'Hall-binks are slippery seats.' The golden mean lay somewhere between
the hall-bink and the ash-pit; somewhere between Rutherford's ecstasy and
Gordon's depression. But as the Guide said in the exquisite
conversation, the wise God will have it so, some must pipe and some must
weep: and, for my part, I care not for that profession that begins not
with heaviness of mind. Only, here was the imperfection of Mr. Fearing
and Robert Gordon, that they would play upon no other music but this to
their latter end. So much so, that the thick woods of Knockbrex are said
to give out to this day the sound of the sackbut to those who have their
ears set to such music; there are men in that country who say that they
still hear it when they pass the plantations of Knockbrex alone at night.
Knockbrex is now a fine modern mansion that is sometimes let for the
summer to city people seeking solitude and rest. Among these thick woods
and along these silent sands Samuel Rutherford and Robert Gordon were
wont to walk and talk together. And here still a man who wishes it may
be free from the noise and the hurrying of this life. Here a man shall
not be let and hindered in his contemplations as in other places he is
apt to be. There are woods here that he who loves a pilgrim's life may
safely walk in. The soil also all hereabouts is rich and fruitful, and,
under good management, it brings forth by handfuls. The very shepherd
boys here live a merry life, and wear more of the herb called heart's-
ease in their bosoms than he that is clad in silk and velvet. What a
rich inheritance to the right heir is the old estate of Knockbrex! What
an opportunity, and what an education, it must be to tenant Knockbrex
with recollection, with understanding, and with sympathy even for a
season.

Robert Gordon would very willingly have remained behind the screen all
his days. He would very willingly have given himself up to the care of
his estate, to the upbringing of his children, and to the working out of