To strengthen the government party the Scottish ministry was changed, and the Duke of Queensberry was recalled to office, being appointed to the privy seal. The Cavaliers, thus deprived of the aid of the duke and his friends, applied to the Marquis of Tweeddale—who, with his displaced friends, had formed a party called the squadrone volante, or “flying squadron”—to unite with them against the court; but he declined the proposal, as being inconsistent with the object for which it was said to be formed, namely, to keep the contending parties in parliament in check, and to vote only for such measures, by whatever party introduced, which should appear most beneficial to the country.
Notwithstanding the exertions of the court party, the Scottish ministry soon found themselves in a minority in the parliament, which was opened on the 28th of June, 1705, by the Duke of Argyle as commissioner. The motion of Sir James Falconer, which had hitherto remained a dead letter, was again renewed; but although the ministry was supported by the “squadron” in opposition to the motion, the Cavaliers carried it by a great majority. The Dukes of Hamilton and Athole were now desirous of pushing on the inquiry into the alleged plot, but by advice of the Cavaliers, who insisted that such a proceeding would be a violation of the agreement entered into between them and the Duke of Queensberry’s friends, they desisted for a time. But the duke having prevailed upon such of his friends as had voted with the Cavaliers in the beginning of the session, to join the court party, the subject was introduced before the house in the shape of a motion, to know what answer the queen had sent to an address which had been voted to her in the preceding session, to send down to Scotland against the next session such persons as had been examined respecting the plot, and the papers connected therewith. The Dukes of Hamilton and Athole vindicated themselves against the charge of being accessory to Fraser’s proceedings, and the latter particularly, in a long speech, reprobated the conduct of the Duke of Queensberry, whom he openly accused of a design to ruin him. Neither the duke nor his friends made any answer to the charge, and Athole and Hamilton conceiving that they had cleared themselves sufficiently, allowed the subject to drop. The most important business of the session was the measure of the proposed union with England, an act for effecting which was passed, though not without considerable opposition.
Before the state of the vote upon this measure was announced, the Duke of Athole, “in regard that by an English act of parliament made in the last sessions thereof, entituled an act for the effectual securing England from the dangers that may arise from several acts passed lately in Scotland, the subjects of this kingdom were adjudged aliens, born out of the allegiance of the queen, as queen of England, after the 25th of December 1705,” protested that, for saving the honour and interest of her majesty as queen of Scotland, and maintaining and preserving the undoubted rights and privileges of her subjects, no act for a treaty with England ought to pass without a clause being added thereto, prohibiting and discharging the commissioners that might be appointed for carrying on the treaty from departing from Scotland until the English parliament should repeal and rescind the obnoxious act alluded to. To this protest twenty-four peers, thirty-seven barons, and eighteen of the burgh representatives adhered. When the state of the vote was announced, the Duke of Hamilton, to the surprise of the cavaliers and the country party, moved that the nomination of the commissioners should be left wholly to the queen. From twelve to fifteen members immediately exclaimed that the duke had deserted and basely betrayed his friends, and ran out of the house in rage and despair. A warm debate then ensued, in which Hamilton was roughly handled, and the inconsistency of his conduct exposed; but he persisted in his motion, which was carried by a majority of eight votes. Had the other members remained he would have found himself in a minority. The Duke of Athole protested a second time for the reasons contained in his first protest, and twenty-one peers, thirty-three barons, and eighteen burgh representatives adhered to his second protest. The protesters consisted of most of the cavaliers and the country party, and the whole of the “Squadron.” The protesters, however, were not discouraged, and they succeeded so far as to obtain an order of the house prohibiting the Scottish commissioners from treating until the clause in the English act, declaring the subjects of Scotland aliens, should be repealed, a resolution which had the desired effect, the English parliament rescinding the clause before the time fixed for its operation arrived.[667]
In terms of the powers vested in her by the parliaments of England and Scotland, the queen nominated commissioners, who met in the council chamber of the Cockpit, near Whitehall, on the 16th of April, 1706. During their sittings they were twice visited by the queen, who urged them to complete with as little delay as possible, a treaty which, she anticipated, would be advantageous to both kingdoms. By the second article of the treaty, it was declared that the succession to the monarchy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, in default of issue of the queen, should remain and continue to the Princess Sophia and her heirs, being Protestants.
