er and great
personal strength of Henry the Smith had hitherto led him to incur
too readily; and so far he would rather have desired that Catharine's
arguments should have produced some effect upon the mind of her lover,
whom he knew to be as ductile when influenced by his affections as he
was fierce and intractable when assailed by hostile remonstrances or
threats. But her arguments interfered with his views, when he heard her
enlarge upon the necessity of his designed son in law resigning a trade
which brought in more ready income than any at that time practised in
Scotland, and more profit to Henry of Perth in particular than to any
armourer in the nation. He had some indistinct idea that it would not be
amiss to convert, if possible, Henry the Smith from his too frequent use
of arms, even though he felt some pride in being connected with one
who wielded with such superior excellence those weapons, which in that
warlike age it was the boast of all men to manage with spirit. But when
he heard his daughter recommend, as the readiest road to this pacific
state of mind, that her lover should renounce the gainful trade in which
he was held unrivalled, and which, from the constant private differences
and public wars of the time, was sure to afford him a large income, he
could withhold his wrath no longer. The daughter had scarce recommended
to her lover the fabrication of the implements of husbandry, than,
feeling the certainty of being right, of which in the earlier part of
their debate he had been somewhat doubtful, the father broke in with:

"Locks and bars, plough graith and harrow teeth! and why not grates and
fire prongs, and Culross girdles, and an ass to carry the merchandise
through the country, and thou for another ass to lead it by the halter?
Why, Catharine, girl, has sense altogether forsaken thee, or dost thou
think that in these hard and iron days men will give ready silver for
anything save that which can defend their own life, or enable them to
take that of their enemy? We want swords to protect ourselves every
moment now, thou silly wench, and not ploughs to dress the ground for
the grain we may never see rise. As for the matter of our daily bread,
those who are strong seize it, and live; those who are weak yield it,
and die of hunger. Happy is the man who, like my worthy son, has means
of obtaining his living otherwise than by the point of the sword which
he makes. Preach peace to him as much as thou wilt