t, after having thanked them for their cheerfulness and
unanimity in their proceedings; and the chiefs of the opposite parties
hastened to London to make their different representations to the
queen and her ministry. In the meantime she appointed commissioners
for treating about the union, and they met at the Cockpit on the
twenty-second day of October. On the twentieth day of the next month
they adjusted preliminaries, importing, That nothing agreed on among
themselves should be binding except ratified by her majesty and the
respective parliaments of both nations; and that unless all the heads
proposed for the treaty were agreed to, no particular thing agreed
on should be binding. The queen visited them in December, in order
to quicken their mutual endeavours. They agreed that the two kingdoms
should be inseparably united into one monarchy, under her majesty, her
heirs, and successors, and under the same limitations according to the
Acts of Settlement; but when the Scottish commissioners proposed that
the rights and privileges of their company trading to Africa and the
Indies should be preserved and maintained, such a difficulty arose
as could not be surmounted, and no further progress was made in this
commission. The tranquillity of Ireland was not interrupted by any new
commotion. That kingdom was ruled by justices whom the earl of Rochester
had appointed; and the trustees for the forfeited estates maintained
their authority.

STATE OF AFFAIRS ON THE CONTINENT.

While Britain was engaged in these civil transactions, her allies were
not idle on the continent. The old duke of Zell, and his nephew,
the elector of Brunswick, surprised the dukes of Wolfenbuttle and
Saxe-Gotha, whom they compelled to renounce their attachments to France,
and concur in the common councils of the empire. Thus the north of
Germany was reunited to the interest of the confederates; and the
princes would have been in a condition to assist them effectually, had
not the neighbourhood of the war in Poland deterred them from parting
with their forces. England and the states-general endeavoured in vain
to mediate a peace between the kings of Sweden and Poland. Charles was
become enamoured of war and ambitious of conquest. He threatened to
invade Saxony through the dominions of Prussia. Augustus retired
to Cracow, while Charles penetrated to Warsaw, and even ordered the
cardinal-primate to summon a diet for choosing a new king. The situation
o