GLASGOW—BAD SEASON—1786—AND DREAD OF FAMINE—HOUSE OF SCALAN IN DANGER—ANNUAL MEETING—THE BISHOPS WRITE TO PROPAGANDA THAT ALEX’R. MCDONELL, A CANDIDATE FOR THE MITRE WHEN ALEX’R. MCDONALD WAS APPOINTED VICAR APOSTOLIC AND BISHOP OF POLEMO, EMIGRATED TO CANADA WITH 500 OF HIS CONGREGATION—THEY STATED ALSO THAT THE BISHOP OF POLEMO WAS RESIDING AT A SEMINARY ESTABLISHED AT SAMALAMAN, ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND—THEY ENDED BY EXPRESSING THE NEED THERE WAS OF MORE PRIESTS—THE EARL OF BUTE AND HIS BROTHER COMPLETE THE MONUMENT TO ABBATE GRANT—CONFIR­MATIONS—PUBLICATION OF THE “PIOUS CHRISTIAN”—BISHOP HAY’S WORKS VERY POPULAR IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND—BISHOP GEDDES AND ROBERT BURNS—AN EXECUTION—GLASGOW MISSION—STUDENTS OF THE ROMAN COLLEGE—EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE—MR. THOMSON WRITES MEMOIRS OF THE SCOTCH MISSION—BISHOP HAYS “OPPOSITION”—CURIOUS DISCUSSION AS TO WHO WERE THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR THE PRIESTHOOD.

At this time the congregation at Glasgow was making favourable progress; and it met with all encouragement from Bishop Geddes, who took great interest in it, and favoured it with regular missionary priests’ visits. He even expressed to Bishop Hay his confidence that, with proper management, a missionary priest might soon be placed there; but it must be one who knew the Erse or Gaelic language. The Bishop replied at once that it gave him great pleasure to hear such good accounts of matters at Glasgow, but regretted that a priest could not yet be found to supply that interesting mission.

This year, 1786, there was but too much reason to fear the calamity of famine. The early summer was ungenial, and there was ground for apprehending that the harvest would be as disastrous as those of 1782 and 1783. Another such season, Bishop Hay considered, and the country would be entirely ruined. Nor would this surprise him, wickedness having gone to such a height; and, indeed, he feared that it was daily increasing. His health improved as the summer advanced, and preparations were made for holding the annual meeting at Scalan. The house there narrowly escaped being destroyed the preceding April. A spark from a chimney had set fire to the thatched roof; and if the rising fire had not been observed in time, the whole house would have been consumed. Great efforts were made in pulling the thatch to pieces; and so the fire was speedily subdued. The Bishops assembled as usual, and despatched to Rome their annual report on July 28th. They informed Cardinal Antonelli and Propaganda that Alexander MacDonell, a priest, who was a candidate for the mitre, when another Alex. MacDonald was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Highland district, with the title of Bishop of Polemo, had emigrated to Canada with five hundred of his flock. They also stated that the Bishop of Polemo was residing in a seminary which had been established at Samalaman, on the west coast of Scotland. The Bishops concluded their report by expressing an earnest desire for more missionary priests in Scotland; thus showing that religion was progressing, and the field for clerical labour widening from year to year. By September, Bishop Geddes was again at Edinburgh, and Bishop Hay at Aberdeen. Mr. Thomson, in a letter of this month, informed his friend, Bishop Hay, of the noticeable circumstance that John, Earl of Bute, and his brother, James Stewart Mackenzie, had completed the erection of a monument to their friend, the late Agent, Abbate Grant, in the church of the Scotch College at Rome. It consisted of a marble slab, with a medallion of the worthy agent and an appropriate inscription. The cost was about £50 sterling.

Bishop Geddes, soon after his return from the meeting at Scalan, undertook the visitation of the Galloway missions. He administered confirmation at several places. There were twenty-seven confirmed at Kirkconnel, now New Abbey parish; fifteen at Munshes, now replaced by Dalbeattie; and twenty-three at Terregles, now united with Dumfries. Any Catholics there may have been at Parton besides Mr. Glendonwyn, the proprietor, must have attended on occasion of the episcopal visitation at Munshes, as the Bishop did not visit Parton, having ample oppor­tunity of meeting Mr. Glendonwyn at Dumfries.

