“But what then do you call the duties of property?”
“In what does the property consist?”
“In land, to begin with.”
“If the land were of no value, would the possession of it involve duties?”
“I suppose not.”
“In what does the value of the land consist?”
Lady Arctura did not attempt an answer to the question, and Donal, after a little pause, resumed.
“If you valued things as the world values them, I should not care to put the question; but I fear you may have some lingering notion that, though God’s way is the true way, the world’s way must not be disregarded. One thing, however, is certain—that nothing that is against God’s way can be true. The value of property consists only in its being means, ground, or material to work his will withal. There is no success in the universe but in his will being done.”
Arctura was silent. She had inherited prejudices which, while she hated selfishness, were yet thoroughly selfish. Such are of the evils in us hardest to get rid of. They are even cherished for a lifetime by some of the otherwise loveliest of souls. Knowing that herein much thought would be necessary for her, and that she would think, Donal went no farther: a house must have its foundation settled before it is built upon; argument where the grounds of it are at all in dispute is worse than useless.
He turned to his ladder, set it right, mounted, and peered into the opening. At the length of his arm he could reach the wires Davie had described: they were taut, and free of rust—were therefore not iron or steel. He saw also that a little down the shaft a faint light came in from the opposite side: there was another opening somewhere! Next he saw that each following string—for strings he already counted them—was placed a little lower than that before it, so that their succession was inclined to the other side of the shaft—apparently in a plane between the two openings, that a draught might pass along their plane: this must surely be the instrument whence the music flowed! He descended.