324 



The Road System round London. 



I.May I, 



wanting when any peculiar circum- 

 stance in their situation required it. 

 He occasionally preached and lectured 

 to them in Gaelic, while they occupied 

 St. Mary's Chapel — and when then- 

 funds had only acquired a small in- 

 crease, his brother Mr. Kenneth Bain, 

 was made choice of by the congrega^ 

 tion as their first preacher. 



In a short space, much gratified with 

 their choice, they fixed his stipend at 

 f40, and ultimately at £50. Mr. 

 Bain having received a call from the 

 Gaelic congregation at Glasgow, the 

 Rev. Mr. Mackenzie was chosen by the 

 congregation in his stead. By this 

 time, 1795, and 1796, the af^iirs of 

 tlie congregation had, under prudent 

 management, so prospered that they 

 had taken in feu, a piece of ground in 

 the neighbourhood of Belmont-street, 

 and built a very handsome chapel, 

 which enters from a public passage, 

 hence called Gaelic-lane. The stipend 

 to their officiating clergymen was now 

 considerably increased. Several of the 

 pastors chosen having been occasionally 

 presented (o different livings in the 

 church of Scotland, they have had a 

 succession of clergymen, all much at- 

 tached to the congregation, as well as 

 the ^ congregation to them, and thev 

 have invariably separated from each 

 other with sentiments of mutual re- 

 gret. 



Their present pastor is the Rev. 

 Duncan Grant, to whom they manifest 

 strong attachment, as he does to them, 

 and public worship is at present con- 

 ducted, by the existing mles of the 

 congregation, so that the service is 

 alternately in Gaelic and English in 

 the forenoon and afternoon of every 

 Sabbath dfiy. To Mr. Grant they 

 allow an annual salary of £150. The 

 society are, in their rules of establish- 

 ment, in strict subordination to the 

 ordinary Presbyterial government of 

 the Church of Scotland, and coun- 

 tenanced by the established clergy of 

 Aberdeen. 



The sacrament of the Lord's supper, 

 and other ordinances, are regularly 

 administered in the chapel. Indeed 

 the members of this congregation are 

 an example of industry, decency, and 

 decorum, highly meriting that just 

 commendation to which they are so 

 ■well entitled from all classes of the 

 community. ' 



Since this narrative was written, by 

 a gentleman who has been a lay Ma- 



nager,* chosen with others, by the 

 congregation from its early establish- 

 ment in St. Mary's Chapel, the wish of 

 the senior members was expressed and 

 acquiesced in, that regular worship, 

 in the Gaelic language should be per- 

 formed in the forenoon and afternoon 

 of every Sabbath day. This plan has 

 been followed for some time, and tlieir 

 present pastor, the Rev. Donald Sage, 

 to whom they are much attached, uni- 

 formly gives a lecture or sermon, also 

 on the evening of every Sabbath-day. 

 The congregation have also been re- 

 cently taken under the more imme- 

 diate patronage of the Presbytery of 

 Aberdeen, and have been recognized 

 by this revei-entl body, agreeable to the 

 rules of the Established Church of 

 Scotland. 



Aberdeen, Dec. 1^820. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



DOUBTLESSgreat numbersofyour 

 readers are, with myself, obliged 

 to the patriotic Member of Parliament, 

 who, in your last number, jwge 112, 

 pointed the attention of the public to 

 the gross./oi attempted in the last ses- 

 sions, for extending offices, emolu- 

 ments, and patronage, through the 

 abolition of the several Turnpike Trusts 

 in the environs of London, and placing 

 these roads under a treasury-appointed 

 board of commissioners, a general sur- 

 veyor with new and imheard-of powers, 

 &c. And I am sorry to say, that (he 

 rumour alluded to by your correspon- 

 dent has been so far realized, as to tlie 

 bringing in of a bill, which is now be- 

 fore the House of Commons, exhibiting 

 nearly all the objectionable features of 

 that which was preferred by the same 

 jobbers in patronage, in the last ses- 

 sions. 



It appears, from the preamble of the 

 present bill, that there are sixteen dif- 

 ferent, and each I believe veiy nu- 

 merous, sets of tnistees, acting in as 



* The lay managers originally chosen 

 by the congregation, were Mr. Col- 

 quhoun M'Gregor, merchant ; Mr. James 

 Chalmers, printer; Mr. Robertson, lea- 

 ther-merchant, and Mr. John Ewen, 

 merchant. These afforded them every 

 assistance in their secular affairs, but 

 never interfered in their religious concerns, 

 nor in the choice of their pastor. Mr. 

 Ewen now only remains who has regularly 

 written, hitherto, at their desire, every call 

 sent to the person chosen to be their pastor, 

 many 



