was very severe; but the warmth of our chaises, the goodness of our accommodations, and the generous fare with which Sylvester uniformly had our table covered, enabled us to bid it defiance.

As the shortness of the day obliged us generally to travel after dark, we had few visitants at the places where we slept. One, however, we had, which presented two such traits of the character of Scottish gentlemen, that I cannot pass it unrecorded. In the town of Brechin, about 70 miles N. E. of Edinburgh, we were waited on, soon after our dinner, by a deputation, from a numerous party then in the inn, requesting the pleasure of our company during the evening. This we declined, through delicacy to Mr. Sylvester. One of the gentlemen, having reported this to the company, soon after returned with a second message that they would stay in town if we would dine with them next day; which they hoped we would do, as the chaises belonging to the inn were all out, and our horses so fatigued that they would not be able to proceed, on account of the deep snow on the roads. An answer being returned that our situation obliged us to decline this favor also, the three gentlemen deputed were prevailed on to remain a few hours with us, which rendered our evening truly pleasant.

This hospitality and marked attention, to such outcasts as we had been, forms the first trait, to which I have alluded. The second will appear from the account, which these gentlemen gave us of the society, of which they were members, and the design of their meetings. This was, that they were 27 in number-that they had instituted a library, by subscription, consisting of books on agriculture, and the various branches of manufacture-that they met, eleven times in the year, to order, and issue, books for the use of their respective tenants, and the twelfth, on the anniversary of their formation, to settle their accounts, and enjoy a festive day; or as one of them said, "to get drunk together." N. B. The day of our arrival there was that of their anniversary,

I hope I shall be excused for inserting this anecdote, as it not only accounts for the extension and improvement of manufactures in Scotland, and the amazing progress of its agriculture, in despite of its rugged soil and inhospitable climate; but holds out an example, by the imitation of which, by our nobility and gentry, under any commonsensical government, poor, neglected, despised, insulted, and oppressed Ireland might be rendered the most productive and valuable isle which the ocean encircles.

January

January 9th. In the evening, we reached] Greenock, in good spirits and perfect safety; and next day at noon, were carried aboard the Hazard by captain Butterfield, by whom we were politely treated, and hospitably entertained till the evening of the 12th. when, after a pleasant passage, he landed us near Hollywood, and escorted us to the house of sir James Bristow, who received us with great civility, and accommodated us with carriages, for ourselves and luggage, to Belfast. On our arrival about 9 o'clock, we were waited on by the sovereign of the town, and the town-major, who seemed to think that we were to become their wards, at least, till we should enter into recognizance. Mr. Sylvester thought otherwise; and as the room was soon crowded with our friends and relatives, he seemed overpowered with the tenderness of the scene, and requested we might hasten to the embrace of our families, who must be expecting us with throbbing hearts: adding, "gentlemen, I'll expect the pleasure of your company here to breakfast, at ten o'clock." Then turning to the sovereign and major Fox, he told them, that he would be glad to see them, next day, at any hour convenient for them, that bail, if thought necessary, might be taken, and his wards liberated. We retired, and, on the succeeding morning, returned to our friend. The magistrates attended about eleven o'clock; our recognizance was taken, and we, William Tennent,

Tennent, Robert Simms, Robert Hunter, Wil liam Dowdall, and William Steel Dickson, were once more restored to the liberty of breathing the air, and treading the soil, of our native land, which we had left, less than three years before an independent kingdom, with a national legislature; and a rising trade, but found a dependent province, and its five millions of inhabitants, sold, at their own expense, to a foreign government, by a parricidal combination of weak and wicked miscreants, to whom, under the name of representatives, she had entrusted the guardianship of the rights, fortunes, liberty, and lives of her people; and who reserved for her, as her only remaining privilege, a power to transport one hundred accomplices once a year, to assist the servants of her haughty mistress, in multiplying her own oppressions, aggravating her distresses, completing her degradation, and accelerating her ruin.

AS

THE NARRATIVE

OF

MY CONFINEMENT AND EXILE

TERMINATES HERE,

I shall once more pause, and request my readers, not only to review it with attention, but to weigh it, with impartiality, in all its parts. On such review, some things may, at first, appear digressive; but, I flatter myself, they will be found to bear directly on the objects principally in view-the pains and penalties inflicted on me and some others, merely on suspicion, not evidence, of guilt; or rather, on calumnies procured by purchase, or dictated by terror, to gratify personal resentment, screen political depravity, or escape punishment.

Some others may seem out of place, because not related in the order in which they occurred. This departure from order, I hope, will be excused from the consideration, that it brings a variety of circumstances and transactions, relating to the same persons, but occurring at different times, and in different places, into one point of view, and thereby enables the reader to see them more clearly, and judge of them more. correctly, than otherwise he could do.

In