The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-11 00:00:00

CRATHIE CHURCH AND HER MAJESTY.

Most men have seen Crathie Church. Our noble
Queen attends it with laudable and y. praiseworth
regularity during her periodical sojourn at Bal-
moral. If all men do not go exclusively to hear
the Rev. Mr. Anderson's sermon, they go to see
her Majesty, and thus good may come out even of
that. The church is a neat, unpresuming, unarchi-
tecturalised place of worship, perched on the sum-
mit of a mound immediately above the road, with a
fine outlook among the trees towards the river Dee
on the south, and the palace beyond. Although its
dimensions are small, the gallery must have been
intended for something considerable. It comes for-
ward in five sides of an octagon, within a few
yards of the pulpit, thus almost enveloping the
lower portion of the church. It is plainly and
neatly fitted up, the three royal pews in front being
cushioned in scarlet blaize. Lord John Russell and
family occupy the pew immediately in front of the
minister; her Majesty that next on the left, along
with, on Sabbath last, the Prince Consort, the
Princess Leiningen, the Princess Alice, the Prince
Leiningen, and behind them the Duke of Argyll—
but none of the youngsters. The Abergeldie pew is
in front to the extreme right. As little, of royalty
at least, can be seen from the lower regions, the
strangers' department is naturally the gallery,
which on such occasions is pretty well filled be-
times. All but the Royal pews are occupied. These
remain empty until the bell is drawing to a close,
when a servant lays out a row of books upon the
desks, and immediately thereafter up trips her
Majesty in unornamented plain black dress, fol-
lowed as above—all taking their seats with much
less ado than is usuarby most ladies getting into
their church pews on a Sunday. Meanwhile, the
minister mounts the pulpit, and the service proceeds
with all the usual decorum of a Scotch church. The music, under the superintendence of the mini-
ster's family, is, at Crathie, superior to ha.
t
we
usually meet with in country congregations;
from
"Let the :prayers, as well as in the discourse.
your conversation be as becomeththe Gospel
of Christ," there were many admirable,suitable.
and telling injunctions. The service, which is
in-
tended for a double one, resolves itself into the
reading of two portions of Scripture and a short
sermon. It does not, therefore, extend beyond an
hour and a half ; and so soon as the ladles are
handed round, the Royal phaeton, wall pair of
white ponies, draws up to the door, and her Majesty
and visitors leave without the slightest bustle or
noise, the gentlemen present, of course, uncovering
as she passes. It is a quiet and suitable attendance
at church, entirely devoid of ostentation or display.
—Caledonian Mercury.

THE REV. H. J. HATCH.—This gentleman, whose
name lately became so familiar to the public, has been pro-
mised a living in the church by the Bishop of Winchester,
in whose diocese he was for many years a licensed clergy-
man. The bishop, however, declines to nominate Mr.
Hatch until the expiration of two years. Meanwhile, it
is stated that he and his family are in a state of great pecu-
niary di§treso,