St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-08-29
Letter from Great Britain.

LONDON, Aug. a, 1879.
My Dear Mr.. Stone We made but
brief stay in Glasgow, simply to see
something of the city itself-which is
quite modern and has, till within a
year, been rapidly growing,-and to
look into its fine cathedral which dates
back to the 10Th century. The build
ing is 319 feet long, 63 wide, and the
spire 225 feet high. 1t has crypts, or
arched vaults underneath the eastern
half and here for many years, as in the
catacombs of Rome, large number of
Christians held weekly service. Here
Scott lays the scene of Rob Roy's warn
ing to Francis Osbaldistone. Hard by
is the BarOny church where DIR. Nor
man Mcleod, founder and editor of
Good Words, long preached, and in the
southwestern part of the city is con-
spicuOus church where his son, Donald
Mcleod, is pastor of large and in
f1uential congregation. The Clyde
which divides Glasgow into nearly
equal parts, has been the great point
for the building and launching of iron
ships and steamers, but Belfast, Ire
land, is proving close competitor, and
this like many other kinds of business
has been Overdone.
While Scotland boasts of many men
who in public life, letters, and science
greatly honOred her, yet almost every
where we find some memorial of two
whose fame seems to make fragrant the
atmosphere of the whole land These
are John Knox, and Sir Walter Scott.
The one enshrined his country's history
in song and story the other, more than
any one man else, made that history
what it has been, and stands forth as
the most prominent representative of
the old, and to some extent of the
modern, Scotch character. For the
relics of the latter we should study the
religious faith and life of the church of
which he was the leader; but to see
much of what the former left behind
him we go to Melrose and his old home,
Abbotsford, now in possession of his
great grand daughter. And so zoe went.
1t was charming morning that we
left Edinburgh and from Melrose sta
tion drove west three miles to Abbots-
ford. The place is near the foot of a
gentle slope, half encircled by the river
Tweed, and from the direction in which
we approached there is no view of either
house or grounds till we are close upon
them. The characteristic of the house
is not its architecture or its surround
lngs-though the latter are very pleas
ant-bnt its relics and its careful preser-
walton of these as Scott arranged them.
The walls of the porch way are covered
with stags' horns, the hall, panelled and
ceiled with richly carved oak and with
floor of black and white marble from
the Hebrides, has cornice of the coats
of the old border families. and
its walls are hung with ancient armor.
Adjoining is the armory which contains
almost every kind of light weapons and
armor known to middle and modern
ages, many curiosities from India, and
the key to the Heart of Midlothian
given Scott by the authorities of Edin-
burgh. The dining-room contains fine
paintings, the drawiDg-roOm finished in
cedar has antique ebony and lockwood
furniture finely carved, the library with
an elegant ceiling of carved oak has
10000 volumes of books, many of them
rare and valuable, also fine picture of
Sir Walter and his dogs, and case of