THE BRITISH COLLEGES AT ROME—THE NEW SEMINARY IN SCOTLAND SOLIDLY ESTABLISHED—THE BISHOP OF THE HIGHLAND DISTRICT PURCHASES AN ELIGIBLY SITE FOR A COLLEGE IN THE ISLAND OF LISMORE, PRICE £4,950— THE HIGHEST STATESMEN FAVOUR CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION—THE CORONA­TION OATH AN IMPEDIMENT—SALARIES OF THE CLERGY—A FALSE ACCUSA­TION—VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN THE BISHOP—THE BISHOP DETERMINES ON PRESERVING THE SCOTCH COLLEGE AT ROME—GRATITUDE TO THE GOVERN­MENT, HONOUR AND LOYALTY TO THE KING—OBJECTIONS TO THE CLERGY ACTING POLITICALLY—THE SCOTCH COLLEGE AT PARIS—LARGER CHURCH NEEDED AT EDINBURGH—THE LORD ADVOCATE FAVOURABLE—SUBSCRIP­TIONS—SITE—VANDYKE’S “DESCENT FROM THE CROSS”—BISHOP CAMERON’S RETURN—WHY DELAYED—MR. ANDREW CARRUTHERS AND CERTAIN REGU­LATIONS.

Pius VII. had no sooner arrived in Rome than negotiations were recommenced with a view to have national superiors placed over the British and Irish Colleges. The agent was powerless. All the high dignitaries were against him, with the exception of Cardinal York and the Secretary of Propaganda, Monsignor Brancadoro. They mistrusted the agent as an intruder on the exclusive privilege of the Italians. Opposed to their views was, it may be said, the whole power of the British Government, through the indefatigable exertions of Sir John Hippisley. This able and friendly diplomatist addressed letters on the subject to many of the Cardinals and even to the Pope himself. In doing so he had the full support of the influence and authority of the British Government. At the same time all the British and Irish Catholic Bishops united in presenting a memorial to His Holiness praying for the restoration of the National Colleges in Rome, and that they should be placed on such a footing as to compensate in some degree, for the losses sustained in France. They prayed also that national superiors should be appointed over the Colleges.

The labours of the Bishop were at this time very severe, and the more so as he enjoyed not as yet the assistance of his recently appointed coadjutor. He was indefatigable in his visitations; and the interest he took in the new seminary imposed on him additional care and work that would have afforded more than sufficient employment for his undivided energies. The low state of the College funds, consequent upon its transference to Aquorties, and the erection of a new building, added not a little to his cares. It could not yet compare with the ancient institutions of the continent; but it was established on a safe and solid basis, and destined in due time to produce abundant fruit.

1781. The Bishop of the Highland district now set about accomplishing the purpose which the Bishops had intimated to Propaganda. The Island of Lismore was selected for a site. The propri­etor, Campbell, of Dunstaffnage, a few years before had built on the island a substantial house, attached to which there was an excellent garden. The land was good, and there was abundance of limestone. It was the opinion in Edinburgh that it was a good purchase at the price required, £4,950. It was very accessible from the great commercial city of Glasgow, a circumstance which gave it great facilities for the conveyance of coal and such other things as were necessary for the use. of the seminary. It was an additional recommendation that it had once been the resi­dence of the Bishop of Argyle.

The services and influence of Sir John Hippisley had been mainly instrumental in obtaining a grant of money to the mission from the Government. He now renewed negotiations for obtaining a remittance of this grant, and was favoured with the promise that a payment of £1,600 would be made within forty days. About the same time this active and friendly public man informed Mr. McPherson that the British Cabinet was divided on the subject of Catholic Eman­cipation, Mr. Pitt, Lord Spencer, Lord Grenville, Mr. Dundas and Mr. Wyndham were in favour of granting the boon, and in consequence resigned. King George III. had scruples in regard to his Coronation Oath which could not be overcome. All arguments he treated as incomprehen­sible metaphysics. Such, at least, was Mr. Dundas’ experience of the royal mind. When pressed by this Minister, with cogent reasoning, he told the great statesman that he would have none of his Scotch metaphysics.

