Vll 



inferred on considering how much the eye of the 

 traveler is refreshed by the air of snugness and re- 

 finement 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 education, 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 in- 

 dication of improvement 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 per- 

 sons 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 O what profu- 

 sion 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 

 needless stay, and vain or silly bargains, together 

 with the growing vice which ruins all ! In propor- 

 tion as drinking decays the relish of home will revive; 



