ate he has formed of his own country and
of its position even among the larger nations of the earth, he will
find ample reason to raise his opinion of other nations because they
all have much to be proud of--quite enough to stimulate their sons so
to act their parts as not to disgrace the land that gave them birth.

It was years before I could feel that the new land could be anything
but a temporary abode. My heart was in Scotland. I resembled Principal
Peterson's little boy who, when in Canada, in reply to a question,
said he liked Canada "very well for a visit, but he could never live
so far away from the remains of Bruce and Wallace."

CHAPTER II

DUNFERMLINE AND AMERICA

My good Uncle Lauder justly set great value upon recitation in
education, and many were the pennies which Dod and I received for
this. In our little frocks or shirts, our sleeves rolled up, paper
helmets and blackened faces, with laths for swords, my cousin and
myself were kept constantly reciting Norval and Glenalvon, Roderick
Dhu and James Fitz-James to our schoolmates and often to the older
people.

I remember distinctly that in the celebrated dialogue between Norval
and Glenalvon we had some qualms about repeating the phrase,--"and
false as _hell_." At first we made a slight cough over the
objectionable word which always created amusement among the
spectators. It was a great day for us when my uncle persuaded us that
we could say "hell" without swearing. I am afraid we practiced it very
often. I always played the part of Glenalvon and made a great mouthful
of the word. It had for me the wonderful fascination attributed to
forbidden fruit. I can well understand the story of Marjory Fleming,
who being cross one morning when Walter Scott called and asked how she
was, answered:

"I am very cross this morning, Mr. Scott. I just want to say 'damn'
[with a swing], but I winna."

Thereafter the expression of the one fearful word was a great point.
Ministers could say "damnation" in the pulpit without sin, and so we,
too, had full range on "hell" in recitation. Another passage made a
deep impression. In the fight between Norval and Glenalvon, Norval
says, "When we contend again our strife is mortal." Using these words
in an article written for the "North American Review" in 1897, my
uncle came across them and immediately sat down and wrote me from
Dunfermline that he knew where I had found the words. He was the only
man living who did.