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SPOTSWOOD, (SIR) ROBERT,
president of the court of session, was the second son of archbishop
Spotswood, and was born in the year 1596. He was educated at the grammar
school of Glasgow, and, at the age of thirteen, was sent to the university
of that city, where, four years afterwards, he obtained the degree of master
of arts. From Glasgow he was removed to Exeter college, Oxford, and studied
under the celebrated Dr Prideaux. Honourable mention is made of Sir Robert
in the "Athenae Oxonienses." On the completion of his studies, he made the
tour of France, Italy, and Germany, studying the laws of those countries, as
well as the civil and canon law, and also theology, in which last he was
deeply versed. When king James commanded archbishop Spotswood to write the
history of his native kingdom, he procured, through Sir Robert’s exertions,
the ancient MSS. and records of the church, but especially the famous "Black
Book of Paisley," which he recovered at Rome. Sir Robert was also able to
redeem a number of other manuscripts, which had been carried abroad from
Scottish monasteries at the Reformation; but unfortunately they were
destroyed by the covenanters. On his return from the continent, after an
absence of nine years, Sir Robert was most graciously received at the court
of England by king James, to whom he gave such a good account of the laws,
customs, and manners of the countries where he had been travelling, that the
king appointed him one of the extraordinary judges of the court of session.
On his receiving this appointment, the archbishop purchased and bestowed on
him the barony of New-Abbey, in Galloway, and he assumed the title of Lord
New-Abbey. He continued to be an extraordinary lord during James’s reign;
but, on the accession of Charles I., who deprived the judges of their
commissions, and re-appointed some of them, Sir Robert was nominated an
ordinary lord of session, or judge, on the 14th of February, 1626. On the
death of Sir James Skene, in November, 1633, he was chosen president of the
College of Justice. He disposed of the lands of New-Abbey to king Charles,
who bestowed it on the newly erected bishopric of Edinburgh, and assumed the
title of Lord Dunipace, from an estate he had purchased in Stirlingshire.
As the father now occupied
the highest office in the state, and the primacy in the church, while the
son filled the first judicial station in the country, no greatness under
that of monarchy itself, could have appeared more enviable than that which
was enjoyed by the family of Spotswood. It was greatness, however, dependent
on mere court favour, and altogether wanting the only firm basis for
official elevation, the concurrence and good-will of the nation. On the
contrary, the Spotswoods had risen in consequence of their address in
rendering up the liberties of their country into the hands of the king; and,
however endeared to him, were detested by the great mass of their fellow
citizens. Hence, when the Scots came to the point of resistance in 1637, and
assumed the entire control of their own concerns, the Spotswoods vanished
from before the face of their indignant countrymen, leaving no trace of
their greatness behind, except in the important offices which they had left
vacant.
Sir Robert Spotswood now became a
close adherent of the king’s person; and, with other obnoxious individuals
in the same situation, proved the means of preventing that confidence in the
sincerity of the monarch’s concessions, which operated so much to his
disadvantage. When Charles was in Scotland, in 1641, the estates presented
him with an address, in which they beseeched that the late president of the
court of session might be moved from his person and councils; and with this
request the king was obliged to comply. At a late period in the civil war,
(1645,) Charles recalled Sir Robert, and appointed him secretary of state
for Scotland, in place of the earl of Lanark. In this character, Sir Robert
signed the commission of the marquis of Montrose as commander-in-chief of
the forces in Scotland; and, being appointed to convey this to the
victorious general, he took shipping in the island of Anglesey, and, landing
in Lockaber, joined the marquis in Athole. He marched southward with the
army, maintaining, however, a strictly civil character, and was taken
prisoner at Philiphaugh, where, it is said, he had only his walking cane in
his hand. He was carried, along with some other prisoners of distinction, to
St Andrewa, and tried before the Parliament, on a charge of high treason.
His defence was allowed to have been masterly, but a conviction was
inevitable. He was condemned to be beheaded by the maiden, which was brought
from Dundee for the purpose. "In his railing discourse to the people on the
scaffold (says Row in his life of Robert Blair), among other things he said
that the saddest judgment of God upon people at this time was, that the Lord
had sent out a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets, and that their
ministers, that should lead them to heaven, were leading them the highway to
hell. Mr Blair standing by him, as he was appointed by the commission of the
Kirk, in answer to this, only said, ‘It’s no wonder to hear the son of a
false prophet speak so of the faithful and honest servants of Jesus Christ;’
which did so enrage the proud and impertinent spirit of Spotswood, that he
died raging and railing against Christ’s honest and faithful ministers, and
his covenanted people." It was in declining the offer of Blair to pray for
his soul that Sir Robert used the language which provoked the covenanter’s
stern rebuke, pointed with a sarcasm which might certainly have been spared
on such an occasion. But the reproach and the retaliation illustrate the
spirit of the times. Spotswood’s biographer says his last words
were—"Merciful Jesu, gather my soul unto thy saints and martyrs, who have
run before me in this race." This writer accuses "the fanatical minister of
the place" of having incited the provost to prevent Sir Robert from
addressing the people on the scaffold. A similar story is repeated in the
Spottiswoode Miscellany, where, however, it is stated that Sir Robert
"inveighed much against the Parliament of England," which is not consistent
with the assertion that he was prevented from speaking to the spectators.
The execution took place at the cross of St Audrews, January 17, 1646. Other
two prisoners suffered along with Spotswood, namely, Nathaniel Gordon, who
recanted his episcopacy, and died as a member of the Kirk, and Andrew
Guthrie, "who died stupidly and impenitently." Of Spotswood and Guthrie, Row
observes characteristically, "These two were bishops’ sons;
mali corvi malum ovum."
Sir Robert Spotswood was well
skilled in the Hebrew, Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic languages, besides his
acquaintance with most of the modern European tongues. He was a profound
lawyer, and an upright judge. Piety was a conspicuous feature in his
character; though, according to the spirit of his age, it was debased by the
exclusive and bigoted feelings of a partizan. He was the author of "The
Practicks of the Law of Scotland;" a work which was only superseded by the
more elaborate work of Stair.
His remains were honourably
interred in the parish church of St Andrews, by Sir Robert Murray of Melgun,
and other friends, among whom was Hugh Scrimgeour, a wealthy citizen of St
Andrews, who had formerly been one of archbishop Spotswood’s servants, and
who took the execution of his old master’s son so much to heart, that seeing
the bloody scaffold still standing some days afterwards, he fainted on the
spot; and, being carried home, died on the threshold of his own door. |
