Scottish perseverance has itself become proverbial; we remember to have
met with a story which is said to be connected with the foundation of an
opulent mercantile house which has flourished for some generations.
Saunders, the traveler, entered a shop in London and enquired for the
head of the house; one of the clerks asked what he wanted; the answer of
Saunders was, as usual, a question, "Want ye aught in my line, sir?"
"No," was the prompt reply, accompanied by a look of contempt at the
itinerant Scotch merchant. "Will ye no tak' a look o' the gudes, sir?"
was Saunders' next query. "No, not at all; I have not time. Take them
away--take them away!" "Ye'll aiblins (perhaps) find them worth your
while, and I doubt na but ye'll buy," said Saunders; and he proceeded to
untie and unstrap his burden. "Go away--go away!" was reiterated more
than once by the clerk, but the persevering Scot still persisted. The
master of the establishment overheard all that had taken place, and now
he stepped forward, and, moved by some compunction for the treatment the
traveler had received, and some admiration, too, for the patience and
perseverance of the man, he consented to look over the contents of the
pack, found them to be exactly the goods he was in want of, purchased
them all, and gave a very large order; and thus, says Chambers, who
tells the story, assisted in the foundation of a large mercantile house.
But is not this the stuff of which also the Livingstones and the
Macleods are made? Was not this the spirit which set the brave Sir
Walter Scott to work, when sinking into his later years, to overtake his
fearful loss of one hundred thousand pounds? Is it not a commentary upon
that especial proverb which we have said so illustrates the Scottish
character, "He that tholes (or endures) overcomes?"
--_Chambers Journal._
1505
Better ask twice than lose your way once.
1506