QUIET SLOWLY RETURNING—“BY CORNERS”—PRAYER FOR THE KING—WHY DEFERRED—DEATH OF BISHOP JOHN M’DONALD—BISHOP HAY ASKS FOR A COADJUTOR—THE REV. JOHN GEDDES APPOINTED—THE CLERGY SATISFIED— LEAVE TO ELECT A SUCCESSOR TO BISHOP M’DONALD—MR. GEDDES CONSE­CRATED WITH GREAT POMP AT MADRID BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO— ANNUITY GRANTED BY THE KING OF SPAIN—HANDSOME PRESENT BY THE DUKE OF HIJAR, PRESENTED TO THE KING—ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO ASKS FOR WORKS OF BISHOP HAY—PRESENTS TO BISHOP GEDDES A TOPAZ RING HE HIMSELF HAD LONG WORN—BISHOP GEDDES RETIRES TO VALLADOLID—IN THE MIDST OF SO MUCH GLORY, FORGETS NOT SCOTLAND—BISHOP HAY AT SCALAN—FRIENDS THERE, AIDED BY A CHARGE OF £8 YEARLY FROM EACH BOARDER—REV. ALEX. M’DONALD OF BARRA, VICAR-APOSTOLIC OF THE HIGHLANDS, WAS THE SON OF BOISDALE—BY DISPENSATION NO SECOND BISHOP AT CONSECRATION—PRAYER FOR THE KING ON OCCASION OF NATIONAL FAST—STEPS TOWARDS INTRODUCING CANONICAL DISCIPLINE— PASTORAL LETTER—MODERATION OF THE HOLY SEE—THE LORD GEORGE GORDON RIOT—THE SAME LORD ENDS HIS CAREER AT NEWGATE.

The bad feeling which prompted and accompanied so much illegal proceeding did not easily die away. It soon began to decrease. But it was some time before it was safe for Bishop Hay to stay constantly at Edinburgh. So late as 1782, on occasion of a visit to the family of a relative at Glasgow, Dr. Cleland, it was necessary for him to get away from that city very privately, “In a clandestine manner,” as is said, in order to avoid disturbance. By the month of August, the older chapel and priest’s residence, the building in Blackfriars Wynd, was restored and opened. Everything looked so well that a friendly Protestant, Mr. Drummond, a clever lawyer, proposed the purchase of a large house in which there was space for a room that could be used as a chapel, forty feet long and fourteen high, representing at the same time to the Bishop that he must not have his church any more in “By corners,” but in an open part of the town and near protection.

It will be remembered that when the Relief Bills for England and Ireland were passed, a prayer for the King and Royal Family was generally adopted by the Catholics of those countries. The Catholics of Scotland, aware that the King and his Government were favourable to their claims, desired unanimously that a like prayer should be in use among themselves, but had hitherto refrained, lest it should be taken as a sign that their Relief Bill was still under consideration, and the half smothered embers of fanaticism be roused into new fury. If, however, it was found to be pleasing to Premier Lord North and His Majesty, they would unhesitatingly adopt it without regard to the ideas of their enemies.

