|
[I am indebted
for the following biographical notices of the "Doctors" to the Editors
of Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, Gordon's Scots
Affairs, and
Spalding's Troubles, to
Irving's
Lives
of Scottish Writers, and
Wodrow.]
DR. JOHN FORBES
Dr. John Forbes of Corse, the well-known son of Bishop
Patrick Forbes, by his wife Lucretia, daughter of David Spens of
Wormiston in Fifeshire, was perhaps the most learned theologian whom
Scotland has produced. (B. Forbes' Funeralls.)
During the unhappy "Troubles" of the seventeenth century,
the city of Aberdeen may not inappropriately be said to have been the
Oxford of Scotland, whether we regard the attachment of the great body
of the citizens to the Royal party, or the learning and abilities of the
eminent persons who, by the provident care of Bishop Patrick Forbes,
were found, at the breaking out of the Civil War, occupying its pulpits
and academic chairs. The effect of their Episcopal teaching was not
evanescent. In later times, when an attempt was made by the Civil Power
to blot that Church from the face of Scotland,—deserted and forsaken by
her members in many parts of the country land particularly by those of
the higher classes,—she found her chief stay and support, till the
pressure of penal legislation was lightened, among the humble peasantry
of Aberdeenshire.
Those famous Divines of the seventeenth century, " the
Aberdeen Doctors," who made so remarkable and powerful a stand in
argument against the Covenanters, have been celebrated by Clarendon (Hist,
of Rebell. Oxford, 1826,
vol. i. p. 145), and Burnet (Life
of Bishop Bedell, Preface),
and the excellence of their characters, and the eminence of their
abilities and erudition admitted by writers of all parties (Funeralls of
Bishop Forbes, p. 6).
The following account of the arrival of Covenanting
Commissioners in Aberdeen in 1638, and of their reception there, is
contained in the History
of Scots Affairs from M.DC.XXXVII. to M.DC.XLI., by
James Gordon, Parson of Rothie-may, published by the Spalding Club, and
edited with great care and ability. Its author has been thus described:
" Though a firm loyalist, and perhaps favourable to a moderate
Episcopacy, he was hostile to the Liturgy and the Book of Canons, as
well on account of their matter, as on account of the way in which they
were introduced" (Preface). The work is a valuable contribution to the
historical literature of Scotland :—
"I must now leave the Commissioner (Marquess of Hamilton)
upon his journey towards Greenwitch, wher the King was at that tyme, and
for a whyle remove the stage to the northe of Scottland, wher the most
considerable opposition for learning and armes that the Covenant was
lycke to meete with, stood as yet unbrocken. For how soone
Hamiltoune was gone for England, with Covenanters, who
knew how much it concerned them to cleare the coast in thes places by
appoyntment from the Tables, sent towards Aberdeen a select number for
to invite such of the ministry and gentrye in to the Covenant, who
either by Huntlyes authority or example, or by the Doctors of
Aber-deenes means wer withheeld. Thes of greatest note who went about
that expedition, wer James Grahame, Earle of Montrosse, and Arthur
Erskin of Scottish Craig, brother to the Earle of Marre ; Lord Couper;
Alexander, Master of Forbesse ; Sir Robert Graham, Morfey ; Sir Thomas
Burnett, Leyes. Of the ministry, wer sent Mr. Alexander Henderson,
minister (then) at Lewchars in Fife ; Mr. David Dickson, minister at
Irving, in the west ; and Mr. Andrew Cant, minister at Pettsligo, in
Buchan, in the shyre of Aberdeene ; Mr. James Guthry, afterwards
minister at Strivling: Who came (with others good-willers to the worke)
to Aberdeen upon Frydaye, July twentieth (1638), in the afternoon. But
no sooner wer they alighted from their horses but the doctors, and
divinitye professors, and ministers of Aberdeen, (who befor had lowde
advertishments of ther progresse), did presently send unto the ministers
some Queries concerning the Covenant, professing withall that if they
could satisfee their doubtes, they would not refoose to joyne in
Covenant with them, and protested that they wishd the floorishing of
relligion as much as anye, and that the reason whye they had sent them
that paper was that it might be knowne to ther bretherne that, if
hithertoo they had not founde themselves inclynde to enter in Covenant
with them, they and all men might know that it was not without weightye
causes, which concerned their consciences in all, which they both
desyred and wer willing to be resolved. They who sent them the
challendge wer, Dr. Johne Forbesse of Corse, doctor and professor of
divinitye in Aberdeen ; Dr. Alexander Scrogye, minister at Old Aberdeen
; Dr. William Leslye, principall of the King's Colledge of Old Aberdeene,
and professor of divinitye; Dr. Robert Barron, minister at Aberdeene and
professour of divinitye in the Marischall College of New Aberdeene ; Dr.
James Sibbald, minister at New Aberdeene ; Dr. Alexander Rosse, minister
at New Aberdeene. True it is, that Dr. William Guild, minister at
Aberdeen, did lyckewayes sub-scrybe the Queeres with the rest; but he
fell off and subscrybed the Covenant, alone of all the rest, befor ever
the disput came the lenth of a replye ; therefor he is not to be added
upon anye just accompt. Ther is no questione but the three Covenanter
ministers were ill matched for ther abilityes with the maist pairt of
thes Aberdeene doctors, and it was impar
congressus A chilli ; yet
did they not declyne the challendge, and ther for returned unto them ane
ansuer in wrytte to-morrow after ther arryvall, Saturdaye, July
twenty-first. Nor needed the ansuer they sent to the doctors any long
tyme to consult upon it, for it was but a kynde of declinator of the
dispute and a smoothing of matters, and something worse then silence.
Nor wer they come to Aberdeen with ane intention to dispute it with ther
pennes ; the bussnesse was to trye whom they could fetche to ther partye
by allurments and pairtly by that terrible argument ab
incommodo, which
moves many to swallow downe thinges contrare to knowledge and
conscience. Yet ther rethoricke drew off non but Dr. Guild, a man of
little learning in comparison of most of the rest, and some others who
wer inclynd ther waye befor ther comming. Or, if they gott ane acessione
of other proselittes, they were some poor mechanickes or of the
faeminine gender ; yet, all putt together, not able for to macke
anything lycke a pairtye ther."—Vol. i. pp. 82, 83.
Among these learned divines the name of Dr. John Forbes
of Corse has ever been conspicuous. Dr. George Garden, in the Dedication
to Queen Anne of the folio edition of Dr. Forbes' works, published by
the Wetsteins at Amsterdam in 1702-3, informs us that he stood at the
head of the Doctors. The head, however, in this literary conflict has
been claimed for various of the other combatants on the same side. Dr.
Baron has been placed by the indefatigable Chalmers " at their head " (Caledonia, vol.
i. p. 884), thus confirming the words of Middleton (Appendix to
Archbishop Spottiswoode's History, p.
29), that Dr. Baron " bare the greatest share of that famous debate,
anno 1638, between the Doctours of Aberdene and the Covenanters." It is
to be remarked, however, that in Mr. Maidment's Catalogues
of Scottish Writers (Edinburgh,
1833, p. 131), we find a statement in a letter from Bishop Sage to
Bishop Gillan in these terms: " The demands, replys, and duplys of the
Doctors of Aberdeen, as I was informed when there, though subscribed by
six, were all formed and digested by Dr. Seely (a provincialism for
Lesley), Principal of the Old Town College." The fair inference from all
this would seem to be, that these were the three leading members of the
learned confraternity, to either of whom it is impossible to assign the
first place.
