George Washington Sprott

“ During his second sojourn in France, Major taught with the most distinguished reputation, and had come to he regarded as 'the veritable chief of the scholastic philosophy' and 'the prince of Paris divines,' and this at a time when there were many men connected with the forty colleges of the university who have attained a lasting name. ”

“ During the long vacation Leighton frequently went to London, where he made the acquaintance of Cromwell's courtiers, and sometimes to the continent, where he renewed his intimacy with the Jansenists. Though taking little part in ecclesiastical affairs, he was appointed a member of the general assembly of 1653, which was dispersed by Cromwell's officers, and he gave the covenants to the students as required by standing laws of the church. During the twenty years of his ministry and principalship Bishop Burnet says that he lived in the highest reputation that any man had in his time in Scotland. ”

“ He and other Scots who returned from Ireland formed the nucleus of an extreme party, which introduced innovations previously unknown in Scotland, such as the omission of the Lord's Prayer, creed, and ‘Gloria Patri’ in public worship. These novelties were condemned by the early covenanting assemblies, but soon spread and gradually leavened the whole lump. During his ministry at Stranraer Livingstone frequently spent some months of the summer in Ulster, supplying vacant charges or officiating to the Scottish troops quartered there. ”

“ In 1653 Cromwell turned the general assembly out of doors, and in the following year he called up Gillespie and two other protesters to London to consult with them as to a new settlement of Scottish ecclesiastical affairs. The result was the appointment of a large commission of protesters, who were empowered to 'purge' the church of ministers whom they thought 'scandalous,' and to withhold the stipend from any one appointed to a parish who had not a testimonial from four men of their party. ”

“ His distinction as a student attracted the notice of Lord Kinnoull, then chancellor of the university, who as long as he lived was his constant friend and patron. He entered the divinity hall in his fifteenth year, but, losing his father soon afterwards, he was recommended by Principal Robertson of Edinburgh to Pryse Campbell, esq., M.P., one of the lords of the treasury, as tutor to his eldest son. He resided for some time in Campbell's family in London and Wales, and afterwards spent two years with his pupil in Edinburgh, where he finished his divinity course at the university. ”

“ There are some circumstances unfavourable to Logan, such as the disappearance of a volume of Bruce's manuscripts, and a few plagiarisms in his sermons, but his authorship of the poems and hymns he claimed has been ably vindicated in recent times by David Laing, John Small, and finally by the Rev. R. Small, who has presented the whole evidence, both external and internal, in such a way as to give Logan's claim genuine substance. ”

“ He was, however, ambitious, domineering, and extravagant, so that it was said no bishop in Scotland had ever lived at so high a rate. He deserves to be considered a benefactor to the university of Glasgow, as he renewed and enlarged the buildings, and added to its permanent revenues, if he left it deeply in debt. ”

“ He afterwards went to the university of Paris, where he studied theology and civil and canon law. Returning to Scotland, he became vicar of Girvan, and in 1547 succeeded a relative as abbot of Crosraguel, in the parish of Kirk Oswald, a monastery founded by Duncan, earl of Carrick, from whom the Kennedys claimed descent. In 1558 he published a work on the authority of the church, and dedicated it to his nephew, the master of Cassillis, one of the five Scottish nobles who, two years afterwards, gave their votes in parliament against the acts in favour of the Reformation. ”

“ Forbes died in 1680, aged about sixty-nine. Little is known of the manner in which he discharged his episcopal duties; but he had the reputation of being ‘an honest-hearted and holy man.’ Wodrow heard from a Caithness minister that a gentleman who had been reproved for swearing before the bishop replied that he ‘had not sworn before but after his lordship,’ and that Forbes was known as the ‘swearing’ bishop. ”

“ Forbes, though he deplored the action of the king, considered the covenant an unlawful bond, and in April 1638 he published a tract against it entitled 'A Peaceable Warning to the Subjects in Scotland.' In July following the Earl of Montrose, Henderson, and other covenanting leaders, lay and clerical, visited Aberdeen to make converts to their cause. Forbes and five other doctors of divinity put into their hands a paper containing queries concerning the covenant, and a famous discussion followed, which was conducted in writing. ”

“ In the discharge of the duties of the episcopal office he more than justified the great expectations that had been formed of him. In his own diocese he was regarded with universal respect and affection, and no Scottish bishop stood higher in general estimation. ”

“ GILLESPIE, PATRICK (1617–1675) , principal of Glasgow University, was third son of John Gillespie, minister of Kirkcaldy, by his wife Lilias, daughter of Patrick Simson, minister of Stirling [see Gillespie, George] . He was baptised 2 March 1617, was educated at St. Andrews, where he graduated in 1635, became minister of the second charge of Kirkcaldy in 1642, and of the High Church of Glasgow in 1648. From that time he took a very prominent part in public affairs, first as an extreme covenanter, and next as a friend and supporter of Cromwell. ”

“ At the request of the bishop and his clergy, whose ranks had been recruited from the north, soldiers were quartered on the frequenters of conventicles to compel their attendance at church, and there appears to be good authority for the statement that Sir James Turner, the officer in command, 'was obliged to go beyond his instructions to satisfy the bishop.' Hamilton acquired the estate of Broomhill in 1669 from his brother, who had been raised to the peerage, and died in August 1674. ”

“ Forbes, regarding the call as providential, gave his consent to the entreaties of the community, and was ordained and admitted to the pastoral charge of Keith in 1612. The moderate episcopacy, which had received the sanction of the assembly in 1610, had been opposed by the party to which he belonged, but its introduction caused no schism in the church. In the year of his ordination Forbes published a ‘Commentary on the Apocalypse,’ being the substance of lectures on that book which he had delivered at Corse. ”

