Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/68

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" look behind;" not so much on account of the beautiful scenery with which we had of late been so agreeably amused, as on that of the character of its inhabitants, whose manners, as far as our opportunity of observing them extended, had interested us extremely. Tainted, perhaps, (though I am almost unwilling to suppose it) with some of those prejudices which the illiberality of my own countrymen have so generally excited against the Scottish character; (and which, I am inclined to think, arise rather from our envy at their mental superiority, than from any conviction of their comparative moral or intellectual defects) I was greatly but agreeably surprized to find nothing but what was amiable and exemplary in every class of Scotch society. Hospitality, kindness, and most minute attention to the comfort and ease of their guests, mark the character of the Scotch gentleman ; whilst the peasantry are equally remarkable for the same good qualities in a ruder way, and the more valuable ones of correct morality, sincere piety, and an exemplary decency in language and manners. Struggling with a poverty which almost amounts to a privation of food, and condemned to a labour before which the southern Britons would sink down in listless despondence, the Scotch peasant displays a degree of patience and industry, accompanied at