Our Correspondents may be assured that their communications are not neglected, though neither immediately printed nor particularly acknowledged. We are anxious not to give offence by our silence, and would prefer replying to each by letter, if the address of the writer were always given. But this is often not in our power. We, therefore, so far depart from our usual practice, as to notice the following papers received within these few days. These we intend to publish speedily: "Hints on the best methods of attacking Religion," an unpublished fragment, by an eminent literary character of the last century.-" Original papers relative to the Political State of Scotland previous to 1680."-" Original letter of James alias Hamish Macgregor, son of Rob Roy :" (This will be inserted as soon as we resume the subject to which it relates;-for the present we believe the public have enough of it.)-" Letter of Sir Ewen Cameron."-" Scottish Convention of 1678,"-" Fragment of a Tour in India."-" Geological Notices."-Continuation of "Scottish Zoology."-Reply to the Notice in our last," On the Geography of Plants."-Several curious communications respecting the Gypsies. -A paper by C. J. "On the State of the Middle Ranks in Scotland during the carly part of last Century:" This is rather long as it now stands, but may be easily condensed by the Author.-" Essays on Dramatic Poetry."-" Translations from the German and Spanish," &c. &c. The Correspondents of the EDINBURGH MAGAZINE AND LITERARY MISCELLANY are respectfully requested to transmit their Communications for the Editors to ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE and COMPANY, Edinburgh, or LONGMAN and COMPANY, London, to whom also orders for the Work should be particularly addressed. Printed by George Ramsay & Co. THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE, AND LITERARY MISCELLANY. MARCH 1818. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. SOME REMARKS ON THE PROGRESS feeling for many of those elegancies AND PRESENT STATE OF SCOTLAND, ITS HABITS, AND IM PROVEMENTS. cause WHEN the 20th of Geo. II., cap. 43, for abolishing the heritable jurisdictions in Scotland was moved in Parliament in the year 1747, (owing to the wisdom and patriotism of the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke,) it was supported, among other reasons, bethe way would be opened to the introduction of arts, of manufactures, of industry, of all the virtues and sweets of civil life, in the wildest parts of that country." Prior to that period, the attention of the people of Scotland had been occupied with objects inconsistent with the more peaceful pursuits of agriculture and commerce. Literature and science were little, if at all, regarded. The oppression of the nobles, and the occasional persecution of the Crown, deprived the body of the people of that security which is derived from a faithful execution of the law, and had, with the prevalence of a gloomy fanaticism, gone far to corrupt some of the best principles on which the moral character and the natural virtue of a people must always depend. From this period, accordingly, the real prosperity of Scotland has been always dated; and the strides which this country has made in every respect since that time, may well be said to be immense. For, whether we contemplate the progress which she has made in civil freedom and in morals,—in the knowledge of many of those wants, and a of life, the acquisition of the means of supplying which constitute so large a portion of the happiness and comfort of man,-in the establishment and extension of her manufacturing industry,-in the enlargement and beautifying of her towns,-in the advancement of her agricultural skill in several of the more important branches of that art,-in the inclosure and decoration of her fields,-in the rapid and general improvement of the means of communication between all parts of this country and with England,and in the increased facilities connected with, and dependent thereon, it will be found, we firmly believe, to exceed greatly what has occurred in any other country during the same, or a similar space of time. Such a career of improvement makes us feel proud of our country, while we are grateful to those men who, in spite of all the prejudices of the times, gave us the opportunity of becoming what we now are. As might naturally be expected, these improvements have advanced more rapidly during the latter portion of the above-mentioned period. Indeed, we shall not be far wrong if we date the greater part of them from the year 1770, or thereabout. Even the last twenty years have added considerably to the character of the changes which have been operating upon our national taste and manners. So important a subject has not escaped attention. It has been frequently noticed, both by those whom curiosity, or other motives, have, at various times, induced to visit this part of the island, or to inquire into its history, as well as by those among ourselves who have been led to investigate the causes, and record the progress of improvements so important to us as individuals, and so creditable to us as a nation. The subject has been as variously considered as the objects and habits of those by whom it has been treated have differed from each other; one class giving more weight to the influence of our connection with England and her colonies, while others ascribe a greater part of our improvements to the natural progress of society, aided by the genius, and active, and acute disposition of the people. We are inclined ourselves to coincide in opinion with those