PREFACE THE papers printed in this volume relate to the negotiations for an incorporating Union between England and Scotland, conducted by the Long Parliament in 1651 and 1652. They include the proclamations and orders of Parliament and of the Parliamentary Commissioners in Scotland in 1652; the assents, dissents, and petitions of the Scottish Shires and Burghs in answer to the 'Tender,' and newsletters relating to the progress of the negotiations. Most of the documents here printed are drawn from manuscripts in the possession of His Grace the Duke of Portland. To him the Society is largely indebted for his generous consent to their publication. The Parliamentary negotiations concerning the Union, apart from its practical working in Scotland, form a subject which has been indicated in the very faintest outlines by previous writers. For that reason I have endeavoured in my Introduction to trace as fully as possible the whole course of the negotiations from their inception in 1651, through the Parliaments of 1653, 1654, 1656, and 1658, to the restoration. of the Scottish Estates in 1661. I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to Professor Hume Brown and Dr. C. H. Firth for having read my Introduction in proof, and for many valuable suggestions therein. Dr. Firth has also allowed me to make use of the proof-sheets of the fourth volume of his Clarke Papers. I have printed in an Appendix some documents relating to the Union negotiations in the reign of Charles the Second. The Index to this volume has been compiled by Mr. Mill, whose helpful assistance I would heartily acknowledge. C. SANFORD TERRY. KING'S COLLEGE, OLD ABERDEEN, June 24, 1901. 1. A Newsletter, Edin., Dec. 20, 1651, III. A Newsletter, Edin., Jan. 3, 1652, IV. A Newsletter, Jan. 12, 1652, v. A Newsletter, Edin., Jan. 21, 1652, VI. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Jan. 24, 1652, VII. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Jan. 27, 1652, VIII. Commission to the Burghs to elect Deputies, Jan. IX. List of Shires and Burghs summoned, Feb. 1652, x. Propositions to the Shires and Burghs, Feb. 1652, XII. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Feb. 3, 1652, XIV. Assent of Berwickshire and Lauder, Feb. 12, 1652, xv. Assent of Haddington, Feb. 12, 1652, XVI. Assent of Haddingtonshire, Feb. 12, 1652, xx. Declaration by the Commissioners, Feb. 14, 1652, XXII. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Feb. 17, 1652, XXIV. A Newsletter, Edin., Feb. 21, 1652, xxv. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Feb. 21, 1652, XXXI. Assent of Wigtownshire, Feb. 24, 1652, XXXII. A Newsletter, Dalkeith, Feb. 24, 1652, XXXIII. Desires of Dumfriesshire, Feb. 25, 1652, . XXXIV. Assent and Desires of Aberdeenshire, Feb. 27, 1652, 41 xxxv. Assent and Desires of Banffshire, Feb. 27, 1652, XXXVI. Assent of Cullen, Feb. 27, 1652, . XXXVII. Assent of Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Mon- XXXIX. Assent of Kincardineshire, Feb. 27, 1652, XL. Assent of Burntisland, Feb. 28, 1652, XLI. Assent of Buteshire and Rothesay, Feb. 28, 1652, |