The scene is St James's Palace in 1707. On the right, Queen Anne, enthroned beneath a simple canopy, receives from the English and Scottish Commissioners the Articles of Agreement for the parliamentary union of the two countries.

Since the accession of James I of England (VI of Scotland), a hundred years earlier, England and Scotland had been ruled under one monarch: but their institutions had remained quite separate, and each country had had its own Parliament. Now, in order to secure the Protestant succession which had come about under the revolution of 1688, England felt the need to guard against the recall of the Catholic Stuarts to Scotland. At the same time, the Scots knew that Union with England would increase their trade and prosperity, by admitting them to the jealously-protected English markets.

It was a sacrifice for the Scots to give up their own Parliament. Henceforth they would elect forty-five members to sit in the Commons, while sixteen Scottish peers would sit in the House of Lords. They only consented on condition that the sovereign take an oath to uphold the Presbyterian Church in Scotland.

Additional Information on
The Parliamentary Union of England and Scotland