their ancestors an attachment seldom equalled, and still more seldom exceeded, either in fidelity or disinterestedness. By taking advantage of this honourable disposition, (for what can be more honourable than that disinterested fidelity to which life and fortune were sacrificed?) the tenants might have been induced to pay adequate rents for their lands, without the necessity of depopulating whole districts; the farms, too, might have been gradually enlar ged-the mode of husbandry altered-sheep stock introduced-the surplus population, if such there was, employed in clearing and improving the land fit for cultivation, or induced to change their residence from one district to another, or to transfer their industry from the land to the fisheries, or to trades or handicrafts, without being driven at once from their usual means of subsistence and from their native districts. "The forcible establishment of manufactories and of fisheries," says a learned and accomplished author on the rural economy of the Highlands, "are projects only of inconsiderate benevolence; it is only by the gradual change of opinions and practices, by the presentation of new

• It may be considered unnecessary to multiply examples of disinterested attachment; but the traits they disclose are of such a nature, as must be gratifying to those who respect the best characteristics of human nature. A few years ago, a gentleman of an ancient and honourable family got so much involved in debt, that he was obliged to sell his estate. Onethird of the debt consisted of money borrowed in small sums from his tenants, and from the country people in the neighbourhood. The interest of these sums was paid very irregularly. Instead of complaining of this inconvenience, his creditors among the people kept at a distance, lest their demands might add to the difficulties of the man whose misfortunes they so much lamented; and many declared, that if their money could contribute to save the estate of an honourable family, they would never ask for , principal or interest. Speaking to several of these people on this subject, the uniform answer which I received was nearly in the following words: "God forbid that I should distress the honourable gentleman; if my money could serve him, how could I bestow it better? He and his family have ever been kind,—he will do more good with the money than ever I can,-I can live without it,-I can live on potatoes and milk, but he cannot:-to see his family obliged to quit the house of his forefathers, is cause of grief to us all."

motives, and the creation of new desires, that the state of society must be changed. All that which ought to follow will proceed in its natural order, without force, without loss, and without disappointment. So would, no doubt, have been the case in the Highlands, where a gradual, prudent, and proper change would not have excited riots among a people distinguished for their hereditary obedience to their superiors, nor rendered it necessary to eject them from their possessions by force, or, as in some instances, by burning their houses about their ears, and driving them out, homeless and unsheltered, to the naked heath. It was a cold-hearted spirit of calculation, from before which humanity, and every better feeling, shrunk, that induced men to set up for sale that loyalty, fidelity, and affection, which, as they cannot be purchased, are above all price. †

• Dr Macculloch's Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. The same disposition is seen in the sale of woods which beautified the country, and gave an appearance of antiquity and pre-eminence to gentlemen's seats. The destruction of old timber has, for some years past, been so great, that, if continued, Dr Johnson's remark, "that no tree in Scotland is older than the Union," will have too much the air of truth. Noble trees, of the age and growth of centuries, which gave dignity to the seats they ornamented, have been levelled to the ground, and sold for a trifle, as the age that made them so venerable diminished their value as timber. It would be trifling with common sense, to dispute the propriety of cutting and selling wood as an article produced by the soil, but that cannot be applied to woods planted for ornament and shelter, more particularly in Scotland, now bare and destitute of wood, although once abounding with the noblest forests. There are few countries where the woods have a more striking effect than in the Highlands of Scotland, from the contrast they form to the bleak and barren mountains which inclose them. Whether trees are found in natural woods, covering the boldest and most precipitous rocks, or in those ancient avenues and groves around gentlemen's seats in the glens, they alike excite the surprise of the stranger, who does not expect to see such strength of vegetation, and brightness of verdure, in the centre of mountains, which, on the first approach, look so dreary and forbidding. Every man of taste must deplore the loss of woods and picturesque scenery which animated the poet, and delighted the painter. These have been, in many instances, levelled by that cupidity which could not even spare the weeping birches of Coir

But, though the introduction of a few men of agricultural experience and judgment into the Highlands might be a judicious measure, as their knowledge and example would readily spread among the natives, this cannot justify the entire removal or ejection of the ancient inhabitants. In several cases, those who promoted these improvements, by the costly sacrifice of turning adrift from their lands a people who considered themselves born to love and honour their superiors, reasoned so speciously on the expected advantages of this course of policy, as to extinguish in themselves and others those feelings of remorse and compunction, which the price at which they were to be purchased might have been calculated to excite. Thus was identified with national advantages the system at which individual benevolence revolted, but which, it was pretended, was to support liberal and enlightened principles, and to achieve a conquest over all deep-rooted prejudices, and stubborn longdescended customs; and many have been induced, more from authority and fashion than from sordid motives, to follow the example. In this manner, too, the system has spread with fatal rapidity, and without allowing time for the better feelings of those who have been drawn into it, perhaps unwarily, to operate; and it is certain that there is no recent instance in which so much unmerited suffering has produced so little compassion, or reprobation for the authors. The cruelty of removing the slaves on a West India estate to one perhaps scarcely five miles distant, is fre

