292 SALMONIA. 



bitter or sour; and scepticism and discon- 

 tent sicknesses of the mind are often 

 the results of devouring it. 



HAL. Surely you cannot have a more re- 

 ligious, more moral, or more improved popu- 

 lation than that of Scotland ? 



POIET. Precisely so. In Scotland, edu- 

 cation is not forced upon the people it is 

 sought for, and it is connected with their 

 forms of faith, acquired in the bosoms of their 

 families, and generally pursued with a distinct 

 object of prudence or interest: nor is that 

 kind of education wanting in this country. 



PHYS. Where a book is rarely seen, a 

 newspaper never. 



POIET. Pardon me, there is not a cot- 

 tage without a prayer-book; and I am not 

 sorry that these innocent and happy men are 

 not made active and tumultuous subjects 

 of King Press, whom I consider as the 

 most capricious, depraved, and unprincipled 

 tyrant, that ever existed in England. De- 

 praved for it is to be bought by great 

 wealth; capricious because it sometimes 

 follows, and sometimes forms, the voice of 

 the lowest mob; and unprincipled because, 



