Their brass is of the right Corinthian quality, and _Non cuivis contigit adire Corinthum_--Aha, Mr.Saddletree ?" "And aha, Mr.Butler," rejoined Bartoline, upon whom, as may be well supposed, the jest was lost, and all but the sound of the words, "ye said a gliff syne it was _quivis,_ and now I heard ye say _cuivis_ with my ain ears, as plain as ever I heard a word at the fore-bar." "Give me your patience, Mr.Saddletree, and I'll explain the discrepancy in three words," said Butler, as pedantic in his own department, though with infinitely more judgment and learning, as Bartoline was in his self-assumed profession of the law--"Give me your patience for a moment--You'll grant that the nominative case is that by which a person or thing is nominated or designed, and which may be called the primary case, all others being formed from it by alterations of the termination in the learned languages, and by prepositions in our modern Babylonian jargons--You'll grant me that, I suppose, Mr.Saddletree ?" "I dinna ken whether I will or no--_ad avisandum,_ ye ken--naebody should be in a hurry to make admissions, either in point of law, or in point of fact," said Saddletree, looking, or endeavouring to look, as if he understood what was said.
"And the dative case," continued Butler "I ken what a tutor dative is," said Saddletree, "readily enough." "The dative case," resumed the grammarian, "is that in which anything is given or assigned as properly belonging to a person or thing--You cannot deny that, I am sure." "I am sure I'll no grant it, though," said Saddletree.
"Then, what the _deevil_ d'ye take the nominative and the dative cases to be ?" said Butler, hastily, and surprised at once out of his decency of expression and accuracy of pronunciation.
"I'll tell you that at leisure, Mr.Butler," said Saddletree, with a very knowing look; "I'll take a day to see and answer every article of your condescendence, and then I'll hold you to confess or deny as accords." "Come, come, Mr.Saddletree," said his wife, "we'll hae nae confessions and condescendences here; let them deal in thae sort o' wares that are paid for them--they suit the like o' us as all as a demipique saddle would suit a draught ox." "Aha!" said Mr.Butler, "_Optat ephippia bos piger,_ nothing new under the sun--But it was a fair hit of Mrs.Saddletree, however." "And it wad far better become ye, Mr.Saddletree," continued his helpmate, "since ye say ye hae skeel o' the law, to try if ye can do onything for Effie Deans, puir thing, that's lying up in the tolbooth yonder, cauld, and hungry, and comfortless--A servant lass of ours, Mr.
Butler, and as innocent a lass, to my thinking, and as usefu' in the shop--When Mr.Saddletree gangs out,--and ye're aware he's seldom at hame when there's ony o' the plea-houses open,--poor Effie used to help me to tumble the bundles o' barkened leather up and down, and range out the gudes, and suit a' body's humours--And troth, she could aye please the customers wi' her answers, for she was aye civil, and a bonnier lass wasna in Auld Reekie.

And when folk were hasty and unreasonable, she could serve them better than me, that am no sae young as I hae been, Mr.
Butler, and a wee bit short in the temper into the bargain.

For when there's ower mony folks crying on me at anes, and nane but ae tongue to answer them, folk maun speak hastily, or they'll ne'er get through their wark--Sae I miss Effie daily." "_De die in diem,_" added Saddletree.
"I think," said Butler, after a good deal of hesitation, "I have seen the girl in the shop--a modest-looking, fair-haired girl ?" "Ay, ay, that's just puir Effie," said her mistress.

"How she was abandoned to hersell, or whether she was sackless o' the sinful deed, God in Heaven knows; but if she's been guilty, she's been sair tempted, and I wad amaist take my Bible-aith she hasna been hersell at the time." Butler had by this time become much agitated; he fidgeted up and down the shop, and showed the greatest agitation that a person of such strict decorum could be supposed to give way to.

"Was not this girl," he said, "the daughter of David Deans, that had the parks at St.Leonard's taken?
and has she not a sister ?" "In troth has she,--puir Jeanie Deans, ten years aulder than hersell; she was here greeting a wee while syne about her tittie.