Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-12-01
I'm. Patron satin, Of scotland.

The Patron saint Of Scotland.
The following speech delivered by DIR.
G. s. Blackie, President of the Nashville
Caledonian Society, at the festival al the
Court-H N Friday night last, contains
many historical facts in relation to St.
Andrew, which viii be read with general
| interest.
LADIES AND GENrLEMEs !: The very
pleasing duty of bidding you cordial and
warm welcome to this the third annual
festival Of the Caledonian Society of Nash
vile devolVes upon me, the Society's
President
1t is a matter of the sincerest congratu-
lation TO Us who, however feebly, represent
the historically renowned yalor, integrity,
and perseverance OF honest and God fear
ing Caledonia, TO see among us so many
pleased and happy faces, 50 many warm
hearted well-wishers, and so many citizens
of other islands and continents than our
dear little one, assembled to share our en-
ioyment and to encourage us by their
| presence.
In previous years, we Caledonisns have
| been, we confess, somewhat selfish. Cir
cumstances have led us to hold this festival
by ourselves, 10 have a sort Of secret revel
and jOvial assembly, from which our far
better halves and fair daughters were ex
cluded. We have been punished az we
deserved by the murmurs and gentle re-
monstrances of these fair ones, and this
year have turned over new leaf,
have asked and received the cooper
al I ha
old Saxon word in preference to the more
modern lady; and have already been re
warded with an increase of happiness, and
with the satisfaction Of looking forward to
q night free from curtain lectnring and
morning free from headache We Scotch
men have then given the people Of Nash
vile proof that we are not always thick
headed; that we arewilling to yield TO good
advice, and that we are ready to allow
that an entertainment from which our
families are excluded cannot always tend
to the credit of our race OF the good of that
land which We have adopted as our home.
Ladies of Nashville, | heartily thank
You for your ttendance-brothers of the
Caledonian Society, congratulate you on
the bright halo which the presence of these
fair guests throws around our young ASSOC
citation.
We meet tonight on the eve of st. An
| drew, the Patron Saint of Scotland. In
our native land, in all thecolonies Of Great
Britain, and in all countries where the
hardy sons of Scotia have settled-and
where are they nOt?-this night is held
in high honor. Tomorrow the prayers of
millions protesting Christians all over the
world, speaking almost every known lan-
guage, and descended from every family
Of the globe, yet united in the one great
brotherhood of the Church of Christ, will
bear to heaven the name of him whom
Scotchmen have selected as peculiarly
| their own. Who was he? The Sacred
Record informs us that ne and st. John
were the first who, having heard Jesus
speak, determined at once to show Them
selves ready TO follow the Lamb wherever
he went; who went with him the day they
met him, and, without looking back, cast
their fate with him and bare record that he
was the Christ. Nor did the blessed st.
Andrew remain satisfied with his own adj
vantages, for we find that on that very day,
with q zeal which would not permit him to
res. until he had conveyed the good tidings
to Others, he went and sought his brother
impossible to think of these poor plain
men without wonder and admiration They
left their home, forsook their scanty means
of existence in order to wait upon the I'M
known and stern Reformer, st. John, and
became his disciples. Their souls were
engrossed with the desire of beholding the
promised Messiah, whose advent they felt
sure was at hand. Let us not think that
because they received "a cal, they became
earnest, holy and self denying. They were
not saints because they were Apostles. On
the contrary, they were called to become
Apostles because they were such eminent
saints. Surely their history must teach US
to look upon them with interest, to mem
ton their names with reverence. The
testimony even of the inGdel writer Renan
allows that ST. Andrew was one of the most
faithful of all the followers of Jesus. May
we, my brother Scots, faithful and brave as
we are acknowledged to be in worldly
matters, prove as faithful in the pursuit of
the greatest of all aims as was our Patron
Saint His subsequent history, after the
disciples were scattered over the known
world to tell the tidings of great Joy, ia not
so entirely reliable. He ia said to have
visited Scotland about the time that st.
Paul visited England, and there to have
been the first missionary of the gospel
| Further, ii is stated that he was put to
death in the year 60, at Patrae, in Achaia,
by having been scourged and then fastened
with cords 10 cross. In this position, he
continued with patience and zeal instruct~
ing and teaching the people, until, at the
end Of two days, death relieved him of his
sufferings. Ii is the common opinion that
the cross of st. Andrew was in the shape
of the letter Y, called cross
decussate, composed of two pieces of
timber crossing obiquely in the middle.
That such crosses were used is historically
true, though the evidence that ST. Andrew
suffered on such one is meagre. A part
of what was said TO be the wood of this
crosa was carried 10 Brussels, by Philip the
Good, Duke of Burgundy and Brabant,
who in honor of it instituted the Knights
| Of the Golden Fleece, who wear az their
badge the st. Andrews Cross, or the Cross
Of Burgundy. The origin of st. Andrews
becoming the Saint of Scotland il likely 10
be that in 800, an abbot named Regums
brought 10 Scotland from Censtantinople
certain relics Of the saint, which were de-
posted in church he built for their recep-
ton. This church, with the monastery of
Abernathy, occupied the site where il now
the city Of st. Andrews, whose cathedral,
founded in ll62, and university chartered
in l4ll, place it among the most venerable
of Scottish towns. Many pilgrims resorted
for centuries to this shrine, coming from
all quarters of Europe, and the Scottish
monks Of this place were the first who
were called Caldees. But the Scotch are not
alone in claiming this saint, for the Mus
coyites claim that he preached among
them, and the place of his death was an
early centre of the Greek Church. Peter
the Great instituted the first Russian order
Of knighthood, the order of the blue ribbon,
under the name of st. Andrew. Nsogeor-
gus mentions in his legends that
To Andrew all the lovers and the lustie wooers
come,
Believing through his aid and certaine ceremo-
MES done,
| while as TO him they rresentes bring, and con-
jure all the nighte)
| To have good lucke, and 60 ohtaiue their chiefe
and sweets delighte,
Martin Luther allndes to an ancient and
widely prevalent custom Of his day, that
maidens, on the recurrence of this eve, in