Memoirs of James Robert Hope-Scott Part 21

'In Moidart' (I here copy from another well-informed correspondent) 'a severe crisis had just pa.s.sed over the people. The cruel treatment which has depopulated the greater portion of the Highlands, and converted large tracts of country into sheep-farms and deer-forests, had overtaken them.

Dozens of unfortunate families occupying the more fertile portions of the estate were ruthlessly torn from their homes, and shipped away to Australia and America. Their good old priest, the Rev. Ra.n.a.ld Rankin, broken-hearted at the desolation which had come over his flock, accompanied the larger portion of these wanderers to the sh.o.r.es of Australia. His impression at the time was, that the whole of the country, sooner or later, would share the same unhappy fate; for in bidding farewell to his Bishop, the late Dr.

Murdoch, Vicar-Apostolic of the Western District, he a.s.sured his lordship, who felt at a loss how to supply his place, that it was a matter of little or no consequence, as the mission was practically ruined already. The Bishop's reply was characteristic: "Moidart has always been a Catholic district; and so long as there remains one Catholic family in it, for the sake of its old steadfastness, I shall not leave it unprovided."'

In the meantime, Mr. Hope-Scott, having already become a landed proprietor in Ireland, in the county Mayo, much wished to possess also a Highland property. Lochshiel was offered to him; but, after consideration, he decided against taking it. In 1855 the estate was again in the market, but Mr. Hope-Scott had not heard of it. The owner, Macdonald of Lochshiel, was a Catholic, and, it may be presumed, a devout one, since he had the Blessed Sacrament and a priest in his house. He had been obliged to sell, and the property had been bought by a brother-in-law of his, named Macdonell, who added to the house. He, too, found himself obliged to sell, and this time the estate was on the point of pa.s.sing into the hands of people from London who would have rooted out the Catholic population from the land. Hearing that it had been actually sold to Protestants, two old ladies of the same family, living at Portobello, went to the lawyer, and asked him, if possible, to postpone the signature of the deeds for nine or ten days, to give another purchaser a chance. He agreed to do so. They then commenced a novena that a Catholic might buy it. (I ought perhaps to explain, for the benefit of some of my readers, that Catholics have great faith in the efficacy of prayer persevered in for nine days when there is some important object to be gained.) The ninth day came, and Mr. Hope-Scott purchased the property, for the sum of 24,000_l_., without even having seen it. His attention had been drawn to it by the late Mrs. Colonel Hutchison, of Edinburgh, a lady well known among Scotch Catholics for her shrewd good sense and innumerable good works. He certainly was induced to purchase by the fact that Lochshiel had never been out of Catholic hands, and that all the population were Catholic, with the personal motive, however, of providing his wife with a quiet and pleasant change of residence.

'On his arrival, the character of the people, and the wild and glorious scenery of the place, made a favourable and lasting impression on his mind; [Footnote: How deeply the Highland scenery impressed his imagination may be seen from the beautiful verses, 'Low Tide at Sunset on the Highland Coast, which will be found in Appendix IV.] but the state of the country might have appeared to him as little more advanced than under the earlier Clanra.n.a.ld chiefs three or four centuries ago. The peasants generally were in a state of great poverty. Their cottages were miserable turf cabins, black and smoky; agriculture was imperfectly understood among them, and the small patches of moorland upon which they tried to raise crops of oats and potatoes were inadequate to the maintenance of themselves and their families. There was no demand or employment of labour. There was no school upon the estate. The princ.i.p.al building a.s.signed to religious worship, and which served as the central chapel for Moidart, was a miserable thatched edifice, dest.i.tute of everything befitting the service of religion. The want of good roads was severely felt. It was difficult to get into "the _Rough Bounds_" as this part of the Highlands was aptly styled by the more favoured districts, and, once in, it was more difficult still to get out.

