co 
Sruthamptonrow, Tuy 16, 1803. 
1803. | 
tion? Every member of f fociety is or ought 
tobe deeply interefted in preventing the 
early pollution of the ,minds of their chil- 
dren; or the rifing generation, by remov- | 
ing-fuch fhocking examples.trom. before 
them. To the difgrace of human nature, 
moft of the lefs cruel diverfions which I 
have mentioned are conduéted by mex ! 
but in this refinement upon all former 
fpecies of cruelty, boys are felected, en- 
couraged by the men, and taught to make 
ufe of their teeth like cannibals; and I 
know no one initance in which every bad 
human. propenfity or paffion is fo called 
forth, as in the one I have adduced ; for 
the rancour thefe boys fhewed to each other 
was no way inferior to the total infenfi- 
bility they difplayed to the fufferings of 
the object of their perfecution ! 
If this paper fhould fortunately fall in- 
to the hands of thofe who have the difpo- 
fition to relievethe fufferings of the brute 
creation, and at the fame time the power 
to carry intoefiect fuch purpole, I hope 
the truth contained in it will make fuch 
impreffion as it was intended to produce ; 
for if fuch enormous vice is not checked, 
we need not wonder if our prifons over- 
flow, and public executions become fo 
frequent, as to lofe the effect they were 
intended to have on the public mind. 
Your’s, &c. 
EGERTON SMITH. 
Liverpool, March 1, 1803. 
: — 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N Duncomb’s Colletion of Letters 
there is the following Latin Epigram, 
not unappropriate, in the fentiments it ex- 
preffes, to the prefent crifis of affairs, 
De Minimis Maxima. 
«Exigua crefcit de glande altiflima quercus, 
Et tandem patuilis furgit in aftra comis 5 
Dumque anni pergunt, crefcit latiflima moles; 
Mox fecat equoreas, bellica navis, aquas, 
Angliacis hinc fama, falus hinc nefcitur oris ; 
Et glans eft noftri prefidium imperii, 
This epigram may be tranflated into 
Englith as follows : 
From a fmallacorn the huge oaks arife, 
And lift their fpreading Branches to the fkies ; 
Hence growing years produce th’ expanding 
‘fleet, 
Which proudly rides o'er ocean’s awful deep ; 
Hence Britain’s glory, fafety to its coaft ; 
‘ Froma {mall acorn fprings our ftrength aha 
boatt. 
JR. 
Prefent State of ihe County of : Banff. 
duftry. 
169 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
The PRESENT sTATE, ofthe COUNTY of 
BAMFF, with ANECDOTES ofthe PRIN» 
CIPAL PROPRIETORS. 
AMFFSHIRE is about thirty-two 
B miles from eaft to weft, and thirteen — 
from north to fouth. It is bounded on 
the fouth by the river Ugie, onthe eat by 
the Deveron and the German Ocean, on 
. the weft by the river Spey and Moray- 
fhire, on the fouth-weft by the braes of 
Mar and Badenoch, and on the north by 
the Moray-frith, nyt dni has called 
by Ptolemy, in his Geographical Tables 
of the fecond century, Afaarium Vara- 
ris, trom the river Varar, or Farar, which 
enters into the head of that frith, (aid is 
called by the Hichlanders Avon na moe 
nach, or, the Monks’ river, becaufe the 
priory of Beaulé ftoodon its bank. The 
fituation of this fhire invites to the molt 
induftrious ‘cultivation ; but how many 
territories, ftill more highly favoured, lie 
either waite, or difplay only fquallid huts, 
half-farved cattle, and here and there a 
flip of corn-land on the banks of rivers 
and ftreams! This country, in common 
with theother northern countries into which 
the Romans never entered, remained long 
uncivilized and uncultivated,though better 
furnifhed by Nature with bays, harbours, 
and creeks, than the fouth. Thofe po- 
lifhed conquerors highly improved the 
fouth, as far-as they fettled, by foftening 
the rough temper and rude manners of the 
natives, by introducing letters, arts, {ci- 
ences, and agriculture, and laying. the 
foundation of towns, navigation, and 
commerce. The Roman Colonies: forts, 
and naval itations, gave rife to the many ‘ 
towns and villages on both fides of the 
frith of Forth ; ‘and the culture and ferti- 
lity of the Lothians were laid by their in- 
This tafk in Bamff and Moray 
fhires has been referved for their. native 
lords, who have lately carried it on with 
aitonithing rapidity, and the moft genuine 
pateiotic ardor. But it is chiefly tothe 
animating breath of two nvblemen,namely, 
the lateLord Findlater,and the ore ion fenicn 
Earl of Fife, both highly diftingujthed 
for genius, judgment, and the mott patri- 
otic and enlarged views, that Bamffhhire is 
indebted for the ee of a fcene lit- , 
tle to be expected in fo northerly a latitude, 
Lord Findiater made very extenfive plan-. 
tations between Cullen and Bamff, and 
firft antroduced proper agriculture. . He. 
encouraged his farmers to build goud 
--houfes, to improve their farms, and efta- 
blifh manufactories. The i improvements 
by the foftering arene of the nn Earl 
of 
