Advantages of Poverty, 319 



passion " in Scotland, and much of the admitted success 

 of the race has its root in this truth. The poorest crof- 

 ter in Scotland will see that his child gets to school. 

 Note this in the fine old song: 



" When Aaleck, Jock, and Jeanettie 

 Are up and got their lair, 

 They'll serve to gar the boatie row 

 And lichten a' our care." 



Heavy is the load of care that the Scotch father and 

 mother take upon themselves and struggle with all the 

 years of their prime that the bairns " may get their lair." 

 To the credit of the bairns let it be said that the hope 

 expressed in the verse just quoted is not often disap- 

 pointed. They do grow up to be a comfort to their 

 parents in old age when worn out with sacrifices made 

 for them. Our great men come from the cradles of 

 poverty. I think he was a very wise man who found 

 out that the advantage of poverty was a great prize 

 which a rich man could never give his son. But we 

 should not condemn the Marquises of Huntley, the Dukes 

 of Hamilton, and the rest of them ; they never had a fair 

 chance to become useful men. It is the system that is 

 at fault, and for that we the people are responsible. The 

 privileged classes might turn out quite respectably if 

 they had justice done them and were permitted to start 

 in life as other men are. For my part, I wonder that they 

 generally turn out as well as they do. The kite mounts 

 only against the wind. 



