BISHOP HAY ORDAINS AT ROME—HIS LUGGAGE SEIZED—MADE TO PAY SIX GUINEAS BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED—PROMOTION OF MGR. ERSKINE— MEETING AT SCALAN—BISHOP GEDDES PROCURATOR—BISHOP HAY PRESENTS £600 TO THE MISSION AND £400 TO SCALAN—GRANT BY PROPAGANDA—MR. THOMSON AGENT AT ROME—GREAT OPPOSITION—THE HOLY FATHER INTER­VENES—REFUSAL TO SEND STUDENTS TO ROME—ALBANI RETALIATES—THE BISHOPS YIELD—RESULTS OF UNCOUTH MANNERS—DEATH OF MR. J. FARQUARSON, AGED 83—NEW CHURCH AT ABERDEEN—BLACKFRIARS’ WYND IN 1783—CHURCH THERE—BISHOP HAY PREPARES AT ABERDEEN, HIS WORK, “THE DEVOUT CHRISTIAN”—SCALAN CALLED PATMOS—GREAT DEARTH.

On occasion of the temporary cessation of his negotiations, Bishop Hay held three ordinations in the church of the Scotch College. On December 16th, being the third Sunday in Advent, he conferred sub-deaconship on three of the students, Reginald McEachan, Alexander McDonald and Donald Stuart. He spoke, of these young men as being “very promising.” On St. Thomas’ day, Dec. 21st, he ordained them Deacons; and on St. Stephen’s day, Dec. 26th, raised them to the Priesthood.
Before leaving Rome, which was not till the third week after Easter, the Bishop sat for his portrait, which continues to be an ornament of the rector’s room in the Scotch College. The three young men whom he had ordained accompanied him on his journey homewards, as far as Paris. They left him there and pursued their journey by Douai, Ostend and Newcastle. The Bishop remained a few days longer for the purpose, although not with much hope, of recovering some of the funds belonging to the College of Douai which were still detained, and were likely to be so for an indefinite length of time. His labour was of no avail, notwithstanding the friendly assistance afforded by the Bishop of Rhodez. On reaching England, the Bishop’s luggage, consisting, among other things, of breviaries and other books, relics, beads and models which he had brought with him from Rome, were seized as contraband. This wrongful seizure caused some annoying correspondence with the customs’ officials and detained him a few days longer than he wished in London. They made him pay six guineas before giving up his property.
Once more at Edinburgh, the Bishop despatched complimentary letters to the Cardinals Albani and Antonelli, not forgetting to urge on the former the fulfilment of the promise he had made in favour of the Scotch College. He learned, when at Paris, that a former college companion and friend of his early days, Mr. Charles Erskine, had been appointed Promoter of the Faith, a Canon of St. Peter’s and a domestic Prelate to His Holiness. This promotion called for congrat­ulation. The Bishop wrote accordingly to congratulate his old friend.

The next duty that devolved on Bishop Hay after his return home, was to attend the annual meeting of the Bishops at Scalan in the beginning of August. Their Lordships appear to have had prolonged consultations, as they remained together till the end of the month. It was arranged that Bishop Geddes should reside at Edinburgh as Procurator; being. authorized, at the same time, to transact foreign business through the Nuncio at Brussels, the Marchese Busca. At this same meeting, the administrators being present as well as the bishops, Bishop Hay intimated his intention of making the missions a present of the profits arising from the sale of his books and of the money which he had received as compensation for personal loss during the riots of 1779. He presented £600 to the mission fund and £400 to the seminary at Scalan. He well deserved, it will be owned, the thanks of the meeting; and the meeting cordially thanked him. The meeting heard also with pleasure of the grant which the Cardinals of Propaganda had voted towards the funds of the mission. It was equal to about £48 a year. Such was the increase of the number of priests that, notwithstanding, their means of subsistence were insufficient. It became necessary, in consequence, to seek additional provision. To this end a circular letter was issued requesting contributions.

The meeting over, Bishop Hay went from Scalan to the Enzie, proposing to spend some time with his friends there, and intending to visit Aberdeen by the middle of September. After this he spent a few weeks at Edinburgh for the purpose of communicating to Bishop Geddes all the information necessary for enabling him to discharge efficiently the duties of the Procuratorship.

