r&hHIHBI 1111111? i','i R-V [ V SSR* £42 ■ rx ( ; m 1KB H *$mBn»H Wmmrn HI " i l C-X u 5& • t' i ■■ •—■ L I Y> R A R Y : M I UNI\ I RSITY OF ILLINOIS 82.** MARION LESLIE. MAEION LESLIE: A STOKY. BY THE REV. P. BEATON, M.A. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1863. The right of Translation is reserved. LONDON: K. BORN, PRINTER, GLOUCE8TEB STREET, PARK STREET, kkgknt's PARK. %Z3 MARION LESLIE. CHAPTER I. On a projecting point, on the east coast of Scotland, washed on three sides by the waves of the German Ocean, stands the ancient town of Islayhead. It is divided into two parts by the harbour, and the in- habitants are saved from the fate of " Bri- . tannos toto orbe divisos " by a drawbridge, ? which admits the passage of ships of con- : siderable burden, and serves to keep up the 5 communication between the islanders and their townsmen on the mainland. In the island, overlooking the sea may be seen the t\ ruins of an ancient castle, once the property of a noble family, which in the days of its prosperity did much to promote the cause of learning and civilization in this remote VOL. I. B 2 HABION ii SLIE. part erf the world, and could boast of at >ne hero an ita younger Bona, who ! .t and bled on the battle-fiu Ida of ( "T- many, whose name Lb Btill known in the annals of fame. This ia the only relic of a to be Been in a town which, though of considerable antiquity, is devoid of all interesting historical associations, and ity to it- devotion to a particular branch of commerce, for the cution of which its position affords many Facilities. But while the antiquary would hurry past it as unworthy of \\U . and the man of refinement would tarry as brief a time as needs he in a place where violence is done to more senses than one, the town of [slayhead would not be without interest to those w\m delight to study the manners and customs of a rude and primitive race. Str tching along the coast to the north of the town, often bo close to the. waters edge, that in a heav} gale the Bea spray dashes over their ro >K maj be Been the fishermen's huts, huddled together without any fixed plan, as h had erected bis habitation on the spot MARION LESLIE. 3 that pleased his fancy, without regard to the rights of the proprietor of the soil, or the convenience of his neighbours. There is no attempt at comfort or elegance, or even cleanliness. Each cottage consists of two rooms, (a but and a ben), which are used, when occasion requires, as kitchen, parlour, bed-room, and work-shop ; for in one of them, during part of the day, the female members of the household occupy themselves in mending the nets, or evisce- rating the fish which their husbands or brothers have just landed. Strong, power- ful women these, worthy mates of the de- scendants of the old Norsemen, with physical frames little inferior in strength to those of the other sex — faces tanned by exposure to storm and sunshine, and hands so hard and horny that their touch has something of the rough consistency of the granite with which their coast abounds. Their share in the division of labour is as onerous as that of their husbands. Not only have they to assist in landing the fish, and preparing them for the market, but when they are sufficiently dried, and have received that b 2 4 MARION LESLIE. peculiar flavour which has made them cele- brated even in the London market, the hardy fish-wives issue forth with their creels upon their backs, and dispose of the pro- ceeds of their husbands' labour among the inhabitants of the surrounding country. It is not unusual for one of them to walk from thirty to forty miles a day, with her loaded creel upon her back half the distance ; and though this mode of life serves to strengthen their physical frames, it is at the expense of all that softness and delicacy of outline which we love to associate with the female figure. If a painter wished to paint a Venus Erycina, he would scarcely choose the fairest of the fishwives of Islayhead as his model. About two miles to the south of Islay- head, in a hollow formed by the bed of a rivulet which there inters the German I taean, stands the fishing village of Loan- head. It consists of some forty houses, with a population of about two hundred souls, all e«»n nee ted more or less by ties of affinity, and depending for their subsistence on the fickle element, with which they are MARION LESLIE. 