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ver is never entirely absent from Edinburgh-and that infection may be imbibed and communicated by the clothes of a person affected with fever, or who has been for a continued period exposed to an atmosphere strongly impregnated with its contagion, it does not appear difficult to explain the prevalence of typhus among the poor during last winter, or its occasional communication to their richer neighbours. It would seem, therefore, that little benefit can be expected, in so far as relates to the prevention or diminution of this fever, from the removal of the dunghills. It is, however, completely ascertained, that when patients affected with typhus are laid in well ventilated apartments, and proper attention is paid to the cleanliness of their persons, and to the removal and washing of their bedding and clothes, the risk of contagion is incalculably diminished: and so much is this the case, that even in fever-wards in hospitals, where a number of patients with bad fevers are often collected together, the communication of contagion to other parts of the house is unknown, and those whose duties require their presence among the sick, unless from imprudent exposure in remaining too long close to the patients, or upon their beds, are very rarely infected. Among the rich, all risk of the spreading of contagion is in general completely prevented, by the removal of the infected person into a separate room, into which the air is freely admitted, while unnecessary communication with the rest of the family is prohibited, and due attention is paid to the removal and cleaning of the clothes which are used about the sick. But among the poor, whose families are generally obliged to occupy one apartment, and often only one bed, into which the free air is seldom, if ever, allowed to have access, and whose poverty and apathy are serious obstacles to their making any effort to rid themselves of the evil, it becomes much more difficult to arrest the progress of contagion. The fever-wards of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the first of the kind, I believe, which were established in Britain, have been productive of many advantages, not only in promoting the recovery of those who VOL. I.

have been received into them, but in materially diminishing, since their establishment, the number of contagious fevers in the city. The dislike, however, which exists among the poor to avail themselves of the advantages of an hospital, some of the motives of which must excite our sympathy rather than our blame, frequently prevents altogether the removal of the sick into this institution, and, in cases of fever, almost always till after the disease has considerably advanced; and when the removal has been effected, the remainder of the family continue to live in the room, or even to sleep in the bed, from which the sick person has been taken, and which continue loaded with the seeds of the disease. In order to arrest the progress of contagion among the poor, the co-operation of the richer part of the community is essentially necessary. This may be afforded, and can be effectually afforded only, by steps being taken to encourage, among the poor, the early separation of the diseased from the healthy, to enable them, by contributing towards the expense, and by furnishing a temporary supply of clothing, to clean the infected clothing and furniture, and to fumigate and white-wash their houses,and, above all, to ensure that these measures are carefully carried into effect, by providing for the superintendence of them when they are necessary. In London, Manchester, Liverpool, and other large towns, associations for the prevention of contagious fevers among the poor have, by adopting these means, produced an immediate and great diminution of the number of fevers in these towns; and in Edinburgh, the formation of some plan for the same purpose, which might be effected at a very small expense, and could not fail greatly to diminish the prevalence of fever, if not wholly to remove it from the town, seems dictated to those enjoying the advantages of affluence, not only by humanity towards the poor, but also by a regard to the safety and comfort of themselves and their families.

None of the contagious diseases to which children are liable prevail at present in Edinburgh. A few straggling cases of measles still occasionally occur among those who escaped that

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disease when so universally prevalent during last autumn and winter.* Instances of scarlet fever also present themselves from time to time; but this disease, from what cause it is not easy to say, has not shewn any disposition to spread itself, though, as it has not prevailed generally since 1811, a great number of children must be liable to receive its infection.

Hooping cough, which prevailed very generally during the last summer and winter, has now almost entirely disappeared; and there can be little doubt, that the dry and steady weather of the spring has contributed to its removal.

Cases of small-pox occasionally present themselves in Edinburgh, in children in whom vaccination has been neglected, but during the last year these have been extremely rare. Complete confidence in the efficacy of the cow-pox exists among the medical profession, and among the inhabitants in

* For an account of this epidemic, see "Reports of the Edinburgh New Town Dispensary," in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal for January and April 1817.

general of Edinburgh, and the practice of vaccination is very generally adopted by all classes of the community; in consequence of which, the town enjoys an exemption from small-pox to an extent, I believe, unknown in any town of equal magnitude in Britain. After very considerable opportunities of observation with regard to this subject, I can myself affirm, that I have seen hitherto nothing to shake, and much to confirm, my belief in the preservative powers of the cowpox against the small-pox.

