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SMETON, THOMAS, an eminent
clergyman of the sixteenth century, was born at the little village of Gask,
near Perth, about 1536. Nothing satisfactory seems to be known respecting
his parentage: Wodrow conjectures it to have been mean, but upon no better
ground than the fact of his having been born at an obscure place. It is
certain, however, that he enjoyed the advantages of the best instructors
that his country then afforded. He received his elementary education at the
celebrated school of Perth, then taught by Mr A. Simson, and no less
famous under some of its subsequent masters. Smeton is believed to have had,
as his schoolfellows, James Lawson and Alexander Arbuthnot, both of whom
afterwards acted a conspicuous part in the ecclesiastical transactions of
their country. The thorough knowledge of the Latin language displayed by our
author, leaves little room to doubt that he profited by the honourable
emulation, which was doubtless excited among such scholars. At the age of
seventeen, (1553,) he was incorporated a student in St Salvator’s college,
St Andrews; and here he had the satisfaction of joining Arbuthuot, who had
entered St Mary’s two years earlier. [Records of the University of St
Andrews.] Smeton is believed to have studied philosophy
under the provost of his college, Mr William Cranstoun; but how far he
prosecuted his studies, none of his biographers mention. He ultimately
became one of the regents in the college, and continued in that situation,
till the doctrines of the Reformation began to be warmly agitated in the
university. When the protestant party at length gained the ascendency,
Smeton, still zealously attached to the popish system, left his native
country, and resided for many years with his continental brethren. The
history of his life, for about twenty years, is most fortunately preserved,
as related by himself, in the Diary of Mr James Melville; a work, as we have
already mentioned, (see article James Melville,) of so interesting a
character, that we feel gratified by every opportunity of quoting from it.
Luckily the narrative, while it is perfectly distinct, is so much condensed,
as to be completely suited to our limits; and we, therefore, make no apology
for its introduction.
"At the reformation of religion, Mr
Smeton, being put from the auld college of S. Andros, past to France, whare
in Paris he thought mikle vpon the trew way of saluation; and be dealling of
diwerss of his acquentance, namlie, Mr Thomas Matteland, a young gentilman
of guid literature and knawlage in the treuthe of religion, was brought to
ken and be inclynde to the best way: whar also he was acqilentit with my
vncle, Mr Andro and Mr Gilbert Moncreiff. Yit lothe to alter his mynd wherin
he was brought vpe, and fand himself sum tyme fulhie perswadit in the mater
of his fathe and saluation. He thought he wald leaue na thing vntryed and
esseyit perteining therto; and, vnderstanding that the ordour of the
jesuists was maist lerned, halie, and exquisit in the papistrie, he resoluit
to enter in thair ordour during the yeirs of probation; at the end wharof,
giff he fand himself satteled in his auld fathe, he wald continow a jesuist;
and, giff he fand nocht amangs tham that might remoue all the douttes he was
cast into, it was bot folie to seik fordar, he wald yeild vnto that light
that God be the ernest delling of his lowing frinds and companions haid
enterit him into. And sa he enterit in the Jesuists collage at Paris, whar
he fand Mr Edmont Hay, a verie lowing frind, to whom he communicat all his
mynd. Mr Edmont, seing him worthie to be win to tham, and giffen to lerning
and light, directes him to Rome; and be the way he cam to Geneu, whar Mr
Andro Meluill and Mr Gilbert Moncreiff being for the tyme, he communicat
with tham his purpose, and cravit thair prayers. Of his purpose they could
gie na guid warand; but thair prayers they promissit hartlie. Sa making na
stey ther, he past fordwart to Rome, whar he was receavit in the Jesuist’s
collage gladlie. In the quhilk collage was a father, hauldin of best lerning
and prudence, wha was ordeanit to trauell with sic as wer deteinit in
pressone for religion, to convert tham: of him he cravit that he might
accompanie him at sic tymes when he went to deall with these presoners,
quhilk was granted to him. Be the way as they cam from the presoners to the
collage, quhilk was neir a myle, Mr Thomas wald tak the argument of the
presoners, and mentein it against the jesuist, for reasoning’s cause, and
indeid to be resoluit; and the more he ensisted, he fand the treuthe the
strangar, and the jesuist’s answers never to satisfie him. This way be
continowit about a yeir and a half in Rome, till at last he becam suspitius,
and therfor was remitted back to Paris throw all the collages of the
jesuists be the way, in all the quhilks he endeworit mair and mair to hauf
his douttes resoluit, bot fand himselff ay fordar and fordar confirmed in
the veritie. Coming to Paris again, he abaid ther a space verie lowingly
interteined be Mr Edmont; [According to Dempster, Smeton taught humanity in
the university of Paris, and afterwards in the coollege of Clermont, with
great applause. (See M’Crie’s Melvill,e 2nd edition, 350 note.]
