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trol certain well-known change in the forms and constitution of the bodies around us, it is important for us to understand, that, amidst the apparent confusion, and waste, and disappearance of the particles of matter, nothing is really lost, nothing is destroyed, not a single particle is annihilated.

The term matter, in the sense now employed by us, signifies the substance, or elements, of which all bodies are composed. Matter is usually divided into four distinct classes, namely, solid, liquid, aëriform, and imponderable. The three former have length, breadth, and thickness, and may, therefore, be measured and weighed; of the latter we will speak more particularly by and by. A solid substance is that whose several parts unite firmly, as wood, stone, or coal. Liquids have freedom of motion among their particles, readily adapting themselves to the form of the vessels that contain them, as water, beer, vinegar. Aëriform substances possess freedom of motion among their particles in a more eminent degree than liquids. They also yield readily to compression, but, on being liberated, regain their former dimensions. They are hence denominated elastic fluids. Of this class are the air we breathe, and the gas so extensively employed in lighting streets and dwellings.

Imponderable signifies that which has no sensible weight. Heat, light, electricity, and magnetism, are usually denominated imponderables, and sometimes imponderable substances. We are not sure that the latter is an appropriate designation, since it seems impossible, in the present state of our knowledge, to determine whether heat, light, electricity, and magnetism are, in reality, subtle and refined substances, or only certain qualities inherent in matter, and developed under particular circumstances.

When it is said that a body has no sensible weight, we mean none that is appreciable, or that may be detected by the most delicate balances hitherto constructed.

We know nothing of the imponderables, excepting as they are presented to us in connexion with matter, either in a solid, liquid, or aëriform state. So, in like manner, have we no knowledge of matter separate and apart from some one or other of the imponderables. It seems highly probable, from analogy and observation, that heat, light, electricity, and magnetism are co-existent, although we do not, at present, possess the means of rendering them all visible to our senses.

Element is a term we shall have occasion frequently to employ. We will conlude this paper by endeavouring to explain its meaning.

When used in connexion with material substances, element signifies some distinct part or parts of those substances which admit of no further change on separation. When it is said that a body is reduced to its elements, it is not minute division, as to quantity, that is intended; but such a separation of the particles of which a body is composed, that those possessing the same character or quality shall be obtained, and kept apart from those of an opposite character or quality.

We have already hinted that we are acquainted with ponderable matter, in its ordinary forms, only as it stands connected with heat, light, electricity, and magnetism. The same remark will apply to the elements of matter in their separate and most refined forms.

Whatever may be the process employed in reducing a compound body to its elementary principles, each element will be found to be allied by an indissoluble bond to some one or other of the imponderables. It also merits our attention, that, although

the chemist possesses the means of separating substances, and of exhibiting their elements for our instruction and gratification, the compound form is that in which matter may be said naturally to exist, and in which it appears to have been designed by the Creator to minister to the necessities, and to promote the happiness of all his creatures. R. R.

THE SHREW MOUSE.

THE Shrew Mouse seems to form a shade in the order of diminutive animals, and to fill up the interval between the mole and the rat; which, though they resemble each other in size, differ materially in form, and are a totally distinct species.

It

This animal is smaller than the common mouse, and in its snout, which is much longer than the jaw-bone, it resembles the mole; its eyes are black and larger than concealed, and much smaller than those of the mouse. those of the latter animal, but they are in like manner has a short bare tail, small rounded ears, two upper foreteeth of a singular construction, having a small barb on each side, almost imperceptible, and five claws on each foot. The colour of the Shrew Mouse is, in general, a reddish brown, but some are of an ash colour, and all of them are white under the belly.

The Shrew Mouse does not seem to exist in America, but is a native of most parts of Europe. In Great Britain it generally resides in barns, stables, hay-lofts, and on dung-hills; sometimes it is found in the woods, and fields, beneath the roots of trees, or under heaps of faggots, or The leaves, where it frequently forms a little burrow. female produces as many young at a time as the common mouse, but not so frequently.

This little animal does not ramble far from home, its sight being very imperfect, and its pace slow; so that it may be caught with very little difficulty. It feeds on grain, insects, and roots, and, when it can be found, on putrescent flesh. When chased, or ensnared, it utters a cry more sharp and offensive smell, owing to which most cats reject the and piercing than that of the mouse. It has also a strong flesh, or if they eat any part of it, are subject to sickness afterwards. They will, however, pursue and kill it whenever they have an opportunity.