Dr„ John Forbes oJ Corse was born on the and of May 1503,
and by the death of an older brother in 1625, became the heir of the
family. After leaving school, he studied in King's College, Aberdeen,
and subsequently at Heidelberg and other foreign seminaries. He returned
to Scotland in 1619 an accomplished scholar and theologian, and
remarkable for his sincere and fervent piety. The same year he was, with
universal approbation, appointed Professor of Divinity in King's
College, Aberdeen, the duties of which he discharged with great
applause. He took part in the discussions which followed the adoption
into the Church of the Five Articles of Perth, and published in defence
of these regulations his Iremcam, addressed
to " the lovers of peace and truth in the Church oi Scotland." In the
discomfiture of the Royal party after the famous Glasgow Assembly oi
163S, when the Bishops were " excommunicated " and " deposed," he of
course shared (Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, p.
9).
The Covenanters were anxious to join to their party a man
of Forbes' character and erudition. The proceedings set on foot, for the
purpose of depriving him of his chair, were not summary, but failing at
last to satisfy the dominant party, he was ejected. " He had purchased
two houses," says Dr. Irving, a Presbyterian writer, " adjoining to the
College, and had assigned one of them to the Professor of Divinity, and
the other to the Cantor, a person on the foundation. In the deed of
conveyance he neglected to reserve to himself a liferent oi the
Professor's house ; nor can it be mentioned without regret and
indignation, that he was obliged to vacate it for his successor in
office"(Lizes
of Scottish Writers, Edin.,
Svo, 1839, vol. ii. p. 50).
Still refusing to subscribe the Covenant, he was forced
into exile. He passed a few years in Holland, and was allowed to return
to Scotland in 1646. He died in 164S at his country house of Corse, and
was buried in the churchyard of Leochel, having been some time before
his death refused permission by the Presbytery of Aberdeen to have his
bones laid beside those of his father and wife in the Cathedral Church.
No monument marks his place of sepulture. " His Diary, or, as he himself
entitles it, ' Spiritual Exercises/ in his own handwriting, is still
preserved at Fin try House, the residence of Sir John Forbes of
Craigievax, who now represents the family of Corse. It extends from the
3rd of February 1624 to the close of 1647, and contains many interesting
particulars of private history, outlines of sermons, expositions of
passages of Scripture, meditations, and prayers, all characteristic of
the sound learning and habitual piety of its author. It was included in
Dr. Garden's edition of his works but in a Latin cress, which much
impairs, in many cases, its highly impressive phraseology " (JYfir Statistical
Account oj Scotland, Lc-ochd, and Cushnie, p.
111S). By his wife Soete Roosboom (Sweet Rosetree), a native of Holland,
he had nine children. He was survived by only one of them, a son, who,
in the words of Dr. Garden in his copious life of Forbes, prefixed to
the edition of his Works above mentioned, was " prcziiorum
ha:ii rero erudi-iionis et virktium herns," the
heir of his father's property, but not of his learning and virtues (Vita
R. T\ J
oh. Forocsii d Corse, §
ex.). He was named George, and married a daughter of Kennedy of Kermuck,
an ancient family (now extinct), in which the office of Constable of
Aberdeen vras hereditary.
This title of Constable of Aberdeen was retained by them
till the end of the sixteenth century. George Forbes and his wife had
issue. (Lumsden's Genealogy
of the Family of Forbes, with
continuations,Inverness, 8vo, 1819, p. 22.)
The principal works of Forbes are : Theologies
Moralis Libri decern in quibus Preecepta Decologi exponuntur, et varies
circa Dei legem et specialia ejusdem Prescepta Controversies
dissolvuntur, et casus conscienticz explicantur ;
his Irenicum already
mentioned ; Liber
de Cura et residentia Pastorali; Instructions Historico-Theologicce,characterised
by Bishop Burnet as " a work which, if he had finished it, and had been
suffered to enjoy the privacies of his retirement and study to give us
the second volume, had been the greatest treasure of theological
learning that perhaps the world has yet seen " (The
Life of William Bedell, D.D., Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland, London,
1685, 8vo, Preface E). He also wrote a work entitled A
Peaceable Warning to the Subjects in Scotland : Given in the Yeare of
God 1638, Aberdene,
Imprinted by Edw. Raban, the Yeare above written.
DR. ROBERT BARON
Robert Baron was a younger son of the family of Kinnaird
in Fifeshire (Vita
R. V. Joh. Forbesii a Corse, §
xlii., prefixed to the Amsterdam folio edition of Forbes' Works, 1702-3
; Sibbald's Hist,
of Fife and Kinross, London,
8vo, 1803, p. 427, App.), and a brother of Dr John Baron,Principal
of St.Salvador's College, St. Andrews, who did not show the same
perseverance and consistency in resisting the Covenant all along
manifested by his brother (Gordon's Hist,
of Scots Affairs, published
by the Spalding Club, Aberdeen, MDCCCXLI. v. ii. p. 5 ; Baillie's Letters
and Journals, Edin.
MDCCCXLI. v. ii. p. 98). The learned Professor of Divinity at Aberdeen
was educated at St. Andrews, " where, as we learn from an anecdote
preserved by Clementius, his early proficiency in learning attracted the
notice of King James vi. : De ipso Authore ejusque vita et excessu plura
fortasse alias trademus, si necessaria subsidia suppeditentur. Lubet
interim hie attexere, quod a B.M. Parente meo notatum comperio, dum in
An-dreapolitana Academia studiorum causa versaretur. Narrat ergo in
Pugillaribus suis, nostrum hunc Baronium imberbem
adhuc et admodum juvenem, Anno CI3Iq CXVII
coram Rege Jacobo, et
frequentissimo Auditorum ccetu, summa ingenii ac judicii dexteritate
Disputationem sustinuisse de materia miscelli generis, maxime Politica.
Regem inter haec vultu in Baronium defixo,
singularem attentionem atque admirationem prae se tulisse. Tandem in
verba erupisse, Baronium interrogasse
ut sibi vellet exhibere demonstrationem certae cujasdam Theseos, (quae
fuerit, non possum scire); qua ab Adolescente accepta, palam et ilium et
illam laudavit, pluraque in eandem rem adjecit, omnia Latino sermone ;
admirantibus cunctis, turn singularem Maximi Regis affectum et
benevolentiam, turn ipsius Adolescentis miram jam ilia aetate
sagacitatem ac promptitudinem " (Note by editors of Gordon's Scots
Affairs, v.
iii. p. 236). " After having for a short time professed Philosophy at
St. Andrews, on the advancement of Patrick Forbes of Corse to the See of
Aberdeen in i6i8,Baronsucceeded him in the cure of the parish of Keith,
in the district of StrathjRa, in Banffshire, where he appears to have
married, as his lady is described in a passage in Gordon's Scots
Affairs, as
having been " borne " in Strathisla. In 1624 he was appointed one of the
clergy of the city of Aberdeen, and was nominated the first Professor of
Theology in Marischal College, on the institution of that chair in 1625
" (Vita
R. V. Joh. Forbesii a Corse, §
xlii.; Kennedy's Annals
of Aberdeen, v.
ii. p. 119).
