same fate which last year attended Jourdan and Moreau, I shall certainly look upon Buonaparte as a fool,-a very fool,-who allowed himself to be caught in the snares of his enemy, and to be put down by those whom he formerly despised, and over whom he madly thought to gain an easy conquest in the centre of one of the most difficult and dangerous countries in Europe. The result will shew whether you or I have looked upon this General, his army, his successes, and his republics, in the true point of view. Accept, Sir, the assurances of the sincere and respectful attachment with which I remain your very humble and very obedient servant, S. BISHOP OF RODEZ. AGRICULTURAL CORRESPONDENCE. THE correspondence I carried on, respecting the various topics connected with agriculture, would fill many volumes. Its substance will be found in the several works I published on that subject, more especially, 1. In the Account of the Husbandry of Scotland; 2. In the General Report of the Agricultural State of Scotland; And, 3. In the Code of Agriculture. 1. ACCOUNT OF THE HUSBANDRY OF SCOTLAND. This work was undertaken in the year 1809, at the particular request of Sir Joseph Banks, who urged, in a letter dated September 3. 1809, "That an account of the systems of husbandry adopted in the more improved districts in Scotland, would be of the greatest advantage to the agricultural interests of the united kingdom; and that it was incumbent upon a native of Scotland, while presiding at the Board of Agriculture, and possessing all the means of information which that situation afforded, to undertake the task." To other respectable friends to agriculture, the same idea had occurred. Many objections had presented themselves to the engaging in such an attempt: 1. The labour was likely to be very great; 2. It might be difficult to procure the necessary information; and, 3. It would furnish snarling critics with a favourable op portunity of attacking, not only the President of the Board of Agriculture, but the institution itself, as promulgating doctrines, which, if acted upon by the farmers of the country, would be ruinous to them. But every obstacle to the undertaking of the proposed task vanished, when Sir Joseph urged, "that agriculture has derived, is deriving, and will derive more benefit, from Scotch industry and skill, than has been accumulated, since the days when Adam first wielded the spade *" In drawing up this work, it seemed to me necessary, not only to visit the districts in Scotland the most celebrated for cultivation, but also to circulate a number of queries among the most intelligent farmers;-to compare their answers, so as to form them into a regular system;-and to print and circulate the results, for the remarks of some intelligent friends, before the work was published. Mr Arthur Young, to whom I had transmitted copies of the original sketches I drew up, sent me the following remarks upon them: "Mr Young has read the papers on the husbandry of Scotland with attention; and he waits, with great impatience, to see a work complete, which will form a new era in agricultural knowledge. He sincerely hopes that Sir John Sinclair will be blessed with health, strength, and spirits, to perfect so great an undertaking. "Bradfield Hall, September 4. 1810." In March 1812, the whole was completed; and I had the pleasure of sending a copy of the work to Sir Joseph Banks, accompanied with the following letter: Sir Joseph thus justified that assertion. "The Scots," (he said)" are a nation of gardeners, which accounts for their success in agriculture; for horticulture always precedes agriculture in the amount of its produce. In Scotland, agriculture treads on the heels of horticulture; and, by raising double produce, the Scots are enabled to pay double rents." |