CHAPTER VIII.
AFTER THE UNION.
Discontent with the Union (1)—change of dynasty (2)—Jacobite rising (3)—measures of the Government (4)—rising in the North of England (5)—battle of Sheriffmuir (6)—arrival of James (7)—trials and penalties (8)—malt-tax riots (9)—Porteous riots (10)—the Forty-five (11)—taking of Edinburgh (12)—battle of Preston-pans (13)—battle of Falkirk (14)—battle of Culloden (15)—Charles's wanderings (16)—penalties after the Forty-five (17)—abolition of slavery (18)—attacks on the Romanists (19)—trials for sedition (20)—Reform Bill (21)—religious sects (22)—the Disruption (23)—social progress (24)—literature and art (25)—summary (26).
1. Discontent with the Union.—Though the Union was such a good thing for Scotland, the people were a long time in finding this out. The old national jealousy was roused; they thought that their dearly loved independence was being sacrificed. There were riots in different places; and though the people were quieted by the assurance that the insignia of loyalty, the regalia or crown jewels, should not be carried out of the kingdom, for long afterwards the Union was very unpopular, and had to bear the blame of everything that went wrong. There was still too a large party, chiefly in the Highlands, attached to James Stewart, known as the Chevalier de St. George or the Old Pretender, as the Whigs called him. Jacobitism, which was in England a mere empty word used to express any sort of discontent with the existing state of things, meant something more in Scotland. There it was the traditionary feeling of loyalty and love towards the ancient line of kings; and for James, their representative, there were many who were ready to venture their lands, or their life if need were. As long as Anne lived there was no excuse for an outbreak, for she too was a Stewart, and it was hoped that her brother might succeed her.
2. Change of Dynasty.—When Anne died, the son of Sophia, George, Elector of Hanover, succeeded without opposition, according to the Act of Settlement. Before long, he and his German favourites became very unpopular. This gave the Jacobites hopes that, if they raised the standard for James, all the discontented in both kingdoms would join them in an attempt to restore him to the throne of his fathers.
3. Jacobite Rising.—To give to such an attempt the least chance of success, three conditions were necessary. Firstly, that the rising should take place at the same time in both kingdoms; secondly, that it should be helped by France; and thirdly, that the prince for whom it was made should come among his people, and lead them in person. All three were wanting in this unfortunate rebellion. James made no personal effort to get the crown on the death of his sister, though six weeks passed before George came over from Hanover. During this interval James issued a manifesto from Plombières, August 29, 1714. In this manifesto he asserted his right to the crown, and explained that he had remained quiet while his sister lived, because he had no doubt of her good intentions towards him. A year, however, was allowed to pass before any active steps were taken. Just when the plans for the rising were all made, Louis XIV. of France, who was the best friend the Chevalier had, died, and was succeeded by the next heir, his great-grandson, an infant. The Duke of Orleans, who became Regent, was disposed to be friendly to the Government of England; indeed his regency was one of the few times when there was any real friendliness between the two countries. By his order some ships lying at Havre, which had been fitted out for James, were unloaded, and the arms stored in the royal magazines. These ships were intended for the succour of the rebels in Scotland, where the standard was raised for James by John Erskine, Earl of Mar, at the junction of the Clung and the Dee, September 6, 1715. Mar had begun life as a Whig, but had changed sides so often that he was nicknamed "Bobbing John." He had addressed a loyal letter to King George on his accession, but as, by the change of ministry, he lost his office of Secretary of State for Scotland and saw no hope of getting it back again, he became an ardent Jacobite, and the leader of the party in Scotland. The very day before he set off to raise the Highlands for James he attended a levee of the King. Before his coming north he sent letters to the principal Jacobites, inviting them to a hunting-match. This meeting was attended by the Marquesses of Huntly and Tullibardine, the eldest sons of the Dukes of Gordon and Athole, by the Earl of Southesk, by Glengarry, the chief of the MacDonalds, and many others. They all swore to be true to one another, and to Mar, as James's general, and then returned to their several districts to raise their followers. Only sixty men gathered at the raising of the standard, but before the end of the month the northern clans had risen. James was proclaimed at Aberdeen, Brechin, and Dundee, and nearly all the country north of the Tay was soon in the hands of the rebels. They laid a plan for seizing Edinburgh Castle, but this was found out and defeated.
4. Measures of the Government.—There were at this time not more than between eight and nine thousand troops in the whole island. Of these not more than fifteen hundred were in Scotland; and no more were sent there, for an expected rising in the south-western counties of England was then thought much more dangerous than the rising in the North. In Scotland the chief command was given to the Duke of Argyle, whose family were deadly enemies of the Stewarts, and whose almost princely power over a large tract of country made him the most likely person to counteract their influence. The Earl of Sutherland, who was also a friend of the Government, was sent to raise his followers in the North. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended by Act of Parliament, a reward of 100,000l. was offered for seizing the Pretender, dead or alive, and the King was empowered to seize all suspected persons. A great number of suspected persons were summoned to Edinburgh to give security for their good conduct, but none of them came; indeed some were by this summons induced to take arms for James. Several noted Jacobites were put in ward in Edinburgh Castle.
