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are lyings on the ground, purities, afflictive sufferings, prayers, watchings, and fastings: they from morning feed themselves with flesh and wine, filling their veins, and deride us, laughing and mocking at such as celebrate the holy service of this week; so that he shews hereby his mind, and his unbelief."-Bishop Gunning.

MAR. 25.-ANNUNCIATION B. V. M.

< Those very ceremonies, which by the judgment of godly and learned men have now long continued in the practice of this Church, suffer hard measure for the Romish superstition's sake.'—Archbishop Laud.

We believe that the Roman Catholics are exposed to some danger in their excessive veneration of the Blessed Virgin. Theoretically, we know the honour paid by them to S. Mary is scarcely more than we would offer. Honoured ought the mother of our Lord to be above all created beings,-but only so honoured. As the English bishop Pearson has clearly said-'We cannot bear too reverend a regard unto the mother of our Lord, so long as we give her not that worship which is due to the Lord Himself.' But is this practically the Roman Catholic view? We fear not. To our mind the apologists for the Roman worship of the Virgin betray themselves, when they defend their practice of addressing prayers to her. For whereas they profess only to ask her intercessions, we find practically that she is not only asked to intercede, but even to effect those very things which can only be the work of the Deity. So very great is the danger of going beyond the limits of Catholic Tradition. And this very miserable on the other hand to think of-how fearful we seem to be of even giving S. Mary the respect due to her, lest we be supposed to be Romanisers. One can indeed hardly imagine, that all this distrust and timidity of speech could have been brought about unless in former times the honour of the Virgin had been unduly exaggerated in this country. As in other cases, Roman extremes have driven men to Calvinistic; but this state of things is not healthy. It is scripturally true that S. Mary is the mother of God, for so did the Baptist's mother greet her— the mother of my Lord.' Again, it is scripturally true that she is to be hailed as blessed by all generations.' It cannot be a healthy state of mind, where there is any shrinking from the plain statements of Scripture. Contrast the low and degraded tone in which S. Mary is spoken of by sectaries with the scriptural pattern, and say if these remarks are not true. And why contend we so vehemently for the honour of Mary?

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Because they who depreciate her, unconsciously depreciate her Son. How few on this day are meditating on the mystery of the Incarnation ! On this day the Eternal Son came down from Heaven, and did not abhor the Virgin's womb. The work of our salvation begins on the feast of the Annunciation—' Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee'-The Lord of Mary has become her Son. Surely it would be strange, if we did not commemorate the day on which God descended from heaven to earth, and became man. If we observe the Nativity-much more the Annunciation, without which there would have been no Nativity. Meditate then,' as one has well said, 'on the greatness of this day's solemnity. A day it is, unheard of since the beginning of time. A day devoted to the honour of God the Father, who celebrates the nuptials of His Son, espoused to human nature, which He has united to Himself. A day sacred to the wedding of the Divine Son, and to His entrance into the virginal womb, through which He is to pass into the world. A day sacred to the Holy Ghost, by whose wonderful co-operation the work of the Incarnation was effected; and whose singular kindness and love to mankind began this day to appear. A day of glory to our blessed Lady, as that on which she was acknowledged and adopted as a daughter by the Father; as a mother by the Son; as a spouse by the Holy Ghost. A day of rejoicing by the whole company of Heaven, on account of the work of their reparation (by the saints supplying the places of the fallen angels), which dated from it; but more especially to mankind, since on this day began their salvation and redemption; for on this day properly was the whole nature of man exalted and deified. On this day the Son submitted to the new command of His Father in the work of our salvation. On this day, coming forth from the highest heavens, 'He rejoiced as a giant to run His course,' and entered into the virginal garden of His mother's womb. On this day He was made one of us, and becoming our Brother, began to dwell among us. On this day the True Light descended from heaven to lighten our darkness, and scatter the clouds of our ignorance. On this day the Living Bread, which gives light to the world was truly perfected, in the sacred tabernacle of the virgin's womb; and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' On this day, lastly, the long-continued cries of the holy patriarchs and prophets were heard, and their fervent desires fully accomplished. This day was the first beginning and foundation of all joyful solemnities, and is the only true source of all our real happiness.'

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BRIEF ACCOUNT OF SCOTTISH SEES.

(Continued from page 70.)

SEE OF ABERDEEN.

KING MALCOLM II., in the sixth year of his reign, A.D. 1010, founded a See at Murthelack, now Mortlach,* in Banffshire, in commemoration of a victory obtained over the Danes near that place. There had previously been a Church there, which was then rebuilt, and dedicated to St Moloch; and is said to be the same now remaining there, and converted into a Presbyterian place of worship.

The first Bishop was Beyn or Beanus, who held the See for 32 years, and is said to have died at Mortlach in 1047, and buried at the postern door of the Church, where his effigy lies in a wall near to the said door, and carved in stone. He was subsequently canonized.

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During the Episcopate of Nectanus, the third from St Beyn, the See was translated by King David I. from Mortlach to Old Aberdeen and as it was formerly poor and ill provided, the same king conferred many lands and tithes upon it, by charter, dated in the 13th year of his reign, A.D. 1137. The new Cathedral Church was dedicated to St Machar, who was the patron saint of a Church previously existing on the same spot.

