Crathie Parish Church.—This is the church, says the Protestant Observer, attended by the King and Royal Family during their visits to Scotland. It is now proposed to make certain additions to the interior which have given great pain to many of his Majesty’s Presbyterian subjects. At a meeting held in Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, on 16th October, a resolution of protest was unanimously carried. It mentioned that it is proposed to be set up in that church, in honour of King Edward VII., a new and enlarged Communion Table made of Iona marble, and behind it an oak screen, richly carved and canopied. Apparently this screen will in reality be a Reredos. The resolution asserts that the Communion Table will thus be turned into an altar; and it humbly requests the King to prevent these alterations “which will offend his Majesty’s loyal subjects, and give encouragement to the Romanizers in the Church of Scotland.” I am not surprised that such a resolution was passed, and I should be very glad indeed if his Majesty used his influence to prevent what must cause great uneasiness in the Church of Scotland.
1 Col. ii. 18.—Na mealladh aon neach bhur duais uaibh le irioslachd thoil-eil, agus aoradh do ainglibh, a’ foirneadh a steach gu dàna chum nan nithe nach fac e, gu diomhain air a shéideadh suas le ‘intinn fheòlmoir féin.
2 Eabh. iv. 14.—Do bhrigh uime sin gu’m bheil againn àrd-shagart mòr, a chaidh a steach do na nèamhaibh, Iosa Mac Dhé, cumamaid gu daingcan ar n-aidmheil. R. 15, Oir cha’n eil àrd-shagart againn nach eil comasach air comh-fhulangas a bhi aige ri ar n-anmhuinneachdaibh; ach a bhuaireadh anns na h-uile nithibh air an dòigh cheudna ruinne, ach a eugmhais peacaidh. R. 16, Thigeamaid uime sin le dànaidh gu righ-caithir nan gràs, chum gu’m faigh sinn trocair, agus gu’n amais sinn air gràs chum cabhair ann an àm féuma. I Eòin ii. 1.—Ma pheacaicheas neach air bith tha fear-tagraidh againn maile ris an Athair, Iosa Criosd am firean. R. 2, Agus is esan an iobairt-réitich air son ar peacanna; agus cha ‘n-e air son ar peacanna a mhàin, ach mar an céudna air son peacanna an t-saoighail uile.
The Vatican Decree on Marriage.—Speaking at the Church of Ireland Synod in Belfast, Bishop Crozier said he wished he could arouse the conscience of every Protestant in England and Ireland and Scotland to the recent Papal decree on marriage, the most startling document, in his opinion, issued from the Vatican since the Council of Trent Decrees. The righteous indignation of the whole Empire might well have been aroused by this claim of the Church of Rome to possess the power to declare betrothals invalid and marriage not binding unless certain conditions were complied with. He thought the people of these countries had not yet realised the fatal consequences of that decree, by which the Roman Catholic party to a mixed marriage was taught that a solemn contract of marriage performed by a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, or a minister of any other Protestant denomination, was ecclesiastically invalid and that the parties to it were living in sin. It was very hard to discover how the marriage of a Roman Catholic with a Protestant, if contrary to the law of God, as the Papal decree asserted, could be made lawful even by the Pope of Rome. Yet he held in his hand a letter written to a young woman by a Roman Catholic priest in Belfast saying that such a marriage was not a marriage in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church.
Fort Augustus as a Monastic Centre.—The name of the town dates no further back than the days of General Wade, who, in addition to road-making in the Highlands, used his skill upon a fortification on the borders of Loch Ness to keep the Jacobite Highlanders in awe. It comprised little of the modern features of a fort, being really a barracks for 300 men with a bastion for 12 guns at each corner. The name Fort Augustus was given in compliment to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. In 1746 Prince Charlie’s followers attacked the fort, and, after a two days’ siege, captured it. Their possession was short-lived, and the Fort was soon again in occupancy by the troops of the Crown, who continued to use the place till the Crimean War, when the last of the soldiers were withdrawn. In 1857 the Government sold the Fort for £5,000 to Lord Lovat. His son, Lord Simon, presented it to the Benedictine Order. The first Prior of the new Monastery was Dom Jerome Vaughan, cousin of Lord Lovat, and brother of the late Cardinal Vaughan. As the result of his efforts, a new building was begun in 1876. The College was opened in 1878, and the remaining buildings in 1880. In 1883 the Monastery was changed, or promoted, to be an Abbey. The occupants of the Abbey number twenty monks and twelve lay brothers. The significance of the Abbey lies mainly in the impression which its name makes as a centre of Popish influence in the North of Scotland, in its library of 18,000 volumes, its museum, its college.—Bulwark.