nan uriskin, nor those natural woods which, fringing the rocks and steeps, give an unspeakable grace and beauty to the passes and romantic glens, in various parts of the Highlands. In former ages, these trees were preserved and venerated; and by the recollections of the length of time they had sheltered and threw an air of dignity and importance over the castles and seats of ancient families, the respect of the people for their owners was increased and preserved. But such recollections are now out of fashion, the trees are valued according to the money they bring, and, like the fidelity of the clansmen, are sold to the highest bidder.

See Lady of the Lake.

quently reprobated in the strongest terms; yet the ejectment or emigration of the Highlanders is viewed with apathy, and their feelings of despair deemed unworthy of notice. The negroes, with little local attachment, may be as happy on their new as on their former plantations, as they are probably deprived of no former comfort, and merely subjected to a change of residence. The Highlander, with the strongest local attachment, confirmed by numberless anecdotes of former ages, cherishes with reverence the memory of his ancestors. With these attractions to his native country, he is deprived of his means of livelihood, driven from his house and his ancient home, and forced to take shelter in a foreign land, or in a situation so new to him, that all his habits must undergo a total change; and yet this appears so just and proper, that strangers, ignorant of the national character, and witnessing the apathy with which the misery of the unfortunate Highlanders is beheld, might suppose that the inhabitants are void of all humanity; and, while the press is often employed in exposing and reprehending political delinquencies, the oppressions, forcible ejectments, and burnings out of the Highlanders, pass unnoticed, however rapidly such cruel measures lead to poverty, immorality and crime. Indeed, so little do such considerations affect some people, that the conduct of those who have made desolate wastes of many once happy communities in Inverness, and other counties, are applauded. A very honourable and humane friend of mine, who has exerted himself powerfully in the cause of the poor negroes, told me, not long ago, and was not well pleased because I did not coincide in his opinion, that Sutherland contained 20,000 inhabitants too many, and that they ought to be removed, without delay, and sent to the colonies. As two

Mr Foster Alleyne, of Barbadoes, has a population of nearly 1200 negróes on his estate in that island, which has been in his family since the reign of Charles I. By overcropping and mismanagement during his absence, the soil, which was favourable for sugar, had become totally unfit for producing that valuable article; he therefore turned his attention to

thirds of these people are unable to pay for their passage, they must bind themselves to serve for a term of years the person who pays for them, and who again disposes of them to the highest bidder; a species of slavery not very agreeable to the dispositions of the mountaineers, and which I did not expect that my philanthopic friend, who has such an abhorrence of slavery of every kind, would have proposed for them. Slavery is already too common in America, where every sixth individual is in that degraded condition. Although the term of the emigrant's bondage is only temporary, yet slavery of any kind is not calculated to procure

the raising of provisions, the cultivation of which is less laborious, and requires little more than half the number of hands necessary for sugar; consequently, he might have disposed of the surplus population, to the amount of nearly 500 persons. How did this honourable and humane gentleman act in these circumstances; while, in similar ones, several Highland proprietors found no difficulty or hesitation? "I cannot find in my heart," said he, "to part with any of these poor faithful creatures, all of whom have been born on my property, where their fathers have served mine for generations, (there has been no addition by purchase since the year 1744, when a few were added for some special purpose,) and they shall remain undisturbed while I remain." From a very extensive and intimate knowledge of many colonies, acquired in the course of military service in the West Indies, at different periods, I could cite many pleasing instances of this kind regard to the feelings of negroes. Were clansmen treated with the same fatherly kindness displayed by this gentleman, landlords would ever be exempted from witnessing such horrible excesses as have been exhibited by the Irish peasantry.

When attempts are made to establish very laudable regulations, in order to prevent the removal of negroes from their original homes, why is humanity so blind as not to see the cruelty of transporting 20,000 Highlanders from their country to the plantations? Perhaps, the defenders of depopulation may say, as the defenders of the slave trade did of that atrocious and inhuman traffic, that transportation will improve their condi tion, and that they will be more comfortable in the colonies than in their native country. This may be true as far as regards some Highlanders, whose condition may easily be improved, (as in many cases it cannot well be worse); but does the misery of the unfortunate outcasts, during the progress of this improvement and transportation to a foreign land, deserve no consideration?

• See Parkinson's Tour and other works on North America.