the few years of its existence were fruitful of at least one great boon
to Scotland. In those years was established free-trade between the two
countries: a boon for Scotland which she never properly appreciated till
she lost it by the Navigation Act of the Restoration: an alleged
grievance to England which had its share in bringing that Restoration to
pass; for it was then, and for long after, a fixed principle in the
philosophy of English commerce that free-trade between the two
countries meant pillaging Englishmen to enrich Scotchmen. A regular
postal service was also established. The abortive rising known as
Glencairn's Expedition was the only act of open hostility that broke
those few years of comparative tranquillity; and the lenient terms
granted by Monk to the Highland leader tended more than anything to show
how weary of the long rule of disorder and bloodshed all the best of the
two nations were growing. On September 3rd, 1658, Oliver Cromwell died,
and in November of the following year Monk began his famous march to
London. On May 25th, 1660, Charles the Second landed at Dover.

Though the Remonstrants had won the upper hand for a time, the bulk of
the Scottish nation had been all along on the side of the Resolutioners.
Much as the character and religious views of Charles were to their
distaste, the principle of the Covenant was for a king, and it was by
the principle of the Covenant that the Scottish nation stood. The stern
and narrow bigotry of the Remonstrants, whom their short taste of power
had made of course more fanatical and more quarrelsome than ever, had
almost succeeded in forcing the more moderate Presbyterians into the
arms of the Royalists. A little tolerance, a little tact on the English
side would probably have cemented the alliance. But it was not to be.

It is important to remember this. The extreme party with which
Claverhouse had to deal no more represented the Scottish nation than the