CHAP. xvn. THE HIEtANDMAN. 269 



he growled. ' Why are ye no at sermon yoursel?' I 

 replied. 'Eh?' said he; 'oo, ye see I maun mind the 

 beasts.' ' Well,' said I, ' we are very much alike. You 

 mind your beasts, and I mind this (holding up a piece 

 of the beautiful plant I had plucked). We have both 

 our reasons for what we are about.' 'Man!' he said 

 fiercely, 'ye're nae better than a beast, tae be looking 

 for grass on the Sawbath. The cattle there want reason, 

 which maybe you have.' ' Stop, my good fellow,' said 

 I ; ' the cattle look at the plants without seeing the 

 least beauty in them ; they pick out the grass here and 

 there to fill their bellies ; but I look at them for the 

 improvement of my mind.' 'Ach!' he grunted; and 

 then he roared, ' It's a sad thing for a man who has got 

 one wife already, to go a after another.' At this 

 coarse outburst I laughed loudly ; and after telling him 

 that I had got no wife at all, I suddenly walked away 

 and left the man with his beasts. I wonder what this 

 blind zealot would have done to me if he had the power. 

 The less we know, the more intolerant and tyrannical 

 we become. All the religious persecutions that we read 

 of are merely the result of ignorance, and of the cruelty 

 that comes of ignorance. I wonder whether that man 

 ever thinks of the words the Master he pretends to 

 serve once said to His disciples ' Consider the lilies of 

 the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they 

 spin ; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all 

 his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'" 



Amongst the numerous scientific men who sought 

 the acquaintance of Dick was the late Sir Eoderick 

 13 



