Seal Of The Abbey Of Arbroath.

race of men ; the dread and darkness which his retirement into unknown regions of the universe occasioned . The lamentations for his absence , so awefully solemnised in EGYPT , and at ELTJSIS ; and the eager search of woe , wherein they wearied themselves on their sacred rites to find him . " The marvellous tale of discovering him in an Arc of admirable workmanship : his being cloaihed with authority and power , through the Halleluiahs

of the Sanctuary ! and uttering holy oracles , which impart a divine , a heavenly life to man : while he receives more than mortal praise , by the offices of homage prescribed in honour of his name : all his ( sie ) resolveable into principles and inferences exceedingly divine . Through the substantial veil of metaphor , wherewith this mysterious personage is invested , there is indubitably disclosed the most sublime allusion to the MANIFESTATIONS of the SUPREME BEING in the World , and hence we must unavoidably infer that the whole train of Symbolical ceremonies , which celebrate the various fate and influence of the HOLY ORACLES , arose from the native attributes of a PERSONIFICATION of the WORD of GOD !

' By the bold imagery of Oriental description , the LIGHT OF TRUTH obtained a local habitation and a name . ' " The mystical BODY of Divinity , lodged in an ARC , preserved in the Adyta of the Temples , was onl y on solemn occasions communicated to a chosen few , was . therefore often misrepresented in the world ; yet the knowledge of it , difficult to attain , was ardentl y aspired after , for it was declared full of consolation to the human mind when found .

" When the duly initiated joined in ' Weeping for Tammuz' [ Ezekiel viij ., 14 ] or mourned for the absence of OSIRIS , the LIGHT OF LIFE ; perhaps it was in aweful piet y to solemnize the dark and hopeless estate of being WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD ; and the sacred song of joy , when the glory of that light is restored ! was the loft y hymn of adoration , wherewith the Sanctuary should resound , when the virtual sense of an universal Guardian , whose providential goodness regulates all things , is with heartfelt gratitude acknowledged . " These are but some scattered fragments of a great design , which may in time be farther unfolded to view . "

The Rev . Charles Cordiner , of Banff , it will be easily seen , was much fascinated with what may be called the "Egyptian Origin ; " and much more of the same kind will be found in his book under "Miscellaneous Antiquities , " forming a fragment in the centre of volume two . There appear to be three Seals connected with this Abbey known . The annexed plate , drawn by Mr . F . C . Price from a cast , is the one described by Cordinerand without any doubt represents the murder of Thomas a Becket .

, Mr . Walter de Gray Birch informs me that the seal dates probably from the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century . I do not think with Bro . Gould * that this is the seal used by the Lodge of St . Thomas at Arbroath , but am inclined to believe that the , one they possessed was most probably that of Matthew , Monk of Arbroath , which we are informed by Mr . Laing was discovered at Arbroath at the latter end of the last century .

The following descriptions are taken from " The Descriptive Catalogue of Impressions of Ancient Scottish Seals , " b y Henry Laing : Edinburgh , 1850 , p . 172 , from which it will be seen that all the seals connected with this Abbey bore some representation of the murder of St . Thomas a Becket .

" 978 . [ Page 172 . ] ARBROATH , ABBOT OF . This seal is [ in shape a pointed oval ] unfortunately much defaced , but it has evidentl y been of an interesting and beautiful design . In the upper part are three Gothic niches , ornamented with pinnacles , etc . Beneath the centre one is a figure of the Virgin sitting with the infant Jesus , and in each of tbe side niches is an angel kneeling and adoring . In the centre and principal compartment of the seal is a representation of the martyrdom of St . Thomas a Becket , to whose memory the Abbey was con-