VISION OF THE RAILROAD. 225 



shores, are still drifted over in the deeper hollows by the snows of the 

 last great storm. It was only yester-evening that my Cousin Eacheri, 

 with whom I share your newspaper, succeeded in bringing me the 

 number published early in the present month, in which you furnish 

 your readers with a report of the great Railway meeting at Glasgow. 



My cousin and I live on opposite sides of the island. We met at 

 our tryst among the hills, not half an hour before sunset ; and as each 

 had far to walk back, and as a storm seemed brewing, for the wind 

 had suddenly lowered, and the thick mists came creeping down the 

 hill sides, all dank and chill, and laden with frost-rime, that settled, 

 crisp and white, on our hair, we deemed it scarce prudent to indulge 

 in our usual long conversation together. 



'You will find,' said Eachen, as he handed me the paper, 'that 

 things are looking no better. The old Tories are going on in the old 

 way, bitterer against the gospel than ever. They will not leave us in 

 all Skye a minister that has ever been the means of converting a soul ; 

 and what looks as ill, our great Scotch Railway, that broke the Sabbath 

 last year in the vain hope of making money by it, is to break it this 

 year at a dead loss. And this for no other purpose that people can 

 see, than just that an Edinburgh writer may advertise his business by 

 making smart speeches about it. Depend on't, Allister, the country's 



fey:* 



' The old way of advertising among these gentry,' said I, ' before it 

 became necessary that an elder should have at least some show of 

 religion about him, was to get into the General Assembly, and make 

 speeches there. If the crisis comes we shall see the practice in full 

 blow again. We shall see our anti-Sabbatarian gentlemen transmuted 

 into voluble Moderate elders, talking hard for clients without subject- 

 ing themselves to the advertisement duty, and the railway mayhap 

 keeping its Sabbaths.' 



'Keeping its Sabbaths! ' replied Eachen, ' ay, but the shareholders, 

 perhaps, having little choice in the matter. I wish you heard our 

 Catechist on that. Depend on't, Allister, the country 's/cy.' 



'Keeping its Sabbaths? Yes,' said I, catching at his meaning, ' if 

 we are to be visited by a permanent commercial depression, and 

 there are many things less unlikely at the present time, the railway 

 may keep its Sabbaths, and keep them as the land of Judea did of old. 

 It would be all too easy, in a period of general distress, to touch that 

 line of necessarily high expenditure below which it would be ruin for 

 the returns of the undertaking to fall. Let but the invariably great 

 outlay continue to exceed the income for any considerable time, and 

 the railway must keep its Sabbaths.' 



' Just the Catechist's idea,' rejoined my cousin. ' He spoke on the 

 subject at our last meeting. " Eachen," he said, " Eachen, the thing 

 lies so much in the ordinary course of Providence, that our blinded 

 Sabbath-breakers, were it to happen, would recognize only disaster in 

 it } not judgment. I see at times, with a distinctness that my father 

 * Marked for early death or overwhelming calamity. 



VOL. II. 15 



