44 GUIDE TO OBAN. Of Iona, the famous Dr. Johnson, whose learning was equalled by his superciliousness of most things Scotch, was constrained to write : That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona." Here, in 563, St. Columba, the Apostle of Scotland, landed from Ireland, and from here he sent forth his followers to teach and preach all Scotland over and far as Lindisfarne. Kings of Scotland, Scandinavia, Ireland, and France, great Highland chiefs, abbots, and monks, and many of lesser degree, lie interred here. Two ancient Celtic crosses yet stand, the sole remains of many more. The Cathedral, which was long in ruins, was gifted by the late Duke of Argyll to the Established Church of Scotland, and is now roofed in and carefully restored. The oldest ruins are those of St. Oran's Chapel, which belong to the eleventh century, the ruins of the Nunnery belong to the twelfth century, whilst the Cathedral, in its oldest parts, dates from the thirteenth century. PASS OF The drive to the Pass of Melfort is one of the finest coach excursions out of Oban. MELFORT. The trip can be extended from Melfort by coach to Ford, at south end of Lochawe, thence steamer north the Loch, and so on by rail to Oban. The route to Melfort, in its course of some sixteen miles, leads by heathery hills, and bosky glens, and both fresh water and sea lochs. There is much beautiful scenery all along, but the most picturesque part of the way is at the Pass of Melfort. Through the Pass, leaping now over rock, and anon swirling in dark pools, runs the river Oude, far below the level of the road, whilst precipices tower on either side, and a wealth of wood half hides the stream from view. The Pass is short but wild, and the prospect of it is finest just at the point where the excursion coach is photographed, (see view on next page). Soon after emerging from the Pass, the coach draws up at Cuilfail. THE MONKS OF IONA AND THE DUKE OF ARGYLL. PLEA FOR THE MONKS OF OLD. THE following publication proceeds from the Press sooner than could have been desired, but a combination of circumstances would not brook delay. His Grace of Argyll has during December, 1870, republished his beautifully written essays on Iona in an elegant volume, which has been applauded to the echo. In this month of February, 1871, another edition has been issued. In vain then should we seek to emulate its purity of style, but its purity of narrative must here and there "hide its diminished head." Hence it has been considered most advisable to reply without delay, thereby taking advantage of the intense interest, manifested throughout Great Britain, in regard to the subject to which it refers, and which the more it is ventilated the more absorbing it becomes. The writer makes this statement, not by way of apology for the short-comings of his work, which are no doubt many, nor with the view of deprecating public criticism, from which there can be no escape, but simply to mention the downright fact. He has written, as is his wont, with the utmost freedom, but it is hoped, within the limits of moderation, since he has made it his studydespite the philosophy of plain speaking-to treat his opponents with that respectful courtesy which society necessarily demands. Having nothing to disguise, but every thing to lay open, he has studiously avoided all diplomatic verbiage, which, according to Prince Talleyrand, is intended to conceal one's thoughts. His greatest solicitude, on the contrary, is to be straightforward to disarm hostile manœuvres by candour-to grapple honestly with the question at issue, and to handle it if possible in accordance with its intrinsic merits. If indeed he should then only partially succeed in vindicating the truth-in removing erroneous misconceptions respecting the belief and discipline of the Monks of old-in reassuring the public mind that modern "Roman" Catholics do not by any means patronize "pious frauds "some good, doubtless, shall have been accomplished, and he will then gladly lay down his feeble pen-as, in the days of religious chivalry, the valiant knights hung up their armour-before the shrine of that Holy Church which it is his joy to serve, and whose interests it is his consolation to promote Having said this little, let us add another word by way of apologia for the Monks of old. We do not indeed contemplate to enter upon an elaborate vindication of the religious life, as time forbids, since we are anxious that what we do write should appear in print before the Royal nuptials in the Ides of March, in which His Grace of Argyll and Lord Lorne are to take so prominent a part. Hence we shall endeavour to grapple hurriedly with the popular objections which are set forth with telling power and plausibility by the Duke in his late classically written work on Iona. He speaks to the following effect : "No special value can be set on the customs of religious life in the sixth century as necessarily affording any indication whatever either of the doctrine or of the practices of Primitive Christianity. Five hundred years is a time long enough for almost any amount of drift." In reply, may we not ask whither are we drifting? Are we then to become better acquainted with Primitive Christianity the farther down we descend the stream of time? This seems nothing short of paradoxical. Surely the nearer we approach an object, the more distinct is the view. Surely, also, those who lived in the sixth century had, to say the least, as favourable an opportunity of knowing "the doctrine and practices of Primitive Christianity" as we of the nineteenth century. But of course we are living in the age of railways, and electro wires, and balloons, and of necessity we are far more enlightened than those who went before us! This idea may & satisfy our own self-sufficiency, but is it in accordance with Truth, with Justice, and with Judgment? Forgetful of the promises which our Blessed Lord made of the perpetual abidance of the Spirit of truth with his Church, and of the absolute impossibility of her going astray, the writer declares that she "enjoyed no miraculous protection against the growth of error!" Pray, was there no declaration that Hell's gates should never prevail against the Church of Christ? The Duke very coolly declares that "the very earliest Christian writings after those of the apostles bear upon their face the unmistakable marks of deviation and decline." As this is a wholesale gratuitous assertion, we dismiss it in the language of logicians—“ Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur." Moreover, he declares that it cannot be "too emphatically repeated, that there are no Apostolic Fathers' except the apostles." Now this averment is also gratuitous, and as no proof is adduced, it would be idle to delay in reply. Mere declamation is unworthy of an answer. The Duke now, in his discursive way, turns to consider the claims of a religious life. He says "the life of St. Columba is of special value in enabling us to judge of the intervals that elapsed between certain waves of opinion, which at successive periods were propelled from the ancient centres of Christendom, and which each in turn finally overspread the whole." "The belief in the virtues of a monastic life was one of these. The idea of it was indeed older than Christianity. In the far East, many centuries before the Christian era, Buddhism had devoted its thousands to dreamy contempla tion: It had found a home also among the sects of Judaism, and the description given by Pliny of the Essenes who retired to the deserts of the Dead Sea, seems almost as if it had been drawn from the monks of a later age." "In the earliest records of the Church, which are the records of the New Testament, we hear nothing of it. The community of property practised among the few first disciples, and the command addressed to the young man of great possessions to sell all and to follow Christ, have indeed been quoted as the beginning of, and the authority for, the life of monks, and certainly if it were true that Christ's life in any way resembled that life, then indeed in the command to follow Him we might see the authority to become an Anchoret or a Cenobite. But there does seem to be an essential difference between the life of Him who went about doing good, and of whom his enemies complained that He 'ate and drank with publicans and sinners,' and the life of men, who stood on the tops of pillars, or hid themselves in the dens of wild beasts." We have given this extract in its fulness to show all that the noble writer could say. With reference to the first paragraph, we shall afterwards consider more in detail the celibate and ascetic life of St. Columba, while at present we have simply to remark that "certain waves" of opinion have been "propelled " from the centre of unity, for the immediate establishment of a religious community in Argyllshire, and that after the Jesuit type, in the romantic hamlet of Oban! In the second paragraph we waive the consideration of Buddhism and Judaism, and the Essenes, as being extra quæstionen-as well as the Bonzes in China, and the Grand Lama in Tartary! The third paragraph we have now to consider, and before touching on the records of the New Testament, and the counsel of our Blessed Lord to the young man of the Gospel, let us look to the life of Christ himself. Is it not true that he himself first began to do, and then to teach? Is it not true that he practised the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience? Is it not true that Jesus went |