5. Rising in the North of England.—The active measures taken by the Government had put down the intended rising in the West of England, but in the North they had only hurried it on. An order was sent down for the arrest of Mr. Forster, member for Northumberland, and James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater. On hearing this, Forster and Derwentwater took up arms at once, and soon mustered three hundred horse. About the same time Lord Kenmure proclaimed James at Moffat, and was joined by the Earls of Nithsdale, Wintoun, and Carnwath, and several other persons of note. He joined his force, about two hundred horsemen, with that of Forster, and they marched to Kelso, to wait there for the arrival of Brigadier MacIntosh, who was marching southward with a detachment of about fourteen hundred men, from Mar's army, which he brought over the Firth of Forth in safety, in the face of three English men-of-war. The combined force, about two thousand strong, marched along the Border. After much debate and hesitation, their leaders at last decided to enter Lancashire, where they expected the Roman Catholic gentry to rise and join them. The posse comitatus, or general muster, which had been raised by the Bishop of Carlisle and Lord Lonsdale, fled before them at Penrith, leaving a number of horses in their hands. After this success the rebels marched on, proclaiming James as they went, and levying money. On the 9th November they reached Preston, where they were joined by an ill-armed, undisciplined rabble of recruits. But on the appearance of the King's troops Forster made no effort to defend the town. He was seized with a panic, and surrendered with his followers, to the number of fourteen hundred, November 12.
6. Battle of Sheriffmuir.—Meanwhile Mar was managing the affairs of James almost as badly in Scotland. He entered Perth September 28 with a force of 5,000. On the 2nd of October a detachment of eighty horse captured a vessel with 300 stand of arms, which were intended for the Earl of Sutherland in the North. The vessel had been driven by stress of weather to seek shelter at Burntisland, on the coast of Fife. Instead of pushing on while his followers were inspirited by this success, Mar stayed at Perth doing nothing. The Duke of Argyle, who was sent to oppose him, arrived in Scotland and marched to Stirling in the middle of September. He had then only 1500 men at his command, but before Mar made any attempt to engage him his army had been more than doubled by reinforcements from Ireland. It was not till November 10 that Mar left Perth. He marched south as far as Ardoch. Argyle brought his troops forward to Dunblane. On Sunday the 13th, the two armies advanced to meet each other, and a battle was fought at Sheriffmuir, a moor on the slope of a spur of the Ochils. The result was doubtful. Each army defeated and put to flight the left wing of the other and then drew off the field, the rebels to Ardoch, Argyle to Dunblane, and both lost about the same number of men. Each side claimed the victory, but Argyle took possession of the field the next day. After the battle Argyle went back to Stirling and Mar to Perth. There the clans began to desert him, going home as usual with their plunder, while Argyle's force was increased by six thousand Dutch troops.
7. Arrival of James.—James at last made his appearance, but not till his followers had been taken prisoners in the one country and had lost their spirit in the other. He landed at Peterhead, December 22, attended by only six persons. He was met by Mar, and went on to Scone, whence he issued six proclamations, and fixed his coronation for January 23. The news of his landing had somewhat revived the spirit of his followers, but, when they met, both parties were disappointed; James with their scanty numbers, and they with his heaviness and stupidity. Soon after, a vessel coming from France with gold for the rebels was stranded and the money lost. At last Argyle began to advance against James, who retreated from Perth, greatly to the disgust of the clans. From Perth they went to Dundee, and from thence to Montrose. Twelve hours after they had left Perth Argyle entered it, but he was so slack in his pursuit of the rebels as to give rise to suspicions of his own loyalty. A few days later, February 4, James set sail secretly for France with Mar and several other nobles. He left a letter for Argyle, and all the money he had with him for the benefit of the poor people in the villages round Perth, which had been burnt by his order. His men, grieved and disappointed to find that their leader had deserted them, went back to their native glens. Most of the officers escaped to the Orkneys, and from thence to the Continent.
8. Trials and Penalties.—Few prisoners had been made in Scotland. Of those taken at Preston, the half-pay officers were at once shot as deserters, the common soldiers were imprisoned in Chester and Liverpool, while their leaders were taken up to London, which they entered with their hands tied behind them and their horses led. Six nobles, the Earls of Nithsdale, Wintoun, and Carnwath, Viscount Kenmure, and the Lords Widdrington and Nairn, were arraigned before the House of Lords on a charge of treason. All except Wintoun pleaded guilty, and threw themselves on the King's grace; but they were all condemned to death. This sentence was executed on Derwentwater only. Kenmure and Nairn and Carnwath were reprieved, while Nithsdale escaped by the help of his wife the night before the day on which he was condemned to die; and Wintoun, though found guilty on his trial, escaped also. Forster, MacIntosh, and several others, had the same good fortune. Of those lower in rank, twenty-two were hanged in Lancashire and four in London. An Act of Grace, passed in 1717, released Carnwath, Widdrington, Nairn, and all others who were still in prison; but it did not restore the estates which they had forfeited by their treason. The following year another Jacobite conspiracy was got up. In this both Spain and Sweden were concerned; Spain promised to help with money, while Charles the Twelfth of Sweden was to invade Scotland with twelve thousand soldiers. It was discovered, and prevented by the arrest of the persons suspected of sharing in it.
