While giving an account of the various negotiations for union, and of the union which was actually accomplished during the Commonwealth, I have tried to depict the state of feeling between the two countries on various points, and particularly in regard to the Church question, which bulks more largely than any other in the international history of England and Scotland. It is a story, sometimes of mutual confidence and common aspirations, as at the Reformation and the Revolution, but more frequently of jealousies, recriminations, and misunderstandings, most of which are now happily removed. My authorities are sufficiently indicated in the footnotes. G. W. T. O. _Contents_ CHAP. PAGE I. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS BEFORE THE UNION OF THE CROWNS 9 II. THE UNION OF THE CROWNS 52 III. THE UNION DURING THE COMMONWEALTH 96 IV. FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION 122 V. THE REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT 147 _The Early History of the Scottish Union Question_ CHAPTER I INTERNATIONAL POLITICS BEFORE THE UNION OF THE CROWNS The races which inhabited the northern parts of England and the southern parts of Scotland were descended from a common stock, and spoke a common language. But for centuries the problem of uniting them baffled the best-laid plans of kings and statesmen; and neither force, nor policy, nor treaties of marriage between the royal families, seemed capable of destroying the inveterate rancour which the peoples felt towards each other. The petition in response to which the papal sanction was given to the intended marriage of Prince Edward to the Maid of Norway, pointed out the wisdom of removing, or at least mitigating, the enmity of the two nations; and it was the avowed policy of Edward the First to combine the marriage of his son to the young Queen of Scotland with a peaceful union of the kingdoms. The clergy, the nobles, and the people of Scotland agreed to the proposed alliance, and were willing that their queen should be educated at the English Court. The marriage-contract was prepared; and the prospects of a lasting peace were bright, when the death of the young princess on her journey from Norway suddenly changed the whole course of events.