100 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 



to the dwelling-houses. Altogether, as will have been 

 clearly seen, the atmosphere was troubled in the extreme. 

 A single injudicious act on the part of the messenger or 

 police would unquestionably have produced an explosion of 

 feeling which would have compelled the legal force to re- 

 treat with greater haste and with less dignity than that with 

 which they did actually retire. At one point a row seemed 

 imminent, but it was prevented by the officers and the 

 police exercising prudence as the better virtue. 



Judging from the appearance and the demeanour of the 

 people to-day, my own opinion is that, if these writs are to be 

 served by force, they must be served by men protected by the 

 military. This, too, is the opinion of many people in Portree. 

 The truth is, these frequent visits of officers and men in drib- 

 lets to serve papers, which the crofters associate with im- 

 pending misery, and possibly, eviction, are irritating and 

 distressing the people. As it is, the people have become 

 exasperated ; and it will be absolutely cruel, considering 

 their ignorance of legal forms, their extreme poverty, and 

 their attachment to the soil, to serve the writs by any other 

 force than one which, by previously overawing them, will 

 preclude the possibility of inflicting personal wounds on 

 either man or woman. The appearance of the military may 

 possibly overawe them, if they be sent in sufficient force ; 

 but a police force will only still more exasperate them, and 

 lead to a repetition of the painful scenes of April last. 



The tone and spirit of this communication was altogether 

 different to anything that had hitherto appeared in the 

 Courier. It began to dawn upon the landlords that there 

 must be something in the complaints of the people, after 

 all, when this newspaper published such an account of the 

 Braes and its unfortunate inhabitants. The change in its 

 views produced a sensation, and pressure was immediately 