9. Malt-tax Riots.—In 1713 it was proposed to extend the malt-tax which was paid in England, to Scotland. But this measure met with such strong opposition on the part of the Scotch members as almost to threaten a dissolution of the Union. At length, in 1724, a duty of threepence on every barrel of ale was laid on instead of the malt-tax. But though this time the members agreed to the new tax, the people would not, and a serious riot broke out at Glasgow. Two companies of foot were sent from Edinburgh to put down the tumult, under the command of Captain Bushell, who ordered his men to fire, whereby nine persons were killed and many more wounded. This only made the rioters more furious. Bushell narrowly escaped being torn in pieces by the mob, and had to seek refuge in Dunbarton Castle. The tumult was not put down till General Wade brought up a force large enough to overawe the mob, and sent the magistrates prisoners to Edinburgh. There they were tried and acquitted. To avoid paying the tax, the brewers of Edinburgh made a compact to brew no more beer if the duty were not taken off. In consequence of these disorders the office of Secretary of State for Scotland was done away with, because the Duke of Roxburgh, who held it, was suspected of encouraging the discontent. At length the Earl of Islay was sent down to Edinburgh, and succeeded in restoring quietness. Bushell was tried for murder and found guilty, but was afterwards pardoned and promoted.
10. Porteous Riots: 1736.—Twelve years later the peace was again broken by a tumult at Edinburgh. One Wilson, a smuggler, lying under sentence of death for having taken part in a fray in which a Custom-house officer was killed, had won the sympathy of the people by the clever way in which he had managed the escape of a fellow-prisoner. When he was hanged at the Grass Market, the mob pelted the guard with stones. On this Porteous, Captain of the City Guard, ordered his men to fire, and several innocent persons in the crowd were killed and wounded. Porteous was tried, and condemned to death as a murderer, but a reprieve was sent down from London. Then the people, remembering the case of Bushell, determined to take the law into their own hands. On the evening before the day which had been fixed for the execution of the sentence, while Porteous was feasting with his friends to celebrate his escape from danger, they gathered in great numbers. To ensure against surprise they disarmed the city guard, took their weapons, and themselves guarded the gates, so as to prevent any tidings being carried to the regiment quartered in the suburbs. They then marched to the Tolbooth, formerly the Parliament-house, but now used as a prison. The door was so strong that it defied all their efforts to burst it open. They set fire to it, upon which the jailer threw out the keys. Leaving the doors open to let the other prisoners escape, they then went straight to Porteous' cell, dragged him out of the chimney where he was hiding, and carried him to the Grass Market, the place of public execution. There they hanged him to a dyer's pole, with a rope which they had taken from a dealer's stall on the way, and in payment for which they had left a guinea. They then dispersed, without noise or further violence. The ringleaders were never discovered, though all ministers of parishes were required to read from their pulpits once a month for a year a proclamation calling on their congregations to give them up. The Government brought in a Bill for disgracing the city by the loss of the charter and the razing of the gates. But this measure was not carried, and the only penalties inflicted were that Wilson, the Provost, was declared incapable of holding office in future, and that the city was fined 2,000l. for the benefit of Porteous' widow.
11. The "Forty-five."—In 1719 there was a small attempt made to get up another Jacobite rising. This attempt was favoured by Spain, which, just at this time, under the guidance of Cardinal Alberoni, minister of Philip the Fifth, once more began to take an active part in European affairs. England had joined the Quadruple Alliance against Spain, which was therefore ready to help in an attempt to overthrow the English Government. The Marquess of Tullibardine landed on the Lewis with a body of three hundred Spanish soldiers. But the stores and arms which were to have been sent to him were lost on the way, and, though about two thousand Highlanders mustered, they were defeated at Glenshiels by the regular troops. The Highlanders fled to the hills, while the Spaniards surrendered, and thus the attempt came to nothing. But the clans were still unsubdued, and were ready to break out again at any time. General Wade, who had been commander-in-chief since the 1715, made excellent roads in many places where there had been none before, and an Act was passed for disarming the Highlanders. But this did more harm than good. The clans that were faithful to the Government gave up their arms; but this only made them unable to resist the rebels, who kept theirs hidden and ready for use when occasion should come. England was now engaged in a continental war; most of the troops were out of the kingdom, and the time seemed favourable for another effort. France too promised help. Early in 1744 an army of 1,500 men under the command of Marshal Saxe, one of the most skilful generals in the French service, was collected at Dunkirk, and embarked in French transports for the invasion of England. But the fleet was dispersed by a storm, and the French were unwilling to give any further help. The next year Charles Edward, son of the Old Pretender, called the Young Chevalier, who was to have led this expedition, determined to make a venture on his own account. Without money, without arms, with only seven followers, he landed at Moidart, on the west coast of Inverness, and called on the Jacobite clans to muster and follow him: July 25, 1745. In vain their chiefs, headed by Cameron of Lochiel, pointed out to him the rash folly of such an enterprise, he persisted, and they, letting loyalty get the better of common sense, took up the cause and summoned their clansmen. The standard of James was raised at Glenfillan, August 19, and the commission, naming Charles Regent in his stead, was read to about a hundred motley but enthusiastic followers. Already a small band of them had had a foretaste of victory. On their way to the muster they had compelled two companies of regular troops, which they had intercepted on their way to relieve the garrison of Fort William, to lay down their arms. This was followed by a series of successes as unlooked for as they were extraordinary. Sir John Cope was sent to oppose the rebels with all the troops that the Government could raise. But he mismanaged matters, and, instead of bringing the enemy to a battle, he let the Highland army, which was gathering like a snowball on its way, pass him. While he went northward, it came down unopposed upon the Lowlands, entered Perth, and advanced towards Edinburgh, where James was proclaimed.
