ceffity of ventilating human habitations has not yet been found by our northern neighbours; and even in houses well built and elegantly furnished, a ftranger may be fometimes forgiven, if he allows himself to wish for fresher air.

Thefe diminutive observations feem to take away fomething from the dignity of writing, and therefore are never communicated but with hefitation, and a little fear of abasement and contempt. But it must be remembered, that life confifts not of a series of illustrious actions, or elegant enjoyments; the greater part of our time paffes in compliance with neceffities, in the performance of daily duties, in the removal of small inconveniencies, in the procurement of petty pleasures; and we are well or ill at eafe, as the main ftream of life glides on smoothly, or is ruffled by fmall obftacles and frequent interruption. The true state of every nation is the ftate of common life. The manners of a people are not to be found in the fchools of learning, or the palaces of greatness, where the national character is obfcured or obliterated by travel or inftruction, by philosophy or vanity; nor is publick happiness to be estimated by the affemblies of the gay, or the banquets of the rich. The great mass of nations is neither rich nor gay: they whofe aggregate conftitutes the people, are found in the ftreets and the villages, in the fhops and farms; and from them, collectively confidered, muft the measure of general profperity be taken. As they approach to delicacy, a nation is refined; as their conveniencies are multiplied, a nation, at leaft a commercial nation, must be denominated wealthy.

ELGIN.

Finding nothing to detain us at Bamff, we let out in the morning, and having breakfasted at Cullen, about noon came to Elgin, where, in the inn that we fuppofed the best, a dinner was fet before us, which we could not eat. This was the first time, and except one, the laft, that I found any reason to complain of a Scottish table; and such disappointments, I fuppose, must be expected in every country, where there is no great frequency of travellers.

The ruins of the cathedral of Elgin afforded us another proof of the waste of reformation. There is enough yet remaining to fhew, that it was once magnificent. Its whole plot is eafily traced. On the north fide of the choir, the chapter-house, which is roofed with an arch of stone, remains entire; and on the fouth fide, another mass of building, which we could not enter, is preferved by the care of the family of Gordon; but the body of the church is a mafs of fragments.

A paper was here put into our hands, which 'deduced from fufficient authorities the hiftory of this venerable ruin. The church of Elgin had, in the inteftine tumults of the barbarous ages, been laid wafte by the irruption of a Highland chief, whom the bishop had offended; but it was gradually reftored to the ftate of which the traces may be now difcerned, and was at laft not deftroyed by the tumultuous violence of Knox, but more fhamefully fuffered to dilapidate by deliberate robbery and frigid indifference. There is still extant, in the

books

books of the council, an order, of which I cannot remember the date, but which was doubtless iffued after the reformation, directing that the lead, which covers the two cathedrals of Elgin and Aberdeen, fhall be taken away, and converted into money for the support of the army. A Scotch army was in those times very cheaply kept; yet the lead of two churches must have borne fo fmall a proportion to any military expence, that it is hard not to believe the reafon alledged to be merely popular, and the money intended for fome private purfe. The order however was obeyed; the two churches were ftripped, and the lead was fhipped to be fold in Holland. I hope every reader will rejoice that this cargo of facrilege was lost at fea.

Let us not however make too much hafte to defpife our neighbours. Our own cathedrals are mouldering by unregarded dilapidation. It feems to be part of the defpicable philofophy of the time to defpife monuments of facred magnificence, and we are in danger of doing that deliberately, which the Scots did not do but in the unfettled state of an imperfect conftitution.

Those who had once uncovered the cathedrals never wifhed to cover them again; and being thus made ufelefs, they were first neglected, and perhaps, as the ftone was wanted, afterwards demolished.

Elgin feems a place of little trade, and thinly inhabited. The epifcopal cities of Scotland, I believe, generally fell with their churches, though fome of them have fince recovered by a fituation convenient for commerce. Thus Glasgow, though it has no longer an archbishop, has rifen beyond its original

ftate

ftate by the opulence of its traders; and Aberdeen, though its ancient stock had decayed, flourishes by a new shoot in another place.

In the chief street of Elgin, the houses jut over the loweft ftory, like the old buildings of timber in London, but with greater prominence; fo that there is fometimes a walk for a confiderable length under a cloister, or portico, which is now indeed frequently broken, because the new houfes have another form, but feems to have been uniformly continued in the old city.

FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE.

We went forwards the fame day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth was travelling when he met the weird fifters in his way. This to an Englishman is claffick ground. Our imaginations were heated, and our thoughts recalled to their old amusements.

We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility and culture behind us, and faw for a great length of road nothing but heath; yet at Fochabars, a feat belonging to the duke of Gordon, there is an orchard, which in Scotland I had never feen before, with fome timber-trees, and a plantation of oaks.

At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of particular remark, and next morning entered upon the road on which Macbeth heard the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it flourished, is now

in a state of miferable decay; but I know not whether its chief annual magiftrate has not ftill the title of. Lord Provoft.

At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I first saw peat fires, and first heard the Erfe language. We had no motive to stay longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the house of Mr. Macaulay, the minifter who published an account of St. Kilda, and by his direction visited Calder Caftle, from which Macbeth drew his fecond title. It has been formerly a place of ftrength. The draw-bridge is ftill to be seen, but the moat is now dry. The tower is very ancient. Its walls are of great thicknefs, arched on the top with stone, and furrounded with battlements. The reft of the house is later, though far from modern.

We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a letter to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most regular fortification in the island, well deferves the notice of a traveller, who has never travelled before. We went thither next day, found a very kind reception, were led round the works by a gentleman, who explained the use of every part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the governor, with fuch elegance of converfation, as left us no attention to the delicacies of his table.

Of Fort George I fhall not attempt to give any account. I cannot delineate it scientifically, and a loose and popular description is of use only when the imagination is to be amufed. There was every where an appearance of the utmost neatness and regularity. But my fuffrage is of little value, because this and Fort Auguftus are the only garrifons that I ever faw.

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