t. The family were totally illiterate. The father was a Scotch peasant,
whose ignorance was so great that he could not sign his name. His wife,
I believe, could read, and might sometimes decipher the figures in an
almanac; but that was all. I am apt to think that the son's ability was
not much greater. You might as well look for silver platters or marble
tables in his house, as for a book or a pen.

"I remember calling at their house one evening in the winter before
last. It was intensely cold; and my father, who rode with me, having
business with Sawny Mervyn, we stopped a minute at his gate; and, while
the two old men were engaged in conversation, I begged leave to warm
myself by the kitchen fire. Here, in the chimney-corner, seated on a
block, I found Arthur busily engaged in _knitting stockings_! I thought
this a whimsical employment for a young active man. I told him so, for I
wanted to put him to the blush; but he smiled in my face, and answered,
without the least discomposure, 'Just as whimsical a business for a
young active woman. Pray, did you never knit a stocking?'

"'Yes; but that was from necessity. Were I of a different sex, or did I
possess the strength of a man, I should rather work in my field or study
my book.'

"'Rejoice that you are a woman, then, and are at liberty to pursue that
which costs least labour and demands most skill. You see, though a man,
I use your privilege, and prefer knitting yarn to threshing my brain
with a book or the barn-floor with a flail.'

"'I wonder,' said I, contemptuously, 'you do not put on the petticoat as
well as handle the needle.'

"'Do not wonder,' he replied; 'it is because I hate a petticoat
encumbrance as much as I love warm feet. Look there,' (offering the
stocking to my inspection:) 'is it not well done?'

"I did not touch it, but sneeringly said, 'Excellent! I wonder you do
not apprentice yourself to a tailor.'

"He looked at me with an air of ridiculous simplicity, and said, 'How
prone the woman is to _wonder_! You call the work excellent, and yet
_wonder_ that I do not make myself a slave to improve my skill! Did you
learn needlework from seven years' squatting on a tailor's board? Had
you come to me, I would have taught you in a day.'

"'I was taught at school.'

"'And paid your instructor?'

"'To-be-sure.'

"''Twas liberty and money thrown away. Send your sister, if you have
one, to me, and I will teach her without either rod or wages. Will you