A. D. 1707. 737 



cattle in England, and of her peltry, &c. And great pity it truely may 

 be faid to be, that two nations, fprung from the fame original flock, 

 fpeaking the fame language, eifentially profelling the fame religion, and 

 whom nature feems to have defigned for one, by being feparated by 

 the great ocean from the reft of mankind, fliould not have fooner pur- 

 fued their true and evident mutual interefls, and thereby have much 

 fooner increafed in wealth, fecurity, and power. If, upon the death of 

 King Alexander III, and of his grand-daughter ftiled the maid of Nor- 

 way, Scotland had voluntarily united itfelf to England, (about 500 

 years ago) how much more populous, powerful, and rich, would both 

 parts of the ifland have been at this time, freed from much of the 

 cruel bloodlhed and devaftations occalioned by their many wars fince 

 that period. 



Confidering the much fewer people and the greater poverty of Scot- 

 land, compared with England, it may not be improper to remark the 

 quantity of gold and filver coin of all forts, which, in confequence of 

 this union, was brought into the mint at Edinburgh to be recoined in- 

 to the pieces and denominations of fterling money, and of coin not 

 then brought in. We have it from the accurate Ruddiman, in p. 84, of 

 his moft curious and learned preface to Anderfon's Thcfaurus diphmatum 

 et nimifmatinn Scotia ; being no lefs than L41 1,117:10:9 fterling, ac- 

 tually then brought to that mint : befides, perhaps, as much more 

 hoarded up by the whimfical, difaffeded, and timorous, who were 

 ftrongly prepoflefled againft the union, and were far from believing it 

 could laft any long time : befides, alfo, what was then exported, and 

 what was retained by filverfmiths for plate, &c. So that our author was 

 of opinion, that there was then in gold and filver coin about L900,ooo 

 fterling in Scotland *. 



The ad of parliament [13, 14 Car. II] prohibiting the importation 



* It will be doubtkfs agreeable to the reader to fee the amount of the commercial intercourfc by 

 water carriage between England and Scotland, when they were feparate kingdoms. The following is 

 a ftatement of it from the commencement of the infpeaor-general's accounts till the union. 

 England received from Scotland 

 merchandize to the value of 



Of the o-oods carried by land then, as now, there could be no account. Though no cuftom-lioufc 

 account is'now kept of the amount of the trade between the two Britilh kingdoms, it may be prc- 

 fumed to be now a pound for every fliiUing it was before the union. Mr. Knox (1 know not upon 

 what authority or calculation) has ftated the value of goods received by Scotland from England in the 

 year 1775 at L2,i5CO,oco. IHiiv of the Br'ii'Jh empire, p- 93-] M- 



Vol. IL 5 A 



