A History of England, Period III. Constitutional MonarchyBright, J. Franck (James Franck)
History
A History of England, Period III. Constitutional Monarchy
Bright, J. Franck (James Franck)
Great Britain -- History
The nomination of the
Princess Sophia, hazarded by the Earl of Marchmont, was received with
derision and anger. All these Bills, except the last, received the royal
assent. But the refusal to pass the Bill of Security was so unpopular,
that it was found necessary to adjourn the House without securing any
subsidy.
[Sidenote: Scotch Parliament. July 1704.]
In the following year the Parliament again met. It was hoped that a new
Commissioner would manage it more successfully, and the Marquis of
Tweeddale was appointed to succeed Queensberry. The policy of
conciliation was carried to an extreme, and Godolphin, always a timid
minister, allowed Tweeddale to give the royal assent even to the Act of
Security.
[Sidenote: English Parliament. Oct. 1704.]
[Sidenote: Scotch Parliament. June 1705.]
The hostile feeling exhibited by the Scotch Parliament only went still
further to prove what the Darien Scheme had made evident, that the Union
was imperatively necessary. Whigs and Tories therefore combined, when
the English Parliament met, in attacking Godolphin for his weakness; and
in December, Somers brought forward, and succeeded in passing through
both Houses, a law which seemed to threaten war between the countries.
After Christmas 1705, all Scotchmen were to be regarded as aliens, the
importation into England of the chief Scotch products--cattle, coal, and
linen--was prohibited; and as a still stronger threat, it was ordered
that the Border towns should be fortified and put into a state of
security, and the militia in the northern counties called out. This
severe threat was not without its effect. But the anger of the Scotch at
the time only grew more vehement. In April of the following year, 1705,
Thomas Green, a captain of a ship belonging to the new East India
Company, had been seized by the agents of the Darien Company, charged
with piracy in the East, and with the murder of a Darien captain. It was
afterwards proved that the captain was alive; nevertheless, in spite of
orders from the English Council, the Scotch ministers were overawed by
the popular feeling, and the unfortunate man, with some others of his
crew, was hanged. But England was now determined that the Union should
be effected. Tweeddale was removed from his commissionership, and
Argyle, assisted by Queensberry, put in his place. This gave Tweeddale
an opportunity of forming a third party in the Parliament, which
attempted to hold the balance between those who were for the Union and
those who opposed it, and was known by the name of the Squadrone
Volante. On the whole, however, this party acted with the Government.
The Queen had instructed the Parliament to consider the question of the
settlement of the succession, and the appointment of Commissioners to
treat. With regard to the first point it proved obstinate, it insisted
on first discussing the condition of trade, and could not be induced to
name any successor. With some slight alterations, it passed again the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account