apartment, for the sake of sweet spiritual converse; but that time,
in the course of the night, they differed so materially on a small
point somewhere between justification and final election that the
minister, in the heat of his zeal, sprung from his seat, paced the
floor, and maintained his point with such ardour that Martha was
alarmed, and, thinking they were going to fight, and that the
minister would be a hard match for her mistress, she put on some
clothes, and twice left her bed and stood listening at the back of
the door, ready to burst in should need require it. Should anyone
think this picture over-strained, I can assure him that it is taken
from nature and from truth; but I will not likewise aver that the
theologist was neither crazed nor inebriated. If the listener's
words were to be relied on, there was no love, no accommodating
principle manifested between the two, but a fiery burning zeal,
relating to points of such minor importance that a true Christian
would blush to hear them mentioned, and the infidel and profane
make a handle of them to turn our religion to scorn.

Great was the dame's exultation at the triumph of her beloved
pastor over her sinful neighbours in the lower parts of the house;
and she boasted of it to Martha in high-sounding terms. But it
was of short duration; for, in five weeks after that, Arabella
Logan came to reside with the laird as his housekeeper, sitting at
his table and carrying the keys as mistress-substitute of the
mansion. The lady's grief and indignation were now raised to a
higher pitch than ever; and she set every agent to work, with
whom she had any power, to effect a separation between these
two suspected ones. Remonstrance was of no avail: George
laughed at them who tried such a course, and retained his
housekeeper, while the lady gave herself up to utter despair; for,