It is a remarkable but well authenticated circumstance, that there is an annual mortality among these little animals, about the month of August, during which they are found dead in great numbers in the roads, woods, and fields, without any appearance of violence on their bodies.

A. H. K.

ON BEING STUNG BY A WASP.-How small things may annoy the greatest? Even a mouse troubles an elephant, a gnat a lion, a very flea may disquiet a giant. What weapon can be nearer to nothing than the sting of this wasp? Yet what a painful wound hath it given me? That scarce visible point how it envenoms, and rankles, and swells up the flesh. The tenderness of the part adds much to the grief. If I be thus vexed with the touch of an angry fly, how shall I be able to endure the sting of a tormenting conscience.-BISHOP HALL.

To DO GOOD to his subjects was the ambition of Titus, one of the very few amiable emperors of Rome. It was at the recollection that he had done no kindness one day, that he exclaimed in those memorable words, My Friends, I have lost a day!

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I've lost a day," the virtuous heathen cried, "By no good deeds adorned or dignified." How greater far their fault let Christians say,

When Sloth consumes, or Vice pollutes their day!

HE who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.-JOHNSON.

Ir is difficult for a rich man to be humble, but impossible for a proud man to be wise.-SKELTON.

IN trouble we often come off better than we expect, and always better than we deserve.

Ir the fear of having a hard heart makes us sorrowful, it is a certain sign that our heart is not hard.

MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.

Nature, enchanting Nature, in whose form
And lineaments divine I trace a Hand
That errs not, and find raptures still renew'd,
Is free to all men-universal prize. CowPER.

IN surveying the works of nature, in admiring their beauty, their order, their seasons, and the thousand attractions they possess, I sometimes think that the divine Author of our religion viewed them with corresponding feelings; and this reflection always affords me pleasure. He selected a garden, having a brook in it, as a place of frequent resort; and, in a beautiful passage, we find him telling us to "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow-they toil not;" he adds, "neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." He delightfully reminds us, how securely we may trust to nis care and love, by desiring us to "behold the fowls of the air, which neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet our heavenly Father feedeth them." Then, again, he tells us "that we are his sheep, and that He is our shepherd." And at another time he illustrates his kindness and compassion by referring to the care and protection afforded by a hen to her chickens; and further assures us, that not even a sparrow falleth to the ground without the knowledge of our beneficent Creator. These, and other illustrations of our Saviour's precepts, were taken from objects of nature, which probably immediately surrounded him, and may be admitted as a proof of the justice of the observation I have hazarded on the subject.

Throughout the whole of the New Testament the images taken from nature leave a stronger impression on the mind than almost any others. And sure I am that the close contemplation of those which assure us of the ever wakeful care and kindness of our Maker will bring with them a peaceful serenity of mind, which would be envied, if it could be justly appreciated, by persons who have hitherto thought but little on the subject.

I was occupied the other day, for a few moments, in reflecting on the benefits accruing to mankind, from a remarkable instinct impressed by the great Creator on that insignificant grub the silk-worm. What warmth and comfort does it afford to us! How useful, convenient, and, I may add, elegant, is the clothing we derive from it! But this is not all. Let us, for one moment consider how many thousands of persons are absolutely indebted to it for almost their very existence, in consequence of the employment it affords in nearly every country of the known world. There is, however, another striking and interesting peculiarity attending the silk-worm, which I have not observed to have been hitherto noticed. It is the fact, that while the caterpillars of all the other tribes of moths and butterflies, when they have arrived at a certain state of maturity, show a restless disposition, and wander about and hide themselves in a variety of places in order to spin their cocoons, preparatory to their making their escape as moths, &c.; the caterpillar of the silk-worm, on the contrary, may almost be considered as a domestic insect, and is content to remain stationary in the open tray, or box, in which it may be placed. After consuming its immediate supply of mulberry leaves, it waits for a further quantity; and when the period is arrived for spinning its cocoon, instead of showing any migratory disposition, it seems to place itself with confidence under the care of man for the providing it with a suitable place for its convenience and protection. In the fly or moth state, the female is quite incapable of flight; and the male, although of a much lighter make, and more active, can fly but very imperfectly. This latter circumstance insures to us the eggs for the following season, thus completing the adaptation of the insect in its different stages to the purposes it is destined to fulfil for our advantage. To my mind this striking peculiarity in the habits of the silk-worm beautifully illustrates the care and kindness of the Almighty, in thus making an apparently insignificant reptile the means of conveying so many important benefits to man.