Bishop Hay, still in London, was thinking of dividing his labours with a coadjutor, when the sad news reached him of the death of Bishop John Macdonald. An epidemic fever that was raging in Knoydart country caused his death in a five day illness. He had caught the infection when attending the death-bed of a parishioner, and, worn out as he was by incessant labour, he fell an easy prey to the severe attack. Bishop Hay, in writing to the Principal of Valladolid, speaks of the deceased Bishop as “our worthy and most valuable friend.” He wrote in similar terms to the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda, Castelli: “Our poor mission has lost in him a worthy prelate, a zealous pastor, a learned and wise priest; and I, a prudent adviser, a faithful friend, and a support to my weakness.” In the same letter, the Bishop presented his request for a coadjutor to himself. He could not say that he was aged as yet; but he was old in constitution and weak in health. The labours of twenty years, in the missions, had impaired his strength, and he felt utterly inadequate to sustain the burden of the vicariate alone. The good Cardinal at once consented, and left it to the Bishop to name the party on whom his choice had fallen. At the same time, leave was given for the election of a successor; to the deceased Bishop of the Highland district, and a dispensa­tion granted to Bishop Hay to consecrate him alone without the assistance of any other bishop. Bishop Hay lost no time in naming as his coadjutor, Mr. Geddes, with whose excellent qualities he was so well acquainted. The nomination was cordially accepted by the clergy, Mr. Robert Grant of Douai alone dissenting, not that he thought Mr. Geddes was not qualified for the epis­copal office, but that he would continue to be more useful in his position as Principal of the College of Valladolid, which he had hitherto conducted with eminent success. Mr. Geddes himself, made no opposition to the appointment. The will of his superiors was to him the will of heaven. In a letter to Abbate Grant he said “Among the means of rendering things easy to me, I hope one that Providence will make use of, will be that of preserving long in life, my good friend, Bishop Hay, so that I may have little to do but to execute his orders, in the doing of which, with the divine aid, I do not apprehend much difficulty.” It was arranged that Mr. Geddes should remain another year in Spain; but Bishop Hay desired that his consecration should take place without delay. It was appointed, accordingly, that he should be consecrated, without loss of time, at Madrid. To this the King of Spain not only consented, but also, at the same time, settled on the Bishop-elect an annual pension of £106, chargeable on the wealthy See of Cuenca. As it was the custom in Spain that there should be a Patrinus, or Patron, the Duke of Hijar accepted this office in his own name and that of his brother-in-law, the Count of Montijo, who was then with the King at the Escurial. It fell to the Patrinus to defray the expenses connected with the consecration. Bishop Hay heard of these preparations with the greatest satisfaction, and with pious gratitude to heaven, claimed as his friends, the friends of his friend, the Bishop elect. The rite of consecration was performed with great solemnity at Madrid, in the Church of the Nuns of the Visitation, where the excellent Mr. Geddes, together with the Bishops-elect of Urgal and of Almeria, was promoted to the Episcopate by Francis Lorenzana, Archbishop of Toledo. On this auspicious day Bishop Geddes dined with his Patrinus. The good duke, knowing that he was fond of children, contrived a very graceful way of presenting him with a valuable cross and ring. The duke’s young son, when at a game of play with the Bishop, placed the gift in his hand. His, Grace of Hijar also presented the newly-consecrated Bishop to His Majesty the King, and to the princes and princesses. The Archbishop inquired particularly about Bishop Hay, and desired to have a copy of his works sent to him for his library at Toledo. He also made a gift to Bishop Geddes of a beautiful topaz ring which he had himself long worn. Bishop Geddes was far from being elated by so many honours. He retired to Valladolid, intending to spend there the Christmas holidays. He had conceived a great affection for the hospitable Spaniards, among whom he met with so much kindness, and he regretted leaving them; but this did not hinder him from turning his thoughts towards his good old friends in Scotland, of whom he thought very often, even in the midst of the grandeur of Spain—B. Geddes to B. Hay, Dec. 4th.

After a most fatiguing sojourn of four months in London, Bishop Hay returned to Scotland, July 1779; avoiding the large cities, he proceeded at once, to Scalan. There, with the senior priests of both vicariates, he felt, once more, that he was among friends, and could enjoy that tranquility to which he had been so long a stranger. He was greatly benefited, also, by the change of place and scene. The bracing air of the Highland Glens and the exercises in which he indulged, contributed much to renew his health; and when, a little later, he could have the advantage of sea-bathing, he hoped for complete restoration. It was arranged that he should spend the winter at Aberdeen, partly on account of the clerical duty required there, and partly in order to avoid being at Edinburgh, where he could scarcely yet, such was the state of popular feeling, appear in public. As additional relief, at this time, he placed the office of procurator of the mission in the hands of the administrators, who appointed in his place, Mr. J. Thomson, not forgetting to compliment the retiring procurator on the strict accuracy with which he had always kept his accounts.

There is, mention at this time of the scarcity of funds for the maintenance of the seminary at Scalan. It was determined, therefore, to charge, in future, each boarder £8 yearly. Candidates for admission on the endowed fund were also required to pay the like sum during their proba­tion.