5 more familiar than with the land. All their earliest associations are connected with the sea. The hollow contracts behind the hamlet, so as to form a sort of irregular triangle, and on three sides the inhabitants of Loanhead are shut out, as it were, from the rest of the world, and obliged to look seaward. The playground of the chil- dren is the small sandy beach which inter- venes between the hamlet and the sea, and there is not an object animate or inanimate to be found within their limited field of ob servation with which they are not perfectly familiar. They do not know the names which science has bestowed upon the shells that are scattered along the beach, or the plants that cling to the rocks, or the fishes against which they wage war almost from their earliest infancy, but they have a voca- bulary of their own, and many a naturalist might add to his knowledge by placing him- self under the guidance of the ragged urchins who may be seen, in fine weather or foul, disporting themselves on the beach at Loanhead. On the evening of a hot July day, an 6 makion lbsleb; unusual excitement was perceptible among the fishermen of* Loanhcad. The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, but there was still sufficient light to enable the fishermen to watch the movements of a vessel which had just appeared in the bay, and which was supposed to be one of the Bhips engaged in the whale fishery. The arrival of one of these ships is always at- tended with much anxiety. Most of the tidiermen engage in this perilous trade in the early part of their lives, arid when a ship returns the friends and relatives of the men hurry on board to obtain intelli- tce. Harrowing scenes are often wit- nessed on such occasions, — scenes of mingled joy and Borrow. The mother gives a rude bat hearty welcome to the son who is re- stored to his home, or turns away with a silent grief which everyone respects, when she Learns that some vivacious whale lias shivered the boat on which lie had em- barked, or that he has succumbed beneath the hardships of an arctic winter. But whatever he the intelligence — life or death, joy or sorrow — the duties of everyday life MARION LESLIE. 7 are never neglected ; there is no weak in- dulgence in the luxury of woe. Life with them is truly a struggle — a battle with a treacherous foe, which, if he spare them one day, may sweep them away the next ; and this may perhaps explain why a safe return causes no inordinate joy, and a reported death is borne with a magnanimity which has nothing in it of indifference. These hardy sons of toil are destined for the' sea, not only as their field of labour, but also as their place of final repose. Enter their huts, and you will find in almost every one of them a widow who laments a husband, or a mother who tells of sons who put to sea in their frail boats, were overtaken by a sudden gale, and never returned. All this is told, it may be at times with a sigh, but always with quiet resignation. There is no angry outcry against fate, or Providence, such as the heroes of romance indulge in ; when the young fisherwoman swears fealty to her husband, she knows that the sea is her great rival, who, in a fit of mad jea- lousy, may some day drag him from her arms; and when that day comes she is X .MARION LESLIE. .already prepared for it, and bears it as best she may. The evening of this July day was not without its beauty, even on this rugged coast. A bright orange tint extended be- tween the sea and the upper part of the ho- rizon, which was encircled with a girdle of dark grey clouds. A strong breeze was blow- ing in the direction of the land, and clouds of spray, like the thin transparency of a bri- dal veil, rose from the rocky islet in the bay, against which the waves broke with a sullen roar. The sweep of the waves over the pebbly shore was accompanied with a sound like the rattling of iron chains, and at times the foam fell at the feet of the fish- ermen who stood watching the ship, which was beating off and on in the bay. A group of them had gathered round John Kynoeh, or Stormy Jack as he was called, from his boldness in venturing to sea in all weathers — a tall, muscular man, dressed like the other fishermen, in a lono- red cap, a coarse blue shirt, and loose can- v.is trowsers — who was watching the ship with sonic anxiety depicted on his face. MARION LESLIE. 9 By his side stood his brother-in-law, Adam Mackie, the wealthy miller — for Stormy Jack had departed from the usual custom of his class, and had wedded, in early life, the daughter of a farmer, superior to himself in rank and wealth. A greater contrast than that presented by these two men could not well be conceived. The features of the fish- erman, though tanned till they looked as if thev had been cut out of a weather-beaten block of granite, had something in them so manly, bold and frank, that you could not speak to him, or look at the good-natured smile which lighted up his face, without feeling that Stormy Jack was to be trusted and loved ; and the recital of his deeds of daring in saving the lives of others, repeated by the lips of his admiring companions, never failed to excite the respect of the strangers who visited this part of the coast. His inexhaustible strength, and great skill in swimming, had repeatedly enabled him to reach the shore when his boat was swamped and all his companions perished, and to save