Having taken a very prominent part in the controversy
against the leaders of the Covenant, as already mentioned, he only
escaped formal expulsion from his chair, if not danger to his life, by
voluntary exile. He fled to Berwick, and died there in the month of
August 1639 (Spalding's History
of the Troubles in Scotland, Bannatyne
Club edition, Edin. MDCCCXXVIII. vol. i. pp. 105, 106, 107). Baron some
time before his death had been elected to fill the See of Orkney, but
was never consecrated (Keith'sCatalogue
of Scottish Bishops, Bishop
Russel's edition, Edin. 1824, p. 227). His decease is thus with
commendable feeling alluded to by the restless and conceited but acute
and energetic Principal Baillie : "My heart was only sore for good Dr.
Barron; after he had been in London printing a treatise for the King's
authoritie in Church affairs, I suspect too much to his country's
prejudice, he returned heavilie diseased of his gravell; he lay not long
at Berwick till he died. Some convulsions he had, wherein the violent
opening of his mouth, with his own hand or teeth, his tongue was
somewhat hurt; of this symtome very caseable, more din was made by our
people than I could have wished of so meeke and learned a person " (Letters
and Journals, Edin.
MDCCCXLI. vol. i. p. 221).
Baron is described by Bishop Sydserf in the preface to
the " Considerationes
Modestce et Pacificce " of
William Forbes, first Bishop of Edinburgh (sub
fine), as "
vir in omni Scholastica Theologia, et omni literatura versatissimus,"
and as he died before the rancour of political and religious animosity
rose to its height, writers of all parties have united in praise of his
virtues and learning. A number of these testimonies are collected in a
copious biographical note by the editors of Gordon's Scots
Affairs, vol.
iii. p. 235, where a list of his writings, both printed and in
manuscript, will be found (Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, p.
28).
Arthur Johnston, the celebrated Latin poet, addressed
various of his pieces to him, and in the following well-turned epigram
has celebrated his praises and those of William Forbes, Bishop of
Edinburgh: " De Gulielmo Forbesio et Roberto Baronio, Theologis
Abredonensibus " :—
" Nil quod Forbesio, Christi dum pascit ovile Nil quod
Baronio comparet, orbis habet. Eloquio sunt ambo pares ; discrimen in
uno est, Quo lubet, hie mentes pellicit, ille rapit."
(Eppigrammata Aberdonice, 1632,
p. 14.)
The same poet has two epigrams on Baron's discussion with
George Turnbull, a learned Jesuit. We subjoin the latter of the two : "
De DiatribaRoberti Baronii D. Theologi ad versus Trumbullium :—
" En sacra Baronius movet et Trumbullius arma, Pene sub
Icariis natus uterque rotis, Ambo Sacerdotes, divinae Palladis ambo
Artibus et calami dexteritate pares, Hoc discrimen habes
: magno molimine causam, Hie agit Ausonii Prtesulis, ille Dei."
(Ibid. p.
13.)
The following notices relating^) Dr. Baron, and very
characteristic of the excited state of religious feeling in Scotland
after the well-known Glasgow Assembly of 1638, in which the Bishops were
" excommunicated," are interesting:—
Baillie writes to Spang in September 1640: " Our
Assemblie at Aberdeen was kept with great peace. We found great
averseness in the hearts of manie from our course albeit little in
countenance . . . Poor Baroun, otherways ane ornament of our Nation, we
found has been much in
mnltis the
Canterburian way ; great knavery and intercourse with his Grace
(Archbishop Laud) we found among them, and yet all was hid from us that
they could" (Letters
and Journals, Edin.
MDCCCXLI. v. i. p. 248).
The Parson of Rothiemay tells us when narrating the
proceedings of the same Assembly at Aberdeen : "Dr. Robert Barron was
deade the yeare befor, yet somewhat must be done concerning him. They
thought him not orthodoxe in some of his tenents ; therfor, such of his
papers as wer unprinted they must see them, and they must be censurd and
purgd. His widdow had reteered to the Strayla, wher she was borne ;
therfor order was sent to (General) Monroe with all expeditione, for to
searche the place wher she stayd, and send her-selfe, and such papers of
her husbands as she had besyde her (if ther should be any founde), to
Aberdeen under a sure gward. This was readily obeyd by Monroe, who made
the gentlwoman prisoner at the Assemblyes instance, and sent her, and
all such papers as could be founde besyde her, under a safe convoy to
Aberdeen ; whither she was no sooner come but she must delyver the key
of her husband's librarye, that it might be searched jtfor .manuscripts
and letters. Some letters wer founde wryttne by the Bishopp of Rosse,
concerning the printing of the Booke of Canons, and a timber piece of tailly
du pierre, whereupon
was cut the Kings armes, to be printed into the frontispeece of that
booke. Thes letters wer publickly reade in that Assemblye, as if they
had imported something very extraordinar; but ther was none present to
ansuer for them. Only the printer, Edward Raban, ane Englishman, was
calld upon ; but because they could not formally challendge him for
printing the Bishopps canons, therfor it was objected that he had manked
ane common prayer in a new editione of the psalm booke, which some
yeares befor he had printed in a large octavo. It was a forme of ane
evning prayer, whence he had tackne of the conclusione for want of
paper, it being the closure of the last sheete of the booke. Ther wer
other coppyes of that prayer readde, and they wold needs have the
printer confesse that he had throwne away all that clause out of
designe, or by warrant of some of the ministers of Aberdeen. The printer
protested solemnly that what he did was of himself, and was done for
want of paper ; and simply that if they wer offended, he craved them
humble pardone ; that he could instance that, except in that coppy, he
had never omitted to print the conclusione of that evning prayer in any
other editione of the psalmes in meeter, and should never omitte it
againe. So, after a rebooke for his rashnesse in curtailing a prayer, he
gott licence to be gone, without furder censure."—Gordon's Scots
Affairs, vol.
iii. pp. 235-239.
At the" Restoration, the merits of Baron were not
forgotten : two hundred pounds were presented by Parliament to his "
relict and children." (Acts
of Pari, of Scotland,Edin.
folio. MDCCCXXX., vol. vii. App. p. 78.—E.)
The following is as complete a list of Dr. Baron's
writings as can be furnished :—
1. Philosophise Theologise Ancillans, hoc est, Pia et
sobria explicatio Qusestionum Philosophicarum in
Disputationibus Theologicis subinde occur-rentium. Avctore Roberto
Baronio, Philosophise Prof essore, in illustri CollegioS.Salvatoris.
Andreapoli, Excudit Eduardus Rabanus, Uni-versitatis Typographus, 1621.
Cum Privilegio. 8vo. Oxoniae, 1641. 8vo. Amstelodami, 1649. i2mo. " Et,"
says Antonius Clementius, " in Belgio ssepius, in 12."—The first part of
the work is dedicated to the Archbishop of St. Andrews ; the second to
Alexander Gladstane, Archdeacon of St. Andrews ; and the third to Sir
John Scot of Scotstarvet. Prefixed to the volume are two commendatory
poems; the one addressed: " Dr. R. Baronio, quondam discipulo suo," and
subscribed, " H. Danskinus, amceniorum literarum professor Andreap ; "
the other signed " Iacobus Gle^ius, humaniorum literarum professor
Taoduni. ' Henry Danskin is one of the Contributors to the Delitiae
Poetarum Scotorum.
2. Disputatio de Authoritate S. Scripturse, seu de
Formali Objecto Fidei. Abredoniae, 1627, 4to. This
treatise, says Dr. Garden, " ediderat Baronius cum S.S.Theologiae Doctor
renunciatus est." Vita
Johannis Forbesii, §
xliii. It was assailed by George Turnbull, a learned member of the
Society of Jesus, and professor of theology at Pont-a-Mousson, in a work
published at Rheims, in 1628, with the title of De
Imaginario Circulo Pontificio, contra Baronium.
