126 Letter from George Dempjler, Efq. May." 



wretched fyflem of outfield and in ; bound to pay knin, and 

 perform perfonal ferviccs ; clothed in hodden, and lodged In 

 hovels. You have enriched the Magazine with refults of your 

 farming excurfions. Pray dire£l one of them to the county I 

 v.'xxic from; peep in upon Dunnichen : and if you find one of 

 the evils 1 have enumerated exifling ; if you can trace a queflion, 

 at my inflance, in a court of law, with any tenant as to liow he 

 labours Ids farm ; or iind one of them not fecured by a leafe of 

 nineteen years at lead and his life, the barony fliall be yours. 

 You will find me engaged in a controverfy of the mod amicable 

 kind with Lord Carrington, defending the freedom of Englifh 

 tenants from the foolifli reilri^lions with which their induftry is 

 fli::}ckled, prohibitions to break up meadow land, to fow flax, 

 to plant tobacco, occ. &c. &c., all impofed by foolifli fears, or 

 by ignorance, and confirmed by the fclfifli views of land Itew- 

 ards who naturally with tlie dependence of farmers on their will 

 and pleafure. God knows, Scotland is phyfically barren enough, 

 fitaated in a high latitude, compofed of ridges of high moun- 

 tains ; yet, in my opinion, moral caufes contribute flill more to 

 it^i'fterility. I urge the zealous profecution of your labours, as 

 a general change of fyflem and fentiment is only to be efiefted 

 (lowly : your maxims are deftined firft to revolt mankind, and, 

 Jong rifter, to reform them. There never was a lefs fuccefsfui 

 apoille than I have been. In a miffion of forty years, I cannot 

 boaft of one convert. I ilill find the tenants of my neareft 

 neighbours and my beft friends, cutting down the laird's corn, 

 xrhile their own crops are imperioufly calling for their fickles. 

 I am much pleafed with the rotations you fuggeft ; ancf as thofe 

 topics are very favourite ones with me, they occupy no fmall 

 portion of my leifure niometits. 



The Highland Society being filent on the fubjecl of the emi- 

 5;ration of the Highlanders who are gone, going, and preparing 

 to go in whole clans, can only be accounted for by thofe who 

 are more intimately acquainted with the Hate of the Highlands 

 than I pretend to be. One would tliink the fociety were difci- 

 ples of Pinkerton, who fays, the beft thing we could do would 

 be to get rid entirely of the whole Celtic tribe, and people their 

 country with inhabitants from the low country. How little doe& 

 he know the valour, the frugality, the induftry of thofe inefti- 

 niable people ! or of tlieir attachment to their friends and coun- 

 try ! I would not give a little Highland child for ten of the 

 liigheft Highland mountains In all Lochaber. With proper en- 

 couragement to its prefent inhabitants, the next century might 

 fee the Highlands of Scotland cultivated to its funimits, like 

 Wales or Switzerland, its vallies teeming with foldiers for our 

 land army, its bays, lakes and friths with fcamen for our navy. 



