The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-12-06

Catholicism once bloomed, now all its
glory has departed, and a pure evangel
has usurped the place of man-appointed
ceremonies and God-dishonoring super
stitions "Those adulteries OF art that
strike the eyes, but not the heart
Away south from Kirkwall are the
Isles of BURY, South Ronaldshay Walls,
Flota, and Hoy with its towering preci-
pices. Towards the north are the Rou-
say hills and Egiisay. Nearer are Shap-
inshay and Gairsay.
The Appearance of the Country.
What is usually known as the Ork-
neys embraces a group of upwards of
sixty-seven islands. Pomona and Hoy
are the largest of these, the former being
upwards of thirty miles long by fifteen
at its widest point. But what interests
the stranger most about the whole place
is the stunted appearance that every tree
and shrub presents. When looking at
the country we said How unlike Amer
lea. There are endless forests while
here there is nothing visible that one
with any regard to truth could designate
a good tree" Parts of the country are
fiat, but this is amply compensated for
by the elevations of Hoy and Ophir and
Rousay. Ward Hill Of Hoy is 1856 feet
above sea level; while Conlax Hill and
Blotchingfeld range in height between
$50 and l 400 feet. The country is not
thickly inhabitated The population of
the Orkney Islands in 1881 was 81 ,964.
The houses of the inhabitants, generally
speaking, are not very pretentious They
are usually small, seldom rising higher
than one story They are built Of
square shaped, slatyS aqueous rock,
which abounds in the islands,
Outwardly viewed, the Orkney houses
would give you no idea Of the real
warmth and comfort that exist inside.
Let it, however, not be supposed that
there is total absence of what we would
call comfortable houses in these northern
isles. Nothing of the kind. Balfour Cas-
tie, which stands upon the island of
Shapinsay, is fine specimen of modern
architecture. We were much struck
with the genuine hospitality of the Orka-
dians. To strangers they are particular
ly kind and obliging. Their accent is
not particularly Scottish; still it has
marked popularity of its own which, with
a little familiarity, would enable you to
distinguish the Orkadian from his neigh
bors on the other side of the Pentland
Firth.
The Religion of the OIkadians.
The islands are all studded over with
churches. The prominent denominations
are the Presbyterians- ns-distinguished into
the Established Church, the Free Church,
and the United Presbyterian Church.
Wherever you find one of these churches
represented you will be almost certain to
find the other two appearing. 1t is there
fore no uncommon thing to find three
ministers working along side each other
In some country parish in the Orkneys
where, if the people were only agreeable,
one minister would be able to overtake
the work. From what we witnessed we
are happy to be able to state that the
gospel is preached with much earnestness
In the pulpits Of the Established Church
in the Orkneys. The ministers of that
Church whom we met on our recent visit
would do honor to any Church in the
world. The feeling between the Church
es to Judge from the expressions of some
United Presbyterian ministers that we
hCG Ou Jul u GldHSlSj 10 any IlluB OuO COT
dial. This bitterness, so far as we could
see, does not exist on the side.of the Es-
tablishment They, the Establishment,
would be prepared to live and work har-
moniously with their neighbors of the
other churches But no This would
not content the United Presbyterians.
Their Unsuitable cry is-Delenda est Car
thogo-the Established Church must
come down, Other denominations be-
sides those already mentioned, exist in
the Orkneys The Plymouth Brethren
are represented in the Parish of Harry.
They have barn-like, square, unpreten-
tious house here in which they worship.
l was informed they were very jealous,
sectarian body of Christians, these Harry
Plymouths. We conducted service in
one of the Parish churches the Sabbath
we were there. The attendance was good,
the audience entering heartily into the
singing Of the old Scottish version of the
Psalms. After leaving the Orkneys we
got home again in safety, having spent
pleasant autumn holiday.
DAVID MCMEEKIN.