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ANDREW MELVILLE 1545-1622 Fr07ii an old engraviiii: in St. Andmus University THE DIVINITY PRINCIPALS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW 1 545-1 654 BY THE REV. H. M. B. REID, D.D. PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY I9I7 3)» vl PREFACE they could be got. Unfortunately, portraits are not in every case available. The author hopes that the present volume and the entire undertaking may be interesting to Glasgow University men, and especially to those who have passed through our Divinity Hall. Glasgow University, April, 1917. CONTENTS PAGE I. Andrew Melville, i 545-1 622 I. Preparation - i II. Glasgow - 26 III. St. Andrews IV. Sedan - Works 80 Bibliography - 82 Works 55 73 II. Thomas Smeaton, 1536-1583 - "83 104 Bibliography 105 III. Patrick Sharp, 1550-1615 106 Works - 114 IV. Robert Boyd, i 578-1627 I. Preparation - 115 II. Montauban - - 11 8 III. Verteuil - - - 125 IV. Saumur . . _ 128 VIU CONTENTS PAGE V. Glasgow - - - - - 37 VI. Edinburgh - - - - 54 VII. Paisley ,„ Works - Bibliography - 1 68 169 V. John Cameron, i 579-1625 I. Preparation ^7° II. Bordeaux ^7^ III. Saumur 200 IV. Glasgow ^'^ V. France (Montauban) 225 Works 248 Bibliography 250 VI. John Strang, i 584-1654 I. Preparation 252 II. Errol 254 III. Glasgow " 202 IV. The Last Years - - 295 Works - - 301 Bibliography 3°' Index - 3°3 I ANDREW MELVILLE (1545- 1622) L Preparation (i 545-1 574) Andrew Melville may be reckoned the Second Founder of the University of Glasgow, although his short residence there makes him almost a bird of passage. It was the good fortune of Glasgow, how- ever, to attract him first, before he passed to the metropolis of Scotland (as it was then counted), and became the head of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. In what follows, the main interest must of course be his Glasgow epoch, from November, 1574, to November, 1580, six years of eventful academic life. Born on August i, 1545, at Baldovy, near Montrose, Andrew Melville was of a family not without honour in Scottish history. The name was originally Maleville, and became Melvin by an easy contraction of the Latinised form Melvillanus (Scotice Melviln= Melvin). He himself never spells it other- wise than Melvin, or Melvill, except in his matricula- tion signature, where it is Mailuile. He was no more consistent in spelling, however, than his contemporaries. His sense of ancestry was neverthe- less keen, as it was with most Scotsmen of his day. Patrick Forbes of Corse remembers, a quarter of a 2 ANDREW MELVILLE century after Melville's death, how he even traced his pedigree to John of Gaunt, and thus claimed kin with the royal families of France, England, and Scotland. Something of pride of birth may be traced in his undaunted bearing on several notable occasions, when dealing with unruly students of good family. And it may possibly account for his quick assumption of equality with the highest in the land, if not for his stern advocacy of the rights of pres- byters. Presbytery as a polity is not entirely democratic. And Calvinism, which is the theological obverse of Presbytery, has lately been described as even being aristocratic. Melville came of valiant parentage, his father, Richard Melville, laird of Baldovy, having fallen at Pinkie in the company of the chief lairds of Angus and Mearns. The eldest son, Richard, became minister of Maryton in 1560. Two others also became parish ministers. They bore the apostolic names of James and John. James was minister of Arbroath, and is mentioned in the Commissariat Register of St. Andrews as " the richt worshipful Mr. James Melvill, minister of Aberbrothock " — a style which may suggest new possibilities to those who are tired of Reverend, Very Reverend, or Right Reverend. John is described in the St. Andrews Kirk-Session Register as " Johanne Malwyll, minister of Crystis Kirk in Crayel." It is said there were fifteen children of Richard Melville, the sire of Andrew ; Andrew was the ninth son, and he claims, in a letter written in 1612, to have survived his " fourteen brothers." ^ ^See Melville's letter in 1612, quoted on p. 7^. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 3 Of such a vigorous stock, and born of a Scots landed family, Andrew Melville was brought up in the old home at Baldovy, where his fatherless state and apparently delicate health gained for him the special care of his eldest brother and of the notable wife whom that brother had married. The uncertain health of the boy suggested that he should be dedi- cated to a scholarly lire, for which also he showed a distinct liking. He was therefore sent to the Mon- trose Grammar School a mile off, and there got his first grounding in Latin, the universal language of scholars then. James Melville, the nephew, who resembled his uncle in appearance and character, and was only eleven years younger, has left an account of the grammar-school system at Logic and at Montrose in his day. The Rudiments of the Latin Grammar, with the vocables in Latin and French, also divers speeches in French, with the right pronunciation : the Etymology of Lilius and his Syntax, also a little of the Syntax of Linacre, Hunter's Nomenclatura, Erasmus' Colloquia Minora: some of Virgil's Eclogues and of Horace's Epistles : Cicero's Epistles ad Terentiam ; such was the field covered at Logic, two miles from Montrose. In Montrose itself, the field was more limited ; Rudiments again, the first part of Sebastian's Grammar, Terence's Phormio, Latin Prose, Virgil's Georgics. In both schools athletics were not pretermitted. The master at Logic taught his boys " to handle the bow for archerie, the glub for goff, the batons for fencing,^ also to rin, to leepe, to swoum, to warsell, to prove pratteiks, everie ane haiiBng his matche and antagonist, bathe in our 1 On baton, see Life of Cameron, p. 231. 4 ANDREW MELVILLE lessons and play. A happie and golden tyme in- deed ! . . ." ^ Much attention was also paid to singing and playing on instruments. James Melville notes that a blind man " with a singular guid voice " taught the boys the psalm-tunes. Three languages were taught in such schools, Scots, Latin, and French, as appears from the license granted to William Niddrie in 1559 under the Privy Seal. The list of Niddrie's school-books includes an elementary intro- duction to the Scots tongue, an Orthoepia Trilinguis, a Trilinguis Literaturae Syntax, and a Trilinguis Grammaticae Quaestiones. Particular attention was paid to French. Niddrie's list has " An A B C for Scottis men to reid the French toung, with ane exhor- tatioun to ye nobilis of Scotland to favour yair aid friendis."^ Such facts explain the ease with which Scottish students passed into French universities and played their part in French life, as we know Andrew Melville did. Religion had its place in the school curriculum. The masters were frequently men bred for the Church. At Montrose the boys were taught by " Mr. Andro Miln minister at Sedness." They learned by heart " the catechism and prayers." They learned the whole psalms. They had to read the Bible, and received notes or comments on it. And Andrew Melville from his tenth year had the special advantage of learning to read Greek, and with it the 1 Melville's Diary, pp. 15, 16. " Prove pratticks " is to perform ploits ; see Jamieson's Dictionary, sub voce. e the passage from the Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 26> '559» quoted in M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville, O, to chart, i. exploits 2 See Aug. Note C. to chap, PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 5 Greek Testament, from a French Huguenot, Pierre de Marsiliers, a refugee from his country and a man of high character. His eagerness to learn Greek delayed his entrance to the University, according to M'Crie ; but this is doubtful, since he actually entered the New College (St. Mary's), St. Andrews, at fourteen. Rashdall states the age of entrance to most of the mediaeval Universities to have been "between thirteen and sixteen." But in Paris a statute re- quired the " determining Bachelor " to be at least fourteen. And the " determining Bachelor " was simply an undergraduate entering on his examinations or disputations, for the purpose of graduating in due course as bachelor. Hence it would seem that in Paris, attendance did not count toward the degree until the boy was at least fourteen. ^ In the Novum Collegium Marianum, founded as recently as the year 1532, Melville matriculated in 1559. The College had been established by Arch- bishop James Beaton on the foundation of the Paedagogium or Students' Residence, with a staff of two professors of Divinity, one of Canon Law and one of Civil Law (the utrumque jus of the curriculum), and with four regents in Philosophy (corresponding to our Arts Faculty). But in 1552 Archbishop Hamilton, in his thoroughgoing attempt to reform the Scottish Church from within, obtained papal authority to vary and extend the establishment. Under this new arrangement there were a principal (called provost) and two other magtstri, who were all styled professors of Divinity : one professor of the 1 See Rashdall's Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, II. 604. 6 ANDREW MELVILLE sacred canons or pontifical law : eight sacerdotes or priests who were to take a six years' course in theo- logy: three regents in Philosophy, to teach logic, ethics, physics, mathematics, and other liberal arts : a professor of Rhetoric, and another of grammar ; with sixteen students of Philosophy (Arts).^ In all, the foundation included thirty-three persons, of whom seventeen were in a sense the teaching staff, since the eight students of theology were to be sacerdotes omnes, and to give public disputations or lectures on the Holy Scriptures every day during the session. Principal Lee condemns the scheme as insufficiently endowed and otherwise defective ; but he is in error in supposing that the eight priests or theological students did not teach. It is obvious that they did lecture daily in rotation, and that the sixteen Arts students would have access to these lectures. The scheme, if it was insufficiently endowed (a not un- common thing in academic schemes even yet), was at any rate a wise and far-seeing one, even from the modern standpoint of theological education. For it recognised that the student of theology ought to teach while he is learning : it anticipated the proposal which is now emerging that the probationer or licentiate (as he is called in the Scottish Reformed Churches) should continue his studies after he has received the Church's commission to preach : it pro- vided for instruction, so much needed, in public speaking and in grammar ; and it prescribed a sufficiently lengthy course in theology proper. The entire course of training for the ministry was to be nine years ; but the student entered, as we have seen, 1 Principal Lee's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, I. 98 sqq. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 7 as early as fourteen, and the priestly order could not be attained before he was twenty-five. There was one significant omission ; no professor of Civil Law was specified. This, however, was in exact accordance with the policy of the Church of Rome, which regarded Civil Law as essentially alien to the priest's studies, and Canonical 'Law as amply sufficient for the priest's discharge of the duties of his oflSce. Thus in the University of Paris, the teaching of Civil Law was actually at one time for- bidden by the authorities, both papal and civil. We often hear references made to Law as a faculty coming next in precedence to Theology and intimately con- nected with it. But the remark applies only to Canon Law. St. Mary's College when Melville entered was already much altered firom the days of Archbishop Hamilton. The Archbishop's ordinances had not had time to take root. It is probable that the teaching staff was reduced to three or four, of whom one was recognised as provost or principal regent (regens principalis, or praepositus, or pri- marius). The Principal at this date was John Douglas, who was yet to be Archbishop of St. Andrews, and who remained Principal and Rector till 1574. It may be noted that the regent was always a " master " (magister), though a " master " might not be a regent in all cases. The magister at the close of his philosophical or Arts course was, however, eligible as a regent, and, indeed, undertook at his laureation to teach, if required, for a fixed term of years, remaining unmarried during that period. The regent took his class right through their 8 ANDREW MELVILLE three or four years' course in Arts. Then followed the theological course, which was necessarily less defined, because it was most of all affected by the Reformation. Hamilton, as we have seen, projected a six years' course in theology, under a provost and two other professors of Divinity ; but this compara- tively abundant provision must have been sadly curtailed at first. Certainly, the^ "eight priests" disappeared, and it is more than probable that the chief work in theology devolved on the Principal, while two or three regents attended to the philo- sophical teaching. Such at least was the routine in Glasgow for a long time after the Reformation. In this respect, the Reformation indirectly dealt a blow at University endowments, as it did at the endow- ments for the Church. As to the substance of the theological teaching, naturally the Sentences of Peter Lombard ceased to be a text-book, and the Scriptures became the chief manual. Lectures were given on the " five parts " of Scripture, the legal, the historical, the sapiential, the prophetical, and the New Testament. The Apocrypha was allowed so far as concerned the books of Esdras, Tobias, Judith, and (at discretion) Maccabees ; but the last was not obligatory. Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and Baruch were accepted, not without good ground. We may note, however, in passing that Edinburgh regarded those three books as doubtful, the Edinburgh MS. of the statutes shewing them bracketed. In the New Testament, Hebrews is recognised as Pauline, and that apostle is therefore credited with fourteen epistles. The student who had completed the prophetical section. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 9 that is, finished his Old Testament course, was after examination admitted baccalaureus formatus in Theo- logy ; he who " got through " his New Testament course became baccalaureus confirmatus, a " confirmed bachelor." The celibate associations of the unre- formed time were slow in dying out.^ In Glasgow, long after, it was expressly provided that the wives of regents should not live in bounds. In 1635 the regent had to swear that he would resign if he married.^ Three degrees were open to the theological student, that of bachelor after a four years' course, that of licentiate as soon as the bachelor was thirty years old, and that of doctor when he assumed the birr e turn. It is obvious, however, that these were but stages in the progress to the full degree of Doctor in Theology, indicated by the letters S.T.D., or SS.T.D. There is no evidence that this elaborate scheme ever became effective, and certainly Andrew Melville at least never took any one of those theological degrees at St. Andrews. On the contrary, as soon as he had finished his Arts course at St. Mary's, and had presumably taken his bachelor and master degree, he left Scotland for France, and entered himself as a student in Arts of the University of Paris. He was then nineteen. It must be noted that, while James Melville declares his famous uncle " took his degrees," the register of St. Andrews' graduations does not contain his name either as bachelor or as magister. The truth is, that the St. Andrews colleges were in a 1 See St. Andrews University Publications, No. VII. {Statuia Fac. Theol. . . . reformata, 1 560). 2 See Mun'menta, III. 378, 379. lo ANDREW MELVILLE state of confusion between 1 559 and 1564, the period of Melville's studies there. The theological course was nominal, and Melville's theology was learned chiefly at Geneva. In Paris, Melville at once attacked the study of oriental languages. It is noteworthy that his bent, like the general taste of his day, had always been toward languages, and he had already mastered Latin and Greek. French he knew like a native. But Hebrew and its allied dialects were beyond reach in Scotland then, and indeed for long afterwards. It is possible he may have had a certain knowledge of Italian, since he knew the Italian poet Bizzari, a refiigee from Roman persecution, and was the recipient of some flattering elegiacs from that poet about the time he became magtster. As regards German, it is doubtful if Melville knew much of that unattractive language, although as a Parisian student he belonged compulsorily to the natio of Germany or England. The Royal Trilingual College of the University of Paris was at this time the centre of keen interest, because of its special dedication to languages, as well as its reputation for enlightened methods of teaching. Erected in 1529 by Francis I. on the Louvain model, it offered the latest things in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and in many other subjects. The only exceptions were science and doctrinal theology. Here Melville found in the Greek chair a scholar whose Latinised surname (Turnebus) did not hide the fact that he was of Scots blood and allied to William TurnbuU, the founder of the Glasgow College. Mercier or Mercerus, and Quinquarboreus (Cinq PREPARATION (1545- 1574) 11 Arbres) were colleagues in the Hebrew chair. But Melville's ardour as a linguist was soon diverted to philosophical theories, by his attendance on the lectures of Ramus, at the time in the full tide of his critique of Aristotle. Ramus introduced him to a new world, and left an indelible impression on his mind. If Geneva formed Melville as a theologian and ecclesiastic, it was Paris which moulded him as an educationist and professor. There can be no doubt that Ramus and his methods had the greatest influence on Melville in his academic administration. Whether the new philosophy exerted as powerful an influence on his mind seems uncertain. No doubt the independent attitude assumed in all the lectures of P. Ramus helped to develop Melville's innate love of liberty of thought. Fresh from the barren Aristotelian precepts on which his regent had nourished him at St. Mary's College, he must have revelled with the joy of youth in the keen criticisms of Aristotle which abounded in the new teaching. Ramus had set himself expressly to overthrow the superstitious reverence for the great saint of Scholasti- cism. There is nothing racier in academic literature than his discovery that Aristotle, though the highest authority on Logic, has nowhere defined Logic itself,^ or his savage assault on Aristotle's idea of God — *' God, says Aristotle, is an animal ; there are there- fore as many gods as there are planets ! God has no power ; he may not act or move save from all eternity! God is the first agent in the world, yet he has neither will nor knowledge! He thinks nought but Himself and ignores all beside. . . . iSee Waddington-Kastus, De P. Rami Vita, 1848, p. 1 10 sqq. 12 ANDREW MELVILLE He has neither love, nor benignity, nor charity! What," he asks, "is this atheistic doctrine of God but a sort of war of the giants against God ? " ' One can imagine the applause which would greet such daring attacks from lads of Melville's age. Ramus seemed to beckon them to a new era. They placed to his credit every dry weary hour spent in copying from dictation the precepts of Aristotle. Moreover, Ramus gave them a new notion of Philosophy itself as something which must be judged by its contribu- tion to life, and not as a mere weapon for self- advancement in the schools. In this respect, he was ahead of his age, and it may be to some extent ahead of our own, because academic men then (and now) often confounded learning with character. Their view was that learning is a mystery or secret of trade which, once gained, becomes in itself an end. The view of Ramus was that all the liberal arts ought to bear on life. Character therefore is more than learn- ing. The wise man ought to be good. But Melville's age in Scotland continued to act as if the wise man was ipso facto good. James, his king, was a conspicuous example. A more technically learned king never reigned, or one less virtuous. But perhaps Ramus shows his influence on Melville more distinctly in respect of the methods of Univer- sity teaching. He was a great academic reformer, as one can see in his Prooemium reformatae Parisiensis Academiae. He pounced upon the dull routine of college classes and brought into them the voice of the man in the street. Things had reached their iSee Waddington-Kastus, Ramus, Sa Fie, Ses Emts, et Sft Opinions, 1853, pp. 358, 9. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 13 worst pass. The lecturers or regents read to their scholars (who sat or kneeled on the floor) curt in- digestible " dictates " prepared by them from the treatises of Aristotle on physics and metaphysics, on grammar and the globe. Some regents lazily en- trusted the reading of the " dictates " to one of the students. The same regent was expected to expound to his class the entire content of what was then called philosophy, including mathematics, physics, astro- nomy, ethics, metaphysics, and logic. One small youth not long graduated as magister must convey to others nearly as old the sum of the liberal arts! Ramus denounced this practice, and argued for special teachers for each great department. He denounced also the practice of mere dictation, which was neces- sarily slow, unintelligent, and tedious. According to his maxims, the lecturer was to read his lecture continua voce et perpetua raptione, not tractim or in a melancholy drawl. The scholaris was to listen and comprehend, not to labour in copying out his teacher's words with hand and pen, although the teacher might properly allow time for the recording of some notabilis sententia. We shall see how deep these principles entered into Melville's mind. It is nevertheless true that the Parisian students saluted the innovations with uproar, hissing, catcalls, and even stones.-^ To the present day, the system con- demned by Ramus has not wholly disappeared from Scottish class-rooms. In Melville's own University, St. Andrews, we find James Sharp, afterwards Arch- bishop, taking his scholars through the old three or four years' course of Aristotle as a regent in St. ^ See Rashdall, Universities in the Middle Ages, I. 438 note. 14 ANDREW MELVILLE Leonard's College in the years from 1643 to 1646.^ In Glasgow the system survived up to a far later period. There is little indication that Melville intended the ministry of the Church. We cannot wonder at this, since the Reformation in Scotland was only in its early stages. But the reaction against Aristotle was a decided Reformation force. Although Ramus himself remained a critic and little more, he gave his hearers a bias against the whole Roman temper, and set them questing for a simpler and freer logic. It is not true, though it was a charge made against Ramus, that he drove them back to Plato and agnosti- cism. Rather he suggested, especially to the Scots mind, that practical and rational attitude toward life which marks the advance of the Scottish Church, and of which Melville became the leading exponent in his day. So far, however, theology had attracted Melville far less than languages and law. He could hear only occasional lectures on law at Paris, where the subject was practically interdicted. But his interest in law led him now to betake himself to the University of Poitiers, after some two years at Paris. The University of Poitiers had been founded in 1 43 1, and had a Faculty of Law with four regents. Dr. M'Crie says that Melville " had no intention of practising law," but it is significant of his leanings at the time that he sought out the college where Civil Law was formally taught. Calvin in his day had studied law, and might have remained a lawyer iThe student's note-book may still be seen at St. Andrews, with Sharp's testimonial at the end, and one or two caricatures of him. