on; let these be
removed, and we may look, if not with confidence, at least with hope,
for a cessation of the stormy evil. By all means, then, let Ireland
have the precedence. She needs it more than the other countries do,
and to her claims we are all disposed to yield.

But England owes Scotland something also. For a long series of years,
amidst great political changes, through good and through evil report,
this Magazine has been the consistent champion of our national
interests; and, whether the blow was aimed at our country by seeming
friend or open foe, we have never hesitated to speak out boldly. More
than twenty years ago, a measure was passed by the United Parliament,
which literally brought down ruin upon the Highlands of Scotland, and
from the effects of which many of the districts have never recovered.
Along all the western coast and throughout the islands, the
manufacture of kelp was the only branch of industry within the reach
of a poor and extended population, who, from their very poverty, were
entitled to the most kindly regard of government. But, as it is
believed, at the instigation of one member of the cabinet, himself
largely connected with foreign trade, without enquiry and without
warning, the market was thrown open to competition from without,
barilla imported, and the staple product of the north of Scotland
annihilated. To this fatal, and, we hesitate not to say, most wanton
measure, we attribute the periods of distress, and the long-continued
depression, which, in very many lamentable instances, have been the
ruin of our ancient families, and in consequence of which the Highland
glens have been depopulated. It was a cruel thing to do, under any
circumstances--a wicked thing, when we remember the interest by which
it was carried. There is now a great opportunity of giving us a
reasonable compensation. From the introduction of the railway system,
we anticipate a new era of prosperity to Scotland--a time when we
shall not have to devote ourselves to the melancholy task of
decreasing the population by a harsh or inhuman exile--when the crofts
of the valleys shall again be tilled, and the household fires shall be
lighted on the now deserted hearthstone. Therefore, in the event of a
restriction, we so far claim precedence. Let the work, however, be
impartially distributed throughout the kingdoms, and there can be no
ground any where for complaint. Only let our haste be tempered with
prudence, and our e