I gathered some courage from his over-severity, and answered
him as follows: "Who made thee a judge of the actions or
dispositions of the Almighty's creatures--thou who art a worm
and no man in his sight? How it befits thee to deal out judgments and
anathemas! Hath he not made one vessel to honour, and another
to dishonour, as in the case with myself and thee? Hath he not
builded his stories in the heavens, and laid the foundations
thereof in the earth, and how can a being like thee judge between
good and evil, that are both subjected to the workings of his hand;
or of the opposing principles in the soul of man, correcting,
modifying, and refining one another?"
I said this with that strong display of fervour for which I was
remarkable at my years, and expected old Barnet to be utterly
confounded; but he only shook his head, and, with the most
provoking grin, said: "There he goes! Sickan sublime and
ridiculous sophistry I never heard come out of another mouth but
ane. There needs nae aiths to be sworn afore the session wha is
your father, young goodman. I ne'er, for my part, saw a son sac
like a dad, sin' my een first opened.
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