New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-10-02
Letters from Mr. Weed -. No. XIII.
Correspondence of the Albany Evening journal.

bath morning. Nor is 1t possible to breathe an
atmosphere more bracing and balmy than that
which refreshes and giaddens our spirits. ne
view from Eidon Hill al the foot OF which Mex
rose repuses, is one Of surprising beauty. Every
object within the visions reach has been made
classic by the inspirations of Poetry and Romance.
Beyond the Tweed the Hills of Ettrlck and ar
row are seen. Upon its banks the ruined Abbeys
Of Melrose and Dryburgh yet lift up their broken
towers and crumbling walls. And IN every d.
rection YOU identify points, features or OBJECTS
with which the imagination had been MADE Ia
miliar either IN Marmion,' the Monastery or
St. Romans Well
On our return from DRYBURGh aBbE,
dsy. we learned that there was to se ffeaoili,iS
TO-DAY in MgLRosE ABBEY. Our WISH " lns
magnificent ruin was therefore gladly oelcrrea,
that we might have the unexpected privilege OF
attending Church in Temple erected eight hun
dred Years ago, and where, for more than two
hundreds years, the voice Of Thanksgiving and
PRAYER had scarcely been heard.
At half past 10 O'Clock this morning, the rusty
be which yet hangs in the Abbey tower, with
hoarse and feeble voice, summoned the congrega-
ton Temporary seats had been ranged on the
green grass carpeted area of the Abbey. At III
the service commenced. Two discourses were
preached, one from the Old and the other from
the New Testament. Both were purely doctrnal.
No allusion was made, either III the Prayers or
the Sermons to the circumstance that Christian
Ministry of the 18th century was proclaimlng, to
an enlightened people, the open and widely diff
fused truths Of Revelation, upon the very graves
Of those who, In by-gone centuries, and IN dark
age, were practising mysterious rites and bar
barous orgies upon their deluded and besotted fol
lowers.
But though the Preacher was as literal in his
4 Ir,-y1 n> or
Muckewrath' that ever edited a congregation
of Covenanters, doubt whether the imagnatons
OF his hearers could be restrained What an &C.
casion was here for an historical discourse? And
how deeply | regretted that some of Our own clo-
Guent Dlvines were not standing IN the shoes of
this very worthy, but exceedingly unimaginative
Clergyman!
The presence Of SO many strangers disturbed
the Swallows, Wrens, aud other birds that have
for so many ages had undsputed possession of the
Ruin. They were flying, futterlng and singing
above our heads during the service. Nor did
their natural melody minglc unharmonlously with
the voices Of those singing the praises oil their
Creator with a more intelligent and responsible
sense of his projections and power. lhc dell
cate air, the lloyd mansonry of birds, ard the
scene-a Scottish Ruin-recalled wildly to me-
mory this beautiful and not inapphcable passage
In Macbeth -
Duncan This castle hath pleasant seat : the air
Nirnbly and sweetly recommends itself
Bcnquo. This guest of summer,
The temple-hauntng martIet does approve,
BY his lov'd ansonry, that the heavens breath
Smells wooingly here; no Jutty, rieze,
Buttress nor cogne of vantage. but this bird
Hail, made his yendant bed, and procreant cradle
Where they most breed and haunt have observed,
The air is delicate.
MeIrosc Abbey has its literal and romantic his
Az lotto cd to- hp five
renus of the author of Waverly, in his Monas-
tery.' The former is written among the annals Of
fire. rapine and blood. 1t was founded in 1886,
and is esteemed the finest specimen of Fothc Ar
chitecture in Scotland. King David conferredlt
upon Monks of the Cisterican order, by whom 1t
was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 1t was plum
dered and desecrated by the English army under
Edward II, in 1922, but repaired by Robert Bruce,
whose Heart was subsequently deposited here
In 1882 it was burned by the English under
Richard H. 1t was again rebuilt, only to be
pundered again by Lord Evers in l545 and sub
sequenty almost wholly destroyed by the Earl of
Hartford And during the civil wars, while at-
fording an Asylum to the inhabitants, it was
bombarded by Cromwell. But even yet, much
OF It's massive masonry remains, and 1t still
abounds III ancient statuary and carvings OF eX
quisite workmanship. The Abbey is 2o7 feet
long, 195 feet wide, and 9.t3 in circumference
The tombs of Alexander II. of St. Waldene, It's
second Abbot, and many of ,hc Douglasses, who
were buried here, are yet preserved and identified
The Abbey and lands around 1t are the property
of the Duke of Buccleugh, who looks carefully to
their preservation. In obedience to the following
noetic direction OF SIR WALTER SCovr III his Lay
of the Last Minstrel =:
al thou wouldst view fair NelrOse Alright,
Go visit it BY the pale moonlight;
For the gay beams Of lighrsSfne day
Gid but to tiout, the ruins grey,
we obtained the Abbey keys and returned to view
its Runs at 10 O'Clock in the evening, by the
pale moonlight Now it was Ruin IN all its
solitude and sublimity. The moeti's beams We're
reflected through portal and windows, casting
mellowed light upon canoples, pedestals, and
inches, with chsced or carved Apostles, SAINTS,
Abbots &c. &c, with which the Abbey abounds.
The choir or chancel, which is still preserved, dis
plays the happiest architectural taste; and the
eastern window, that looks out upon the rising
sun, is very magnificently constructed. In de-
scrihing this portion OF the Abbey, the Poet says:
The moon on the east oriel shcne
Through slender shafts of shapely stone
BY folaged uacery combined
Thou wouldst have thought some tary's hand
Twixt popiars straight aud osier wand
In many freaksh kno, had twiued
Then famed spell when the work done,
And changed the willow wreat!s stone.'
Having fingered for nearly an hour aund these
soltudcs, almost silent ourselves as the mighty
dead upon whose sepuchres we We're trcading, VIC
returned to our Hotel and our pillows, where the
objects that had absorbed our waking thoughts,
came trooping back in dreams and visions.
In our visit TO Dryburgh Abbey, we were
rowed across the Tweed by old Lady who has
ofhciated as the 'Charon' to this river for nearly
thirty years She had often, she said, ierried SIR
Walter over, who came sometimes TO show the