The migratory disposition of the common moths and butterflies is not, however, without its use, though we may not so immediately profit by it. I have before observed, that the caterpillars hide themselves in a variety of places. These, in the pupa state, furnish food for our soft-billed birds during the winter, who search for and feed upon them. Without such a resource many of them must perish during a severe frost. Numerous insects also lay

their eggs in living caterpillars, who die before they change into pupa; so that the very existence, as it is well known, of some insects is perpetuated by the destruction of others. In noticing these facts, it seems impossible to withhold at least that silent admiration, which the ways of Providence in the works of the creation claim from every one, by whom they are properly contemplated. Trifling as the relation may appear to some persons, it ought to carry the conviction with it, that we are under the care and guidance of an all-wise and bountiful Creator. Happy shall we be if this instructive lesson is not lost upon us.

[JESSE'S Gleanings in Natural History.]

GIGANTIC TREES IN VAN DIEMEN'S Land. We have been to-day to see the Giants on the bank of the Emu River, below the confluence of the Loud Water and on the Hampshire Hills side. Though we did not find a tree of 70 feet actual girth, there was one of 55 feet at four feet from the ground, carrying up its magnitude to a surprising height. Öthers, within a few hundred yards, measured 48, 43, 40, 38, 37, 32, and 28 feet, all of them fine trees of about 200 feet in height: none of them were much decayed at the bottom, though in general a little broken at the top. On the base of one of them was a tumour, or carbuncle, measuring 12 feet across and 6 feet high. Amongst them was a fallen tree, 22 feet at the base, and 19 at 110 feet up: a limb of 134 feet sprung from it at 90 feet of elevation, and at 120 feet two other large limbs; at 150 feet the general head commenced; its total height, as measured, was 213 feet. By its fall it had uprooted another 168 feet long, which had brought up a ball of earth 20 feet across; these trees were all Stringy Barks.

When we returned from Emu Bay, four miles up the road, I measured a Stringy Bark, in a state of decay, 196 feet to the branches; and near to it a White Gum, 30 feet round; and on the Lopham Road, two of 35 and 33 feet, their height probably 180 feet. The loftiest Tree Ferns were 30 feet in the trunk, 12 feet fronds; the largest circumference 8 feet. I have also measured, at the Hampshire Hills, a broad-leaved Swamp Tea Tree (Leptospermum lanigerum) 70 feet by 7; a Silver Wattle, 60 feet by 11 feet 2 inches, spreading 60 feet; and a Sassifras, 140 feet by 6 feet. The largest Myrtle I have measured was 28 feet, but I think they may be found exceeding 30 feet. [Extract of a Letter from the Hampshire Hills, Van Diemen's Land.]

THERE is no way in which the young can better learn the sentiments of devotion, or the old preserve them, than by cultivating those habits of thought and observation, which convert the scenes of nature into the temple of God; which makes us see the Deity in every appearance we behold, and change the world, in which the ignorant, and the thoughtless, see only the reign of time and chance, into the kingdom of the living and ever-present God of the universe. Reflections of this kind arise very naturally amidst the scenes we at present behold. In the beautiful language of the wise man, "The winter is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of the singing of birds is come." In these moments, we are witnessing the most beautiful and astonishing spectacle, that nature ever presents to our view. The earth, as by an annual miracle, arises as it were from her grave, into life and beauty. It is in a peculiar manner, the season of happiness. The vegetable world is spreading beauty and fragrance amidst the dwellings of men. The animal creation is rising into life; millions of seen, and myriads of unseen beings, are enjoying their new-born existence; and hailing with inarticulate voice, the Power which gave them birth. Is there a time when we can better learn the goodness of the universal God. Is it not wise to go abroad into nature, and associate His name with every thing which at this season delights the eye and gratifies the heart.-ALISON.

No man is so foolish but he may give another good counsel sometimes; and no man is so wise but he may easily err, if he will take no other's counsel but his own.-BEN JONSON.

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250

SKETCHES OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. PART THE FIRST.

SLOW PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENT AND OF DISCOVERY IN SCOTLAND.

THE assertion, startling perhaps to some of our travellers, who may have explored remote regions in quest of the wonders of nature, or the monuments of ait, that our knowledge of Scotland is recent and inadequate, may be verified by any one disposed to undertake a tour of some months on the continent, and among the islands, of that interesting portion of the kingdom and it may be explained not only by the old trite truism, that we are usually better acquainted with the state of other countries than of our own, but by brief reference to its peculiar causes in the instance of Scotland; the slow advance of improvement, and yet slower progress of discovery in that country.