who consider that the progress of our improvement has not only been hastened, but that it has received its present direction from our connection and dependence on our southern neighbours, modified by the peculiar character of our Countrymen: And that it not only never would have made the same progress, but that it never would, as it now exists, have taken place at all, if the country had been left to its own unaided efforts. The very nature of the progress which has been made, the order in which it has proceeded, all strongly tend to prove that much of what now exists in this country has been adopted on the principles of imitation alone, and not in the regular and natural course of things, and evidently without the necessity or propriety of much of that which has been acquired having been either felt or called for. This branch of the subject is one of considerable interest and curiosity, both as it more particularly relates to ourselves, and also as a question of more general inquiry, when considered in relation to the history of the progress of society in Ireland and the United States of North America. In these latter instances, and particularly in that of Ireland, the influence of the metropolitan country over the provincial one is much more evident. And one is forcibly struck with the incongruity of a style of life, deriving its origin from one of the oldest civilized states of Europe, tacked to customs and habits belonging to a stage of society far removed from, and incompatible with, their natural existence. The same has happened in regard to this country. But our having previously existed as a distinct nation, has not only made us more careful in our selection of the customs and improvements of England, but has considerably modified them, so as to make them suit, with less apparent unfitness, our former habits and our present condition. The errors, however, which we seem to have committed, are evidently of the same class, and have arisen from a hastiness in following, or rather from a desire to adopt the manners, the customs, the style, and mode of living existing in England, and among English society, without considering how far they were suited to our circumstances, and without endeavouring to preserve the entire resemblance of that which we admired, by transferring what belonged to the same class inEngland to the same class in Scotland. It will be found, indeed, that, by not attending to this, we have committed some injudicious mistakes; and that we have often, in consequence, been contented with the shadow, while we abandoned the substance; or perhaps it would be more correct to say, that, in our desire to acquire what was, in fact, beyond our reach, and unfitted for our condition, we have done no more than make a vain display, without its being in our power to obtain the actual enjoyment of what we were inconsiderate enough to covet. This circumstance has accordingly affected our domestic arrangements, our style of living, our occasional entertainments, and our comparative general want of comfort. It is to be observed in the size of our houses, and their want of furni ture and of paint,-in our display of water-closets, and the total neglect of their cleanliness,-in the mode of laying out our places, and carrying on our improvements. In short, it will be found, upon examination, that we have, in general, rather preferred an attempt to ape our betters, than copy from our equals, and, in naturally failing to reach the former, we have lost the comforts which are enjoyed by the latter. These observations apply more particularly to the upper class of society in Scotland, and though it may be rejected as paradoxical by some, yet we state our opinion with 1818.] some degree of confidence as to its being correct, when we assert, that this class of society have in some particulars made less progress in the improvement peculiarly adapted to their fortunes and circumstances in life, than the class immediately below them. Not only so, but owing to the mistake which has thus been committed in selecting the model which we have followed, we have done much to perpetuate some of the worst customs peculiar to this class in Scotland, and have at the same time stood in the way of the general improvement of the whole country in the articles of tidyness, neatness, fitness, cleanliness, and comfort; in matters which have relation to the daily, nay, hourly transactions and convenience of man. It is no difficult matter to point out the manner in which this has happened, and it is not perhaps astonishing, that it should have taken the course it has done. The Union with England, followed by the more frequent and intinate intercourse which took place between the two countries, scon melted into the mass of the upper class of English society, those few Scotch noblemen, and still fewer commoners, whose fortunes enabled them to mix without impropriety with the more splendid of the English nobility, and her wealthy commoners. The growing prosperity of the country, by increasing the value of Scotch property, fortunate connections with English heiresses, and a more intimate union generally, has, by degrees, drawn the bulk of the Scottish aristocracy into the same class. The theatre of their display has been transferred from their own country to the metropolis of the British empire. What was before in Scotland, and is still in England, the second class, has, in the former country, become the first: That class, in short, which is in both countries composed of the country gentlemen of moderate property; of all the well-informed of the