the zest of a man who has more merriment in his heart than coin in his
pocket.

After they were gone, some comments were made upon their different
deportments. Scott spoke very respectfully of the good breeding and
measured manners of the man of wealth, but with a kindlier feeling of
the honest parson, and the homely but hearty enjoyment with which he
relished every pleasantry. "I doubt," said he, "whether the parson's
lot in life is not the best; if he cannot command as many of the good
things of this world by his own purse as his patron can, he beats him
all hollow in his enjoyment of them when set before him by others. Upon
the whole," added he, "I rather think I prefer the honest parson's good
humor to his patron's good breeding; I have a great regard for a hearty
laugher."

He went on to speak of the great influx of English travellers which of
late years had inundated Scotland; and doubted whether they had not
injured the old-fashioned Scottish character. "Formerly they came here
occasionally as sportsmen," said he, "to shoot moor game, without any
idea of looking at scenery; and they moved about the country in hardy
simple style, coping with the country people in their own way; but now
they come rolling about in their equipages, to see ruins, and spend
money, and their lavish extravagance has played the vengeance with the
common people. It has made them rapacious in their dealings with
strangers, greedy after money, and extortionate in their demands for
the most trivial services. Formerly," continued he, "the poorer classes
of our people were, comparatively, disinterested; they offered their
services gratuitously, in promoting the amusement, or aiding the
curiosity of strangers, and were gratified by the smallest
compensation; but now they make a trade of showing rocks and ruins, and