SCOTI^ND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 29 



Scotland; already they were working the doom of 

 the provincial prejudice and superstition which had 

 sucked, like vampires, the blood of progress from 

 the nation. 



The real beginning of Scotland's transformation 

 may be dated from the Act of Union with England 

 in 1707, for that in a very true sense meant the 

 opening up of the ''noblest prospect," the high-road 

 to England. Hitherto the restrictions which Eng- 

 land had put upon Scotland's trade had been greatly 

 hampering, but now commerce with foreign nations 

 might be carried on with comparative freedom, 

 while still freer were the possibilities for traffic with 

 England itself. Nevertheless, the beneficial effects 

 of the Union were slow in developing and up to the 

 middle of the century were not noticeable. The im- 

 mediate result of the Act, indeed, seemed only a 

 fostering of bitter opposition to everything English 

 in a great many quarters, and to oppose British in- 

 novations was for a while a noble form of patriot- 

 ism. On the other hand not a few Scotchmen were 

 ready with open minds to see the ultimate advan- 

 tages which Scotland would reap from the Act of 

 Union. The natural outcome of the opposition be- 

 tween these parties was seen in the bitter animosi- 

 ties that for a while were rife, and, at times, in 

 armed resistance to British rule. Gradually, how- 

 ever, the hostile factions became less bitter, and the 

 strife was practically ended in 1745 with the last 

 rebellion against English law. 



The Turnpike Road Act, passed in 1751, gave an 

 impetus to the advancement of affairs in Scotland, 

 and a true industrial revolution may be said to date 



