even food to the Darien colonists. The Spaniards claimed that the Isthmus of Darien was Spanish territory, and sent soldiers to eject the Scots. Thus all the Scottish plans came to nothing; the first colonists were starved out, and a second expedition, after gallantly defeating one force of Spaniards, had to surrender to superior numbers.

Failure.

The luckless New St. Andrews, which the colonists had built, was abandoned to moulder into decay, a collection of ruined and fire-scorched huts, a buryingground of innumerable Scottish hopes. Only a few survivors, broken by fever and famine, returned home. All the money was lost. Hundreds of

families were ruined.

The plan was no doubt rash, but the jealousy of the English government and merchants took away whatever chance it had. It is little wonder that the Scots were furious. That the Spaniards should behave as foes they could understand; but that Englishmen should refuse bread to starving colonists, who were under the same king and spoke the same tongue, was inhuman. So when Anne begged the Scottish Parliament to settle who should succeed to the throne Act of after her, the Scottish Parliament replied by Security. passing the Act of Security, which laid down that no king of England was to be chosen to rule in Scotland unless he would guarantee that for the future Scotsmen should have the same liberties to trade as England enjoyed.

This caused much anger in England. An act was passed that if the succession was not speedily settled Scotsmen were to be treated as foreigners, that no Scottish goods were to be admitted into England, and that Carlisle, Newcastle, Berwick, and Hull were to be fortified. Troops gathered in the north.

It

seemed as if war might break out, and Bannockburn and Flodden be fought over again.

Happily there were wise heads on each side, and they kept cool. Anne's adviser, Godolphin, was ready to give way over the questions of Terms of commerce if Scotland would consent to a the Union. union. Accordingly an equal number of English and Scottish commissioners were appointed, and in less than four months they came to terms. Of these the chief were

I. That for the future the two countries were to form one realm, Great Britain, with one Parliament sitting at Westminster, and containing forty-five Scottish members in the Commons and sixteen Scottish peers in the Lords.

2. That the Scottish Presbyterian Church and the system of Scottish law were to remain intact.

3. That Scotsmen were to have the same liberties to trade within England, and with English colonies and foreign nations, as Englishmen had.

4. That a sum of money should be paid over to Scotland to be applied to pay off the Scottish National Debt, and relieve those who had lost by the Darien disaster.

It was doubtful for some time whether these terms would be accepted by the Scots. Parliament was on the whole friendly, but the people hated the idea of a union. They thought that their nation was selling itself, and that, whatever England might promise, the Scottish Church and institutions would be in danger. Lord Belhaven bewailed, in a mournful speech, what he took to be the ruin of Scotland. He likened Caledonia's fate to that of Cæsar; he spoke of her sitting helpless, awaiting the fatal stab that would end her life, dealt by her own children.

The Duke of Hamilton and the Jacobites threatened a rising; Edinburgh was in an uproar; the Cameronians of the West were ready to take arms at the call of their ministers. Still, Parliament went steadily on, and at length the treaty was passed.

Effects of the Union.

On May 1st, 1707, the Union took place. All the prophecies of evil turned out to be false. The best answer to Lord Belhaven's gloomy forebodings was that made by Lord Marchmont, "I awoke, and behold it was a dream". Nowadays no one doubts that the Union was wise. It found Scotland a poor country; it has made it a rich one. Scottish enterprise has rivalled that of the sister kingdom; her trade and industry have grown gigantic; her manufactures are found all over the world. Thanks to the excellent system of national education, in which, at the time of the Union, Scotland was far in advance of England, Scotsmen were well able to use the chances that were given them. There is, however, much more than a mere gain in wealth. If before the Union each kingdom had reason to be proud of its national histories, they can now glory every whit as much in the later history of the joint realm of Great Britain. Each had found the other a sturdy foe; since they have agreed to take the same side for ever, both have been the gainers, and the valour displayed at Cambuskenneth, Falkirk, Bannockburn, Flodden, has been more happily employed shoulder to shoulder in the Peninsula, at Waterloo, in the Crimea, in India, for the building up of our great empire.

XXIX. THE "FIFTEEN" AND THE
"FORTY-FIVE".

In spite of the Act of Settlement which had declared the House of Hanover to be heirs to the throne, the last few months of Anne's reign were George I., months of great excitement and uncertainty. 1714-1727. Bolingbroke was at the head of affairs; he was known to have plotted deeply with the Jacobites and to favour the Pretender. But Anne died before his schemes were ready, and George I. became king without resistance.

Anne

The Jacobites were bitterly disappointed. they had accepted since she was a Stuart, but George I. had very little Stuart blood in him, and indeed was so much a foreigner that he could scarcely speak English. They began at once to meditate rebellion.

The Highlands was clearly the most promising place to begin. Thither the Earl of Mar went, and under pretence of a grand hunting- The ""Fifteen ”, party, assembled the chiefs of most of 1715.

the clans and appointed a day for gathering. Mar found the Highlanders as ready as ever to fight, but he himself was no general. He occupied Perth, but he lay there for months doing nothing instead of falling on the royal army under Argyll, which was far smaller than his. The only move he made was to send a division of Highlanders under MacIntosh across the Forth. These threatened Edinburgh, but failed to take it. Then they marched southward and joined a small body of rebels raised by Forster on the border, and Kenmure from Dumfriesshire. much doubt this handful, numbering at most 3000 men, some even without swords, resolved to invade

England. They met with no support. No one would Rising in join a cause that looked so hopeless. They England. reached Preston, but were there surrounded by the king's forces under Carpenter and Willis. With the courage of despair they beat off the first attack, but as the town was burning around them they were driven to surrender.

Battle of

This was an utter failure, but it becomes almost glorious when we compare it with the contemptible doings of Mar. With 10,000 men, a far larger force than ever Montrose handled, he at last made up his mind to move against Argyll. The armies met at Sheriffmuir. Seeing that Mar had Sheriffmuir, 1715. three to one, and further, that his Highlanders were better for a charge than even regular soldiers of the day, Argyll should have been swept away with ease. The Highlanders outflanked his left wing, broke it and chased it off the field; but on the right Argyll's men stood firm, while a small body of horse, crossing a marsh which was hard frozen, charged the Camerons and Stewarts on the flank and overthrew them. The battle now was in a curious state: each right wing was victorious. Mar's men, however, did not risk another attack, and the battle was left drawn. Still, all the fruits of victory were with Argyll. Nothing but success could have saved Mar, and with everything in his favour he had failed. Well might a clansman say as he watched the undecided fight, "O for one hour of Dundee "

The cause was lost. At the moment when it had become hopeless, the Pretender, James Edward, reached Scotland. It was mere mockery for him to call himself King James III. Mar's army was melting away daily, while King George's troops were