way struck out some of the phrases which became
proverbial with later economists. 'Give a man the secure possession of a
bleak rock and he will turn it into a garden. Give him a nine years'
lease of a garden, and he will convert it into a desert.'[38] 'The magic
of PROPERTY turns sand to gold.'[39] He is delighted with the comfort of
the small proprietors near Pau, which reminds him of English districts
still inhabited by small yeomen.[40] Passing to a less fortunate region,
he explains that the prince de Soubise has a vast property there. The
property of a grand 'seigneur' is sure to be a desert.[41] The signs
which indicate such properties are 'wastes, _landes_, deserts, fern,
ling.' The neighbourhood of the great residences is well peopled--'with
deer, wild boars, and wolves,' 'Oh,' he exclaims, 'if I was the
legislator of France for a day, I would make such great lords skip
again!' 'Why,' he asked, 'were the people miserable in lower Savoy?'
'_Because_', was the reply, '_there are seigneurs everywhere_'.[42]
Misery in Brittany was due 'to the execrable maxims of despotism or the
equally detestable prejudices of a feudal nobility.'[43] There was
nothing, he said, in the province but 'privileges and poverty,'[44]
privileges of the nobles and poverty of the peasants.

Young was profoundly convinced, moreover, that, as he says more than
once[45] 'everything in this world depends on government.' He is
astonished at the stupidity and ignorance of the provincial population,
and ascribes it to the lethargy produced by despotism.[46] He contrasts
it with 'the energetic and rapid circulation of wealth, animation, and
intelligence of England,' where 'blacksmiths and carpenters' would
discuss every political event. And yet he heartily admires some of the
results of a centralised monarchy. He compares the miserable roads in
Catalonia on the Spanish side of the frontier with the magnificent
causeways and bridges on the French side. The difference is due to the
'one all-powerful cause that instigates mankind ... government.'[47] He
admires the noble public works, the canal of Languedoc, the harbours at
Cherbourg and Havre, and the _ecole veterinaire_ where agriculture is
taught upon scientific principles. He is struck by the curious contrast
between France and England. In France the splendid roads are used by few
travellers, and the inns are filthy pothouses; in England there are
detestable roads, but a comparatively enormous traf