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 15 if the net of Geneva had not caught him fast. Mel- ville went the same way. He became a regent in the college of St. Marcean, where, says his nephew James, "he had the best lawyers, and studied sa mikle thairof as might serve for his purpose, quhilk was theologiewherto he was dedicat from his mother's wombe." ^ But three years of law seems rather an excessive preparation for theology, though of course it was the period required from a regent to complete his course of dictates. The nephew also refers to keen rivalry between St. Marcean and Pivareau, in the composition of Latin verses, and records the fact that Pivareau was beaten as long as Andrew Melville remained at St. Marcean. Pivareau appears as Puygareau, in the work of Fournier. ^ It was a theo- logical college. This suggests anew that Melville was not quite decided on a clerical career. Though Dr. M'Crie ascribes Melville's election as a regent to his fame having reached Poitiers, the facts do not necessarily lend support to that idea. The regents of the Poitiers Law Faculty were coopted by the Faculty itself after public competition in the usual mode of the time. In any case, he entered on his duties at an unlucky time. The war of the Huguenots was in its first stages, and reached Poitiers shortly after Melville began work there. In 1568 the town was besieged by a Huguenot force under Admiral Coligny, the University was obliged to close 1 Melville's Diary, Wod. Soc, p. 40. James Melville writes it Marcean, not Marceon, as in M'Crie. M. Paul Mellon spells it Marcieon {Revue Chret'tenne, 1907, p. 206). 2 See Rashdall, ut supra, II. 193. The spelling of Marcean is probably also doubtful. 1 6 ANDREW MELVILLE its doors, and Melville became tutor in a local family. The episode of his pupil's death was evidently one to which Melville returned through life ; his nephew has recorded it with his usual life-like reality. One day during the siege his scholar was mortally wounded in the thigh by a shot from the camp which had penetrated the wall of his bedroom. He cried for his tutor, and when Melville hurried in, embraced him, saying in the Greek — SiSda-KoKe, top Spofiov fiov TereXijKa (" Master, I have finished my course ! "). "That bern," adds the diarist, "gaed never out of his hart ; but in teatching of me he often rememberit him with tender compassion of myself." ^ Another anecdote of this curious period excites somewhat different feelings. Melville, after his pupil's death, remained an inmate of the household of the father until the siege ended. The house was Catholic, and a corporal's guard was billeted in it. The corporal became suspicious of the young regent because of his devout habits. He watched him at his prayers, and " being a Papist and man of warr " (as the diarist puts it) challenged him " with a great aithe " as a Huguenot who might readily betray the town. At that moment, the alarm sounded, and the corporal declared he could not trust Melville in the place. Melville at once protested his " honesty " or loyalty, and his readiness to prove it. He hastily donned the nearest armoiir and, rushing to the stable, began to lead out the best horse. The unhappy corporal was convinced, and hastened to ask pardon ; and Melville consented to remain at home. " Giff it had com to the warst," says his admiring nephew, "he was ^ Melville's Diary, p. 40. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 17 resolved, being weill horst, to haiff gottin him to the camp of the Admirall." It is plain from this story that Melville had acquired some casuistry in his encounters with the Jesuits at Paris. It is perhaps unfair to apply a modern standard of ethics to his ruse. Poitiers was no place for peaceful study, and as soon as Coligny raised the siege, Melville fled, in the company of a French student, leaving behind all his books except a small Hebrew Bible in his belt. They travelled to Geneva on foot. They gathered company as they went, but while Melville on reaching an inn would hurry out to see the neighbourhood, his companions would " ly down like tyrid tyks." It is a vivid picture of the small, thin, but active youth, full of curiosity and high spirits. Arriving at the gates of Geneva, they were strictly questioned. Melville's comrade, who makes but a poor appearance in the story, whined out, "we are poor scholars." That must have annoyed Melville, for he knew St. Leonard's as the College of Poor Scholars, and being a St. Mary's College man, disliked the name. So he cried at once — "No, no! we are nocht puir! We haiff alsmikle as will pey for all we tak, sa lang as we tarie. We haiff letters from his acquentance to Mon- sieur di Beza ; let us deliver these, we crave nae fordar." They were taken accordingly to Beza, who soon recognised the mettle of Melville, and got him appointed as professor of Humanity (Latin) in the College de Geneve. In spite of Melville's boast at the guardroom, he and the Frenchman had only a crown between them. But the college paid him a quarter's salary in advance. The Frenchman was 1 8 ANDREW MELVILLE not so quickly suited. He arrived " weak-sprited " {i.e. rather exhausted), and Melville supported him till a post was found. Melville's theological education properly so called now began, although, with his usual passion for know- ledge, he pursued his studies in oriental languages, especially in Syriac. Greek also was another of his subjects, and in it he made remarkable progress under Portus, the teacher of Casaubon. It is even hinted that Melville became somewhat swollen with pride, venturing to argue against his teacher's views on Greek pronunciation and on the accents. The rebuke of the teacher is recorded by James Melville — " Vos Scoti! vos barbari! docebitis nos Graecos pronunti- ationem linguae nostrae, scilicet ? " Which may be translated thus — "You vulgar Scotch people! will you teach Greeks like me the pronunciation of our own tongue, forsooth .'' " ^ In law, Melville con- tinued to indulge his insatiable appetite, for Hotman or Hottoman ^ was then prelecting on that subject, and he was the "renounedest lawer in his tyme." His maternal uncle, Henry Scrimger, was also a learned teacher of law, and with him Melville had frequent meetings at his " prettie room within a lig to Genev," by which is meant no doubt a handsome chateau less than a league off, and lying on the lake. The uncle had also his house in Geneva, like pros- perous burghers of the present day. There was an only daughter, too. But Melville carried through life the celibate ways of the old regime. And Henry 1 Melville's Diary, p. 42. 2 See art. in Scottish Histor. Rev. by D. Baird Smith, Sept , 1916. ^ PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 19 Scrimger's " prettie room," his house on the lake called " the Vilet " (Violet), and his " fair ludging " in the town, along with the " douchtar," were all left to the Syndics of Geneva. Those who love Geneva will envy Melville his five years there amid scenery so grand yet friendly, and people who have ever been hospitable and debonnaire. Melville's stay in Geneva extended over five years. He was fortunate in finding quiet refuge there, for wild storms raged without. The massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572 marked the culmination of the French king's attack on the Huguenots. It excited horror and alarm wherever there were dissentients from the Roman Church ; and it brought a crowd of refugees to Geneva, of whom it is said nearly a hundred were men of academic rank and distinction. Among them were Joseph Scaliger, the greatest scholar of his age, Hottoman the jurist, and Bonne- foy the orientalist. It is not difficult to see what this meant for an eager scholar like Melville, to whom the lecture-rooms of such notables offered a continual feast. It is certain that, over and above the theo- logical (doctrinal) prelections of Beza, he attended the lectures of Scaliger on philosophy, of F. Hotto- man on Roman Law, of Bonnefoy on Mohammedan Jurisprudence, while he c-ame into contact with the theologian Danaeus, afterwards of Leyden, and with Paulus Melissus, translator of the Psalms into Ger- man. Geneva, a small city at best, was teeming with the new ideas in religion, philosophy, and politics. Every leading scholar was a politician, too. The fondness for Law was alike result and cause of the political ferment which produced books like 20 ANDREW MELVILLE Hottoman's Franco-Gallia, belonging to the same class as Knox's Monstrous Regiment of Women, Buchanan's De Jure Regni apud Scotos, and H. Languet's Vindkiae contra Tyrannos, the author- ship of which was veiled under the pen-name Junius Brutus. The uncertainty which surrounds the authorship of such books as Beza's De Jure Magis- tratuum and Languet's Vindkiae suggests that a good deal of the political output was due to collaboration. Melville in short was in touch with a kind of Athenaeum Club of accomplished scholars who had imbibed the new learning and (in some cases at least) the principles of Calvin and Knox, and who, to a man, were republican in sentiment and practice. To recognise this is to understand at once Melville's resolute if not rebellious attitude to the King. When we find Beza writing that, while he condemns sedi- tion, he holds it lawful for an oppressed people to " use other lawful remedies along with repentance and prayer " : that the state {i.e. the people) is the fountain-head of the magistrates' authority, not the king : that freedom of religion once obtained may lawmlly be maintained by arms ; and that what relates to conscience is of greater importance than mere secular concerns ; we see at once whence Mel- ville drew the courage and conviction which made him bold to call James "God's silly vassal." And we can also fairly enough suggest why it is that the Scottish presbyter retains to this day a certain hardi- ness and independence toward political questions which at times degenerate into pestilent meddling. It must, however, be remembered that Melville was not yet very deeply enamoured of Huguenotism. PREPARATION (i 545-1 574) 21 He was comparatively young : he had a light-hearted and shrewdly humorous temper, as he had proved at Poitiers, and was to prove more fully at a later period ; and his greed of knowledge of all sorts kept him fairly exempt from extreme or final opinions. Moreover, it is probable that, although he shone in the technical exercises of learning, and had a pretty wit of his own, Melville never was, or could have been, a profound thinker or theologian. It is true that he was highly esteemed. There was indeed a vast amount of mutual flattery among scholars every- where at this time ; but that must not lead us to conclude that all those extravagant compliments were to be taken literally. The Latin tongue, though it served a great end for scholars of all nations, has always been a too ready vehicle of academic flattery. How lightly MelviUe then carried his weight of knowledge and even his Reformed doctrines may be concluded from one or two episodes of his homeward journey to Scotland in 1574. After the Massacre, pressing private appeals had reached Melville's friends, the Scrimgers, urging the aged professor to come home and take some dis- tinguished office in his country's time of need. While Scrimger himself declined the invitation, he was the means of bringing about Melville's return, because the latter was able to send word by Scrimger's messenger, Alexander Young, informing the family at Baldovy of his safety. In due time, Alexander Young reappeared at Geneva, this time bearing urgent and most friendly requests to Melville to come home, not only from the older brothers, but also from his nephew James, then a student in St. 22 ANDREW MELVILLE Leonard's, and about eighteen years old. It was his nephew's painfully composed Latin letter, " the best I could," which chiefly moved Andrew Melville to return. So close and affectionate was their relation that it remains a very charming feature of their lives.^ The scholar's life of that age predisposed to such intense friendships between young men ; perhaps the monastic habit of going in couples was also an element of the situation.^ Andrew Melville was plainly a man's man ; he attracted young men, and was a bon camarade. When he left Geneva early in 1574 on his return to Scotland, it was in company with " the Bischop of Brechin and Mr. Andro Pol- wart." It was an illustration of the friendly Philistinism of scholars that the future episcopo- mastix took his journey in such company. Polwart is said to have been a college acquaintance at St. Andrews, and was travelling tutor to the bishop, Alexander Campbell, a youthful scion of Argyll, of whom Keith says that he was appointed "when he was yet a boy, with a new and hitherto unheard of power." This power, confided to a child little over twelve years of age, included the right to give and dispone every benefice vacant or to be vacant within his diocese, formerly in the patronage of the bishops of Brechin. Accordingly, in true Tulchan fashion, he presented most of his livings to his chief and patron, the Earl of Argyll, keeping only a modest stipend for himself as minister of Brechin. At the same time, he got leave of absence for seven years. Part of this he spent in Scotland, the rest abroad ; and he com- ^ See Melville's Diary, pp. 30, 31. 2 Compare the case of Smeaton and Thomas Maitland, p. 97. PREPARATION (1545-1574) 23 pleted his leave in Getxeva, where he was in residence " at the schools " in January, 1574. ^ The parish and diocese took care of themselves during this lengthy minority. It is quite in keeping with the attitude of Knox and his friends to the Concordat of Leith that Melville should tolerate the companionship of this boy-bishop ; because the Concordat to them meant nothing more than a legal and financial ex- pedient, to secure the episcopal revenues for educa- tion, poor relief, and the parochial ministry. The reformers were however punished for their simple cunning, because the Scottish lords laid hands on the greater part of the property. The Tulchan bishop, as a rule, got only his stipend as a parish minister, sometimes not even that. Some of the " Tulchans " died in extreme poverty. They were regarded by their brethren of the Reformed ministry with good- humoured contempt, but generally without active dislike. Thus Knox, who opposed the revival of episcopacy in principle, but was undoubtedly a party to the Concordat, when his old friend John Douglas, Rector of the University, was promoted by the patron, the Earl of Morton, to the archbishopric of St. Andrews, merely said — "Alas, for pitie! to lay upone an auld weak man's back that quhilk twentie of the best gifts could nocht bear. It will wrak him and disgrace him." ^ The Tulchans were, in fact, mere receivers for the lay patrons. They had no episcopal authority among their brethren ; rather the opposite, because their elevation bred jealousy, and they were almost always hard pressed by presbyterial discipline. They were a laughing-stock to the Anglican prelates, 1 See Keith's Catalogue, p. 1 66. ^ Melville's Diary, p. 3 1 . 24 ANDREW MELVILLE and indeed to Christendom ; and only the atmosphere of rough Scots humour in which they tried to breathe saved them from complete ostracism, and even from lynching by the hot-blooded Scots mob. Bishops in Scotland were safe while men laughed at them ; as soon as men ceased to laugh, they walked in fear, and Honeyman and Sharp tasted death. Thus Melville fared merrily with the Bishop and his tutor, Andrew Polwart. When they came to Orleans by boat down the Loire, their company included " a captean, a mediciner, and a priest, super- stitius Papists at their meitting kythed (known) in their speitche and meattes." Here is a cast for new Canterbury Tales, with one bishop partly reformed, one tutor from St. Andrews, one student trained in St. Andrews, Paris, Poitiers, and Geneva ; one mili- tary officer, one doctor, and one Roman priest — a rare mingling of roles! Melville, the finished student, no doubt ably seconded by Polwart, wrought so well "be (by) mirrie and solid reasoning," that their popish companions became " flech-eatters on Freday, and the captean nocht far from the kingdome of heavin, or (ere) they parted." By the time they reached the gates of Orleans, Melville had sprained his leg and was travelling on horseback. While the bishop and Polwart being on foot were allowed to enter unchallenged, Melville was stopped and ques- tioned by the guard. _ " The souldarts inquyres what he was. He answerit, 'A Scottes man.' 'O! yie Scottes men are all Hugonotes,' sayes the gard. ' Hugonotes,' says he, ' what's that ? We ken nocht sic' ' O,' says the souldart, « yie haiff nocht mess.' ' Forsuthe,' says he mirrelie, ' our berns in Scotland PREPARATION (1545- 15 74) 25 gaes daylie to mess! ' Guid companion,' sayes the uther, lauching, ' go thy way.' " ^ Melville's quick wit was still further challenged, when, on leaving the inn after an interval, they met the procession of the Host. The bishop and his " pedagogue " were in front, and the former in much perplexity turned back and asked " What shall I do ? " " Forward ! " said Melville. As they ad- vanced, Melville pretended to be carrying a bundle under his arm, and therefore unable to doff his cap. They all passed unnoticed. But, adds the pious admiring nephew, " his hart bet (beat) him thairafter oft and sear, that he sould haifF sa stoutlie counsellit the uther, and usit a piece of dissimulation him selff." ^ It is instructive to read in the diarist how Mr. Andro, reaching Paris, reasoned with Father Tyrie at the Jesuits' College for sundry days, and was forced to beat a hasty retreat because of some " minassing " (menacing) speeches of the " Bishop of Glasgow." The Reformed Archbishop of Glasgow at this time was James Boyd, whose son afterwards became professor of Divinity in Glasgow ; and this menacing " bishop " was James Beaton, the Roman one, in exile. In such wise did the three com- rades pursue their way, from Dieppe to Rye, and thence to London, where they stayed for some time. There they bought horses and rode by Berwick and Loudon to Edinburgh. Melville's library, " ritche and rare," followed him next year, " cleirlie declaring, by his instruments, what a craftesman he was." . . . His nephew's summing up of the results of this first epoch is among the best passages of Scottish 1 Melville's Diary, p. 43. 'Hid. p. 43. 26 ANDREW MELVILLE prose of the time : " As to that he brought ham(e) with him : It was that plentiful! and inexhaust threas- sour of all guid letters & lerning, bathe of human and devyne things ; and that quhilk superexcelles— ane profound knawledge, upright sinceritie, and fer- vent zeall in trew relligion, and to put the sam(e) in use for his Kirk and countrey ; ane unwearied pean- fulness and insatiable pleasour to giff out & bestow the sam(e) without anie recompence or gean. Yea, rather, sa far as his small moyen might reak (reach), conduceing and inviting all guid ingynes to receave and imbrace the saming." II. Glasgow (i 574-1 580) After ten years abroad, and at the age of twenty- nine, we find Andrew Melville launched at length on his career. His absence had added to his fame as a scholar. Tempting offers awaited him. He was invited to become " chaplain " to the Regent Morton, with the prospect of high ecclesiastical promotion. The post of chaplain-tutor was then and for long after the recognised avenue to preferment in the Church. But Melville had no taste for such work ; his inclination never was strictly clerical, but rather academic and pedagogic. His experience of Ramus and other free and independent professors at Paris made the lot of an ecclesiastic distasteful to him. Excusing himself to the Regent's deputation, he obtained permission to take a short holiday among his friends, and went straight to the familiar scenes of Baldovy for three months (July to September, 1574). There he was at home. His nephew, fresh from St. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 27 Leonard's College, with the magister's degree attained, was designated as his personal attendant, and soon became his pupil. James Melville at eighteen had not profited much at St. Leonard's. Once the College of Poor Clerks, St. Leonard's was fast becoming the haunt of the wealthier youths, the primores, as they were called when Sharp was regent in 1640. It is true that James Melville's regent, William Collace, seems to have been free from the greed which characterised Sharp. When another uncle (James of Aberbrothock, styled " richt worschip- ful ") ^ came with Collace in his train to Baldovy, the boy found the latter loving and painstaking. Arid later when the father himself visited St. Andrews, and entertained Mr. Collace to dinner, there happened an instructive incident. The elder Melville, after dinner, when his learned guest had gone, sent the boy after the regent "with twa piece of gold in a neapkine ; but the gentleman was sa honest and loving that he would haiff non of his gold, but with austere countenance send me bak with it ; ' na, never wald receave gold nor silver all the tyme of my course ! '" 2 It is seldom we hear of so handsome a " tip " being returned, and it reflects lustre on the character of William Collace. We need not, how- ever, conclude that young James Melville was educated gratis. He had, we know, a bursary ; and the regent's austerity would surely not prevent some substantial returns from the laird of Baldovy. But the St. Leonard's of that day was not what it had 1 See suj>ra, p. 2. 2 Melville's Diary, p. 25. But regents were forbidden to take gratuities. 28 ANDREW MELVILLE been, when " to drink of St Leonard's well " meant a kind of academic distinction amid the dogmatic slumbers of St. Salvator's and St. Mary's. James Melville found his uncle easy to serve in bodily matters, but very hard to satisfy in the point of learning. " In my conceat I thought I could haiff talked to him in things I had hard, as he did to me as a Maister of Arts ; but I perceavit at annes (once) that I was bot an ignorant bable. . . . He fand me bauche (backward) in the Latin toung, a pratler upon precepts in Logik." ^ . . . After this preliminary examination, the uncle tried his hand on this humbled and eager pupil. They read Buchanan's Psalms, Virgil, Horace, Terence, Caesar, and Sallust in quite a new way, for the older scholar taught his pupil to relish style, simplicity, rhythm, and humour — in short, to read Latin authors in a human way. In Greek, after hard grammatical drill, they read mostly the New Testament ; while in Hebrew, their chief task was to study grammar and dictionary. The time was short, yet it served to set up young James Melville for life as a decent scholar. " And all this," says that diarist, "as it war bot pleying and craking (chatting) ; sa that I lernit mikle mair by heiring of Jhim in daylie conversation, bathe thet quarter and thairefter, nor (than) ever I lernit of anie bulk ; whowbeit, he set me ever to the best authors." ^ There is good ground for dwelling on this summer vacation of Melville, because we see in it his crown- ing art and gift as an educationist. He made learning not indeed easy, but full of human interest, even to so soft and "bauche" a scholar as his nephew. 1 Melville's Diary, p. 46. ^ Ibid. p. 47. GLASGOW (1574- 1 580) 29 There is voluntary testimony from James Melville's diary that he was not a very industrious boy, but rather fond of games, and music, and songs, and even the lenes sub noctem susurri, which harmed him less than others because "God gaiff me a piece of His fear, and grait natural shamfastness (modesty), quhilk by His grace war my preservatives." ^ To this youth came the finished scholar who had seen the world and was no prude ; who knew what rich enter- tainment is in scholars' books, and what defence from tedium and temptation ; and who carried his learning lightly as his scholar's Bible at girdle. The genius of Victor Hugo has drawn the picture of uncle and nephew in Notre Dame, but in how different a mode, and with what different issues! Andrew Melville, though celibate, was one of the merry band of Scots scholars who could relish the humour of life and dissolve out its good from the evil. He loved youth with a pure paternal love, such as aU great schoolmasters have shown ; and he became as young as his students without ceasing to inspire and educate them. His teacher, P. Ramus, had at least bidden him seek in every philosophy the fruits which nourish life. This precept and secret Melville passed on to his pupils in every department of learning. What Robert Louis Stevenson called " profit of life " was to him the end of knowledge. Thus it was that, as a great educational reformer, he liberated scholarship, as far as his power went, from pedantry, mystery, self- conceit, and trades-unionism, and beckoned young men to new fields Avith unselfish hand, instead of guarding some fancied craft for a few. ^ Ibid. p. 29. 