'Mr. Hope-Scott lost no time in trying to improve matters. It was a fundamental maxim with him that, in a neglected estate like this, no improvement was more sensible, or paid better, than the construction of good roads. These occupied his attention for several years, and gave most beneficial employment to the tenants. The cost in some instances was very great; for, in constructing the present beautiful carriage drive from Sheil Brude to Dorlin House, hundreds of yards of solid rock had to be blasted; part of the river Sheil had to be embanked; huge boulders between the cliffs and the sea-sh.o.r.e had to be cleared away, while a considerable line of breastwork had to be erected as a protection against the waves of the Atlantic, which, in a southwest gale, beat with great fury against the coast. The other roads were carried to those parts of the estate where the tenants were princ.i.p.ally cl.u.s.tered, and were a great boon.

[These road-making operations in the Highlands were evidently in Mr. Hope- Scott's mind in one of his last letters to his dear friend Dr. Newman. The great Oratorian, then busy with the 'Grammar of a.s.sent,' writes to him on January 2, 1870: 'My dear Hope-Scott,--A happy new year to you and all yours--and to Bellasis and all his.... I am engaged, as Bellasis knows, in cutting across the Isthmus of Suez; and though I have got so far as to let the water into the ca.n.a.l, there is an awkward rock in mid-channel near the mouth which takes a great deal of picking and blasting, and no man-of-war will be able to pa.s.s through till I get rid of it. Thus I can't name a day for the opening. Ever yours affectionately,--JOHN H. NEWMAN.'

Mr. Hope-Scott's reply is--'Hotel d'Orient, Hyeres (Var), France, January 12, 1870.--Dear F. Newman,--(After giving an account of Serjeant Bellasis's health, then seriously ill, and anxiously asking for ma.s.ses and prayers for him,) That rocky point in your enterprise is a nuisance--more especially as rocks lie in beds, and this may be but the "crop" of some large stratum. As a road-maker, I know what it is to have to come back upon my work, and to strike a new level to get rid of some seemingly small but hard obstacle....

Yours ever affectionately,--JAMES E. HOPE-SCOTT.']

'The improvement of the tenants' own condition was a subject of anxious consideration. It was impossible to build new houses for every one; but great facilities were offered by the proprietor to such as were willing to build for themselves. Wood and lime were placed at their disposal free of charge, and a sum of 10_l_. or 12_l_. was added to help in defraying the expenses of the mason-work. A few cottages of a superior kind were built at the entire expense of the proprietor; but the cost was out of all proportion with the rental of the estate, and this attempt had to be abandoned for a time. Mr. Hope-Scott's kindness towards the smaller tenants was very marked. Besides helping them to better houses, he frequently a.s.sisted them with considerable sums of money towards increasing their stock of cattle, or towards repairing losses from accidents and disease. In some cases his generosity extended to the poorer tenants on neighbouring estates, when, for instance, they felt themselves at a loss for means to purchase a new boat or to provide themselves with fishing-nets. [Footnote: Mr. Hope-Scott had formed schemes for the employment of the people in working the salmon fisheries, and, when the salmon was out of season, the deep-sea fishing, and enabling them to dispose of their fish.] To encourage a spirit of independence among them, he used to grant sums of money on _loan_; but when, at the end of a successful season, the borrowers came back with the money, he invariably refused to accept it, or he would give instructions to have it pa.s.sed to some other poor person in difficulties.' His efforts to induce them to extend cultivation have been elsewhere noticed. 'He never left the country towards the end of autumn without leaving a few pounds for distribution among the poorer cla.s.ses. The clergyman of the district had always strict injunctions to report any case of hardship, or illness, or distress, and to draw upon his purse for what was required. The habits of the people soon showed signs of real improvement. A more orderly or respectable cla.s.s of tenants are not to be found in any other part of the Highlands. From the day of his coming among them until now the rents have remained the same, greatly to the prosperity of the tenants. With the rest of the proprietors residing in and near Moidart he was very popular. His relations with them were invariably pleasant and happy.