the lives of others when no. boat could put to sea, and no one dared to swim to 10 MAKloX LESLIE. their assistance. The tendency to hero-wor- ship, which, we are told, is inherent to our nature, could not have found a more appro- priate object at Loanhead; and accordingly the fishermen were proud of their stalwart comrade, and looked up to him, and did him reverence in their own rough way. The boys and girls, that looked like little marine monsters, as they rolled and played in the happy exuberance of childhood on the sandy beach, had confidence in Jack, and placed their tiny hands in his gigantic palm as they asked him to take them out in his b M r . or watched his return, ever joyous and buoyant, and often with some strange shells entangled in the nets, to amuse his young friends. The miller, on the other hand, was a small, lean, wrinkled, elderly man, with a stooping figure, and ferret-like eyes, which were never at rest, and seemed stealthily to watch everything in their neighbour- hood, as if expecting a sudden surprise or immediate attack. A few grizzled locks stole out from beneath the broad-brim- med hat which he wore, and which popu- MAKION LESLIE. 11 lar fame affirmed that he had stolen from some unprotected scarecrow. His brow was low and wrinkled, his eyebrows grey and busby, his nose thin and promi- nent, but descending at the point, as if to embrace his chin, which, nothing loth, rose half-way to meet it. The yellow skin of his face was loose and baggy, as if he had bor- rowed it from a larger party, and crumpled into countless wrinkles, like the outward coating of an Egyptian mummy. His whole appearance produced the impression of one who was in the last stage of atrophy, and who was melting away visibly. His attenu- ated frame was encased in a suit which had once been black, but which had seen so much service that it could not now be said to be of any particular colour. At a first glance he might have been mistaken for a mendicant, and, indeed, at times he had ac- cepted the alms which strangers, pitying his apparent misery, had proffered to him, for he had no false pride ; but a closer examin. ation would have detected in that restless eye and puckered face a proud consciousness of power, which amounted almost to dignity. 12 MARION LESLIE. And Mackie the miller had power — not the power of superior strength or daring, like that of the hardy fisherman by his side, but the power that springs from the possession of wealth, and the subjection of others, whose necessities have led them to submit to the golden yoke. Mackie was a usurer ; and a class habitually improvident felt the necessity of treating him with respect, as they knew not how soon they might require his assistance. This outward respect was all that he cared for, as he cynically discarded all ideas of personal merit ever being appreciated in this world, and held that money was the secret of power, and that mere power, whether exer- cised for good or evil, was sure to command at least the outward semblance of respect. The vessel was evidently approaching the land, though the state of the tide was such as to render it impossible for her, at that hour, to enter the harbour of Islayhead. " Surely," said one of the fishermen, "that cannot be the 'Arctic;' the captain knows the coast, and how dangerous it is to approach it." MARION LESLIE. 13 " It is the i Arctic,' " said Stormy Jack. " You know our Ninian is on board, and when she left I looked at her as if it might have been for the last time. I know every rope in her rigging, and every plank from stem to stern. The captain has come as near the shore as he can with safety, to let the people know who it is. He will cast anchor in the bay, and will make the harbour to-morrow, when it is high water." " Better keep well out to sea. The wind is blowing hard against the shore, and the sooner the captain says ' about ship,' the better for all on board." " They are not much more than a mile from the shore," said another fisherman. " The bottom is rocky there, and no anchor would hold." " You are right," said the miller. "It was near that spot that the 'Oscar' was lost and all on board. She threw out her anchor, but it was like trying to bind that big beast Leviathan with a worset thread from an auld wife's shank — all went down, the ship was torn to pieces on the jagged points of 1 1 MABIQN LESLIE. the rocks, and the wreck strewed the shore next morning. "Ay, ay. That is true," said one of the fishermen. " But it is an ill wind that blows nobody good. You got as much wood as roofed your byre, muller, and I am thinking the owners did not pocket many of your bawfo To this home-thrust the miller vouchsafed no answer ; but he took a note of it, and i: acribed on the tablet of his memory the rn resolution that, the next time that unfortunate fisherman applied for the loan of money, he should pay cent, per cent. "They begin to see their danger, for thev have put the ship about, and are retiring from the land. Did you see anything fall from the ship? It strikes me that some dark object was floating on the surface of the water. it Beemed at first to be a man. l»i it if he had fallen overboard sonic effort would have been made to save him. No could ever reach the land in Buch a sea as this" •• It u :i man/" said another n{ the fisher- men. " Bend down till your eye is on a MARION LESLIE. 