suming market, being an insuperable objection to the former; and the fact, that fishing has failed for some years on this coast, after a fair trial, appears to prove that the latter cannot be looked to as a permanent source of employment and support."
From the island of Lewis, containing a population of 14,541 persons, the minister of the parish of Stornoway, in which alone there are no fewer than 1530 persons in a state of absolute destitution from the want of subsistence, of clothing, and of fuel, concludes his report by observing:—
"I can, however, have no hesitation in stating my opinion, that no means of relief would be more effective, than promoting the emigration of a certain number of the more vigorous to the British possessions in America."
The inhabitants of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland have peculiar claims on the British government. They have uniformly supplied a large proportion of the gallant men who have fought the battles of their country for a century past. The destitution they are suffering at present has been induced, moreover, in a great degree by a government measure in favour of the free-trade principle, the result of which was the immediate and entire destruction of their only manufacture—
