SCOTLAND. 297 



not sufficiently account for the rapid progress of Scotch 

 agriculture ; they have been the means, but are not the 

 first causes. The true causes are the same as those which 

 exist in England, and if their effect has been more rapid, 

 it is because they sprang up suddenly, and not by de- 

 grees. I allude to industrial wealth and free institutions. 



If England's history as a manufacturing country is 

 brilliant, what shall we say of Scotland I We may judge 

 by a single example. The counties of Lanark and 

 Kenfrew, where manufactures and commerce are most 

 active, have increased in population in the space of a 

 hundred years from one hundred thousand to six hun- 

 dred thousand, and Glasgow alone from twenty thousand 

 to four hundred thousand. Clydesdale, once deserted, 

 now rivals Lancashire for its collieries, manufactories, 

 and immense shipping trade. In 1750 the germ even 

 of this wealth did not exist; it was English capital, 

 combined with the plodding and frugal genius of the 

 Scotch people, which in so short a time made that un- 

 productive district what it now is. Strong proof this of 

 the advantages which may accrue to a non- manufac- 

 turing country by being associated with one rich and 

 already industrial. Scotland, as long as she remained 

 separate from England, and dependent on her own 

 resources, only vegetated; but as soon as the capital and 

 experience of her powerful neighbour broke in upon her, 

 she took a start quite equal to England. 



This sudden growth of manufactures has been in- 

 creased, as always happens, by a corresponding advance 

 in agriculture. In proportion as commerce and manu- 

 factures multiply men and augment wages, agriculture 

 renews its efforts to supply food for the constantly in- 

 creasing mass of consumers ; and in a limited country 