'In 1859, Mr. Hope-Scott commenced the erection of a school at Mingarry, with ample accommodation for scholars and teacher. It was completed in 1860. This was an improvement very acceptable to the tenants. Hitherto the Catholic children had to cross over to a neighbouring estate, where the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge had established a school-house and teacher, or they had to frequent another school, often very irregularly, in Ardnamurchan. The secular teaching in both of these schools was excellent of its kind. But, although the most cordial relations have, for generations past, existed between the Catholics on the north and the Presbyterians on the south side of the river Sheil, it was always a subject of regret among the former that they had no means of educating their children nearer home, and under Catholic teachers. After the school was successfully opened, Mr. Hope-Scott supplied funds to defray the teacher's salary.

'In 1862, he erected, at a cost of about 2,600_l_., the present church and presbytery at Mingarry, within a few hundred yards of the school; but, to his grief, this was the least satisfactory of all his undertakings from one cause or another, neither church nor presbytery coming up to his expectations; and the former was for years a continual source of trouble and expenditure.' He built also another, at Glenuig, mentioned already.

To complete the history of Dorlin, so far as it is connected with Mr. Hope- Scott: when, towards the close of his life, he had completely given up practice, he made up his mind to part with it, great as he acknowledged the wrench was--but to a Catholic purchaser--and sold it to Lord Howard of Glossop, the present proprietor, who worthily carries out the admirable example bequeathed him by his predecessor. [Footnote: Lord Howard of Glossop died as these sheets were pa.s.sing through the press, December 1, 1883. R. I. P.]

The missions of _Oban_, and, on the other side of Scotland, _St.

Andrews_, [Footnote: He had been otherwise interested in St. Andrews, during the years 1846-51, when a.s.sociated with Sir John Gladstone (father of the Premier) in a scheme for developing that town as a bathing-place, building houses, &c. This, however, was a speculation on which it would he needless to enlarge, even if I had the details. In a letter to Miss Hope- Scott (May 25, 1867) he observes, 'St. Andrews is the best sea quarter in Scotland, I believe (and you know I have property there, which proves it).'] must also be named as either created or largely a.s.sisted by Mr.

Hope-Scott; and, among Scottish religious houses, lastly, but not least, St. Margaret's convent at _Edinburgh_ (the Ursulines of Jesus), as a cherished object of his benefactions, and kind counsel and help.

MR. HOPE-SCOTT'S IRISH TENANTRY.

Of Mr. Hope-Scott's dealings, as a Catholic proprietor, with his Irish estates (co. Mayo), what has appeared in a former chapter gives a pleasing idea, quite borne out by other letters that have come before me. The Rev.

James Browne, writing to him on June 12, 1856, to acknowledge a donation for the chapel and school of _Killavalla_, says of his tenantry there: 'They all look upon it as a blessing from G.o.d that they have got a Catholic landlord, who has the same religious sympathies that they have themselves.'

Thirteen years later (May 9, 1869) the same priest writes: 'I have been holding stations of confession among your people at Balliburke, Gortbane, and Killadier. I was glad to find them happy and contented, the houses neat, and the people most comfortable.'

CHARITIES AT HYeRES.

At Hyeres I can say from my own knowledge that Mr. Hope-Scott's support of a chaplain is to be numbered among his charitable and fruitful deeds. The arrangement was made with all his usual thoughtfulness; it enabled a most excellent priest, who was in a slow decline, but could still hear confessions and do much good, to spend a few winters in a warm climate. The Rev. Edward Dunne acted also as confessor to the little English colony at Hyeres, as well as to the family of Mr. Hope-Scott. It often happens that, in such a watering-place, strangers whose case is hopeless come for a last chance of life. Sometimes they are Catholics, or needing instruction, and willing to receive it; sometimes they are in distressed circ.u.mstances.

