promises, and encouraged to collect the sense of the country on the subject of his proposal.

This agent found the west country ripe for revolt, and ready to join with any others who might take arms against the government on the footing of resistance to the treaty of union. Cunningham required that a body of the Athole highlanders should secure the town of Stirling, in order to keep the communication open between the Jacobite chiefs and the army of western insurgents, whom he himself was in the first instance to command. And had this design taken effect, the party which had suffered so much during the late reigns of the Stewarts, and the mountaineers who had been found such ready agents in oppressing them, would have been seen united in a common cause, so strongly did the universal hatred to the union overpower all other party feelings at this time.

A day was named for the proposed insurrection in the west, on which Cunningham affirmed he would be able to assemble at Hamilton, which was assigned as the place of rendezvous, seven or eight thousand men, all having guns and swords, several hundred with muskets and bayonets, and about a thousand on horseback; with which army he proposed to march instantly to Edinburgh, and disperse the parliament. The highlanders were to rise at the same time; and there can be little doubt that the country in general would have taken arms. Their first efforts would probably have been successful, but the final event must have been a bloody renewal of the wars between England and Scotland.

The Scottish government were aware of the danger, and employed among the Cameronians two or three agents of their own, particularly one Ker of Kersland, who possessed some hereditary influence among them. The persons so employed did not venture to cross the humour of the people, or argue in favour of the union; but they endeavoured in various ways to turn the suspicion of the Cameronians upon the Jacobite nobility and gentry, to awaken hostile recollections of the persecutions they had undergone, in which the highlanders had been willing actors, and to start other causes of jealousy amongst people who were more influenced by the humour of the moment than any reasoning which could be addressed to them.

Notwithstanding the underhand practices of Kersland, and although Cunningham himself is said to have been gained over by the government, the scheme of rising went forward, and the day of rendezvous was appointed; when the duke of Hamilton, either reluctant to awaken the flames of civil war, or doubting the strength of Eckatt's party, and its leader's fidelity, sent messengers into the west country to countermand and postpone the intended insurrection; in which he so far succeeded, that only four hundred men appeared at the rendezvous, instead of twice as many thousands; and these, finding their purpose frustrated, dispersed peaceably.

Another danger which threatened the government passed as easily over. An address against the union had been proposed at Glasgow, where, as in every place of importance in Scotland, the treaty was highly unpopular. The magistrates, acting under the directions of the lord advocate, endeavoured to obstruct the proposed petition, or at least to resist its being expressed in the name of the city. At this feverish time there was a national fast appointed to be held, and a popular preacher* made choice of a text from Ezra, ch. viii., v. 21, "Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance." Addressing himself to the people, who were already sufficiently irritated, the preacher told them that prayers would not do, addresses would not do-prayer was indeed a duty, but it must be seconded by exertions of a very different nature; "wherefore,” he concluded, " up and be valiant for the city of our God."

* The rev. James Clark, minister of the Tron Kirk, Glasgow.

*

The populace of the city, taking this as a direct encouragement to insurrection, assembled in a state of uproar, attacked and dispersed the guards, plundered the houses of the citizens, and seized what arms they could find; in short, took possession of the town, and had everybody's life and goods at their mercy. No person of any consequence appeared at the head of these rioters; and after having put themselves under the command of a mechanic named Finlay, who had formerly been a sergeant, they sent small parties to the neighbouring towns to invite them to follow their example. In this they were unsuccessful; the proclamations of parliament, and the adjournment of the rendezvous appointed by the Cameronians, having considerably checked the disposition to insurrection. In short, the Glasgow riot died away, and the insurgents prevented bloodshed by dispersing quietly; Finlay and another of their leaders were seized by a party of dragoons from Edinburgh, conveyed to that city, and lodged in the castle. And thus was extinguished a hasty fire, which might otherwise have occasioned a great conflagration.

To prevent the repetition of such dangerous examples as the rendezvous at Hamilton and the tumults at Glasgow, the parliament came to the resolution of suspending that clause of the act of security which appointed general military musters throughout Scotland; and enacted instead, that in consideration of the tumults which had taken place, all assembling in arms, without the queen's special order, should he punished as an act of high treason. This being made public by proclamation, put a stop to future attempts at rising.

The project of breaking off the treaty by violence being now wholly at an end, those who opposed the measure determined upon a more safe and moderate attempt to frustrate it. It was resolved, that as many of the nobility, barons, and gentry of the realm as were hostile to the union, should assemble in Edinburgh, and join in a peaceful, but firm and personal remonstrance to the lord commissioner, praying that the obnoxious measure might be postponed until the subscribers should receive an answer to a national address which they designed to present to the queen at this interesting crisis. It was supposed that the intended application to the commissioner would be so strongly supported, that either the Scottish government would not venture to favour a union in the face of such general opposition, or that the English ministers themselves might take the alarm, and become doubtful of the efficacy or durability of a treaty, to which the bulk of Scotland seemed so totally averse. About four hundred nobles and gentlemen of the first distinction assembled in Edinburgh, for the purpose of attending the commissioner with the proposed remonstrance; and an address was drawn up, praying her majesty to withdraw her countenance from the treaty, and to call a new parliament.

