The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

SERTMONS. 2125who, the moftof peifons Intoxicated at your tables,of them at leaft, even whilft they are fober, cannotfay a fmgle word either to inftriitt your mind or improveyour heart. Acquaint yourfelves with the natureand value of your eflates, and the induftry andcircumftances of your tenants :" Be thou diligent,"fays Solomon, " to Jinov/ the ftate of thy flocks, andlook well to thy herds." It is a pity that many greatlandholdersknow nothing of their affairs but by thereport of their factors or ftewards. Thefe are thechief nuifance of this opprefied country ; thefe arethe men who commit fuch a^ls of cruelty as, fromwhat I know of the humanity of at leait fome ofyou, you would never allow, did you fee them orknow of them •, thefe are a generation of men, whoin every age have been talk-maflers to the tenants,have defrauded the mailers, and oftentimes wormedthem out, and perfidioufly obtained the ellates tothemfelves •, andI doubt not but there are many ofdiem who now appear fierce for your intereft, whoare cunningly undermining you, and will, in a courfeof years, be the abfolute proprietors of thofe very e-llates where now they ferve as faO:ors. " Woe tothee, O land," it is faid, " when thy king is a child I"and woe alfo to that eftate, woe to thofe poor tenants,whofe mailer knows nothing of their condition, butby the report of a bafe- minded, cunning, and rapaciousfa6lor ! That eitate will change its mafler, andthe tenants be ruined or forced to remove. I l:^avefaid more than perhaps you will thank me for 5,butI have faid it from a ^fincere regard to your prefentintereft' and your future happinefs.I will alfo offer a few further dire£lions to youwhom. I behold in fuch dejedlion and mifery beforeme.—And let me ftill urge you to awake from thatftupor which is occafioned by opprefTion, to mind religionand the intereft of your immortal fouls. Howeverheavy, and continued your affli«^ion is, it ought