“ He spent several years in France, and was often at Douay, where he had relatives among the Roman catholic clergy. He thus learned to speak French like a native, made himself master of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and familiar with all branches of theological literature. He was also greatly attracted by the piety of the Jansenists, and his intercourse with them gave a permanent colouring to his religious character. Soon after his father's liberation he returned to Scotland and was licensed by the presbytery of Edinburgh in July 1641. ”

“ Of immense industry, he became a 'storehouse of all the learning of the middle ages.' If not a man of original genius, he possessed enough force of mind and character to impress his contemporaries, and his students regarded him with the highest admiration. ”

“ Inheriting an ample fortune, he taught the divinity class without remuneration as long as Dr. Hamilton lived, often helped poor students with pecuniary aid, and gave largely to the charitable and religious enterprises of the time. He married in 1779 Marion Schaw, eldest daughter of William, sixth lord Napier, by whom he had William Francis, advocate, who took the additional name of Arundel, and succeeded to the estate of Barjarg; John, D.D., minister of Swinton, and afterwards of the Tron Church, Edinburgh ”

“ A man of competent ability and scholarship, of sound judgment, courteous manners, and great kindness of heart, he was beloved by his parishioners and students, and was held in universal respect for his catholicity of spirit. ”

“ In Holland Forbes preached frequently in the Scots and English churches, and often joined in the Dutch and French services, receiving the holy communion whenever he had opportunity. He returned to Aberdeen in July 1646, and spent the remainder of his life in seclusion at Corse. ”

“ When he arrived, finding that the preacher had left, he nailed a protest to the market cross: ‘that the cause of the reasoning ceasing was in John Willock.’ Bishop Keith, in an appendix to his ‘History of the Church and State of Scotland,’ publishes a letter of Kennedy to the Archbishop of Glasgow on the subject, and a copy of the correspondence that passed between him and Willock. ”

“ Like Duns Scotus and other of the schoolmen, Major was a liberal in politics, and taught that the people were the sole source of civil power. As a churchman he strongly maintained Gallican principles, and urged the reform of ecclesiastical abuses, but while speculating freely in the region of the undefined, he held fast to the doctrinal system of Rome, and was a stout defender of such tenets as transubstantiation and the immaculate conception. ”

“ About this time he got the synod of Glasgow, in which he had great influence among the young ministers and 'yeoman elders,' to annul the sentence of deposition passed by the general assembly, and he was sent as a correspondent to the synod of Lothian, in order to get their act acknowledged, but, much to his indignation, he was not admitted. Soon after Gillespie and other protesters went to London to seek an increase of power, but Sharp, who had been sent up by the resolutioners, was there to oppose them. Sharp was backed by the English presbyterians. ”

“ In 1616 he was in London for several months, and saw the king, who promised to revoke his sentence of exile, but the promise was not fulfilled. After a ministry of ten years at Middelburg, where he was greatly respected, he became pastor of the British church at Delft. In 1628 Charles I, influenced by Laud, began to interfere with the worship and discipline of the English and Scots churches in the Netherlands, and Forbes was ultimately removed from his charge. He died in 1634, aged about sixty-six. ”

“ The see of Aberdeen was again vacant in 1618, and Forbes was nominated by the king from regard to his qualifications and the wishes of the clergy of the diocese, who, together with all the leading churchmen of the country, pressed him to accept the office. ”

“ Blair, and other eminent literati; and in 1781 published an analysis of the lectures, entitled ‘Elements of the Philosophy of History.’ In the same year he published a volume of poems, including the ‘Ode to the Cuckoo,’ and others which he had printed along with those of Michael Bruce, and also his principal contributions to the paraphrases. This was followed in 1782 by the publication of one of his lectures, entitled ‘An Essay on the Manners and Governments of Asia,’ and in 1783 by the tragedy of ‘Runnamede,’ which was acted in the Edinburgh Theatre. ”

“ Burnet describes him as 'a good-natured man, but weak.' Wodrow says : 'His gifts were reckoned every way ordinary, but he was remarkable for his cunning and time-serving temper; ' while one of his grandsons describes him as 'mighty well seen in divinity, accurate in the fathers and church history . ”

“ Against this Gillespie and his friends protested, and as the general assembly, which met in July 1651, was likely to approve of the resolutions of the commission, they protested against its legality. For this he and two others were deposed from the ministry. They and their sympathisers disregarded the sentence, and made the first schism in the church since the Reformation. Many of the protesters, as the dissenters were called, preferred Cromwell to the king, and some of them became favourable to independency. ”

“ On his father's death in 1635 he succeeded to the estate of Corse, his elder brother having predeceased him. He contributed a Latin sermon, a 'Dissertatio de Visione Beatifica,' and Latin verses to the bishop's 'Funerals,' and probably supervised the whole collection. In February 1637 he took some part in furthering Durie's plans for uniting the reformed and Lutheran churches. Charles I's measures for remodelling the church of Scotland provoked religious strife and the signing of the national covenant by multitudes. ”

“ Barbe, but afterwards removed to Montaigu, which be calls his 'true nursing mother, never to be named without reverence.' Having taken his M. A. degree in 1498, he became one of its regents, and taught in arts and scholastic philosophy. He also held a fellowship in the college of Navarre, and lectured there. He soon became famous as a teacher, and he furnished his first work on logic in 1503. He graduated as D.D, in 1505, and though continuing to reside and teach in Montaigu, he then began to lecture on scholastic divinity at the Sorbonne. ”

“ At an early period of his ministry he was appointed by the general assembly to the discharge of important duties pertaining to the office of superintendent or visitor, and after 1597 he was one of the standing commission chosen by the church from among its more eminent clergy to confer with the king on ecclesiastical matters. ”