3. Ad Georgii Turnbulli Tetragonismum Pseudo-
graphum Apodixis Catholica, sive Apologia pro
Disputatione de Formali Objecto Fidei. Abredonias, 1631, 8vo. This work
is dedicated to Bishop Patrick Forbes, and commendatory verses by Dr.
Arthur Johnstone and Dr. William Johnstone are prefixed to it. Turnbull
published in reply, Sententia
Juris in Calumni-atorrem contra Baronium. Reims,
1632. " How much," says Sir Thomas Urquhart, " the Protestant faith
oweth to Doctor Robert Baron for his learned treatises (against
Turn-bull the Jesuite), de
objecto formali fidei, I
leave to be judged by those that have perused them." Tracts, p.
122. Arthur Johnstone has two copies of verses, " De diatriba Roberti
Baronii D. Theologi adversus Trumbullium." Art. Jonstoni, Poemata, p.
376.
4. Disputatio Theologica, De vero discrimine peccati
mortalis et venialis deque impossibilitate implendi legem
Dei ob quotidianam peccatorum venialium incursionem. Cui Annexa est
Appendix de possibilitate prsestandi legem con-sideratam secundum 67reuceiav Evangelicam.
Authore Roberto Baronio, Ecclesiaste Abre-donensi, S.S. Theologia
Doctore, et ejusdem in Academia Marescallana Professore. Abredonise,
Excudebat Edwardus Rabanus, 1633, 8vo. Amstelodami, 1649, i2mo. This
treatise is dedicated by the author to Sir Paul Menzies of 16 ^•nmundie,
the Provost, and to the otnen magistrates and the Town Council of
Aberdeen. It was printed at their charge ; the expense, it appears,
amounting to nearly one hundred and eleven pounds Scots, of which
twenty-one pounds were paid for the paper, " sevyn rym coft from Robert
Cruickshank," Aberdeen
Council Register, vol.
lii. p. 115, and the City Treasurer's Accounts for 1633. The work called
forth an answer from William Chalmers or Camerarius, a member of the
Society of Jesus.
5. A sermon, Preached at the Funerall of the R.R.
Father in God, Patricke Forbes, Late Lord Bishop of
Aberdene, in the Cathedrall Church of that Dioces, the 9 of Aprill 1635,
by Robert Baron, Doctor and Professor of Divinitie, and one of the
ministers of God's Word in the Burgh of Aberdene. This is printed in
Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, pp.
1-58.
6. Rob. Baronii, Tbeologi ac Philosophi celeberrimi,
Metaphysica Generalis. Accedunt nunc primum quae
supererant ex Parte Speciali. Omnia ad UsumTheologiasaccommodata.
OpusPostumum Ex museo Antonii Clementii Zirizaei. Londini, Ex Officina
J. Redmayne, n. d., i2mo. The preface is dated from Ziriczee in Zealand,
the fifteenth of February, 1657, and the work was doubtless published in
that year. Dr. Irving refers to an edition in 8vo. published in Ley den
also in 1657. And a third, in i2mo., appeared at London in the following
year, bearing this imprint : Londini, Ez Officina R. Danielis et
vaeneunt apud Th. Robinson et Ri Davis Bibliopolas Oxonienses. 1658. Dr.
Watt in his Bibliotheca
Britannica, enumerates
a fourth edition, at Cambridge, in 1685. 8vo. There is preserved in a
volume of tracts, in the library of The Marischall College (N. 5, 10) a
fragment consisting of sixteen pages in small quarto, evidently printed
by Edward Raban, and, so far as can be determined from internal
evidence, written by Dr. Baron. It is entitled—
7. An Epitaph or Consolatorie Epistle, upon the
death of the sayd young man ; Written to his mother, by
M. R. B., Preacher of the Evangel.
The works which Baron left behind him in manuscript seem
to have been numerous. The following
are enumerated by Dr. Garden :—
8. Disputationes Theologicas de Triplici Hominis
Statu. This is preserved in the library of The King's
College, and extends to two hundred and twelve pages.
9. Isagoge ad saniorem doctrinam de Praedestina-
tione et de Articulis annexis.
10. Tractatus de Antecedaneis seu Dispositionibus
praeviis ad Justificationem, deque vero dis-crimine Vocationis et
Sanctificationis.
11. Disputationes quaedem Theologicae: la. De regula
Fidei principali. (This is preserved in the library of The King's
College.) II a. De visibili et ordinario Controversiarum Iudice. Ill a.
De monarchia, Suprematu, et Iudiciaria Infallibiltate Pontificis Romani.
IV a. De Ecclesia Christi in terris militante. The contents of this last
tract, which the author left unfinished, are more particularly indicated
by Garden, Vita
Johannis Forbesii, §
xliii.
12. Septenarius Sacer de Principiis et Causis Fidei
Catholicas. This is preserved in the library of
The King's College, and eHends to one hundred and
twenty-six pages.
Besides these, Charteris (who calls him " very learned in
the scholastick theology, and deservedly judged to be inferior to none
of the Protestants in that kind of learning ") attributes to Baron other
two works : " De Scientia Media " and " Disputatio de Universalitate
Mortis Christi, contra Rheter-fortem." Maidment's Catalogues
of Scottish Writers, p.
23. But these are, perhaps, merely parts of some of the treatises
enumerated by Garden. The latter work was directed against the
well-known Samuel Rutherford, who, in his letters from Aberdeen, makes
several allusions to his controversy with Baron : " Dr. Barron hath
often disputed with me, especially about Arminian controversies, and for
the Ceremonies : three yokings laid him by ; and I have not been
troubled with him since : now he hath appointed a dispute before
witnesses. . . . I am openly preached against in the pulpits, in my
hearing, and tempted with Disputations by the Doctors, (especially by
Dr. Baron in ceremoniall and arminian controversies, for all are corrupt
here)." Mr.
Rutherford's Letters. The
Third Edition. Now divided in three Parts, pp. 48, 180, 221. Printed in
the year 1675. 8vo.
13. Consilium Philosophicum. This occurs in an imperfect
list of Baron's works prefixed to the edition of his Metaphysica
Gcneralis, which
appeared in London in 1658. The same catalogue mentions, among the
printed works of Baron, " Metaphysica Generalis, cum Re-liquiis Partis
Specialis,in 8,"alluding apparently to some less perfect edition of the Mctaphysica
Generalis than
that to which the list was prefixed. Arthur Johnstone has addressed more
than one of his poems to Dr. Baron : " Ad D. Robertum Baronium Theologum
de obitu filioli" (A. Jonstoni, Poemata, p.
182), and " Ad Robertum Baronium " (Id. p. 308).
DR. SIBBALD
Dr. Sibbald was a son of the respectable family of
Sibbald of Kier in the County of Kincardine. He was educated at
Marischal College, Aberdeen, in which University he was nominated a
Regent in 1619. (Kennedy's Annals
of Aberdeen, vol.
ii. p. 118.) He was appointed one of the Clergy of the City in 1625, and
faithfully and zealously discharged the duties of his cure till he was
obliged to fly from Scotland in 1638. He returned next year, and we are
told by Spalding " he was wiell-come, entered to his ministrie in
Aberdein, and served ther for a whyle." He was ejected by the
Presbyterian Assembly held at Aberdeen in 1640. Principal Baillie writes
: " Dr. Sibbald in manie points of doctrine was found verie corrupt ;
for the which we deposit him, and ordained him without quick
satisfaction to be processed. This man was there of great fame ; it was
laid on poor me to be all their examiner, and moderator to their
process." (Letters
and Journals, Bannatyne
Club Edition, Edinburgh, MDCCCXLII., vol. i. p. 248.)
