A Noble Life | Page 5

misfortune of living."
"But that would have been murder--sheer murder," earnestly replied the
minister. "And we are not Spartans, but Christians, to whom the body is
not every thing, and who believe that God can work out His wonderful
will, if He chooses, through the meanest means--through the saddest
tragedies and direst misfortunes. In one sense, Dr. Hamilton, there is no
such thing as evil--that is, there is no actual evil in the world except
sin."
"There is plenty of that, alas!" said Mr. Menteith. "But as to the child, I
wished you to see it--both of you together--if only to bear evidence as
to its present condition. For the late earl, in his will, executed, by a
most providential chance, the last time I was here, appointed me sole
guardian and trustee to a possible widow or child. On me, therefore,

depends the charge of this poor infant--the sole bar between those
penniless, grasping, altogether discreditable Bruces, and the large
property of Cairnforth. You see my position, gentlemen?"
It was not an easy one, and no wonder the honest man looked much
troubled.
"I need not say that I never sought it--never thought it possible it would
really fall to my lot; but it has fallen, and I must discharge it to the best
of my ability. You see what the earl is--born alive, anyhow--though we
can hardly wish him to survive."
The three gentlemen were silent. At length Mr. Cardross said,
"There is one worse doubt which has occurred to me. Do you think, Dr.
Hamilton, that the mind is as imperfect as the body? In short, is it not
likely that the poor child may turn out to be an idiot?"
"I do not know; and it will be almost impossible to judge for months
yet."
"But, idiot or not," cried Mr. Menteith--a regular old Tory, who clung
with true conservative veneration to the noble race which he, his father,
and grandfather had served faithfully for a century and more ---"idiot or
not, the boy is undoubtedly Earl of Cairnforth."
"Poor child!"
The gentlemen then sat down and thoroughly discussed the whole
matter, finally deciding that, until things appeared somewhat plainer, it
was advisable to keep the earl's condition as much as possible from the
world in general, and more especially from his own kindred. The
Bruces, who lived abroad, would, it was naturally to be concluded--or
Mr. Menteith, who had a lawyer's slender faith in human nature,
believed so --would pounce down, like eagles upon a wounded lamb,
the instant they heard what a slender thread of life hung between them
and these great possessions.

Under such circumstances, for the infant to be left unprotected in the
solitudes of Loch Beg was very unadvisable; and, besides, it was the
guardian's duty to see that every aid which medical skill and surgical
science could procure was supplied to a child so afflicted, and upon
whose life so much depended. He therefore proposed and Dr. Hamilton
agreed, that immediately after the funeral the little earl should be taken
to Edinburg, and placed in the house of the latter, to remain there a year
or two, or so long as might be necessary.
Janet Campbell was called in, and expressed herself willing to take her
share--no small one--in the responsibility of this plan, if the minister
would see to her "ain bairn;" that was, if the minister really thought the
scheme a wise one.
"The minister's opinion seems to carry great weight here," said Dr.
Hamilton, smiling.
And it was so; not merely because of his being a minister, but because,
with all his gentle, unassuming ways, he had an excellent judgment--
the clear, sound, unbiased judgment which no man can ever attain to
except a man who thinks little of himself; to whom his own honor and
glory come ever second, and his Master's glory and service first.
Therefore, both as a man and a minister, Mr. Cardross was equally and
wholly reliable: charitable, because he felt his own infirmities; placing
himself at no higher level than his neighbor, he was always calmly and
scrupulously just. Though a learned, he was not exactly a clever man:
probably his sermons, preached every Sunday for the last ten years in
Cairnforth Kirk, were neither better nor worse than the generality of
country sermons; but that matters little. He was a wise man and a good
man, and all his parishioners, scattered over a parish of fourteen Scotch
miles, deeply and dearly loved him.
"I think," said Mr. Cardross, "that this plan has many advantages, and is,
under the circumstances, the best that could have been devised. True, I
should like to have had the poor babe under my own eye and my wife's,
that we might try to requite in some degree