When the day was appointed for executing the intended plan, it was interrupted "In this rage they went directly to the provost's house, got into it, took away all his arms, which were about twenty-five muskets, &c.; from thence they went to the laird of Blackhouses' dwelling, broke his windows, and showed their teeth."-"The provost would have made to his own house, but the multitude increasing and growing furious, he took sanctuary in a house, and running up a stair-case lost the rabble for some time, they pursuing him into a wrong house; however they searched every apartment to the top of the stair, and came into the very room where he was; but the same hand that smote the men of Sodom with blindness when they would have rabbled the angels, protected him from this many-headed monster, and so blinded them that they could not find him. He was hid in a bed which folded up against the wall, and which they never thought of taking down. It is the opinion of many of the soberest and most judicious of the citizens, that if they had found him, their fury was at that time so past all government, that they would have murdered him, and that in a manner barbarous enough; and if they had, as we say of a bull dog, once but tasted blood, who knows where they would have ended!"—" Provest, Aird was an honest, sober, discreet gentleman, one that had always been exceedingly i even by the common people, particularly for his care of, and charity to, the poor of and at any other time, would have been the last man in the town they would have De Foe, pp. 270-272.

by the duke of Hamilton, who would on no terms agree to proceed with it, unless a clause was inserted in the address expressive of the willingness of the subscribers to settle the succession on the house of Hanover. This proposal was totally at variance with the sentiments of the Jacobite part of those who supported the address, and occasioned great and animated discussions among them, and considerable delay. In the mean while, the commissioner, observing the city unusually crowded with persons of condition, and obtaining information of the purpose for which so many gentlemen had repaired to the capital, made an application to parliament, setting forth that a convocation had been held in Edinburgh of various persons, under pretence of requiring personal answers to their addresses to parliament, which was likely to endanger the public peace; and obtained a proclamation against any meetings under such pretexts during the sitting of parliament, which he represented as both inexpedient and contrary to law.

While the lord commissioner was thus strengthening his party, the anti-unionists were at discord among themselves. The dukes of Hamilton and Athole quarrelled on account of the interruption given by the former to the original plan of remonstrance; and the country gentlemen, who had attended on their summons, returned home mortified, disappointed, and, as many of them thought, deceived by their leaders.

Time was meanwhile flying fast, and parliament, in discussing the separate articles of the union, had reached the twenty-second, being that designed to fix the amount of the representation which Scotland was to possess in the British parliament, and on account of the inadequacy of such representation, the most obnoxious of the whole.

The duke of Hamilton, who still was, or affected to be, firmly opposed to the treaty, now assembled the leaders of the opposition, and entreated them to forget all former errors and mismanagement, and to concur in one common effort for the independence of Scotland. He then proposed that the marquis of Annandale should open their proceedings, by renewing a motion formerly made for the succession of the crown in the house of Hanover, which was sure to be rejected if coupled with any measure interrupting the treaty of union. Upon this the duke proposed that all the opposers of the union, after joining in a very strong protest, should publicly secede from the parliament: in which case it was likely, either that the government party would hesitate to proceed farther in a matter which was to effect such total changes in the constitution of Scotland, or that the English might become of opinion that they could not safely carry on a national treaty of such consequence with a mere faction, or party of the parliament, when deserted by so many persons of weight and influence.

The Jacobites objected to this course of proceeding, on account of the preliminary motion, which implied a disposition to call the house of Hanover to the succession, provided the union were departed from by the government. The duke of Hamilton replied, that as the proposal was certain to be rejected, it would draw with it no obligation on those by whom it was made. He said that such an offer would destroy the argument for forcing on the union, which had so much weight in England, where it was believed that if the treaty did not take place, the kingdoms of England and Scotland would pass to different monarchs. He then declared frankly, that if the English should not discontinue pressing forward the union after the formal protestation and secession which he proposed, he would join with the Jacobites for calling in the son of James II., and was willing to venture as far as any one for that measure.

It is difficult to suppose that the duke of Hamilton was not serious in this proposal; and there seems to be little doubt that if the whole body opposing the union

had withdrawn in the manner proposed, the commissioner would have given up the treaty, and prorogued the parliament. But the duke lost courage, on its being intimated to him, as the story goes, by the lord high commissioner, in a private interview, that his grace would be held personally responsible, if the treaty of union was interrupted by adoption of the advice which he had given, and that he should be made to suffer for it in his English property. Such at least is the general report; and such an interview could be managed without difficulty, as both these distinguished persons were lodged in the palace of Holyrood.