12. Taking of Edinburgh.—The citizens were in the greatest alarm when they heard that the Highlanders had crossed the Forth. A small band of volunteers and a regiment of dragoons under Colonel Gardiner marched out to meet the rebels as far as Colt Bridge. But when the first shots were fired by a small reconnoitring party from the Highlanders, they turned and galloped back to Edinburgh. This shameful flight was called the Canter of Coltbrigg. Charles summoned the city to surrender; the perplexed magistrates, not knowing what to do, tried to win time by sending repeated messages to Charles. But early the following morning a body of five hundred Camerons under Lochiel surprised and entered one of the city gates. They then secured the watchmen, opened the other gates, and thus the city was in the hands of the rebels. At noon of the same day the heralds and pursuivants were obliged to proclaim James at the Cross as King James the Eighth, and to read his Royal Declaration and the Commission of Regency. Charles entered the city the same day, September 17, and took up his quarters in the Palace of Holyrood. That night all the Jacobites in the city gathered at a ball to celebrate his arrival.
13. Battle of Preston-pans.—Meanwhile Cope had brought back his troops by sea and landed them at Dunbar. Charles marched out from Edinburgh to meet him. At a village near Preston-pans, so called from the pans used there for crystallizing the sea-salt, the Highlanders defeated the regular troops, and came back triumphant to Edinburgh with the money and the cannon which they had taken, September 20. In this battle Colonel Gardiner was killed close to his own park wall. Charles lingered at Edinburgh, holding his court at Holyrood, till November 1, when he began his march towards England, at the head of an army of five to six thousand men. Carlisle surrendered to Charles, who left a garrison to defend the castle, and marched on unresisted through Preston and Manchester, as far as Derby, which he reached on December 4. Charles was now two days' march nearer London than the army under William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George the Second, which had been sent to oppose him. A panic prevailed in London, where the citizens expected hourly to see the wild Highlanders enter and spoil the city. Their fears were, however, unfounded. Jealousies and discord were rife among the rebel chiefs. At Derby Charles held a council of war. Some of his officers advised one thing, some another. But as they would not agree to march on to London without delay, Charles, sorely against his will, was obliged to give the order for retreat, and to lead his dispirited followers back again as quickly as they had come. Cumberland followed close on their rear. At Clifton Moor, near Penrith, there was a slight skirmish, in which the rebels had the advantage. But they did not wait to risk a battle there, but hurried north, passing on their way through Dumfries and Glasgow, where they levied contributions.
14. Battle of Falkirk.—When Charles reached Stirling, his army was joined by reinforcements which raised its number to eight or nine thousand. He prepared to lay siege to the Castle. General Hawley was seat from Edinburgh with a nearly equal force to relieve it. The two armies met on Falkirk Moor, January 17, 1746. Hawley was as totally and shamefully beaten as Cope had been at Preston. Instead of following up his advantage by pursuing and destroying the royal army, Charles remained inactive in the field, and allowed his followers to plunder the bodies of the slain. The next day he went on with the siege of Stirling. The Duke of Cumberland was now sent north, with full power to put down the rebellion as he pleased. He reached Edinburgh January 30, and the very next day set out at the head of an army in quest of the rebels. Charles raised the siege of Stirling, and hurried north. He entered Inverness, and took Forts George and Augustus, where he found supplies of food, guns, and powder, of which his army stood in great need.