30 ANDREW MELVILLE The summer at Baldovy was not uninterrupted. The General Assembly, to which Beza had sent a laudatory letter concerning Melville, received repre- sentatives from two separate Synods, urging that Melville should be granted to them for academic work. Fife craved him as successor to Archbishop John Douglas, rector and principal of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, just deceased. Glasgow and Ayr also claimed him, through Archbishop Boyd, as head of the reformed University of Glasgow in succession to Davidson. The latter invitation was endorsed by the Assembly, although the turn of St. Andrews was yet to come. Meantime, Melville, though not a member, was nominated to an Assembly Committee appointed to examine Mr. Patrick Adam- son's Latin poetical version of Job, and to grant it imprimatur if found orthodox. The other members were Buchanan, P. Young (the king's pedagogue), and James Lawson, minister of Edinburgh, a fellow- student of Melville at St. Andrews. Dr. M'Crie points out that this Assembly took the opportunity of emphasising the rank (not the orders) of the Doctor or Teacher, as a distinct office-bearer of the Church, discharging the office of interpreter of Holy Scripture in the University. This doctorate is of course quite distinct from the Doctorate in Divinity which ere long ^ crept into Scotland from the sister country, and was not too cordially welcomed. Every theological professor is entitled to the ecclesiastical style of Doctor, under the terms used in the Second Book of Discipline. Custom, however, restrains our modern professor from adopting the title until he has 1 In 1616. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 31 received the honorary degree of D.D. It cannot be denied that this last distinction was unknown in the Scottish Reformed Church until the union of the Crowns, and is really an Anglican novelty. It is also bad Latin. The office of a Doctor in the Church, at this time, vested in any individual by the same title as that of Pastor or Minister of the Gospel, viz. by the solemn call of the Church. Thus we have seen that Melville was offered calls both to St. Andrews and to Glasgow. The logical result was that the presbytery (or brethren duly assembled pro hac vice) were required to take the Doctor, even as the Pastor, upon trials to determine the proportion of his gifts to the special work involved, and then to ordain and induct him to the same. Long after this, the General Assembly passed a special Act defining the law of the Church on this point.^ Melville was directed by the Assembly to visit Glasgow and " sie the beginning of a College ther, and heir what conditiones sould be offered to him." ^ The result of this visit was that Melville consented to begin his work as principal master after the vacation. Accordingly, at the end of October, he set out from Baldovy, accompanied by his brother John, minister of Christ's Kirk in Crail, and by his devoted nephew, the diarist. On the road, and possibly by command, he visited the young king, James VI., at Stirling. James Melville says " we saw the king," and Dr. M'Crie translates this into the statement that Andrew Melville was " introduced to the king." But there is no record of any conversation between those two personages, who were fated to converse so often and 1 See Act of Assembly, 1838, sess. ult. ^ Diary, p. 47. 32 ANDREW MELVILLE so briskly at a later date. The king was nine years old, Andrew Melville twenty-nine. Melville's real object was to see George Buchanan, with whom he conferred at length. He talked also with Peter Young (the "pedagogue," as Buchanan was the " master "), and with Alexander Young, his brother ; as well as with Buchanan's nephew Thomas, and with the king's "medicinar," Gilbert MoncriefF. The group is significant, not only educationally but politi- cally. The king's entourage was made up of Buchanans and Youngs, magisters and pedagogues, along with a doctor. The young king himself talked learnedly of " knawlage and ignorance " as might be expected in such company. The air they all breathed was that of Geneva. It was not likely to be congenial to a king after he grew up. From this passing but important conference, the new Principal went to his difficult undertaking at Glasgow. Never was any University in a more deplorable state. Starting as a Studium Generale, or public school of learning, it was empowered by the papal bull to include in its studies theology, canon and civil law, the arts, and every other faculty which might later be allowed.-^ The statutes of Bologna were recognised as applying to Glasgow. Bologna was essentially a students' University ; the students embodied the whole powers of the University, exer- cising control, through their Rector elected by them- selves, over the professors and masters ; residing in any place or group which they preferred, and regu- 1 M'Crie says " useful faculty," but licita refers to the need of distinct permission from the Pope. At Paris, for instance, civil law was not licita facultas. GLASGOW (1574-1580) 33 lating their own discipline. It was under such an amazing system that the Pope himself (Nicholas V.) had been bred. The life of a professor in the student- universities was not a happy one ; he could get leave of absence only by permission of his students, he was fine'd whenever the attendance fell below five, he must begin when the bell began under fine of twenty solidi, his students were entitled to leave when the bell rang for tierce, and so forth.-^ Nothing like it has been seen until the Workers' Educational Union entered on its career some years ago, forming classes whose members choose the professor and text-book, and may discard both for cause. The statutes of the Glasgow Studium Generale were not, however, iden- tical with those of Bologna and other student- universities. The whole plan fell through for lack of endowments. Only one faculty attained substan- tial being, that of Arts. At the Reformation, the Collegium or University (terms then synonymous) had as its Principal Master John Davidson, and received some scanty doles for its sustenance. But Davidson was not able to revive the moribund school for which he had striven to make a worldly provision. He became reformed, and accepted the parish of Hamilton about 1571 •,^ and then the public-spirited Andrew Hay, parson of Renfrew, persuaded the Glasgow Town Council to set about restoring the College. By various expedients, a modest income was secured for a principal or provost, two regents, , and twelve poor scholars. The principal was to ^ Rashdall, ofi. cit., I. 197 sqq. ^But M'Crie thinks that the minister of Hamilton was another John Davidson. 34 ANDREW MELVILLE expound the Scriptures publicly ; the regents (who taught philosophy) were to take their turn in reading prayers in the Blackfriars Church near the College. The principal thus became professor of theology ( = divinity). He was bound to live with the students and regents, on pain of losing his office. He was not permitted to have his wife (if he was married) resident in the College. This was one of the un- gallant regulations which survived the wreck of the Bologna statutes. Such was (very baldly outlined) the first Reforma- tion scheme at Glasgow College. Davidson, though technically the first professor of Divinity after the Reformation, did not actually teach. There was, in short, an interval of almost complete quiescence, though Peter Blackburn was brought from St. Andrews to act as temporary chief -regent. At Mel- ville's installation, the College of Glasgow may be described as being in a state of suspended animation. Dr. M'Crie estimates its total revenues at three hundred pounds Scots, and the number of persons provided for at fifteen. The main cause of this state of things was the Reformation, which necessarily undermined the ecclesiastical basis of the College. We must, however, be chary of supposing that the College of Glasgow had ever been very flourishing under the Roman Church. Its release from papal control marked the blossoming of new life. Though it exchanged Pope for Presbyter, the latter never bore so heavily on the independence of the teaching staff as the old sacerdotalism had done. The account of Melville's methods as Principal Master, given by his nephew, has long been a GLASGOW (1574-1580) 35 commonplace in the history of education. It is well- nigh a classic in quotations. James Melville was hardly nineteen when he attended his redoubtable chief on the first journey to Glasgow, and shared as secretary the labours of the reorganisation. The task was easier because there was no one on the spot except Mr. Peter Blackburn, a St. Andrews man, who accepted Andrew Melville's views with entire good- will. Mr. Peter was at first relieved of his teaching and set to the task of steward, to take " the cair of the CoUege leiving." Melville took the whole burden of teaching on his own capable shoulders. He introduced startling innovations. Latin being assumed, he threw himself into Greek, doing the Grammar, the Dialectic of Ramus and the Rhetoric of Talaeus (Talon), both as illustrated in Homer, Hesiod, Phocylides, Theognides, Pythagoras, Iso- crates, Pindar, Theocritus. Horace, and Virgil were not omitted. Such was the classical side. In the scientific department, he taught Euclid, the Arith- metic and Geometry of Ramus, the Geography of Dionysius, the Tables of Honter, the Astrology of Aratus. In Natural Philosophy, he fell back on Aristotle's Physics, but did not neglect Plato and Fernelius. In Moral Philosophy, he expounded Aristotle's Ethics, Cicero de Officiis, and some of Plato's dialogues. Not content with this, he attacked the study of History, dealing in the then approved manner with chronology and palaeography (cheiro- graphy). The actual "profession," or department, which Melville latterly undertook, was that of Divinity and Oriental Languages ("the holie tonges and Theo- 36 ANDREW MELVILLE logy"). Accordingly, he taught Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac, and the loci communes or " common heads" of theology, not neglecting the exegesis of the Scriptures as a whole. His nephew says that Melville ordinarily taught twice every day, including Sunday, and that he held an " ordinar conference " after dinner and supper with those who were present. The whole course marked out by Melville covered six years, a notable shortening of the time formerly required to tvirn out a priest. Into this space were packed the Arts and Divinity subjects, the student being eligible for licence as a preacher of the gospel long ere he reached his majority. Melville built from the foundation with his own hand. Selecting his students for their ability and promise, he aimed at providing a band of lecturers who would be useful both in Glasgow and elsewhere. Of those chosen youths, his nephew was one, and Peter Blackburn was another. The old system of " regenting," by which the same regent or tutor carried the students through the entire Arts course of three years, was in 1577 abolished. Hence- forward, each regent had his department allotted to him. To James Melville were entrusted mathe- matics, logic, and moral philosophy : to Peter Black- burn, physics and astronomy ; and to Blaise Laurie, Greek and Roman rhetoric. A separate teacher was appointed in Hebrew. Melville himself continued to act as Professor of Divinity. On the whole, it was a wonderful six years' work. Students came in freely, chiefly from St. Andrews. The list of laurea- tions in 1578-80 contains twenty-one names. James Melville declares that the rooms (i.e. bedrooms) were GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 37 not able to receive all who entered their names. He is naturally eulogistic, and we must take with reserve his statement that there was no place in Europe com- parable to Glasgow for good literature in those six years. It is certain, however, that the critical transi- tion from the Roman to the Reformed control was safely made, and that thenceforth Glasgow showed steady progress among the recognised Universities of the time. The chief stage in Melville's reconstruction is of course marked by the Nova Erectio of 1577. There we have the methods, already practised by Melville, ratified by royal charter. There is internal evidence in the deed of " Erection by the King," that Melville supplied the very terms which describe the new curri- culum. He had long before digested his views in conference with George Buchanan and Arbuthnot of Aberdeen. The charter recites that the Collegium or Paedagogium of Glasgow had fallen into extreme distress, and that its revenues were quite inadequate for the maintenance of a principal, masters, regents, bursars, and needfiil officers in any college. It then dispones to those persons the whole benefice of Govan for themselves and their successors, and at the same time confirms their former possessions, on con- dition of their offering common prayers and supplica- tions for the prosperity of the king and his successors, and of teaching of good literature and languages and other needful " professions," and of practising good discipline and order in the College. Such is the instrument of donation. There follows the "tenor" of the "erection and foundation." It is here that Melville's Latinity may 38 ANDREW MELVILLE be detected in the formal setting forth of his educa- tional plans. Since providence has willed that the light of the Evangel should pre-eminently shine on our Scotland, the darkness of Papistry having been dispelled (so runs this notable " tenor "), therefore we must seek to hand down this blessing to posterity. This cannot be done better than by education. And education is like to perish unless it be nourished by rewards and honours. While we have been promot- ing education throughout the kingdom at large, we would also seek to gather up the fragments of the Academia Glasguensis, which we find sunk in penury and almost done for. We therefore make the fore- going grants, with the purpose of maintaining in that College twelve ordinarias personas (regular office- bearers). The twelve are to be, a Gymnasiarcha (Primarius, Praepositus, Principalis) : three regents : an oeconomus : four pauperes studentes : the Gym- nasiarch's servus : a cook ; and a janitor. These twelve ordinarii are to live collegialiter. The living of Govan being valued at twenty-four chalders, they are to be entitled to expend twenty-one of these on the sustenance of themselves, without luxury or pro- fusion ; and any surplus is to be used for pious purposes and for repairing the buildings. The staff are to be incited to more serious study frugali victus ratione. In other words, their rations are to be of a sparing amount, so that there may be a surplus. The Gymnasiarch or Principal must be a man plus et probus, to whom the College and its several members ought to be subordinate. As a teacher, he must be versed in the Literae Sacrae, an apt expositor of the Verbum Divinum, skilled in languages, especi- GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 39 ally in Hebrew and Syriac, " of which we appoint him Professor." He must prelect daily for at least one hour, on Theology the one day, and on these sacred tongues the alternate day. The terms are praelectionem Theologicam seligat, and linguam ipsam sanctam explicaturus. The distinction is between reading a lecture and teaching a class. But the Sabbath is to be immune from praelections, and this for a peculiar reason — that whole day belonged to the Gymnasiarch's hearers, and must be spent by him in preparing his sermon for the people of Govan. For since the College was to be nourished from the fruits of that benefice, "we judge it fair that they who minister temporal things should enjoy spiritual " — aequum esse duximus ut qui temporalia ministrant spiritualia percipiant. Therefore the Principal is to give his utmost possible effort to feed the flock in Govan. Every Lord's Day he must exhort them to piety and probity ; but his fixed residence must be in the College, and he may not absent himself unless after consultation with the Rector, the Dean of Faculty and his other colleagues the regents. Should he indeed spend the night (pernoctaverit) outside the College precincts on three successive occasions, his post became vacant, and the Crown appointed within thirty days. Failing a Crown appointment, the choice of principal fell to the Chancellor (Archbishop of Glasgow), the Rector, the Dean of Faculty, and the ministers of the five adjacent parishes, Glasgow, Hamilton, Cadder, Monkland, and Renfrew. In appointing, they were to intimate a public examina- tion by notices on the College and Cathedral gates, and likewise to notify the St. Andrews and Aberdeen 40 ANDREW MELVILLE men, and others si quae aliae sint nostrae Academiae. There was thus to be a public competition, as there is still for the Chair of Systematic Theology at Aber- deen. The salary of this vir gravis, doctus, et idoneus was to be 200 merles, along with the three remaining chalders from Govan for his services as minister. Should he turn out negligent and of evil manners, a majority of the patrons might dismiss him from his post after three warnings, conveyed to him by his colleagues. Then follows the plan of teaching by regents who are to superintend the training of youth and act as assistants to the praepositus or principal. Three are designated — the favourite number of Melville, either in itself or in some multiple.^ The number may also have been suggested by the mediaeval Trivium. The three regents are termed primus, secundus, and tertius ; but this is the order of increasing, not of decreasing, importance, as is shewn by the subse- quent specification of duties and salaries. The first regent was to teach Eloquentia (Rhetoric, Literae humaniores) from the most approved writers ; he was also to " profess " Greek ; and in both tongues he was to exercise his students both in writing and in speaking. Thus the students were to be prepared for the second session's work. This was confided to the second regent, who was to teach Dialectic and Logic from the most approved authors, such as Cicero, Plato, and Aristotle ; also, the elements of Arithmetic and Geometry. To each of these two 1 Three Scots universities : three St. Andrews colleges : three chalders for the minister of Govan : thirty days for Crown appointment : three warnings to a bad Principal, etc. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 41 regents was assigned in name of salary fifty merles a year out of the general revenue available before the Nova Erectio. The third regent was, oddly enough, the chief of the Principal's colleagues, and would be described as taking the First or Graduating Class. His task was to teach Phisiologiam omnem, eamque quae de Natura est auscultationem . . . Geographiam etiam et Astrologiam profitebitur necnon generalem etiam Chronographiam et temporum a condito mundo supputationem. This stupendous undertaking is identical with the old department of Civil and Natural History, of which there survived a chair and a professor (without students) in the University of St. Andrews within living memory. It was a " pro- fession " indeed without adequate " practice." Even Melville did not expect very much from the third regent beyond Physiologia, which represented the old Physics of the Scots curriculum. And his hand is clearly visible in the clause of the Charter which follows : " However, since we would set a limit to the charge and labours of this third regent within the Arts Course, and would have our graduates (pileo donates) apply the more keenly to weightier studies ; further, since the business side of the Gymnasium and the care of it shall belong to him in any absence of the Praepositus, or his being otherwise engaged in the ministration and care of Govan Church, we allow the same regent fifty pounds (libras) of our money per annum from the former endowments." Thus the third regent was to be paid half as much again as each of the other two, and about one-third of the principal's salary. 42 ANDREW MELVILLE In considering these salaries, we must bear in mind that they represent only the payment in money. We must add to each the payment in kind, for the prin- cipal and regents were to be boarded at a common table. If we estimate that each of the four consumed three chalders of the Govan stipend per annum, we must add to their several salaries something like fifty pounds Scots. The emoluments, for such times, were not therefore contemptible. The place of Prae- positus or Principal was certainly for the time a desir- able one in point of income. It may be regarded as being worth, in modern money, as much as the best livings in the Church. It must also be remembered that each regent received payments from his scholars, either as fixed dues, or as gratuities. Altogether, the position of a regent was not uncomfortable, and in some cases (as where wealthy or titled pupils entered a class), the regent might well become a m.an of some means. One important provision was inserted. The regent was no longer to take his class through every depart- ment of the Arts course, but was to confine himself to his appointed " profession," unless the Principal saw fit to allow an exchange of " chairs." Melville's blunt style is seen in the reason assigned for this innovation on the custom of the other Universities of Scotland (and indeed of the then world) — by this custom of " regenting," he declares, it has come about that the regents profess many subjects but are found expert in few (ut dum multa profiteantur, in paucis periti inveniantur— like a rhyming pasquinade). The election of regents lay with the Rector, the Dean, and the Principal. Their correction or disci- GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 43 pline was placed in the hands of the Principal alone ; and he also had power to dismiss them after three warnings, provided due ground was shown and the advice of the Rector and the Dean taken. The little community of the Paedagogium was to include four bursars, whose paupertas was to signify not only that their friends through lack of means could not feed them, but also that they had con- spicuous ability and had had an adequate training in grammar. The Principal was empowered to see that the rich were not admitted to bursaries in place of the poor, neve fuci alvearia depascant} The bursars were to be punished by the Principal if they mis- behaved : they were to remain on the list for three years and a half, the period required for a course in Arts in all the Scots colleges ; and they must proceed to the M.A. degree. The oeconomus was an important official, and his responsibility for the revenue and expenditure was recognised by payment of a salary of twenty pounds Scots. The Principal's servitor, the cook and the janitor each received board from the common table and six merks ; and they are all appointed or dis- missed at the discretion of the Primarius himself. There follows immediately an exhortation to all fundatas personas to do their work Christiane, and thus fulfil the royal expectation. Nor are the students (" who, we hope, will flock in great numbers from every part of this kingdom to our Gymnasium ") overlooked in the matter of good advice. They are exhorted to behave quietly, to obey the Principal and regents, and the like. Moreover, a caution is given ^ " Nor let the drones devour the hives." 