The clergy, this year, renewed their application for an increase of salary, insisting that the Bishop should lay upon their congregations the obligation of contributing towards their support. This request was met by a determined refusal, the Bishop holding that such contributing ought to be left to the free will of the people. The influence of the pastors with their flocks, one would suppose, might have prevailed so far as to induce them to add something to salaries that were so small and insufficient. The clergy, nevertheless, persisted clamorously in their representa­tions to the Bishop, and even went so far as to accuse him of appropriating the money granted by Government to his own use and that of his seminary. They were encouraged in this idea by the knowledge that each student in his new College cost him £27 a year. The procurator, Mr. C. Maxwell, who knew all the details, concurred with the Bishop in stating that the money in ques­tion had been properly distributed. This statement, coming as it did, from the head of the oppo­sition, ought to have satisfied the malcontents. In this matter, however, the procurator could not oppose the Bishop, as, owing to the duties of his office he was perfectly conversant with the facts of the case. A few of the clergy, notwithstanding, on whom their poverty pressed heavily in season of scarcity, would not take his word, and continued in their course. The Bishop, hith­erto, had not made sufficient account of public opinion, which, if rightly informed, would have supported him. A full statement of the distribution of the funds was laid before a meeting of the administrators and a deputation of the discontented clergy at Aberdeen. With this statement all were satisfied, as they could not fail to be. There only remained the humiliation of the Bishop being judged by his subordinates; and this might have been avoided if, in deference to opinion, he had made an earlier statement as to how, through the procurator, the funds in question had been disposed of. The scheme of division originated with the Government; and it behoved the bishops to carry it out. A unanimous vote of confidence was passed in Bishop Hay’s honour and integrity, and recorded in the minutes of the meeting. It was declared, moreover, that all past complaints against him were nothing better than vague and unfounded assertions, deserving only to be totally disregarded.

At this time (1801) the Scotch College at Rome was deeply in debt; and, as the mission at home was unable to do anything towards relieving it, the only way of removing the liabilities appeared to be to sell the College properties. To this plan, however, the Bishop was opposed so long as there remained a chance of retrieving its fortunes.

At a meeting of administrators held this year, inquiry was made as to the precise nature of the transactions with Government, and the proceedings were appropriately terminated with a letter of thanks addressed by the meeting to Sir John Hippisley as the sincere and disinterested friend and benefactor of the mission. It was requested in the letter, that, as a new favour, Sir John would assure His Majesty’s Ministers of the heartfelt gratitude of the Scotch clergy for the late act of benevolence; and of their habitual disposition to cultivate in their own minds, and to prop­agate among their people sentiments of loyalty to His Majesty’s sacred person, and of attach­ment to the happy Constitution under which they lived. Sir John lost no time in returning a suitable reply to this complimentary and loyal address.

A contest for the representation of Aberdeenshire being near at hand, it was not unreasonable that Sir John should look to the Scotch Bishop for some return of the favours which the Govern­ment had so liberally bestowed. Mr. Ferguson, the Government candidate, had warmly seconded Sir John’s appeal to Mr. Dundas for a grant to the clergy, and had borne ample testi­mony to the loyalty of the Catholics in his neighbourhood. None knew better than Sir John Hippisley that the Catholic clergy could not prudently take an active part in a contested election but if Bishop Hay could fall upon some means that would not be open to any reasonable objec­tion, of promoting Mr. Ferguson’s candidature, it would be a favour to himself as well as to the Government.

The Bishops held their annual meeting this year at Aberdeen. The affairs of the Scotch College in France engaged their attention. As there was a prospect of peace, they were encouraged to hope for the recovery of, at least, a part of the mission property. Sir John Hippisley readily took part in the necessary negotiations. The Bishop memorialized the Foreign Secretary, Lord Hawkesbury, requesting him to promote the realizing and withdrawing from France all the property of the mission, both at Paris and at Douai; and the transference of it to Scotland. Mean­while, the ex-Principal, Mr. Gordon, had returned to Paris and did everything in his power to thwart Mr. Innes, who acted for the mission. Such proceeding greatly increased the difficulty of negotiations, which, even without this hindrance, were not of the most facile description. Bishop Hay was obliged to journey to Edinburgh in November, in order to take counsel with Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Farquarson on the subject. The result of this consultation was that Mr. Innes received full power to represent the interests of the mission and to act for the Scotch Bishops. Finally, Mr. Farquarson was sent to Paris in order to assist him.

