Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/544

Rh 520 SCOTLAND [HISTORY. lions. 1709-1746. of the globe. Accustomed to poverty, Scottish emigrants acquired habits of frugality, industry, and perseverance, and were rewarded by success in most of their undertak- ings. Nor, if war be regarded as necessary to the continued existence of a nation, was it altogether absent, but the cause with which the name of Scotland became identified Jacobite was the losing one. The two rebellions proved the devoted rebel- loyalty which still attached many of the Highland clans, the Catholics, and some of the Episcopalians to the descend- ants of the Stuarts. But that in 1715, preceded by an abortive attempt in 1708, was put down by a single battle; Sheriffmuir, if it could scarcely be claimed as a victory by Argyll, led to the speedy dispersal of the clans which had gathered round the standard of Mar. Thirty years later the romantic rising of the Highlanders under the Young Pretender found the Government unprepared. Once more for a brief space Holyrood was a royal court. The defeat of Cope at Prestonpans and the rapid march of the Scottish army, slightly reinforced by Catholics from the northern and midland sliires of England, to Derby, by which it cut off the duke of Newcastle's forces from the capital, made London tremble. Divided counsels, the absence of any able leader, and the smallness of their number (not more than 5000) prevented the daring policy of attacking London, which Charles himself favoured, and a retreat was deter- mined on. It was skilfully effected, and on 26th December the little army, which had left Edinburgh on 31st October and reached Derby on 4th December, arrived in Glasgow. It was not favourably received, the south-west of Scotland being the district least inclined to the Stuarts, and it marched on Stirling to assist Lord John Drummond and Lord Strathallan, who had commenced its siege, which General Hawley threatened to raise'. His defeat at Falkirk was the last success of the Jacobites. The duke of Cum- berland was sent to command the royal forces, and Charles Edward was forced by Lord George Murray and the High- land chiefs to abandon the siege of Stirling and retreat to Inverness. He was at once pursued by the duke, and his defeat at Culloden (16th April 1746) scattered his followers and compelled him to seek safety in flight to the Hebrides, from which, after five months' wanderings, he escaped to France. The last rebellion within Great Britain was put down with severity. Many soldiers taken in arms were shot and no consideration was shown to the wounded. The chief officers and even some privates taken prisoners were tried and executed at various places in the north of England. The earls of Cromarty and Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino were reserved for the judgment of their peers in London, and having pleaded guilty were beheaded at Tower Hill. The crafty Lovat, who had avoided appearing in arms, but was really at the bottom of the rising, though he pretended to serve both sides, was the last to suffer. An Act of indemnity was passed a few weeks after his execution. But effective measures were taken to prevent any renewal of the rebellion. The estates and titles of all who had been privy to it were forfeited. An Act was passed prohibiting the use of arms and the Highland dress; and the abolition of the military tenure of ward-holding, un- fortunately preserved at the union, rooted out the remnants of feudal and military power till then left in the hands of the nobles and chiefs. These changes in the law had the willing consent of the Lowland and burghal population in Scotland, to whom the lawless and freebooting habits of the Highlanders had been a cause of frequent loss and constant alarm. Somewhat later the masterly policy of Pitt enlisted the Scottish Celts in the service of the crown by forming the Highland regiments. The recollection of Glencoe and Culloden was forgotten after the common victories of the British arms in India, the Peninsula, and Waterloo. In one direction the Jacobite cause survived its defeat. Poetry seized on its romantic incidents, ideal- ized the young prince who at least tried to win his father's crown, satirized the foreign and German, the Whig and Covenanting, elements opposed to the Stuart restoration, and substituted loyalty for patriotism. Self-sacrifice ami devotion to a cause believed right, though deserted by fortune (qualities rare amongst the mass of any nation), dignified the Jacobites like the cavaliers with some of the nobler traits of chivalry, and the Jacobite ballads have their place in literature as one of the last expiring notes of mediaeval romance. Music and tradition fortu- nately preserved their charm before the cold hand of history traced the sad end of Charles Edward, the pensioner of foreign courts, wasting his declining years in ignoble plea- sures. It might be hard to say whether the first Hanover- ians or the last Stuarts least deserved that men should fight and die for them; but the former represented order, pro- gress, civil and religious liberty; the latter were identified with the decaying legend of the divine right of kings and the claim of the Koman Church not merely to exclusive orthodoxy but to temporal power and jurisdiction inconsist- ent with the independence of nations and freedom of con- science. Although a larger minority in Scotland than in England clung to the traditions of the past, an overwhelm- ing majority of the nation, including all its progressive elements, were in favour of the new constitution and the change of dynasty. During the remaining half of the 18th century and the commence- ment of the 19th a period of prosperity was enjoyed by Scotland, and the good effects of the union, intercepted by the rebellions, became visible. The Scottish nation, without losing its indivi- duality, was stimulated by contact and friendly rivalry with its English neighbour in the arts of peace. It advanced in intel- lectual as well as material respects more than in any part of its previous history. It became, through commerce, manufactures, and improved agriculture, a comparatively rich instead of a poor country. Skilful engineering made the Clyde a successful com- petitor with the Thames and the Mersey, and Glasgow became one of the most populous cities in Great Britain. The industrial arts made rapid progress, and the fine arts began to flourish. The art of saving capital and using it as a source of credit was reduced to a system. Banks, not unknown in other countries and at an earlier date, are in their modern form a Scottish invention. Besides those which sprang up in Scotland itself, the national banks of England and France owed their origin to two Scotsmen. A safe system of life insurance represented the provident habits and business talents of the nation. Adam Smith shares with the French economists the honour of founding political economy as the science of the wealth of nations. Mental philosophy became a favourite study, and a dis- tinctively Scottish school produced thinkers who deeply influenced the later systems of the Continent. The history not of Scotland only but of England and some portions of that of Europe were written by Scotsmen in works equal to any existing before Gibbon. The dawn of the scientific era of the 19th century was foreshadowed by Scottish men of science, the founders of modern geology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, and the practice of medicine. In Scotland was made the first of the great line of discoveries in the practical application of science by the use of steam as a motive- power. The same period so varied were its talents gave birth to two Scottish poets, of world -wide fame. Burns expressed the feelings and aspirations of the people; Scott described both in verse and prose their history and the picturesque scenes in which it had been transacted. During the last half-century the material progress continued, but the intellectual was too brilliant to last. The preponderating influence of England even threatened to extin- guish native Scottish genius by centralizing the political and social life of the island in the English capital. Only two changes of importance occurred. The political institutions of Scotland wero reformed by a series of Acts which placed the franchise on a broader basis and made the representation of the people real. The Estab- lished Church, already weakened by secessions, was further divided by a disruption largely due to the ignorance of political leaders as to the deep-seated aversion of the nation to any interference with the independence of the church, especially in matters of patronage. Educational reform has also in recent years raised the standard of the universities and schools without injuring their popular character. While it would be incorrect to say that Scotland has had no inde- pendent history since the union, that history must be chiefly read in the annals of its church, its law, and its literature. Its political existence has been absorbed in that of Great Britain. (J. M.) Progres during 19thcei tury.