In the closing years of the seventeenth century Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England, launched his Darien scheme, famous in history as “The South Sea Bubble,” for the purpose of inaugurating a great world exchange and mart at the Isthmus of Panama. Scotsmen became responsible for £400,000 of the capital, and actually paid in £220,000. The jealousy of the English merchants, however, together with the fact that it had been proposed to establish a depot on land which was claimed by Spain, without having gone through the formality of consulting that country beforehand, handicapped the scheme from the outset. Nevertheless, although opposed by the English, and cold-shouldered by the Dutch, whose help they had hoped to enlist, the Scotsmen persevered with their project. A company, numbering 1,200, set out for their destination, landed, and erected a fort. Difficulties came fast, however. The King had not given his consent to the scheme, and the American colonists refused to have anything to do with them. Supplies gave out before the new crops were ready, and none were forthcoming from home, so that at the end of eight months the colony was broken up. Out of a total of 2,500 persons who had left Scotland, not more than thirty ever reached home again. The failure of the scheme caused untold misery and ruin in Scotland, and did much to engender the bitter feelings toward the English which showed themselves when the union of the two Parliaments was being discussed; but, worst of all, it bled the country white; so much so that when, a few years later, the British Government called in the Scottish coinage in order to replace it with coinage of the United Kingdom, only coinage to the value of £400,000 was returned to Scotland. IMPROVING CONDITIONS. The Act of Union was exceedingly unpopular, but, as it turned out, it was not an unmixed evil, for it placed Scottish traders on the same footing as the English in respect to trading with the Colonies, from which they had been debarred for fifty years. It also gave Scottish ships free entry to English ports and Scottish goods free entry to English markets, and so marked the beginning of the increasing prosperity which has come to Scotland since then.