FIFTH DAY.] INSTINCTS. 135 



saying, " Ye think ye are only stane breakers, but I 

 ken ye are Sabbath breakers, and ye deserve to be 

 staned with the stanes ye are breaking ! " 



HAL. Zeal of every kind is sometimes troublesome, 

 yet I generally suspect the persons, who are very 

 tolerant, of scepticism. Those who firmly believe, 

 that a particular plan of conduct is essential to the 

 eternal welfare of man, may be pardoned if they show 

 even anger, when this conduct is not pursued. The 

 severe observance of the Sabbath is connected with 

 the vital creed of these rigid presbyterians ; it is not 

 therefore extraordinary, that they should enforce it 

 even with a perseverance that goes beyond the bounds 

 of good manners and courtesy. They may quote the 

 example of our Saviour, who expelled the traders from 

 the Temple even by violence. 



PHYS. I envy no quality of the mind or intellect 

 in others, be it genius, power, wit, or fancy : but if 

 I could choose what would be most delightful, and I 

 believe most useful to me, I should prefer a firm 

 religious belief to every other blessing : for it makes 

 life a discipline of goodness; creates new hopes, 

 when all earthly hopes vanish ; and throws over the 

 decay, the destruction of existence, the most gorgeous 

 of all lights ; awakens life even in death, and from 

 corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity ; 

 makes an instrument of torture and of shame the 