15. Battle of Culloden.—Meanwhile the King's troops were closing round the rebels, who, cooped up in the barren mountains, were reduced to the greatest straits. All supplies sent from France were cut off before they reached them, and for several days they had no food but a little raw oatmeal. It was plain that the battle that was unavoidable must be a defeat. Culloden Moor was the scene of this the last battle fought on British ground. The rebels, who were nearly starving, and who had been worn out by a long march and an attempted night-attack that had altogether failed, soon gave way, and were easily routed by the Duke's well-disciplined and nearly twice as numerous army: April 16, 1746. The French auxiliaries fled towards Inverness, where they laid down their arms. The rebels lost one thousand men, a fifth of their whole number; the victors only three hundred and ten. About twelve hundred of the fugitives rallied at Ruthven; but Charles begged them to disperse, and every man sought his own safety as he best might. The after measures of the victors were disgraceful to all concerned. No quarter was given; the wounded were slaughtered in cold blood, or burnt in the houses to which they had crawled for shelter. For three months martial law prevailed; the country was wasted, the houses burnt, the cattle lifted, the people left to perish. It was not till July that the Duke, who in Scotland was called the Butcher, went back to London, where he was hailed as the deliverer of his country, and rewarded with a pension of 25,000l. a year.
16. Charles's Wanderings.—Charles, whose foolhardy ambition had brought all this misery on his simple followers, passed five months in perilous wanderings. A great price was set on his head; but, poor as the Highlanders were, not one of them would stoop to win it by betraying him. At one time, when he was tracked by the soldiers, he was saved by a young lady called Flora MacDonald, who got a passport for him under the name of Betty Burke, her maid. In this disguise he escaped to Skye. After this he came back to the mainland, and lived for some time with seven robbers in a cave. They kept him hidden and supplied his wants as well as they could, and used to go in disguise to the nearest town to pick up what news they could. One day, as a great dainty, they brought him back a pennyworth of gingerbread. When he left them Charles joined two of his adherents, MacPherson of Cluny and Lochiel, and he and they stayed in a strange hiding-place called the Cage on the side of Ben-alder, till two French vessels appeared on the coast. In one of these he embarked, September 20, at Lochnannagh, the same place where, fourteen months before, he had landed. Thus Charles escaped to the Continent, but his memory was long cherished in the country that had suffered so much for him. He was compelled to leave France after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and ended an unsettled, discontented, dissipated life at Rome in 1788. His brother Henry, called the Cardinal of York, the last of the Stewart line, survived him nearly twenty years.
17. Penalties after the "Forty-five."—There was much greater severity shown after this rebellion than there had been after that in 1715. The Scottish prisoners were brought for trial to England for fear that they might meet with too much partiality in their own country. John Murray, of Broughton, who had been Charles's secretary, turned informer. Through him the secrets of this conspiracy which had been going on ever since 1740 were brought to light. Charles Radcliffe, brother to the Earl of Derwentwater, who had been beheaded in 1716, who had then escaped from prison, was retaken on board a French vessel carrying supplies to the rebels, and was put to death on his former sentence. The Earls of Cromarty and Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino were brought up for trial before the House of Lords. Cromarty and Kilmarnock pleaded guilty; Balmerino tried to save himself by a quibble about a flaw in the indictment, but this was overruled, and they were all three condemned to death. Cromarty was pardoned, but Kilmarnock and Balmerino were beheaded. Nearly a year after, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was brought up for trial; he was found guilty, chiefly on the evidence of Murray, was condemned, and beheaded. He had acted a double part throughout, for, though he had taken part in all the plans of the rebels, he had taken care not to join them in person. Of those lower in rank about eighty were condemned to death, and great numbers were sent to the plantations. The last sufferer for the Jacobite cause was Dr. Cameron, brother of Lochiel. He escaped after 1745, but when he returned to England in 1753 he was seized and suffered death as a traitor, though he protested that he had never borne arms against the King, and had been with the rebel force only as a surgeon and not as a soldier. An Act of Indemnity was at length passed, in 1747, from which, however, eighty persons were excepted. Though the end of this unjustifiable and unfortunate rebellion was what every one must have foreseen, its temporary and unlooked-for success showed how necessary it was to take strong measures for breaking up the old Highland system. A Bill was passed for disarming the clans, and to forbid the wearing of the Highland dress, and at the same time heritable jurisdictions were done away with. The Episcopal Church, whose attachment to the Stewarts was well known, suffered severely. The Episcopal churches were destroyed, and the ministrations of the Episcopal clergy forbidden. Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, the President of the Court of Session, though a firm friend of the Government, distinguished himself throughout the rebellion by his efforts in the cause of humanity and justice. Before it broke out, he had done more than any other man to keep the rising down, and, after it had been crushed, he did all in his power to lessen the sufferings of the rebels and the severity of the Government. To the discredit of the ministry and of the country, his services were left unrewarded.
18. Abolition of Slavery.—In 1756 the lawfulness of negro slavery was first questioned in Scotland, and twenty years later it was settled that negro slavery should exist no longer. There were still, however, some natives of the soil who were in a state very little better. The colliers and salters were sold like serfs with the works in which they toiled. This shameful servitude was not the remains of ancient villanage, but had simply arisen out of custom. So strong, however, had the force of custom made it, that Parliament did not venture at once to sweep it away. It was settled that all the colliers and salters born after a certain date should be free, and those then at work after a certain term of service. In 1799 their freedom was established by law.
