A.D. 1689 
—1776. 
disarmed 
Scotch 
ppposiiton 
generally, 
but the 
£CONOMAC 
effects 
were not 
obviously 
beneficial 
at first. 
118 PARLIAMENTARY COLBERTISM 
she English National Debt by submitting to an incor- 
porating upion. This sum was to be applied to winding 
up the Darien Company and paying other debts, and to 
making the necessary changes in the coinage; while the 
balance formed a fund for promoting Scotch fisheries and 
manufactures? 
The treaty, thus arranged, was carried through the 
Scotch Parliament in spite of the indignant protests of 
Lord Belhaven. There was indeed one trivial circumstance 
which caused much friction, after the matter was settled® 
The collection of the Scotch customs had been farmed out, 
and naturally this arrangement came to an end when the 
separate Scotch taxation ceased. The farmers of taxes, 
knowing that their time was short, found it most profitable 
to levy small duties and admit large quantities of goods, 
with which the English markets were eventually flooded. 
This brought about considerable commercial disturbance for 
a time, but no special measures were taken, as there seemed 
to be no likelihood that the occurrence would be repeated. 
The figures as to revenue, given above, may perhaps 
serve better than any others that are available, to indicate 
the relative economic importance of the two kingdoms at 
the time of their union. It does not appear that much 
progress was made in Scotland during the first half-century 
after the Union. It is not improbable that Scottish manu- 
factures suffered by free communication with English towns, 
and that the steel manufacturers at Falkirk, and the glovers 
of Perth, were not so prosperous after the Union as they had 
been before. There can, however, be no doubt that, despite 
this immediate loss, Scotland gained eventually from being 
included in the inner circle of the English economic system, 
and sharing in the fostering care which Parliament bestowed 
on the commerce and manufactures of Great Britain. The 
1 The amount actually allotted to this purpose proved to be insufficient, and 
the creditors were incorporated as the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1727. The 
wonopoly of the Bank of Scotland was thus broken down. See p. 454 below. 
2 See below, p. 454. 
8 Parl. Hist. v1. 579. 
¢ Mackinnon, op. cit. 469, 482. For an excellent account of the condition of 
Scotland just before the Union see Proposals and Reasons for constitutine 
a Council of Trade (1701).