44 ANDREW MELVILLE against the astuteness of Satan, everywhere striving to seduce young men from the Evangel to the more than Cimmerian night of the Papacy. The students are required to make declaration of their faith in terms of the Scots Confession once a year, and so to rout the enemy of the human race, and promote the glory of God. This historical deed was followed by a solemn public investiture in Govan Church on September 6, 1577, when the Archbishop of Glasgow, James Boyd, at the request of Peter Blackburn, " one of the regents of the Collegium Glasguense," personally proceeded to the church and instituted Blackburn, as representing the principal, regents, bursars, servants, and other founded officers, and their successors, in the whole rectory and vicarage teinds and other pro- perty of the parish. The symbol was per delihera- tionem Bibliae. Blackburn took instruments. The group of witnesses present on the occasion included David Wemyss, minister of Glasgow, Patrick Sharp, preceptor of the Grammar School, and James Gibson, vicar-pensioner of Govan. This, so far as appears, was the only ordination or induction Melville ever had. It wears a curious air, since Melville himself was absent.^ The position of Blackburn at this ceremony was significant of his important rank and functions. He was the principal's alter ego, and chief regent, exactly as provided in the Charter. He acted as agent (actor) in the College affairs, and probably the oeconomus himself was superseded by him on many occasions. Blackburn left Glasgow to become 1 For the text of the Nova Erectio, see Munimenta, I. 103 sqq. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 45 minister of Aberdeen, where he finally accepted the office of bishop in 1603, dying in 161 5, in some unpopularity with both sections of the Church, presbyterian and episcopaL^ The work of Melville left its mark on the succeed- ing ages of the University. The gradual ascent from Languages (Eloquentia) to Mental Science, and thence, in the First or Highest Class, to Physical Science, was observed implicitly in Scots Universities up to the time of the Universities' Commission in 1889. The master's degree up till then was taken in those three departments and in the order recited — Classics, Philosophy, Mathematics. Many remain who think the old way better than our modern system of options. Yet even the new M.A. degree has traces of Melville's plan, for it requires still Languages, Mental Science, and Physical Science, although the proportions have changed. Melville's aim was to lay a solid foundation of general know- ledge. The regent was to instil knowledge, apart from "culture." There were certain definite things to be narrated (enanare) — things which the professor had first himself assimilated (degus tare), a.nd on which he could talk clearly (explicare). Such were Dialectic and Logic and Physiologia (Natural History). There were others which the professor was to "profess" (profiteri) — things which involved a wider and more general treatment. Such were Rhetoric and History (Chronographia). The terms used in the Nova Erectio are not chosen at random. The Gymnasi- archa or Principal alone is styled professor. It was 1 See Keith's Catalogue, p. 131. Blackburn was minister of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen. 46 ANDREW MELVILLE a style and title which Melville little liked. The regent was not to profess too much, but rather he was to narrate, dictate, explicate. The relation of the Arts course to Theology was indicated in the vague expression . . . volumus . . . pileo donatos adolescentes ad graviora stud'ta alacrius contendere. These " more weighty " or serious studies must refer to the special work of the Principal as Professor of Divinity. As the Arts course con- sumed three years and a half, the special theological training was compressed into the remaining two and a half years. But the student who had graduated Master of Arts had practically got all that Melville's College could give him. For Law he must needs go abroad to Holland or Bologna ; for Medicine, there was as yet no provision nearer than Paris ; even in Theology, the knowledge imparted by Melville's scheme was chiefly catechetical in character. The real practical training of preachers was effected through the " Exercise," that convention of ministers of the Gospel which soon developed into the local presbytery. Thus James Melville, after his laurea- tion, says, "God opened my mouth first in publict upon the exercise " in the presence and under the superintendence of Mr. Andrew Hay. The latter was in fact " moderator " of the meeting, and gave the young student much commendation. The "Exercise and Addition" of the Divinity Hall is a survival of the presbyterial exercise. At meetings of the brethren up till the middle of the eighteenth century, one member was appointed to open the exer- cise and to "add," or sum it up. The minute generally states that Mr. Such-an-One " opened and GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 47 added in the ordinar}'." James Melville was so encouraged by his maiden effort that he dreamed of " making the exercise " in Montrose, where his father would be one of the hearers. That same night his father died. The dream did not much impress his uncle Andrew, who dryly remarked that a previous dream of his imaginative nephew's had betokened a hanging, and yet ended in a wedding. ■■• James Melville pursued his theological studies under his uncle's direction, attending the " lessons " (prelectiones) on Calvin's Institutes. He availed himself of the weekly regent's duty (as " hebdo- mader ") to add to the common prayers in the Black- friars a lecture on the chapter read each day, along with doctrinal and practical observations. In short, he practised the art of preaching on his students, and on that part of the audience which came in from the general public. Again, he had a success ; people began to resort very frequently to his " week " ; and the other regents followed suit. The , general scheme underlying Scots College education at this time was that the Professor, strictly so called, should be aided with the raw material by regents, who were very much like pupil-teachers in their relation to him. He supervised their "dic- tates " or lectures : presided and summed up at their " disputations " or discussions ; and, for the rest, dealt with his special " profession " in a broader and less scholastic way. As it was gradually realised that any one subject had grown beyond the capacity of 1 Diary, pp. 50, 51. For "opening and adding," see Grey Graham, Social Life in Scotland in the iSM Century, p. 28c (ed. 1909). 48 ANDREW MELVILLE the regent, a professorship was set up for that sub- ject. Thus at an early stage in Glasgow, we find a Professor of Medicine emerging and disappearing. It must be noted also that there was at first a very close bond between the College and the Grammar School. Patrick Sharp, the master of the Grammar School, lived in the Paedagogium with Melville, fared at his table, and was a " hearer " of his lectures,^ becoming ultimately his successor as Principal. The entire outline was very similar to that which is still to be found in Roman Catholic Colleges, where the student is taken through the course alike in Arts and in Theology by junior and senior masters, themselves churchmen. In Melville's college, every student was pledged to the Reformed doctrine, every regent was qualified to read prayers and " take the exercise " ; and the finished or laureated student might thus pass at once to civil or to church oflice without special or exactly defined ceremonies. For the churchman (kirkman, ecclesiastic) there always waited the " trials " or " inquisition " of the brethren of the Exercise ; but there was no ceremony of licensing to preach, because the mag'ister was already licensed to teach. Nor was there any imposition of hands at ordination ( = co-ordination, admission, cooptation) ; for the ceremony had been adjudged not necessary. There was of course the deliberatio Bibliae, and " the right hand of fellowship "; but the pastor entered as a magister artium, and was known professionally as Magister (Scotice, Maister). All this is clear enough from the records of that time. The reformers did 1 Diary, p. 50. Contubernalis may cover all this, although it may also mean no more than a table companion. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 49 not discard the collegiate system of the Roman educa- tion, except in such points as imported superstition. The whole Academia or Gymnasium lived together : women were absolutely excluded : a definite religious rule prevailed; and the complete scholar was manu- factured for any and every business of life. Thus, although Melville ranked as a " kirlcman," his students did not all become preachers and pastors. Some at least passed to civil life or followed arms. There is reason to believe, however, that for a long time the Scots Universities were practically theo- logical halls, and of no mean order even by our present standards. They supplied the Scottish Church with its ministers. The soldier, the lawyer, the doctor, the laird, were not invariably college-bred men. When they were so, their University had often been a foreign one. The clergy still had a kind of monopoly of learning, and the chief claim to the title now veiled itself under the curt symbol " Mr." This was but a natural result of the fact that the unre- formed Church had largely kept to itself the know- ledge which existed. . Its ministers were the only clerks { = clerici). The Reformation was far advanced before the notion of college learning for laymen became very familiar. The foregoing observations are not meant to suggest that Scotland at this time was a nation of illiterates on the one hand and parsons on the other. Such a travesty of history may indeed be suggested by some utterances of Knox, Melville, and even their common biographer. Dr. M'Crie. Yet Scotland was still "priest-ridden" to an extent hardly conceivable by the modern mind. The presbyter was incessantly so ANDREW MELVILLE shedding the syllable which distinguishes his style from priest. He retained something of the celibate, with his freedom of tongue and hardihood of fancy : there was about him, also, a certain academic conse- quence which might well become pomposity and long- winded conceit : he was half a college don and half a preacher : among country people he easily became wholly a parish pope. The upper classes of the day were mostly innocent of letters, no lovers of books or parchments, and keen bargainers for gear. In the king, James VI., we have the Scots layman writ large, a combination of pragmatic conceit with coarse- ness of manners and a pettifogger's love of legal tricks. As we leave Melville at the close of his Glasgow campaign, we can gather that he was not quite at ease. The Glasgow student had given him some anxious hours ; one need not recite the oft-told tale of Alexander Cuningham and Alexander Boyd,^ as well as that of young Maxwell of Herries. Mel- ville's words spoken in the case of Boyd have a tone of exasperation which is significant — " If they would have forgiveness, let them crave it humbly and they shall have it ; but ere that preparative pass that we dare not correct our scholars for fear of bangsters (bullies) and clanned gentlemen, they shall have all the blood of my body first! "^ It is to be supposed that the Principal's description of the rioters did not help his popularity. In any case, he was an East Coast man, and East and West in Scotland have never been quite at one. Melville's task was done, 1 Diary, pp. 69-72. ^liid. pp. 65, 66. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 51 and well done. We cannot b'lame him for departing to his old and loved College. The teaching in any University reflects itself in its library ; but the meagre list of books preserved in the Munimenta (III. 407) contains for 1578 only seventeen separate works, all presented to the College. The Rector, Andrew Hay of Renfrew, gives Cas- talio's Bible, in 4 vols, folio ; 1556. George Buchanan lends his aid by giving the remaining sixteen. It is curious that not one of Melville's new treatises is included — neither Ramus, nor Dionysius, nor Honter, nor Fernelius, nor Talaeus (Talon). No doubt, all these and many more novelties were imported by Melville from Geneva. His nephew smacks his scholarly lips as he tells how "the next simmer (1575) came ham(e) his librarie, ritche and rare, of the best authors in all langages, artes and sciences." ^ But Melville carried them with him to St. Andrews. A copy of Dionysius On the World, with the neat autograph on the title-page, Andreas Melvinus, and the printer's name and date, Henricus Stephanus, 1577, may still be seen there. Stephens was a Genevan printer, who is mentioned in 1574, in a minute of the General Assembly, with the highest laudation.^ Of course, there were at Glasgow the MSS. of a number of works prior to the introduction of printing, of which the list is given in the Muni- menta, III. 403. They were mostly bound in parch- ment, though some are described as being in papiro ; and as might be expected, they were copies of Aris- totle's treatises almost without exception. But the ^ UU. p. 45. 2 Book of the Universal Kirk, p. 306. 52 ANDREW MELVILLE lists are a remarkable illustration of the mediaeval penuriousness in libraries. Each scholar amassed his own stock with pain and privation while printing was unknown. And long after printed books were avail- able, college libraries grew largely by gifts from departing alumni (who had " no further use " for books), or by legacies such as that of Buchanan. On such slender provision the sixteenth century scholar acquired a learning to which few moderns attain. Melville himself produced no books either at Glasgow or at St. Andrews. He was a born teacher rather than a writer. Besides, he gave his best as table-talk, and in dexterous Latin verses.^ To the Glasgow period belongs not one of his printed effusions ; for the earliest {Carmen Mosis, Basileae, 1573) is dated while he was still in Geneva. James Melville no doubt records in 1578 the dedication by his uncle to the king of the Song of Moses, with certain epigrams and a chapter of Job in Latin verse. It may therefore be inferred that the Carmen Mosis had been revised, and reissued in Scotland along with the version of Job, chap, iii., and some such epigrams as the following (to be found in the Delitiae poetarum Scotorum hujus aevi illustr'tum^ II. 108 sqq. ed. 1637)— Ad novissimos Galliae martyres, 1572. Gasper Colinus, Galliarum Thaliarcha. Mariae Reginae Scotorum Epitaphium (two "epigrams"). In Missam (on the Mass), 4 epigrams. Ad Regem de Buchanani Historia. Ad G. Buchananum (2). iSee Melville's Diary, p. 63, where the nephew accounts for his uncle's neglect of authorship. "There are plenty of scribblers and would-be authors," Melville would say. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 53 What others were included cannot be settled until a copy of this Glasgow booklet shall be found. ^ The "epigram" at this period was not confined to spor- tive or satirical themes, as may be seen in the two dexterous pieces (styled more distinctively epi- taphium) on the Queen of Scots. The ingenious editor, Arthur Johnston, includes them under the common description of epigrammata. They are very finished examples of Melville's verse, and not less of his versatility. The tragic Queen is supposed to speak them herself, and thereby the poet escapes many snares, and is able to give a picture entirely majestic. He does not indeed escape his inveterate tendency to punning, even at the most delicate moment of the Queen's career — Et nunc cervice securim Accipio secura . . . she declaims — as if she said — And now upon my neck the stroke I take, my soul unstruck. Few lines tell more in less space than the second epitaph on the Queen — Regibus orta auxi rages, reginaque vixi, Ter nupta, et tribus orba viris, tria regna reliqui : Gallus opes, Scotus cunas habet, Angla sepulchrum. Sprung from a line of kings, kings grew from me, Thrice wed, thrice widowed, I left kingdoms three ; France has my wealth, my cradle's with the Scot, My grave was all the Englishwoman got ! 2 1 There is a copy extant ; see M'Crie's Melville, p. 40, note. 2 See Delitiae poetarum Scotorum II. p. 112. 54 ANDREW MELVILLE It is in such learned trifling that we catch a glimpse of the real Andrew Melville. The picture drawn by Dr. M'Crie is on the whole too austere. We must rather conjure up a little, black-haired, somewhat meagre Scotsman, high-coloured and restless, with much of the French bonhomie and quickness of wit, a mimic and a versifier, with a passionate and tragic temperament beneath his resolute gaiety : one who, delicate and timid in his orphaned childhood, forward and impetuous in manhood, (hasty is the Scots word for this sort), solicited alike anger and affection, and though often and eagerly braving death was never once assailed in a murderous time. He was the familiar type of Scot who is never so well in health as when he is fighting — the Alan Breck of Stevenson. M'Crie himself was forced to notice this quality of incorrigible gaiety — rehus in arduis} Melville's cheerfulness was in inverse ratio to the success of his party. He was a scholarly Mark Tapley (never so happy as when he ought to have been miserable). One of his biographers makes a sort of apology for his apparent levity at the solemn conference regarding the restoration of prelates in parliament in 1598. The question of a distinctive name came up ; " call them ima-KOTTovi if you like," said Melville ; " but let it be with a little eke (addition), aWoTpioeTria-KOTrovf, unless they shrink from such company as Peter speaks of in Peter I. cap. 4, viz. murderers, thieves, and malefactors! " Afterwards Melville chuckled over his quip — " Verily gossip Andrew at the baptism (if so I dare jest with that word) was not a little vogie (proud) for getting of the bairn's name! " Mr. 1 M'Crie's I«>, p. 333. GLASGOW (i 574-1 580) 55 Morison, upon this, says we must " take into account the spirit almost of glee with which he fought * the good fight.' " ^ I think he is right. But it was a glee which needs no apology from those who know the type of Scotsman, especially in Church matters, who leaves the battle-ground of controversy in perfect good humour whether beaten or victorious. He has had "a run for his money." Such was Andrew Melville, through a somewhat stormy life. Such he remained till his death in a foreign land. Indeed, he was at his cheeriest in his long exile. As we leave him at the end of his Glasgow period, we feel sure he had enjoyed the task set him, of re- arranging the College course, and of withstanding to the face those who set good discipline at nought. But Glasgow did not afford him sufficient scope for his peculiar gift of cheerfulness amid contention. We must now briefly trace his steps to a more pro- mising region, in which he revelled amid storm and stress for six and twenty years. III. St. Andrews (i 581-1606) In October, 1 580, the King presented Melville to the office of Principal of the New College (or St. Mary's), St. Andrews, an office which he held for twenty-six years. During all that time he took his share of the teaching as Professor of Divinity, except for 1584-6 when a refligee in England. It is as Principal of St! Mary's that he must go down in history. The fullest part of his active life, also, was lived during the St. ^Morism^ndretv MehWe, in Famous Scots Series, p io8 f^osnp at the baptism = %^oa%or. Kimmr^midwift. S6 ANDREW MELVILLE Andrews epoch. As, however, the main interest for the present work is his Glasgow epoch, only the briefest review is possible of his labours at the Fifeshire College. Melville's chance of distinction as a theologian came while he was in Glasgow, and was perforce sacri- ficed for his lifelong polemic against Episcopacy. The chance never recurred, although the King's policy more than once sent him into retirement. In 1584, for example, he had to escape from imprisonment, and, along with several colleagues in the same dis- tress, he spent some time at Berwick, visiting also London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Again, in 1597, the King descended on Melville's eyrie, and held a royal visitation of St. Andrews University, of which Melville was Rector or Chief Functionary ; on this occasion, Melville was ejected from the Rectorship, and professors of theology were excluded from sitting in the Courts of the Church, unless duly elected by the University. As Melville had already been dis- charged from preaching except in Latin, he was now pretty fully shut off from ecclesiastical politics, and might have devoted his entire time to theological study and authorship. Another man, with another kind of temperament, would have done so. It is a verifiable fact that no theological professor in Scotland has done permanent scientific work who threw himself into the debates of Church Courts, and the intrigues of ecclesiastical life. But Melville liked the latter too much to resist his temperament. Moreover, there was a call of duty. The struggle against Episcopacy in its two forms, the Tulchan or pseudo- episcopate and the prelatic, was to him no mere con- tention for power and property. He was singularly ST. ANDREWS (i 581-1606) 57 free from ambition. From the first he had, h'lce Knox, refused to be episcopated, and his Nolo was a literal and final rejection of place and wealth. He never became a "church-leader," although he has almost always been so described. He jealously kept himself free from the official cage into which so many of his early friends were lured by the craft and chicanery of the King. His public appearances for the cause of Presbytery were from the beginning involuntary and often unexpected. He is more like the ancient prophet emerging from his seclusion to hurl denunciation and protest, than the deliberate Church politician. And he was accordingly beaten at every important point. The episcopising went steadily on before his eyes, until the royal command made him first an unwilling guest, then a prisoner, and finally for long years an exile. It is not without a pathetic significance that he ended his days at Sedan. His public life was a succession of Sedans. His happiest times had been while he was a wandering student, or perhaps in the kindly Genevan academy ; and afterwards when he went back to France and became an onlooker. This is not to say that he was ever wholly unhappy, since he lacked the tempera- ment of the hypochondriac. But while he remained in his native land, he was driven into controversy by a deep sense of national duty. He honestly believed, as did Knox, and many others, that Episcopacy was unscriptural, unwholesome in its effects on the Church, fundamentally at variance with the Reformed doctrine,^ and destructive of national freedom. There ^ The Arminian tendencies of Episcopacy created a gulf between it and the Reformers. 