" Why mourn ye," said an aged matron, seeing the
discontent of some of the citizens, while a stately
convent was burnt by the multitude, — " why moum yo
for its destruction] If you knew half the flagitious
wickedness which has been perpetrated within that
house, you would rather bless the divine judgment
which permits not even the senseless walls that



THE ABBOT 127

screened such profligacy, any longer to cumber Christian
ground/'

But although, in many instances, the destruction of
tile Eoman CathoHc bmldings might be, in the matron*s
way of judging, an act of justice, and in others an
act of policy, there is no doubt that the humour of
demolishing monuments of ancient piety and munifi-
cence, and that in a poor country like Scotland, where
there was no chance of their being replaced, was both
useless, mischievous, and barbarous.
