PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. vil 



writes may be inferred on considering how much 

 the eye of the traveller is refreshed by the air of 

 snugness and refinement which a few trees and 

 shrubs already afford to the dwelling-houses of the 

 tenantry in those districts where agriculture is the 

 most improved. Wherever skill has augmented 

 ( as in all reason it ought) the capital employed in 

 farming, the effect has been a more polite educa- 

 tion, which in its turn has produced a finer taste, 

 manifested it may be in dress and manners and 

 house accommodation; but more remotely, and 

 therefore more strongly, in the out-door ornaments 

 of roses, ivy, and fruit trees, which at once hide 

 the deformity of naked walls, and suggest the idea 

 of comfort within them. This indication of im- 

 provement deserves both to be hailed and helped 

 forward on its happy career; for there is more of 

 virtue in it than would be imagined by persons less 

 observant of the connection that subsists between 

 taste and morals. About doorsteps so adorned, both 

 wife and children look far prettier than they appear 

 when seen through broken windows mended with 

 old hats, or met with daubled feet and awkward 

 gait, sliding or like to slide off stepping-stones laid 

 in mire. When home is rendered more attractive, 

 the market-gill will be forsaken for charms more 

 enduring, as they are also more endearing and better 

 for both soul and body. And what profusion of 

 roses and ripe fruits, dry gravel and shining laurels, 

 might be had for a thousandth part of the price 

 given for drams, which cause at market places need- 

 less stay, and vain or silly bargains, together with 