19. Attacks on the Romanists.—When the penal laws against the Roman Catholics in England were repealed in 1778, Henry Dundas, the Lord Advocate, proposed a similar measure for Scotland. On the strength of this, riots broke out in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In Edinburgh the mob destroyed the Roman Catholic chapels and the houses of several persons who were suspected of being Romanists. In Glasgow they destroyed a factory belonging to a Romanist. So great was the excitement raised throughout the country by the fanatics, who bound themselves together in Protestant Associations, and the property and persons of the Roman Catholics were treated with such violence, that they themselves petitioned that the Bill might be dropped. It was not till 1793 that a Bill was brought in and passed without opposition to relieve the Roman Catholics in Scotland from the penalties to which they were liable on account of their religious opinions.
20. Trials for Sedition.—The excesses of the French Revolution led to a reaction of feeling in Great Britain against all liberal opinions, as being likely to bring about a similar revolution in this country. This led to much injustice and oppression. Persons were charged with stirring up sedition on the slightest grounds, or on no grounds at all; were found guilty, and punished on the most scanty evidence. In Scotland the panic was even greater than in England, and the proceedings of justice more unjust. In 1793 Thomas Muir, an advocate, and Fyshe Palmer, a clergyman, were tried, and sentenced to transportation, the one for fourteen years, the other for seven, for no other crime than that of discussing Parliamentary Reform. Others suffered a like fate; and though these cases were brought before the House of Commons, and though the sympathy of the people was with them, they met with no redress. Braxfield, the Lord Justice Clerk, gained an infamous notoriety by his violent language towards the prisoners, and by the illegal sentences which he passed against them.
21. Reform Bill.—It was not till nearly forty years had passed, that the reforms, for suggesting which these men had suffered, and the need of which had long been felt, were at last carried out by the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832. By it the entire representation was remodelled. Up to this time the County franchise had depended not on the possession of land, but on the right of superiority over land which might be held by others. This right could be bought and sold, and was quite independent of property or residence in the county, so that in most cases there were but a handful of electors, in one county only one, to return the member. The franchise was now extended to all persons having property in the county to the value of 10l. yearly, and to certain classes of leaseholders. The case of the Burghs was even worse. Only the royal burghs were represented at all, and these were grouped together and returned one member only for each group. This member was elected by delegates chosen from the Town Council of each burgh, so that the election was really and truly in the hands of the Corporations. By the new Bill, Edinburgh and Glasgow were each to send two members to Parliament, the five towns next in importance were each to send one, while some changes were made in the grouping of the smaller burghs. The members for the burghs were to be elected by householders in the burghs paying 10l. yearly rent. The number of members was increased from forty-five to fifty-three.
22. Religious Sects.—When the Presbyterian polity was re-established by law in 1690 the Episcopalians took in some degree the place which had been held by the Covenanters. As they would not acknowledge William and Mary as lawful sovereigns, they were looked on as a dangerous and obstinate sect of dissenters, just as the Cameronians had been considered in the reign of James. They had been turned out of the churches, but they were forbidden to have private meeting-houses. In Queen Anne's reign an Act of Toleration was passed to protect such of them as would use the English Liturgy and pray for the Queen in the course of the service. After the Rebellion of 1715 new laws were passed against them; the validity of orders from Scottish bishops was called in question, and the ministration of all clergymen who were not licensed was forbidden. After the Rebellion of 1745 they fared still worse; many of their meeting-houses were burned or dismantled by Cumberland's soldiers. An Act was passed forbidding any clergyman to read the service to more than five persons at once, and no letters of orders were considered valid unless given by some Irish or English bishop. In 1755 a clergyman named Connacher was accused of illegally celebrating marriages, and, by an Act passed against the Covenanters in the reign of Charles the Second, he was banished, and forbidden to return on pain of death. Hence it came to pass that, just after the two kingdoms were politically united, they were more widely severed in religious opinion than they had ever been before, so that a conscientious member of the Church established by law in the one kingdom would have been looked on as a dangerous dissenter in the other. It was not till 1792 that an Act was passed relieving the Episcopalians from the penal laws in force against them. In 1784 Dr. Samuel Seabury, from Connecticut, was consecrated by three Scottish bishops, Petrie, Skinner, and Kilgour the primus, at Aberdeen, so that the Episcopal Church of America is an offshoot from the once proscribed and persecuted Episcopal Church in Scotland. Besides the Episcopalians there were many sects of Presbyterians who seceded from the Establishment chiefly on the question of patronage. At last, in 1843, the Church of Scotland split into two parties. This is called the Disruption. About ten years before this time Edward Irving, Minister of the Scotch Church in London, a very eloquent preacher, was forced to secede from the Presbyterian Church for holding extravagant views with regard to the power of speaking in unknown tongues and working miracles. His followers founded a new sect, which has since won many adherents in both kingdoms. In its rites and ceremonies it now resembles much more nearly the Roman than the Presbyterian Church.
