Ministers has come to an end, There have been five, and of those two are living. Gladstone in some of his characteristics wags intensely Scottish, though, Oxford and Anglicanism had made him more than half English. But his nate is Scottish, and so was his descent. Two of them were literally Glasgow men, the last had. his birthplace beyond the. seas, but his business, his fellow-citizens and his character were, all Scottish.
It is sometimes said that the Scots have no sense of humour, "says Lady Frances' 'Balfour, or if some story is. told which disproves that—gibe, it is said to be 'a sense of humour peculiar te themselves."' But, with the exception of Gladstone, whose sense' of humour was "peculiar" in that he had none, his successors have all been marked by wit as well as humour. Combined with that is a certain austere reserve peculiarly Scottish, which unconsciously separates the goats from the sheep in the two nationalities. Then there are the latent forces hidden in the Scottish. character: which so often surprise those who are not-of their'country. It may be the force of strong emotion,' 'a sudden revelation of the understanding of. the northern half of the kingdom, or a sudden flash of remembrance of the pit from whence they were: dug; certainly no man can reckon on the-way a Scot will act when under' some strong remembrance of the hills of home. As we think of them so different in their upbringing,'so diverse in their education' and social upbringing ' and' in refit gion, they yet have one- thing which -binds. them. together in our thoughts—a conspicuous: in-" dependence of mind, an integrity of purpose, and. a deep-rooted. patriotism,.which. has its instinctive roots in the love. of freedom and: liberty. Not, for nothing has Scottish history been such a troubled page; of blood and tears and poverty. It'is not in the green and flowery gardens of the world. that. character is formed, and religion. baconies part of the history of the race.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.