SCOTLAND TO-DAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 23, 22 October 1907, Page 8

SCOTLAND TO-DAY.

COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. Scotsmen the world over will be greatly ito> terested in "Scotland of To-day," by F. F. Henderson and Francis Watt. To the greatest city (Glasgow)'an interesting chapter is given. The namo'Glasgow, locally pronoun* ced "Glesca," is.supposed to bo derived from "Closhu," which is Gaelic for '.'the beloved green place." English and-French travellers m the l'/'th and 18th centuries testified to tho boauty and rural charm of the town. Richard Franck, who travelled in.'. Scotland in 1050, , writes:—"What to think or what to say of this eminent Glasgow I,know not, except,to: laney a smcii of my native country. The very prospect of tins flourishing city reminds me ot the beautiful fabrics, and the florid fields in England." . A few years later James 3rom.e, declared that, "for,pleasantness of sight; sweetness of air, and delight-fulness . of its gardens and orchards,'enriched with many delicious fruits," it "surpa'sseth all tho places in this tract." Before the'end ofitho . i7th century it was said by Thomas ■Moricr to havo "the reputation of-the finest town ■in Scotland, not excepting Edinburgh."- John Kay, the naturalist, described it as "somewhat like unto Oxford;" and Defoe, .in. 1723, called it "tho beautifullest liitle city" he had soon in Britain. There is no such city now. The authors of this.volume declare that the' splendid prosperity of tho town-has been in a manner its .undoing.... The Glasgow, of. the' open, airy, streets is. to-day, .partly rimbosomed in squalor, and partly a great city ofthe dead. \Vealth, fashion, business, ■. and •learning have all migrated westwards, leaving only their tombs behind them; and the region is now mainly in possession of .the ancestors of the present inhabitants, and. the more impoverished, hopeless, and vicious of the citizens. The High Street,.- formerly'the' main thoroughfare, "is-now a hideous blur on tho strip of earth ; by which you wind your way upwards from the Trongato towards tho church of 'tho beloved green place.''. , Though much ■/has been done by" rebuilding'' to cleanse this, not so long ago one of the worst plaguo spots in the city, you quickly recognise that you are now. within a 'portion of the kind of region which has struck certain colonial visitors to the city with amazo-' and horror." Glasgow's greatest deficiency is ' the want of open spaces. With the exception ot tho.paved and 1 monumental George Square, there is not one where the tired' wanderer can take a seat. "The-three central square miles aro,' in fact, a solid conglomeration of stone and" lime, unadorned with tree or. shrub or flower-bed. ." . . 'Thousands of Glasgow's, workmen and 'workmen's wives and'children never, behold from week's end'to week's end a blade of grass, or.' a'■tree, or a shrub, or a or,' indeed, anything except tho hard walls'of the! nioncr tonous street." Speaking''of 'measures, for': tho improvement of Glasgow, the writers say that, without tho application of methods moro enlightened than those'of thepast'in' tho construction of the new city that is suming acres of fields at Vmore rapid rate of" progress every month, "her future fate can! hardly bo regarded with perfect "equanimity."

TROUBLES IN THE KlßK.'■'.'.'.'. There is a good summary of recent, ocelot siastical events in Scotland, especially the momorablo judgment given/by tho House<of Lords on August 11, 1904, ' depriving tho United Froo Church •■of"- property valued at' £5,000,000, rand handing it over to tho Froo' Church of Spotland, the small body commonly "• known as.the "Weo Frees;"/described by tho ; writers as "a knot oLhopeloss obscurantists, Calvi.nisls of tho most rigid persuasion, who reproduced in;modern life the doctrino and thoughts of, tho Covenanters." The way iu which tho judgment was received shows tho : .(■rent change that has tal;oii j>i"c- fTxi-'t;;... thought, since.the disruption of 1843. There was no talk of going ' out' again into the ' wilderness, :as tho "Wee Frees" Wro; pre-, pared to do, and very little about''homo rule, for Scotland. .General confidence .was felt '■ that .the Government would take action, and. that, in the mam, justice would' bq'done.'Theaiiticipatieii was justified^by the,decis'o':..,. the Royal-Commission appointed to deal, with the .question:," ''No one cim .'deny'," say. our.,, authors, -.'tliat'-tho"blow"'to' the''church was terrible, and that in many ways,. '.'A loss., of: ; prestige was- involved .in the (appeal; to lay, authority' to redress the inequity of the judgment. A serious : blow also struck at. ilio finances of the church; Vast'suiiis J boon raised for the Sustcritatioii Fund, which had been assessed a;id collected v, .- exactness of a'"legal rate. ;,While church sentiment was strong," tho money was paid, if unwillingly. But, tho sentiment, weakened for a defeated and, 1 to that extent, discredited . cause.. It was a heartless"taslt--ttigp on.collecting sums whoso destination might,bo . altered by a legal decision. "Everything seems to show that in the future the great seceding; body iwill find itself crippled for want of re- ■■: sources." A more gcnoral rosult will bo. a declino of tho theological spirit in Scotland. .