23. The Disruption.—This division was brought about by a dispute about the right of patrons to force ministers on parishes, whether the congregations objected to them or not. The spirit of the Presbyterian Church had always been opposed to patronage. By the First Book of Discipline it had been laid down that the people should elect their own ministers; by the Second Book of Discipline, that they should at least have the right of objecting to any chosen for them by the heritors or landowners in the parish. After the Revolution, an Act of 1690 confirmed them in this privilege, but after the Union in 1712 the heritors, eager to regain what they thought their rights, obtained a repeal of this Act and the restoration of their former powers. In spite of the protests of the people and of the Church, this Act gradually became custom as well as law, and led to several schisms; for those congregations who did not choose to have ministers forced on them whom they did not approve, broke off, and founded separate sects. At length, in 1834, the Non-intrusion party, as those who were opposed to patronage were called, had a majority in the Assembly, and passed the Veto Act. This Act declared it to be "a fundamental law of the Church that no pastor shall be intruded on a congregation contrary to the will of the people," and that, if the heads of families object to any candidate presented by the patron, the Presbytery shall reject him. In the same year, Mr. Young was presented to the parish of Auchterarder, in Perthshire. Several persons objected to him, and the Presbytery, acting on the Veto Act, rejected him. The patron, Lord Kinnoul, appealed to the Court of Session for the enforcement of his civil rights and obtained a verdict in his favour; but the Presbytery appealed to the House of Lords. Here too it was given against them, but they still refused to make trial of Mr. Young. In another parish, Strathbogie, the presentee, Mr. Edwards, was objected to by the congregation, and the Presbytery refused to admit him to the parish. He also obtained a decree in his favour from the Court of Session, when the Presbytery yielded, and for this they were suspended and deposed by the General Assembly. From this it was clear that the majority in the Assembly were determined to go all lengths in resisting the civil power. In the end the Church had to yield, and to recall the illegal Veto Act. Rather than agree to this, in 1843, more than a third of the clergy left the Church. Their leaders were Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Candlish. Great numbers of the people went "out," as it was called, with their ministers, and the Free Church which was thus originated has ever since been the successful rival of the Establishment.
24. Social Progress.—The removal of the Government to London attracted thither not only all the Scottish nobles, but also all the wealthy and the ambitious commoners. Thus Edinburgh lost much of its importance through the Union, though it still remained the intellectual capital, where the members of the Courts of Law and of the University took the lead in society. Meanwhile Glasgow, the capital of the west, where the manufactures which were first introduced by Duncan Forbes had taken firm root, gradually rose to much greater importance in wealth and commerce. During this period two great elements of civilization, productive industry and intellectual culture, have done much to improve the Lowland population, among whom book-learning has always been in advance of material comfort. It was not till after the Rebellion of 1745 that the spirit of industry first began to animate the people. But the Highlands remained for some time in a very bad state. The spirit of the people was broken, and the severe climate, barren soil, and lack of minerals left them no resource but the fisheries. The Highland Society, founded in 1784, did much to improve the state of agriculture, by reclaiming the waste districts; and latterly great numbers of the people have emigrated. At the time of the Union Scotland was without agriculture, manufactures, or trade; since then she has risen to excellence in them all, and has produced some of the most useful inventions of modern times. James Watt, who perfected the invention of the steam-engine, and thus placed a new power in the hands of man, was born at Greenock in 1736. It was in Scotland that this power was first put to use for traffic by steam navigation. A small pleasure-boat, worked by a steam-engine, was tried on Dalswinton Loch in Dumfriesshire in 1788; another effort was made on the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1802; but the first steamboat actually used for traffic was the Comet, which began to ply on the Clyde in 1812. It was projected by Henry Bell, a house-carpenter in Glasgow. Many improvements in calico-printing and dyeing, and in all sorts of machinery, are likewise due to Scotchmen. Among others Macadam is noteworthy for originating that system of road-making which is now known by his name.
