onths_." When in Whalsay, Mr. Brown took the service on Sunday, if the
minister happened to be ill. In this capacity he achieved great
popularity by the meritorious device of shortening the sermon to fifteen
minutes. He was so much in love with the first sermon he wrote, that he
never wrote another, contenting himself with giving it again and again,
and merely varying the text. If he could only hit upon a suitable title,
and a suitable publisher for this sermon, Mr. Brown would get it
printed, and scattered broadcast over the Shetland Islands. I believe it
would furnish unique food for thought even to sinners on the mainland.

Mr. Brown received me with extreme kindness, and invited me inside to
see his school. I heard his senior class read, and thought the
pronunciation extremely good. About 12.55 the attention of the pupils
became visibly impaired; glances were furtively cast towards the door;
there was a feeling of expectancy all along the benches. Suddenly the
door sprang open, as if by some violent external impact, and a
middle-aged dame entered, carrying in each hand a large pail of steaming
potato-soup. Accompanying her was a young woman with dozens of small
pewter basins, and large spoons. I never saw such expeditious ladling,
such quick distribution, such speed of consumption, and such manifest
enjoyment all round. The steam of the soup obscured the wall-maps, and
the parsing exercise on the blackboard. The children could get as many
helpings as nature would permit, _for one farthing_. When the mist
cleared away, teacher and taught once more proceeded to tackle simple
proportion and analysis of sentences. I personally examined the soup,
and found it to be "nae skinking ware that jaups in luggies."

SOME SURPRISES.

Some surprises are in store for one who calls in casually at some of the
remoter schools. I have more than once found the teacher _giving
instruction in his shirt sleeves_. In one school, I saw the master with
_a large melodeon_ (the Board being too stingy to supply a piano),
giving an inharmonious accompaniment to the musical drill. I got a
dreadful surprise on meeting the schoolmaster of a district in Jura: the
unfortunate gentleman was _stone-deaf_, his auditory nerves being
completely destroyed. Yet he managed, unaided, a school of forty-seven
pupils, and got excellent reports. The case is unparalleled in my
experience, and I should not have believed it possible had I not
personally seen the