Page:Life memoirs & pedigree of Thomas Hamilton Dickson.pdf/17

 modern appearance and seeming dignity, which is generally the case with all houses where the occupiers are connected with church or state; the rest of the houses or cottages have the appearance of ages past and gone. There is a public library in the village, of which the minister is president, and the school-master librarian; but there are few, if any, readers, the people having a better idea of fur draining than literature or the fine arts. It is a fact that man, in many instances, is a passive creature; he eats, he drinks, labours, sleeps, and propagates his species, and seems, for the most part, to regard nothing else.

There are three singular characters in the village. One is a weaver, who was preses to four societies in one year, namely, the Librarian Society; the Society for Watching the Dead; the Farmer’s Humane Society; and the Labourer’s Society. Thus the local honours were heaped upon his noble head. Another was an Auctioneer, a Grocer, and a Tailor, all within the same time—so if man cannot live by the way as he journeys through life, it is not for deficiency of trades. The last of the three was engaged in the ever-memorable battle of Trafalgar, and is healthy and strong at the present day.

The village of Balmore lies about a mile to the south-east of the above-mentioned little hamlet, and there is no direct high-way to it, and people often go round about seeking the nearest. There is, however, a foot-path through fields, hills, and vallies. There is a