15 level with that stripe of orange which bounds the horizon, and you will see his head, at times, rising above the waves." " I can see him at times distinctly. He is making for the land, but the tide is right against him. He will require all his strength and skill to reach the land. I had rather swim six miles with the tide in my favour, than one mile in such a sea/' All the fishermen were now ben ding- down, and looking steadily out to sea, Night was already beginning to set in, and it was only by keeping the eye on a level with the surface of the waves that they could perceive at times the outline of a human head on the horizon, the orange tinge of which was gradually being over- spread by a darker hue. There was an ex- pression of anxiety and sympathy on their rough but kindly features. They felt that to reach the land in such a sea, and on such a shore, would task the skill of the best of swimmers; and they could render no assistance. Their boats were unavailable ; they were drawn upon the sand at the distance of about two hundred yards from 16 MARION LESLIE. the sea; and, even if they had succeeded in launching one of them, it was doubtful whether they could have reached the shore airain without some accident. Moreover, they were spell-bound as it were, by that powerful interest which is ever felt in the sight of a man struggling w r ith the elements, when the want of success must be attended with the forfeit of his life. Sometimes the swimmer seemed to be gaining the mastery over the waves; they could see him rising at times on their crested heads, like a black speck, and then diving like a gull, as one of more than ordi- i i.i rv size threatened to carry him out to sea. More than once he had been borne on the summit of a wave so close to the shore that they could almost discern his features. The broke on the sandy beach with a loud roar, and the water came rushing on, with a hissing sound, to the spot where the fishermen stood. But the swimmer had been left behind. Wave after wave had struck him as he neared the shore, and the vantage-ground which lie had gained in a quarter of an hour over his deceitful foe MARION LESLIE. 17 was lost in a few minutes. Still, he never lost heart, and, though he met with many a rebuff, he perceptibly gained ground. They could see him at times dashing aside his long hair from before his face, as he rose above the surface of the waves — a sure proof that he had not lost his presence of mind, and was perfectly at home in the watery element. At length one mighty wave bore him to the beach : they could see the stranger striving to clutch the sand, and to resist the force of the retreating wave. In vain. He was sucked back into the boiling abyss, and borne out some dis- tance before the succeeding wave overtook him. At this sight a cry of joyful recognition, mixed with terror, burst from the lips of Stormy Jack. " Oh ! God of Heaven, have mercy on him ! It is my Ninian, my own boy ! — drowning before my eyes, with none to help! Here, lads, quick! — lend a hand, and form a chain. I will catch him the next time he touches the shore." vol. l c 18 MARION LESLIE. In a minute the fishermen stood hand-in- hand, forming a sort of living chain, of which Stormy Jack formed the link nearest the sea. Again the youth dashed aside his long hair, and there was a smile of recognition on his face, as he was borne rapidly to the spot where his father stood. Jack's mighty hand closed upon his arm with a grasp like iron. The sea did not give up its expected victim without a last effort. The jerk was felt along the whole chain ; but it did not yield — and a handsome youth, of some eighteen years of age, stood in the midst of the fishermen. His long dark hair hung in ringlets over his shoulders, and was still dripping with the brine, which flowed in streamlets over his naked shoulders. His dark eyes flashed with joy as he looked in the face of Stormy Jack, whose muscular fingers had not yet relaxed their hold, as if he feared that something might still deprive him of his boy. His face was still flushed with the excitement of the recent struggle, and the linen trowsers — the only clothing which he wore — did little to conceal the MARION LESLIE. 