Latin or Italian originals, that a great part of the narrative in the text has been based; and it is to them that it owes its interest as an undoubtedly authentic record of the Catholic Church in this country, at a time when, under the grinding pressure of the penal laws, she was apparently all but extinct. In the freedom which the tolerance, or indifference, of our own days has accorded to every form of religious belief, it is hard to realise the fierce fanaticism that prevailed in Scotland little more than a century ago: when the clergy of the ancient Church were hunted down like wild beasts among the glens and mountains, for no other crime than ministering to the spiritual wants of their flocks, and when so zealous and enlightened a prelate as Bishop Hay deemed it necessary, for prudence' sake, to prohibit so much as the singing of a hymn in the miserable cabins which then did duty for Catholic chapels. The letters addressed by the Scottish vicars-apostolic to the Holy See partake to some extent of the inevitable formality of all official reports: the writers employed a language not their own, and alike in the matter and manner of their narratives there may be traced signs of that cautious reticence in which the adherents of a proscribed religion were forced to shroud every external manifestation of their faith. But the details which those narratives give are full of instruction; and they will be perused with interest, not only by those who in happier times pro fess the same faith which animated those devoted pastors, but by all who are interested in the religious history of their country. CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH VOLUME. CHAPTER I. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SCOTLAND UNDER CHARLES I. AND THE COMMONWEALTH (1625-1660). Accession of Charles I. (March 27, 1625)—Royal visit to Scotland PAGE and Charles I.-Peculiar attitude of the king-Scotch College 1 CHAPTER II. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SCOTLAND UNDER CHARLES II., Restoration of Charles II. (May 1660)— His marriage to Catherine laws-Thomas Nicolson named vicar - apostolic for Scotland (August 1694)-His first report to Propaganda-Number of missionaries in the country-Episcopal visitation of the High- Death of William III. (March 1702)-Results of the accession of Anne-Union of England and Scotland (1707)—The penal laws under Anne-Protestant demonstration in Edinburgh- Royal proclamation against Catholics-Statistics of the Church in Scotland-Rising in Dumfriesshire-Consequences of the Jacobite rebellion (1715)-Arrest of Bishop Wallace-Protes- tant missionary efforts-The Statuta Missionis of Bishop Nic- olson-Foundation of the seminary of Scalan (1712)—Benedic- tine seminary at Ratisbon-Bishop Nicolson's visitation of the Highlands (1701)-Proposed erection of a chapter for Scotland -Bishop Gordon, coadjutor (1705)-His services to the Church in Scotland-Death of Bishop Nicolson (1718)-Bishop John Wallace Report of Bishop Gordon Popular hostility to Catholics-Constancy of clergy and people-The Church in the Highlands-Formation of a Highland vicariate (1726)—Nomi- ` nation and singular disappearance of Alexander Grant-Con- secration of Hugh Macdonald, first vicar-apostolic of the High- lands-Second Jacobite rising (1745)-Bishop Macdonald and Charles Edward-Collapse of the Jacobite hopes- Benedict Henry, Cardinal of York-Sufferings of the Scottish Catholics after Culloden-Capture and trial of Bishop Macdonald-Low- land vicariate-Dissensions among the clergy-Bishop Smith's proposals to Propaganda-Relations of the bishops to the regu- lar clergy-Bishop Grant, coadjutor-Spread of the Jansenistic heresy-Papal briefs on the subject-Formula drawn up by the bishops-Clement XII. orders its subscription by all the mis- sionaries State of the Scotch College at Paris - Report of Niccolò Lercari (1737)—Charges against the officials of the Col- lege Jansenism in Scotland-Lercari's recommendations-- Result of his representations-Renewed complaints against the |