25. Literature and Art.—After the Union, the English dialect of the Lowlands ceased to be the language of literature and of the upper ranks in society. Thus the national literature of the country came to an end, and the works of Scotchmen went to swell the mass of English Literature. But even in this period Scotland has had, besides many smaller songsters, two poets peculiarly her own, who have sung in the dialect still spoken by the people. Allan Ramsay, born in Clydesdale in 1685, began life as a barber's boy in Edinburgh; he then turned poet and bookseller, and besides his own poems, which were very popular, he collected and published the songs and ballads of the forgotten bards of earlier days. Nearly a century later lived Robert Burns, the peasant poet, a cotter's son, born in Ayrshire in 1759. His genius overcame the disadvantages of his humble birth, and inspired innumerable songs, which place him in the first rank among poets of all nations, and will win for him an abiding place in the hearts of his fellow-countrymen as long as a Scottish tongue is left to sing them. Adam Smith, who by his "Wealth of Nations," published in 1776, may be said to have founded the science of Political Economy, was born at Kirkaldy, and was Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow; and about the same time Dr. Robertson, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, wrote several historical works of great merit. David Hume, the infidel philosopher, was born at Edinburgh in 1711. He is best known as the author of a popular but untrustworthy History of England. Tobias Smollett, the humourist, was a native of Cardross. Besides several very clever novels, the best of which are "Humphrey Clinker" and "Roderick Random," he wrote a complete History of England from the first historical mention of Britain down to the year 1768. The latter part of this history is now generally added to the History by Hume, who did not carry his work down to later times than the Revolution. Hugh Blair, a Presbyterian divine, wrote "Lectures on Belles Lettres" and several volumes of sermons which are still highly esteemed. Dugald Stewart, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, was distinguished as a scholar and philosopher. His chief works are the "Philosophy of the Human Mind" and "Outlines of Moral Philosophy." Among Scottish artists who rose to eminence during this period are Allan Ramsay, the son of the poet, Runciman, Raeburn and Sir David Wilkie, born in Fifeshire in 1785. He chiefly excelled in painting scenes from rural life, and was limner to the King for Scotland. Of poets who wrote in the English of the south, Scotland can lay claim to James Thomson, the author of "The Seasons," "The Castle of Indolence," and some tragedies; to Beattie, the author of "The Minstrel;" and to Thomas Campbell, born at Glasgow in 1777. His imaginative poem, "The Pleasures of Hope," laid the foundation of his fame. It is written in a graceful and highly-finished style, but is far surpassed in originality and spirit by the ballads which he wrote to commemorate the "Battle of the Baltic" and the other actions of the French war. John Galt deserves to be remembered as the author of some clever novels, the best of which are the "Ayrshire Legatees" and "The Entail." Nearer to our own time Walter Scott, the poet and romancist, gave to English literature its best works of fiction, and at once introduced and perfected the modern novel. Among writers of fiction Miss Ferrier must not be forgotten. In her witty, satirical novels, "Marriage," "Destiny," "The Inheritance," she has left admirable pictures of Scottish life and manners. John Lockhart, the son-in-law and biographer of Scott; John Wilson, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Edinburgh, the Christopher North of the "Noctes Ambrosianæ;" his friend and contemporary James Hogg, the poet, better known as the "Ettrick Shepherd;" the two Alisons, father and son, the elder the author of the "Essay on Taste," the younger of the "History of Europe," may all be reckoned among Scotchmen who have done honour to their country by their literary labours. In the world of science Scotland has been represented by James Ferguson, the astronomer, Hugh Miller, the great geologist, who began life as a stonemason; Sir David Brewster, who is famous for his discoveries in optics, and many others. Mungo Park, the African explorer of a past day, and Dr. Livingstone, who in our own time has worked so long in the same field of discovery, were both also born in Scotland. But now that the two nations have become so closely united, national jealousy and national pride are both alike well-nigh forgotten, and Scotchmen are content to throw their energy and talents at home and in the colonies into the common stock of British glory.
26. Summary.—The separate History of Scotland, which may be said to have ceased with the Union, is chiefly remarkable from its unconnected and fragmentary character. Each of the periods into which it is naturally divided breaks off abruptly, and exercises little or no influence on the period which comes after it. The Celtic system comes to an end with the last of the Gaelic kings. During the English period English laws and English customs are introduced, but this English influence is suddenly checked by the War of Independence, and the period which begins with the independent kingdom is no more the natural result of the second than the second is of the first. During the third period the Roman Law is introduced, and France takes the place of England as the model for imitation. The Scottish system of representation, which became fixed during this period, had much more in common with the French National Assembly than with the English Parliament. The Three Estates, which met in one chamber, were the Church, the barons, that is the tenants holding direct from the Crown, and the burghers. The Commons as a class were not represented at all. It is the Reformation which first brings the Commons into notice. The feudal character of the legislature and of the national representation drove the energies of the people into the only channel that was left open to them—that of religious thought. Hence it came that in Scotland the great struggle for political freedom was fought out under the cloak of a contest for liberty of conscience. From the Reformation to the Union the history of the country is little but the record of a series of religious wars. The history of Scotland also gives us a picture of pure and unmixed feudalism. The feudal system which was introduced under the sons of Malcolm and Margaret took much firmer root in Scotland than it ever did in England; and, as it was here untouched by the Common Law and the growth of the constitution which acted as checks upon it in England, it grew to such an excess of power that it quite overshadowed the power of the Crown. The practice of making hereditary jurisdictions, and of granting powers of regality, still further increased the influence of the feudal nobles. Feudalism existed in Scotland long after it had been overthrown in England. Its power was first broken by the Act which was passed in 1748 for abolishing heritable jurisdictions, and even after that Act it continued to influence the representation. Feudalism in Scotland was not finally overthrown till the passing of the first Reform Bill in 1832. Nor was it till after that reform that the Commons of Scotland were represented at all in Parliament The rebellions in favour of the Stewarts in 1715 and 1745, though they were the cause of much useless bloodshed, led to very happy results as far as the social prosperity of the country was concerned. The abolition of the heritable jurisdictions did much good, for it placed agriculturists in a much freer position, while the money which was paid to the great proprietors as a compensation for their feudal rights gave a fresh spring to the circulation of the country. At the time of the Union Scotland was without agriculture, manufactures, shipping, or commerce. Since then she has risen to excellence in them all.