Experience had taught Mrs. Walkinshaw, as it does most married ladies,
that when a husband is in one of his moody fits, the best way of
reconciling him to the cause of his vexation is to let him alone,
or, as the phrase is, to let him come again to himself. Accordingly,
instead of teasing him at the moment with any inquiries about the
source of his molestation, she drew Mrs. Kilfuddy aside, and retired
into another room, leaving him in the hands of the worthy divine, who,
sidling up to him, said,--
‘I’m weel content to observe the resigned spirit of Mrs. Walkinshaw
under this heavy dispensation,--and it would be a great thing to us
a’ if we would lay the chastisement rightly to heart. For wi’ a’
his faults, and no mere man is faultless, Plealands was na without
a seasoning o’ good qualities, though, poor man, he had his ain
tribulation in a set of thrawn-natured tenants. But he has won away,
as we a’ hope, to that pleasant place where the wicked cease from
troubling, and the weary rest in peace. Nae doubt, Mr. Walkinshaw, it
maun hae been some sma’ disappointment to you, to find that your second
son is made the heir, but it’s no an affliction past remedy, so ye
should na let it fash you oure muckle.’
‘No, be thankit,’ replied Claud, ‘it’s no past remede, as Gibby Omit
tells me; but I’m a thought troubled anent the means, for my auld son
Charlie’s a fine callan, and I would grudge to shove him out o’ the
line o’ inheritance. It’s an unco pity, Mr. Kilfuddy, that it had na
pleased the Lord to mak Watty like him.’
The minister, who did not very clearly understand this, said, ‘A’ thing
considered, Mr. Walkinshaw, ye’ll just hae to let the law tak its
course, and though ye canna hae the lairdship in ae lump, as ye aiblins
expekit, it’s nevertheless in your ain family.’
‘I’m no contesting that,’ rejoined Claud, ‘but I would fain hae the
twa mailings in ae aught, for if that could be brought about, I would
na doubt of making an excambio o’ the Plealands for the Divethill and
Kittleston, the twa farms that wi’ the Grippy made up the heritage
o’ my forefathers; for Mr. Auchincloss, the present propreeator, is
frae the shire o’ Ayr, and I hae had an inklin that he would na be ill
pleased to mak a swap, if there was ony possibility in law to alloo’t.’
‘I canna say,’ replied the Reverend Mr. Kilfuddy, ‘that I hae ony
great knowledge o’ the laws o’ man; I should, however, think it’s
no impossible; but still, Mr. Walkinshaw, ye would hae to mak a
reservation for behoof of your son Walter, as heir to his grandfather.
It would be putting adders in the creel wi’ the eggs if ye did na.’
‘That’s the very fasherie o’ the business, Mr. Kilfuddy, for it would
be na satisfaction to me to leave a divided inheritance; and the warst
o’t is, that Watty, haverel though it’s like to be, is no sae ill as
to be cognos’t; and what maks the case the mair kittle, even though he
were sae, his younger brother Geordie, by course o’ law and nature,
would still come in for the Plealands afore Charlie. In short, I see
nothing for’t, Mr. Kilfuddy, but to join the Grippy in ae settlement
wi’ the Plealands, and I would do sae outright, only I dinna like on
poor Charlie’s account.--Do ye think there is ony sin in a man setting
aside his first-born? Ye ken Jacob was alloo’t to get the blessing and
the birthright o’ his elder brother Esau.’
Mr. Kilfuddy, notwithstanding a spice of worldly-mindedness in his
constitution, was, nevertheless, an honest and pious Presbyterian
pastor; and the quickness of his temper at the moment stirred him to
rebuke the cold-hearted speculations of this sordid father.
‘Mr. Walkinshaw,’ said he severely, ‘I can see no point o’ comparison
between the case o’ your twa sons and that o’ Jacob and Esau; and
what’s mair, the very jealousing that there may be sin in what ye
wish to do, is a clear demonstration that it is vera sinful; for, O
man! it’s a bad intent indeed that we canna excuse to oursels. But
to set you right in ae point, and that ye may hae nae apology drawn
from scriptural acts, for the unnatural inclination to disinherit your
first-born, out o’ the prideful phantasy of leaving a large estate, I
should tell you that there was a mystery of our holy religion hidden
in Jacob’s mess o’ porridge, and it’s a profane thing to meddle with
that which appertaineth to the Lord, for what He does, and what He
permits, is past the understanding o’ man, and woe awaits on all those
that would bring aught to pass contrary to the manifest course of
his ordained method. For example, he taketh the breath of life away
at his pleasure, but has he not commanded that no man shall commit
murder?--Mr. Walkinshaw, Mr. Walkinshaw, ye maun strive against this
sin of the flesh, ye maun warsle wi’ the devil, and hit him weel on the
hip till ye gar him loosen the grip that he has ta’en to draw you on
to sic an awful sin. Heh, man! an ye’re deluded on to do this thing,
what a bonny sight it will be to see your latter end, when Belzebub,
wi’ his horns, will be sitting upon your bosom, boring through the very
joints and marrow o’ your poor soul wi’ the red-het gimlets o’ a guilty
conscience.’
Claud shuddered at the picture, and taking the reproving minister by
the hand, said, ‘We canna help the wicked thoughts that sometimes rise,
we dinna ken whar frae, within us.’
‘Ye dinna ken whar frae?--I’ll tell you whar frae--frae hell; sic
thoughts are the cormorants that sit on the apple-trees in the devil’s
kail-yard, and the souls o’ the damned are the carcasses they mak their
meat o’.’
‘For Heaven’s sake, Mr. Kilfuddy,’ exclaimed Claud, trembling in every
limb; ‘be patient, and no speak that gait, ye gar my hair stand on end.’
‘Hair! O man, it would be weel for you, if your precious soul would
stand on end, and no only on end, but humlet to the dust, and that ye
would retire into a corner, and scrape the leprosy of sic festering
sins wi’ a potsherd o’ the gospel, till ye had cleansed yourself for a
repentance unto life.’
These ghostly animadversions may, perhaps, sound harsh to the polite
ears of latter days, but denunciation was, at that time, an instrument
of reasoning much more effectual than persuasion, and the spiritual
guides of the people, in warning them of the danger of evil courses,
made no scruple, on any occasion, to strengthen their admonitions
with the liveliest imagery that religion and enthusiasm supplied.
Yet, with all the powerful aid of such eloquence, their efforts were
often unavailing, and the energy of Mr. Kilfuddy, in this instance,
had, perhaps, no other effect than to make Claud for a time hesitate,
although, before they parted, he expressed great contrition for having,
as he said, yielded to the temptation of thinking that he was at
liberty to settle his estate on whom he pleased.