Page:Martha Spreull by Zachary Fleming.pdf/35

Rh against the jam o’ the door and tucked his leather brattie under his waistband, for there wasna a thrawin’er bein’ on the face o’ the earth than Peter. “ Dagont! Maister Spreull, I wunner to hear ye. Hoo can a man teach ye truth if he’s in ignorance o’t himsel’ ? Hoo can he expect ye to believe unless he is certain sure that what he is tellin’ ye is true, an’ hoo can he tell whether the Word is true or no onless he can prove it by gaun back to the oreeginal tongue ? Na, na, Maister Spreull; I dinna fa’ in wi’ ye there. Whenever ye fin’ oot that they canna put as muckle leamin’ intil a callant’s head as will mak’ a decent minister o’ him, I wud just advise ye to ’prentice him to a cooper; for as ye hae aften said yersel’, strength and ignorance is a’ that’s needed for a cooper.”

Noo, although as a lassie I had often listened to these argyments, I never thought seriously o’ them until I fell heir to the flett o’ rooms in George Street an’ had to fend for mysel’. Of course, it is true mony o’ my ludger laddies got through what they ca’d their Airts, Medical, and Theology classes easily eneuch, an’ had spare time to break my precious cheenie an’ ither household valuables. Still an-on there wis a guid wheen o’ them wha, like my ain first cousin, stuck sair at their Greek an’ Laitin, leaving’ it to this day a mystery to me hoo such studies ever had been associated wi’ the name o’ Humanity.