At this time there was a great desire among the Catholics to have a larger and more handsome church at Edinburgh. The scheme of Mr. C. Maxwell having been discarded as impracticable, Mr. Rattray conceived a design less open to objection. He began by conciliating the good will of the chief public men. He addressed the new Lord Advocate, Mr. Hope, intimating the proposal, and requesting his concurrence. The ex-Lord Advocate, now Chief Baron of Exchequer, was also consulted and asked to concur. Mr. Hope, on his own part and that of his predecessor, with much politeness, declined to offer any opposition to the proposed plan; but reminded Mr. Rattray of the strong prejudice that still existed in, the country against his form of religion, and, therefore, advised him to do nothing that might excite it. The more quietly the matter could be managed the better; and the subscription ought not to be publicly advertised. He himself, as a member of the Established Church, regretted that weak brethren might consider it an impropriety if the subscription opened with his name. He promised, however, to protect any of the Catholics who might, in future, be exposed to the illegal opposition or the insults of misguided people. Mr. Rattray having thus far provided against opposition at home, set about securing funds for the proposed undertaking. His chief hope lay in the English Catholic body, although, at the same time, the aid of his Scotch friends was not to be despised. Mr. Marmaduke Maxwell, of Terreagles,. was among the first to place his name on the subscription list, and for the munificent sum of 100 guineas. Mr. Weld, of Lulworth, also co-operated; and, finding that “good Bishop Hay” was still in life, begged Mr. Rattray to assure him of his veneration and esteem for him. The distinguished banker, Sir William Forbes, who was the chief pillar of the Episcopalian body, gave his name for £10. Early in the year 1802 the subscriptions amounted to £900. Among the subscribers were the Duchess of Buccleugh, Lord Moira and other Protes­tants. Not a little of this liberality was due to the memory of Bishop Geddes, most of the contrib­utors being among his personal friends. As was to be expected, Dr. Alexander Wood, Bishop Hay’s old and devoted friend, subscribed. Mr. Rattray was eminently successful among all classes; so much so that he thought little of an English Catholic nobleman’s subscription of £5, although it was accompanied by a promise to solicit other subscriptions. As the subscriptions were proceeding, a site for a church and house adjoining was purchased between St. James’ Square and York place. It measured one hundred and twelve feet by forty-five. The price was over £300. The time for building, however, had not yet arrived; nor was the purchased site finally accepted. It behoved it to give place to another in the same neighbourhood which was in every way more convenient, and on which the pro-Cathedral now stands. A painting by Vandyke, representing the “Descent from the Cross,” was the altar piece, and still remains so in the more recent church, if no better has been found, having survived all dangers.

Although Mr. Farquarson remained at Paris till June, he did not succeed in accomplishing anything. He was anxious to regain his congregation in Glasgow, which, during his absence, was without a pastor. Bishop Cameron joined him late in May, on his return from Valladolid, where he had officiated for some time as Bishop, and they travelled home in company. The new Bishop enjoyed great favour, and had many friends in Spain; so it is not surprising that the whole city of Valladolid regretted his departure, which was considered as a serious loss. A false rumour ascribed to him the ambitious purpose of delaying his return to Scotland until he could rule the district alone. There was nothing farther from his mind, and his arrival, after much hindrance, relieved Bishop Hay of great difficulty and labour, which he was no longer able to undergo. The real causes of the coadjutor’s delay were very different from what rumour had laid to his charge. All the time of the war, the Spanish Minister refused to give him a passport. He was detained eighteen months by severe illness. For some time he was without money for his journey, the income of the College having been greatly diminished. The state of the College, also, which stood so much in need of improvement, required his presence; and this necessity induced him to yield to the representations of his friends and advisers at Valladolid, who concurred in detaining him. He left the College in an improved condition. Mr. Wallace remained there as one of the masters, together with Mr. Gordon and Mr. Cameron, the new Bishop’s nephew.

There occurred about this time a curious instance of a priest requesting the Bishop to give him information regarding matters of quite a rudimentary kind. This priest was no other than Mr. Andrew Carruthers, the chaplain at Munshes, at the time still a young man. For an answer to the first three of his queries, the Bishop referred him to the Statutia Missionis, remarking that however well his correspondent might have studied, he had overlooked hitherto the manual of his daily duties. For the solution of another difficulty, Mr. Carruthers was advised to study a certain chapter and section of the Sincere Christian, a work which could scarcely have escaped the notice of any priest in Scotland. There was only one point of general interest, and one of which little could be learned from books. There appears to have prevailed in Galloway at that time, the custom of abstaining from eggs on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The Bishop, when he first came to the mission, understood from his predecessors that all lacticinea, or, white meats, were used in Lent as common food, and for the very satisfactory reason that by far the greater number of the Catholics in Scotland had no other kind of food at that season of the year. The long winter and late spring deprived them of vegetables; and milk, even, was often scarce when Lent began early. The Bishop found, however, that eggs were not universally used in Lent. All the churches and chapelries which, in Catholic times, were included in the Archepiscopal Province of St. Andrews, by virtue of an ancient privilege, handed down by constant tradition, made use of eggs from the second Sunday in Lent till Palm Sunday. During the first ten days of Lent and Holy Week they abstained from eggs. The other Scotch parishes, not in the Province of St. Andrews, abstained from eggs during the whole of Lent. Hence, the parish of Bellie, in the Enzie, enjoyed the privilege, while the neighbouring parish of Rathven was denied it. Thus, too, at Aberdeen, eggs were not used in Lent, but were in the Mearns, south of the river Dee. It was also known to the Bishop that, in some inland places, far from the sea, especially in the Highlands, where the winters were longer and the springs later, it had become a custom to use eggs during Lent, except in the first and last weeks.