Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

ever should be concerned in any discourse or libel, or in laying wagers relating to the union, should be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law.

§ XLV. In this famous treaty it was stipulated, That the succession to the united kingdom of Great Britain should be vested in the princess Sophia, and her heirs, according to the acts already passed in the parliament of England: That the united kingdom should be represented by one and the same parliament: That all the subjects of Great Britain should enjoy a communication of privileges and advantages: That they should have the same allowances, encouragements, and drawbacks; and be under the same prohibitions, restrictions, and regulations, with respect to commerce and customs: That Scotland should not be charged with the temporary duties on some certain commodities: That the sum of three hundred ninety-eight thousand and eighty-five pounds, ten shillings, should be granted to the Scots, as an equivalent for such parts of the customs and excise charged upon that kingdom, in consequence of the union, as would be applicable to the payment of the debts of England, according to the proportion which the customs and excise of Scotland bore to those of England: That, as the revenues of Scotland might increase, a further equivalent should be allowed for such proportion of the said increase, as should be applicable to the payment of the debts of England: That the sum to be paid at present, as well as the moneys arising from the future equivalents, should be employed in reducing the coin of Scotland to the standard and value of the English coin; in paying off the capital stock and interest due to the proprietors of the African company, which should be immediately dissolved; in discharging all the public debts of the kingdom of Scotland: in promoting and encouraging manufactures and fisheries, under the direction of commissioners to be appointed by her majesty, and accountable to the parliament of Great Britain: That the laws concerning public right, policy, and civil government, should be the same throughout the whole united kingdom; but that no alteration should be made in laws which concerned private right, except for evident utility of the subjects within Scotland: That the court of session, and all other courts of

1706.

ANNE.

501

judicature in Scotland, should remain as then constituted by the laws of that kingdom, with the same authority and privileges as before the union; subject, nevertheless, to such regulations as should be made by the parliament of Great Britain: That all heritable offices, superiorities, heritable jurisdictions, offices for life, and jurisdictions for life should be reserved to the owners, as rights and property, in the same manner as then enjoyed by the laws of Scotland: That the rights and privileges of the royal boroughs in Scotland should remain entire after the union: That Scotland should be represented in the parliament of Great Britain by sixteen peers and forty-five commoners, to be elected in such a manner as should be settled by the present parliament of Scotland: That all peers of Scotland, and the successors to their honours and dignities, should from and after the union, be peers of Great Britain,' and should have rank and precedency next and immediately after the English peers of the like orders and degrees at the time of the union; and before all peers of Great Britain of the like orders and degrees, who might be created after the union: That they should be tried as peers of Great Britain, and enjoy all privileges of peers, as fully as enjoyed by the peers of England, except the right and privilege of sitting in the house of lords, and the privileges depending thereon, and particularly the right of sitting upon the trials of peers: That the crown, sceptre, and sword of state, the records of parliament, and all other records, rolls, and registers, whatsoever, should still remain as they were, within that part of the united kingdom called Scotland: That all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far as they might be consistent with the terms of these articles, should cease and be declared void by the respective parliaments of the two kingdoms. Such is the substance of that treaty of union which was so eagerly courted by the English ministry, and proved so unpalatable to the generality of the Scottish nation.

VOL. I.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Sss

[ocr errors]
« ElőzőTovább »