Once more we have the pleasure, this year, 1786, to find Bishop Hay in the midst of his theo­logical studies. The result was the publication of the “Pious Christian,” which may be consid­ered a continuation or third part of the “Sincere” and the “Devout Christian.” When engaged in the preparation of this work, he derived much comfort and relief to the ailment in his side from the use of the Spanish Faja, which Bishop Geddes had provided for him. This improvement in his health was a cause of great joy to him as it facilitated so much the application to study that was necessary in completing a work of such importance. In March it was ready for the press, and the printer was set to work. Considering the state of the Bishop’s finances, the expense was comparatively considerable. He accordingly sought the aid of subscriptions, and asked Bishop Geddes to order some copies. It was not intended to be an expensive volume. The price was to be half a crown (62 cents) or three shillings (75 cents). On the 21st of June it was reported complete. Its title is rather a long one—“The Pious Christian Instructed in the Nature and Prac­tice of those Exercises of Piety which are used in the Catholic Church.” The Bishop himself thus describes it: “It is, therefore, an ascetical explication of the Manual, and all the prayers of the Manual are added, after the explication, it is also a Manual itself.” In the introduction, the Bishop still further explains his choice of title, “Having in The Sincere Christian instructed in the faith of Christ those who are seriously desirous to know the truth; and having in The Devout Christian instructed those who are truly resolved to obey God in what his holy law requires from them in order to please Him, we now propose in the present work, to instruct the pious Christian in the nature of those holy exercises of piety which he practices, and in the manner of practicing them, so that they may be of real benefit to him, and effectually enable him to keep the commandments of God, to sanctify his own soul and secure his eternal salvation.” An objection had been made to the method of examination of conscience, under a certain class of sins. The author, in writing to Bishop Geddes, thus replied: As to the objections against the examination in 6th, all I need say is that I made it my endeavour to have as little of the prayers, etc., of my own composing as I could, when I could get what was to my purpose in other English Manuals, especially in those which are generally most esteemed. Among these I always considered The Garden of the Soul as one of the standards, and the many editions it has gone through show the public approbation. I therefore thought I could not be better screened than in taking it for my guide; and you will find the table of sins in The Pious Christian is just transcribed from The Garden of the Soul. You may hint this to the objector if you please.”... It would appear that the objection has been generally sustained, public sentiment sanctioning the principle which it involves. The more recent editions of The Garden of the Soul have adopted the proposed change, judiciously leaving the examination of conscience under the head referred to, to the suggestions of private inquiry. It is scarcely necessary to say that the instructive works of Bishop Hay were very popular among Catholics generally. In Ireland, especially, they were highly esteemed. Wogan, the Dublin printer, who had been charged with the Irish edition of the Bishop’s earlier works, in writing to inform him of the death of the much regretted Archbishop Carpenter, took occasion to express his thanks for the great success that had attended the reprint of four volumes of the Bishop’s works, and said, at the same time, that he hoped to enjoy his patronage in the future.

We seldom read in the history of our Bishops of their taking any concern in matters beyond the sphere of their ecclesiastical duties and occupations. Hence, it gives all the more pleasure to find the accomplished Bishop Geddes expressing his appreciation of a rising author who came, in due time, to be recognized as the Poet of Scotland. Genius only is the judge of genius; and we set down the words of no ordinary critic, when we record the opinion which Bishop Geddes entertained of the poetical ability of Robert Burns. The capital of Scotland was, at the time, 1787, a seat of literary taste and fashionable society. The Ayrshire Bard had just emerged from his rural privacy, and was a welcome guest in the brilliant circles of the time. Bishop Geddes, writing to Mr. Thomson, the agent of the mission at Rome, thus speaks of the youthful poet who was destined to become so celebrated: “One Burns, an Ayrshire ploughman, has lately appeared as a very good poet. One edition of his works has been sold very rapidly, and another by subscription, is in the press.” Repeating the news to the same correspondent, the Bishop says: “There is an excellent poet started up in Ayrshire, where he has been a ploughman. He has made many excellent poems in old Scotch, which are now in the press for the third time. I shall send them to you. His name is Burns. He is only twenty-eight years of age. He is in town just now; and I supped with him at Lord Monboddo’s, where I conversed a good deal with him, and think him a man of uncommon genius; and he has, as yet, time, if he lives, to cultivate it.” The good Bishop, moreover, showed his appreciation by taking an active interest in the young poet. In the subscription list prefixed to the Edinburgh edition of Burns’ poems, published in 1787, are to be found the Scotch Colleges and Monasteries abroad, beginning with Valladolid, of which Bishop Geddes had been so long Principal. No other than the kindly Bishop could have caused them to be inserted. The poet was not ungrateful. He addressed a very interesting letter to the Bishop, in which is preserved the memory of this obliging act, as well as of the friendship that had arisen between the Bishop and the Bard. We learn also from the same letter that, at the time it was written, the Bishop’s copy of the poems was in Burn’s possession, for the purpose of having inserted some additional poems in the poet’s own hand. It is also stated that Burns looked forward to the pleasure of meeting the Bishop at Edinburgh in the course of the following month.

