lSo4i View of the Situation of Farmer^, ^c. 403 



friends expeded. I have heard H********* drily remark to 



him that he feldom talked of this expedition. 



Nearly about the fame time, J**»* D****** in T*********, 

 Q**#*# ^^,.***,:..**.** .j^ ^*^^^*.:,,**^ ^^^ ^y ^^^^^ refpeaed 



clafs-fellow J**** s******* in K*****, allowed themfclves the 

 fame indulgence. G***** has often told me, and fecmingly with 

 much regret, that the journey coft him exa£lly the profit he 

 made by a fcore of Highland nolt he bought at Falkirk the Octo- 

 ber preceding. 



This journey is now fo common, that it is no longer thought 

 extraordinary, but is quite loll in the blaze of |***** |*#*^*#»g 

 little tour and journies to p****, in which it is faid he has fpent 

 hundreds ; and yet his name and extravagance never, till now, 

 met in the £ime fentence. 



i have, in thefe little anecdotes, kept my eye directed chiefly 

 to Eaft Lothian, the county in which you live. There, I have 

 fome interell, and there your Magazine is generally read. The 

 inferences, I think, I am fully warranted to draw from every 

 thing I have faid, and, from the mofl ferlous confideration I am. 

 able to beftow upon the fubje61:, are, that capital much greater 

 than formerly is now necelTary to enable a farmer to carry on his 

 trade, almoft every article, whether of profefTional, pcrfonal, or 

 family expence, being feveral times its former price •, that wealthy 

 tenants can afford to pay high rents ; but I muft deny the reverfe 

 of the propofition, though I freely admit that a fmart addition of 

 rent may have the efFe£t to quicken his induftry ; and that, in 

 the general improvement of all things in this ifland, farmers are 

 iiot behind hand ; that they have their full fhare in the increafe 

 of our comforts, and are the moft thriving clafs of the communi- 

 ty j and thofe of Eaft Lothian, notwithftanding the high rents 

 they pay, and the fenfelefs outcry againft the opprefTion of their 

 landlords, the moft thriving of that clafs. 



1 have made bold to dedicate this trifle to the Earl of Hadding- 

 ton, who fhines equally in the capacity of landlord to his tenants, 

 or at his table, at which I have fometimes the honour to fit down ; 

 and it is to his kind, eafy hofpitality, that he is indebted for the 

 patronage of this httle work, if it is of value fufhcient to create 

 a debt. 



H An Heritor. 



2 ij June \ 804. 



VOL. v. NO. 20. I) 4 T» 



