th its own speculations.

His name was John Douglas. His father had been a small shipowner in
Greenock, and, dying, had left this, his eldest son, a fortune of about
10,000 pounds. John Douglas, after patient judgment of the matter,
arrived at the conclusion that it was far from just and fitting that he
should have the exclusive use of this money, so he lent 7000 pounds, or
thereabouts, to his two younger brothers, who forthwith took it, and,
unhappily, themselves also, to the bottom of the sea, in a vessel
which, recklessly, they had not insured. Thereupon John Douglas,
having still over 3000 pounds, invested it in what was then considered
a safe concern, and finding his wants very few and very simple,
repaired to the Renfrewshire coast, and found there a small cottage
overlooking the Firth of Clyde and the sea, where he could live cheaply
and comfortably. And he did live there very comfortably and
contentedly, though not quite to the satisfaction of his neighbours,
who resented the intrusion amongst them of a man who minded his own
business, who would not listen to any tittle-tattle, who was absolutely
indifferent as to what opinion, good or ill, they might have of him,
and who took long and solitary walks among the hills on Sundays as on
other days.

It ought to be said here at the outset that this man's character is not
set up as in any way an exemplar. If mankind at large were so many
John Douglases the world would not get on at all. We should have no
iron bridges built, or Atlantic cables laid, or financial companies
started, and we certainly should not have any man-killing machines a
million or half-a-million strong; whereas every well-conducted person
knows that such things are now-a-days absolutely necessary. The truth
is, that John Douglas, or Captain Douglas, as the neighbours called him
with a kind of grudging respect, was a skulker from the battle of
humanity. What he wanted was a beach of white sand, a hot day, a blue
sea, a book, a pipe, and the absence of his fellow-creatures. He was
kind to such people as he was forced to meet; and he was a favourite
amongst the children in that part, for he bought them toys and
sweetmeats when he went to Greenock; but he preferred the society of
his books to that of his neighbours, and he was impatient of idle talk.
Indeed, what was the use of their conversing with a man who was far
more interested in the first blossoming of the furze in spring than in
a Cab