19 symmetrical outlines of a form which gave promise of great strength and beauty. To the eager inquiries of his father, he proceeded to reply that the "Arctic" hav- ing reached the bay, he was unwilling to remain there till the following day without seeing his friends, and, after mentioning his intention to one of his ship-fellows, quietly dropped overboard and made for the land — with what success we have already seen. c 2 20 CHAPTER II. Leaving Stormy Jack and his son on their way to the cottage of the former, let us conduct the reader to the manse of Islay- head. In many minds the word manse never fails to excite the most tender asso- ciations. Many who occupy the highest place on the bench, at the bar, and in the army, first saw the light of day in a Scottish manse, and owe their future eminence to the training which they received in their early home. In the crowded streets of our great cities, on the burning plains of Hin- dostan, in our remotest colonies, there are men of all professions, for whom the word manse has a magic charm, melting the icy covering of indifference with which long years of intercourse with the world have incrusted the heart, and reviving the re- membrance of the scenes amid which their early youth was spent — of the simple but happy home which they shared with MARION LESLIE. 21 brothers now doing their part in the battle of life in every part of the globe — and of parents who have gone the way of all living, but who still live in the memories of their grateful offspring, and of those who profited by their labours. The manse of Islayhead stands upon an eminence which overlooks the town, and commands a view of the whole bay. It belongs to no particular school of archi- tecture, and seems to have been built after no fixed plan. The original building had consisted of two stories ; but some of the occupants having, as they informed their heritors, been blessed with vines of unusual fruitfulness, without sufficient space for the young shoots, had persuaded these gentle- men, who are often proof against all the arguments of the cloth, when the point at issue is the augmentation of stipend or expenditure on repairs, to enlarge it by the addition of small wings, erected more with an eye to convenience than artistic effect, the very sight of which would have caused a torrent of moral indignation to flow from the lips of Mr. Ruskin. But art 22 MARION LESLIE. is not much studied in the northern parts of this kingdom by any part of the com- munity, and happy families had lived com- fortably in this old weather-beaten manse, untroubled by the thought that its unartis- tic angularities would be an eyesore to every man of taste, and comforted by the undeniable fact that it was the best house in the parish except the laird's. It was surrounded on three sides by an extensive garden, imperfectly sheltered by a few stunted trees ; and on the fourth by the wall of the church-yard, where the ashes of those whom the sea had spared, reposed in close proximity to the element on which most of them had toiled. The belfry of a chapel, which had been destroyed at the Reformation, stood in the centre of the church-yard, like a solitary sentinel, watching, with cynical indifference, the changes of three successive centuries, and holding his own against all comers. The view to landward was as dreary as well can be. The surface of the country was perfectly flat and un wooded, present- ing a succession of fields of a whitish-grey MARION LESLIE. 23 colour, with nothing to arrest the eye or excite the fancy. The appearance of the ocean was far more attractive than that of the land. The ocean is never altogether the same — the observant eye can detect changes in its appearance every day ; but whether it lashes itself into a fury, and threatens all around or upon it with de- struction, or lies in hushed repose, as if watching for another Cytherea to emerge from its bosom, there is a certain something in the ocean which speaks to the heart, and leads us away from ourselves, borne on the wings of the imagination to distant lands or future ages. That strange, rambling, old manse, whose passages have once rung with the voices of happy childhood, is now inhabited by one lonely occupant. For twelve years Cosmo Hamilton has dwelt there alone, in the midst of his flock, seeking no other society than that of the rude but honest mariners among whom he labours. A native of the south of Scotland, he has no kindred in the neighbourhood, with claims upon his time or attentions ; and while respected by his 24 MARION LESLIE. brethren of the Presbytery, as a hard-work- ing minister, they feel that, while ever ready to observe the rights of hospitality, he has no desire to mingle largely in their society. At first ministers' wives with mar- riageable daughters felt a peculiar interest in the new minister of Islayhead, and frequent were the invitations he received, and warm the eulogies pronounced on their fair offspring, who were a sort of walking representatives of all the cardinal virtues ; but when it was found that all their over- tures, as their husbands phrased it, were rejected, or rather attracted no attention, the unappreciating incumbent of Islayhead was given up as an incorrigible bachelor, and allowed to pursue his own path in peace. And thus he was able to devote all his time to the half-civilized race anions whom he lived. His time, his talents, and his money were all at their service. He ex- pended more than his stipend among the widows and orphans whose husbands or lathers perished at sea; he not only re- lieved their bodily wants, but he strove to MAKION LESLIE. 