Let it not be forgotten by the people of Great Britain, that the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland to which the mighty exertions and extensive empire of this nation must be, under Providence, chiefly attributed, is comparatively an event of recent occurrence. Till the federal junction of the two kingdoms under James the First, they were perpetually involved in hostilities, and the state of Scotland was one of miserable anarchy and confusion, resulting from the long minorities of her kings, and the instability of the royal authority. The last clanbattle in the Lowlands was fought in 1598. The metropolis of Scotland was at this period a huge fortress, in which the nobles and gentry were penned up in floors, or flats, piled upon each other to the height of twelve and fourteen stories; often staining the pavement of their prison-house with blood, shed in their fierce and unrestrained contentions. The Traditions of Edinburgh, published by Chambers, well illustrate this lawless state of society; whilst both the border wars and domestic feuds of the Scotch have derived celebrity from immortal verse. The lamp of antiquity, which had been confined hitherto within the secret recesses of the sepulchre, from which it occasionally emitted some feeble gleams, disclosed at length by the spell of the great Enchanter of the North, shone forth with a lustre which threatened for a while to eclipse the day.

No earthly flame blazed e'er so bright,
It shone like heaven's own blessed light,
And issuing from the tomb,

Show'd the monk's cowl and visage pale,
Danced on the dark-brow'd warrior's mail,
And kiss'd his waving plume.

At the close of the seventeenth century, the state of the Lowlands was more wretched than any part of Ireland at the present day; containing, according to a credible witness, Fletcher of Saltoun, out of a small population, no less than 200,000 vagrants, living in misery, riot, and crime. The final incorporation of England and Scotland, by the Union of 1714, removed the remaining obstacles to the free intercourse of the two countries, and to the extension of the benefits of commerce, and of general improvement to Scotland. But, unhappily, the efficacy of this measure was long retarded by the unsettled state of the Highlands, no less than by the delay which must always attend the transition of a people from one stage of civilization to another. Till the Union in 1714, the Highlands could be scarcely considered an integral portion of the kingdom. Those countries and the islands were governed by independent chieftains, exercising a mixed species of feudal and patriarchal sovereignty; committing depredations and levying war upon each other's territories, often defying the royal sceptre, and when subjugated again recovering their authority. So late as 1688, about the period of our revolution, a clan-battle was fought in the Highlands. The rebellions of 1715 and 1745 succeeded; and even after 1745, bandits and outlaws infested the Highlands, and were executed. A conciliatory policy followed the rigorous measures which had been adopted by the British government for the suppression of these disorders; and at the commencement of the reign of George the Third, an auspicious era for Scotland, that country began to participate steadily in the benefits which the union had opened to its grasp. Of the progress of improvement at this period, a curious and instructive record, entitled, Letters respecting the Trade, Manners, &c. of Edinburgh in 1763, and since that period, issued from the press in 1793, from which a few passages may be extracted.

"In 1763-Edinburgh was almost entirely confined within the city walls. The suburbs were of small extent. "In 1763-People of quality and fashion lived in houses, which, in 1783, were inhabited by tradesmen, or by people in humble and ordinary life. The Lord Justice Clerk Tinwald's house was possessed by a French teacher -Lord President Craigie's house by a rouping-wife or saleswoman of old furniture-and Lord Drummore's house was left by a chairman for want of accommodation. "In 1783-A communication (towards the Castle) between the Old and the New City, was begun by means of an immense mound of earth, above 800 feet in length, across a deep morass, and made passable for carriages in three years. Whilst the mound was forming, it sunk, at different periods, above 80 feet on the west side, and was again filled up. Eighteen hundred eart-loads of earth, from the foundations of the houses then digging in the New Town, were (upon an average) laid upon this mound every day. This is a work unrivalled by any but Alexander the Great's at Tyre.

In 1763-The revenue of the post-office of Edinburgh was £11,942 per annum. "In 1783-The same revenue was upwards of £40,000, and is since much increased.

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In 1763-There were two stage-coaches, with three horses, a coachman, and postilion to each coach, which went to the port of Leith, (a mile and a half distant) every hour, from eight in the morning till eight at night, and consumed a full hour upon the road. There were no other stage-coaches in Scotland, except one, which set out once a month for London, and it was from twelve to sixteen days upon the journey.

