BISHOP COLENSG. 401 



of a bishop of the Church of England, who must surely 

 know something about the Bible and its origin. Dick 

 was very much struck by its cleverness and its mockery. 

 He likened the book to Samson pulling down the 

 temple of the Philistines. " It is very clever," he said ; 

 * but what do we gain by it ? Nothing whatever ! 

 Rather we have lost. A little more unhappiness is all 

 the immediate result. Some of our dreams have fled, 

 and left us groping in uncertainty. Is there nothing 

 sure ? And yet there must be such a thing as truth. 

 But who is to decide, and tell us what truth is ? The 

 books of the Bible may be full of errors, but what would 

 become of mankind without it ?" 



Dick's letters show that his mind was much 

 depressed about this time. He seems to have had fewer 

 friends than ever. He sometimes speaks severely about 

 the Thurso merchants; "but," he adds, "it all arises from 

 a want of business. Indeed there is only one merchant 

 in Thurso who has anything like full employment." 

 Dick may possibly have become embittered through his 

 own want of success in life. 



"I have got," he said to his brother-in-law, "Mr. 

 Carlyle's fine oration at Edinburgh. Many thanks. I 

 have seen the same gentleman, and have talked to him. 

 Sir George Sinclair brought him to me, so that I might 

 see him, and he cojild look on me. Mr. Carlyle said in 

 his speech that labour was a cure for every human 

 malady. He was right so far ; and if Thurso folks had 

 more and better-paying employment, there would be 

 less spite and malice among them. And yet, mark yon, 



