those by whom they have been most assiduously wooed, and profusely lavish their blessings on those who perhaps have never solicited their assistance.

This county stands unrivalled as a breeding county, and the oxen and black cattle of Pembroke are both in compactness and beauty, in depth of carcase and shortness of leg, very superior to the boasted breed of the vale of Glamorgan. They are grazed together in large bodies, and thousands of herds were now scattered over the distant plains. They are tended by men and boys, who move as the cattle move, to keep them within the assigned limits; they are never housed, but thus grazed and foddered all the winter. The mode of supplying the want of green crops and fodder in spring, is by a reserve of the summer crops left on the ground without mowing till this season, which then wears the appearance of hay. This is termed fagging the land. How far this practice is rational I have not had sufficient experience to decide. It is alleged by the English farmer, that leaving an old crop on the ground is prejudicial to the ensuing one. The Welsh farmer is decidedly of opinion, on the contrary, that it keeps the young springing grass warm, and the following crop is by this mean generally doubled.

It is obvious, however, that much of the crop dies and becomes inert, and the best cannot contain so much nourishment as well ended hay. By the sudden drying of hay in the process of hay making, many of the juices are preserved, and by the fermentation they undergo in the rick, called sweating, they are perhaps ameliorated as a pabulum of life.

I cannot quit this district without calling your attention to a very remarkable fact: Inoculation for

or

the small pox has been practised here time immemorial: and this they do without preparation or assistance. In order to procure the disorder, they either rub the matter taken from mature pustules on several parts of the skin, or puncture the skin with a needle, previously dipped in the infectious matter. They call it buying the small pox, as it is a custom to purchase the matter of those affected, as children do warts of each other. It is probably a remnant of those useful arts taught the Britons by the Romans, and afterwards with many others buried under the rubbish of ignorance and superstition: for the custom originally came from Greece, and we know the Romans were not slow to adopt any thing that appeared like improvement, from the manners customs of that country. You recollect its slow introduction into this country; for when the account was communicated to the Royal Society by Pilorini, of the practice in Turkey, it was for some time only performed on condemned criminals. The Georgians and Circassians had been, for ages prior to that period, in the habit of performing this kind office for their female children, for the preservation of that beauty on which their future fortune might depend, It was early practised in America, and it was there observed, that in this disease and the yaws, the flies often inoculated thousands, by gorging themselves with the matter from the ripe pustules of the diseased, and flying upon others in a sound state, introducing, by means of their proboscis, the matter within the skin, as bees are known to carry the fecundating pollen from flower to flower. Thus, it seems, like many other useful inventions, we are not indebted for inoculation to the superior wisdom or ingenuity

of man, but to the instinct of the inferior parts of creation.

I am ever Yours, J. E.

DEAL SIR,

Το

LETTER XII.

O the botanist fond of umbrageous woods, as forming a shelter favourable to the growth of more humble plants; and the enthusiastic admirer of nature in her vegetable decorations, it could not but be matter of regret to see the greater part of the country which we had just left, stripped of its most lovely ornaments, its coppices and woods. While lamenting this general denudation, we were desirous, if possible, to ascertain the cause; and in the enthusiasm of the moment, were almost ready to join with Evelyn and believe," That it had been owing to some dreadful sylvifragi occasioned by invisible spirits, as there is nothing they cannot subvert and demolish when God permits them to do mischief, and convince those who believe there are none, because they do not see though they feel their effects." Sylva, p. 569. But returning quickly to a more sober state of mind, we endeavoured to account for the disaster from causes more upon a level with our understandings, and more consonant to the general tenor of events.

The formidable obstructions which the woods presented to Normans, Flemings, and Anglo Normans, in their endeavours to obtain possession of this country, may be assigned as a reason for the destruction of many at that carly period, as they afforded continual means

to annoy them, and the best fortifications for a flying and skirmishing army; imitating the policy of Alexander as related by Quintus Curtius, Lib. XI. who was unable to make any impression upon the Gens Mardarum till he had been able to fell the forests of Hyrcania,

Another cause has been the erroneous opinion long entertained for want of a better knowledge of chemistry, that woodlands, especially near habitations, were highly injurious to health, from the damps they occasioned, and the effluvia they emitted; and another, equally unfounded, that they are of no comparative value with arable and pasture,

A third cause has been the discovery of numerous collieries and iron mines, which produce such an immense demand for black poles and charcoal. These may be viewed as the great devourers of woods, holding out such a temptation to felling as becomes irrisistible, when conjoined with the necessity of proprietors. And this necessity is too often brought on by extravagance, gambling, and debauchery. How much it is to be lamented, that the moral state of the owners may but too often be known by the number of sticks marked for the axe on his estate, and that an evening at White's too often robs the future heir of bis undoubted patrimony. It may be said that every man has a right to do what he will with his own; but this is a principle in few instances just, or consistent with the general laws of society, every statute of which is intended as a restraint. The exercise of this right of nature would often clash with the rights of others, and in few cases perhaps would it be more injurious, than in the one before us. You will recollect that Cicero in his second philippic, amidst other

reproaches of his antagonist, dwells most upon his waste of certain wood lands, to the great detriment of the state and posterity. Speaking of his debaucheries, he says, in his inimitable manner, "Tua ista detrimenta; speaking of his felling the timber, illa nostra!" The only remedy to be applied to this increasing evil is a general spirit of planting; but this will never be excited, till either you can persuade mankind that they are non sibi nati, but patres patriæ; that they have not only social duties to perform, but also duties which relate to posterity; or that the planting of trees is a profitable concern, and perhaps the best mode they can adopt to provide for the younger part of their families. For this purpose, I would strongly recommend that incomparable work, Evelyn on Forest Trees, to the serious perusal of the nobility and gentry of this kingdom, especially those of North and South Wales,

The lordship of Kemes, however, forms a fine contrast with the commot of Dewi : both the upper and under strata, and the whole face of the country, are truly different. The limestone is changed into slate, the soil consists of loam and clay, and instead of a flat and barren wild, the eye is relicyed by varied hills and fruitful vallies, abounding with woods and streams. But neither the buildings nor inhabitants seem to correspond with the charming aspect of the country. The village of Velindre next presented itself, with its mud-built cottages covered with a scanty thatch of oaten straw,

A few miles out of the road to the left are the ruins of St. Dogmael's Abbey. It is in the extreme part of Kemes, on the southern bank of the Teivi, called by Leland "A priory of Bonhommes;" it was