Father Dunne's great prudence and charity well fitted him for these ministrations, and he was equally beloved by Catholics and Protestants. The good which such a priest does is shared by the benefactor who places him in the position where he has the means of doing it. The following pa.s.sage from a letter of Father Dunne's to Mr. Hope-Scott (May 26, 1869), which must have been one of his last, will interest the reader as an example:--

You will be glad to know that my being at Hyeres was a great blessing to a poor young man who died there towards the end of April. He had been at sea, and was for years without receiving the sacraments. His poor mother, a very pious woman, was in the greatest anxiety about him. He could not speak French, and it would have been impossible for him to make his confession if I, or some other English-speaking priest, was not there. I mention this, as I know it will be a consolation to you to know that your charity and benevolence were, under G.o.d, the means of saving a poor soul, and will secure for you the prayers of a bereaved mother, and three holy nuns, aunts of the poor young man.

CHAPTER XXVII.

1868-1873.

Mr. Hope-Scott's Speech on Termination of Guardianship to the Duke of Norfolk--Failure in Mr. Hope-Scott's Health--Exhaustion after a Day's Pleading--His Neglect of Exercise--Death of Mr. Badeley--Letter of Dr.

Newman--Last Correspondence of Mr. Hope and the Bishop of Salisbury (Hamilton)--Dr. Newman's Friendship for Mr. Hope-Scott and Serjeant Bellasis--Mr. Hope-Scott proposes to retire--Birth of James Fitzalan Hope-- Death of Lady Victoria Hope-Scott--Mr. Hope-Scott retires from his Profession--Edits Abridgment of Lockhart, which he dedicates to Mr.

Gladstone--Dr. Newman on Sir Walter Scott--Visit of Dr. Newman to Abbotsford in 1872--Mr. Hope-Scott's Last Illness--His Faith and Resignation--His Death--Benediction of the Holy Father--Requiem Ma.s.s for Mr. Hope-Scott at the Jesuit Church, Farm Street--Funeral Ceremonies at St.

Margaret's, Edinburgh--Cardinal Newman and Mr, Gladstone on Mr. Hope-Scott.

Mr. Hope-Scott's duties as trustee and guardian of the Duke of Norfolk had lasted altogether eight years, when they terminated of course on the Duke's attaining his majority, on December 27, 1868. The speech made by Mr. Hope- Scott, at the banquet given by the Duke in the Baron's Hall at Arundel Castle, to the Mayor and Corporation of Arundel, on the following day, was a striking and beautiful one. I copy a few lines of it from the summary given in the 'Tablet' of January 16, 1869:--

Mr. Hope-Scott paid a well-merited tribute to the virtues of the d.u.c.h.ess when he said that if they observed in the Duke earnestness and yet gentleness, strict justice and yet most liberal and charitable feelings, neglect of himself and attention to the wants of all around him, let them remember that his mother brought him up. The guardianship being now over, the ward must go forward on the battle-field of life, depending not upon his rank or property, but upon his own prudence, his own courage, but above all, his fidelity to G.o.d. It was true that his path was strewn with the broken weapons and defaced armour of many who had gone forth amidst acclamations as loud and promises as bright, but the groundworks of hope in his case were the n.o.bility of his father's character, the prayers of his mother, the strong domestic affections which belong to pure and single- minded youths, great powers of observation, great vigour of will, and the daily and habitual influence under which he knew that he lived, of well- reasoned and well-regulated religion.

The celebrations at Arundel were, I believe, the last occasion, unconnected with his profession, at which Mr. Hope-Scott ever spoke in public. He had already, for some years, showed signs of failing health. It used to be supposed, as has been previously mentioned, from the facility of his manner in pleading, that he got through his work with little trouble. People little knew what commonly happened when he reached home, after the day's pleading was over. Such was his state of la.s.situde, that he would drop, like a load, upon the first chair he found, and instantly fall into a profound sleep: sometimes he was half carried, thus unconscious, to bed, or sometimes placed at table, and made to swallow a little food. Even when the prostration was not so overpowering, the chances were that he would fall fast asleep, at dinner or at dessert, in the middle of a sentence. All this resembles very closely what Thiers related of himself to Mr. Senior. The French statesman, after a day of Parliamentary battle, had often to be carried to his bed by his servants, as motionless and helpless as a corpse.