58 ANDREW MELVILLE is no manner of doubt that he was ready to give his life in the argument. More than once his life was in danger. We must take human nature as we find it. Mel- ville enjoyed his life, yet at the same time he had a profound love of truth and of his country. He never indeed let himself go like Knox ; but in his cheery optimistic way he did much to hearten the men who were yet to purge the national Zion. Per- haps he was better thus occupied than if he had <:ompiled heavy folios. In St. Andrews, at any rate, he was at home. He lived in his own college amid familiar scenes. He had already, in 1578, done much to reform the University, and though the Church's scheme was never fully carried out, he took up the work at St. Mary's under fairly distinct arrangements, which made it the Theological Hall par excellence of the University. The other two colleges, St. Salvator's and St. Leonard's, continued very much on their old lines, offering the complete round of philosophical knowledge as then conceived. In St. Mary's, the critical philosophy of Ramus was applied to clear up Aristotle, while the study of the sacred tongues received a new impetus. Meantime, the Archbishops came and went. Adamson, however, had no suc- cessor for the time Melville remained at St. Andrews. It was not till Melville had gone for ever from St. Mary's in 1606 that Gladstanes came upon the scene. What sort of work went on in St. Mary's.? At the outset, a number of foreign students came to sit at Melville's feet, and this influx from abroad con- tinued till he left. They came from France, Belgium, ST. ANDREWS (1581-1606) 59 Germany, Poland, Prussia, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Switzerland — an extraordinary area of influence. There were two reasons for this influx, the first being the scarcity of Reformed teachers abroad, the second, Melville's own reputation which had already passed, by way of scholar refugees and others, from Geneva to the various countries of Europe affected by the Reformation. It is note- worthy that no Spaniard appears in the list nor any Russian. Melville, aided by his nephew James and other like-minded regents, gave these foreigners what they could not so well get elsewhere, a system of doctrine of the Calvinistic pattern combined with a training in oriental languages. If we are inclined to depreciate Melville as a theologian because of his unproductiveness, at least we must acknowledge his exceptional gifts as a linguist. Knowledge of the sacred tongues was eagerly coveted by the Reformers. And Melville by all accounts was an orientalist of unusual skill. It is probable that this, rather than his fame as a theologian in the modern restricted sense, drew students from such distances. The idea of learning as a trade-secret was far from being exploded. Melville and his staff had the secret of tongues. The pre-eminent interest of oriental languages con- tinued in Glasgow up to the time of Burnet. It had reached its height when Robert Baillie made it the paramount concern of his chair. The unquestioning reliance on Scripture as infallible and inerrant begot this passion for the original languages of the Bible. To retrieve the ipsissima verba was to achieve a triumph over the Papalists, who mostly relied on the Vulgate. After the Authorised Version of 161 1 6o ANDREW MELVILLE appeared, there was a sensible decrease in the enthusiasm. And the day came when Boston had to teach himself Hebrew, and to discover the infallibility of the accents. Our own time is witnessing a revival of this interest from a rather altered standpoint. Biblical scholars are working night and day to ascertain the text, not only by the ordinary tests, but also by psychological methods which never occurred to Mel- ville's age. At the back of those methods is a new and higher conception of the Bible, as being not a collection of Sibylline oracles, but a swelling tide of religious passion and of truths that have come out of the deepest and purest in man, and have spoken to the deepest and purest of each age. It seems likely that orientalism will have its turn in our theological schools, and that systematic doctrine may continue for a time under a shadow. Melville at St. Andrews appealed to the modernists of his time everywhere. He was if not an anti- Aristotelian, at least a neo-Aristotelian. He was a bold expositor of Scripture, giving back the key of knowledge which the unreformed Church had with- held. He shewed no mercy to the Papalists, and scrupled not to demolish the results of centuries by his appeal to Scripture. This was aptly illustrated in his attack on Diocesan Episcopacy.^ His studies had first been directed to the subject in his second year at Glasgow, by a motion or overture in the Assembly from John Dury. Mr. Morison says " there is little doubt that it originated with Melvile " ; ^ but if Melville's influence was so great, as this implies, he 1 Melville made no attack on Episcopacy of the Pauline order. * Morison, Andrew Melville, in Famous Scots Series, p. 36. ST. ANDREWS (158 1-1606) 61 would have brought forward the motion himself. The decisions of the Assembly on the point of Epis- copacy took shape in the Second Book of Discipline, which was the work of a large and representative committee and not in any sense of Melville alone. But the almost accidental diversion of Melville's energies to ecclesiastical controversies revealed what a power his modernism could be in advancing the Presbyterian cause. Such a master of the sacred oracles could hardly be withstood by any one on the Episcopal side. Melville undoubtedly was prota- gonist in this contest, which appealed to his scholarly instincts as well as to his love of truth. He never afterwards escaped from the arena, until his exile abroad set him free. At first, the new light was welcomed by all except obstinate Papists, a number of whom still kept a stout grip on Scotland. The very Archbishop (Tul- chan) of St. Andrews proffered an emotional assent to articles which condemned all bishops as unscrip- tural. This gentleman was Patrick Constance, Con- stantine, or Adamson. " Mr. Patrik Adamsone called Bischope," is James Melville's description of him. He owed some thanks to Andrew Melville for the approval of his poem on Job ; and when the former came to St. Andrews, Adamson gave him a warm welcome. So curious was the position that the nephew tells how his vincle borrowed a good horse from the Bishop in order to attend the 1581 Assem- bly in which the office of Bishops, " as they war mentioned," was judged damnable.^ Ingenuous 1 Melville's Diary, p. 87. No doubt, the word is used as equal to the phrase "deserving condemnation." 62 ANDREW MELVILLE simplicity could no further go. It was this same bishop who only two years later framed the Articles sent to the Churches of Geneva, Tigurie (= Zurich) and others, stoutly asserting diocesan episcopacy. These articles, however, never came out of Adam- son's brain ; they are too able and even witty an assault on presbytery to be entirely his. The hand of the young king, perchance of the English arch- bishops to whom Adamson presented them, may be detected. Melville's public career from this point falls easily into four periods : I. The first exile (1584-158 6). At the end of 1583 or beginning of 1584, Melville's energetic attack on episcopacy and the alleged royal supremacy culminated in a sermon at St. Andrews for which he was summoned before the Privy Council. He was ordered into prison, but escaped to Berwick, whither he was soon followed by his nephew and several others of the active Presbyterian party. James Melville's story of his own voyage in an open boat while fleeing from the city is one of the best and most vivid in all his Diary.^ The declaration of the Royal Supremacy was made formally in May, 1584, and there followed the establishment of episcopal juris- diction. In virtue of this, Adamson, archbishop of St. Andrews, took the step of suppressing theological classes at St. Mary's. This would not of course affect the teaching at St. Leonard's. St. Mary's had become the haunt of the Presbyterian students ; St. Leonard's was still the nursing mother of the pre- latists. Melville did not stay long in Berwick. He 1 Melville's Diary, pp. 167-170. ST. ANDREWS (i 581-1606) 63 made his way to London, and like Adamson before him and James Sharp after, did a little canvassing at court. His ties were naturally closest with the Puri- tan party there. He lectured on Genesis, mostly to his fellow-exiles, in the chapel of the Tower, which, like Westminster Abbey, was independent of epis- copal control. One imagines how puzzled the Londoners must have been, confronted by two men so different as Adamson and Melville, both professing to represent Scottish churchmanship. The banish- ment of the " peregrine " ministers ceased on the change of advisers to the king in Scotland, and Melville found himself restored to his work at St. Mary's in October, 1586, after something like three years' absence. 2. The Ten Tears'' Favour (i 586-1 596). On his return, Melville found himself in the sunshine of royal favour. The paedagogic side of the king re- appeared. His Majesty was ever fond of scholars, and Melville was both scholar and good comrade. Thus in 1590, the king commanded him to produce the laureate's ode on the royal marriage ; and the Stephaniskion survives as the result. To Melville also fell the honour of reciting his poem at the coro- nation in the chapel of Holyroodhouse, and he received lavish praise from the royal lips, and much fame among European scholars. The poem, as it appears in the Delitiae, does not seem to merit the extravagant compliments paid it by the two greatest Latinists of that time, Lipsius and Scaliger. The festive enthusiasm of the honeymoon may explain the king's praises ; for those two scholars, we may 64 ANDREW MELVILLE offer the perhaps damaging extenuation that some- thing like " log-rolling " prevailed at this time in the fraternity of learning. But Melville was at any rate in high court favour. The king paid a visit to St. Andrews, and behaved most condescendingly. In 1590, Melville was chosen Rector. In 1592, the Charter of Presbytery was ratified in full. It is true there were occasional " tiffs " with the Court. The position of Rector also involved some serious calls on Melville's courage and wit. His experience in Glasgow served him well on such occasions, and St. Andrews never had a stronger ruler. He was not much vexed by episcopal interference, anomalous as the posture of affairs was, with bishops and archbishops of undefined authority but limitless claims. For one thing, the title was a legal fiction. The archbishop or bishop remained a simple presbyter in the Church ; and, quoad sacra, he was relegated to his order as a presbyter either qua pastor of a fixed congregation, or as a "ruling elder" (to use the modern phrase). Thus John Douglas, while archbishop, appears also as an elder of the Church in the annual list for 1570 (October 13),^ in company with others, both preachers and laymen. It is true that his successor, Adamson, was not thus honoured. But Melville appears at the head of the list very soon after Adamson's death, and there was practically no archbishop again while Mel- ville remained in St. Andrews. The situation was somewhat peculiar, and had manifest marks of insta- bility. Bishops were meanwhile tolerated and ignored. The Act of 1592 seemed to render them harmless. It was not till 1596, which James Melville ^ Register of St. Andrews Kirk Session, I. 34.2. ST. ANDREWS (i 581-1606) 65 calls the " periodic or fatal year," that the king's mind returned definitely to the policy of episcopal restora- tion. A series of fifty-five questions on the subject was issued by royal authority, and a convention of Estates with a meeting of the General Assembly was called for February. It was to meet at Perth. This ended Melville's time of comparative peace. It closed also a period which Principal Lee describes as " the era of the greatest purity which this National Church ever attained. . . . Whoever wishes to study the true genius of the Presbyterian system of discipline ought to attend particularly to this interval of its ascendancy, from 1592 to 1596."^ This verdict is not universally accepted even hy Presbyterians, for the " Golden Age of Presbytery " is usually assigned to a much later period, from 1638 to 1649. In either case, it is noteworthy that Presbytery's times of com- plete ascendancy were but brief — five years in the sixteenth centiuy, twelve years in the seventeenth. The rest is a story of constant struggle against secret Romanising forces,^ until the expulsion of the Stuarts in 1689 brought the final triumph of religious and civil liberty. 3. The Ten Tears' Conflict (1596 to 1606). The General Assembly of Perth in 1597 and its successor at Dundee in 1598 practically completed the over- throw of the Presbyterian party. At Perth, the royal supremacy was more fully defined, and the ministers were prohibited from preaching politics. At Dundee, ^ Lee, History of the Church of Scotland, II. izi. * See Historic Significance of Episcopacy in Scotland, Lee Lecture for 1899, pp. 5, 20, 26. ee ANDREW MELVILLE a sort of High Commission, or Council of Ministers to advise with the king, was set up at the king's desire. Melville was constantly excluded from a seat in the Assembly, though he was doctor of theology. If ever he had been " leader of the Church " (which is somewhat doubtful), he now ceased to be more than an outside expert. The leadership had fallen to others more pliable and perhaps less keen for pres- bytery. Still, he fought with his pen, dealing trenchantly with James's " Basilicon Doron ■" in 1599. He was practically silenced as a preacher, and even (in 1600) interned within the precincts of St. Mary's College. In spite of all, he rejoiced with others at James's accession to the English throne, though he might well have guessed that it meant death to Pres- byterian government. He even composed odes in James's honour. This is consistent with the mingling of good humour and asperity in the relations between the king and the scholar. But the rejoicings were soon turned into mourning. The climax of the long struggle was reached in 1605 when an Assembly met in Aberdeen without the royal summons, and set the king's messenger at defiance. Melville publicly pro- tested with others against the measures of discipline taken against the members of this Assembly. The response was an order from the king to attend, along with his nephew and six other protesters, at London before September 15, 1606. 4. The Second Exile (1606-1622). The forlorn band of Scottish ministers headed by Melville in- cluded his nephew, William Scot, minister of Cupar, John Carmichael of Kilconquhar, William Watson of ST. ANDREWS (i 581- 1606) 67 Burntisland, James Balfour of Edinburgh, Adam Colt of Musselburgh, and Robert Wallace of Tra- nent. They reached London as appointed, and were received by His Majesty on three several days at Hampton Court. Then followed the fatal day to Melville, September 29, 1606, when along with his brethren he was commanded to attend service at the Chapel Royal. It was a Monday and St. Michael's day. There was such a crowd that the Secretary brought them in by secret ways. They viewed with uneasiness " the altar, quhilk wes decorit with two bukes, two basines with two candlestickes." One of the Cointe de Vaudemont's company, a " German," remarked audibly — " Ego nunquam vidi talem cul- tum ! Nihil hie profecto deest de solenni missa, praeter adorationem transubstantialis panis!" The service formed a climax to a series of sermons by the fore- most English divines, designed to enlighten the Scottish preachers ; we can understand how Andrew Melville's quick temper broke down under the strain. He perpetrated his last epigram on English soil,^ and his unluckiest from the Court standpoint. It came from him red-hot : Cur stant clausi Anglis libri duo Regia in ara, Lumina caeca duo, pollubra sicca duo ? Num sensum cultumque Dei tenet Anglia clausum, Lumine caeca suo, sorde sepulta sua, Romano et ritu, Regalem dum instruit aram, Purpuream pingit religiosa lupam ? Two volumes closed, two lamps unlit, two bowls unfilled. Stand on the altar of the King j 1 Not his last, if we reckon the prison verses ; see infi-a, p. 70. 68 ANDREW MELVILLE Is it that Englishmen in truth are kept unskilled, In filth and blindness weltering ? And have they Rome-wise thus the royal altar laid With superstitious zeal to deck a Purple Jade? ^ It seems but a small offence to the modern mind. The offence to the mind of James was unpardonable ; and he committed the epigram.matist to the custody of the Dean of St. Paul's, in order that the Dean might bring him to conformity — a serious task for the English dignitary! Melville proved obdurate, and after several fresh efforts, the king had him lodged in the Tower. It was no unfamiliar place to him, for he had preached in the Chapel there a quarter of a century before. Meantime, the principalship of St. Mary's was declared vacant. Ere long. La Rochelle gave him a call to its divinity professorship ; but the negotiations failed. Later, in 1611, he was permitted to accept a similar appointment in the university of Sedan, whither he went, from the Tower water-gate, on April 19. Thus departed out of Scotland one of her brightest and most humane scholars, who even amid contro- versies won the liking and reluctant admiration of all. There is much charm in the anecdotes preserved by the Diarist of the five years, more or less, spent in London. The English dignitaries were plainly embarrassed when the king entrusted this strange Scots scholar to them for instruction. James Mel- ville, in a letter to Sir Anthony Ashley, declares that to become a "domestic " to a Bishop in England was a harder punishment than imprisonment or banish- ijames Melville's translation, and another (which evidently reads an for et) will be found in the Diary, pp. 682, 683, note. ST. ANDREWS (1581-1606) 69 ment ; but it was no less hard a punishment for the bishop ! The bishop of Durham shewed his distress by making a " sillie and confuseit " excuse.^ He had no room, without turning out one of his gentle- men : the minister's " man " would have to share the chamber of that gentleman's " man " ; and " some such triflings." The most delightful episode of all is that of the Archbishop (Bancroft), a manifest man of the world, and a thorough humorist, who closed a debate with James Melville and Mr. William Scot by smilingly interrupting the latter in the middle of a long harangue, clapping him meanwhile on the arm, "Tush, man! Tak heir a coupe of guid seek (sack)." At the same time. His Grace filled the cup, and holding the napkin in his hand made the two grave divines take off their sack. It was the act of a servant waiting on his masters. It was perhaps, in its way, sacramental.^ Another episode, which mingles laughter with tears, is that of the last dinner of the two Melvilles before the senior was sent to the Tower. It is a good picture of the Scots manners of this time. Waiting for his summons to the Coun- cil, Andrew Melville had had a " meditation " on the second Psalm. This he gave his friends at table when they had wearied of waiting. It was a foggy Sunday morning : their dinner was at noon ; they had not half dined when a messenger came. Melville snapped out — "Sir, I waited long upon my Lord's dinner till I waxed very hungry and could not stay (wait) longer. I pray my Lord to suffer me to take a little of my own dinner! " Shortly after came a second messenger, and on his heels the Scottish ^Melville's Diary, pp. 689, 693. ^ Diary, p. 700. 70 ANDREW MELVILLE Secretary. Then Melville rose in much excitement and prayed, and so left his friends about twelve o'clock. And about three o'clock they knew that he had been taken straight from the Council chamber to the Tower. His friends took boat, but were too late to see him ere the door closed on the prisoner. The faithful nephew sent in furniture and clothes, with his uncle's books, to the Tower ; and by favour of a gaoler he was able to talk to his uncle at the window for a little every day. He obtained leave for Melville's servant to live in the prison, and he supplied funds out of his own poverty. But he had at last to go into internment at Newcastle. After his departure, the treatment of Andrew Melville became stricter ; he was deprived of his servant, saw no one except the gaoler, and was denied writing materials. This did not prevent him from inscribing on the wall with the tongue of his shoe-buckle various poetical effusions. Some were preserved and are quoted by M'Crie.^ But after the first year, these rigours were relaxed ; and Melville enjoyed every privilege con- sistent with his confinement. He was permitted to see some of his fellow-prisoners, among whom was Sir Walter Raleigh. And he carried on a free and copious correspondence, which kept him informed as to the progress of events. He started a treatise on the great controversy. Episcopacy versus Presbytery, and he held discourse with many interesting visitors from the outside. His constant hope was to regain freedom and return to the fray which raged in Scot- land. But as time passed, that hope died. He saw a new world arising which he could not have endured. iM'Crie's Melville, p. 282, note. ST. ANDREWS (i 581- 1606) 71 Scotland had meantime submitted to prelacy ; some even of his own students were among its supporters. Robert Howie was doing well enough as Principal of St. Mary's, and his own nephew James was not afraid to send one of his sons to be colleged there. Then Melville began to think of emigrating. A friend of his was organising an expedition to the New World. Melville might have ended in Virginia. But the project passed, and when at last the call from Sedan came^ he accepted it after a struggle. Money was found to help him out to his new home. It was just in time, for Melville was ageing, and had con- tracted the low fever of confinement. The letters exchanged at this time between uncle and nephew are without exception the best, both for Latinity and for genuine pathos, in the entire collection. Melville had written to his nephew, intimating the call to France and shewing how depressed he was by the prospect of banishment. But there was no hope at home. " There is no room for me in Britain on account of pseudo-episcopacy. . . . Our bishops return home after being anointed with the waters of the Thames. Alas! liberty is fled, religion is banished. . . . Shall I fly from my native country, from my native church, from my very self.'' Or, shall I deliver myself up, like a bound quadruped, to the will and pleasure of men.'' . . . Shall I go, or shall I remain .'' " There is evidence in such language that Melville had been approached by the Court with a view to his accepting the status quo in Scotland, and lending his influence to Episcopal uniformity. His spirit was in fact somewhat broken by confinement. The 72 ANDREW MELVILLE nephew's answer was prompt and decisive. " So far as I can see," he writes to his uncle, " there is no choice left, but a hard necessity is imposed on you." He even begs him to use his influence to procure for himself a similar invitation to a pastorate or chair in France. His young wife (he had married again in 1 6 1 1 a lady of nineteen) was equally anxious to accompany the exile. She had sought to propitiate Mel- ville (for he had discouraged the match) by " a small present, consisting of an embroidered cloak, a necker- chief, and some other articles, trimmed by her own hands. Have you received them ? " Then abruptly he adds — " I know not how it is, but my soul fails and melts within me and the tears rush into my eyes at the thought, of which I cannot get rid, that I shall see your face no more. . . . Would to God you had long ago closed my eyes at Montrose. I can write no more. Eternal blessings rest on you." The uncle's farewell is no less pathetic — " My dear son, my dear James, farewell, farewell in the Lord, with your sweet Melissa.^ I must now go to other climes ... it behoved me to confess Christ on a larger theatre." He gives directions for the careful preservation of his library, dedicated like himself to the Church. ... " The vessel is under weigh, and I am called aboard. The grace of God be with you always." ^ James Melville died three years after. Thus this pair of devoted friends were defeated and broken- hearted, and the cause of the bishops had apparently 1 The name by which James styled his second wife. Her actual name was Deborah. 2 See M'Crie's Melville, pp. 314, 319. ST. ANDREWS (158 1- 1606) 73 triumphed. Whatever views may be held on the merits of the case, no one will withhold his sympathy from two men who were the Paul and Timothy of their day, knit so closely to each other alike by blood, by loyalty to a common cause, by a scholarship of the finest type, and by a simple humanness which no classical pedantries can conceal. Scotland is proud of the two Melvilles. St. Andrews can never cease to remember them, and Andrew Melville belongs to her far more than to Glasgow. But in Glasgow too there remain forces which, if he did not originate them, he at any rate rendered permanent — the love of the Humanities, the instinct of academic fellowship and common research, the zeal for Presbyterian govern- ment as the guardian of freedom in Church and State, the dislike of clerical pretension, and the sense of the dignity of the scholar and master. But meantime, Melville's place knew him no more. St. Andrews, which had seen his triumphs, was ere long to see the base ascendancy of a far different being, James Sharp. IV. Sedan (1611-1622) Some space must be allotted, in this already lengthy monograph, to the Sedan period of Melville, if only because recent research by M. Paul Mellon has made new particulars available.