buildings. The town exhibits that union of the hoary past with
the bustling present which is characteristic of the old world.

It has two parts, the old and the new, as unlike as L'Allegro and
Penseroso--the new, clean, and modern; the old, mossy and dreamy. The
old town is called Alton, and has venerable houses, standing, many of
them, in ancient gardens. And here rises the peculiar, old, gray
cathedral. These Scotch cathedrals have a sort of stubbed appearance,
and look like the expression in stone of defiant, invincible resolution.
This is of primitive granite, in the same heavy, massive style as the
cathedral of Glasgow, but having strong individualities of its own.

Whoever located the ecclesiastical buildings of England and Scotland
certainly had an exquisite perception of natural scenery; for one
notices that they are almost invariably placed on just that point of the
landscape, where the poet or the artist would say they should be. These
cathedrals, though all having a general similarity of design, seem, each
one, to have its own personality, as much as a human being. Looking at
nineteen of them is no compensation to you for omitting the twentieth;
there will certainly be something new and peculiar in that.

This Aberdeen Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. Machar, is situated on the
banks of the River Don; one of those beautiful amber-brown rivers that
color the stones and pebbles at the bottom with a yellow light, such as
one sees in ancient pictures. Old trees wave and rustle around, and the
building itself, though a part of it has fallen into ruins, has, in many
parts, a wonderful clearness and sharpness of outline. I cannot describe
these things to you; architectural terms convey no picture to the mind.
I can only tell you of the character and impression it bears--a
character of strong, unflinching endurance, appropriately reminding one
of the Scotch people, whom Walter Scott compares to the native sycamore
of their hills, "which scorns to be biased in its mode of growth, even
by the influence of the prevailing wind, but shooting its branches with
equal boldness in every direction, shows no weather side to the storm,
and may be broken, but can never be bended."

One reason for the sharpness and distinctness of the architectural
preservation of this cathedral is probably that closeness of texture for
which Aberdeen granite is remarkable. It bears marks of the hand of
violence in many parts. The images of saints