken place, and in order to be provided for it, had, in 1704, sent an order to the pretender, by Mr. James Murray, for twenty-five thousand pounds. "The manner," says Murray, " in which he proposes to dispose of this money, is to take a share of it to himself, to assist him to defray the great expense which he will be obliged to make for maintaining his credit with his party-to distribute another in augmenting and strengthening his party, and in preserving and confirming those who are already of it, according as he shall see necessary for the service of his majesty— and to employ the rest in purchasing arms." Whether this demand was in whole complied with, or in part, we have not been able to discover, but in 1705, we find a second demand made on behalf of the same party, for thirty thousand livres, "which managed faithfully," the writer remarks, "would be of greater utility here to the king's service, than

Defoe's History of the Union of Great Britain, folio ed. pp. 47, 88, 103, 104. Campbell's Life of John, Duke of Argyle, p. 113.

you can imagine;" and, "in short, without this supply it is absolutely impossible to advance our affairs."* It was now their fortune to contend, as it were, for existence, in default of all this necessary supply—and it required the united strength, influence, and cunning of the whole party, as they were sure to be met in the same determined spirit. The advocates of the revolution and the protestant succession, equally aware with the Jacobites of the importance of the matters now at issue, were prepared to make no common effort. They had already gained a signal advantage; and one effort more, they concluded, would render their triumph complete. Whatever they might think respecting themselves, or whatever degree of confidence they might have in their supporters, the leaders of the Scotish administration, from the solidity of the principles of which they were now the advocates, and the vast utility of the measures they were pursuing, were, at this time, well entitled to the support of their country, and the approbation of all good men. Perhaps fortunately however, excellent as was their cause, and the objects they had in view, they were not left to depend solely on principle, or the lofty aspirations of single-handed patriotism. The English ministry aware of the difficulty of their situation, transmitted, at their request, twenty thousand pounds, to be applied in paying up arrears due to individuals by the government, which, from the manner in which it was distributed, may with the utmost certainty be denominated the purchase money of the Union.t

The parliament which was to determine the question, was assembled on the third day of October, 1706. To this parliament the duke of Queensberry was appointed high commissioner. The queen's letter, as well as the speeches of the commissioner and chancellor, insisted principally on the benefit that would necessarily result from the Union, and recommended in the strongest manner its ratification. Subsidies were also wanted, but anxious to carry through the treaty of Union before the opposition, which was already formidable, should gather more strength, the court party prevailed to have the articles read at the first sederunt, when they were ordered to be printed, along with the minutes of the proceedings of the commissioners, for the use of members, after which, the

Stuart Papers for 1704 and 1705.

The following were the persons to whom this money was paid, in the sums appended to their names, as declared upon oath, before the commissioners appointed in the year 1711, to examine the public accounts, by David Nairne, at that time secretary depute of Scotland.

house adjourned to the tenth, which was occupied in settling precedencies, administering oaths, &c. On the twelfth, the reading of the articles of Union was again resumed, when it was moved by the cavaliers, that all records relating to former treaties between Scotland and England, should be laid before the house, and that in the intervals of parliament, they might be seen in the lower parliament house, where the lord register should order some of his servants to attend. This, after some debate, was agreed to. The reading of the articles being resumed, they were again violently opposed, and the necessity was now suggested, probably for the first time in a Scotish parliament, of adjourning till members could consult their constituents, without whose permission it was alleged they had no power to sanction such a treaty as the Union. As a farther means of delay, some of the Jacobite members made a motion for a general fast before proceeding to discuss a matter so weighty, and in which the interests of the church were so deeply implicated. This occasioned a very warm debate, in which it was observed, that the motion had come from such as had seldom been observed either to fast or pray. The purpose, indeed, was evidently no other than to make the ministers of the gospel the advocates of sedition, and the motion was opposed with the greatest energy by the most sober and religious members of the house. It was accordingly put off for the present, and the house adjourned till the fifteenth. On the fifteenth, it was again moved that the articles of Union be taken into consideration agreeably to the minutes of last sederunt. It was moved in opposition to this, that time should be allowed the members to take more deeply into consideration articles of such serious import as the annihilating of the nation. After a long debate, and a great deal of quibbling, the vote was at length stated, "Proceed to consider the articles of the treaty or delay ?" which was carried in the affirmative by a plurality of sixty-four

The balance of five hundred and forty pounds seventeen shillings and sevenpence, the earl of Glasgow acknowledged he received from lord Godolphin, when he accounted to his lordship for the twenty thousand pounds as expended by the above particulars.-Lockhart Papers, vol. i. pp. 267, 265.

voices. It was agreed, however, that the house should not proceed to vote upon any of the articles, till they were all at least once read over and discoursed upon by the members. This reading, with the remarks especially of the dukes of Hamilton and Athol, the marquis of Annandale, the lords Belhaven and Balmarino, Fletcher of Salton, and Sir David Cunningham of Milucraig, who were at great pains to point out what they called the absurdity and unreasonableness of the several articles as they went along, occupied the house till the first of November.* While the cavaliers within doors were thus doing their best to retard the progress of the treaty, to their great satisfaction the opposition without doors was daily becoming more formidable. Edinburgh was crowded with visitants, from all quarters of the country, of all ranks, sexes, and ages, all of whom were become, if not skilful, at least confident politicians. The outer parliament house, and the approaches to it, were every day ere the parliament met, crowded with people, exclaiming against the Union, and reprobating all who had been, or were in any degree its promoters. Queensberry they reviled in the most brutal manner, and pursued along the streets with showers of stones, but the duke of Hamilton was regularly escorted to his lodgings in the Abbey, by a mixed multitude of disorderly persons, who, with loud huzzas, exhorted him to stand by his country, with assurances that he should be supported. Nothing is more surprising than to see the garbage vanity will feed on, the dishonourable shifts faction will have recourse to, and the dirty tools she will employ. The duke of Hamilton was perhaps the loftiest man in the nation, jealous of his dignity, and haughty and supercilious among persons of his own rank to a very high degree, yet he condescended not only to suffer, but to encourage, and apparently to enjoy the applauses of this contemptible rabble, day after day, till, swoln with the idea of their own importance, and secure of the approbation of the whole party, as well as the special protection of his grace, they, on the twenty-third of October, after having carried him to the lodgings of the duke of Athol, another of their favourites, proceeded to the residence of Sir Patrick Johnston, who had been a commissioner for the treaty of Union, was one of the representatives in parliament for and late lord provost of the city of Edinburgh, drove in his windows with stones, burst open his doors, and searched every corner of his house, "threatening to tear him into a thousand pieces." Sir Patrick fortunately had got out of the way, and a detachment of the town guard arriving after a while, secured his house and protected his family from farther outrage, but the crowd kept possession of the streets during the greater part of the night, threatening destruction to all whom they supposed to be any wise favourable to the Union. At an early hour in the morning, however, a detachment of the foot guards cleared the streets, secured the Nether Bow Port, and placed a guard in the Parliament Close.

This disgraceful riot Lockhart has detailed with apparently great satisfaction, and he chuckles over "the consternation that seized the courtiers on this occasion," who were "terribly afraid of their lives,

• Defoe's History of the Union, folio ed. Article-Abstract of the Proceedings of the Scotish Parliament, p. 6. Lockhart Papers, vol. i. pp. 161, 162.