25 find an entrance into their souls for the great and solemn truths of religion, and to direct their attention to Him who has a heart to sympathize with human suffering, and who alone can pour the balm of consolation on the wounded heart. Often his spirit almost sank within him at the opposition he encountered from those he intended to benefit, but he knew the secret source from which strength is to be derived, and laboured as one who felt that great and solemn issues were dependent on his labours. All his sympathies and affec- tions were expended on his flock, and he seemed to have only one object in life — to act toward them the part of a good and faithful pastor. His predecessor, who had lived to a period far beyond the threescore years and ten, had done nothing in his youth, and was unable to do anything in his old age, to promote the spiritual welfare of his people ; and when Mr. Hamilton entered on his charge, he found himself surrounded by a mass of practical heathen- ism, so solid and so compact that the stoutest heart might have turned aside in 26 MARION LESLIE. despair. But despair is not a Christian word ; it had no place in his vocabulary, and he began to preach the word, in season and out of season, with all the earnestness of a dying man speaking to dying men. All seemed to be in vain ; the rough sailors and fishermen kept aloof from him, as a setter forth of strange doctrines; till at length an event happened which gave him, as one of them expressed it, a "grip" over their hearts, which nothing else, perhaps, could have bestowed. Returning home one stormy, moon-lit night from a visit to a sick parishioner, he observed a crowd of fishermen watching some object at sea. On approaching them, he found that a 1m. at had been overturned near the mouth of the harbour, and they were watching the struggles of the two boatmen who were clinging to it. Kach successive wave that swept nvn- tlieiii weakened their strength, and it was evident that, unless they were speedily relieved, all was lost. As the minister approached, a woman's Bhriek rose from the crowd — "Oh, my God! it is my ain Willie MARION LESLIE. 27 drownin' afore my een, and wull nane o' ye help?" Several boats were lying close to the beach, which a few stalwart arms could launch in a moment. The minister stepped forward, laid his hand on one of the boats, and said : — " My lads, you are not all that I would wish you to be, but surely you are not cowards ; I for one am ready to help these poor men — will none of you go with me?" There was a murmur among the crowd that no boat could live in such a sea, when a tall, powerful fisherman, who had just come up, exclaimed : — " What, lads ! wad ye lat the minister shame ye ? I go for one." " And I ! — and I ! " exclaimed successive voices from the crowd. The boat was launched, and a crew readily found. The minister seized the helm, and steered with a steady hand to the drowning men, who could not hold out much longer. For a time it was doubtful whether the boat could reach the land ; the hopes and fears of the crowd rose and fell as it rose and 28 MARION LESLIE. disappeared with each successive wave ; but at length one powerful stroke from the sturdy arms of Stormy Jack and his com- rades brought it safe to the beach, where it was soon placed beyond the reach of the waves. From that day the minister was regarded with a different eye ; he gained a position which all his eloquence and piety could never have procured. His word became law, and they believed that the man who could manage a boat in such a sea was the very man to steer them across the ocean of eternity, and to bring them to the harbour of safety. They might not in every case act up to the truth which he preached, but they were prepared to uphold against all comers that it was the truth, and that there was not another minister in the Presbytery who, to borrow their own expression, could hold the candle to Mr. Hamilton. The only occasion on which Stormy Jack had ever been known to exhibit a pugna- cioufl disposition, was at a country fair, on hearing a stalwart farmer, brimful of ortho- doxy and whiskey, venture to place his own MARION LESLIE. 