Mr. Caird has sent to the Times a history of
an incident of which we shall hear a great deal yet. Mr. George Hope holds the farm of Fenton Barns, East Lothian, under the Right Hon. Nisbet Hamilton, and has with his father held it for eighty years. He has tile-drained it, and so cultivated it as to attract the atten- tion of agriculturists in all parts of Europe, and to induce the farmers of the district to offer him a seat in Parliament for the county. This he declined, but the offer probably annoyed his land- lord, and some severe comments which originated with Mr. Hope on the frequent changes of tenants in East Lothian annoyed him still more, for he pronounced them false and libellous. Mr. Hope declared at a meeting of the Agricultural Society that they were true, and on the following Monday was informed by the agent of the estate that his lease, which was running out, would not be renewed. That is just as if the Spectator were turned out for discussing the management of the Duchy of Lancaster. The occur- rence has created a profound sensation in Scotland, and will lead, it is believed, to an immediate demand for a law of tenant-right securing to the tenant the value of his improvements, and so, as it were, putting a fine upon capricious eviction.
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