In 1783-There were five or six stage-coaches to Leith every half hour, which ran it in fifteen minutes. DUNN, who opened the magnificent hotels in the New Town, was the first person who attempted a stage-coach to Dalkeith, a village six miles distant. There are now stage-coaches, flies, and diligences to every considerable town in Scotland, and to many of them two, three, four, and five: to London there were no less than sixty stage-coaches monthly, or fifteen every week, and they reached the capital in four days: and, in 1786, two of these stage-coaches (which set out daily) reached London in sixty hours, by the same road that required twelve or sixteen days for the established coach in 1763.

"In 1763-The hackney-coaches in Edinburgh were few in number, and perhaps the worst of the kind in Britain.

"In 1783-The number of hackney-coaches was more than tripled, and they were the handsomest carriages, and had the best horses of any, without exception, in Europe. In 1790, many elegant hackney-chariots were added.

"In 1763-Literary property, or authors acquiring money by their writings, was hardly known in Scotland: David Hume and Dr. Robertson had indeed, a very few years before, sold some of their works, the one, a part of the History of Britain, for £200; the other, the History of Scotland, for £600;-each two vols. in quarto.

"In 1783-The value of literary property was carried higher by the Scots than ever was known among any people. David Hume received £5000 for the remainder of his History of Britain; and Dr. Robertson, for his second work, received £4500.

"In 1786-A Chamber of Commerce was constituted by royal charter, for protecting and encouraging the commercial and manufacturing interests of the country. This institution has led the public attention to many useful objects, and has obtained many salutary regulations and laws respecting the general commerce of the country

"There was no law, in Scotland, making the wilful sinking of ships a capital crime, till obtained by means of this chamber

"In 1763-The stock of the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge amounted to £30,000. In 1792 the same stock amounted to about £100,000.

"In 1763-The number of students at the college of Edinburgh was about 500.

"In 1791-The number of students entered in the college books was 1255. And in 1792 the number was 1306.

"In 1763-There were two newspapers, printed in very small folio, and the advertisements in each were from ten to twenty.

"In 1790-There were four established newspapers; and in 1792 six newspapers.

"In 1763-There were 396 four-wheeled carriages entered to pay duty, and 462 two-wheeled carriages.

"In 1790-There were 1427 four-wheeled carriages entered to pay duty, and 462 two-wheeled: and of wains and carts 6450. Till of late the wains and carts could not be ascertained.

"In 1763-Few coaches or chaises were made in Edinburgh. The nobility and gentry, in general, brought their carriages from London; and Paris was reckoned the place in Europe where the most elegant carriages were constructed.

1 "In 1783-Coaches and chaises were constructed as elegantly in Edinburgh as any where in Europe; and, it may be added, stronger and cheaper. Many were yearly exported to Petersburgh, and the cities on the Baltic; and there was, in 1783, an order from Paris to a coachmaker in Edinburgh, for 1000 crane-necked carriages, to be executed in three years. This trade has since greatly increased.

"In 1763-There was no such profession known as a haberdasher.

"In 1783-The profession of a haberdasher (which includes many trades, the mercer, the milliner, the linendraper, the hatter, the hosier, the glover, and many others), was nearly the most common in town; and they have since multiplied greatly.

"In 1763-There was no such profession known as a perfumer: barbers and wig-makers were numerous, and were in the order of decent burgesses: hair-dressers were few, and hardly permitted to dress hair on Sundays; and many of them voluntarily declined it.

“İn 1783-Perfumers had splendid shops in every principal street some of them advertised the keeping of bears, to kill occasionally, for greasing ladies' and gentlemen's hair, as superior to any other animal fat. Hair-dressers were more than tripled in number. There was a professor who advertised, A Hair-dressing Academy, and gave lectures on that noble and useful art.

"In 1763, and for some years after-There was one ship that made an annual voyage to Petersburgh; and never brought tallow, if any other cargo offered. Three tons of tallow were imported into Leith in 1763, which came from Newcastle.

"In 1783-The ships from Leith and the Firth of Forth to the Baltic amounted to some hundreds. They made two voyages in the year, and sometimes three. In 1786, above 2500 tons of tallow were imported directly from the Baltic into Leith. The importation of Baltic goods into Leith is surpassed by only one, or at most two ports in Britain.

"In 1763-A stranger coming to Edinburgh was obliged to put up at a dirty uncomfortable inn, or to remove to private lodgings. There was no such place as an hotel; the word indeed was not known, or was only intelligible to persons acquainted with the French.

