These terms were refused by the Scottish commissioners, who objected to the limitation of six years, and declared that the Scots wished to be, as they had been during the Union under Cromwell, in a position to compete, on equal terms, with the merchants of England. But the English commissioners would not yield; and the negotiations terminated without any result. It was now evident that, so long as the two countries remained separate, there could be no genuine commercial prosperity in Scotland. It was, therefore, natural that the question of Union should be again revived. The project was first suggested by a Scottish peer, whose advice in other matters, if it had been taken, would have saved the Privy Council of Scotland from much of the blood-guiltiness which it incurred during these years. John, second Earl of Tweeddale, had been sworn of the Council at the Restoration, but had frequently raised his voice on behalf of the persecuted Presbyterians; and he had often endeavoured to discover some means by which peace could be restored to Scotland. His proposal now was that the Scottish Parliament should be called together, and invited to consider what steps should be taken to unite the kingdoms. To this Charles readily agreed, for he thought that if the two Parliaments were merged in one, the Lords and Commons who represented Scotland would, as a rule, support the measures of the Court. The Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Keeper Bridgeman were also in favour of this proposal.[100] It was, indeed, the interest of all whose fortunes were bound up with the fortunes of the Royal Family that Scotland should be conciliated. The recent conferences had shown how strong the feeling of Scotland was on the subject of trade; and no candid-minded Englishman could deny that the grievances complained of by the commissioners from beyond the Tweed were real grievances. It was true that the more powerful nation was master of the field, and could, by obstinately opposing the demands of her weaker neighbour, debar her from the trade in which she was so anxious to obtain a share. But the lessons of the great Civil War had not been altogether forgotten at the Court; and, in the secret conclave of the king’s advisers, there always had been, ever since the Restoration, an uneasy feeling that a day might come when the Crown would find itself opposed by the Parliament. At such a crisis much would depend on what was done by Scotland. It was, therefore, of importance to persuade the people of Scotland that, so far as the king’s influence went, everything had been done to remove the commercial disabilities of which they so justly complained.