The appointment of a successor to the deceased Bishop John MacDonald was not a matter of such unanimity as that of Bishop Geddes. Six of the senior priests voted for the Rev. Alexander McDonald, the priest at Barra, who had been in Bishop McDonald’s time, Vicar-General of the Highland district. Six junior priests gave their votes for Rev. Alex. McDonald of Knoydart. To the great dissatisfaction of the latter, the juniors, Bishop Hay supported the votes of the six seniors; and the priest of Barra was, in consequence, elected by the Cardinals of Propaganda. This Bishop-elect was the son of Mr. McDonald, the Laird of Boisdale. He was now Bishop of Polemo, in partibus, and, as Vicar Apostolic, chief pastor of all the Highlands. His consecration was delayed by the state of the weather. Storms in the Western Islands prevented him from proceeding to Scalan, where it was arranged that the ceremony should take place. The deep snow made it impossible for Bishop Hay to travel from Aberdeen, so that it was not till Passion Sunday, March 12th, that he enjoyed the great satisfaction of consecrating his former fellow-student. The consecration, without the assistance of a second Bishop, was sanctioned by a formal dispensation. The Rev. Messrs. Alexander Cameron and James MacGillivray were present.

The Bishop of the Lowland District had now some leisure for the consideration of useful eccle­siastical arrangements. Suitable regulations were made for a proper, uniform and becoming observance of the festival of the Purification, commonly called Candlemas Day.

On occasion of a Royal Proclamation ordaining a general fast day throughout the land on account of the critical circumstances of the country, the Bishop laid it as a duty on all his people to use a Prayer for the King and Royal Family, observing “that as it is the duty of every member of society to wish well to the country and the State to which he belongs, as the light of nature teaches, but also as the Holy Scripture expressly commands, ‘to make supplications, prayers and intercessions for kings and all that are in high stations, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life under their. rule,’” (i. Tim. ii). In furtherance of this object, he directed the clergy when enumerating the objects of their prayers before commencing Mass, to make special mention of the King, Queen, Royal Family, and all civil magistrates and rulers. He desired them also to inti­mate to their congregations that there would be public prayers on the 3rd of February, the day appointed for the national fast.

With a view to introducing more canonical discipline among the clergy, which he had been meditating for some time, the Bishop published a very long pastoral letter which might rather be described as a treatise. An idea of it may be derived from the heads of the sections into which it is divided. 1st.—On the sanctity annexed to the priesthood. 2nd.—On the sanctity required for the pastoral charge. 3rd.—On the sanctity that belongs to the character of an apostle. 4th.— On the sanctity which the Church requires in her ministers; citing acts of councils, etc. on cler­ical behaviour; on the virtues, especially, which they are charged to practice, and the amuse­ments, etc., which they must avoid; of study; of prayer; even of their exterior behaviour; concluding in the words of I. Peter; ii; 1.: Qua propter dilect Fratres. * * * Munde mur nos ab omni inquinamento carnis et spiritus, perficientes sanctification em in timore Domi. It will be universally admitted that the clergy cannot be too much or too warmly exhorted to cultivate sanctity. It is quite another question whether the best way to attain this desirable end is that authority should require the utmost possible amount of external observance. In regard to this question, we have the example of the Holy See, which is far from holding exaggerated views, and rigidly insisting on an absolutely strict adherence to all outward practices, however good. An instance of this may be found in the relaxation of the law concerning certain holiday obliga­tions granted to Scotland at the time of which we are writing. In virtue of this indult the precept of hearing Mass and of abstaining from servile work, was left binding on the Catholics of Scot­land only on the following holidays: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Annunciation and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; the festival of SS. Peter and Paul; of All Saints, and of the patron saint of the place wherein it is kept. On Easter Monday and Tuesday, and on Pentecost Monday and Tuesday, the precept of hearing Mass was left binding, but not the obligation of abstaining from servile work. Vigils attached to the festi­vals, now dispensed from, were transferred to the Wednesdays and Fridays in Advent, together with the precept of fasting. And, as the festival of SS. Peter and Paul sometimes falls in the hay harvest, and the festival of the Assumption in the barley harvest, the Bishops were authorized, in such cases, to permit manual labour in the fields, provided Mass had been heard.

