20 OCTOBER 1894, Page 13

[To THE EDITOR TO THE " BrzorsTon."] STR, — In connection with

the article in the Spectator of October 13th on "The Standing of Schoolmasters," the following incident, which gave me infinite pleasure at the time, may be of interest. I was in the saloon of a steamer on the West Coast of Scotland last Christmas holidays, and there fell into conversation with a melancholy man, a brother Scot, sentimental like all the race, and also, as presently appeared, lam entably drunk. "It's a sair wand this," said he. I said I thought there wasn't much the matter with the world as far as I knew it. "Aye weel," he said, "but ye ken I'm a. plumber, and it's aye a sair wand tae a plumber." I condoled with him, though secretly glad to hear that perverse and evil race were thus affitated. "And what's your trade P" he asked. I said I was a schoolmaster. " We's yer hand," said he, "I'm fa' o' seempathy : we baith belang tae a puir despised calling."