till at last he could nocht bot discover himselff to Mr Edmont, to
whom he says he was alunikle behauldin as to anie man in the warld; for,
noctwithstanding that he turned away from thair ordour and relligion, yit he
ceased nocht to counsall him frindlie and fatherlie, and suffered him to
want na thing. And being a verie wyse man, he thinks to keipe Mr Thomas
quyet, and to kythe an aduersar against them. Perceaving, therfor, the the
young man giffen to his buik, he giffes him this counsall, to go to a quyet
welthie and pleasant part in Lorain, whair he sould haiff na thing to do,
but attend vpon his buiks; whair he sould haiff all the antient doctors, and
sie buiks as yie (he) pleisit to reid; he sould leak na necessars; thair he
sould keip him quyet, till God wrought fordar with him, vtherwayes he wald
cast himselff in grait danger. Thair was na thing that could allure Mr
Thomas mair nor this, and therfor he resolued to follow his counsall ; and,
taking iorney, went towards Lorain, whair be the way the Lord leyes his hand
vpon him, and visites him with an extream fever, casting him in vttermaist
pean and perplexitie of body and mynd. Thair he fought a maist strang and
ferfull battelle in his conscience: bot God at last prevealling, he
determines to schaw himselff, abandone that damnable societie, and vtter, in
plean proffesson, the treuthe of God, and his enemies’ falshods, hypocrisie,
and craft. Sa coming bak to Paris again, he takes his leiue of Mr Edmont,
who yit, nochtwithstanding, kythes na thing bot lowing frindschipe to him;
and at his parting, giffes thrie counsalles:--1. To
reid and studie the antient doctors of the kirk,
and nocht to trow the ministers. 2. To go ham to his awin countrey. And,
thridly, To marie a wyff:—he manifested himselff amangs the professours of
religion, till the tyme of massacre, quhilk schortlie ensewit; at the quhilk,
being narrowlie sought, he cam to the Engliss ambassator, Mr Secretarie
Walsingham, in whose house, lyand at Paris for the tyme, as in a comoun
girthe, he, with manie ma, war seaff. With whome also he cam to Eingland
soone efter, whar he remeaned schoolmaister at Colchester, till his coming
to Scotland.
"At his coming to Scotland, he was
gladlie content to be in companie with my vncle, Mr Andro, (Melville) and sa
agreit to be minister at Pasley, in place of Mr Andro Pulwart, who enterit
to the subdeanrie of Glasgw, when Mr David
Cuninghame was bischopit in Aberdein. A litle
efter his placing, Mr Andro, principall of the collage, put in his hand Mr
Archibald Hamiltone’s apostata buik, ‘De Confusione Caluinianae Sectae
apud Scotos;’ and efter conference theranent, movit him to mak answer to
the sam, quhilk was published in print the yeir following, to the grit
contentment of all the godlie and lernit. Mr Thomas was verie wacryff’ and
peanfull, and skarslie tuk tyme to refreche nature. I haiff sein him oft
find fault with lang denners and suppers at general assemblies; and when
vthers wer therat, he wald abstein, and be about the penning of things, (wherin
he excellit, bathe in langage and form of letter,) and yit was nocht rustic
nor auster, bot sweit and affable in comnpanie, with a modest and naiue
grauitie; verie frugall in fude and reyment; and walked maist on fut, whom I
was verie glad to accompanie, whylis to Sterling, and now and then to his
kirk, for my instruction and comfort. He louit me exceiding weill, and wald
at parting thrust my head into his bosom, and kis me.
"He being weill acquented
with the practizes of papists, namlie, jesuists, and their deuyces for
subuerting the kirk of Scotland, bathe publiclie and privatlie, ceasit nocht
to cry and warn ministers and schollars to be diligent vpon ther charges and
buiks, to studie the controuersies, and to tak head they neglected nocht the
tyme, for ther wald be a strang vnseatt of papists. Also, he was carefull to
know the religion and affection of noble men, insinuating him in thair
companie, in a wyse and graue manor, and warning tham to be war of euill
companie, and nocht to send thair berns to dangerus partes. And, finalie, Mr
Andro and he marvelouslie conspyring in purposes and judgments, war the
first motioners of an anti-seminarie to be erected in St Andros to the
jesuist seminaries, for the course of theologie, and cessit never at
assemblies and court, till that wark was begun and sett fordwart."
There perhaps never was a
period more calculated to bring forth the talents of our countrymen, than
that of the Reformation. Accordingly, Mr Smeton was soon required by his
brethren to take an active part in the more public transactions of the
church. In October, 1578, he was nominated one of the assessors to the
moderator of the General Assembly; an appointment conferred at that time
upon the most learned and judicious of the members. But his talents were
considered as fitting him for the performance of functions still more
important. He was chosen moderator of the next Assembly, which met in July,
1579, and which was called to the consideration of many important questions.
Among these may be mentioned, the finishing of the first Scottish edition of
the Bible. In 1580, he became the opponent of Nicol Burn, a professor of
philosophy in the university of St Andrews, who had turned papist.
[Mackenzie’s Lives of Scots Writers, iii.] Of this controversy,
Dr Mackenzie promised an account in his Life of Burn, but his biographical
work never reached that point.
