[ 38. I]

ling annually, The manner in which this ſum is colleted, 15 quite the reverſe of the vexatious cuſtom of colle&ing tithes in kind.

Beſides the eſtabliſhed clergy, there-are three or four be- longing to the ſeceſlion from the church of Scotland. Their adherents in the county amount to at leaſt one half of the whole inhabitants, who, chiefly by the rents of ſeats in the

meeting houſes, pay their miniſters ſtipends, amounting to about 200l1. annually; a ſum ſo ſmall, as to amount to about 18d. a year to each individual."The ſeceders almoſt univer- ſally prove themſelves to be ſober, induſtrious and frugal. "Their religious profeſlion, therefore, can be no obſtacle either to the theory or practice of agriculture. The whole eccle- Gaſtical livings in the county, by the above ſtatement, chiefly taken from the Statiſtical Hiſtory of Scotland, amounts to about 720]. per annum, or a little leſs than half a crown a year for each individual.

Schools.=-On the proper education of youth, depends in 2 great meaſure the happineſs of ſociety, and the progreſs of every valuable purſuit. Ignorance in a community is the certain foundation of immorality, loth and poverty. Im- provements, therefore, in the arts and ſciences, and in every thing valuable, can only be reaſonably expedted from perſons whoſe minds, in the carly periods of life, are opened by edu- cation. A perſon unaccuſtomed to attention and method, in ſimply learning to read a language, or in acquiring the principles and habits of writing and arithmetic, and the other branches of ſcholarſhip, as commonly taught in the parochial ſchools in Scotland, and which come within the reach of the lower claſſes of the people in this country, can never be ex- peded to make much progreſs, except in blindly following the trammels in which he may be led. An education, eſpe- cially one that is founded on the principles of the Chriſtian religion,