29 minister on a level with the incumbent of Islayhead. Jack, a man of few words, but of an earnest, practical turn of mind, at once invited him to decide their respective merits by a friendly round, which the farmer saw proper to decline, and appeased Jack by an ample apology. The only approach to an emeute that was ever known in Islayhead, was when a depu- tation of fat baillies from the south was approaching the town, for the purpose of hearing Mr. Hamilton, and giving him a call, in the event of their being satisfied with his preachment. When the carriage appeared in view, a strong body of men marched forth from Islayhead to meet it, and, turning the horses' heads round, said to the trembling baillies — " Gang ye awa' back the road that ye cam; we have gotten a guid minister, and we mean to keep him !" As these words were accompanied with sundry hints about the abundance of water in the neighbourhood, and the beneficial effects which the terror-stricken baillies might derive from a temporary immersion, 30 MARION LESLIE. they were only too glad to escape from their hands ; and, on their return to the south, never ceased to lament the Egyptian dark- ness with which the north of Scotland generally, and Islayhead in particular, were still overspread. There must have been some strong ties between the minister and his people ; for, though he had received repeated offers of livings, far more lucrative and desirable than Islayhead, he had refused them all, and laboured among his rude flock with an unflagging zeal and generous devotion, the good effects of which were already apparent. Most of the public-houses had been closed ; the children were educated ; the houses had a certain air of respectability; a barometer had been established for the public good ; and even- Sunday the church was crowded with an attentive audience, who, instead of lounging about the shore, or snoring in their pews as they had been wont to do, listened with gladness to the simple but curliest words in which the message of divine love was made known to them. Perhaps the reader thinks that we are MARION LESLIE. 31 dwelling rather too long on the character and doings of the minister of Islayhead ; but he is a favourite of ours, and we do not meet with such men every day. Have the goodness to accompany us to his quiet study, and you will have an opportunity of judging for yourself. It is verging closely on midnight, but he is still seated at his table, with a volume of Jeremy Taylor — the quaintest, the sweetest, and the most melodious of all England's divines — spread out before him. He is a tall, powerful man, about forty years of age, with dark, strongly-marked features, and an air of refinement, and even of elegance, rarely to be met with among the class to which he belongs. His lofty, thoughtful brow, and finely chiselled lips, betoken the possession of considerable powers of intellect, and no ordinary decision of character; while the habitually serious expression of his face is relieved at times by the smile excited by some wise but quaint conceit of the Shakspeare of English theology. Time, or thought, or sorrow, or all of 32 MARION LESLIE. these conjointly, have already begun to fur- row his brow with those lines which prove that the elasticity of the first era of manhood is gone ; and as he pauses at times to think, an air of gentle sadness steals over his countenance, which would seem to show that his mind is directed to other objects than those which surround him. " Coming events," we are told, " cast their shadows before them " ; it is equally true that past events leave their shadows behind them — light, graceful shadows at times, which only serve to enhance the present brightness ; but sometimes so dark and dreary that they cover our whole path in life, unless we have learned to look up- ward and beyond. He closes the volume, and walks to one end of the study, where the wall is covered with the standard productions of the French, German and Italian authors — Dante, Ari- osto, Tasso, Petrarch, and Metastasio are ] .laced side by side with Corneille, Racine, and the great divines and preachers to which the age of Louis XIV. gave birth. The Bishop of Meaux is leaning against the MARION LESLIE. 33 Archbishop of Cambray, without a word of remonstrance on either side ; while ]\Iassil- lon and Bourdaloue are quietly fraternising with Calvin and Claude ; Goethe and Schil- ler are on the best of terms with Tholuck and Krummacher — and the most opposite systems in art, politics, and religion seem no longer to be at variance. The true happy family is only to be found on the shelves of a library ; there the wicked cease from troubling, and the bitterest enemies are at rest. A well-stocked library is like the grave ; it receives all comers without distinction, and makes them repose quietly side by side. He has just taken down an old volume of German hymns, when a loud knocking at the door attracts his attention. " Some other soul about to pass away. and they think that my presence will soften its last passage."' He was