A new outbreak of popular fury comes to be mentioned. It occurred in England; but was connected with Scotland, inasmuch as it was headed by a Scottish nobleman and suggested by the success of a Scotch mob in preventing Parliament from passing a Relief Bill in favour of the Catholics of Scotland. This was the memorable riot led by Lord George Gordon. This hopeful scion of the illustrious house of Gordon, which had so long and which still protected the Cath­olics of the North, had been intriguing, for some time, in order to stir up the populace of London with a view to force a repeal of the measures of toleration which the Legislature had provided for England and Ireland, and would have extended to Scotland but for the popular excitement in that country. The popular will had prevailed there, why should it not in England also? So thought Lord George Gordon, and a “Protestant association” of which he was the chief. This “association” is described in history, as consisting of persons “outrageously zealous and grossly ignorant,” who would have been insignificant and unheeded, if not assisted by some party possessed of rank and influence. Such they found in Lord George Gordon, a young nobleman of a wild and fervid imagination, or, more correctly, perhaps, one who, on religious topics, was a monomaniac. Belonging to a leading family, and a member of the House of Commons, he was not without influence; and he, no doubt, thought it would add to his importance to be the leader of the “Protestant association,” and to appear, thus, as the champion of Protestantism. He would, at any rate, gain a tolerable amount of mob notoriety as a member and chairman of the Society. In his quality as chairman he proposed, at a meeting of the Association in Coachmaker’s Hall, on the 29th of May, 1780, that they should assemble in St. George’s fields at ten o’clock on the 2nd of June, when they should accompany him with a petition to the House of Commons, praying for a repeal of the act of toleration recently granted to the Roman Catholics. On the day appointed for this extraordinary display of “moral force,” the Commons were much surprised, although, indeed, considering the public notice, they could expect nothing less, to observe the approach of fifty thousand persons, distinguished by blue cockades in their hats, bearing the inscription “No Popery.” Lord George presented the petition and moved that it be taken into immediate consideration. His motion was rejected by 102 to 6. During the discussion, His Lord­ship frequently addressed the mob outside, which became more menacing as the petition was thrown out. It appeared as if they were determined to become violent and overwhelm the Commons. General Conway, noticing this temper of the crowd, drew his sword, and addressing Lord George Gordon, swore that he would run it through his body the moment any one of his rabble dared to enter the chamber. The leaders then diverted their attention by telling them that the people of Scotland had no redress till they pulled down the Catholic chapels. At the word, the obedient mob rushed away to the chapels of the foreign ambassadors, which they speedily set on fire and demolished. On the following Monday, numbers of idle and profligate persons, ever ready for riot and plunder, swelled the ranks of the incendiary mob. This accession of strength added to their violence. Several houses of prominent Catholics were attacked, plun­dered and destroyed. As their fury increased, they no longer made any distinction. All property was alike to them. Tros Tyriusque nullo discrimine agitur. They hurried to Newgate and demanded the immediate release of some of their associates that were imprisoned there. This demand being rejected, they threw fire-brands and combustibles into the keeper’s dwelling house. The flames spread rapidly, and the whole building was soon in a blaze. In the confusion and terror of the moment all the prisoners, more than three hundred, escaped and joined the rioters. Five other prisons were treated in the same fashion. the new prison, Clerkenwell, the King’s Bench, the Fleet prison and New Bridewell were given to the flames, together with many private residences. On that Monday night, London was seen blazing in thirty-six different places at once. The mob then made for the Bank of England, where, it would appear, they met with resistance for the first time. They were severely punished by the soldiers on duty there. The mili­tary now came in from the country; and it was time. The King and council, without waiting for the tardy action of the civic Powers, gave orders to the officers to use vigorously the force at their command, and scatter the rioters. Meanwhile, much damage was done, and more was feared. Such scenes of outrage and brutality, and no means at hand, at least none employed, for checking the disorder, for so long a time, could not but disgrace the country in the estimation of foreign nations. It was a whole week before tranquility was restored; and then it was found that 458 persons had been killed or wounded, whilst many perished from intoxication. Twenty-five of the most violent rioters were hanged. Under a warrant of the Secretaries of State, Lord George Gordon was committed to the Tower on a charge of high treason. This was a mistake. He should have been imprisoned as a highway man. The treason charge fell to the ground for want of proof; and this worst of evil doers was acquitted. Notwithstanding his cruel and atro­cious proceedings, he was, on occasion of the riot, “unwhipped of justice.” He found his way to Newgate at last, having libelled the Queen of France, and there ended his inglorious career.