THOMAS CARLYLE. By HECTOR C. MACPHERSON. ALLAN RAMSAY. By OLIPHANT SMEATON. HUGH MILLER. By W. KEITH LEASK. JOHN KNOX. By A. TAYLOR INNES. ROBERT BURNS. By GABRIEL SETOUN. THE BALLADISTS. By JOHN GEDDIE. RICHARD CAMERON. By Professor HERKLESS. SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. By EVE BLANTYRE SIMPSON. THOMAS CHALMERS. By Professor W. GARDEN BLAIKIE. JAMES BOSWELL. By W. KEITH LEASK. TOBIAS SMOLLETT. By OLIPHANT SMEATON. FLETCHER OF SALTOUN. By G. W. T. OMOND. THE BLACKWOOD GROUP. By Sir GEORGE DOUGLAS. NORMAN MACLEOD. By JOHN WELLWOOD. SIR WALTER SCOTT. By Professor SAINTSBURY. KIRKCALDY OF GRANGE. By LOUIS A. BARBÉ. ROBERT FERGUSSON. By A. B. GROSART. JAMES THOMSON. By WILLIAM BAYNE. MUNGO PARK. By T. BANKS MACLACHLAN. DAVID HUME. By Professor CALDERWOOD. WILLIAM DUNBAR. By OLIPHANT SMEATON. SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. By Professor MURISON. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. By MARGARET MOYES BLACK. THOMAS REID. By Professor CAMPBELL FRASER. POLLOK AND AYTOUN. By ROSALINE MASSON. ADAM SMITH. By HECTOR C. MACPHERSON. ANDREW MELVILLE. By WILLIAM MORISON. JAMES FREDERICK FERRIER. By E. S. HALDANE. KING ROBERT THE BRUCE. By A. F. MURISON. JAMES HOGG. By Sir GEORGE DOUGLAS. THOMAS CAMPBELL. By J. CUTHBERT HADDEN. GEORGE BUCHANAN. By ROBERT WALLACE. Completed by J. CAMPBELL SMITH. SIR DAVID WILKIE, AND THE SCOTS SCHOOL OF PAINTERS. By EDWARD PINNINGTON. THE ERSKINES, EBENEZER AND RALPH. By A. R. MACEWEN. THOMAS GUTHRIE. By OLIPHANT SMEATON. DAVID LIVINGSTONE. By T. BANKS MACLACHLAN. THE ACADEMIC GREGORIES. By AGNES GRAINGER-STEWART. JOHNSTON OF WARRISTON. By WILLIAM MORISON. HENRY DRUMMOND. By JAMES Y. SIMPSON. PRINCIPAL CAIRNS. By JOHN CAIRNS. VISCOUNT DUNDEE. By LOUIS A. BARBÉ. JAMES WATT. By ANDREW CARNEGIE. _Preface_ The history of the final union of England and Scotland, which took place on the 1st of May 1707, commences with the accession of Queen Anne; and with regard to that event, the best sources of information, apart from original letters, diaries, and other contemporary documents, are Daniel Defoe’s _History of the Union_, published in 1709, Dr. Hill Burton’s _History of Scotland_, Mr. John Bruce’s _Report on the Events and Circumstances which produced the Union_, published, for the use of Government, in 1799, and Dr. James Mackinnon’s _Union of England and Scotland_, published in 1896. In this volume I have endeavoured to describe the _earlier_ attempts to unite the kingdoms. These commence, practically, in the reign of Edward I. of England, and continue, taking sometimes one form and sometimes another, down to the reign of William III.