Part 167

ALSO IN: _J. H. Burton, History of the Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 4 (volume l)._

_Lord Macaulay, History of England, chapter. 24 (volume 5)._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1703-1704. Hostility to England. The Act of Security. The Scottish Plot.

"This Parliament of 1703 was not in a temper of conciliation towards England. Glencoe and Darien were still watchwords of strife. The failure of the negotiations for Union necessarily produced exasperation. Whilst Marlborough was fighting the battles of the Allies, the Scottish Parliament manifested a decided inclination to the interests of France, by removing restrictions on the importation of French wines. The 'Act for the Security of the Kingdom' was a more open declaration not only of the independence of Scotland, but of her disposition to separate wholly from England—to abrogate, on the first opportunity, that union of the crowns which had endured for a century. The Act of Settlement, by which the crown of England was to pass in the Protestant line to the electress Sophia and her descendants, was not to be accepted; but, on the demise of queen Anne without issue, the Estates of Scotland were to name a successor from the Protestant descendants of the Stuart line, and that successor was to be under conditions to secure 'the religious freedom and trade of the nation from English or any foreign influence.' For four months this matter was vehemently debated in the Scottish Parliament. The Act of Security was carried, but the Lord High Commissioner refused his assent. Following this legislative commotion came what was called in England the Scottish plot—a most complicated affair of intrigue and official treachery, with some real treason at the bottom of it. [This Scottish Plot, otherwise called the Queensberry Plot, was a scheme to raise the Highland clans for the Pretender, abortively planned by one Simon Fraser.] The House of Lords in England took cognizance of the matter, which provoked the highest wrath in Scotland, that another nation should interfere with her affairs. … When the Scottish Estates reassembled in 1704 they denounced the proceedings of the House of Lords, as an interference with the prerogative of the queen of Scotland; and they again passed the Security Act. The royal assent was not now withheld; whether from fear or from policy on the part of the English ministry is not very clear. The Parliament of England then adopted a somewhat strong measure of retaliation. The queen was addressed, requesting her to put Carlisle, Newcastle, Tynemouth, and Hull in a state of defence, and to send forces to the border. A Statute was passed which in the first place provided for a treaty of Union; and then enacted that until the Scottish Parliament should settle the succession to the crown in the same line as that of the English Act of Settlement, no native of Scotland, except those domiciled in England, or in the navy or army, should acquire the privileges of a natural-born Englishman; and prohibiting all importations of coals, cattle, sheep, or linen from Scotland. It was evident that there must be Union or War."

_C. Knight, Popular History of England, volume 5, chapter 21._

ALSO IN: _J. H. Burton, History of the Reign of Queen Anne, chapters 4 and 7 (volume 1)._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1707. The Union with England.

To avert war between Scotland and England by a complete political Union of the two kingdoms in one became now the greatest object of the solicitude of the wiser statesmen on both sides. They used their influence to so good an effect that, in the spring of 1706, thirty-one Commissioners on the part of each kingdom were appointed to negotiate the terms of Union. The Commissioners held their first meeting on the 16th of April, and were in session until the 22d of July, when the Articles of Union agreed upon by them received the signature of twenty-seven of the English and twenty-six of the Scots. On the 16th of the following January (1707) these Articles were ratified with amendments by the Scottish Parliament. The English Parliament adopted them as amended a month later, and on the 6th of March the Union was perfected by the royal assent, given solemnly by the Queen, in presence of the Lords and Commons of England. "It was agreed that Great Britain should be the designation of the united island; the name of Scotland to be merged in the name of North Britain. It was agreed that the Crosses of St. George and St. Andrew should be conjoined in the flag of the united kingdom. {2878} It was agreed that the arms of the two countries—the three lions passant and guardant Or, and the lion rampant Or, within a double tressure flory and counterflory, Gules—should be quartered with all heraldic honours. It was agreed that the united kingdom should have a new Great Seal. As regards the House of Commons, the English party proposed that Scotland should be represented by 38 members. Even Scottish writers have observed that if taxation be taken as the measure of representation, and if it be remembered that the Scots of that time had asked and been allowed to limit their share of the Land-tax to one-fortieth of the share of England, it would follow that, as an addition to the 513 members of Parliament returned by England, Scotland was entitled to demand no more than 13. But even 38 seemed by no means adequate to the claims on other grounds of that ancient and renowned kingdom. The Scottish Commissioners stood out for an increase, and the English Commissioners finally conceded 45. The Peers of England were at this juncture 185 and the Peers of Scotland 154. It was intended that the latter should send representatives to the former, and the proportion was settled according to the precedent that was just decided. The 45 members from Scotland when added to the 513 from England would make one-twelfth of the whole; and 16 Peers from Scotland when added to the 185 from England would also make about one-twelfth of the whole. Sixteen was therefore the number adopted; and the mode of election both of Commoners and Peers was left to be determined by the Parliament of Scotland, before the day appointed for the Union, that is the first of May 1707. By this treaty Scotland was to retain her heritable jurisdiction, her Court of Session and her entire system of law. The Presbyterian Church as by law established was to continue unaltered, having been indeed excluded from debate by the express terms of the Commission."