It was announced, at the meeting of the bishops and administrators, that Mr. Thomson was to be sent to Rome, as had been proposed, to be rector of the Scotch College, as well as assistant and successor to the agent. This appointment was strongly remonstrated against, and by the senior priests. Whilst admitting that he was a good and able man, as well as a lover of study, they objected to his unpolished manners, his awkward address and embarrassed utterance. He could not, they affirmed, but make an unfavourable impression on all whom long acquaintance had not made aware of his real but hidden merit. It certainly did appear unsuitable to send such a person among people so highly polished and sensitive as the Italians. Both the offices to which he was appointed would require daily the exercise of qualities in which he was wanting. The protesting seniors would have had someone appointed who would have been likely to give the Romans a favourable idea of the nation. Bishop Hay had, generally on former occasions, invited the clergy freely to speak their mind. In the present case he could not be moved. His colleagues even failed to dissuade him. Mr. Thomson received his instructions and prepared for his journey to Rome. Before leaving he wrote a farewell letter in very affecting terms. After expressing the deep regret he felt at leaving his native country, where he had many friends whom he had no hope of seeing again, he continued; “But my regret for parting with you is founded on superior motives; and, believe me, it is one of the severest trials I have met with. In spite of malice, envy, jealousy and prejudice, I shall always preserve an unalterable regard for you. I know the sincerity and uprightness of your conduct and intentions, and have often regretted to see you loaded with unmerited censure for doing your duty. You resemble the more other great and holy prelates who have been treated in the same manner, and I hope you will persevere with the same firmness.” Mr. Thomson enjoyed the satisfaction of carrying with him to Rome the affectionate and grateful remembrance of the congregation at Edinburgh which he had so long and so well served.

Some of the senior priests, meanwhile, who had so strongly protested against the Bishop’s appointment at home, had recourse to a very questionable way of making their protest known at Rome. An anonymous letter, full of extravagant abuse of Bishop Hay and Mr. Thomson, was concocted by Dr. Alexander Geddes; and this letter they concurred in forwarding to the holy city. It arrived opportunely for Cardinal Albani, who, on account of the arrangement he had come to with Bishop Hay, was assailed as soon as it became known, with petitions and remon­strances against the proposed appointment. The English and Irish colleges, especially, made more determined opposition than ever. The Cardinal, under so much pressure, lost courage, and not only gave up all idea of the appointment, but also refused even to admit Mr. Thomson into the College. The anonymous letter had just come in time to furnish him with a pretext for receding from his promise and resolution.

Mr. Thomson no sooner arrived at Rome than he found the doors of the College closed against him. He applied to the Cardinal Protector, from whom he could get no redress. Matters were so bad with him that he must have starved, but for the goodness of Monsignor Erskine. This most worthy prelate carried his case, without loss of time, before the Holy Father, who immediately ordered that Mr. Thomson should be provided with board and lodging in the Scotch College. In the course of a few months the agent went home in order to visit his friends, and deputed Mr. Thomson to act for him while absent, allowing him, at the same time, a share of his salary. Not long afterwards, through the death of Abbate Grant, Mr. Thomson was charged with the duties and enjoyed the income of the agent. He was now, as far as he was personally concerned, above heeding the petty persecution of the rector of the College. By inciting the students to treat him with discourtesy, the rector gave a lesson which was only too well learned. Discipline became relaxed. Several young men lost their vocations and left the College. The bishops remonstrated and petitioned for a remedy; but in vain. They resolved, at last, to send no more students. This was hard on Albani. He must retaliate; and the reprisals he adopted, it will be owned, were far from being justifiable. He suspended payment of the income arising from the legacy of the Chevalier St. George to the Scotch seminaries. Tantoene animis ccelestibues Iro? The Bishops sacrificed their just resentment to the public good; and continued to send students.

Mr. Thomson’s uncouth manners caused, ere long, his breaking with the Cardinal Protector. One day, when on the subject of the rectorship, an altercation arose, when Mr. Thomson expressed very freely, and not in the politest language, his opinion of Albani’s conduct. His Eminence determined to see him no more; and so ended all hope of a native rector being appointed to the Scotch College.

Bishop Hay was grievously disappointed. We find him, however, at this time, visiting his parishioners at Traquair, Dundee, etc; and in this pastoral occupation, he, no doubt, found distraction and comfort. About the same time the abbot of the Scotch monastery at Ratisbon showed his interest in the mission by sending his congratulations on occasion of its affairs being entrusted to the management of so able a prelate as Bishop Geddes.

There died this year, at his residence in Braemar, his native place, where he had chiefly resided since the suppression of his order, the Reverend Father John Farquarson, aged eighty-three.

