In This Manner I Often Visit Them, And
Carefully Examine Their Houses, Their Modes Of Ingenuity, Their
Different Ways; And Make Them All Relate All They Know, And Describe
All They Feel.
These are scenes which I believe you would willingly
share with me.
I well remember your philanthropic turn of mind. Is
it not better to contemplate under these humble roofs, the rudiments
of future wealth and population, than to behold the accumulated
bundles of litigious papers in the office of a lawyer? To examine
how the world is gradually settled, how the howling swamp is
converted into a pleasing meadow, the rough ridge into a fine field;
and to hear the cheerful whistling, the rural song, where there was
no sound heard before, save the yell of the savage, the screech of
the owl or the hissing of the snake? Here an European, fatigued with
luxury, riches, and pleasures, may find a sweet relaxation in a
series of interesting scenes, as affecting as they are new. England,
which now contains so many domes, so many castles, was once like
this; a place woody and marshy; its inhabitants, now the favourite
nation for arts and commerce, were once painted like our neighbours.
The country will nourish in its turn, and the same observations will
be made which I have just delineated. Posterity will look back with
avidity and pleasure, to trace, if possible, the era of this or that
particular settlement.
Pray, what is the reason that the Scots are in general more
religious, more faithful, more honest, and industrious than the
Irish?
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