Set against the background of post-revolution Scottish ecclesiastical politics, this book addresses the hitherto largely neglected religious dimension to the debates on Anglo-Scottish Union. Focusing predominantly on the period between April 1706 and January 1707, the book examines the attitudes and reactions of Presbyterians to the treaty and challenges many of the widely held assumptions about the role of the church and other groups during the debate. The focal point of the Kirk's response was the Commission of the General Assembly. Through the extensive use of church records and other primary sources the work of the commission in pursuit of church security through its debates, committees and addresses, is discussed at length. The book also examines the church and groups like the Cameronians and Hebronites in relation to the parliamentary debate, the pursuit of alternatives to incorporation, popular protest, addressing and armed resistance.

Public opinion in Scotland in 1707 was sharply divided, between advocates of Union, opponents, and a large body of "don't knows". In 1706-7 it was party (and dynastic) advantage that was the main reason for opposition to the proposed union at elite level. Whatever the reasons now for maintaining the Union, they are in some important respects different from those which took Scotland into the Union, such as French aggression, securing the Revolution of 1688-89 and the defence of Protestantism. This new edition assesses the impact of the Union on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. The book offers a radical new interpretation of the causes of union. Now, as in 1706-7, some kind of harmonious relationship with England has to be settled upon. There exists, on both sides of the border, mutual antipathy but also powerful bonds, of language, kin, and economics. In the case of Scotland there is a strong sense of being "different" from England--a separate nation. But arguably this was even more powerful in the mid-19th century when demand grew not for independence but Home Rule. As in 1707, economic considerations are central, even if the nature of these now are different--the Union was forged in an era of "muscular mercantilism". Perceptions of economic gain and loss affected behaviour in 1706-7 and continue to affect attitudes to the Union today. This new edition lends historical weight to the present-day arguments for and against Union.

This book traces the background to the Treaty of Union of 1707, explains why it happened and assesses its impact on Scottish society, including the bitter struggle with the Jacobites for acceptance of the union in the two decades that followed its inauguration. The book offers a radical new interpretation of the causes of union. The idea that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold' is largely rejected. Instead, emphasis is placed upon the international, dynastic and religious contexts in which the union was negotiated. The aggressive France of Louis XIV, the imagined threat posed by the church of Rome, and the real one represented by the Stuart pretender, loomed large in the consciousnesses of Scots who sought union. The principles of the Glorious Revolution, and the persistence from that time on of key political figures in Scotland in their determination to secure a treaty with England were crucial. Unionists too concerned themselves with Scotland's ailing economy, and aspired to the kind of civic society that Holland had become and that they saw in London. They were as patriotic as many of their opponents and believed that union offered the Scots what they were unable to obtain as a small independent state, with the country's interests defended with what John Clerk called Scotland's 'phantom' Parliament. The complex and shifting opinions of the Scottish people outside Parliament are also examined, as well as the effect this had on proceedings within. Key featuresNew controversial interpretation - challenges currently dominant view that the Scots were 'bought and sold for English gold', and bullied into union with England. Wide-ranging; topic coverage comprehensive - looks more widely at Scottish society and its economy, culture etc. than the competitionTimely/topical: contemporary interest in this event in Scottish/British history, especially 2007

This comprehensive and authoritative edition of the correspondence of Daniel Defoe situates each letter in its biographical, literary, and historical contexts. A unique source for a turbulent period of British history, Defoe's correspondence spans topics including the first age of party marked by Tory and Whig rivalry, religious tensions between the Church and Dissenters, the uncertainty of the monarchical succession, the birth of Great Britain and its establishment as a global empire, and the use of the press to mould public opinion. As well as an introduction discussing Defoe's epistolary habits and the distinctive features of his letters, headnotes and annotations explain each document's occasion, beginning in 1703 with Defoe hunted by the government for sedition, and ending in 1730 with him again in hiding, fleeing creditors months before his death. The volume is illustrated with examples of Defoe's letters, offering a fresh window onto Defoe's manuscript habits.

English Historical Documents is the most ambitious, impressive and comprehensive collection of documents on English history ever published. An authoritative work of primary evidence, each volume presents material with exemplary scholarly accuracy. Editorial comment is directed towards making sources intelligible rather than drawing conclusions from them. Full account has been taken of modern textual criticism. A general introduction to each volume portrays the character of the period under review and critical bibliographies have been added to assist further investigation. Documents collected include treaties, personal letters, statutes, military dispatches, diaries, declarations, newspaper articles, government and cabinet proceedings, orders, acts, sermons, pamphlets, agricultural instructions, charters, grants, guild regulations and voting records. Volumes are furnished with lavish extra apparatus including genealogical tables, lists of officials, chronologies, diagrams, graphs and maps.

Using untapped archival sources from Britain, France and America, Talbott presents a comparative view of British relations with France over the long seventeenth century.

This comprehensive analysis of the Jacobite mind challenges prevailing stereotypes about Jacobites and provides a detailed history of the Jacobite movement, whose influence on the development of Scotland and the British Isles in the eighteenth century was immense. The author provides an in-depth analysis of the attitudes, beliefs and assumptions of one of the most active Jacobites of the early 18th century: George Lockhart of Carnwath. Lockhart was almost a stereotypical eighteenth-century Scottish coming man: a Commissioner for Midlothian in the Scottish Parliament; a member of the Commission charged with negotiating the treaty of Union; MP for Midlothian at Westminster; an improving landlord; an accomplished writer and pamphleteer. But most of all, he was a committed, passionate Jacobite and nationalist who rose to become one of the senior leaders of the Jacobite underground in Scotland in the period between the rising of 1715 and the more famous '45. By bringing out the distinctive features of Lockhart's perception of the world and his times, Daniel Szechi sheds light on the inner workings of the Jacobite mind and hence the Jacobite underground in Scotland during the traumatic years leading up to and following the Union of 1707.