He looked to it, not only as a means of imparting academical knowledge to the students within its walls, but also as a means of raising the intellectual and moral tone of the whole people.

They were fond of quoting the saying of a great English writer, that there was something Grecian in the Celtic race, and that the Celtic was the refining element in the British character; but such remarks, often accompanied as they were with offensive comparisons from Eisteddfod platforms, would in future be put to the test, for they would, with their new educational machinery, be placed on a footing of perfect equality with the Scotch and the Irish people." And here must come to an end the character history of my autumn tour in Ireland, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Wales.

I had not the remotest intention when setting out of collecting information and writing down my recollections of the journey.

But the persons I met, and the information I received, were of no small interest--at least to myself; and I trust that the reader will derive as much pleasure from perusing my observations as I have had in collecting and writing them down.

I do think that the remarkable persons whose history and characters I have endeavoured, however briefly, to sketch, will be found to afford many valuable and important lessons of Self-Help; and to illustrate how the moral and industrial foundations of a country may be built up and established.
Footnotes for Chapter XII.
[1] A "poet," who dates from "New York, March 1883," has published seven stanzas, entitled "Change here for Blairgowrie," from which we take the following:-- "From early morn till late at e'en, John's honest face is to be seen, Bustling about the trains between, Be 't sunshine or be 't showery; And as each one stops at his door, He greets it with the well-known roar Of 'Change here for Blairgowrie.' Even when the still and drowsy night Has drawn the curtains of our sight, John's watchful eyes become more bright, And take another glow'r aye Thro' yon blue dome of sparkling stars Where Venus bright and ruddy Mars Shine down upon Blairgowrie.
He kens each jinkin' comet's track, And when it's likely to come back, When they have tails, and when they lack-- In heaven the waggish power aye; When Jupiter's belt buckle hings, And the Pyx mark on Saturn's rings, He sees from near Blairgowrie." [2] The Observatory, No.