e ecclesiastical differences between the islands
of the North and the West would require a philosopher with all Buckle's
shrewdness and ingenuity. Buckle accounted for the sombre nature of
Scotch theology by dwelling on the awe-inspiring reverberations of
thunder among the Highland peaks. The easy-going creed of the Shetlands
might perhaps be accounted for by a reference to the happy-go-lucky way
in which the sea wanders at will among the confusion of peninsulas,
islets, and skerries. Any theory is better than none at all, and
geopsychical explanations are fashionable at present.

The pulpit stars twinkle with great lustre in these boreal regions. A
country minister, with no preparatory groans, but sharp and trippingly
thus began his homily some Sundays ago: "It is now thirty-five years
since the Lord sent me to labour in this part of his vineyard, if
vineyard I may call it, where no grape was ever seen. On a bright summer
morning thirty-five years ago, I turned the corner of the road and came
among you. Young women, your mothers were in the fields, busy with the
work of the crofts. Your mothers were exceedingly fair to look upon, and
I am happy to say, my dear young sisters, that, by the providence of
God, the beauty of your mothers has lost nothing by being transmitted to
your comely selves. And now for my text, which you will find in Ezekiel,
chapter _x_ and verse _y_."

SOME NOTES ON THE ISLANDS.

A century ago Shetland was almost an unknown land to the Lowlanders of
Scotland. When a Shetland minister was deputed to attend the General
Assembly, it might take him a year to get there and back. His journey
was a very circuitous one: he had to go in a trading vessel to Hamburg,
take boat from Hamburg to London, and from London proceed to Leith. To
return from Edinburgh, the journey was performed the reverse way. Now
that there is a regular service between Aberdeen and Lerwick, and
between Leith and several of the Shetland ports, the journey can be
performed with comfort and expedition. Tourists flock North in the
summer season to admire the scenery, catch the trout, and inhale the
health-giving breezes.

The natives, being mainly of Norse descent, look with a kindly eye over
the water in the direction of Bergen. They do not love Scotland, and
they have their reasons. When the Shetlands were handed over to the
Scotch kings, numbers of needy adventurers, armed with cheaply-got
charters, swooped down on the islands a