The Parson of Rothiemay has left us the following account
of Dr. Sibbald's expulsion and character: " To Dr. James Sibbald it was
objected befor the
Assembly that he had preached poynts of Armin-ianisme
publickly in the pulpitt of New Aberdeen ; that speacking to one who was
doing pennance upon the stoole of repentaunce, he had saide that if he
had improved the grace givne him from God, he needed not to have fallne
in that sinne, etc. Some of his private conferences to this purpose was
objected. His accuser was Mr. Samwell Ruther-foord who, in former tymes,
had been his hearer at such tymes as Mr. Samwell was confyned in
Aberdeene ; finally that he refoosed to subscrybe the Covenant. His
maine fault was, that he had opposed it, having had a hand in the
Aberdeens querees ; that ruind him, though least objected. He spoke for
himselfe, and deneyed Mr. Samwell's accusation ; but it was bootlesse,
for, by vote of the Assembly, he was deposed, and he and Dr. Scroggye
(if my memory faile not) ordered to be processed, if they subscrybe not
the Covenant ; which seems to me to have been the cause why not long
after he fledd to Ireland, and ther was placed minister at Dublin till
his deathe. As for his Arminianisme objected to him, it was strainge
they should accuse him for preaching that way, befor theye had condemned
it in Glasgow Assembly, 1638 ; for after that, they could lay nothing of
it to his charge ; nor did I ever heare him tainted with it, except so
farr as Mr. Samwell Rutherfoord objected it ther, yet but—testis
singularis. It
will not be affirmed by his very enemyes, but that Dr. James Sibbald was
ane eloquent and painefull preacher, a man godly, and grave, and modest,
not tainted with any vice unbeseeming a minister, to whom nothing could
in reason be objected, if you call not his ante-covenanting a cryme."
(Gordon's Hist,
of Scots Affairs, 1637-1641,
published by the Bannatyne Club, Aberdeen, MDCCCXLI., vol. iii. pp.
228-230.)
Sibbald fell a victim to the plague' raging in Dublin
during his assiduous and unremitting attention to the infected. His name
appears among those of the Clergy oi Dublin who subscribed a declaration
in favour of the Liturgy in 1647. (Bishop Mant's History
of the Church in Ireland, vol.
i. p. 591.)
He left a volume of posthumous sermons, published at
Aberdeen in 1658. At the Restoration, two hundred pounds were voted by
Parliament to the relict and children of Dr. Sibbald. (Acts
of the Parliament of Scotland, folio,
Edin. MDCCCXX., vol. vii. App. p. 78.) (Vita
R. V. Joh. Forbesi a Corse, §
47, by Dr. Garden, prefixed to the Amsterdam edition of 1702-3, of Dr.
Forbes, whole works ; Note by editors to Gordon's Scots
Affairs, ad loc. cit.) He
was one of the contributors to Bishop Patrick Forbes' Funeralls.
DR. SCROGGIE
Dr. Scroggie owed his preferment in the Cathedral of
Aberdeen to the discriminating favour of Bishop Patrick Forbes, who
advanced him in 1621, from the charge of the parochial cure of Drumoak
in the neighbourhood. As rector of this parish, and a member of the
Chapter of Aberdeen, he will be found subscribing some of the official
documents connected with the induction of Bishop Forbes to the See of
Aberdeen in 1618. (Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, p.
79.) The Parson of Rothiemay gives us the following account of his
deposition by the Committee of the Covenanting Assembly sitting at
Aberdeen in 1640: " Dr. Alexander Scroggye his parishioners wer examined
concerning his lyfe and his calling. It was objected unto him that he
preached long upon one texte, that he was cold in his doctrine, and
edifyd not his parishioners ; finally, that he refoosed to subscrybe the
Covenant, evne then, though accused; and with little ceremony he was
sentenced and deposed from his ministrye by the voice of the Assemblye,
August fyrst. He could have gott qwarter for all his other faultes ; but
his joyning in the queeres was unpardonable in ther eyes, who herein wer
party as weall as judges to him and all the rest. I must vindicate him
from the other aspersions ; To my knowledge, he was a man sober, grave,
and painefull in his calling ; his insisting upon a text longe was never
yet made, nor could be matter of accusatione to any, if the text wer
materiall and the discourse pertinent, and not tautologicall, which his
observes ever wer; and for his cold delyvery, his age might excuse it,
it being long since observed that—
"Intererit multum, Davusne loquatur, an heros;
Maturusne senex, an adhuc florente juventa
Fervidus."
For he was then of great age, which might weall have
excused other omissions or escapes in his discipline which were
impertinently objected, and, at farrest, could have pleaded only for a
colleague to him, considering his numerouse and vast parosh, not to be
paralelled in thes places, as extending not onlye over Old Aberdeen, but
to the very portes of New Aberdeen, and a great pairt of/the countrey
neerest Aberdeene." (Gordon's S1 ots
Affairs, vol.
iii. p. 226-227.) Baillie, in his account of the same Assembly,
describes Scroggie as " ane old man, not verie corrupt, yet perverse in
the Covenant and Service Book." (Letters
and Journals, Edinburgh,
MDCCCXLI., vol. i. p. 248.)
The following remarks regarding Dr. Scroggie, and his
gradual submission to the Covenant, appear in the pages of the garrulous
contemporary narrator Spalding, who, it would seem, was in the habit of
attending divine service in the cathedral where he officiated. This may
account for his very frequent notices of Dr. Scroggie, which are further
interesting on account of the various curious circumstances
characteristic of the times to which they refer (Bishop Forbes' Funeralls, p.
80) : " Doctor Scrogie gave the communion, upon Yeull (Christmas) day
(1638), in Old Aberdein, notwithstanding the same was forbidden by the
Assemblie acts." (History
of the Troubles,Bannatyne
Club edition, Edinburgh, MDCCCXXVIIL, vol. i. p. 85.) "Upon Sunday the
9®Rith of Aprile (1639), devotion be stranger ministers throw all the
pulpits of New Aberdein, seeing their own ministers were fled and gone.
The Nobles and others filled the churches. After sermon, intimation was
made of the sentence of excommunication pronounced be Mr. Alexander
Hendersone, moderator of the Assembly, against the Archbishops of St.
Andrews and Glasgow, the Bishops of Edinburgh, Aberdein, Galloway, Ross,
Dumblain, Brechine, charging all men not to hear their preaching nor
bear them company, under paines of censure of the kirk. Mr. Patrick
Leslie minister at Skeyne (Doctor Scroggie being fled and obscure)
preached this samen Sunday in the Old toun, and made the like intimation
out of the pulpit of the same sentence" (Ibid. p.
116). "Wednesday the 19th of Aprile (1639) ane solemne fast was keeped
throw New Aberdein, but none in Old Aberdein, for Dr. Scroggie durst not
be sein. Both before and afternoon, there was preaching and prayers. Mr.
Robert Douglas minister at Kirkcaldie preached before noon. After sermon
he read out the covenant, and caused all the haill toune's people con
veined, who had not yet subscrived, to stand up before him in the kirk,
both man and woman ; and the men subscrived this covenant. Thereafter,
both man and woman was urged to swear be their uplifted hands to God,
that they did subscrive and swear this covenant willingly, freely, and
from their hearts, and not for any fear or dread that should happen.