Matthew, Bishop of Aberdeen, had a charter of grant and confirmation of lands from Malcolm IV. in August 1164, and another grant of the barony of Murchill, in November of the same year.

Randolf de Lambley, formerly abbot of Arbroath, and elected Bishop here in 1238, is said to have been a prelate of great practical self-denial, to have travelled through all his large diocese on foot, and never relaxed from the spare diet which he had used in his monastery. He died in 1247.

Richard de Potton, Bishop from 1256 to 1267, was an Englishmen, though naturalized in Scotland by the oath of fealty, as the historian Fordun expresses it,' prius per sacramentum fidelitatis Scoticatus.'

Hugo Benham, his successor, held a provincial council at Perth, in which the sanctions of the former Bishop were ratified, and

* The parish is a most interesting locality, and contains beautiful scenery. There is an ancient toast (if so it may be called) in vogue there,—' The happy land of Mortlach,' which the writer of this has drank in one of the hospitable mansions of the district.

some new ones decreed, in the presence of the king, and the principal persons of the realm; and the troublesome controversy betwixt the clergy and the laity, which had been raised concerning the payment of tithes, was quite taken away by a solemn submission to this prelate. In those times, says Bishop Keith, the Bishop of Aberdeen's lodging was ordinarily at Loch Goul, now called the Bishop's Loch, and Bishop Benham died there in 1279: Quo anno (says Hector Boece) in insula Lacus de Goulis, ubi vicinorum nemorum amanitate delectatus senex sese continebat, catarrho exundante, subito interiit. In the cartulary of Aberdeen it is said-'Qui suffocatus fuit in lacu de Goyle' i. e., says Bishop Keith, He died of a catarrh, or defluxion, in Loch Goyle.' Had the passage stood alone, it might have seemed more literal to translate it, 'he was drowned in the lake of Goyle.'

Bishop's Loch is a beautiful little lake in the southern part of the parish of New Machar, near the river Don, in the centre of which is an islet, still well studded with trees, on which are the ruins of the castle formerly inhabited by the Bishops of Aberdeen.

Henry Cheyne, nephew of John Cumin, Lord of Badenoch, was Bishop in 1281. He was one of those who swore fealty to King Edward I. of England in 1296. Adhering to the faction of the Cumins, during the disputes concerning the claim to the Crown of Scotland, he was forced to fly into England when their affairs became unprosperous; but when King Robert Bruce became settled on the throne, he was permitted to return and occupy his See, when he employed himself in restoring what had been destroyed or injured in the preceding troubles. He also erected the stately bridge over the Don, still remaining perfect, consisting of one bold pointed arch, seventy-two feet wide at the water level, and from the water to the summit of the arch, sixty feet high.

Alexander de Kyninmund, second of that name who held this See, was elected in 1357, and laid the foundation of the Cathedral now existing; the old one, which was founded in 1154, having become ruinous.

Henry de Leighton, Doctor of both laws, and Bishop of Moray, was translated to this See in 1424. He was a great benefactor to the Diocese. He began the west front and towers of the Cathedral, which were afterwards finished by Bishop Elphinstone, as also the great tower or steeple, which were also completed by the latter Prelate. Bishop Leighton also erected the northern or St

John's aile, at the north side of which his body lies interred. He died about 1442.

Ingeram Lindsay, his successor, caused the roof to be placed on the high Church, and paved the floor with free stone. He held the see seventeen years, and died about 1459.

Thomas Spence, formerly Bishop of Galloway, and keeper of the Privy Seal, was translated hitherto in 1459. He died in Edinburgh in April 1480.

Robert Blacader, a prebendary of Glasgow and rector of Cardross, being at Rome at the time of the former Bishop's death, was consecrated to this See by Pope Sixtus IV. He was afterwards a Privy Councillor, and being a person of great knowledge and dexterity in business, was advanced to the See of Glasgow in 1484.

William Elphinston, 1484.

This celebrated prelate was born in the city of Glasgow in 1437. In that university he became Master of Arts in the twentieth year of his age. Studying afterwards in France, he proceeded doctor both of civil and canon law, and was of such reputation, that he was chosen professor of laws, first in the University of Paris, and then at Orleans. Returning home in 1471, he became parson of Glasgow, and rector of that University. In 1479, he was made Archdeacon of Argyle, on his return from France, whither he had gone on a pacific embassy with the Earl of Buchan and Bishop Livingston, and which was satisfactorily arranged. In 1483, he became Bishop of Ross, and the following year was translated to Aberdeen. In that capacity he was often employed as an ambassador to England and elsewhere, and in 1488 was made Lord Chancellor.

But that which principally has transmitted the fame of this talented Prelate to posterity, was his long meditated design of founding an university in the city of Old Aberdeen, which took place about the year 1500. In 1494, Pope Alexander VI. sent over a bull, authorizing and sanctioning the proceeding. The College, or University, was dedicated to St Mary, but being taken under the protection of the king, was denominated King's College, which name it still retains.

Bishop Elphinston was also author of several historical and biographical works. Being called to be present in Parliament, he was taken ill on the road to Edinburgh, and died on the sixth day after his arrival there, October 25, 1514, aged 77. His body, by

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