Scotch Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 20, 6 September 1889, Page 2

Scotch Notes.

The Home Rule causi has giined another victory in tfce result of the elecion for West Fife. This has been the return of Mr. Birrell, the Gl.idstomte c.indidatc, by a majority of 793 over Mr. Wemysa, a dis c cntient Libert), who received in all 2,758 votes. Mr. Birrell, who is a graduate of Oambridg 1 University, is an author of some distinction, and is geueially qualified to rank as an important acquisition to the followers of tnc Graud Old Man.

The llcv. Colin C. Grant, of Eikadale, has succeeded the Into Must Rev. Dr. Macdonald aa Hibhop of Abeulccn. Dr. Grant, who is in Ins 08th jtar, is a native of Glencairn, and was educated at Blair's College, lie bad been parish priest of St. Mary'e, Ebkadale, for about twenty years, having bsen transferred thither from Glassburn in 180' J.

An arauiin^ contest his been f^oin^ on at L^ith, ■wbese two mtoifatcrb — one a Wesleyan, the other a Congregationalist — have been competing with each other in sensational advertisements of sermons to be nn ached by tl.em. One of the tit'ea announced by the Weslo> sin for a discourse was, for example. " Jonah's travelling expenses." As a bet off against this, the (Jon^rcgationalist announced, "Apartments to lot." Which competitor gained the prizi in the way of substance, rumour has nut declare 1. But it is to be feared it was a case in both iusUnces in which preachera were " more in word than matter."

It istaid that theli..ffick in live cattle between the Clyde and Amu\ie:\ hrn intr< ductd grim visitors into the firth. Such, is the explanation of tho presence thero lately manifested of a shark of fcome twenty live feet in lerglh. The frequency with which carcasses aie thrown overboaid from the cattle ships is given as accounting for this " Buddci and awful nppeaiancp."

One of th» most beautiful propcilies in Scotland is about to be broken up f r building lots. The property Ln question is the Duke of Argyle's Kiwinaih estate in Dumbartonshire, situated on the peiJinfiula between Loch Long and tLe Firth of Clyde, and noted especially for its silver fir tre< s. The Duke has tried for a long time to dißposi of the entire property, but failing in this, is now going to offer it io tmall lots.

The Dundee Radical Association has forwarded to Mr. Gladstone a resolution passed by them calling on the Liberal leaders to force the Tory Government to appeal at an early date to the country, Mr. Gladstone replies aa follows :—" The sooner the country is called upon to deal with tho Irish question at a general election the better shall I be pleated." Tho Tories, however, will not ba forced to make the apiw al desired so long as it is possible for them to hold on, even by the elciu of their teutb,

Mr. Bett of Bohallion has offered to contribute one third of £15,000, required to found a Chair of physiology in connection with the medical school of University College. Dundee. Bach an example deserves to be chronicle I,— and more especially in communities where discourses about tbe benefits of education are much more numerous and liberal than donations in its support. The new world has decidedly something still be learn from the old.

Fishing in the Clyde this season has been exceptionally successful — more so, it is said, than it had been for the last fifty years. The weight of the takes of salmon and trout is looked upon as quite extraordinary.

Labour in all shapes and forms at present tends to stand uftt*T its right p. A Ploughmen's Association, for example, has been formed at Tranent, Haddington, with the object of obtaining an increase in wages, a decrease in the hours of labour, and other privileges desired by its members. To the credit of certain land 'Owners of the district, it may be added, sympathy has been shown by them with the objects in question. The undertaking, meantime, is a much more rational method ol bringing about a reform than is the manner commonly employed of doing so by a strike.

An enterprise exciting much interest is the construction of a light line of railway leading to the summit of Ben Nevis. The starting point is placed near old Inverlochy Castle, and the existing pony track is to be followed. Engineers are at work making a preliminary survey.

Another construction about to be made, and which is quite aB interesting and much more important, is tbe new observatory, for which a site has been chosen with much care on the Braid Hills, near Edinburgh.

The Free Church is pronounced to be in danger. A committee appointed some months ago by a conference of ministers and elders held in Edinburgh, has issued an. appeal calling on the orthodox to oppose with might and main tbe advance of the German criticism which now threatens to revolutionise their creed. The chances of successful opposition, however, depend on the ability of orthodo champions to encounter and refute the enemy. But what those chanceß alemust be left to the judgment of the initiated. People judging from without, perhaps, may be disposed to back the German criticism as more in accordance with the advanced Protestantism of tho ageeverywhere becoming merged in infidelity.

A rumour of impending trouble is heard from Aberdeensbire, inhere the proprietor of the Invercauld estates is said to be resisting the claim made by his tenantry for a reduction of rents. All sucn resistance, however, goes towards hastening the inevitable event, and bringing on the certain victory of the tillers of the soil as a whole.

A wholesome sign of Catholic progress has been 'the laying of the foundation stone at Edinburgh by Archbishop Smith of the additioDS to the St. Jolid's Catholic schools. The occasion was made a gala one, the schools marching in procession through the streets, preceded by their band. Provision will be made for several hundred more children — destined to form a sound leaven, we may hope, among the general population of the city.