When the terms of the treaty became publicly known in Scotland, a shout of indignation was set up in every part of the kingdom, at a measure which, it was supposed, would destroy the independence of the nation; and when the Scottish parliament met for the purpose of ratifying the treaty, considerable rioting took place in different parts of the country, and large bodies of armed men threatened to march upon the capital, and disperse the assembly. Numerous addresses were sent to the parliament from every part of the kingdom against the Union, and considerable opposition was made by the Dukes of Hamilton and Athole, Lord Belhaven, Fletcher of Saltoun, and others, but the court party, having obtained the support of the “Squadron,” carried the measure by a great majority. The treaty was, however, after strenuous opposition, ratified by the Scotch as well as the English parliament, and ultimately completed on May 1st, 1707.
As the restoration of the son of James II. now appeared to the Scottish nation necessary to preserve its independence, various combinations were entered into among the people to effect it. The inhabitants of the western shires, chiefly Cameronians, formerly the most determined supporters of the Protestant government, all at once became the most zealous partisans of the exiled family, whose Catholicity they showed themselves disposed altogether to overlook. Preparatory to more active measures for accomplishing their object, the ringleaders among them held several meetings, divided themselves into regiments, chose their officers, provided themselves with horses and arms, and, notwithstanding the religious asperity which had long existed between them and the inhabitants of the northern shires, offered to unite with them in any measure which might be devised for accomplishing the restoration of the young prince, who had now assumed the title of the Chevalier de St. George.[668] The court of St. Germains, fully aware of the strong national feeling which existed in favour of the prince, sent, in concert with the French king, one Hooke into Scotland to obtain intelligence, and to treat with the people for his restoration. This gentleman had been one of the Duke of Monmouth’s chaplains when he invaded England; but after the execution of that unfortunate nobleman, Hooke went to France, where he became a Catholic, and entered into the French service, in which he rose to the rank of Colonel. He had been in Scotland in 1705 on a mission to the heads of the Jacobite chiefs and the country party; but though a man of sense, he conducted himself with such indiscretion, that he could only obtain general promises, from the parties he consulted, of their readiness to advance the prince’s interest. The cavaliers, however, sent Captain Henry Straton, a gentleman in whom they placed great confidence, to France, in July the following year, to ascertain the extent of the aid they might expect from Louis.
Hooke, on this occasion, landed in the north of Scotland, about the end of February or beginning of March, 1707, and took up a temporary abode in Slains Castle, the seat of the Earl of Errol, high-constable of Scotland, where he was waited upon by the countess-dowager, the mother of the earl, her son being then absent from home. Instead of consulting, as he should have done, the principal chiefs upon the subject of his mission, Hooke at first confined himself to interviews with some gentlemen in the counties of Perth and Angus, by whom he was received with great favour and hospitality, and looked upon as a person of no ordinary importance. The attention thus paid him, flattered his vanity, in return for which he made them his confidents, and proceeded, in concert with them, to deliberate upon the mode of accomplishing a restoration. This party, however, had not the wisdom to conceal the negotiation with Hooke, whose presence in the country became consequently generally known. The result was, that the Duke of Hamilton and others, conceiving themselves slighted, and alarmed at the imprudence of Hooke’s friends, declined to correspond with him, and entered into direct communication with the court of St. Germains itself.
