Page:Martha Spreull by Zachary Fleming.pdf/137

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CLOSING NOTE.
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authority—David Whammond—but all he says is: "This is a profound doctrine full of kittleness to the carnal mind, whilk looks like contradictoriness; yet there are some things ower deep to be grasped by finite wisdom, and when sic difficulties arise we maun e'en humble oorsels reverently before them and submit to the eternal decrees." But this is not a satisfactory answer to the wayward lad, who wants everything in heaven and earth to square with reason. I wish he would stick to accounting and let theology alone. Such questions have no place on the Stock Exchange, and if they had I fear they would lead to little profit.

What more have I to say?

My wife tells me that the charm of this book lies in the editorial remarks that open and close it. This, I feel, is the extravagance of self abnegation under the influence of early love. To my mind, any merit it possesses lies in the part which she herself has contributed; but it is for the public to judge—not us. Palmam qui meruit ferat, which, by interpretation from the Latin tongue, means—Let him who has won the palm carry it.