_Earl Stanhope, History of England: Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 8._

ALSO IN: _J. H. Burton, History of the Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 7 (volume 1)._

_Sir W. Scott, Tales of a Grandfather: Scotland, series 2, chapters 12._

_H. Hallam, Constitutional History of England, chapter 17 (volume 3)._

The text of the Act of Union may be found in the _Parliamentary History, volume 6, appendix 2._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1707-1708. Hostility to the Union. Spread of Jacobitism.

"In Scotland it [the Union] was regarded with an almost universal feeling of discontent and dishonour. The Jacobite party, who had entertained great hopes of eluding the act for settling the kingdom upon the family of Hanover, beheld them entirely blighted; the Whigs, or Presbyterians, found themselves forming part of a nation in which Prelacy was an institution of the state; the Country party, who had nourished a vain but honourable idea of maintaining the independence of Scotland, now saw it, with all its symbols of ancient sovereignty, sunk and merged under the government of England. All the different professions and classes of men saw each something in the obnoxious treaty which affected their own interest. … There was, therefore, nothing save discontent and lamentation to be heard throughout Scotland, and men of every class vented their complaints against the Union the more loudly, because their sense of personal grievances might be concealed, and yet indulged under popular declamations concerning the dishonour done to the country. … Almost all the dissenting and Cameronian ministers were anti-unionists, and some of the more enthusiastic were so peculiarly vehement, that long after the controversy had fallen asleep, I have heard my grandfather say (for your grandfather, Mr. Hugh Littlejohn, had a grandfather in his time), that he had heard an old clergyman confess he could never bring his sermon, upon whatever subject, to a conclusion, without having what he called a 'blaud,' that is a slap, at the Union. … The detestation of the treaty being for the present the ruling passion of the times, all other distinctions of party, and even of religious opinions in Scotland, were laid aside, and a singular coalition took place, in which Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Cavaliers, and many friends of the revolution, drowned all former hostility in the predominant aversion to the Union. … For a time almost all the inhabitants of Scotland were disposed to join unanimously in the Restoration, as it was called, of James the Second's son to the throne of his fathers; and had his ally, the King of France, been hearty in his cause, or his Scottish partisans more united among themselves, or any leader amongst them possessed of distinguished talent, the Stewart family might have repossessed themselves of their ancient domain of Scotland, and perhaps of England also." Early in 1708 an attempt was made to take advantage of this feeling in Scotland, on behalf of the Pretender, by a naval and military expedition from France, fitted out by the French king. It was vulgarly frustrated by an attack of measles, which prostrated the Stuart adventurer (the Chevalier de St. George) at Dunkirk, until the English government had warning enough to be too well prepared.

_Sir W. Scott, Tales of a Grandfather: Scotland, series 3, chapters 1-2._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1715. The Jacobite rising.

In 1715 "there were Jacobite risings both in Scotland and in England. Early in September John Erskine, Earl of Mar—who some years before had been a Whig and helped to bring about the Union—raised the standard of rebellion in Braemar, and in a short time found himself in command of a large Highland army. But Mar was very slow in his movements, and lingered for six weeks in Perth. The Duke of Argyle, famous as both a warrior and a statesman, was sent from London to deal with this danger; and, going to Stirling, used the time which Mar was wasting in gathering round him soldiers and loyal Low-landers. While things stood thus in the far north a few hundred Jacobites took up arms in Northumberland under Mr. Forster and Lord Derwentwater. Joining with some Southern Scots raised by Lord Kenmure, and some Highlanders whom Mar had sent to their aid, they marched to Preston, in Lancashire. The fate of the two risings was settled on the same day. At Preston the English Jacobites and their Scottish allies had to give themselves up to a small body of soldiers under General Carpenter. At Sheriffmuir, about eight miles north of Stirling, the Highlanders, whom Mar had put in motion at last, met Argyle's little army in battle, and, though not utterly beaten, were forced to fall back to Perth. There Mar's army soon dwindled to a mere handful of men. Just when things seemed at the worst the Pretender himself landed in Scotland. {2879} But he altogether lacked the daring and high spirit needful to the cause at the time; and his presence at Perth did not even delay the end, which was now sure. Late in January 1716 Argyle's troops started from Stirling northwards; and the small Highland force broke up from Perth and went to Montrose. Thence James Edward and Mar slipped away unnoticed, and sailed to France; and the Highlanders scampered off to their several homes. Of the rebels that were taken prisoners about forty were tried and put to death; and many were sent beyond the seas. Derwentwater and Kenmure were beheaded; the other leaders of rank either were forgiven or escaped from prison."

