e I forget, was
(as I heard the late W. Mackenzie of Muirton assure a party at Dunrobin
Castle) several years previously a famous hand at brewing a good glass
of whisky, and that he distributed his mountain-dew with a liberal and
impartial hand alike to Catholic and to Protestant friends. Of this
class, I recollect, certainly forty-five years ago, Priest Gordon, a
genuine Aberdonian, and a man beloved by all, rich and poor. He was a
sort of chaplain to Menzies of Pitfodels, and visited in all the country
families round Aberdeen. I remember once his being at Banchory Lodge,
and thus apologising to my aunt for going out of the room:--"I beg your
pardon, Mrs. Forbes, for leaving you, but I maun just gae doun to the
garden and say my bit wordies"--these "bit wordies" being in fact the
portion of the Breviary which he was bound to recite. So easily and
pleasantly were those matters then referred to.

The following, however, is a still richer illustration, and I am assured
it is genuine:--"Towards the end of the last century, a worthy Roman
Catholic clergyman, well known as 'Priest Matheson,' and universally
respected in the district, had charge of a mission in Aberdeenshire, and
for a long time made his journeys on a piebald pony, the priest and his
'pyet shelty' sharing an affectionate recognition wherever they came. On
one occasion, however, he made his appearance on a steed of a different
description, and passing near a Seceding meeting-house, he forgathered
with the minister, who, after the usual kindly greetings, missing the
familiar pony, said, 'Ou, Priest! fat's come o' the auld Pyet? 'He's
deid, minister.' 'Weel, he was an auld faithfu' servant, and ye wad nae
doot gie him the offices o' the church?' 'Na, minister,' said his
friend, not quite liking this allusion to his priestly offices, 'I didna
dee that, for ye see he _turned Seceder afore he dee'd, an' I buried him
like a beast_.' He then rode quietly away. This worthy man, however,
could, when occasion required, rebuke with seriousness as well as point.
Always a welcome guest at the houses of both clergy and gentry, he is
said on one occasion to have met with a laird whose hospitality he had
thought it proper to decline, and on being asked the reason for the
interruption of his visits, answered, 'Ye ken, an' I ken; but, laird,
God kens!'"

One question connected with religious feeling, and the manifestation of
religious feeling, has become a more settled point a