James Melville has alluded in
the passage we have quoted from his Diary, to the anxiety of his uncle and
Smeton that the young noblemen and gentlemen of Scotland should be educated
at home, and to the measures which they proposed for the attainment of that
object. They had at length the satisfaction of seeing their new constitution
of the university of St Andrews approved by the church, and ratified by
parliament. Melville was chosen principal of St Mary’s, or the New college,
and, after much opposition, arising, however, from no other motive than a
conviction of his usefulness as minister of Paisley, Smeton was appointed
his successor by letters under the Privy Seal, dated the 3rd of January,
1580. Most unfortunately the records of the university of Glasgow are almost
wholly lost for the period during which this excellent man presided over it.
His duties, however, are known to have been of no light description; he was
the sole professor of divinity, and had also the charge of the religious
instruction of the parish of Govan. Besides the mere literary department, as
it may be termed, of his duties, he had the general superintendence of the
university, in which was included the by no means pleasant office of
inflicting corporal punishment on unruly boys. Almost equally little has
been preserved respecting Smeton’s share in the ecclesiastical transactions
during the remainder of his life. He was chosen moderator of the General
Assembly held in April, 1583. We have already alluded in the life of Mr
Robert Pont to the removal of that learned man for a short period to St
Andrews, and to the reasons which obliged him to relinquish that charge.
Andrew Melville was anxious that his place should be supplied by Smeton,
and, it is not improbable, intended to adopt some measures for bringing the
state of that town under the notice of this Assembly. But it was the policy
of the Prior and his dependants to frustrate the settlement, whatever might
be the merits of the intended minister, that they might spend in
extravagance or debauchery the funds which were destined for his support.
The king, therefore, probably instigated by that ecclesiastic (the earl of
March) but under the specious pretext of a fatherly care over the university
of Glasgow, forbade the Assembly to "meddle with the removing of any of the
members thereof, and especially of the principal." Smeton’s old
schoolfellow, Arbuthnot, now principal of King’s college, Aberdeen, was soon
afterwards chosen by the Kirk Session of St Andrews; but this election
produced no more favourable result.
Principal Smeton attended the
following General Assembly (October 1583) and was again employed in some of
its most important business. But the course of honour and usefulness on
which he had now entered was destined to
be of very short duration. Soon after his return
to Glasgow, he was seized with a high fever, and died, after only eight
days’ illness, on the 13th of December, 1583. About six weeks earlier, his
friend Arbuthnot, with whom he had been so long and intimately connected,
had been cut off in his 46th year, and thus was the country at once bereaved
of two of its greatest lights at a period of no common difficulty. That was
indeed "a dark and heavie wintar to the kirk of Scotland."
The habits and acquirements of Smeton
must have peculiarly adapted him for the charge of a literary, and, more
particularly, of a theological seminary. While the latter were
unquestionably inferior to those of his predecessors in the
principalship of Glasgow college, his manners
were of a milder and more conciliatory character. Yet even his learning was
greatly beyond that of the mass of his brethren. He wrote Latin with
elegance and facility, and was a Greek and Hebrew scholar. Nor had he, like
many of our travelled countrymen, neglected the study of his native tongue,
in which he wrote with great propriety. His knowledge of controversial
divinity, derived most probably from the circumstances attending his
conversion to the Protestant faith, is represented as superior to that of
almost any of his contemporaries. Of the works which he has left behind him
the best known is his reply to Hamilton, which was publisbed at Edinburgh in
1579, with the following title: "Ad Virulentum Archibaldi Hamiltonii
Apostate Dialogum de Confusione Calvinianae Sectae apud Scotos impie
conscriptum Orthodoxa Responsio, Thoma Smetonio Scoto auctore, in qua
celebris lila quaestio de Ecclesia, de Vniversalitate, Successione, et
Romani Episcopi Primatu breviter, dilucide, et accurate, tractatur: adjecta
est vera Historia extremae vitae et obitus eximii viri Joan: Knoxii
Ecciesiae Scoticanae instauratoris fidelissimi," 8vo. The General Assembly
held in April, 1581, ordered the method of preaching and prophecying by . .
. "to be put in Scotish be their brother Mr Thomas Smetone;". but if this
supposed translation of Hyperius De formandis Concionibus was ever
printed, it has escaped the researches of all our bibliographers. The
Dictates of principal Smeton,—that is, the notes which he dictated to his
students,—were preserved in archbishop Spotswood’s time, and are said by
that author to have been highly esteemed. Dempster also ascribes to Smeton "Epitaphium
Metallani, lib. i."
Principal Smeton adopted the
advice of his excellent friend, Edmond Hay, and "married a wyff," but at
what time is uncertain. We are equally uncertain whether he left any
children behind him. The name of Smeton, and in one or two instances that of
Thomas Smeton, occur in the records of the university of Glasgow in the
early part of the seventeenth century, and, as the name was by no means
common, these persons were not improbably his descendants. [Abridged from
Wodrow’s Life of Smeton, apud MSS. in Bibl. Acad. Glasg. vol. i. See also
James Melville’s Diary, pp. 56-8, and M’Crie’s Life of Melville, second
edition, i. 156, ii. 379-383.] |
