GENERAL STUDIES IN LATER YEARS. 309 



" Altogether, they were a noble pair, mightily pleased 

 with their own gifts and acquirements. It was only on 

 such occasions that John would come out. At other times, 

 he seemed very quiet and unobtrusive. At best, his 

 eloquence was not of the thunder and lightning order : it 

 was always tempered with more reserve than were the 

 statements of his companion. Still, both were about equally 

 forgetful of the fact that there are two sides to a question. 

 Nor was it needful, in the circumstances, that they should 

 temper their remarks to suit a fastidious taste. Being 

 alone, they could argue to please themselves. 



"The excited state of public opinion caused by the 

 Disruption of '43 also furnished them with ample materials 

 for discussion. By way of variation, when John had to 

 describe some person, place, or event bearing on the point 

 at issue, he would graphically narrate the circumstances 

 under which he acquired the information. That he did 

 well. I only wish I could reproduce a specimen, but 

 memory fails me." 



The Milton had, of course, its grocery or general store, 

 to supply the home necessaries of the district. This was 

 kept by a highly respectable, kindly man called George 

 Williams, already spoken of as entertaining the weaver 

 when going to church, now farmer at Holmhead in the 

 neighbourhood. As his son, the minister, says, " He got 

 more of John's company when in the village than any of 

 the rest, for he believed out and out in the man. He 

 was often laughed at because he thought John a hero, when 

 almost all his neighbours were inclined to call him ' daft/ 

 As he had a notion of flowers without knowing much about 

 them, many, many were the plants he brought home in 