This strange torpor, after extreme intellectual exertion, seems to have been observed in Mr. Hope-Scott from a very early stage in his career, during the great railway excitement of 1845. It was probably connected with the shock given to his const.i.tution, in his infancy, by the fever at Florence. There was always a kind of struggle going on in his system.

Unfortunately, throughout his professional life he never took proper exercise. It was, however, in vain to advise him on this point. He said he could not _both_ work hard and take exercise also, or would playfully insist that he had sufficient exercise in pleading. 'Why don't you go out?'

asked a friend. 'Don't you think,' replied Mr. Hope-Scott, 'that the work in committee gives a man sufficient exercise? Cicero considered making a speech was exercise.' This great mistake was the more to be wondered at in Mr. Hope-Scott, as he had had the advantage of an early initiation into field sports.

He never, indeed, seems to have liked riding. He used to say he had _once_ been out on a steeplechase at Arundel, and sometimes he went out shooting there, but these were exceptional occasions. His chief active amus.e.m.e.nts, gardening and architecture, were insufficient to compensate the depression caused by the tremendous strain of half the year at Westminster.

In the year 1856 he was exceedingly unwell, and the failure in his health became very appreciable, his physician telling him that he had 'the heart of an overworked brain.' Within two years after this, the violence of his grief at Mrs. Hope-Scott's death further disordered him. He had an illness in 1865, and again a serious one in 1867, which, however, he got over, and went on as usual, but became more unwieldy, and suffered much from impeded circulation.

It happened also, soon after this, that the breaking up of some very dear a.s.sociations, or sure signs of it, began to give warning that the end of all things was at hand. On March 29, 1868, rather suddenly, died Mr.

Badeley, the most affectionate and faithful friend of so many years. On hearing of his illness Mr. Hope-Scott had hastened home from Hyeres to a.s.sist him, and was with him each day till the last. Dr. Newman wrote the following letter on this occasion:--

_The Very Rev. Dr. Newman to J. R. Hope-Scott, Esq., Q.C._

Rednall: March 31, 1868.

My dear Hope-Scott,--What a heavy, sudden, unexpected blow! I shall not see him now till I cross the stream which he has crossed. How dense is our ignorance of the future! a darkness which can be felt, and the keenest consequence and token of the Fall. Till we remind ourselves of what we are--in a state of punishment--such surprises make us impatient, and almost angry, alas!

But my blow is nothing to yours, though you had the great consolation of sitting by his side and being with him to the last. What a fulness of affection he poured out on you and yours! and how he must have rejoiced to have your faithful presence with him while he was going! This is your joy and your pain.

Now he has the recompense for that steady, well-ordered, perpetual course of devotion and obedience which I ever admired in him, and felt to be so much above anything that I could reach. All or most of us have said ma.s.s for him, I am sure, this morning; certainly we two have who are here.

I did not write to you during the past fortnight, thinking it would only bother you, and knowing I should hear if there was anything to tell. But you have been as much surprised as any one at his sudden summons. I knew it was the beginning of the end, but thought it was only the beginning. How was it his medical men did not know better?

I suppose the funeral is on Sat.u.r.day. G.o.d bless and keep and sustain you.

Ever yours most affectionately,

JOHN H. NEWMAN.

The year had not yet come round when the last correspondence pa.s.sed between Mr. Hope-Scott and another dear friend, Dr. Hamilton, Bishop of Salisbury, his brother-Fellow at Merton so many years before.

_J. R. Hope-Scott, Esq., Q.C. to the Eight Rev. Dr. Hamilton (Bishop of Salisbury)_.

Hyeres: March 10, 1869.

My dear Friend,--I have watched the papers with anxiety, and learnt all I could from home about your health, but have been unwilling to trouble you with a letter. However, Manning has just been here, and we naturally spoke with our old affection of you, and joined in hopes for your welfare; and I thought you might like to know that two of your oldest friends have been so engaged. Hence these few lines. May G.o.d keep you!

Yours ever affectionately,

JAMES E. HOPE-SCOTT.