Pray for the soul of the Rev. John Forbes, who died suddenly at Elgin on the 3d September, 1855, in the 64th year of his age, and 40th of bis ministry.

Mr. Forbes was born on the 27th December, 1791, at Glachkan of Glenconlass, Strathavon, Banffshire, and was baptized by the name of John, from the circumstance of his birth having taken place on the festival of St. John the Evangelist. He received the first rudiments of his education at the parish school, and having, at an early age, given decided proof of no ordinary talent, he was admitted as an alumnus to the College of Aquhorties, on the 5th November, 1802. Having remained in that institution only eight months, he was sent, on the 3d August, 1803, along with some other students, to continue his studies in the Scots College of Valladolid. Towards the close of 1808, when the French invaded Spain, it was judged advisable to break up that establishment for a time, till peace should be restored to the country, and the inmates were obliged to return home. Mr. Forbes landed at Falmouth early in January, 1809, and thence proceeding to Scotland, he soon after resumed his studies at Aquhorties. Having completed them in the summer of 1814, be left College to recruit his health, and remained for some months with his family in Strathavon. The Seminary of Lismore in the West High­ lands being then in want of a Professor, he was sent, in December of that year, to that house, where, having taught for some time, he was ordained Priest on the 15th October, 1815, by Bishop Aeneas Chisholm, then Vicar-Apostolic of the Highland District.

No sooner had Mr. Forbes received ordination than he was appointed to the charge of Paisley, which he reached on the 21st Oct., and said his first Mass there on the 22d following. As that Mission was too laborious for a person of his delicate constitution, Bishop Cameron removed him to an easier charge. He left Paisley on the 4th August, 1816, and, after being a month at Ayr, he arrived at Stobhall, Perthshire, on the 14th September following, as successor to the Rev. William Wallace. After a residence in that Mission of little more than a year and a half, he was transferred to Banff, to which were then attached two other small charges—Portsoy and Foggyloan. As the income accruing to him from this Mission was insufficient for the decent maintenance of a Clergyman, be was obliged to have recourse to teaching, in order to add to his means of support, and while he remained in Banff, as well as for several years after he went to Elgin, he had a considerable number of pupils. Finding the fatigue of attending the distant Stations too much for him, and the Mission of Elgin, to which no out-stations were attached, being vacant, he obtained that appointment, of which he took possession in December, 1827, and in which he remained till his death.

The chapel and house purchased in Elgin by the Rev. John Farquharson, while he had charge of that Mission, being found un­ suited to the congregation, it was determined that a new establishment in a more convenient locality and more in conformity with the progress of the age, should be provided. To aid in the attainment of so desirable an object, Mr. Forbes undertook to collect funds, and for this purpose he visited various towns both in Scotland and England in the course of the year 1837. Considerable success was the reward of his endeavours, and the sums which he gathered from the charity of the faithful were deposited in the hands of the Bishop of the District. He set out on a second excursion for the same object in March, 1840, and after having gone over those parts of Scotland and England which he had not visited before, he passed over to Ireland and then to Belgium, and did not return to Elgin till the summer of 1843. In this second attempt his success was unfortunately not commensurate with the time be had devoted to it, or the labour he had undergone. The new undertaking, however, received a very considerable accession of funds from the late Abbe Chevalier Drummond Stewart, who had at one period an intention of fixing his residence in Elgin. With these means in hand, and with further aid from the Right Rev. Dr. Kyle—who took the more immediate charge, the new establishment was commenced in 1843, and on the 25th September, 1844, the Church—to which a house is attached, and of which a description appeared in the Catholic Directory for 1845—was opened for Divine worship.

After the erection of the Church, Mr. Forbes spent the remainder of his days in quiet seclusion, seldom moving from home, taking but little interest in events passing around him, and devoting to literary pursuits the time which he could spare from the discharge of the necessary duties of his calling. As a scholar his acquirements were of the highest order; he was deeply versed in Biblical knowledge—the Holy Scriptures were his habitual and favourite study. He was wont to say that the inspired volume was his garden, in which he could cull at pleasure flowers of the most varied hues and richest fragrance; and from his readings of it in the various languages of which he was master, he could discover beauties which would escape an ordinary reader. Though his writings on that subject were rather voluminous, yet nothing from his pen has been given to the public.

His constitution was never very robust, and his sedentary mode of life did nothing to fortify it. For some days be had felt indisposed; symptoms of the disease that carried him off—disease of the heart—had been observed, and on the Saturday previous to his death, he had a fit which, for the moment, created alarm. He revived however in a short time, and on Sunday, though not well, he was able to say Mass. On the following Monday he rose at bis usual time; but on returning to the house after a short walk in his garden, he fell down suddenly in his room while in the act of dressing, and shortly after expired. The awful suddenness of the stroke spread a gloom over the whole town; for no one was better known, or more highly respected.

The funeral obsequies took place on Friday the 7th September. The body having been removed to the Chapel, a Mass of Requiem and the other customary rites were performed by the Right Rev. Dr. Kyle. The coffin was then borne to the hearse, and the funeral was escorted from the Chapel by a great number of the respectable inhabitants to the spot at which the railway crosses the turnpike. It then proceeded to the old Catholic cemetery of St. Ninian’s in the Enzie. At Fochabers, it was met by several of the Catholic Clergymen and friends of the deceased, who accompanied the remains to their last resting-place.