We were
driven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman,
where, after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my
chamber, I found an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine
sheets. The accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and
felt my feet in the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which
a long course of rain had softened to a puddle.
In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest rank of people is
sufficiently wretched. Among manufacturers, men that have no
property may have art and industry, which make them necessary, and
therefore valuable. But where flocks and corn are the only wealth,
there are always more hands than work, and of that work there is
little in which skill and dexterity can be much distinguished. He
therefore who is born poor never can be rich. The son merely
occupies the place of the father, and life knows nothing of
progression or advancement.
The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live in miserable
cabins, which afford them little more than shelter from the storms.
The Boor of Norway is said to make all his own utensils. In the
Hebrides, whatever might be their ingenuity, the want of wood
leaves them no materials. They are probably content with such
accommodations as stones of different forms and sizes can afford
them.
Their food is not better than their lodging.