"In 1783-A stranger might have been accommodated, not only comfortably, but most elegantly, at many public hotels; and the person who, in 1763, was obliged to put up with accommodation little better than that of a waggoner or carrier, may now be lodged like a prince, and command every luxury of life."

infirmities of his bodily frame, and the violence done to his established habits. The publication of his work, and the notoriety of his sarcasms, proved in no slight degree advantageous. The Scotch recognised the sterling worth of their learned visiter, amidst the occasional roughness of his manners, and severity of his language: they were gratified by the enthusiasm which led him to their moors and islands, and by his genuine admiration of their hereditary virtues, and they have ever since planted trees on hill, dale, rock, and island, with vindictive alacrity. The progress of improvement was much accelerated by the publication of the Statistical Survey of Scotland towards the close of the last century: a lasting monument of the intelligence of the contributors to the stock of valuable information which it contains, chiefly clergy, and of the industry of the compiler, Sir John Sinclair. It is unfortunately inaccurate; and the destruction of the original papers, in opposition, it is said, to the advice of Sir Walter Scott, renders it impossible to distinguish those portions of the work on which dependence may be placed. To Sir John Sinclair also Scotland is much indebted for his exertions in encouraging the improvement of agriculture, which advanced rapidly towards the close of the last century: and the Lothian husbandry has at length clothed with opulence and renown those fields which were once overgrown with weeds, or overrun by marauders, whilst the application of the produce of the sea coasts has fertilized unprofitable moors, and industry has even extorted the rude subsistence of the mountaineer from the interstices of his rugged rocks. The extension of sheep-farming which drew forth the violent resistance or sentimental lamentations of those who clung to the old system, under the influence of mistaken philanthropy or poetical illusion, has elad with flocks, lonely moors and forests, over which in olden time

The hunter of deer and the warrior rode

To his hills that encircle the sea:

whilst the planting of trees, encouraged by the war price of timber, and the improved taste of the people, no less than by Dr. Johnson's jokes, has been carried on in all

parts of the country, and even on islands on which it was supposed that trees would not grow.

The introduction of the larch into Scotland in the middle of last century, has proved eminently advantageous as which have sprung up, have literally changed the face of well as ornamental to the country. The forests of larch many parts of it. The noxious property of the fir in destroying vegetation does not belong to the larch: and sheep may pasture beneath its shade: whilst its timber contributes to the strength of the British navy. The Duke of Athol, whose celebrated pair of larch-trees at Dunkeld, were the first introduced into Scotland, and who in a single fication not only of seeing a frigate built of the timber year planted six millions of these trees, enjoyed the gratifrom his own estate, and bearing his name, but of being applied to for materials for its repairs, that after being informed by Government in the winter of 1828, when employed during seven years in the East and West Indies, America, and Africa, it needed little; whereas another frigate, fitted out at the same time and built of oak, though its voyages had not been so trying, required much.

Scotland, as in most countries, dates principally from the The universal diffusion of improvement throughout introduction or extension of roads. Roads were, indeed, carried far into the Highlands during the last century, before the pacification of those regions, for the military purpose of controlling their inhabitants, as their designation time has been celebrated in the well-known couplet: imports. The state of communication previous to that

It were to be desired that the progress of morals and of religion, according to this statement, had kept pace with that of wealth during the period adverted to by our author. The other principal towns of Scotland shared in the spreading improvement. An account of Aberdeen, published a few years ago, informs us that the first fourwheeled carriage kept in that city or its neighbourhood, appeared about seventy years previous. In 1763, two postchaises were set up, and about 1770, the first stage-coach ran between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Vessels that carried passengers to London, seldom performed more than four or five of these voyages within the year: at the time of our author, three sailed every week, besides steam-prietors through whose estates they pass, have been vessels.

When Dr. Johnson visited Scotland in 1773, the only hotel in Edinburgh was the inn in the grass-market, the present resort of stage-waggons. The occasional asperity of the remarks of that eminent writer in his celebrated tour to the Hebrides, admits of much palliation from the real state of the country at that time, the want of accommodation, the difficulty of travelling, and especially the unsuitableness of the season which he and his companion sclected for a Hebridean excursion, no less than from the

Had you seen these roads before they were made, You would lift up both hands and bless General Wade. Early in the present century, roads, the cost of which has been divided equally between government and the pro

extended to the Pentland Frith, and to the western extremity of the Isle of Sky, conveying the cattle of the Long Island of Sutherlandshire and the other North Highlands, to the rich pastures and productive markets of England. Mr. Telford, in his evidence appended to the Parliamentary Report on Roads, in 1828, states that, between Dunkeld, at the southern entrance into the Highlands, and Thurso on the north coast, a distance of 234 miles, heretofore including six ferries nearly impassable, there is now a very good mail-coach road, accommodated

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