^ Melville was at first sadly disappointed. The number of his students was smaller than he had expected. Sedan had little more than 100 students, while at Saumur, a great resort of Scotsmen, there were more than 400. He there- 'See Revue Chretienne, 1907, pp. loi and 202. 74 ANDREW MELVILLE fore accepted provisionally the post of instructor to the three sons of M. de Barsac, Treasurer of the Parliament of Dauphine, and spent a short time with them at Grenoble. Apparently he did not like the situation there, and he returned to Sedan. There it it is alleged by Spottiswood that " he lived in no great respect, and contracting the gout, lay almost bedfast to his death." The small modicum of truth in this statement is that Melville had certainly left his prison much enfeebled, and subject to severe attacks of rheumatism. He was nearing his seventieth year. " Am I not threescore and eight years old," he writes to Robert Durie in 1612, "unto the which age none of my fourteen brothers came.? And yet I thank God, I eat, I drink, I sleep as well as I did these thirty years bygone, and better than when I was younger. . . . Neither use I spectacles now more than ever ; yea, I use none at all nor ever did, and see now to read Hebrew without points and in the smallest characters." It is little wonder that he found himself unable to attempt any important literary task. His only sustained effort was the De Adiaphoris, if indeed it be his. The title Scoti rov Tv^ovTOi Aphorismi leaves a certain doubt, since the other work ascribed to this period, the Scoti rov tuj^oj-to? Paraclesis contra Dan. Tileni Silesii Paraenesin, is nov/ finally identified as the composition of Sir James Sempill of Beltrees. This recent conclusion was anti- cipated by Dr. M'Crie, who gave decisive argu- ments.-^ In any case, as has already been pointed out,^ Melville never was a writer of books. There is no evidence of his ability to write a formal treatise. 1 M'Crie's Melville, p. 339, notes. "^ Supra, p. 47. SEDAN (1611-1622) 75 At a much later date, another of our Glasgow Divinity professors offered an explanation of his own unpro- ductiveness.^ It is quite possible therefore that Spottiswood's rather unkind remark may not be un- founded in so far as Melville's literary exertions were concerned. But that he was held in the highest respect as a scholar has been amply proved by the Latin verses unearthed by M. Paul Mellon in the articles already referred to. M. Mellon has translated a series of Latin verses written by Arthur Johnston, the editor of the Delitiae in 1637, then professor of logic and metaphysics at Sedan in succession to John Cameron. These verses are no doubt phrased with an excessive measure of academic hyperbole. In them the Sun, in its journey southward, learns of Melville's approach, and hastens to return to Sedan in order to meet and hail this other luminary! Scotland, herself enveloped in widespread darkness and in a night like that of Erebus, brings us bright day, for it brings us Melville ! Melville is a sun, and Tilenus is a sun ; yet are they not two suns, but one in spirit! The youth of France raise cries of joy, Salut a Melvin! Aeneas, that Cytherean hero, transferred Troy to Latium ; but Melville has transported Latium to Sedan! The same remarkable "respect," amounting to obsequiousness, appears in certain verses by Daniel Tilenus, a professor at Sedan, which M. Paul Mellon has rescued. Tilenus is building himself a cottage, and sings of the peace which he expects to find in retiring to it after a life of agitation. He devotes to ^ This was James Wodrow ; see his Life, by R. Wodrow, PP- 133 W- 76 ANDREW MELVILLE this theme no less than loo strophes, in several of which Melville is mentioned with overpowering praise. He summons MelviUe, Donaldson, John- ston, and Capellus, all of them his colleagues at Sedan, to aid his muse, faire I'office de sage-femme. Where shall he find the mille boisseaux de sel to discharge his gouty feet, unless from Melville and his colleagues? With their aid, the salines de Bilbilis (even Martial's wit) could not give a higher seasoning! Melville's vein, he chants in another strophe, is more abundant than the waters of Aganippe ; Melville's Melpomene is sweet as honey and possesses a Homeric trumpet! In a third, he declares that while he would fain chant the ramparts of Sedan, he m.ust be content to sing of his humble cottage, since only Melville's muse can celebrate the former. M. Mellon rightly characterises the taste of these bombastic verses as doubtful. But they help to dispose of Spottiswood's unkind suggestion that Melville at Sedan enjoyed but little "respect." It is true that Sedan espoused the Calvinistic cause in the controversy occasioned by Arminius of I^eyden ; and that the "new theology" was not taught by Melville and his colleagues. It found its home rather at the rival Protestant Academie of Saumur, where Cameron, Amyraut, Louis Cappel, and Joshua de la Place manufactured heresies which in more than one case found permanent nooks in the history of doctrine. Cameron was destined later to be pro- fessor of Divinity in Glasgow, but only for a single session : he had left Sedan to go to Saumur ; and he left Glasgow to go to Montauban. Saumur drew many students from Sedan, attracted by the new SEDAN (1611-1622) 77 teaching. No doubt Melville was pronounced an obscurantist, an old-fashioned teacher, by men of the Arminian type like Spottiswood. M. Mellon, how- ever, is disposed to attribute the adherence of Sedan to Calvinism in its rigidest form, to the proximity of the United Provinces, in which the famous Anti- Arminian Synod of Dort met in 161 8. Sedan, he says, " became the market-place of the pure orthodox doctrine, and, in opposition to its rival at Saumur, offered the intransigeance of its Calvinistic faith as against the broad-church tendencies." ^ It was per- haps the "revenges of time" which made Melville in his last days appear to many younger men rather fossilised in his theology. For had not he been in his day a Modernist himself, joining in the boisterous assault of Ramus on the old scholasticism ? The happy family at Sedan, exchanging not only eulogies but also familiar banterings and questionable jests,^ was much disturbed by the Arminian contro- versy. M. Paul Mellon, however, strongly questions the account given by Dr. M'Crie of the relations between Melville and his colleague Tilenus. M'Crie accepts the statements of the anonymous author of the Paraclesis and others, that at an early stage Tilenus became Arminian, and tried to make heretics of the Sedan students, and that Melville and the other professors exposed his duplicity ; in conse- quence of which he left the university and went to England. M. Mellon disposes of this by shewing '^ Revue Chritienne, 1907, p. 205. 2 See the Delittae, 1637, II. 118 (where Melville rallies Tilenus on his gout) and I. 614 {Lusus amoeboei). 78 ANDREW MELVILLE that the two colleagues were on extravagantly friendly terms up to 1613, and that as late as 161 7, on the eve of the Synod of Dort, they are found giving their joint approbation to a thesis on Justification by Heinsius. It was improbable that they should think alike on such a subject if the one was Calvinistic and the other Arminian. Besides, the orthodox Dumoulin, who became a professor at Sedan in 1621, accepts both Melville and Tilenus as sound authori- ties. These seem to M. Mellon strong presumptions against any rupture between the two divines ; but it must be confessed that they are not difficult to sur- mount. The very extravagance of Tilenus, in his references to Melville, rouses distrust. And scholars of that day were not unaccustomed to give " testi- monials " such as both of them sent to Heinsius in 1 61 7. Besides, the Dort Synod developed many latent antagonisms, and it is a fact that Tilenus came out boldly on the Arminian side, and in consequence sought a more congenial field in England. There he published in 1620 his Paraenesis ad Scotos, Genevensis disciplinae zelotas. Aiictore Dan. Tileno Silesio. As the imprint shows, he was a German. He afterwards, in 1622, fired off another shot against Presbyterianism, this time in Scotland, addressed ad Ecclesiam Scoticam. It is marked by two significant features. One is, that it is printed at Aberdeen, by that time the stronghold of Episcopal culture. The second is, that he withholds his name, substituting the phrase, Auctore Gallo quodam theologo, Verhi Divini ministro. There is something familiar in such tactics, by which the German reappeared as a Frenchman, in a land which loved France. SEDAN (1611-1622) 79 At any rate, M. Paul Mellon has done a service to Melville by his researches. His theory, amiable though perhaps untenable, is that Tilenus and Mel- ville remained on friendly terms until the former departed from Sedan. Melville, he points out, was much of an invalid. The Garreta collection preserves a story told by his colleague, J. Capellus, that Melville on occasion of illness affixed to the class-room door the following : (i) Melvinus nequit infirmus pede currere claudo Quem podagrae vinctum compede lectus habet. (2) Officium ut faciam jubet obsequiosa voluntas ; Ne faciam obstat obex, major vis, et dolor ingens. These appear to be two separate excuses, and they both represent Melville's chronic ill-health. So at least thinks M. Paul Mellon. Accordingly he sug- gests that Melville, taught by experience, tired in body and soul, realising the emptiness of those con- troversies which agitate the temper but do no good to the soul, kept himself aloof from all that might sow discord and division. This would be a pleasing result, but that evidence remains of Melville's hatred of Arminian views (as in a letter to John Forbes of Alford in 1616 or perhaps a year later — "Faill not to send Arminius against Perkins de Praedestina- tione, whatever it cost, with the contra-poison done be [by] Gomarus, ^uem singulariter amo ev Kvpm ").i Spottiswood's statement that Melville was a long time bedridden seems likely to be correct, and explains the stoppage of his letters. It is also probable that his mental powers had much failed before death put * See M'Crie's Melville, p. 335, note. 8o ANDREW MELVILLE a period to his long illness. No particulars can be found of his closing days, and with such ailments he was likely to pass away in gradual stupor. He died in 1622. Burton in his Anatomy wiU suffice to explain why so many scholars and divines of this period suffered from gout and gravel. Gout is too often supposed to be the special ailment of the rich. But it did not spare even a meagre student like Melville ; and as for its concomitant, gravel, it was the commonest ailment of famous covenanting and martyred saints, as the Book of Martyrs and other histories will testify. Works of Andrew Melville M'Crie's list of the works of Melville which were printed either during his lifetime or afterwards will be found capable of little if any emendation to-day. The following, however, is an attempt to supply a list brought up to the present time : 1. Carmen Mosis. Basileae, 1573. 2. Stephaniskion. Edin. 1590. 3. Principis Scoto-Britannorum Natalia. Edin. 1594. 4. Theses Theologicae de libero arbitrio. Edin. 1597. 5. Gathelus. Amsterdam, 1602. 6. Pro supplici evangelicorum ministrorum in Anglia . . . Apologia, sive Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria. 1604. 7. Numerous verses in Carmina ex docthsimis poetis selecta, 159O; in Vir't clarissimi A. Melv'ini musae, et P. Adamsoni vita et palinodia, et Celsae Commissionis descriptio, 1620 ; in In Ohitum Johannis Wallasii Scoto-Belgae, Ley den, 1 603 ; in Commentarii in Apost. Acta M. Joannis Makolmi Scoti, Middelburg, 1615 ; and of course in Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum, Amsterdam, 1637. WORKS 8 1 8. Select psalms in Latin, />r»^. London, 1609. According to M. Paul Mellon, there is no copy extant ; but the Garreta collection has versions in MS. of Psalms i, 2, 16, 36, and 129. They were written in the Tower. M'Crie includes a pamphlet published in Holland in 1 6 1 9, ascribed to Melville both by foreign and by Scottish writers, and styled Nescimus quid vesper serus vehat: Satyra Menippaea Vincentil Liberii HoUandii. There seems little doubt that it is not the production of Melville. He includes also the tract De Adiaphoris Scoti Tov T\r)(ovToi aphorismi, 1622. But this, like the Paracksis Scoti tov rv)(ovros, may be the work of Sir James Sempill of Beltrees. The Melville MSS. as yet unprinted may be enumerated as follows : 1. Letters from Andrew Melville to James Melville, with some replies from James Melville, 1609-1611. In Edin. University Lib. 2. Letters from Andrew Melville to .... in the United Provinces. Six in number : addressed to R. Dury at Leyden. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. 3. Paraphrase of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Probably composed in the Tower. Harleian MSS. 4. Melvin on Daniel, chap. 4. Library of Trinity Coll., Dublin. The refutation of Downham's Sermon : the pre- lections on the epistle to the Romans, seen by Charters in the Glasgow College Library ; and a Latin commentary said by Charters to have been in the library of the students of Divinity at Edinburgh University — have all apparently perished. 82 ANDREW MELVILLE Bibliography The following is a brief bibliography for the life of Melville : 1. Life. By Dr. Thomas M'Crie. First published in 1819. The edition used in the foregoing pages is that of 1856. 2. Diary of James Melville. Wodrow Society, 1 842. 3. Calderwood's History of the Kirk. Wod. Soc. 1842-9. 4. Apologetical Narration by William Scot. Wod. Soc, 1846. 5. Spottiswood's Hist, of the Church of Scotland. Spottiswoode Soc. 1847-51. 6. Grub's Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, 7. Lee's Lectures on the History of the Church of Scot- land. i860. 8. Dictionary of National Biography. Article on Melville by Rev. A. Gordon. 9. Cunningham's Hist, of the Church of Scotland. 10. Andrew Melville. By William Morison. In Famous Scots Series, 1899. 11. Register of St. Andrews Kirk Session. Edited by Dr. Hay Fleming. 1890. 12. Munimenta Almae Universitatis Glasguensis. Mait- land Club, 1854. 13. Wodrow's Lives. Maitland Club, 1845. 14. Revue Chretienne, vol. for 1907. Paris. 15. Scott's Fasti, under parish of Govan. 16. Melville's work as Educationist : see Edgar (^History of Scott. Education) ; Strong, J. [Hist, of Sec. Educ. in Scotland) ; Kerr, J. {Scottish Educ. up to 1908). 17. Andrew Melville. By Dr. John Smith, Glasgow. Oration on Commemoration Day, 191 o. II THOMAS SMEATON (i 536-1 583) The successor of Melville as Professor of Divinity and as Principal was Thomas Smeaton, who, however, held office for only three years. Born at Gask, near Perth, in 1536, and educated at Perth Grammar School and St. Salvator's, St. Andrews, he became minister of Paisley Abbey in 1 577, and was translated thence to Glasgow College in 1580 on Melville's removal to St. Andrews. The General Assembly, before taking this step, solemnly debated the question whether it were lawfiil to remove a minister from the pastorate and confine him to the doctorate or office of teacher ; also, whether it were lawful to remove a doctor of the Church from one college to another. The decision was in both cases affirmative, nor has it ever been rescinded. There was a certain romance about Smfeaton, for he had clung to the ancient Church long after others of his time were entirely outside her pale. He had been educated at St. Andrews, and when the storm of Reformation broke out, was serving as a regent in St. Salvator's College there. His life-story, as he told it to James Melville on a journey to Edinburgh, 84 THOMAS SMEATON was as follows. Suspected of reformed leanings, he was "put out" of St. Salvator's and repaired to France. There he entered into intercourse with Thomas Maitland, who brought him to be " inclined to the best way." He got to know also Andrew Melville and Gilbert MoncriefF, both at that time resident in Paris. Still he was reluctant to leave his old faith, and understanding that the Jesuits were the most learned and holy of the Roman guides, he became a novice, intending at the end of his year of probation to enter the Order if he found his faith settled. If, however, he gained no new light, then he was resolved to seek no further, but yield to the light which God had given him through his fellow- students of Scotland. He was warmly welcomed by Edmund Hay, the head of the Scots College, and by his advice he went to Rome. On his long journey, however, he visited his friends Andrew Melville and Gilbert MoncriefF at Geneva. This was about 1570. He told them his plan and asked for their prayers, which they heartily granted although they did not like his Romeward views. It must be remembered that he was much the older man. He did not do more than pass through the Calvinistic city, and soon found himself housed in the Jesuits' College at Rome ; with one of the most learned fathers appointed to visit the heretics in prisons, he became intimate. Thus he was privileged to accompany the father to the prisons and to hear the arguments used by the heretics, and the learned father's replies. On the road home to the College the two were accus- tomed to argue in approved scholastic style, Smeaton taking up the heretical side, his reverend friend the A SCOTTISH NEWMAN 85 Roman and orthodox. The college, says the garru- lous James Melville, was near a mill. Perhaps he suggests by this remark that some grinding out of truth went on in these arguments. The actual result, as might be expected from a pragmatic Scot arguing with a Jesuit, was that after a year and a half Smeaton became suspected, and was remitted to Paris again. There, Edmimd Hay tried a fresh expedient to retain his wavering friend. He advised Smeaton to go to a quiet retreat in Lorraine, endowed with a competent library of the Fathers and such other books as he wished for. He would lack nothing, and could lie low till God led him further. Otherwise, in Paris there was great danger. The lure was exactly fitted to Smeaton's temperament. He started for Lorraine, but was by the way seized with fever and fought a strong battle in his conscience. Finally he "got; clearness," that he must disclose himself as a Pro- testant, and publicly expose the falsehoods, hypocrisy, and craft of the papalists. He returned to Edmund Hay in this new mood, and declared his decision. Yet the amiable Jesuit " kythes (shows) na thing but lovin frindschipe to him, and at his parting gifFes thrie counsalles : i. To reid and studie the Ancient Doctors of the Kirk, and nocht to trow (trust) the ministers : 2. To go ham(e) to his awin countrey : and thridlie. To marie a wyff." Seldom has any guide of souls spoken more wisely. It was now the year 1572, and Smeaton narrowly escaped the blood- hounds of the Faith by taking refuge at the English embassy. In the Ambassador's train he passed safely to England, finding a schoolmaster's place at Colchester. 86 THOMAS SMEATON Thus Smeaton was a kind of Scottish Newman, led by the alma lux to Geneva, and finally brought home to the Reformed Church of Scodand. But he returned with an enfeebled constitution, and was only too glad to take shelter with Andrew Melville at Glasgow. Soon, Andrew Polwart, Melville's old comrade, sometime tutor of the young Brechin bishop, become Sub-dean of Glasgow and vacated the charge of Paisley Abbey. To this charge Smeaton was appointed. Melville having brought him so far, put into his hands Archibald Hamilton's dialogue De Confusione Calvinianae Sectae apud Scotos. They discussed this vehement assault on Calvinism by one who had become an apostate from it ; and finally Smeaton in 1579 published his Orthodoxa Re- sponsio. The full title is given at the close of this notice, and does not lack vigour. The book itself is a singularly able and scholarly discussion of the perennial question of the True Church and its Marks or Notes.-"^ The copy before me was once David Laing's, and was purchased at his sale for the University of St. Andrews. Some brief notice of this tractate may not be uninteresting to those who are studying to-day the same vexed but fundamental theme. The dedicatory epistle to King James VI. apolo- gises for the slender character of the work, which the author describes as composed in a short time and without ornaments. He was also afraid that Hamil- ton's insolence had moved him to stronger language than befits royal ears. His own obscurity and a certain subrusticus ingenii pudor, with which he had ^ See for the particulars above, Melville's Diary, pp. 72-4. THE "ORTHODOX DEFENCE" 87 been affected from his childhood, disposed him rather to hide himself and live solitary, than to lie open to everybody's criticism by entering the arena of letters in so lettered an age. But godly friends persuaded him that he was bound to resent the insult offered to the Church of God by so foul an apostate, as well as to associate with no other patron things which were by right the king's own and ought to be published under royal auspices. Well, he (the author) was the king's own, both as a native Scot and, though long and far exiled (peregrinatus) from the truth, now at last by the royal bounty made a partaker of the glory and gladness of the kingdom. And he was ever giving thanks to God for bestowing on the kingdom in such trying times a monarch of godly disposition, educated by such excellent scholars as Buchanan and Peter Young (Junius). There follow some courtly compliments, and the date, Glasgow Calend. Mali, 1 579. This was pretty well for a shy and solitary scholar, but his vocabulary of invective was not less abundant than that of courtly compliment. Archibald Hamil- ton is trounced for his sophistries in no measured terms. A letter "to the Christian reader" frankly anticipates some adverse criticism on this score from persons whom he describes as nonnullos delicatulos. He explains that the task of confuting Hamilton was thrust on him, because, though many tar abler scholars could more effectually have smashed the apostate's crockery (ampullas), some lacked time, others inclina- tion, because they felt sure that the petty effusions of the ill-starred rhetorculus would die before him- self. But the author, while owning the offspring too ungainly to live, or at any rate to influence any one 88 THOMAS SMEATON moderately acquainted with the rudiments of the Christian faith, had found that it was fit to lead astray simple-minded and careless souls. It was after all a weU-got-up thing [fallaci fuco pigmentonimaspersa); so he felt that he must answer it. And he had a pre- eminent duty, when one compared his life-story with Hamilton's. Hamilton (whether deliberately or in mere levity) threw himself from the first into the Reforming movement, and became not only a magister but even a professor in it. He (the author), bred from boyhood in the thick darkness of Roman errors, and possessed by a stubborn enthusi- asm, chose rather to be an exile than to sacrifice his superstitious faith. Hamilton by teaching and preaching had sought the conversion of many at St. Andrews and elsewhere. He (God pardon him) had kept back not a few in Scotland, and still more at Paris ; and even when shocked after a time by the open corruptions of the papalists, he had submitted himself to the discipline of the Jesuits rather than rashly and unthinkingly abandon the papistic faith. And yet the Jesuits were the last device of Antichrist — men quartered as it were in garrisons over the earth, to obscure by their frauds, lies, and impostures the light of the reviving Church, unquenchable by flood, sword, or flames. Hamilton when civil war came gave his entire allegiance to his clan, and began to hold in dislike not only the other side, but even his king and the religion of Christ himself, and God. He (Smeaton) on the other hand, unmoved by Roman blandishments or protestant slanders (as he then understood them), broke his bonds and asserted his freedom. CONTRASTED CAREERS 89 Hamilton took none of the godly into counsel when he fled from Christ's army to the rebellious offscourings of the papists. He (Smeaton) when the gospel light shone on him from heaven made known the burden of his conscience, asking and obtaining permission to learn ; and cheerfiilly followed Clurist, who called him from assured ease to tangled employments, from a placid and tranquil life to one of hard work. Finally, Hamilton had vomited out a most poisonous book full of slanders against the Church of God. He (Smeaton) would be unworthy of God's wonderfiil mercies did he not do his best to defend the Church. He had been a stout opponent of the truth in old days ; now, he must be as stout an exponent of it. But why so long a reply.'' The answer is, that Hamilton had first begun it, by writing something like a volume when he could have served his purpose with three words. He was in short a hlaterator. Why then answer him ? Because there were others, the satellites of Loyola (Ignatianae quosdam Societatis satellites), who would leave no stone unturned until they had rendered yeoman service in the cause of Rome. And though manuscript answers were ready by George Hay and John Duncanson, it seemed worth while (until these were published) to give some aid to troubled consciences against the sophistries of Christ's sworn foes. As for the third point, his vehemence and bitter- ness, the first chapter of the treatise gives ample grounds. Its general drift is easy to gather from Smeaton's references in this address to the Christian 90 THOMAS SMEATON reader. He declares that he had to encounter a man of the most corrupt and abandoned sort, destitute of shame or modesty, inflamed with insensate fury against the Church of Christ which he had basely deserted, convicted of the infamy of treason and of broken faith — a man who declared war against the Holy Spirit and distorted Scripture to an alien sense. A few specimens are given. St. Paul judges those presbyters who rule well to be worthy of double honour ; from this, Hamilton derives bombastic and servile titles — "Your Most Reverend Holiness," " Yoiu- Reverence's sacred authority," " Your Emi- nence and Excellency ! " St. Paul gives thanks that the faith of the Romans is declared over the whole world ; Hamilton argues from this that the Church was already diffused through every part of the uni- verse. As if Paul had toured the whole world! David says that the Lord had placed in the heavens a tabernacle for the Sun ; ergo, says Hamilton, the Church has always been visible. Hosea prophesies that Judah and Israel shall assemble together and choose them one Head ; Hamilton says, ergo, the Pope is caput Ecclesiae. Any one could vuiderstand what sort of style befitted the answer to such a man. Smeaton had tried to curb his natural impetuosity of temper, yet not to such a degree as to refrain from calling things by their names. With another sort of papist he would have acted otherwise ; in the case of Hamilton, he is just afraid that he has been too considerate ! Such is Smeaton's justification of the personal tone of his Orthodoxa Responsio ; and he concludes by begging the Christian reader to bring to the perusal WHERE IS THE TRUE CHURCH? 