The variable climate, and exposed situation of Edinburgh, render its inhabitants, perhaps in a peculiar degree, liable to catarrhs and pectoral complaints; but the dry and steady weather of last spring has occassioned a remarkable diminution in the usual number of these diseases during that season of the year. The wet weather, however, at the end of May, had an immediate effect in increasing the prevalence of colds, and in aggravating the complaints of those who laboured under diseases of the chest, and gave rise to several cases of well-marked croup. J. W. T.

Edin. June 1st, 1817.

ANTIQUARIAN REPERTORY.

MEMORIAL, ADDRESSED TO HIS MA-
JESTY GEORGE I. CONCERNING THE
STATE OF THE HIGHLANDS;
By SIMON, Lord Lovat, 1724.

MR EDITOR,

BELIEVING that the following Memorial of Lord Lovat to George I. has never been published, and that it may interest the readers of your Magazine, I submit it to your consideration. It is dated twenty-one years before the rebellion, for his activity in which Lord Lovat was brought to the scaffold. Whether, at the period when the memorial was written, he was loyal at bottom, I have no means of determining, nor do I know whether the memorial was actually presented to the king. It shows clearly, however, that Lovat was at that period dissatisfied. The account given of the state of the Highlands is quite correct. What a wonderful change seventy years have effect ed! Indeed, the change from barbarism to civilization was brought about in a much

shorter time. Of the former, the riots in Ross-shire in 1792, were the last struggle. -I am, Sir, your obedient humble Servant, GAEL.

June 21, 1817. THE Highlands of Scotland being a country very mountainous, and almost inaccessible to any but the inhabitants thereof, whose language and dress are entirely different from those of the low country, do remain to this day much less civilized than the other parts of Scotland, from whence many inconveniences arise to his Majesty's subjects, and even to the government itself.

ren and unimproven, has little or no That part of Scotland is very bartrade, and not much intercourse with the low country; the product is almost confined to the cattle which feed in the mountains. The people wear

their ancient habit, convenient for their wandering up and down, and peculiar way of living, which inures them to all sorts of fatigue. Their language, being a dialect of the Irish, is understood by none but themselves; they are very ignorant, illiterat, and in constant use of wearing arms, which are well suited to their method of using them, and very expeditious in marching from place to place.

These circumstances have, in all times, produced many evils, which have been frequently considered, and many remedies attempted, as it appears from the Scots acts of parliament. Their living among themselves, unmixt with the other part of the country, has been one of the causes that many of their families have continued in the same possessions during many ages, and very little alterations happen in the property of land; there are few purchases, and securities for debts are very uncertain, where power happens to be wanting to support the legal right.

The names of the inhabitants are confined to a small number, partly from the little intercourse they have had with other people, and partly from the affectation that reigns among them, to annex themselves to some tribe or family, and thereby to put themselves under the protection of the head or chief thereof.

These several names of families are respectively associated together in friendship and interest, each name under such person as is, or is reputed to be, the head of the family, who has very great authority over them, quite independent of any legal power, and has, in severall instances, continued great numbers of years after that the lands where they live has been alienated from the chiefs whom they serve. There happened two surprising instances of this at the late rebellion; the one was concerning the Frasers, who, upon the Lord Lovat's arrival in Scotland, though he had been ane exile for many years, another family, viz. Alexander Mackenzie of Fraserdale, in possession of the estate, who had marched a number of them, formed into a regiment, to Perth, where the rebel army then lay. Yet notwithstanding all this, the moment they heard that their chief was assembling the rest of his friends and name in the Highlands, they got together, and

made their retreat good, till they joined Lord Lovat, and others, who were in arms for his Majesty.