Whether acting from natural instability, whether intimidated by the threats of Queensberry, or dreading to encounter the difficulties when at hand, which he had despised when at a distance, it is certain that Hamilton was the first to abandon the course which he had himself recommended. On the morning appointed for the execution of their plan, when the members of opposition had mustered all their forces, and were about to go to parliament, attended by great numbers of gentlemen and citizens, prepared to assist them if there should be an attempt to arrest any of their number, they learned that the duke of Hamilton was so much afflicted with the toothache, that he could not attend the house that morning. His friends hastened to his chambers, and remonstrated with him so bitterly on this conduct, that he at length came down to the house; but it was only to astonish them by asking whom they had pitched upon to present their protestation. They answered with extreme surprise, that they had reckoned on his grace, as the person of the first rank in Scotland, taking the lead in the measure which he had himself proposed. The duke persisted, however, in refusing to expose himself to the displeasure of the court by being foremost in defeating their favourite measure, but offered to second any one whom the party might appoint to offer the protest. During this altercation the business of the day was so far advanced, that the vote was put and carried on the disputed article respecting the representation, and the opportunity of carrying the scheme into effect was totally lost.

The members who had hitherto opposed the union, being thus three times disappointed in their measures by the unexpected conduct of the duke of Hamilton, now felt themselves deserted and betrayed. Shortly afterwards, most of them retired altogether from their attendance on parliament; and those who favoured the treaty were suffered to proceed in their own way, little encumbered either by remonstrance or opposition.

Almost the only remarkable change in the articles of the union, besides that relating to church government, was made to quiet the minds of the common people, disturbed, as I have already mentioned, by rumours that the Scottish regalia were to be sent into England. A special article was inserted into the treaty, declaring that they should on no occasion be removed from Scotland. At the same time, lest the sight of these symbols of national sovereignty should irritate the jealous feelings of the Scottish people, they were removed from the public view, and secured in a strong chamber, called the crown-room, in the castle of Edinburgh, where they remained so long in obscurity, that their very existence was generally doubted. But king George IV. having directed that a commission should be issued to search after these venerable relics, they were found in safety in the place where they had been deposited, and are now made visible to the public under proper precautions.

It had been expected that the treaty of union would have met with delays or alterations in the English parliament. But it was approved of there, after very little debate, by a large majority; and the exemplification or copy was sent down to be registered by the Scottish parliament. This was done on the 25th March; and on the 22nd April, the parliament of Scotland adjourned for ever. Seafield, the chancellor, on an occasion which every Scotsman ought to have considered as a

396

HALF HOURS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

melancholy one, behaved himself with a brutal levity, which in more patriotic times would have cost him his life on the spot, and said that "there was an end of an auld sang."

On the 1st of May, 1707, the union took place, amid the dejection and despair which attend on the downfall of an ancient state, and under a sullen expression of discontent, that was far from promising the course of prosperity which the treaty finally produced.

THE FALL OF THE MARLBOROUGHS.

SWIFT.

There was not, perhaps, in all England, a person who understood more artificially to disguise her passions than the late queen. Upon her first coming to the throne, the duchess of Marlborough had lost all favour with her, as her majesty hath often That lady had long preserved an acknowledged to those who have told it me. ascendant over her mistress, while she was princess, which her majesty, when she This princess came to the crown, had neither patience to bear, nor spirit to subdue. was so exact an observer of forms, that she seemed to have made it her study, and would often descend so low, as to observe, in her domestics of either sex, who came in her presence, whether a ruffle, a periwig, or the lining of a coat, were unsuitable The duchess, on the other side, who had been used to great at certain times. familiarities, could not take it into her head, that any change of station should put her upon changing her behaviour, the continuance of which was the more offensive to her majesty, whose other servants, of the greatest quality, did then treat her with the utmost respect.

The earl of Godolphin held in favour about three years longer, and then declined, though he kept his office till the general change. I have heard several reasons The duchess, who had long given for her majesty's early disgust against that lord. been his friend, often prevailed on him to solicit the queen upon things very unacceptable to her, which her majesty liked the worse, as knowing from whence they originally came; and his lordship, although he endeavoured to be as respectful as his nature would permit him, was, upon all occasions, much too arbitrary and obtruding.

To the duke of Marlborough she was wholly indifferent (as her nature in general prompted her to be), until his restless, impatient behaviour had turned her against him.

The queen had not a stock of amity to serve above one object at a time; and further than a bare good or ill opinion, which she soon contracted and changed, and, very often, upon light grounds, she could hardly be said either to love or to hate anybody. She grew so jealous upon the change of her servants, that often, out of fear of being imposed upon, by an over caution she would impose upon herself; she took a delight in refusing those who were thought to have greatest power with her, even in the most reasonable things, and such as were necessary for her service; nor would let them be done till she fell into the humour of it herself.

Upon the grounds I have already related, her majesty had gradually conceived a most rooted aversion from the duke and duchess of Marlborough, and the earl of Godolphin; which spread, in time, through all their allies and relations, particularly to the earl of Hertford, whose ungovernable temper had made him fail in his personal respects to her majesty.

This I take to have been the principal ground of the queen's resolutions to make