him "by right divine". His departure
made considerable changes in the condition of Scotland. The absence of
any fear of an outbreak of hostilities with the "auld enemy" was a great
boon to the borders, but there was little love lost between the two
countries. The union of the crowns did not, of course, affect the
position of Scotland to England in matters of trade, and beyond some
thirty years of peace, James's ancient kingdom gained but little. King
James, who possessed considerable powers of statesmanship, if not much
practical wisdom, devised the impossible project of a union of the
kingdoms in 1604. "What God hathe conjoyned", he said, "let no man
separate. I am the Husband, and all the whole Isle is my lawful wife....
I hope, therefore, that no man will be so unreasonable as to think that
I, that am a Christian King under the Gospel, should be a Polygamist
and husband to two wives." He desired to see a complete union--one king,
one law, one Church. Scotland would, he trusted, "with time, become but
as Cumberland and Northumberland and those other remote and northern
shires". Commissioners were appointed, and in 1606 they produced a
scheme which involved commercial equality except with regard to cloth
and meat, the exception being made by mutual consent. The discussion on
the Union question raised the subject of naturalization, and the rights
of the _post-nati_, _i.e._ Scots born after James's accession to the
throne. The royal prerogative became involved in the discussion and a
test case was prepared. Some land in England was bought for the infant
grandson of Lord Colvill, or Colvin, of Culross. An action was raised
against two defendants who refused him possession of the land, and they
defended themselves on the ground that the child, as an alien, could not
possess land in England. It was decided that he, as a natural-born
subject of the King of Scotland, was also a subject of the King of
England. This decision, and the repeal of the laws treating Scotland as
a hostile country, proved the only result of the negotiations for union.
The English Parliament would not listen to any proposal for commercial
equality, and the king had to abandon his cherished project.

James had boasted to his English Parliament that, if they agreed to
commercial equality, the Scottish estates would, in three days, adopt
English law. It is doubtful if the acquiescence even of the Scottish
Parliament would have gone so far; but there can be