The other example was that of the Macleans, whose lands had been vested for debt in the family of Argyle, above forty years before; their chief had not ane inch of ground, but after living and serving in France most part of his lifetime, had come over to London, where he had been maintained by the charity of Queen Anne. Yet, under all these circumstances, Sir John Maclean got together 400 of these men, out of a remote island in the west seas of Scotland, who fought under him at Dumblain, against his Majesty's troops, though commanded by their own landlord.

This extraordinar state of the country has, in all times, produced many mutual quarrels and jealousies among the chiefs, which formerly amounted to a continual scene of civil warre; and to this day there remains both personal and hereditary feuds and animosities among them, which have a great influence over all their actions. The law has never had its due course and authority in many parts of the Highlands, neither in criminal nor civil matters; no remedy having proved entirely effectual, and one of the most usefull having been disproved. Schemes of this nature have been often framed, but with too little knowledge of the country, or the true rise of the abuses to be reformed, and very often with too much partiality, and views of resentment or private interest; all which tend only to create disorders and discontents, to exasperate some, and too much encourage others, and to make all more proper and reasonable expedients the more difficult to execute.

The families in the Highlands are divided (besides the disputes arising among themselves) in principles between the Whigs and the Jacobites; and that so near in equality, that the authority of the government, by giving countenance or discouraging, and by rewards and punishments properly applied, and all centering in the advancement of the Whig interest, united together, might easily produce a vast superiority on the side of those who are well affected, there being in the country a great party who, ever since the names of Whig and Tory have been known, have been always ready to venture their lives in the protestant cause.

But such has been the melancolly circumstances of affairs in Scotland for some years past, that allmost all the considerable gentlemen who took up arms for his Majesty in the time of the late unnatural rebellion, have felt the displeasure of those in power in Scotland. But as this memorialist is humbly of opinion, that it is the duty of all good subjects to heal rather than widen breaches among the well affected, to contend only in zeal for his Majestie's service; and in consequence thereof, to look forward only in observations of this nature, he will open this scene no farther, than with all humble gratitude to acknowledge the great goodness of his Majestie towards him, in so often protecting and preserving him from impending ruin, which the resentment of his enemies had threatened.

It would, without doubt, be very happy for the government, for the inhabitants of the low country, and, above all, for the Highlanders themselves, that all Scotland was equally civilized, and that the Highlanders could be governed with the same ease and quiet as the rest of Scotland. But as that must be the work of great time, every remedy that can be suggested, though but particular and incomplet, yet may be worthy of the consideration of those in the administration; for whatever tends in any degree to the civilizing those people, and enforcing the authority of the law in those parts, does in so far really strengthen the present government. The use of arms in the Highlands will hardly ever be laid aside, till, by degree, they begin to find they have nothing to do with them. And it is no wonder, that the laws establishing the succession of the crown, should be too little regarded by those who have not hitherto been used to a due compliance with any law whatsoever.

One of the evils which furnishes the most matter of complaint at present, is the continual robberies and depredations in the Highlands, and the country adjacent. The great difficulty in this matter arises from the mountainous situation of those parts, the remoteness from towns, and part thereof consisting of islands, dispersed up and down in the western seas, the criminals cannot, by any methods now practised, be pursued, much less seized and brought to justice, being able

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The bad consequences of those robberies are not the only oppression which the people suffer in the loss of their cattle and other goods, but by the habitual practices of violences and illegal exactions. The Highlanders disuse all their country business, they grow averse to all notions of peace and tranquillity,-they constantly practise the use of arms,-they increase their numbers, by drawing many into their gang, who would otherwise be good subjects, and they remain ready and proper materials for disturbing the government upon the first occasion.

These interruptions of the public peace in the Highlands were frequently under the consideration of the Parliament of Scotland, who, out of just resentment of such intolerable abuses, did, during the course of several reigns, pass many laws, but without success. They were very severe, drawn with more zeal than skill, and almost impracticable in the execution. In some few examples these extraordinary severities took place; but that tended more to prevent than establish the quiet of the country, being sufficient to provok and exasperat, and too little to subdue the disturbers of the public peace.