Syne the kirk scailled and dissolved. But the Lord knows, how thir
toune's people were brought under perjurie for plaine fear, and not from
a willing mind, by tyranny and oppression of thir covenanters, who
compelled them to swear and subscrive, suppose they knew it was against
their hearts" (Ibid. pp.
116, 117). " Upon the first day of December (1639), being Sunday, Doctor
Scroggie celebrated the communion in Old Aberdein. He, in his sermon,
begane now to exhort the people to obey the ordinances of the kirk, with
much such matter. Allwayes, the people received the samen sitting
(Doctor Forbes took it after the samen manner), and no kneiling was
there, as was wont to be. The minister gave it to two or three nearest
him, then ilk ane took his own communion bread out of the bassen, and in
like manner the minister gave the cup to the two nearest him, syne ilk
ane gave the cup to his neighbour. Strange to see such alterations ! One
year giveing the communion to the people kneiling, by vertue of ane act
of parliament founded upon Perth articles ; and that self same ministers
to give the communion after another manner, sitting, at the command of
the General Assembly, unwarranted by the king " (Ibid. p.
179). " Sunday the 7th of June (1640), Doctor Scroggie preached in Old
Aberdein, and celebrat the communion ; but there was scarce 4 burds of
communicants, in respect of thir troubles " (Ibid. p.
210). " Ye heard before, how sundrie ministers were summoned be
ordinance to compear before ane committee holden at Aberdein the 7th of
July. Well, this committee was holden, wher Mr. John Forbes, parsone of
Auchterless, was simpliciter deprived ; Mr. John Ross, minister at
Brass, Mr. Richard Maitland, minister at Aberchirder, Mr. Alexander
Strachan, minister at the Chappell of Garioch, Doctor Sibbald, one of
the ministers at Aberdein, Mr. Andrew Logie, parson of Rayne, with some
others, were all suspended frae preaching till the third day of the nixt
general assembly. Doctor
Forbes of Corss, and DoctorjScrogM, both attending, yet
none of them at this time was called, except Doctor Scroggie, he was
with the rest also suspended" (Ibid. p.
224). " Doctor Scroggie is accused for not subscriveing the covenant;
besydes, for concealing of adulteries within his parish and some
fornications, abstracting of the beidmen's rents in Old Aberdein, with
some other particulars maliciously given up against him ; and whereupon
Mr. Thomas Sandilands, commissar (his extreme enemy), Mr. Thomas Lillie,
and Thomas Mercer were brought in as witnesses, after Doctor Scroggie's
answer to ilk article was first wrytten ; But shortlie upon the first
day of August, be this committee was he deposed and simpliciter
deprived, and preached no more at Old Aberdein nor elsewhere " (Ibid. p.
233). "Sunday, being Whytsunday and 13th of June, Mr. William Strachan
gave the communion in Old Aberdein, as before, the second time. Doctor
Scroggie, notwithstanding he was forbidden out of pulpit to come to the
table, as he had not subscrived the covenant, took his communion ; whilk
bred some fear to the minister, doubtfull to refuise him the communion
or to give it ; but no impediment was made to him, and so he received it
" (Ibid. pp.
326, 327). " Wednesday the 23rd of June (1641), Doctor Scroggie, ane old
reverend preached at this kirk, is now, sore against his will, compelled
to quitt his dwelling house in Old Aberdein, and yeards pleasantly
planted for the most part be himselfe ; so he removes this day his wife,
bairnes, haill familie, insight plenishing, goods and gear furth and
from the samen, and delivers the keys to Mr. William Strachan, that he
may enter, alse-weill to the bigging as to the pulpite. Himselfe
transported all to Ballogie, and took ane chamber for his comeing and
goieng in New Aberdein. Thus is this wise, famous, learned man handled
in his old age. Allwayes, it is said, the said Mr. William Strachan
payed him for his planting 400 merks before he gatt entress " (Ibid. p.
328). " To this Assembly (1641), doctor Alexander Scroggie (after he is
deposed, put frae his kirk and house, and spulzied of his goods) gives
now in ane supplication (notwithstanding of his wryteing with the rest
of the Aberdein's doctors against the covenant) offering to swear and
subscrive the samen, whilk he had refuised before, and to doe what
farder it should please the brethrein to injoine him. The Assembly heard
glaidly his supplication, and referred him to the committee of the kirk
at Edinburgh, ordaining him to go ther and give them full content, whilk
he promised to doe, and whilk he did at leisure " (Ibid. p.
333). " Doctor Scroggie came not to this Provinciall Assembly, as was
ordered befor by the committee of the kirk at Edinburgh, but stayed in
Edinburgh, and writt his excuse ; but the moderator and bretherin
accepted not thereof pleasantly. Allwayes, he wrought so, that he had
gifted to him, out of Ross, eight chalders victuall dureing his
lifetime, since his kirk was taken frae him. Mr. Alexander Innes,
minister at Rothemay,his goodsone, and deposed frae his kirk, also Mr.
Alexander Scroggie his sone deposed frae his regencie, as ye have heard
before, ilk ane of them had gotten some pension frae the king " (Ibid. p.
345). " Thuirsday 26 May (1642), the presbitrie of Abirdene changes
thair presbiter day of weiklie meiting fra Thuirsday to Tuysday. It was
first changeit fra Fryday to Thuirsday, and now fra Thuirsday to Tuysday;
sic changes now goes. Doctor Scroggie comperis befoir this presbitrie,
and produces, wnder his owne hand, his owne recantatioun."
Dr. Scroggie survived till 1659, when he died at Rathven,
in Banffshire, in the ninety-fifth year of his age (Gordon's Scots
Affairs, vol.
iii. p. 22, note). The elder of his two sons, Alexander, was a Professor
in King's College, Aberdeen (Kennedy's Annals
of Aberdeen, vol.
ii. p. 405). He was deposed from his chair, as we have already seen from
Spalding's Narrative, in 1639. The younger was named William. The same
author tells us : " Tuysday 20 September (1642), Mr. Alexander Scrogie,
younger, exercisit heir in Old Abirdene, befoir the presbitrie, veray
learnedlie, to his gryte commendatioun. He wes referrit to be minister
at Forgelyn, albeit deposit frae his regencie of the Colledge of Old
Abirdene, as ye may sie befoir. Mr. William Scrogie, his brother,
thairefter exercised lykuaies lernedlie." (Spalding's History
of the Troubles in Scotland, vol.
ii. p. 82.) Alexander appears to have been appointed first minister of
the cathedral church of Aberdeen in-1659 (Kennedy's Annals
of Aberdeen, vol.
ii. p. 352) ; and William was ultimately advanced to the See of Argyl in
1666. He died in 1675. " He was buried in the churchyard of Dumbarton,
and his executors erected a handsome monument over his grave, adorned
with his arms and an inscription " (Keith's Catalogue
of Scottish Bishops, Bishop
Russell's edition, Edin. 1824, p. 291). See note by editors of Gordon's Scots
Affairs above
referred to. This "Funerall Speach" (one of the sermons in Bishop
Forbes' Funeralls) is
the only writing of Dr. Scroggie known to exist.
dr. ross
Dr. Ross was one of the " Doctors " who propounded to the
Covenanters the celebrated queries, and was prevented by sickness from
flying with the other Royalists and Churchmen from Aberdeen in 1639. "
He was the son of James Rosse, minister at Strachan in the Mearns,
afterwards in the parish church of St. Nicholas in Aberdeen. He himself
was, in 1631, translated from the parochial cure of Insch in The Garioch,
to the chapel of St. Clement, in Futtie, near Aberdeen ; and was, in
1636, preferred to St. Nicholas' Church in Aberdeen. ' He was,' says
Spalding, ' a learned divyne, weill beloved of his flock and people
whyle he was in life, and after he was dead, heaviely regretted ' " (Hist,
of Troub., vol.
i. p. 167). He has been sometimes confounded with another divine of the
same name, Alexander Ross, chaplain in ordinary to King Charles the
First, and master of the Free School of Southampton, a voluminous
writer, who is now perhaps most generally known from the lines of
Butler—
"There was an ancient sage philosopher That had read
Alexander Ross over, And swore the world, as he cou'd prove, Was made of
fighting and of love."