.-'■ / SUNDAY CHANGES.',. ■■':,:'y,--.[ A significant N chango has taken place * ol late years in - Scotland. - When tramways wore first introduced there was no thought of •'running them on Sundays. \But gradually' a feeling grow up.in favour of a changed The churches.wcro,against it, and also the local civic authorities. But the latter consented to take a plebiscite on the and iu ' every case it was.in favour of the innovation. Now, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, alid other cities the .trams run on every day of tho week. Eveu thosowho at first opposed the chaugo use the Sunday trams as readily as their nioro progressive follow; citizens. ' With tho advanco of Broad Church Views, the austerity of-tho Scottish Sunday in relaxing. *> The teaching that theological doctrino is the bo-all and the end-all of existence is no longer' ' as pronounced as it used to' bo." - "Tho. Church," concludo Messrs. Henderson and Watt, "is still strong, and it scorns impossible to bolievo that she can disappear, or that Scotland will ever: look upon, the Christian faith with the covert hostility of Franco. Tho tendency rather will bo for her churches' to becomi as those of Germany and Holland, • scholarly, enlightened,*; rational, neglected; and then the: very essence of the national life will suffer change." .■ ' ■■'•■['

THE MADELINE SMITH CASE.' .Fifty years ago Scotland, wo might even say Great Britain, was convulsed by tho trial of Madeline- Smith for the murder at Glasgow of her lover, Emilo L'Angelier,, a . nativo of Jersey. The charge against her wrf that sho poisoned him with arsenic. . Many persons still living remember tho extraordinary excitement caused by the trial, which lasted nine days. Tho girl's passion for her lover llad ceased, and she had become engaged to another man. She was anxious to recover from l/Angclier a number of compromising letters that sho had written to . him. They tained expressions not merely of passionate love, but of such outrageous,- passion that much of them could not bo printed. l ' When. the girl .tried to break with him, ho'threatened to show the letters to her father. Littlb, if any, sympathy was. felt for the man,- but a good deal for tho accused, which was coupled with wonder that a girl of 21, well brought up,.should have fallen into such immorality, and -.proved capable of writing such hitlers." Tho case drew attention to certain' special features of Scottish legal'procedure."' Evidence was admitted that would not have' been allowed in England, and finally the jury, by a majority., returned a verdict of "riot, proven.-" In Scotland this form of verdict is' an alternative to "guilty" or "not guilty." Tho prisoner was discharged, but jt cannot, be said that she "loft the.court'without a staiii 'upon her character." Tho judge remarked that he-agreed with the verdict, though a dilferent .opinion was:quite permissible. Madeline Smith married, and, as far as is known, "lived happily over afterwards;" The story is retold by .Messrs: Henderson and Watt as'an illustration of Scottish judicial methods. Of Madeline Smith they 'say, '.'Sho' belonged to a certain typo of Scotswoman, who have shown in all ages of the country's history a determination, coolness, courage, and resolution more than masculine.''- In another ago sho might well have, been one of tho heroic'women of tho Covenant." Many other subjects, are treated ill' this readable volume. Thero is ■ a good chapter on Scottish sports and pastimes,--.and ..there are chapters on. literature,- art,. Burns ; and the poet's country, music,- food and. drink; wit and humour, the Highlands, and the Scot abroad.—(Melville and Mullen.); .;-.■-. .-■.