Mr. Morton, on the contrary, had passed from the
literary pursuits of a college, where he was beloved by his companions,
and respected by his teachers, to the ease and simplicity of his present
charge, where his opportunities of witnessing evil were few, and never
dwelt upon but in order to encourage repentance and amendment; and where
the love and respect of his parishioners repaid his affectionate zeal in
their behalf, by endeavouring to disguise from him what they knew
would give him the most acute pain, namely, their own occasional
transgressions of the duties which it was the business of his life to
recommend. Thus it was a common saying in the neighbourhood (though
both wore popular characters), that the laird knew only the ill in the
parish, and the minister only the good.
A love of letters, though kept in subordination to his clerical studies
and duties, also distinguished the pastor of Cairnvreckan, and had
tinged his mind in earlier days with a slight feeling of romance, which
no after incidents of real life had entirely dissipated. The early loss
of an amiable young woman, whom he had married for love, and who was
quickly followed to the grave by an only child, had also served, even
after the lapse of many years, to soften a disposition naturally mild
and contemplative.
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