Hudibras, part
i. cant. ii. v. 1-4.
(Gordon's Scots
Affairs, printed
for the Spalding Club, Aberdeen, MDCCCXLI. vol. iii. p. 209 note.) A
ludicrous instance of this mistake occurs in Dr. Sheriff's Life
of Guild.That
biographer with much solemnity thus rebukes Butler for attacking the
worthy clergyman of Aberdeen: " The attack could not possibly be more
indelicate, or more personal, I had almost said more malicious. Whatever
were the faults of Dr. Ross as a writer, he was respectable as a man ! " (Life
of Guild, p.
39 ; Book
of Bon Accord, or a Guide to the City of Aberdeen, small
8vo, Aberdeen, MDCCCXXXIX.— an admirable performance, equally remarkable
for learning, taste, and spirit). At the Restoration, Parliament
acknowledged his merits by granting the sum of one hundred and fifty
pounds to his relict and children (Acts
of Parliament of Scotland, Edin.
folio, 1820, vol. iii. App. p. 78). He also contributed a sermon to
Bishop Forbes' Funeralls.
DR. LESLIE
For the greater portion of the folk./ing Notices of the
amiable and accomplished Dr. William Leslie, Principal of King's
College, Aberdeen—I am indebted to the accurate Editors of Gordon's Scots
Affairs (vol.
iii. p. 231 note) :—
"Dr. William Leslie was a descendant of the house of
Kininvie, according to Dr. Garden, or of the family of Crichie,
according to Bishop Keith. He studied at the King's College and
University, and was in 1617 chosen one of its regents. He became its
Sub-Principal in 1623 ; and about 1630 was preferred to be its
Principal. ' Ye heard befor,' says Spalding, ' how Doctor Lesslie,
principall of the Colledge of Old Aberdein, Doctor Sibbald, minister in
Aberdein, and diverse others went to Berwick to the king. They came home
with the town's commissioners in August. This Doctor Sibbald was
wiellcome, entered to his ministrie in Aberdein, and served ther for a
whyle ; but Doctor William Lesslie being before deposed, took himself to
ane quiet chamber within the College, lived soberly in the toun upon his
own charges, beheld patiently Doctor William Guild occupy his place
thereafter, and the changes in thir difficult times. He was ane singular
learned man, who could never be moved to swear and subscrive our
Covenant, saying he would not hurt his conscience for worldly means. He
was never heard to speak immodestly against the Covenant nor procedure
of thir times, but suffered all things with great patience, attending
God's will; none more fitt for learning, to his charge in the Colledge,
and therwith godly and grave. It is said the King gave him some money at
Berwick, wherupon he lived for a short whyle ; and it is true he had no
great means to the fore (left) of his own, at this time '(Hist,
of Troub., vol.
i. p. 172). ' Therafter, doctor Lesslie rendered the haill keyes of this
colledge, librarie, and all whilk he had, to doctor Guild, wherewith he
shortly possessed himself. Doctor Lesslie was tollerat to keep ane
chamber within the colledge to himself, wherin to ly and to study ; but
bought his meat throw the Old Toun wher he pleased, with great modestie,
resolveing with patience to abyde God's good will without murmuration or
appearance of discontent, wher or in whatsoever societie he happened to
be ' (Ibid. p.
329). His deposition from the office of Principal is thus animadverted *7 upon
by the Parson of Rothkmay : ' To Doctor William Lesly was objected, that
he was lazie, and neglective in his charge, and they strove to brande
him with personall escapes of drunknesse ; and, finally, that he wold
not subscryve the Covenant, etc., for which he was deposed, as the rest
wer. I must pleade for him as for the rest, wherin I shall speacke
truthe. His lazinesse might be imputed to his reteerd monasticke way of
living, being naturally melancolian, and a man of great reading, a
painefull student, who delyted in nothing else but to sitte in his
studye, and spend dayes and nights at his booke, which kynde of lyfe is
opposite to a practicall way of living. He never marryd in his lyfe
time, but lived solitary ; and if some-tymes to refresh himself, his
freends took him from his bookes to converse with them, it ought not to
have been objected to him as drunknesse, he being knowne to have been
sober and abstemiouse above his accusers. He was a man grave and
austere, and exemplar. The Universitye was happy in havinge such a light
as he, who was eminent in all the sciences, above the most of his age.
He had studyed a full Encyclopedia ; and it may be questioned whither he
excelld most in divinity, humanity, or the languages, he being (of
course) professor of the Hebrew and Divinitye. And it was ther
unhappinesse to wante him ; for since that tyme he was never paralleled
by any Principall who succeeded him. For some years therafter he lived
private, in the house of the Marquesse of Huntlye, who was a freend to
learning and learned men, and had him in great esteeme and honour. After
Huntly was engadged in the warre, Dr. Lesly reteered to his kinnesman,
Alexander Douglasse of
Spynye, a gentleman who entertained him till his death,
which fell not out till after the Englishes were maisters of Scotland.
He dyed of a cancer, whiche physitions know proceedes from
melancoli-ouse bloode. Pittye it was that he left not mor behynde him of
his learned workes ; but the reason was, his naturall bashefullnesse,
who had so small opinion of his owne knowledge, that he could scarce
ever be gottne drawne for to speacke in publicke.' ' Hie est ille cujus
eruditio omne genus, et sacra et exotica, omnibus qui eum norunt mage
nota est, quam sibi. Hie est ille, qui si se aut nosset (quae est ejus
modestia, et de se existi-matio exilis) aut nosse vellet, singulari
ornamento nobis esse posset, ut jam plane magno est. Hie est ille
denique qui etsi omnia non sciat, neque enim hoc mortalis est, pauca
tamen ignorat' (A.
