SOUTHERN SCOTLAND. 



311 



Under the fifty-sixtli degree of latitude they secure crops far more abundant than 

 those obtained from the fertile lands on the Mediterranean, which are 900 

 miles nearer to the equator. Human labour and ingenuity have succeeded in 

 acclimatizing plants which hardly appeared to be suited to the soil and climate of 

 Scotland. About the middle of the eighteenth century a patch of wheat was 

 pointed out near Edinburgh as a curiosity, whilst now that cereal grows in abun- 

 dance as far north as the Moray Firth. And yet it appears as if the climate had 

 become colder, for it is no longer possible to cultivate the poppy or tobacco, as was 

 done in the beginning of the century. Several varieties of apples, pears, and 

 prunes, formerly in high repute, no longer arrive at maturity, and the Horticultural 

 Societies have ceased offering prizes for these productions, because it is no longer 

 possible to grow them in the open air. The manufacturing triumphs of Scotland have 

 been quite equal to those achieved in agriculture, and it is on Scottish soil that 

 Glasgow, the foremost manufacturing town of the United Kingdom, has arisen 

 with a population greater than that of either Manchester, Leeds, or Birmino-ham. 

 Scotland, through her numerous emigrants who live in London and the other 

 great towns, has also largely contributed towards the prosperity of Eno-land. 

 The hawkers in the English manufacturing districts are usually known as 

 " Scotchmen." The Scotch colonists in New Zealand and Canada are amongst 

 the most active and industrious, and the young Lowlanders who go out to 

 India as Government officials are far more numerous in proportion than those from 

 England. 



The love of education for its own sake, and not merely as a means to an end, 

 is far more widely spread in Scotland than in England. The lectures at the 

 universities are attended with a zeal which the students of Oxford or Cambridge 

 seldom exhibit. It is by no means rare to meet pupils in elementary schools 

 who are passionately fond of study, and the humble homes of artisans and 

 labourers frequently contain a select library which would do credit to a wealthv 

 English tradesman. At the same time there are not wanting young men who 

 accelerate their studies in order that they may secure the certificates which form 

 their passport to lucrative employment. They work hard, no doubt, but they 

 strive not after knowledge, but for material gain. The students of Edin- 

 burgh have little time to devote to those exercises of strength and skill which 

 are so highly cultivated at Oxford and Cambridge.* By a curious contrast, these 

 Scotchmen, so practical and full of common sense, have an extraordinary love for the 

 supernatural. They delight in stories of terror and of ghosts. Though clever 

 architects of their own fortunes, they are yet fatalists, and the religious sects 

 of which most of them are members defend with singular fervour the doctrine 

 of predestination. Thousands amongst the peasants, dressed in clerical black, 

 are veritable theologians, and know how to discuss the articles of their faith 

 with a great luxury of Scripture texts. As Emerson says, they allow their 

 dialectics to carry them to the extremes of insanity. In no other country of 

 the world is the Sabbath observed with such rigour as in Scotland. On that day 



* Demogeot et Montucci, " De l'Enseignement supérieur en Angleterre et en Ecosse." 