The good Bishop was not always so agreeably engaged as in conversing with poets and dining with the judges of the land. We find him as profitably and with more edification, imparting the consolations of religion to an unfortunate man, for whom there was no longer any earthly comfort. So recently as the days of Bishop Geddes, the extreme penalty of the law was inflicted on account of less crimes than murder, wilful fire-raising, etc. A young Irish soldier had become intoxicated, and, when in this state, got implicated in a robbery. For this crime, according to the practice of the time, he was under sentence of death. The Bishop himself discharged the painful duty of attending him to the scaffold. The ill-fated youth,. it is related, behaved most becom­ingly.

In January of this year Bishop Geddes once more visited Glasgow. He not only found that the Catholics there were gaining ground, his congregation amounting to seventy members, but also—and which was of no small importance—that many leading people in the town showed no displeasure at the occasional meeting of the Catholics for public worship, although they had, for some time, been aware of such meeting. Several professors of the University availed themselves of the Bishop’s visit to show him due civility. These were hopeful signs; and the Bishop was encouraged by them to make arrangements with Mr. Alex. MacDonald, who was stationed at Drummond, to visit the Highlanders of Glasgow some time in the ensuing Lent. It can easily be conceived what pleasure it gave Bishop Hay to hear of so much progress where little or none had hitherto been hoped for. This was the first permanent missionary arrangement proposed for the capital of the West of Scotland and the Bishop wrote at once to impart his sanction. At the same time came an unpleasant communication from Cardinal Protector, Albani, at Rome, complaining of some students whom the Bishops had sent to the Scotch College, and finding fault with the Bishops for sending such unfit subjects. It is by no means surprising, considering the defective discipline which prevailed in the College, that certain youths had not been successful. The state of the College must have been greatly to blame; and such was the convic­tion of the Bishops. Bishop Hay was at first inclined to adopt measures similar to those which had ended in a rupture between the Bishops and the Paris College. But, judging from experi­ence, he thought it was the part of prudence to yield to the opinion of his colleagues. Hence it was stipulated that, provided the arrears of Cardinal Spinelli’s legacy to Scalan were paid, and Mr. Thomson permitted still to reside in the College, the Bishops would be satisfied, and wait the dispositions of Providence, confidently hoping that in course of time an end would come to the ill-disciplined condition of the College.

The Bishop, with his usual consideration, received at this time into his house at Aberdeen, a youth whom Mr. Robertson recently appointed to the Buchan mission, highly recommended. This student he found to be deserving of all that had been said in his favour; and he proposed sending him to the College at Douai.

Mr. Thompson, meanwhile, in order to beguile the weary hours of his unpleasant position at Rome, which was attended with much, vexation, employed his abilities in writing memoirs of the Scotch mission. He relied for information chiefly on letters and papers which had belonged to the late agent, and other documents. Many of these had gone astray; and many more had perished.

Bishop Hay’s episcopal government like some civil governments of our time, appears to have had an opposition; and it was not always a very loyal one. In the earlier days of the mission it was mostly the better class of society that supplied students for the Church. This better class consisted of the nobility and gentry, together with their tenant farmers of the higher order, who formerly intermarried with the lairds and nobles. The chief hope for a supply of ecclesiastical students, at the time of which there is question, depended on the lowest class of farmers, mostly those who laboured on their farms with their own hands. The Bishop insisted on availing himself of this source of ecclesiastical supply for renewing and perpetuating the priesthood. The opposition, and it had, as concerned this question the support of the coadjutor, strongly resisted this policy, if policy it may be called. Bishop Geddes and others argued for birth and family connection, as a condition of selection to the ecclesiastical state. Bishop Hay, in order to justify his way of proceeding, prepared a carefully written and elaborate document, in which he enumerated and discussed the objections that had been made to students whom he recom­mended. To the first objection—inferior birth—the Bishop thought it sufficient to reply that his predecessors had never considered it an obstacle to the admission of students, and that many of the humblest origin had turned out an ornament to the mission. Infamy of a student’s near rela­tions, although as an objection entitled to more consideration than the preceding, the Bishop demonstrated, both in theory and from former practice, to merit no more than a qualified regard; and he showed the injustice of universally rejecting a young man, otherwise promising, merely because some of his family had misconducted themselves. Neither was the circumstance of the candidate for admission, having formerly been engaged in service, considered by the Bishop as disqualifying him from aspiring to the priesthood. This opinion he supported by several prece­dents in the history of the mission. A final objection arose from the age of the candidate being considerably in advance of the usual period of life at which boys entered the seminary. The Bishop disposed of this difficulty as one having less pretentions to weight than any of the preceding. The good dispositions of a young man aspiring to the priesthood must be taken as a manifestation of the Divine will in regard to his vocation. In opposition to such proof none of the objections above stated ought to be allowed to weigh. These objections are not found among the irregularities which the Church enumerates as impediments against admission to the priest­hood. These, the Bishop truly observes are all directly or indirectly personal to the candidate; and they are frequently dispensed with. It may, therefore, be safely concluded that it never was according to the mind of the Church that any of the circumstances objected to should disqualify for her service a person otherwise fitted for it.