These evils thus remaining without a remedy, and the protection of the law being too weak to defend the people against such powerful criminals, those who saw they must inevitably suffer by such robberies, found it necessar to purchase their security by paying ane annual tribute to the chieftains of those who plundered. This illegal exaction was called Black Meall, and was levied upon the several parishes much in the same manner as the land-tax now is.

The insolence of those lawless people became more intolerable than ever, about the time of the late happy revolution, when many of the chiefs of the same families were then in arms against our deliverer, King William, who were lately in rebellion against his Majestie. Ane army of regular troops marched into the Highlands, but with little success, even meeting with a defeat by my Lord Dundee, who commanded the rebells. Other methods were taken, which putt an end to the civil war. The well-affected Highlanders were made use of to

assist the regular troops. Some of the rebell chiefs were privately gained over to the Government, so that partly by force, and partly by severall other artfull manadgements, the quiet of the country was restored, excepting that many of the rebells, who had ceased to oppose the government, began to plunder their neighbours, and sometimes one another.

The continual feuds and animosities that has always raged among the chiefs of many Highland families, are skilfully and wisely made use of, both to prevent their uniting in the disturbance of the public peace, or their taking any joint measures against the government. There is almost allways good service to be done this way; and in time of the last rebellion, it retarded very much the proceeding of the rebells, and made their army much less than otherways it would have

been.

The parliament of Scotland impowered King William to establish particular commissions to proceed against criminalls in those parts, which were ishued with very extraordinary powers, and were executed in ane unlimited arbitrary manner, without any effect for the purposes they were established, so as to creat in all people ane aversion against such courts and judicature, which, even in matters of life and death, were confined by no rules of law whatsoever they made malcontents against the government, and at last were prudently laid aside.

After many fruitless experiments for bringing the Highlands to a state of more quiet, it was at last accomplished by the establishing independent companies, composed of Highlanders, and commanded by gentlemen of good affection and of credit in that country. This took its rise from ane address of the Parliament to the King. The advantages that arose from this measure were many. These companies having officers at their head, who were gentlemen of interest in the Highlands, and well affected, were a great countenance and support, on all occasions, to the friends, and a terror to the enemies, of the government.

The men being Highlanders, and well chosen for the purpose intended, the whole difficulties which arose in all former projects for preserving the peace of the Highlands, became even so many advantages and convenien

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cies attending this measure. men were cloathed in the best manner, after the fashion of the Highlanders, both for the unaccountable marches these people perform, and for their covering at night in the open air. They spoke the same language, and got intelligence of every thing that was doing in the country. They carried the same sort of arms, convenient for the Highlanders in their ways of acting. Being picked out for this service, they were the most known, and capable of following criminalls over the wild mountains-a thing impracticable but for natives to perform.

The captains procured their men, in all their proceedings, the assistance of the inhabitants they had under their influence, and of all their friends in the country; and the inferior officers, and even the private men, wherever they came, found always some of their tribe or family who were ready to assist them in doeing their duty, when any part of these companies were upon command, either upon pursuit of criminalls, the getting intelligence, or otherways acting in the service. It gave no allarm, nor discovered what they were doeing; for when it was. necessary that they should not be known, it was impossible to distinguish them from other natives.

So that, by this scheme, the very barbarity, the uncivilised customs of the Highlanders, and all the severall causes of the want of peace, came in aid to preserve it till time and more expedients should further civilise the country.

As the private men of the companies were chosen from among such of the Highlanders who were best acquainted with all parts of that country,-who knew those clans who were most guilty of plunder, with their manner of thieving, and with their haunts,-it was almost impossible for the robbers to drive away the cattle, or hide them any where, without being discovered; nor could they conceal themselves so, but that they were sooner or latter found out and seized; and in a short time there was such ane end putt to these illegal violences, that all the gangs were taken the most notorious offenders were convicted and executed-and great numbers of others, whose guilt was less, were sent beyond sea into the service, as recruits during the war.

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