As the French king was desirous of ascertaining the exact situation of the affairs in Scotland, M. de Chamillard, his minister of war, had furnished Hooke with a paper of instructions, in the shape of questions, to which he was desired to obtain distinct answers, to enable his majesty to judge of the extent of the assistance required from him, and the probability of success. In answer to these questions, a memorial, addressed to the king of France, was drawn up, and signed by several noblemen and gentlemen, in which they stated that the greater part of the Scottish nation had always been disposed for the service of “its lawful king” ever since the revolution; but that this disposition had now become universal, and that the shires of the west, which used to be the most disaffected, were now zealous to serve him. That to reap the benefit of so favourable a disposition, and of so happy a conjuncture, the presence of the king (the Chevalier) would be absolutely necessary, the people being unwilling to take arms without being sure of having him at their head—that the whole nation would rise upon his arrival—that he would become master of Scotland without opposition, and that the existing government would be entirely abolished—that of the numbers that they would raise, the memorialists would immediately despatch 25,000 foot, and 5,000 horse and dragoons into England, while the other peers and chiefs would assemble all their men in their respective counties, and that the general rendezvous of the troops on the north of the river Tay should be at Perth, those of the western counties at Stirling, and those of the south and east at Dumfries and Dunse. As to the subsistence of the troops, they informed his majesty that they would require nothing from him, as the harvests of two years were to be found in the granaries, and that so great was its abundance, that a crown would purchase as much flour as would maintain a man two months—that there was also great plenty of meat, beer and brandy in the kingdom, and cloth, linen, shoes and bonnets, sufficient to clothe a considerable number of troops. The principal articles they stood in most need of were arms and money. Of the former, the memorialists begged his majesty to send them as many as would equip 25,000 foot, and 5,000 horse or dragoons, together with a proportionate quantity of ammunition, and also some pieces of artillery, bombs, &c. Of money, of which the country had been almost drained by the Darien speculation, by five years of famine, and by the constant residence of the nobility at London, they required a remittance of 100,000 pistoles, to enable them to march into England, and also a regular monthly subsidy during the war. In addition to these demands, they required that the Chevalier should be accompanied to Scotland by a body of 8,000 troops, to protect his person against any sudden attempt by the government forces. The memorialists concluded, by assuring his most Christian Majesty of their resolution to bind themselves by the strictest and most sacred ties, to assist one another in what they deemed a common cause, to forget all family differences, and to concur sincerely, and with all their hearts, “without jealousy or distrust, like men of honour in so just and glorious an enterprise.”[669]
Having finished his negotiation, Hooke returned to France in the month of May, after assuring his friends that “the Pretender” would land in Scotland about August following. On arriving at the court of St. Germains, Hooke gave the most flattering account of his reception, and of the zeal of the people in behalf of the Chevalier, and accused the Duke of Hamilton and the other persons who had refused openly to commit themselves, of luke-warmness in the cause. The armament, promised by the king of France, should have been ready in August; but the court of Versailles contrived to put it off, from time to time, under various pretences. The fact appears to be, that Louis was indifferent about the matter, and, although he pretended that his object was to place the Chevalier upon the throne of his ancestors, his real object was to create a diversion in his own favour by embroiling Great Britain in a civil war. His reverses at Ramillies and Turin had induced him to send Hooke into Scotland to obtain information, but, having afterwards defeated the allies at Almanza, he was in hopes that he would be able to retrieve his affairs without the aid of the intended descent on Scotland.
To hasten the enterprise, the cavaliers sent the Honourable Charles Fleming, brother of the Earl of Wigton, over to France with letters to his most Christian Majesty and the Chevalier, in consequence of which, preparations for the expedition were commenced at Dunkirk, where a squadron was collected under the command of the Chevalier de Forbin. When the news of these preparations reached England, the greatest exertions were made to meet the threatened danger. Both houses of parliament joined in an address to the queen, in which they pledged themselves to defend her with their lives and fortunes against the “pretended Prince of Wales,” and all her other enemies. They suspended the habeas corpus act, and passed a bill enacting, that all persons should take the oath of abjuration under the pain of being held as convicted recusants. They also passed another bill, releasing the Scottish clans from all vassalage to those chiefs who should appear in arms against her majesty; and “the Pretender” and his adherents were declared traitors and rebels. A large fleet was equipped and assembled at Deal with extraordinary promptitude, and despatched towards Dunkirk under the command of Sir John Leake, Sir George Byng, and Lord Dursley, and transports were engaged to bring over ten British battalions from Ostend. When this fleet, which the French had supposed to be destined for Lisbon, appeared off Mardyke, they were greatly surprised; and the embarkation of their troops, which had commenced, was immediately countermanded. The French admiral represented to his court the danger of proceeding with the expedition; but he received positive orders to finish the embarkation, and to sail with the first favourable wind. The Chevalier de St. George, at taking farewell, was presented by Louis with a sword studded with costly diamonds, and sumptuous services of gold and silver plate, rich dresses, and other necessaries becoming his high station.