26 



And were he actually to come among us, it would be 

 easy for him, having started from the Land's end, to pro- 

 ceed from one warm hearted and hospitable farmer to 

 another, till the Pentland Firth arrested his course, and 

 all his journey long he might converse with cultivators 

 of ardent minds, full of practical and general knowledge, 

 who in most unpromising circumstances refuse to despond, 

 and while they see so much every where around them 

 awaiting the hand of the improver, will not let shp the 

 anchor of hope ; who differing widely, perhaps, in politics, 

 and as to the policy of certain fiscal regulations, yet feel 

 alike that to resolute men the conquest of the stubborn land 

 is as sure as the dominion of the sea ; that new difficulties 

 only demand new exertions and that new energies are 

 equal to meet new emergencies. 



On quitting the British shores, after such a tour, that 

 foreigner would carry with him a true impression of the 

 flower of English and Scottish Agriculturists, and his first 

 admiration of the resolute firmness, and his estimate of 

 the skill of the island farmers, would be confirmed and 

 strengthened by his actual survey.* 



In other parts of the world I might fear lest my au- 

 dience should accuse me of over exalting, by such lan- 

 guage as this, the character of my own country and its 

 people. You, who feel so just a pride in the noble land 

 you possess, will know how to make allowance for my 

 pride in mine. But indeed whatever can be truly said 

 of the spirit and energy of British farmers, may, I begin 



* For two recent estimates of the condition of Agriculture in Great 

 Britain, see — 



Weccherlin. Ueber Englische Land-wirthschaft und derm Amcmding avf Land- 

 loiHhschaftlihe Verhulinisse insbesondere Deulschlands. Sintlgard and Tvb- 

 ingen, 1845. And 



Colman's British AgricuUure. Loudon and Boston, 1840. 



