“The coast scenery is, in many parts, very sublime. A series of columnar cliffs stretches to Loch Staffin, presenting the general features of the ranges of Staffa, but on a scale of five or six times the magnitude. In one place, these rocks represent a circular temple, of Greek architecture, so exactly, that the artist, in sketching it, might be accused of forcing nature into the forms of art. The detached state in which many slender groups remain, after the surrounding parts have fallen away, is a singular circumstance, that sometimes occurs among these columnar ranges. From their mode of wasting, the summits of the cliffs are frequently crowned with pinnacles; and, in some instances, single columns are seen, in front of the colonnade, appearing like the remains of a ruined portico. One of the most remarkable appears to be about 200 feet in height; its lower part clustered, and the pillars terminating in succession upwards, till a single one remains standing alone, for the height of thirty or forty feet, and apparently not more than four or five in diameter.
“There is a cascade here, which is very striking, from the unbroken manner in which it falls over a perpendicular cliff, not less than 300 feet in height; but when the squalls, which blow from the mountains in this stormy region, are violent, very little of the falling water reaches the waves below.
“We then visited Loch Scavig; and after passing the river which runs foaming over a rock into the sea, a long valley suddenly opens, enclosing the beautiful lake Cornisk, on the black surface of which a few islands, covered with grass and juniper, form a striking contrast to the absence of all verdure around.
“It is an exquisitely savage scene, and was to me particularly interesting, because I had lately read again the Lord of the Isles; and here I beheld the truth of its descriptions, and felt anew the sadness and horror of the death of Allan. We often stopped, on our return, to admire the effects of the storms. Stones, or rather large masses of rock, of a composite kind, quite different from the strata of the lake, were scattered on the rocky beach. Some lay loose, and tottering upon the ledges of the natural rock, so that the slightest push moved them, though their weight might exceed many tons. The opposite side of the lake is pathless and inaccessible, and the eye rests on nothing but barren, naked crags, though of sublime grandeur. Indeed, our favourite Scott says, truly—
For rarely human eye has known
A scene so stern as that dread lake,
With its dark ledge of barren stone.
The wildest glen, but this, can show
Some touch of Nature’s genial glow.
But here—above, around, below,
On mountain or in glen,
Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,
Nor aught of vegetative power,
The weary eye may ken;
For all is rock, at random thrown,
Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone,
As if were here denied
The summer’s sun, the spring’s sweet dew,
That clothe, with many a varied hue,
The bleakest mountain-side[4].”
4th. Sunday.—My uncle read some parts to us, this morning, of a book which he likes very much—“Sumner on the Ministerial Character of Christ.” I intend soon to read it. There was a curious fact mentioned in the part my uncle chose, which, however, must be well authenticated, or Sumner would not have given it.
In speaking of the gradual manner by which converts were taught the truths and mysteries of the Gospel, he says that the Catechumens were not permitted to say the Lord’s Prayer till after they had been baptised, and had therefore been thoroughly instructed in the Gospel. The Christian converts, he says, were divided into the Catechumens, or learners, and the Fideles, or believers; and there was a great distinction maintained between these classes, in the primitive church. The Catechumens were allowed to hear the Scriptures, as well as the popular discourses upon them, and upon points of morality; but it was not till after baptism, when those converts became Fideles, that they were allowed to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Another privilege was, to join with the ministers in all the prayers of the church. More particularly, the use of the Lord’s Prayer was only permitted to the Fideles; it was considered an honour, to be conferred only on the most perfect Christians, to be allowed to use it; and it was therefore called, by some of the Fathers, “the prayer of the believers.”
After my uncle had finished reading what I have only written here from memory, we had some conversation on the subject of early religious instruction; for a lady was present who disapproved extremely of not teaching the Lord’s Prayer to little children, as soon as they could speak, “It is so pretty,” said she, “to hear them lisp out prayer and praise.”
“Yes,” said my aunt, “if they understand what they lisp; but if they do not, I consider it as a sort of profanation.”
“And would you not teach children to pray while they are young?”