_J. Rowley, The Settlement of the Constitution, book 3, chapter 1._

ALSO IN: _J. McCarthy, History of the Four Georges, volume 1, chapter 7._

_J. H. Jesse, Memoirs of the Pretenders, volume 1, chapters 3-4._

_Earl Stanhope, History of England, 1713-1783, chapters 5-6 (volume l)._

_Mrs. K. Thomson, Memoirs of the Jacobites, volumes 1-2._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1736. The Porteous Riot.

See EDINBURGH: A. D. 1736.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1745-1746. The Young Pretender's invasion. The last rising of the Jacobites.

"As early as 1744 Charles Edward [known as 'the Young Pretender'], the grandson of James II., was placed by the French government at the head of a formidable armament. But his plan of a descent on Scotland was defeated by a storm which wrecked his fleet, and by the march of the French troops which had sailed in it to the war in Flanders. In 1745, however, the young adventurer again embarked with but seven friends in a small vessel and landed on a little island of the Hebrides. For three weeks he stood almost alone; but on the 29th of August the clans rallied to his standard in Glenfinnan. … His force swelled to an army as he marched through Blair Athol on Perth, entered Edinburgh in triumph, and proclaimed 'James the Eighth' at the Town Cross: and two thousand English troops who marched against him under Sir John Cope were broken and cut to pieces on the 21st of September by a single charge of the clansmen at Preston Pans. Victory at once doubled the forces of the conqueror. The Prince was now at the head of 6,000 men; but all were still Highlanders. … After skilfully evading an army gathered at Newcastle, he marched through Lancashire, and pushed on the 4th of December as far as Derby. But here all hope of success came to an end. Hardly a man had risen in his support as he passed through the districts where Jacobitism boasted of its strength. … Catholics and Tories abounded in Lancashire, but only a single squire took up arms. … The policy of Walpole had in fact secured England for the House of Hanover. The long peace, the prosperity of the country, and the clemency of the Government, had done their work. … Even in the Highlands the Macleods rose in arms for King George, while the Gordons refused to stir, though roused by a small French force which landed at Montrose. To advance further south was impossible, and Charles fell rapidly back on Glasgow; but the reinforcements which he found there raised his army to 9,000 men, and on the 23rd January, 1746, he boldly attacked an English army under General Hawley, which had followed his retreat and had encamped near Falkirk. Again the wild charge of his Highlanders won victory for the Prince, but victory was as fatal as defeat. The bulk of his forces dispersed with their booty to the mountains, and Charles fell sullenly back to the north before the Duke of Cumberland. On the 16th of April the armies faced one another on Culloden Moor, a few miles eastward of Inverness. The Highlanders still numbered 6,000 men, but they were starving and dispirited. … In a few moments all was over, and the Stuart force was a mass of hunted fugitives. Charles himself after strange adventures escaped [in the disguise of a female servant, attending the famous Flora Macdonald] to France. In England fifty of his followers were hanged; three Scotch lords, Lovat, Balmerino, and Kilmarnock, brought to the block; and forty persons of rank attainted by Act of Parliament. More extensive measures of repression were needful in the Highlands. The feudal tenures were abolished. The hereditary jurisdictions of the chiefs were bought up and transferred to the Crown. The tartan, or garb of the Highlanders, was forbidden by law. These measures, followed by a general Act of Indemnity, proved effective for their purpose."

_J. R. Green, Short History of the English People, chapter 10, section 1._

ALSO IN: _Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope), History of England, 1713-1783, chapters 26-29 (volume 3)._

_R. Chambers, History of the Rebellion of 1745._

_Mrs. K. Thomson, Memoirs of the Jacobites, volumes 2-3._

_Chevalier de Johnstone, Memoirs of the Rebellion of 1745._

_J. H. Jesse, Memoirs of the Pretenders._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1779. No-Popery Riots.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1778-1780.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1832. Representation in Parliament increased by the Reform Bill.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1830-1832.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1843. The Disruption of the Church. Formation of the Free Church.