On Christmas eve, 1782, a new chapel, or church, was opened at Aberdeen. It was pronounced the best that had been raised in Scotland since the “Reformation.” The Bishop expressed his hope, he could not yet have certainty, “with the blessing of God, to enjoy quiet possession.”

The following year Edinburgh resolved to emulate the northern city and provide a suitable church for its congregation. Direful experience had taught the Bishops and the parishioners that a retired corner was not the place for it. Nor was it considered safe to have a separate building. Accordingly they looked for a house in a populous quarter which might be made to suit their purpose by making alterations. It will surprise the modern reader to learn that Blackfriars’ Wynd was the locality chosen. But it will be remembered that the Blackfriar’s Wynd of 1783 was very different from the Blackfriars’ Wynd of to-day. At the former period it was the abode of rank and fashion. The house which the Bishops selected had many advantages. None could have been more conveniently situated as regarded access from all parts of the city; and the population of the historic Wynd had long been familiar with the presence of a Catholic chapel. The house consisted of three stories, the uppermost of which it was proposed to purchase, and by raising the walls to provide a chapel sufficiently lofty, immediately under the roof. At the time of the purchase the first floor of the house was occupied by a lady of family, Mrs. Hamilton, of Belhaven, commonly called “Lady Pencaitland,” who also had a small garden adjoining the house. The next floor was inhabited by two maiden ladies, Miss Jean and Miss Isabell Cock­burn, daughters of the deceased Sir James Cockburn. Lady Pencaitland made strong opposition to the roof being raised. The owner, Mr. Buchanan, a lace weaver, although friendly, dreading injury to his lace business by offending the good lady, declined taking any steps towards obtaining legal permission for the purchaser of his property to build. Application was then made to the Dean of Guild to make the necessary changes. A competent party who was sent to inspect, reported favourably, and leave to raise the walls was duly granted. The agents of the ladies carried the case into the Court of Session. But to no purpose. The judges dismissed their appeal, on security being found that neither the walls of the house, nor the little garden should suffer, and that the uppermost floor should not be divided into small rooms to be let to poor tenants. Mr. Christie, the house agent employed to treat with Mr. Buchanan, completed the purchase by paying him the price, £175, and immediately made over the property to Mr. McNab, who acted for the Bishops and who, at once, transferred it to them by a formal deed. In making the altera­tions referred to, the appearance of a dwelling house, with chimneys, was retained. A room about fifty feet long and twenty-five broad occupied the whole length and breadth of the new floor. This room was the chapel. The public had access to it by the common turret stair which connected the stories of the house with one another. A small wooden stair inside the dwelling house, in the floor below the chapel, formed a private approach for the clergy.

The onerous duties of a parish priest fell to the share of Bishop Hay during the early months of this year, his assistant, the Rev. Paul McPherson, being in delicate health. He found time, however, for his favourite theological studies, and he made good use of it in preparing the work which was, at first, called the second part of “The Devout Christian.” A room, lighted by a skylight, in the presbytery of Aberdeen, is shown as the place where he studied and wrote, when resident at the City of the North. The angel of the schools, Saint Thomas Aquinas, was the theo­logian on whom he most relied. His correspondence, meanwhile, was not neglected; and it required to be actively conducted, as the subjects were the Scotch College at Rome; and the Neapolitan Abbacies, together with discussions by letter, on money matters and the business of the mission, with his coadjutor and others. He wrote at this time, about some recreative excur­sions which he enjoyed, and by which his health was benefited. He spoke in a pleasant style, of going on a visit to “Patmos” (Scalan;) and mingling pleasure with business, Miscuit seria ludo, he journeyed to Fetternear, in order to baptize a daughter of Mr. Leslie, the Laird of that place. Once arrived there, he found that pleasure must give way to duty, a whole winter’s work awaiting him—the instruction and preparation for confirmation of several recent converts in that locality which was destined to become famous in the annals of the Church. Such duty was pleasure in comparison with the more arduous duties which the severity of the season laid upon him. There was much suffering, and the scarcity pressed heavily on the poorer class of people. The Bishop was applied to from all quarters. Town and country alike had recourse to him. His charity was equal to the pressure, and he was able to meet its many demands by making avail­able funds that would otherwise have remained undisturbed. The dearth of the time may be conceived, when it is stated that it was scarcely possible to procure oatmeal, at any price, for the use of the community at Scalan.