148 



SCOTLAND (HISTORY). 



a commissioner. This was a new officer in the 

 state which a new situation of things required. A 

 law was passed in ltk)G, for the restitution of the 

 estate of bishops, which the king declared he had 

 never intended to suppress. This restoration was 

 followed by a great variety of laws, for giving 

 proper effect to the general principle. The estate 

 of the bishops was not, however, restored to the 

 people's confidence. There were many laws 

 enacted for promoting domestic economy. James 

 died on the 27th March, 1625, after governing 

 Scotland with more authority and success during 

 two and twenty years' absence, than when he was 

 personally present in the country. 



James was succeeded by his son, Charles I., in 

 the twenty-fifth year of his age. Ten years of 

 quiet was followed by frequent perturbations. 

 The king returned to Scotland after a long absence, 

 in 1633, to be crowned, and to hold a parliament. 

 With ample power and high prerogatives, he pos- 

 sessed no influence, having nothing to bestow. 

 Yet the parliament was servile and submissive. 

 Among many laws of a salutary tendency, they 

 passed an act, resuming to the crown those lands 

 which the baronage had wrested from the church ; 

 the clergy were thus benefited, the people were 

 relieved, but the barons were offended. In the 

 midst of dissatisfaction, the king introduced a book 

 of canons and a new liturgy. These were the 

 signals of insurrection in the capital, and discon- 

 tent throughout the kingdom ; it being supposed, 

 that such innovations were preparatory to a resto- 

 ration of Popery. The year 1637 may be consi- 

 dered as the beginning of a civil war, which lasted, 

 with short intermissions, during fifty years. 



After the execution of Charles I., in 1648, the 

 Scots proclaimed his son king, under the title 

 of Charles II. Cromwell passed the Tweed on 

 the 22d of July, 1650. He defeated the Scots at 

 Dunbar, owing more to the madness of the clergy, 

 than to any want of skill in the generals, or 

 bravery in the men. Charles II. marched into 

 England; and at Worcester, on the third of Sep- 

 tember, 1651, was defeated. In April, 1652, by 

 an ordinance of the English parliament, Scotland 

 was incorporated into one commonwealth with 

 England, in whose fortunes it now partook. 



The restoration of Charles II. to the throne of 

 his ancestors, in England, was followed by his 

 restoration in Scotland. The Scottish parliament 

 assembled, under the earl of Middleton, the king's 

 commissioner, on the 1st of January, 1661. Much 

 of what had been done, during the three and 

 twenty years of trouble and bondage, was now 

 rescinded. The king, through his commissioner, 

 declared in parliament his resolution to maintain 

 the true reformed Protestant religion, as it had 

 been established during the reign of his father and 

 grandfather; intimating, however, that he would 

 restore the episcopal government, though he al- 

 lowed, meanwhile, the administration of sessions, 

 presbyteries, and synods. This endeavour to 

 establish episcopacy was violently opposed, and led 

 to the most cruel persecution of the presbyterians, 

 which lasted, with more or less severity, during 

 the whole of the profligate reign of Charles. Hun- 

 dreds were executed on the scaffold, others were 

 fined, imprisoned, and tortured; and whole tracts 

 of the country were placed under a military despo- 

 tism of the worst description. Driven to despera- 

 tion, the presbyterian party had several times 

 recourse to arms, and, although in some cases suc- 



cessful, they were finally defeated and scattered at 

 Bothwell Bridge. 



The death of Charles II., on the Gth of Feb- 

 ruary, 168^, transferred his feverish administration 

 to his brother, James II. James professed his 

 intention to support the government, in church 

 and state, as by law established; yet, without ad- 

 verting to the experience of his father, he imme- 

 diately adopted theimprudent ambition of converting 

 his people to the Catholic religion. He was en- 

 couraged in this imprudence by the servility of UK- 

 Scottish parliament, who seemed willing to invest 

 him with absolute power. Yet when he applied 

 to parliament for an indulgence to his Catholic 

 subjects, that assembly, however complaisant as to 

 their civil liberties, resolved to adhere to their 

 religious principles. As the parliament thus refused 

 their concurrence, James had undisguised recourse 

 to his prerogative, for effecting an illegal change in 

 the religious establishment. Universal discontent 

 was the result of this measure. When the people 

 of Scotland heard of the landing of the prince of 

 Orange, and read his declaration in favour of liberty 

 and in support of law, they hailed his advent with 

 joy. The nobles began to intrigue; the populace, 

 in their zeal, broke out into insurrection against 

 the Catholics at Edinburgh. The earl of Perth, 

 the chancellor, anew convert, imitating the pusilla- 

 nimity and distraction of his master, now deserted 

 his charge ; and the privy council, which was noted 

 equally for its servility to the sovereign and harsh- 

 ness to the people, on this occasion made their 

 application to the prince of Orange, to whom every 

 one looked up as the deliverer of the two nations 

 from Popish dominion. William consulted several 

 of the Scottish nobles, clergy, and gentry, regarding 

 the state of their country, and issued circular letters, 

 summoning a convention at Edinburgh, on the 

 22d March, 1689. We may easily suppose that 

 the most zealous and active of the constituent 

 members would attend on such an emergency. 

 In England, at the revolution, it was of great im- 

 portance to the security of the constitution and the 

 quiet of the country, that the two great parties 

 into which the nation was divided, were so equally 

 balanced; but, in Scotland, the members of the 

 convention were all of one party, and "were all 

 actuated by a strong sense of their recent wrongs. 

 After a slight opposition, they boldly decided that 

 king James, by his abuse of power, had forfeited 

 the right to the crown ; and immediately declared 

 the prince and princess of Orange to be the king 

 and queen of Scotland. This act, which involved 

 such mighty consequences, was attended by a de- 

 claration of their wrongs and rights. Former insur- 

 rections, though accompanied by many mischiefs, 

 passed away without any advantage to the nation. 

 The revolution of 1689 brought with it a civil war, 

 indeed, but was the means of strengthening the 

 constitution, of preserving public liberty, and secur- 

 ing private rights. The presbyterian church was 

 now erected on the ruins of episcopacy ; the prero- 

 gative was restrained to its proper functions; yet 

 the administration retained much of its ancient 

 harshness; and much remained to be done for giving 

 efficacy to law, and affording safety to property and 

 persons. This revolution was also followed by 

 much salutary legislation for promoting domestic 

 economy. 



The reign of William was marked by two events 

 which rendered his character generally unpopular 

 in Scotland, and strengthened the cause of the Ja- 