about to leave the room, when he heard the door opened, and his old housekeeper, Nanny Bruce, demanding who was there at that untimely hour. " I am sent to tell Mr. Hamilton that the VOL. I. D 34 MARION LESLIE. young laird has fallen down the Corby's Craig, and is not expected to live many hours. The laird and his lady are baith distracted, and they have sent me to tell the minister to come and see poor little Harry, who was always so fond of him, be- fore he dies." The voice of the servant-man shook as he spoke these words ; and poor Nanny, albeit not much given to the melting mood, fairly lifted up her voice and wept, ejaculating at times : — " The young laird killed ! — the bonny laddie that a'body liked ; and his pnir mi- ther, whase heart was bound up in him ! — oh! what will come o' her! — what'U she dae, what'll she dae! " There is something in the natural out- pouring of true, honest sorrow which ever begets sympathy and respect, and the mini- ster tried, by kindly words, to impart that comfort which he did not feel in his own heart, while, at the same time, he examined the servant regarding the nature of the accident. " Oh ! ye ken, sir, what a brave, fearless MARION LESLIE. 35 lad Harry was. He had gone out riding on his pony, and was returning by the road that leads along the cliffs. When he cam' to the Corby's Craig he found a herd laddie standin' an' greetin' 'cause the win' had blawn his ban net ower the edge. He said he could see it lyin' on a ledge o' the rock a few feet down, but was afraid to lean ower an' catch it. Harry told him to hold his pony, and, without anither word, walked straight to the edge o' the rock, marked the place where the bannet lay, and seeing that he could reach it, leaned ower the dizzy height ; he brought it safely up, and with a merry laugh threw it to its owner ; but somehow, the laddie canna tell how, he lost his balance and disappeared. They missed him at hame, and searched for him, till they found the boy and the pony on the spot where he had left them. His body was lying on a ledge of the rock about half- way down, and with the aid o' a ladder and some ropes we managed to reach it. His bonny curly hair was a' clotted wi' bluid, and he seemed to be stark an' stiff. The laird himsel' seems to be daized-like, and d 2 .% MARION LESLIE. the lady's had fit after fit, till she's nae able to gang nor stand. The doctor'- been wi 1 him for hours, but says it's nae a case whaur his Bkeell can dae ony guid. Aboot half-an- hou) , sinsyne he opened his een and lookit aboot him for a minute or twa, as if he didna ken whaur he wair. Then he seemed to niin' a' aboot it, and said in a low weak voice, { my mother!' and turned aside his face and cried ; after a time he said, ' Send for Mr. Hamilton,' and I hae na let- ten the grass grow aneaththe horse's feet in riding frae Inverchewan tae the manse. ( )]i | wull a' woons! — my puir young maister, that ever I should ha' lived to sec this day !" Sir. Bamilton had hastened to the stable before the servant had finished his narrative; and having hurriedly saddled his horse, pre- pared to accompany him to Inverchewan. where for the moment we must Leave him. to return to Ninian Kynoch. 37 CHAPTER III. Ninian, after shaking off the sea-water like a rough Newfoundland dog, proceeded to dress himself in the coarse pea-jacket and other articles of clothing with which the kindness of his friends readily supplied him. Father and son then walked through the principal street of Loanhead, till they reached their home, a two-storied house, built of red sandstone, and having an air of greater comfort than the neighbouring cottages. Let us describe what has been passing in the principal room, which serves at once as kitchen and parlor, a short time before their arrival. Mrs. Kynoch, a neatly-dressed woman, between forty and fifty years of age, with a kind, gentle expression of countenance, is busily engaged in preparing the family supper. Her daughter Alice, a tall, pale, fair-haired girl, with those wonderful, large, 38 makimn LESLIE. lustrous eyes, through which the sou] seems to look directly upon every Burrounding object, and which are seldom seen save in the case of those who are labouring under consumption, is seated at the window, which overlooks the sea, watching at times the variety of colouring which it assmn sunset, and wondering how many times the sun will rise and set before he has risen and set on her for ever. Unlike many assailed by the same inexorable foe, she knows that the sand of her brief existence is fast running out; and she has learned to possess her soul in patience, and to wait calmly till her change cometh. The ap- proach of that change is so gradual and painless as to be almost imperceptible, and even her nearest friends are scarcely con- scious of her danger. It is not from want of sympathy, but from th<- impulse of a pure and j<>y