tion in an ordinary year, as it appeared under one point of view, nor of one half, as it appeared under another statement, but of one third part of the ave rage consumption precisely.

I beg pardon of the reader for detaining him so long with these tantalizing calculations. It was done merely with a view to show how easily even a well-intentioned writer may slide into error himself, when he relies too implicitly on speculations of this sort; and, at the same time, the great facility which this mode of procedure affords for deceptious writers to embarrass a question when it suits their purpose, and thus, without any real foundation, to excite hopes, or awaken fears among the multitude, and lead to error and public distraction in difficult times. What a lefson of caution ought this to afford to those who listen to the exaggerated harangues and artful statements of partymen of all descriptions!

But if it be thus difficult to avoid being led into error by the delusive seductions of reasoning, even where the facts are open to inspection by any one who chooses to investigate them with the requisite attention, as in the above example, how much more difficult must it be to persevere in the right path, in cases of this sort, when reliance is chiefly placed upon reasoning, where the facts upon which that reasoning turn are liable to be misrepresented or misunderstood! I must then repeat it, that in matters of such serious concern as the providing of food for a whole nation, it becomes necessary to act with the most cautious circumspection, or the consequences may be fatal,

Innumerable, indeed, are the mischievous conse

quences which result from hasty and ill-digested, though often well-meant exertions of individuals and legislators entering rashly upon plans for relieving distress in times of scarcity, of which many instances might be adduced. I shall beg leave to specify one of this sort, that came within my own knowledge, and was attended with deplorable effects at the time; nor has it yet been forgotten in the place where it happened.

The late lord Macdonald, who pofsefsed large domains in the isle of Skye, in an ill-judged fit of philanthropy, hearing that the people in the island were in danger of being in want of corn in the year 1782-3, purchased at Greenock a considerable quantity of oatmeal, which he ordered to be sent round to his estate, and there sold below prime cost to the poor; in the whole, he thus expended several hundred pounds. This supply chanced not to be sufficient for the wants of the whole island; and when it was gone, none other being there to be had, the people experienced an extremity o want that had not in the memory of man been experienced in that island. His lordship, supposing that I had alluded to him in some part of my report to the lords of the treasury in the year 1785 concerning the fisheries, came up to me, and in some warmth taxed me with having misrepresented him in that report. I said, that I was not conscious of having misrepresented any person whatever in that memorial; and if he could point out a single statement in it that was not strictly consonant with truth, I should think myself much obliged to him, as I might have an opportunity at that moment to correct such statement before the committee of parliament, which was then sitting where we were.'

tion in an ordinary year, as it appeared under one point of view, nor of one half, as it appeared under another statement, but of one third part of the average consumption precisely.

I beg pardon of the reader for detaining him so long with these tantalizing calculations. It was done merely with a view to show how easily even a well-intentioned writer may slide into error himself, when he relies too implicitly on speculations of this sort; and, at the same time, the great facility which this mode of procedure affords for deceptious writers to embarrass a question when it suits their purpose, and thus, without any real foundation, to excite hopes, or awaken fears among the multitude, and lead to error and public distraction in difficult times. What a lefson of caution ought this to afford to those who listen to the exaggerated harangues and artful statements of partymen of all descriptions!

But if it be thus difficult to avoid being led into error by the delusive seductions of reasoning, even where the facts are open to inspection by any one who chooses to investigate them with the requisite attention, as in the above example, how much more difficult must it be to persevere in the right path, in cases of this sort, when reliance is chiefly placed upon reasoning, where the facts upon which that reasoning turn are liable to be misrepresented or misunderstood! I must then repeat it, that in matters of such serious concern as the providing of food for a whole nation, it becomes necefsary to act with the most cautious circumspection, or the consequences may be fatal,

Innumerable, indeed, are the mischievous conse

quences which result from hasty and ill-digested, though often well-meant exertions of individuals and legislators entering rashly upon plans for relieving distress in times of scarcity, of which many instances might be adduced. I shall beg leave to specify one of this sort, that came within my own knowledge, and was attended with deplorable effects at the time; nor has it yet been forgotten in the place where it happened.

The late lord Macdonald, who pofsefsed large domains in the isle of Skye, in an ill-judged fit of philanthropy, hearing that the people in the island were in danger of being in want of corn in the year 1782-3, purchased at Greenock a considerable quantity of oatmeal, which he ordered to be sent round to his estate, and there sold below prime cost to the poor; in the whole, he thus expended several hundred pounds. This supply chanced not to be sufficient for the wants of the whole island; and when it was gone, none other being there to be had, the people experienced an extremity o want that had not in the memory of man been experienced in that island. His lordship, supposing that I had alluded to him in some part of my report to the lords of the treasury in the year 1785 concerning the fisheries, came up to me, and in some warmth taxed me with having misrepresented him in that report. I said, that I was not conscious of having misrepresented any person whatever in that memorial; and if he could point out a single statement in it that was not strictly consonant with truth, I should think myself much obliged to him, as I might have an opportunity at that moment to correct such statement before the committee of parliament, which was then sitting where we were.'

This, he said, he could not do (in fact I had stated no→ thing respecting him), but he then asked me if I knew that he had expended many hundred pounds on the poor in the year 1783. I told him that I knew it well, and I knew also (although I did not impute blame to him for it, because it was certainly not so intended) that it had been one of the most destructive boons that ever had been conferred on that country. "What do you mean?" Did you send as much meal as was suffieient to supply the wants of the whole island?" "No, I only sent as much as was sufficient to supply the poor on my own estate, to whom I sold it below prime cost. Others were able to pay for it themselves, and had no peed of my afsistance. James Macdonald (a merchant in Portree, in Skye) could supply them as he used to do." And so he would have done on this occasion, had it not been for your lordship's interference. You know very well that James Macdonald could not afford to sell unless for a fair profit; but, if he had attempted to sell it at a rate that could afford him a living profit, while yours was selling at his door so much below that price, what would have been the consequence? His granaries would have been pillaged, his house pulled down, and he himself in all probability torn to pieces by the mob. He had too much sense not to know all this, and therefore, in that year alone, he declined to import any corn. The consequence was, that the quantity of corn fell greatly short, and many persons, if they did not there actually die for want, were reduced to the greatest extremity, and forced to leave the country; which could not have happened but for your lordship's ill-judged beneficence. You ought certainly