Page:Martha Spreull by Zachary Fleming.pdf/20

8 and camstrarie youth you could hardly find in a week’s journey, yet this was the kind of untutored spirit she selected to take the care and control of. His moral training had been totally neglected. The Ten Commandments were a sealed book to him; but even after the Catechism was opened and explained with much affectionate zeal, his moral vision had contracted such a squint that he failed to observe matters straight, and always looked round the corners of truth, if, peradventure, he might see things different from other folk—the result being that he generally ended in heterodox and perverted conclusions. The bursar, I fear, will be troublesome to us all, but I have observed when a woman sets her affections on an object, however unworthy it may be, it is useless trying to convince her she is wrong. Well, after all that has come and gone in the course of the narrative which follows, perhaps the reader will conclude that this is not the least estimable trait in her character. In going over the proof-sheets of the book, Dr. Threshie tells me that at least I have no reason to complain of this feature in her character, and as the Doctor is a wellconditioned, godly, and far-seeing man, I accept of matters as they stand with resignation and thankfulness.

In conclusion, I would observe that the following chapters contain some admirable moral truths, and are animated by a spirit of self-abnegation worthy of being