Major Melville had been versed in camps and cities; he was vigilant by profession and cautious from experience, had met with much evil in the world, and therefore, though himself an upright magistrate and an honourable man, his opinions of others were always strict, and sometimes unjustly severe.  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 were 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.  His feelings on the present occasion were therefore likely to differ from those of the severe disciplinarian, strict magistrate, and distrustful man of the world.

When the servants had withdrawn, the silence of both parties continued, until Major Melville, filling his glass and pushing the bottle to Mr. Morton, commenced—­

’A distressing affair this, Mr. Morton.  I fear this youngster has brought himself within the compass of a halter.’

‘God forbid!’ answered the clergyman.

‘Marry, and amen,’ said the temporal magistrate; ’but I think even your merciful logic will hardly deny the conclusion.’

‘Surely, Major,’ answered the clergyman, ’I should hope it might be averted, for aught we have heard tonight?’

‘Indeed!’ replied Melville.  ’But, my good parson, you are one of those who would communicate to every criminal the benefit of clergy.’

’Unquestionably I would.  Mercy and long-suffering are the grounds of the doctrine I am called to teach.’

’True, religiously speaking; but mercy to a criminal may be gross injustice to the community.  I don’t speak of this young fellow in particular, who I heartily wish may be able to clear himself, for I like both his modesty and his spirit.  But I fear he has rushed upon his fate.’