, 1872-11-01

The Dcso1Ate Dominion of the Scottish
Dz1lzeS-painft1l Ficeuresqueness,

The Deso1nte Dominion of the Scottish
Dz11zes-painful Picturesqueness,
Justin Mccarthy writes from near Ben Nevis,
Scotland, to the New York Erening Mail:
''To pass from England into Scotland is to go
from prose into poetry. But the poetical in real
ing Of cities. Charles Dickens observes that
cholera and the picturesque are commonly found
to be associated Scotland pays for her beauty
by having to turn herself into show-placs, as
set out in q former letter, and for her poetry by
great deal Of feudalsm, discomfort, and pow
erty. know no country where the distinction
Of caste is more sternly and even coarsely mark
ed out. The local Duke Or Marquis seems every
where to be regarded almost exactly as he might
have been in feudal times, q sort Of heaven-ap-
nobody cares much about a Lord, except people
who have q chance Of being invited to dine
with him. The average midd1e-class Briton,
who never dreams Of such q privilege,
concerns himself little about Peers, and has
no more natural reverence for . Duke than he
has for Lord Mayor. But in Scotland you live
always under the shadow Of the Duke-this, that
and the other Duke. Go into little Highland
inn, and yousee the Dukes portrait, the Duch-
esa' portrait, q volume containing al account OF
all the Dukes ancestors and family; the talk is
OF what the Duke will not allow, what he has
done, what he has promised, whether he will not
permit the road to be made here or the hotel to
be built there, VII en- be is coming from London
or returning LRlL0ef, WHO mas 66en Qlu at
church, and so forth. The Dukes country
house, where you pay Q shilling and see some Of
the rooms, is called i The Palace" T confess I
grew weary Of the Duke as Hippolyta. did of the
Moor, and wish he would change, and even find
Duke into the domain of another.
In the meanwhile the county seems to
mere traveller to be all but depopu1ased.
There are the cities, Of course, and in the
picturesque places there are the hotels,
aud t$,a-, ooF} }tr0 0r,t-a md fj,a
shooting Hodges Of the English gentry who come
in the season to shoot grouse. Besides this there
ig-nothing, one might say. You travel for
hours and see nobody. Some OF tle Highland
villages, when you do see them, are as miserable
collection Of novels as could be found even in
the vest Of Ireland. Dirt, eqaalor and naked
ness are everywhere. You will scarcely SEQ any
where woman who wears shoes and stockings.
The children are all but naked. We saw the
other day big, raw-boned girl, fully "A
other children in the open air: The rain was
pouring heavily. The girl had apparently no
garments but ragged frock with very short
skirt. Her legs and feet we're bare, OF courso !;
but in that condition aha was only like
however, was all torn ron RON the % neck 70
tho waist; could hardly be said to have q body
left to it, and her whole chest was as bare as her
forehead to the pelting rain. We here are accus-
toned, of course, to regard Scotland as highly
prosperous country, q model OF energy aad III
tellisence an example and q shame to poor Ire
land. Wei, Glasgow is great and hoarisaings
city, and Greenock is busy, and the Clyde is alive
with ship building but outside the cities Isee
a country which Is fast becoming depopulated.
Prosperity. What is prosperity? Do big city,
Dukes castle, and hotel in the Highlands
constitute National prosperity Is this place
which look upon from my window prosperous
If it is, then so is the Atlantic prosperous as
you gaze over it from the deck Of one Of the
Cunard steamers There you have a steamer,
and q good dinner, and wel1-dressed guests on
board, and the ocean outside. Here you have
hotel well filed with tourists, and outside a
wilderness. all around this one big hotel there
is absolutely no population"