sidered marriage for ordinary men to flavour of sacrilege. His
mother had bound it as a law upon him that he was never to exercise his
tongue on a woman's failings, never to argue with a woman unto her
embarrassment, never to regard her otherwise than as his superior.
Women noticed that Carmichael bore himself to them as if each were a
Madonna, and treated him in turn according to their nature. Some were
abashed, and could not understand the lad's shyness; those were saints.
Some were amused, and suspected him of sarcasm; those were less than
saints. Some horrified him unto confusion of face because of the
shameful things they said. One middle-aged female, whose conversation
oscillated between physiology and rescue work, compelled Carmichael to
sue for mercy on the ground that he had not been accustomed to speak
about such details of life with a woman, and ever afterwards described
him as a prude. It seemed to Carmichael that he was disliked by some
women because he thought more highly of them than they thought of
themselves.

Carmichael was much tried by the baser of his fellow-students,
especially a certain class of smug, self-contented, unctuous men, who
neither had endured hardship to get to college, nor did any work at
college. They were described in reports as the "fruits of the
revival," and had been taken from behind counters and sent to the
University, not because they had any love of letters, like Domsie's
lads at Drumtochty, but because rich old ladies were much impressed by
the young men's talk, and the young men were perfectly aware that they
would be better off in the ministry than in any situation they could
gain by their own merits. As Carmichael grew older, and therefore more
charitable, he discovered with what faulty tools the work of the world
and even of kirks is carried on, and how there is a root of good in
very coarse and common souls. When he was a young judge--from whom may
the Eternal deliver us all--he was bitter against the "fruits," as he
called them, because they did their best to escape examinations, and
spoke in a falsetto voice, and had no interest in dogs, and because
they told incredible tales of their spiritual achievements. But
chiefly did Carmichael's gorge rise against those unfortunates because
of the mean way they spoke of marriage, and on this account, being a
high-spirited young fellow, he said things which could hardly be
defended, and of which afterwards he honestly