CHAPTER XXTV. 



CHARA CTERISTICS. 



ROBERT DICK died early. Yet he had lived mote than 

 most men. He had worked hard to obtain knowledge. 

 He had worked hard for the love of science. He did 

 not work for his honour and glory. He gave freely to 

 others, without any thought of reward. In this respect 

 he was entirely self-sacrificing. 



We have said that his youth was unhappy. His 

 mother died when he was a boy, yet he remembered 

 her to the day of his death. After that he suffered 

 injustice which threw a shadow over his future life. 

 There was no gentleness about his bringing-up. For 

 relief he went to the fields and the mountains, and fell 

 in love with the beauties of nature. The taste never 

 loft him. 



The tears of childhood soon dry up, and then begin 

 the sighs of manhood. But Dick, though brought up to 

 a life of hard work, was never daunted. He tried to 

 make the best of his life, such as it was. When he 

 settled at Thurso, he again threw himself into nature. 

 Though baffled in his affections, he forgot his sorrow in 

 his strivings after knowledge. His natural disposition, 

 though thwarted, was never soured. 