mercantile class; of all professional men; of men of science and of literature: That class, which, in its intercourse with the other, lends it a large share of that independence of conduct, of that vigour of intellect, and of those elegant and noble acquirements which adorn the best society of the capital, and distinguish our own. The consequence of this state of things has been, that there has taken place a sort In place of adopting this vain display, the reality of which we never can hope to possess, had we not better endeavour to secure that which is with * There has been as yet no accumulation of capital in Scotland. If a man in trade, or belonging to a profession, should happen to live within his income, and thereby realise a small property, he speedily quits his employment, and lives upon the interest of what he has accumulated. From this circumstance we have none of those splendid charities or subscriptions, which do such honour to the people of England. There is hardly a provincial town in England of any extent, that does not for this reason far exceed in liberality the utmost stretch of an Edinburgh subscription. . in our reach? There is no error more common amongst us, than to set out with a house beyond our means, and too large for our fortune; what is the consequence? Either that we run into difficulties in furnishing it, from which we do not soon extricate ourselves, or, what is more common, we spend many years of our life in a house without being painted, incompletely furnished, and never cleaned. Exhausted by the purchase of the house, we are unable to keep servants to clean it. Should we not, for example, improve most materially our individual and domestic comforts, and also our social intercourse, if-instead of retaining a person, by way of a servant out of livery, habited in a coat of dirty blue or faded brown, of a fashion not the most recent, nor in point of cleanliness the most agreea ble-we should dress our servants with that attention to their livery, to the neatness of their linen, and the cleanliness of their person, which we owe as much in true politeness to our neighbours, as in point of comfort to ourselves. In the same way, are we not bound in common decency, and for the sake of our daughters, to insist upon our female servants dressing in shoes and stockings, in place of displaying their naked limbs, and on their putting on some additional dress besides that scanty jacket called “a short gown," and the indelicacy of a single petticoat? If we, in the upper ranks, daily, and without observation, submit to such things in our own houses, how can we complain if the lower orders continue in the practice of habits which reflect more disgrace on us than on them? They have uniformly shewn a ready inclination to adopt every improvement which they were enabled to do, and from which they were not prevented by obstacles expressly retained, or created, or indirectly raised, by the apathy or example of their betters. Considering the matter in this view, it has always appeared to us that the well intentioned novel of the Cottagers of Glenburnie entirely failed in its praiseworthy object, by mistaking the origin and source of the evils which it meant to attack, and hoped to remove. Until those who lead, shew the example, how can the herd learn to follow? Until those who create the demand ask for the supply, how can those who are to provide it be expected to do so? If, for example, we in the south of Scotland find no fault with the bread we live upon, (and which no stranger can eat,) while the rest of Scotland enjoy it of an excellent quality, why should the bakers who supply us endeavour to make it better? If, in the same way, we are contented that our fish should be soft, ill washed, and bruised, our butter ill tasted, full of hairs, and, as if it were, made of skimmed milk, why should those who provide these several articles exert themselves for the mere love of cleanliness, which those who enjoy them seem neither to wish for nor understand? Surely if these virtues are to be cultivated for themselves alone, it is natural to expect their existence in the highest and best educated class of the community, and not among the labouring and least cultivated. "But so little does this feeling appear to form part of our character, that they do not seem to exist even where they are required, to secure what must interest each of us most intimately and continually. How much more consistent would it be for us to tuin our attention to the removal of these evils, than to a vain display of mere outward shew?-the more vain as the incongruity is, the more striking. We should have abstained from discussing what relates to our personal habits, as the subject is one which cannot be easily treated, either with a due regard to our own feelings, or the delicacy of our readers: but it in its nature is so essential both to our own comforts and those who visit us, and is one which at the same time affects our character so deeply, as a civilized people, that we cannot help conquering the disgust we have even in alluding to it, in the hope, that, sooner or later, our attention may be thoroughly roused, that the odium attached to it may be removed. We are induced to notice it besides, as it affords an excellent illustration of the truth of the principles which we have endeavoured to inculcate in the foregoing remarks. What can concern more immediately the lasting comforts of mankind, or what so materially affect our health and all our other habits, as delicacy and cleanliness in complying with those calls of nature, which are as ne‐ |