"Lay patronage was … inconsistent with the conception and the fundamental principles of the Presbyterian Church, and she opposed and rejected it, and fought against it. It was abolished shortly after the Revolution of 1688, but again restored by the British Parliament in 1712, contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Treaty of Union, and to all conceptions of a wise policy toward the Scottish nation. … An internal struggle arose between the party who held firmly to these sentiments and the new party—called 'the Moderate party.' … In the middle of the 18th century the opposite views of the popular and the moderate parties had become distinct. The chief point of polity in dispute was the settlement of ministers in parishes against the wishes of the congregations. Cases of this character were constantly coming before the presbyteries and general assemblies; and in 1733 it was on matters arising from such cases that a secession took place. … In 1773 there were upwards of two hundred dissenting congregations, besides Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. … As an attempt to redress the evils involved in patronage, the popular party proposed, in the assembly of 1833, that when a majority of a congregation objected to the minister presented by the patron, the presbytery should not proceed with the settlement. … It was on this reasonable regulation [passed into an act, called the Veto Act, by the Assembly of 1834] that the struggle which issued in the Disruption was fought, although there were other principles involved in the conflict." {2880} In 1839, a case arising in the parish church of Auchterarder, in Perthshire, led to a decision in the Court of Session against the legality of the Veto Act, and this decision, on appeal, was affirmed by the House of Lords. "For several years the country rang with the clamour and talk of non-intrusion and spiritual independence, and the excitement was intense. Pamphlets, speeches and ballads were circulated through the kingdom in hundreds of thousands. The engrossing subject attracted the attention of every household, and many a family became divided in religious sentiments." Finally, in 1843, finding no prospect of legislation from Parliament to free the Church of Scotland from the odious fetters of patronage, the popular party resolved upon a general secession from it. This occurred in a memorable scene at the opening of the Assembly, in Edinburgh, on the 18th of May, 1843. The Moderator of the body, Dr. Welsh, read a protest against further proceedings in the Assembly, because of certain acts, sanctioned by the Government of the country, which had infringed on the liberties of the constitution of the Church. He then left the chair and walked out of the church. "Instantly Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Gordon, and the whole of those in the left side of the Church, rose and followed him. Upwards of two hundred ministers walked out, and they were joined outside by three hundred clergymen and other adherents. Dr. Welsh wore his Moderator's dress, and when he appeared on the street, and the people saw that principle had risen above interest, shouts of triumph rent the air such as had not been heard in Edinburgh since the days of the Covenant. They walked through Hanover Street to Canonmills, where a large hall was erected for the reception of the disestablished assembly. They elected Dr. Chalmers Moderator, and formed the first General Assembly of 'The Free Church of Scotland.' Four hundred and seventy-four ministers left the Establishment in 1843; they were also joined by two hundred probationers, nearly one hundred theological students of the University of Edinburgh, three fourths of those in Glasgow, and a majority of those in Aberdeen. The Disruption was an accomplished fact."

_J. Mackintosh, Scotland, chapter 19._

"It is not every nation, it is not every age, which can produce the spectacle of nearly 500 men leaving their homes, abandoning their incomes, for the sake of opinion. It is literally true that disruption was frequently a sentence of poverty, and occasionally of death, to the ministers of the Church. Well, then, might a great Scotchman of that time [Lord Jeffrey] say that he was proud of his country, proud of the heroism and self-denial of which her pastors proved capable. But well also might a Scotchman of the present time say that he was proud of the success which Voluntaryism achieved. It was the good fortune of the Church that in the hour of her trial she had a worthy leader. Years before, while ministering to a poor congregation in Glasgow, Chalmers had insisted on the cardinal doctrine that the poor should be made to help themselves. He applied the same principle to the Scotch Church. He … called on his friends around him to 'organise, organise, organise.' It is not, however, the Church alone which deserves commendation. The nation supported the Church. … In the four years which succeeded the disruption, the Free Church raised £1,254,000, and built 654 churches. Her ministrations were extended to every district and almost every parish in the land."

_S. Walpole, History of England from 1815, chapter 21 (volume 4)._

"In 1874 the Patronage Act of 1712 was repealed, but it was too late to be of much use, and Scottish Presbyterianism remains split up into different camps. Some of the older secessions were in 1847 joined together to form the United Presbyterian Church, mostly distinguished from the Free Church by its upholding as a theory the 'Voluntary Principle.'"

_T. F. Tout, History of England from 1689, page 238._

ALSO IN: _T. Brown, Annals of the Disruption._

_R. Buchanan, The Ten Years' Conflict._

_W. Hanna, Memoirs of Thomas Chalmers, volume 3, chapter 18 and volume 4, chapters 6-25._

_P. Bayne, Life and Letters of Hugh Miller, book 5 (volume 2)._

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1868. Parliamentary Reform.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1865-1868.

SCOTLAND: A. D. 1884. Enlargement of the Suffrage. Representation of the People Act.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1884-1885.

SCOTLAND: End--------

SCOTS, Deliverance of Roman Britain by Theodosius from the.

See BRITAIN: A. D. 367-370.

SCOTT, Dred, The case of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1857.

SCOTT, General Winfield. In the War of 1812.