150 THE LAND'S END 



but if a vessel in distress is in sight, and there is a 

 chance of its going on the rocks, they make an 

 exception ; they will pace the cliffs all day long in the 

 hope of a bit of flotsam coming in their way." 



They may appear equally inconsistent the Somer- 

 set man and the Cornishman but can we say that one 

 is morally worse than the other ? The case of the 

 good artisan who drew the line at cricket on Sunday 

 is not a singular one : one doubts if there is a 

 peasant in England, however truly religious a man 

 he may be, who would not pick up a rabbit or hare if 

 he got the chance on any day of the week. They do 

 not believe it is wrong, consequently it does not hurt 

 their conscience, and the only fear they have is to be 

 found out. And so with the Cornishman ; it is 

 ingrained in him, and is like an inherited knowledge, 

 that if the Power that rules the winds and waves, 

 and who holds the lives of all men in the hollow of 

 his hand, sends a ship upon the rocks, it is because 

 he thinks proper to destroy that ship and incidentally 

 to scatter gifts among his people living on the coast. 

 Shall they refuse to take any good thing he chooses 

 to send them ? If their minister tells them it is 

 wrong it is because he does not know the rights of 

 it. Their fathers did it, and their forefathers, for 

 generations back and were no worse for it. It 

 would indeed be strange if they did not resent as an 

 injustice, an interference with their natural rights, 

 that so strict a watch is kept on them, and that they 

 are forbidden to take anything the waves may cast up 

 in their way. 