91 the same candour and simplicity with which the author has written. When he comes to Hamilton's argument, Smeaton displays no mean powers, and his criticisms are far from being antiquated. The issue was the old one, Where and what is the True Church.'' It is the same to-day as when our Glasgow Professor wrote his copious Latin sentences. What are the notes of the Church ? And tested by. these, is the Reformed Community a Church.? The Church, according to the Niceno-Byzantine Creed, is One, Holy, Universal (Catholic), and Apostolic. Does this indicate Rome ? Surely not, urges Smeaton ; for as to Unity, you Romans are sectatores multorum aliorum, while we protestants are sectatores Christi solius, followers of Christ and Christ alone. Let Christ, the Lord of men and angels, judge which party in this disputa- tion it is which disturbs the peace of the Church ; which rends the Church into various sects ; to which side agree most those thunderbolts which have been launched by the Fathers of old. And as to Holiness, that does not mean that the Church is in itself " pure and spotless, invincible and at all points fortified." That is mere nonsense, and Hamilton should take a course of the waters for such an absurd mistake! The Church and its members are holy for two reasons, first, because, cleansed by the blood and protected by the righteousness of Christ, it suffers no fiirther condemnation; secondly, because the faithfiil all their lives long are watchful for good works, being aided by the Holy Spirit to exercise themselves therein as far as heavenly Grace may avail against the infirmity of the flesh. Moreover, Scripture nowhere 92 THOMAS SMEATON declares that holiness and power are identical. The third note is Universality ; but who can soberly maintain this of the visible Church, since the greater part of the world is still unchristianised ? Africa, Asia, and European Turkey, with the lands of numberless other rulers, are yet outside the yoke of Christ. If we regard the visible Church, 'tis but of narrow bounds. The Roman view is untenable, even were one to grant that no other Church of Christ exists anywhere than that which owns the sway of the Supreme Pontiff ; for how small a shred of earth salutes the feet of your Idol, or approves his cruel tyranny against Christ's servants. In Greece, Africa, and Asia Minor, were anciently most flourishing Churches, yet never by prayers or threats could they be brought under the tyrant's yoke of Rome. Augustine himself pointed out (on Psalms ^6, 58, and 62) that the universality of the Church must not be interpreted as visible. The Church also may oft- times be hidden or obscured. Persecution hides it ; but so does superstition. The true notes of the Church Visible are the sincere preaching of the Word and the lawfiil use of the sacraments ; so far as these are destroyed by corruptions, the Church itself is hidden from our sight. This, however, has happened under the papacy more dreadfully than in any other case. From the time that popish mendacity, idolatry and superstitious ceremonies prevailed in Christen- dom, the Church has been hidden. But God's mercy sent the light of true doctrine, and we therefore abandon the papacy. But we do not on that account make secession from the Church, because the papacy is not the Church, but the Church's crafty gaoler and THE CHURCH INVISIBLE 93 oppressor. But what is the papacy ? It is that body of perverted dogmas, superstitions, ceremonies and rites borrowed from pagans and Jews, in short that entire hotchpotch (colluvies) of heresies poured forth from hell, which the papalists defend against God's Word, and which for some ages have soiled the face of the Church. If they would but abandon these, and trust to the wisdom of Scripture, we are ready to embrace them as brethren. As it is, we regard them as enemies of the Cross of Christ, and avoid them as devourers of His vineyard. It is not the Church in the papacy which we disown, but the fables, sacri- leges, idolatry, and superstitions by which the Church has been deformed. So far as they teach in con- sonance with God's Word, we are ready to give our adhesion to their doctrine. This is the nerve of the question between Rome and the Reformers. Hamilton's arguments against the Invisible Church are somewhat paltry. If the Church is invisible, how can men seek its judgments ? Whither must they resort for discipline? But Smeaton never asserted that the Church is always or everywhere invisible. There has always been a true Church even in the times of severest persecution. Nor is this to be confounded with the heresy of the Donatists, for they maintained that the only true Church was in a corner of Africa, and they denied that any lawful baptism could be had among heretics. The Reformers held no such views. They never confined the Church to any province, although they believe, that the number of the saved is small com- pared with the infinite mass of the perishing. The fourth note, Apostolicity, raises the question 94 THOMAS SMEATON of Apostolic Succession, and here Hamilton claims a complete victory. But Smeaton's reply is conclusive. The true succession is not from a series or roll of bishops, but from the truth of Scripture. TertuUian puts the matter thus — " Not from the persons do we approve the faith, but from the faith we approve the persons" (Non ex personis fidem, sed ex fide per- sonas probamus). It is not enough to be " children of Abraham." Moreover, the Roman succession lacks the very beginning, for there is no trace of the errors of Rome in the apostolic teaching. Thus far concerning the Four Notes of the Church. Smeaton next attacks, in measured but intensely scathing terms, the various additional signs of churchmanship defended by his opponent — ^virginity,, solitary life, the sacerdotal office, monasteries, fasting, vigils, prayers to the dead, and the like. These are no necessary characters of the Church, and more frequently become mere superstitions. The unity of the Scottish Church is thereafter defended at length against Hamilton's two charges, first that the Scot- tish Church is disunited from its frequent changes in ritual and doctrine, secondly because it does not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff from whom alone unity derives. To the first charge, it is answered that the Church has never at any time been free from divisions ; moreover, the Scots' disputations were not on vital or essential points. Indeed, it was a laudable custom at St. Andrews, as everywhere among doctors, to discuss small questions of literary interest as a sauce to their supper, and in a more or less good- humoured way. Only once had Smeaton known any violent difference to arise, and Hamilton was the "CALVINISTIC CONFUSION" 95 offender — a man born quarrelsome and of an irritable temper. After draining many cups {post exsiccatos lihere calices) he was so overcome by his potations that he began to rave about the Holy Spirit, accusing his neighbour of having said in his sermon that day that the Spirit abode in the Apostles not in substance but in virtue. When his neighbour declined to yield the point, he passed from noisy clamour to arms, rushing on him with drawn sword. The other, an upright man, avoided the brutal attack, and would not imbrue his clean hands in blood so foul. It is a curious incident, not without some parallels in the records of St. Andrews ^ and other seats of learning. But Smeaton's point is that the " Cal- vinistic Confusion " alleged by Hamilton was mostly a mere battle of words, and implied no bitter dis- sension. The Assemblies, he points out, are presided over by a moderator, chosen for his piety, and his knowledge of business ; and he is supreme. It is added, rather maliciously, that things have been per- fectly quiet and harmonious since Hamilton went back to the Roman Church! As to the charge of refusing the Papal supremacy, that fact cannot prove breach of unity since, throughout history, the Pope has been disobeyed or denied by many Christian Churches. The Papacy itself has often been divided. And no wonder, when one remembers the infamous character of many popes. The Church of Rome has lacked not only unity, however, but sanctity as well. Nor has it remained truly Catholic. ^E.g. the fracas between Sharp and Sinclair at St. Andrews ; see Life of Archbishop Sharp, 1678. 96 THOMAS SMEATON The tractate concludes with a recitation of the marvellously foul charges brought by Hamilton against his old associates. They cover almost a whole closely-printed page, and form a rich reservoir of abuse. Smeaton declines to retort in kind. He contents himself with giving to Hamilton a serious warning not to repeat his offence. Hamilton did not remain silent under this attack. In 1 58 1, he published at Paris a formal treatise in reply to the maledicam ministrorum Scotorum respon- sionem, the " malicious reply of the Scots ministers," as he calls Smeaton's book. He thus ignores Smeaton, while hinting that his work was really a joint production. In this suggestion there is prob- ably a good deal of truth. Melville certainly sup- plied Smeaton with material, if not with whole passages. Hamilton's rejoinder is unquestionably superior in tone and method to the pamphlet ; it deals in its first part with the attributes of the True Church, and in its second part with Smeaton's assault on the Papacy as claiming to be the True Church. This volume is certainly abler and in better taste than Smeaton's reply ; but it could not be otherwise, since it came after a labour of two years, and was the utmost effort of a man who held no mean place in the theological world. Dempster states that Hamil- ton was professor honarum artium at Paris, that he was Sorhonicus socius, and canon of St. Quentin, where he gave proof of his piety by disobeying the sub-prefect's order to celebrate mass. He was for this deprived, and suffered also supellectilis direp- tionem (the plundering of his furniture), and had to leave the town. Taking refuge in Rome, he was held SMEATON AS JESUIT 97 in great honour by the pope Gregory XIII., and had a residence assigned to him in the Vatican. There he died in 1593.^ Dempster adds that by his dis- cussion with Knox he brought back not a few into the bosom of the Church. Knox's own opinion was different ; but Melville undoubtedly regarded his attack on Presbyterianism as damaging. Nor can it honestly be alleged that the Smeatonian reply was altogether effective. It lends interest to Smeaton's work to find it recorded by Dempster^ that Smeaton himself had been a professor of Humanity at Paris, before he enrolled as a novice in the Society of Jesus and began to teach in their College there (in Claromontano ibidem collegio). He adds that Smeaton taught magno ingenii applausu. But he describes him as a vile apostate and deserter from the sacred militia, and haereticus ministellus, a heretical " little minister." Dempster is not unkind to Smeaton's book, which he describes as not inelegant in style, but void of doctrine. He mentions at the same time another production of Smeaton's — Epitaphium Metellani, an epitaph on Thomas Maitland, to whom, says Demp- ster, Smeaton had stuck (haeserat) as a companion in Italy. It is a significant commentary on Dempster's accuracy that he gives the date of Smeaton's death as 1578. At that time, Smeaton was Dean of Faculty in Glasgow, being then minister of Paisley. A lost work of Smeaton's is referred to in the General Assembly's minutes of 1581 as follows: " Anent the printing of the method of preaching and prophesieing set out be (by) [Hyperius ?] and shewed ^ See Dempster, Histor'ta Eccksiastica, II. 3 5 5. 2 ii,y „ ^ gg 98 THOMAS SMEATON and read in the Assemblie : The Assemblie hath thoght meet that the samine may be committed to irons and printed, as necessary for the forme of teaching, and to be put in Scots be their brother, Mr Thomas Smetone." Evidently this was a Latin treatise, and the Scots version by Smeaton would be a valuable example of the contemporary Scottish tongue.^ Smeaton's time as Principal Professor at Glasgow was short, yet it was not free from agitations. The decease of the amiable Archbishop Boyd brought to Glasgow as the new " Tulchan " a minister of Stir- ling, Robert Montgomery. The Tulchans had by this time become a serious problem, the General Assembly having condemned the office of diocesan bishop. Montgomery's appointment was issued by the king to the chapter of the Cathedral of Glasgow, but when the day came for the meeting to elect under the royal conge d'elire, the election did not take place. It is true that the dignified members of the chapter attended in obedience to the summons. They were the Dean, Andrew Hay, parson of Renfrew : the Archdeacon, Archibald Douglas of Glasgow : the Archdeacon of Teviotdale, Maister Robert Ker : and the Chancellor, David Weems, parson of Glasgow. The Sub-dean, Andrew Polwart, was absent. Hay presided and submitted a solemn protest against any- thing being done contrary to the laws of the Church, since Montgomery was incapable of holding the 1 Book of the Universal Kirk, II. 513. There is a blank in the Assembly's record, where the name would be entered. This was possibly the work of Hyperius, De Theologo, Basileae, 1556, book IV. of which deals with preaching. SMEATON AND MONTGOMERY 99 office. Thereupon the Privy Council found that the appointment had fallen to the King jure devoluto, and Montgomery was accordingly declared to be Archbishop. This was promptly followed by the Assembly's excommunication of Montgomery. The rejoinder of the Privy Council was a proclamation declaring that sentence to be null and void. The Raid of Ruthven came swiftly on the heels of these rapid strokes of contention, and relieved the situation for a time. In all these furious interchanges, Smeaton had a prominent share, as the coadjutor of Andrew Mel- ville. Melville himself was the chief accuser of Montgomery. He produced to the Assembly no less than sixteen articles of libel against that unfortunate courtier-parson. The first of these was so monstrous that it cannot be transcribed. The fifth bore that Montgomery had laboured to bring Greek and Hebrew into contempt, asking, " In what schools were Peter and Paul graduate ? " Others declared that he had described the ministers as " curious brains " : that he had said that baptism in one out of the three holy Names was valid : that he had ridiculed the attempts of the ministers to find modern precedents in Scripture, asking scornfully, " In what Scripture could they find a Bishop at a thousand pounds, horse, corn, and poultry ? " He had also asked " when they teach of love, how could they find Judas .'' " Finally, he had been for the past quarter of a year " negligent in doctrine, discipline, and assist- ing of the Eldership (presbytery)." ^ It cannot be ^Book of the Universal Kirk, 11. 533, 534. "Assisting" no doubt means attending the presbytery's meetings. loo THOMAS SMEATON said that those charges reflect credit on Melville, except for ingenuity. The utmost which they prove seems to be that the historian Robertson was right in describing Montgomery as " a man vain, feeble, pre- sumptuous." But throughout this struggle with Episcopacy, the real issue was not one of fact but of principle. Montgomery was regarded as a traitor to the Presbyterian principles, and with ample cause. Montgomery was not without some support in Glasgow, and his efforts to assert his rights as Arch- bishop caused considerable distress and disorder. The grievances presented to the King by Andrew MelviUe and others, at Perth in July, 1582, in name of the recent General Assembly, contain several references to the strife in Glasgow. Montgomery had been invited to preach at court, though under excommuni- cation : ministers in Glasgow had suffered contempt. There had been " dinging of many doing their office" ; and especially the moderator of the presby- tery of Glasgow, Mr. John Howson or Howieson, had been dragged to prison out of his chair by the provost, the bailies, and their accomplices. The minister of Glasgow Cathedral had been displaced by a crowd of country gentlemen in order to admit Montgomery. At the Communion even one of the King's own guard had pulled him out of the pulpit in time of sermon. Ministers, Masters of Colleges, and students of Glasgow had been expelled from their places. The students had been attacked within their own grounds by the bailies and " commountie," sum- moned for the purpose by the common bell and " straik of drum." Blood had flowed, and murder SCENE IN GLASGOW CATHEDRAL loi had almost been done on the unfortunate scholars. Altogether a dismal account is given of the doings of Montgomery's friends.^ The students, however, had not been idle. They had on one occasion taken forcible possession of the Cathedral and placed in it Smeaton, their principal, as preacher, excluding the Archbishop. Such agitations ill suited a man like Smeaton, of whom James Melville says that he was " very wacryff (sleepless) and peanfull (assiduous)." " I haiff sein him oft," he adds, " find fault with lang denners and suppers at General Assemblies ; and when uthers wer thairat, 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, but sweit and affable in companie, with a modest and naive gravitie : very frugall in fude and reyment, and walked maist on fut. . . . He lovit me exceiding Weill, and wald at parting thrust my head in his bosome and kis me." - This was no person to stand the brunt of such a time, and we do not wonder that he broke down, as did also another of Andrew Melville's hard-worked band of scholars, Arbuthnot, principal of King's College, Aberdeen. They died within a month of each other, Smeaton on December 13, 1583,^ followed by an epitaph from Andrew Melville which, even through its classical posing, reveals simple affection and admiration. The verses are worth transcription, 1 Book of the Univ. Kirk, 11. pp. 583, 584. 2 Melville's Diary, p. 75. 3 Mackenzie {Lives, III. 1 97) says 6th December. I02 THOMAS SMEATON especially in view of the scantiness of Smeaton's memorials : Vix heu, vix raptum deflevimus Arbuthnetum, Vix heu justa datis solvimus inferiis, Et premit altera mors, et funere fiinus acerbat, Et magno extincto lumine majus obit. Ille quidem Arctoa tenebras de nocte fugabat, Fulgebas medio Glasgua Stella die. Quod si luce sua spoliata est noxque diesque Nostra, eheu quantis obruimur tenebris ! Aut ergo e tenebris revoca lucem, aut, hominum lux Christe redi, ut nobis stet sine nocte dies. In English. Scarce for Arbuthnot cease our tears to flow. Scarcely with funeral rites we laid him low, When close a second death accents our moan. One great star quenched, a greater still is gone ! Arbuthnot from the North its night dispelled. But Glasgow's star the midmost heaven held. Thus is our darkness overwhelming quite, For night and day have both been robbed of light. Give back the light. Lord ! or Thyself descend. Thou Light of men ! Thus night for us shall end ! With such a tribute from Melville the name of Smeaton passes out of history. He was one of Melville's wide circle of friends and fellow-workers, and one may faintly conjecture that the pace was too hard for him. He had sought light and peace with singular persistency. And only the former had been, granted him ; for there was no peace for men of his type here on earth. His short story, ended at forty- seven years of age, is a pathetic interlude in the THE "ANTI-SEMINARY" 103 rugged scenes of this period. Surely, he was out of place amid contentions and brawls, which were the meat and drink of some of his associates. One would fain believe that that which chiefly drew him from Rome to Glasgow was the love he cherished for his friends, Maitland and the Melvilles and others. Yet he was no mere dreamer. For James Melville records that it was from his brain and Andrew's, ^' mervelously conspyring," that there came the plan of an Anti-Seminary to the Jesuits' Seminary, to be erected at St. Andrews. Such was the true inward- ness of the appointment of Melville to St. Andrews as head of St. Mary's College, and that venerable institution may be regarded as the symbol and the assurance of the Scottish rejection of Rome. It was part of the plan that Smeaton should take charge of Glasgow's theological school, and thus Glasgow College also became an " Anti-Seminary." There is no evidence that Smeaton was in Roman orders, though he had been a novice and a tutor in the Jesuit College at Paris. The ordination he had was that of the Reformed Church, and may or may not have included the imposition of hands. Dr. M'Crie says he was married ; of this the evidence is a statement by James Melville, who records that he accompanied Smeaton to Edinburgh in 1578, "to fetch ham(e) his wyfF " — i.e. to act as " best man," and that this absence from his pupils at Glasgow gave occasion to the enormities of Alexander Boyd. Thus the rejoicings of Smeaton were mingled with the tears of that unlucky student, whom James, his regent, felt obliged to treat to a sound beating. It seems Boyd had stayed away from Church, and had I04 THOMAS SMEATON " played the loon " on the Sabbath.