Strachani Panegyric. Inaug. in Aut. Acad., Aberd.
p. 38). Sir Thomas Urquhart writes: ' To the conversation of Dr. William
Lesly (who is one of the most profound and universal scholars now
living), his friends and acquaintance of any literature are very much
beholding, but to any books of his emission nothing at all; whereat
every one that knoweth him, wondreth exceedingly ; and truly so they may
; for though scripturiency be a fault in feeble pens, and that Socrates,
the most learned man of his time, set forth no works ; yet can none of
these two reasons excuse his not evulging somewhat to the public view,
because he is known to have an able pen, whose draughts would grace the
paper with impressions of inestimable worth ; nor is the example of
Socrates able to apologize for him, unless he had such disciples as
Plato and Aristotle, who, having reposited in their braines the
scientifick treasures of their masters' knowledge, did afterwards (in
their own works) communicate them to the utility of future generations;
yet that this Caledonian Socrates (though willing) could not of late
have been able to dispose of his talents, did proceed from the merciless
dealings of some wicked Anites, Lycons, and Melits of the Covenant; the
cruelty of whose perverse zeal will keep the effects of his vertue still
at under, till by the perswasion of some honest Lysias, the authority of
the land be pleased to reseat him into his former condition, with all
the encouragements that ought to attend so prime a man' (Tracts,
p. 123). Dr. Garden describes him as ' Vir egregie literatus, in linguis
Orientalibus versatissimus, in Latina et Graeca Poeta eximius, cujus
varia in utraque scripta adhuc exstant poemata. Eruditione politiori
insignis, cui omnes Authores Classici probe noti ac familiares erant, in
quoseruditasconscripsit notas acemendationes,quae, cum Vir eximius
iniquitate temporum varie jactatus fuerit, interciderunt. Praelectiones
habuit Theo-logicas antiquas quarum quaedam exstant' (Vita
JohannisForbesii, §1).
' The many high encomiums,' says Dr. Irving, ' bestowed on Dr. William
Lesley, must excite our deepest regret that he should have bequeathed so
small a portion of his knowledge to posterity. Although he was regarded
as a profound and universal scholar, he never courted the fame of
authorship ' (Lives
of the Scottish Poets, vol.
i. p. 136, Edin. 1814). Dr. Garden has preserved in his life of Dr. John
Forbes (li.) a learned fragment by Leslie on the writings of
Cassiodorus, ' Scriptorum Cassiodori accuratior Nomenclatura.' "
According to Bishop Keith (Catal.
of Scot.
Bish., p.
309), Dr. William Leslie^ was the brother of John Leslie, Bishop
successively of the Isles, of Raphoe, and of Clogher, father of the
excellent and learned Charles Leslie, the author of A
Short and Easy Method with the Deists, and
many other admirable works.
He printed some Latin verses in Bishop Forbes' Funeralls.
DR. GUILD
William Guild, Doctor of Divinity, was the son of Matthew
Guild, a citizen and burgess of Aberdeen, and by trade an armourer. The
elder Guild figures in the records of the city as a sturdy opponent of
the new system of things attempted to be introduced at the religious
revolution in Scotland in the sixteenth century, when the general
legislature, as well as the local magistrates of the country, began to
interfere with the games and amusements of the people, for the purpose
of suppressing those demonstrations of mirth and festivity which
formerly had not only been allowed, but encouraged and regulated by
those in authority.
Although Guild was a party to the celebrated queries
propounded by the " Aberdeen Doctors " to the Commissioners of the
Covenant on their arrival in Aberdeen in July 1638, he was one of the
first of the inhabitants of any note who subscribed that famous " Band."
This, however, he did not do in unqualified terms. The following
conditions were insisted upon by him and by the Rev. Robert Reid, then
minister of Banchory-Ternan: " That we acknowledge not, nor yet condemn,
the Articles ofjPerth to be unlawfull or heads of Popery ; but only
promise (for the peace of the Church, and other reasons) to forbear the
practice thereof, for a time. 2do, That we condemn no Episcopall
Government, secludeing the personall abuse thereof. 3tio, That we still
retaine, and shall retaine, all loyall and dewtifull subjection and
obedience unto our dread Soveraigne the King's Majestie. And, that in
this sense, and no otherwayes, we have put our hands to the aforesaid
Covenant" (Spalding's Hist,
of Troubles, Bannatyne
Club edition, vol. i. p. 58). Although, from the terms of his restricted
signature to the Covenant, it might be supposed that he was at this
period a supporter of Episcopacy, he was a member of the Glasgow
Assembly in 1638, which subverted the Scottish Hierarchy, and at a
subsequent period he subscribed the Covenant without restriction or
limitation. On the expulsion by the Covenanters of Dr. William Leslie,
the amiable and learned Principal of King's College, the claims of Guild
were preferred over those of his competitor, the well-known Robert
Baillie. From this situation he was deposed, it is said, through the
jealousy and dislike of the fervent and enthusiastic Mr. Andrew Cant
(Gordon's Scots
Affairs, vol.
i. p. 88 ; vol. iii. p. 286), but it would appear that he was not
actually displaced till the visitation of Cromwell's military
Commissioners in 1651. Dr. Guild died at Aberdeen in 1657. By his last
will he founded three bursaries in the Marischal College, and bestowed
various other charitable bequests.
Guild wrote various works, principally theological, but
none of any great merit. A long list of these will be found in Mr.
Maidment's Catalogues
of Scottish Writers,
Edin. 8vo, 1833, p. 36. As may be supposed, he was no favourite with his
contemporary townsman Spalding. This decided, but in general fair and
candid Churchman, for once seems to have allowed his feelings to get the
better of his calmer reason. He has certainly pressed too hard upon
Guild (Bishop Forbes' Funeralls,
pp. 93, 95, 96).
DR. WILLIAM FORBES
Dr. William Forbes was born at Aberdeen in 1585. His
father was of the family of Corsindae, and his mother was sister of an
eminent physician, Dr. James Cargill. He was educated in the Marischal
College, and resided for some time at several of the continental
universities, and at Oxford. He was successively minister at Alford, at
Monymusk, and at Aberdeen ; and, in 1618, was appointed Principal of the
Marischal College. He was subsequently, for some time, one of the
ministers of Edinburgh ; but his zeal for Episcopacy and liturgical
observances rendered him unpopular among the inhabitants of the capital.
He therefore gladly accepted an invitation to resume his former office
as one of the ministers of Aberdeen, where his principles were more in
accordance with those of his flock. When Charles 1. visited Edinburgh,
in 1633, Dr. Forbes preached before him. The King was so pleased that he
declared the preacher to be worthy having a bishopric created for him.
This circumstance, no doubt, along with his acknowledged ability and
uprightness, led to his nomination as first Bishop of Edinburgh—on the
creation of that see. He was consecrated in February 1634, hut did not
long survive his promotion. He died on the nth April following, and was
interred in the cathedral of St. Giles, where a monument was erected to
his memory, with an inscription, a copy of which will be found in
Maitland's History
of Edinburgh, p.
184. A brief memoir of Dr. Forbes was prefixed to his Considerationes,
Modestae et Pacificae;
and a more extended biography of him may be found in Dr. Irving's Lives
of Scottish Writers, vol.
ii. pp. 1-10. An engraving from a contemporary portrait of the learned
prelate is given in Pinkerton's Iconographia
Scotica, Lond.
1797. Besides the posthumous work just mentioned,^ he wroteAnimadversions
on the Works of Cardinal Bellarmin. These,
after his death, came into the possession of Dr. Baron, who intended to
prepare them for the press ; but they disappeared during the subsequent
troubles, and have not since been discovered. Sir Thomas Urquhart, who
says that he was " so able a scholar that since the days of Scotus
Subtilis, there was never any that professed either divinity or
philosophy in Scotland, that, in either of these faculties did parallel
him," adds, that " he left manuscripts of great learning behind him,
which, as I am informed, were bought at a good rate by Doctor Laud (late
Archbishop of Canterbury) " (Sir T. Urquhart'sTracts, p.
133). Writers of almost every class have united in acknowledging the
learning and piety of Dr. William Forbes. These manuscripts were
subsequently printed and translated under the title of Consider
ationes, Modestae et Pacificae in
2 vols., with a life by Bishop Sydserf. |
