It was an admirable example of energy and well-directed labour,
which could not fail to have a most salutary influence upon the
surrounding population. He then proceeded to make more roads, to
erect mills, to build bridges, and to enclose and cultivate the
waste lands. He introduced improved methods of culture, and
regular rotation of crops, distributing small premiums to encourage
industry; and he thus soon quickened the whole frame of society
within reach of his influence, and infused an entirely new spirit
into the cultivators of the soil. From being one of the most
inaccessible districts of the north--the very ultima Thule of
civilization--Caithness became a pattern county for its roads, its
agriculture, and its fisheries. In Sinclair's youth, the post was
carried by a runner only once a week, and the young baronet then
declared that he would never rest till a coach drove daily to
Thurso. The people of the neighbourhood could not believe in any
such thing, and it became a proverb in the county to say of an
utterly impossible scheme, "Ou, ay, that will come to pass when Sir
John sees the daily mail at Thurso!" But Sir John lived to see his
dream realized, and the daily mail established to Thurso.
The circle of his benevolent operation gradually widened.
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