126 CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



"July 31. — This morning I made a point of attending the Presbyterian 

 service in the choir of the cathedral [at Glasgow] : it differs in no respect 

 from the service of the humblest chapel. The contrast between the simpli- 

 city of their religious forms and the splendour of the edifice in which they 

 were assembled was bj' no means agreeable. O ! how I longed to hear the 

 sacred tones of our own majestic organ, and the rich melody of our choristers 

 instead of the meagre notes of one poor clerk and the accompaniment of an 

 unmusical congregation." — p. 180. 



Although the outward forms obserred in our cathedrals, the ab- 

 sence of which is above regretted, may have an imposing appearance, 

 it may well be questioned how far they tend to inspire devotion in 

 the hearts of the congregation. As regards the sublime harmony of 

 the organ, and the " rich melody of the choristers," we can fully 

 chime in with our author. Music is an important and indispensable 

 part of divine service ; but to allow an old drowsy clerk — and what 

 clerks who sing solos in churches are not old and drowsy ? — to snarl 

 a psalm-tune through his nose, with the congregation following in his 

 wake (the blind leading the blind!), is in our opinion, both ludicrous, 

 and impious. 



The journal continues as follows : — 



" Another thing which offended my English prejudices especially, was that 

 the men walked into the cathedral with their hats on, and never took them 

 off till they had reached their pews. The moment too that the blessing was 

 ended on went the hats again ; as if the place were only sacred while the 

 voice of the pastor echoed along the aisles. 



" In the aftenioon I went to hear Dr. Wardlaw ; his sermon was written 

 and very excellent. What a contrast to the tautological, disjointed harangue 

 of the morning ! He belongs not to the kirk of Scotland, but differs, I be- 

 lieve, only in forms, not at all in doctrine. I observed two circumstances in 

 which there was a departure from the rules of the national kirk. The first 

 was, that the congregation stood up to sing, instead of keeping their seats ; 

 the second, and much the most important, that a chapter from the Old Tes- 

 tament, and another from the New, were read before the sermon com- 

 menced." — p. 181. 



The following exti-act, and especially the sentence we have marked 

 in italics, is a pleasing proof of Mr. L. Smith's enthusiastic admira- 

 tion of fine scenery : — 



"It was the morning of Sunday ; but there being no kirk nearer than four 

 miles, and no road to this one except over peat mosses, I resolved to walk 

 to Scourie. The distance is fourteen miles : rather more, perhaps, than a 

 sabbath's journey. But the most rigid disciplinarian would hardly have 

 blamed me for eiideavourmg to deliver myself from the captivity of Rhico- 

 nich. 



" It rained, of course ; and the clouds were as condescending as ever, stoop- 

 ing far below the summits of the mountains. At one point, however, there 

 was a momentary clearing, and what a glorious landscape did the rising mist 

 imfbld ! One glance at such a scene is worth a whole iveek of sunshine ! A stu- 

 pendous amphitheatre of mountains surrounded me, where crag frowned over 

 crag and rock was piled on rock, and where the sloping faces of the loftier 

 hills were scored and wrinkled by the channels of ten thousand torrents. 

 More conspicuous than all, the huge geometric cone of the stack arose, the 



