The Irish standard., 1897-09-04

was begun with endeavors for a remon-
STRANGE against the union; and the ad-
vice of the most famous lawyers was
asked upon it, who declared the act of
the union to have several nullities, and
to be very defective!
A remarkable coincidence, it may be
observed, with the opinions of our
"most famous lawyers Bushe, Punk
ct, Saurin and others, with respect to
the Irish act of union.
The terms in which the union is men,
toned the same year, in the earl Of
Mars manifesto, still further evidences
the national dislike of that provincial
izing measure; and the Chevalier john
stone, who held high post in the Pre-
tenders army, says in his memoirs that,
down to the year 1746, the union was
so generally abhorred in Scotland, even
to the lowest peasant, that, had the Pre-
tender identified himself with the anti
union feelings of the great mass of the
population by assembling a native par
Lament in Scotland and throwing him
self upon the exclusive support of the
Scotch as their own king, instead of
using them as mere provincial instru-
ments to acquire the English throne,
Scotland with the assistance Of France
would have had no bad chance of being
a separate kingdom as formerly under
the Stuarts.
in rn1f 3,, r. to
quarian tracts. relates, on the authority
of an eminent preacher of that day, that
at later period, or considerably within
the latter half of the seventeenth CEN
plete unless it contained some observa-
ton Or allusion to the union; and, when
Snrollet wrote his continuation Of Hume,
the patriotic earl of Belhaven's enumer-
attend a union, in his impassioned
speech against it was looked upon as
a prophecy by great part of the Scotch
nation"
From the cold and slurring manner In
which feelings of Scotch nationality are
regarded or adverted to by English au-
thors, it is not easy to trace to more
modern period the exact extent and con-
tinuance of an anti-union spirit in Scot
land. However, long subsequent to the
time when the official information COL
lected by Chalmers in his Caledonia
shows that Scotland was recovering from
10 ir,i, Of &c, ho
gering existence of aversion to that
measure may be observed in the occa-
sional vivid representations of the old
anti-union feelings which are given in
nature, Smollet and Scott. At present
every trace of that feeling has disap-
peared except among the very few of
the John Ferguson school of modern
writing to his friend, Mrs. Dunlap, the
noble peasant and patriotic poet, the i'm
mortal Robert Burns, thus eXclams:
ALAS! have l often said to myself.
what are all the boasted advantages
which my country reaps from the union,
that can counterbalance the annihila-
tion of her independence, and even OF
her very name! often repeat the COUP
let of my favorite poet, Goldsmith
States of native liberty possessed,
Though very poor, may yet be very
bcst."
Nothing" continues Burns, "can rec
CIri1a mo tO tho common tor,,,c IT., rl;c h
ambassador, English court, ETC.; and l
am out Of all patience to see that equiv
ccal character Hastings
Warren Hastings" "impeached by the
commons of England"
In spite of the prevalent political no.
tions respecting the advantages" de-
rived by Scotland from her union,
Burns idea of their being of more
'boastcd" than substantial kind is by
no means without some appearance OF
| foundation. The late Sir John Sinclair,
after stating the Scotch revenue, in one
of his letters, at about GA 10000 a year,
says that from that sum Scotland is an
nually obliged "to remit above E4,000,-
600 to the English exchequer-a greater
tribute than was ever paid by one nation
| to another" What" asks Sir John,
would be the condition of this co,ln-
try (Scotland), if that great sum was
laid out upon it's internal improvement? ?
! What he goes on, would even Eng
| land say, if it had q tribute of four mil
lions per annum to remit to France?
And, were it not for this tribute to Eng
land.' observes Sir John, mo distress
could be experienced in Scotland! Scot
land is now content, however, except the
brave few who still imbibe at the Fer
| guson fountain; but, still inspired by
! that spirit which evoked from Burn.
the immortal lines, Scots wha hae wi
Wallace bled," the Irish people, whose
country enjoyed native parliament al
| most a century after Scotch nationality
was cXtinguisl.ed, still fondly cherish
the hope of Independent nationality.
The Case of Prof. Andrews.
The American Monthly Review Of Re.
| VIM fo, ,1,o,. hac. Z