XL 1706. for ever. And for what? that we may be admit- BOOK ted to the honour of paying their old, and presenting a few witnesses to attest the new debts which they are 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 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. approved. The sublime and pathetic eloquence of Belha- An union ven was exerted in vain. Fletcher remarked, that the honour and interest of the country had been betrayed by the commissioners; and when an explanation was demanded, he acknowledged that the expression was harsh, but true; that treachery was the only epithet which he could find for their conduct. Insuperable difficulties were urged as a reason that no better terms could be obtained from England; to which the duke of Hamilton indignantly replied, that the situation of the Scots on the same island with the English, might have furMished their commissioners with the most decisive argument for better terms. A profound silence ensued, at an argument not less invidious than XI. 1706. BOOK just; but when the question was demanded, it was determined by a majority of thirty-three votes, that the two kingdoms should be united into one, under the same legislature and line, of succession as established in England. Secret mo tives and of members There are few princes who, from a sincere discorruption taste of royalty and the cares of government, have descended from the throne: but the voluntary consent of a numerous senate to resign its legislative functions for ever, was an event unexampled, perhaps till then, in the history of mankind. Whatever force or conviction the arguments on either side may possess, we may truly affirm that these are rather the apologies than the motives for the conduct of parties. Man is naturally prone to faction, and tenacious of power, which in popular assemblies, nothing less than personal interest or fear can surmount. The secret history of the intrigues and corruption that produced the union, has either been lost, or industriously suppressed63; 62 Hist. of Queen Anne, down to the Union, p. 476. Lond. 1707. Boyer's Annals, v. 348. 63 Lord Somers's Manuscripts, containing a copious collection of papers relative to the union, were almost all destroyed by a fire in Lincoln's Inn. Lord Seafield had made a large collection of state papers and letters, from the revolu tion to the union, which, with his memoirs of his own times, were consumed in his house adjacent to the Abbey, several years after the union took place. Lord Mar's Papers respecting the union, and the rebellion in 1715, were also destroyed. XI. بہت at this distance of time is imperfectly understood, From the frequent creation of peers in this reign, a numerous faction was introduced into parliament, devoted indisputably to the court from which their hereditary seats were derived. A large majority of the nobility supported the union, from which their dignity suffered the chief diminution; and as the other estates were more equally divided, the parliament, from a radical defect in its constitution, was subverted by the assemblage of peers and commoners in the same house. But the equivalent was the golden bait, the distribution of which, among those whose integrity might have resisted a bribe, created the same expectation and dependence as a lucrative share in a contract or loan. Above fourscore members were considered either as dependents on the court, or as influenced by honourable and lucrative places, by the assurance of preferment, or by the contingent payment of arrears and of the public debts 64. The country party was equally numerous. parliament so nicely balanced, the success of the union depended on the Squadroné, whose connexion with the English whigs was renewed; and when Montrose was appointed president of council, they endeavoured to recommend themselves to the court, on the assurance or hopes of being restored to power. Their attachment to the protestant succession was undisputed; their resentment 64 See Some queries relative to the intended union. VOL. IV. Аа In a 1706. BOOK 1706. Opposition of the cler act for the the church. at the country party, by whom they were once deserted, was the same with the commissioner's: but in the preceding session they had promoted the settlement of the crown, in opposition to an union; and though something must be ascribed to patriotism, and the force of argument, yet their sudden conversion cannot be imputed altogether to the most disinterested conviction. Twenty thousand pounds were transmitted from the English treasury, of which a large proportion was distributed among nineteen peers and eight commoners, under the name of arrears 65. Among these peers were Marchmont, Montrose, Roxburgh, and Tweedale, the leaders of the Squadroné, who maintained a guarded silence till, on the first division, their accession to the court party determined the union. The religion of each nation was reserved; but gy, and an the commission of assembly recommended a nasecurity of tional fast to the presbyteries, and an address to parliament to provide for the unalterable settlement and security of the presbyterian church. The clergy, in general adverse to the union, were alarmed at the danger of subjecting the nation to the oaths, and the church to the innovations of an English parliament, wherein twentysix prelates sat as constituent members. They exclaimed from the pulpit, at the approaching defection from the national covenant, in which the See Note VII. XI. 1706. civil authority of church-men was prohibited, and BOOK the nation was required not to acknowledge the hierarchy, but to concur in prosecuting the reformation of England. But the violence of the commission was overruled, at first, by the presence of the court party, as ruling elders; and restrained by Wishart the moderator, and Carstairs who had retired from the management of the state to ecclesiastical affairs. On the arrival of the country clergy, a more violent address was presented against the dangers to which presbytery was exposed by an union; and in order to evade their importunate demands, the parliament prepared an act for the security of the church. The presbyterian form of government, and the Westminster confession of faith, were declared unalterable; the nation was exempted from all oaths, subscriptions, or tests, that were inconsistent with either; and the confirmation of both was inserted as a fundamental article in the treaty of union. An alternative was proposed, that the Scots should either be relieved in England from the sacramental tests, or that a formula should be prescribed in Scotland, as a similar security for the national church; otherwise the English would soon be admitted, without a test, to the exchequer and revenue, the most numerous or important offices that remained. The equity and the importance of the motion were acknowledged; but it was rejected, as the English would never consent to relinquish |