MR.SCLATER.
It may be remembered that, upon Gibbie's disappearance from the city, great interest was felt in his fate, and such questions started about the boy himself as moved the Rev.Clement Sclater to gather all the information at which he could arrive concerning his family and history.That done, he proceeded to attempt interesting in his unknown fortunes those relatives of his mother whose existence and residences he had discovered.In this, however, he had met with no success.At the house where she was born, there was now no one but a second cousin, to whom her brother, dying unmarried, had left the small estate of the Withrops, along with the family contempt for her husband, and for her because of him, inasmuch as, by marrying him, she had brought disgrace upon herself, and upon all her people.So said the cousin to Mr.Sclater, but seemed himself nowise humbled by the disgrace he recognized, indeed almost claimed.As to the orphan, he said, to speak honestly (as he did at least that once), the more entirely he disappeared, the better he would consider it--not that personally he was the least concerned in the matter; only if, according to the Scripture, there were two more generations yet upon which had to be visited the sins of Sir George and Lady Galbraith, the greater the obscurity in which they remained, the less would be the scandal.The brother who had taken to business, was the senior partner in a large ship-building firm at Greenock.This man, William Fuller Withrop by name--Wilful Withrop the neighbours had nicknamed him--was a bachelor, and reputed rich.Mr.Sclater did not hear of him what roused very brilliant hopes.He was one who would demand more reason than reasonable for the most reasonable of actions that involved parting with money; yet he had been known to do a liberal thing for a public object.Waste was so wicked that any other moral risk was preferable.Of the three, he would waste mind and body rather than estate.Man was made neither to rejoice nor to mourn, but to possess.To leave no stone unturned, however, Mr.Sclater wrote to Mr.Withrop.The answer he received was, that, as the sister, concerning whose child he had applied to him, had never been anything but a trouble to the family; as he had no associations with her memory save those of misery and disgrace; as, before he left home, her name had long ceased to be mentioned among them; and as her own father had deliberately and absolutely disowned her because of her obstinate disobedience and wilfulness, it could hardly be expected of him, and indeed would ill become him, to show any lively interest in her offspring.Still, although he could not honestly pretend to the smallest concern about him, he had, from pure curiosity, made inquiry of correspondents with regard to the boy;from which the resulting, knowledge was, that he was little better than an idiot, whose character, education, and manners, had been picked up in the streets.Nothing, he was satisfied, could be done for such a child, which would not make him more miserable, as well as more wicked, than he was already.Therefore, &c., &c., &c.
Thus failing, Mr.Sclater said to himself he had done all that could be required of him--and he had indeed taken trouble.Nor could anything be asserted, he said further to himself, as his duty in respect of this child, that was not equally his duty in respect of every little wanderer in the streets of his parish.That a child's ancestors had been favoured above others, and had so misused their advantages that their last representative was left in abject poverty, could hardly be a reason why that child, born, in more than probability, with the same evil propensities which had ruined them, should be made an elect object of favour.Who was he, Clement Sclater, to intrude upon the divine prerogative, and presume to act on the doctrine of election! Was a child with a Sir to his name, anything more in the eyes of God than a child without a name at all?
Would any title--even that of Earl or Duke, be recognized in the kingdom of heaven? His relatives ought to do something: they failing, of whom could further requisition be made? There were vessels to honour and vessels to dishonour: to which class this one belonged, let God in his time reveal.A duty could not be passed on.It could not become the duty of the minister of a parish, just because those who ought and could, would not, to spend time and money, to the neglect of his calling, in hunting, up a boy whom he would not know what to do with if he had him, a boy whose home had been with the dregs of society.
In justice to Mr.Sclater, it must be mentioned that he did not know Gibbie, even by sight.There remains room, however, for the question, whether, if Mr.Sclater had not been the man to change his course as he did afterwards, he would not have acted differently from the first.
One morning, as he sat at breakfast with his wife, late Mrs.