and vote in the parliament, or vote upon the trial of peers. That the public law and government should be the same in both, but each to retain their own respective civil and criminal courts, and no alteration should be made in the laws concerning private rights, except for the evident benefit of the subjects of Scotland; a full participation in all the benefits and privileges of commerce, with an equalization of the imposts and taxes, all differences on which, were to be decided in a new court of exchequer; all heritable offices and jurisdictions were to remain as formerly. There was to be only one seal for the united kingdom, and the regalia was never to be removed from Scotland. Besides, there was one, perhaps the most important article, an equivalent, or compensation of five hundred thousand pounds was to be paid by the English treasury, for what part of the Scottish customs and excise should go to pay any part of the public debt of England, and to repay the losses incurred by the Darien company, a sum necessary to obtain the support or the silence of some of the most noisy oppositionists.

-As the majority in Scotland had never contemplated more than a federative union, a violent and almost universal burst of indignation was heard when these articles were announced: the nobles, merchants, and people, united in deprecating a union, which they imagined would degrade the dignity of their chiefs, load them with English taxes and excise, and destroy for ever that independence for which Wallace had bled, and Bruce had conquered. It is difficult, indeed, to say whether any of the statesmen saw clearly the advantages that were ultimately to arise from this happy event, so great was the prejudice, and so many the obstacles, from the passions and private interests of the parties; but a conviction of the evils which must arise from the separation of the crowns, and the danger of renewing any civil contest, had a strong influence upon the most enlightened promoters of the measure, while motives of personal aggrandizement and immediate profit were dexterously urged upon those whose patriotism was susceptible of no higher excitement. In parliament it met with a powerful and strenuous opposition from some of the most eloquent orators Scotland ever produced. "Where," said Belhaven,

in his last, energetic, but vain appeal to the feelings of a Scottish parliament, "where are the Douglases, the Grahams, the Campbells, our peers, and chieftains, who vindicated by their swords from the usurpation of the English Edwards, the independence of their country, which their sons are about to forfeit by a single vote? I see the English constitution remaining firm; the same houses of parliament; the same taxes, customs, and excise; the same trading companies, laws, and judicatures, whilst ours are either subjected to new regulations, or are annihilated for ever. And for what? that we may be admitted to the honour of paying their old arrears, and presenting a few witnesses to attest the new debts, which they may be pleased to contract! Good God! is this an entire surrender? My heart bursts with indignation and grief, at the triumph which the English will obtain to-day, over a fierce and warlike nation, that has struggled to maintain its independence so long! But if England should offer us our own conditions, never will I consent to the surrender of our sovereignty, without which, unless the contracting parties remain independent, there is no security different from his, who stipulates for the preservation of his property, when he becomes a slave!" A secret distribution of twenty thousand pounds, under the name of arrears, blunted the effect of this address in the house. But all could not be purchased, and a conspiracy out of doors threatened to accomplish, what no arguments could produce within. At Glasgow the populace incensed at the opposition of the magistrates, to an address against the union, seized, and for some days kept tumultuous possession of the town. Throughout the western counties the Cameronians and peasants held frequent meetings; and at Dumfries, the articles were burned at the Cross; the conspiracy extended to Perth and Angus, and Cunningham, an old and experienced officer, was already in Edinburgh concerting a general rising, when the whole was most fortunately discovered to the commissioner, and the scheme was abandoned. In the capital the mob were outrageous, and the commissioner at the risk of his life attended his duty in parliament; nor was it till a strong party of military was introduced, that any who were not in opposition could venture to appear on the streets. The duke of Hamil

ton, whose versatility as a statesman, had often disappointed the hopes of the opposition, was the occasion of their losing the best and only opportunity which appeared to promise success. It was proposed when the article respecting the representation should come to be discussed, upon its being carried, as they expected, a solemn protest should be entered; and on its refusal, they were to retire in a body, and present an address to the queen. Had this measure been duly executed, the commissioner and his friends, it is said, were prepared to adjourn the parliament, and to desist from an union to which the aversion of the people was so general; but on the evening before, Hamilton was gained by the promises of Queensberry, and shrinking from the responsibility of heading the addressers, he pretended indisposition on the morning of the eventful day, and the court party carrying their motion, the opposition withdrew in disgust. The other articles were carried without debate, and the only addition to these, settled on by the commissioners, was one for securing the presbyterian religion, as the established religion of Scotland-and the episcopalian, as the same in England. The treaty, which by courtesy had been first discussed in the Scottish, was transmitted to the English parliament, where it occasioned a warm debate, but was eventually carried by an overpowering majority. It immediately received the royal sanction, and on the 1st of May, 1707, the queen of the kingdoms of Scotland and England was proclaimed queen of the UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN.

THE EN D.

GLASGOW:

EDWARD KHULL AND SON, PRINTERS.