The Sun.
London, England, 1820-01-01 00:00:00

LONDON JOURNALS.

tsitoM THE MORNING PAPERS- OF THIS DAY.

Warning CiAronicik,
FOREST OF DARTMOOR.

The cultivation
Of this Forest is again I
•
out as a 'Means of providing for the Poor, This
Forest is parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall, settled
by Edward the First on the Prince Of Wales,; and
on all, fut,Ure eldest suns of the King, who were to
have the title of Dukes of Cornwall. The bus.
provemettt Of this tract of land has been often
contemplated. It was proposed to,the Council of
his Royal Highness, by Mr. Robert Fraser, nearly
30 years ago, and a Company was formed by' tile
hie Mr Charles Cole, of which Lord f.autlerdale
was to take a part, with a capital, by subscription,
of 100,0001. for the improvetnent of the Forest. A.
Bill was prepared for dividing and allotting I he,FO-
- rest, and forMingit,intort Separate parish. "Phi's Bill
was prepared by Mr. Fraser, with the assistance
of the late,,:l4r.Justice Boller, and Sir John An-
'struther. It was signed by the Judge, Mr. Sun-
ders, and Mr. Bray. The Bill wets read. a first
time, but. on further consideration, it -was found
the soil was so poor, that it would never pay for ,
the expellee, of cultivation, except in some narrow
tracts on-the bankt of the Dart.
. Since, that time many other attempts have been
made to turn it to use. Tire erection of alflor..
men,e building for the, confinement of prisoners
of war, it was thought, might contribute to its
improvement: But little benefit was obtained
from the expensive measure, while the situation
was found to be insalubrious, from the perpetual
fog in which it is involved. Several grants,..for
99 yews, have been made of it to experimental
agriculturists, at Gd. per acre for the first 30,
years, and afterwards at trifling advances, hut
these grants have been generally relinquished.
When the Marquess of Hastings was resident
in Scotland, as Commander-in-Chief, he assem-
bled a number,of the most intelligent farmers,
and proposed to Oleo), with the authority of his
Royal Highness, to allot prirtions of this Fot est
to the numerous bodies of Highlantiers who were
emigrating to the more bleak deserts of America.
We remember' the NOble Matquess's report of
this interview, the result of 'which, he toid,
strongly evinced the sagacity of the Northern
agriculturists. The Noble Lord stated to them
the benevolent intentions of his Royal Eflghttess;
—here was a most extensive 'fruit of elevated
table land, situated in one of the fittest counties.
of En; Laud, near to the grand—ns'val
Plymouth, &c. &a. in,tead of their wandtriog to
a distant and a miserable climate, away from all
Their friends, from all markets, and nearly from -.-
all civilized society. The Company Were Mightily
pleased'with this description; hut they proceeded
to. ask information as to the soil and products of
this Elysium. What did Dartmoor produee in its
ucoral state ? What "sveeds ? Were there any c,
whips (that is long heath), or broom, or nettles,
or even thistles ? To all theie ispiestions the
Noble Marquess candidly owned the be !lever
taw any one of these spontaneous produCts, ex-
cept in narrow sheltered spots ; and the concht•
sion was, that a Moor upon which there was not,
lo be seen heather, nettles, nor thistle's, was not
likely to be worth cultivation.

*** Such is the patriotic manner in which The
Morning Chronicle of this day supports the bene-
volent design of the PutNce REGHNT'S (Ilan; of
DARTstoott FIaRRST, it► order to give e►llpkyaleuC
to the Poor in this period of distress.