^ Smeaton In marrying had apparently acted on the advice of his kind friend, the Jesuit Edmund Hay.^ Dr. M'Crie adds that the Thomas Smetoun who graduated M.A. in 1604 w^s probably a son of the former Principal. It remains to be added that Smeaton was Moderator of the General Assembly in July, 1579. The custom then was to prepare a leet of three, the Assembly making choice of one of them as its presiding officer — a practice probably continued from that which is still followed in the Roman method of appointing a bishop. Smeaton in 1579 was on the leet, and accordingly was chosen. Smeaton's time as Principal and Professor of Divinity was much too short and troubled to make a deep impression on the College of Glasgow ; but it may be assumed that he did his part to maintain its interests and its reputation. Works of Smeaton Ad virulentum Archibaldi Hamiltonii apostatae Dialogum, de Confusione Calvinianae Sectae apud Scotos impie conscriptum, orthodoxa responsio. Thoma Smetonio Scoto auctore . . . Adjecta est vera historia extremae vitae et obitus . . . Joan. Knoxii. Edinburgh: 1579. In St. Andrews Univ. Lib. [This account of John Knox's last days is said in the title-page to be " by a pious and learned man who was present at his deathbed."] Epitaphium Metellani [epitaph of Thomas Maitland]. 1 Melville's Diary, p. 69. * See supra, p. 85. BIBLIOGRAPHY 105 Bibliography 1 . Melville (Jas.). Diary. 2. Dempster (T.). Historia Ecclesiastica. 3. Smeaton (T.). Tractate in reply to A. Hamilton de Confusione Cahinianae Sectae apud Scotos. Several in- teresting particulars are scattered throughout this, in reference to Smeaton's life. 4. Book of the Universal Kirk. 5. Munimenta Almae Universitatis Glasguensis. 6. M'Crie (T.). Life of Melville. 7. Scott's Fasti, under Govan and Paisley. 8. Mackenzie's Lives, iii. 194. [A brief life of Smeaton, not very accurate, but including a curious story of Knox's prophecy regarding the death of Thomas Mait- land, known as Metellanus, to whom Mackenzie says that Smeaton acted as tutor till Maitland's death at Rome. Mackenzie also states that Smeaton himself was the friend who was present at Knox's deathbed, and wrote the fine account of Knox's last words appended to Smeaton's reply to Archibald Hamilton.] Ill PATRICK SHARP (?-i6i5) The death of Smeaton took place at a critical time when Melville was exiled from his own College in St. Andrews, and his friends were also in some tem- porary disgrace with the King's advisers. It was not therefore till 1586 that the appointment of Prin- cipal and Professor of Divinity issued in favour of Patrick Sharp, who had been in residence with Melville at the Glasgow College, and was at the time Master of the Grammar School. His work as school- master began in 1574, the year of Melville's settle- ment in Glasgow. In 1576 he was one of a com- mittee of classical scholars appointed to draw up a new Latin Grammar for schools. James Melville quotes the laudatory remark in which Sharp declares that he had learned more " of Mr. Andro Melvill craking and pleying (chatting and chaffing), for under- standing of the authors quhilk he teatched in the scholl, nor (than) be all his commentares." How much he had learned it is not easy to gather ; but his fame as a disciplinarian is well established. He was an expert in the use of the belt, and so far qualified to become Principal of a Scots University as then and long after established. AN EPISCOPISER 107 Sharp was a very different man from his predeces- sor, Smeaton. Dempster has nothing to say of him except that he was a man learned in Latin and Greek and published many things. It is certain that Sharp kept out of the field of controversy, and that his temperament was more restrained than that of Mel- ville. As professor of Divinity he seems to have been methodical and thorough, and he had at least one brilliant pupil, John Cameron, afterwards prin- cipal for one troubled year. His work called Doc- trinae Christianae brevis Explicatio, which will be described later, is almost certainly a copy of the " dictates " which he gave to the Divinity students. Of his career, the record which remains is rather ecclesiastical and political than academic. Up to the year 1596, there seems to have been little develop- ment in his opinions regarding the questions at issue with the King ; but from that date onward, he was decisively associated with the Episcopising party, and was placed on one committee after another favourable to that party. At length, in 16 10 he is found in the list of the High Commission appointed to deal directly with disorders in the Church, and he held office in this august body up to the middle of 16 14, when his health failed. He died in May, 161 5, when he was probably about sixty-five. He was twice married. The turning-point in his career was in 1606, when along with seven others he was summoned to London to attend the Conference at Hampton Court. One of his colleagues was destined to be the new Principal of St. Mary's College, Robert Howie, in succession to the exiled Melville. Those eight delegates were io8 PATRICK SHARP all of the King's party. No less than four of them became bishops, as James Melville is careful to note.^ They were unanimous in their answer to the first question submitted, Whether the Aberdeen Assembly was lawful or not ? It was a critical question, because they were face to face with the eight ministers whom the King had commanded to attend from the Presby- terian side, and among whom were the two Melvilles. It was indeed a historic scene. The King's courtiers were present in large numbers. The heir to the Throne was at his father's left hand. For Patrick Sharp, the old pupil and housemate of Andrew Mel- ville, it must have been a trying moment. But he answered with the rest, declaring that they had always condemned the Aberdeen Assembly as unlawful. The scene closed with the famous outburst of Mel- ville against the Advocate, Thomas Hamilton, which the King interpreted as a charge that Hamilton was Antichrist, and so curtly dismissed the assembly. In a letter addressed shortly before this incident to " The Right Honourable Mr. William Scot, minister of Cupar," and attributed with much probability to John Sharp, minister of Kilmany, a cousin of Patrick Sharp, there is a shrewd estimate of the latter's posi- tion. William Scot of Cupar was one of the Eight summoned to London for their defiant attitude toward the King's policy.^ His friendly correspondent says — " My cousin of Glasgow wrote to me the last day, and I to him. He has promised meikle. He is ane courtiour. Ye may confer with him as ye have occa- sion. I am wo that he should be that other way." ^ 1 Melville's Diary, p. 659. ^ Supra, p. 66. ' Scot of Cupar's Apologetical Narration, Wod. Soc. p. xv. CLERICAL DRESS 109 It was in 1606 also that Sharp became Constant Moderator of the presbytery of Glasgow, the nearest dignity to a bishopric ; and thus gave final proof of his Episcopal leanings. Three years after we find him at the Falkland Conference, at which the motion for a truce between parties was affirmed. This familiar expedient promoted the full triumph of the court party, and led directly to the events of 16 10, when Spottiswood, Lamb, and Hamilton were con- secrated at London, and returned to Scotland qualified to impart consecration to the remaining Scots bishops. The bishops had at last become full-fledged prelates, so far as consecration and endowments went. They had already begun to wear their uniform, prescribed from the Court. It was all of one colour, black, a circumstance which miay account for the popular phrase " black prelacy." Black stockings to the knee, black gowns, and black crape at the neck, represented their sombre splendour. It was also enjoined as the costume of Doctors of Divinity.^ But in neither respect could it be worn by Patrick Sharp. Coutts declares that during Sharp's twenty-eight years of office the University " held its own and made some progress." Baillie mentions in his praise that he obtained for the College the parsonage teinds of Govan.^ Yet it is recorded that royal commis- sioners reported in 16 13 that a number of abuses in the College were all traceable to the principal, and they were directed to meet in August, 16 14, and proceed against Sharp. Before this trial could be ^ Cunningham's History of the Church of Scotland, I. p. 476. ^Baillie's Letters, III. 574. no PATRICK SHARP held, Sharp resigned his appointment, and it was not long before his death ensued. The Brief Explication of Christian Doctrine repre- sents the sole attempt made by any professor of Divinity in Glasgow to set forth the doctrines of the Faith in something like text-book form. Printed at Edinburgh in 1599, and dedicated to King James, it is described as being written by Patrick Sharp, pro- fessor of Theology in Academia Glascuensi. It is a modest production, treating of the first three chapters of Genesis, the Apostles' Creed, the Institution or Doctrine of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the Lord's Prayer. The dedication to the King begins by reciting that many causes combined to disturb the author when he thought of publishing this digest of his teaching in the class-room. For one thing, nothing new could be said, and he might even spoil the old. Again, he was conscious of his own slender powers, which counselled him to lie low and not rashly to incur the judgment of so learned an age. Thirdly, he had a just dislike of the scribbler's weak- ness which urged so many men to authorship. Nevertheless, by adhering to the best authorities, and above all to the sacred pronouncements of God's Word, he hoped to be favourably judged by good men. Jerome had well said that each and every man offers in God's Temple just what he can, or what he has got from others. So, despising the criticism of the wicked, he ventured to send out this slender offspring of his mind under the royal auspices. He had the strongest grounds for such a proceeding ; because it was His Majesty to whom under God he THE "BREVIS EXPLICATIO " iir owed life and all its prospects ; who was the advocate of the Truth, the detector of sophistry, the defender and champion of Christ's kingdom, and the ardent well-wisher of the Church's safety, as he had abun- dantly proved in the General Assembly. He had not deemed it beneath his dignity to take part in the councils of the shepherds of the Church, lowly as they were, and to declare (the dedicator himself being pre- sent heard the very words) that he would rather- be a Christian than a king without Christ. His first care had been to see proper Church judicatories established in even the most out-of-the-way regions. From himself and his colleagues, whom His Majesty had set over the Glasgow Gymnasium, the King had a right to look for some mature production, since Glas- gow University possessed noble monuments of royal munificence which posterity would applaud. For their part, they never ceased to pray for His Majesty, for the realm, and for the Church. And he remained His Majesty's addictissimus et humillimus servus. There follows a preface briefly setting forth the nature of Scripture and of the canonical books. Scripture then is that which by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and especially through Prophets and Apostles has been written down for the instruction of God's people concerning the right worship of God Himself and the true happiness. Scripture is the instrumentum whereby God gathers to Himself a Church. Nothing can be accepted as true which is not congruent to Scripture. The canon is given, and the Old Testament list as in our Authorised Version. In the New Testament list, however, St. Paul is credited with the epistle to the Hebrews, To prove 112 PATRICK SHARP by the logic of the natural man that Scripture is the Word of God is a vain attempt (frustra desudaveris); this faith comes to those taught of God who recognise the light by its very nature. But there are also writ- ings ecclesiastical and apocryphal which are not canonical. These the Fathers would have to be read in the Churches, but not to be alleged as authorities. In all this there is certainly nothing out of keeping with the author's confession of his tenuitas ingenii. But the brief discussion of Scripture is liberally sup- plied with quotations from Chrysostom, Augustine, Athanasius, Rufinus, Cajetan, and Origen, yielding an inkling of the learned writer's library. Discussing (or, as he says, " praelecting " on) the first three chapters of Genesis, Sharp gives first a running commentary, then " aphorisms " derived from particular passages. Thus on chap i. verse 2, he gravely rejects the opinion of philosophers that there are four elements, air, earth, fire and water, because fire is only intensissimus calor, or in fact heated air! The general aim, however, is by these " aphorisms " to connect the story of creation, temptation, and promise of deliverance with the great scheme of Christian doctrine. From those three chapters of Genesis the writer seeks to draw the Church doctrines of God, of man, of sin, and of redemption. The contact with Christian dogma is much closer in his short treatise on the Apostle's Creed. He adopts the form carnis resurrectionem, but explains it in terms of the Pauline distinction between the natural body and the spiritual body. In each clause, he follows a uniform method — (a) illustration of its terms from Scripture : (b) explana- THE SACRAMENTS 113 tion of the Church Doctrine from the Fathers : (c) *' uses " of the doctrine. As regards the Virgin Birth, he says — ^uanquam vero conceptus fuit miraculosus, nativitas tamen ordinaria. He denies any literal descent into hell. He gives the recognised distinction between the Visible and the Invisible Church ; to this latter alone he declares that the terms of the Creed apply. The Ecclesia Romana is vere scortum ; the Church Invisible alone is the Sponsa Christi, who is holy and pure. He con- cludes with a brief disquisition on Justification which, he defines as Dei actio, qua gratis ex sua misericordia justitiam imputat natura filio irae, credenti solum per redemptionem factam Jesu Christi ad demonstrandam justitiam suam. The short treatise on Baptism and the Lord's Supper which follows discusses first the number of the New Testament sacraments, and thereafter passes to the two sacraments alone prescribed by Christ. The sacraments themselves are not only signa but sigilla, both signs and seals. He explains hoc est corpus meum, after Tertullian and Augustine, as hoc est signum corporis met. Thereafter, having shortly defined Repentance and Good Works, he proceeds to the ethical part of his exposition, founding on the Ten Commandments. In this part he shews con- siderable vigour and plainness of speech. The last pages are devoted to an explanation of the Lord's Prayer, in which he recognises that the phrase "De- liver us from evil " is a prayer for help against the Evil One {ah illo malo). There follows his signature M. P. S. = Magister Patricius Scharpius ; and the date 5. Calend. Januar, 1597 (i.e. Dec. 28, 1596). 114 PATRICK SHARP Sharp's last days were spent under a cloud. His enforced resignation was probably the occasion of his death, for he was not yet three score and ten. He cannot be commemorated for his theological gifts, but he was at any rate a methodical and painstaking teacher. His merits as a teacher were not unrecog- nised, and more than one distinguished writer sat on his benches. Cameron, afterwards principal, Andrew Rivet, who became a noted theologian, i and David Dickson, first professor of Divinity in Glasgow after that chair was separately established, were among his students. The great Napier, of the Logarithms, sent his son to study under Sharp. With this modest record, he cannot be dismissed as uninteresting. Works of Patrick Sharp Doctrinae Christianae brevis Explicatio : in tria priora Geneseos capita, Symbolum Apostolicum, Baptismi, Coenae Domini institutionem, Decalogum, et Orationem Dominicam. Authore Patricio Scharpio, Theologiae professore in Academia Glascuensi. Edinburgh: 1599. [/« Glasgow University Library."] Of the Grammar for Schools, I have not seen any copy. ' But see p. 171. .IV ROBERT BOYD (1578-1627) I. Preparation Robert Boyd, who was brought over from Saumur to succeed Patrick Sharp, was at the outset fortunate in his birth and early education. Born in 1578, he was eldest son of the Tulchan Archbishop of Glas- gow, and thus claimed close kinship with the noble family of Boyd, and, through his grandmother, with the house of Cassillis. His father indeed would never have been Archbishop but for the convenient arrangement by which the Church lands and revenues passed to the clan of Boyds through the archiepis- copal hands. We must, however, remember that the arrangement was perfectly legal at the time. The future Principal and Professor was born at Glasgow, but on his father's death in 1581 when he was but three years old, he was removed to the family home at Trochrigg (Trochoregia), and sent by his mother to the Ayr Grammar School near that place. Thence he was taken to Edinburgh University for his philo- sophy (arts) course, and became in due time Master of Arts. In this course his regent during the entire three or four years was Charles Ferme. When, how- ii6 ROBERT BOYD ever, he passed to the study of theology, he found himself under the care of the famous RoUock, the principal regent and professor of Divinity in Edin- burgh. RoUock was a thoroughgoing Calvinist, as his treatise on Effectual Calling shews. Dr. Walker, in his book on the Scots theologians of the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries, says that RoUock was neither brilliant nor powerful ; but Boyd himself, in his Philotheca, writes in rapturous hexameters of the extraordinary force and vehemence of RoUock's utter- ance. He had, it seems, a very powerful voice, and a faculty of creating profound emotion. It was Rol- lock, the pupil declares, who first brought him under the gentle yoke of Christ. His noble brow, his eager eyes, his wit, his very mouth and hands, and his whole countenance, are celebrated by the enthusiastic pupil, who was then over thirty. Such a description, though perhaps enhanced by memory and affection, leads us to think that Dr. Walker's estimate is niggardly. Boyd himself was notably eager and forcible in his style, and may possibly have contracted some likeness to his admired teacher, just as long afterwards Amy- raut (according to Bayle) imitated his master Cameron in voice and " a certain motion of his head in speaking." ^ In addition to the influence of RoUock, that of two of his College friends is singled out by himself (in the Philotheca, his autobiography). They were a fellow-student, James Watson, "a bearded man with beardless boys," afflicted also by paralysis in the 1 Walker's Theology and Theologians in Scotland, 1 888, p. 3 ; Wodrow's Lives, Boyd, p. 8, Cameron, p. 213; Bayle's Dictionary, sub voce Cameron. PREPARATION 117 hand, a man of rare humility and resignation. They worked together, Boyd helping Watson with his writing, and Watson helping Boyd in his " divine studies." The other was Robert Bruce, the great preacher, " standard-bearer of godliness," " the Basile or Bernard of our age," whose sermons and friend- ship were of equal value to Rollock's discipline. Boyd became an unwilling exile from Scotland in 1597, during a period of great unsettlement in the Church. He has left among his papers a note of his wanderings in France until he settled for a time at Montauban, where Scotsmen were made peculiarly welcome. This young Magister Artium records how he left Scotland on May Day, 1597, and took six days to voyage to Dieppe. Passing through Rouen and Paris, he stayed a short time at Orleans with a M. Grisper, paying for pension eight livres monthly. Thence after a brief halt at Chatelherauk, he passed to Poitiers, where he would doubtless find traces of Andrew Melville. But Poitiers was still unfriendly to the Reformed, and he wandered on to Tours, and there remained till his health, never robust and always sorely tried by study, broke down. He was now twenty. Change of scene restored him somewhat, but he removed to Bordeaux, and at last returned to Poitiers. A visit paid from thence to Montauban led to his being employed there for five years as a regent, teaching philosophy (i.e. arts). Andrew Rivet, in the short account of Boyd's life prefixed to the work on Ephesians, says that Boyd taught four hoiors daily, spending the rest of his time " in other studies." " He slept little, spending a great part of the night in the study of Divinity, which he still Ti8 ROBERT BOYD propounded to himself as his great mark. His pur- pose always was, if God gave him an opportunity, to be the pastor of a church and professor in an University." II. MoNTAUBAN (1599-1604) At Montauban he set about his work with characteristic thoroughness. His " trials " when appointed regent (or professor of philosophy) in- cluded an inaugural lecture on Catiline's Conspiracy, and an oration on poetry as exemplified in the first satire of Persius. When duly admitted as Politioris literaturae irpuoroSiSaa-KaXoi (for so he is officially designated) he affixed to the College wall his pro- gramme, notifying that on November 13 he would at 8 a.m. lecture on Cicero's pro lege Manilia in Latin and French ; at 12, on Isocmtes' aii Demonicum ; and in the afternoon hours on Virgil's Aeneid, III. To these subjects he will dedicate and consecrate his labours, nee ad Critolai libram expensis, nee ad Cleanthis lucernam evtgilatis. He therefore earnestly requests all studious youths, initiates iji these sacred mysteries, priests of learning, alumni of the muses, pillars of the University, to give their attendance. As to holidays, he will observe the day of foundation. The opening address was on the origin, growth, and advantages of the literae humaniores. At this time also, he published his philosophical theses, as well as certain theses of a theological nature. His pro- gramme, annually renewed, announces oral examina- tions and exercises on particular subjects, for the purpose of testing the scholars' knowledge. MONTAUBAN (1599-1604) 119 His second session witnessed a large increase in attendance. His daily prayer in class was a fit pre- lude to such serious and devoted labours. It is worth transcribing, for a model to our modern classes : "Eternal God and Father, fountain of all grace and wisdom, who resistest the proud and givest grace to the humble ; before all things graft in us humility and modera- tion of spirit. Lighten our minds by the brightness of thy Spirit : confirm our memory, govern our will, order the aflfections of our heart, and make us teachable and under- standing in good learning. Finally, direct our studies to the end that we may serve thee faithfully and sincerely, living godly righteous and sober in this present world, employing all we say and do and think for the glory of thy Name alone, for the good of our neighbour, and for our own salvation : per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen" A prayer of some length in Latin hexameters was used on the opening day each session. It concludes with the Lord's Prayer, "precww nohis normam hanc formam." This is as good a Latin version of the Lord's Prayer as I have anywhere seen in verse ; and scholars will be grateful for the lines, which are as follows : Christiadum Genitor, qui coelestem incolis arccm, Nominis orbe tui splendescat gloria toto, Sceptra tui passim vigeant regni ; utque voluntas Fit tua coelicolis, terrae sic fiat alumnis ; Da quibus usus eget vitae praesentis ; et aere Solve tuo obstrictos, nostrum donamus ut ultro ; Neve hosti nos trade, malo sed libera ab omni ; Nam regnum roburque tuum, et dccus omne per aevum est. Nor was he above promulgating certain regulations which were privately imposed on his hearers. These are no less than seventeen in number. He bids his I20 ROBERT BOYD students remember that philosophy is not a matter of words and opinions ; but of character, life, and action. Therefore each must be not a spectator only but also an actor. He ought first of all to observe the College laws. He should shew due honour to the magistrates, professors and preceptors of the College. He must come to class punctually at the fixed hours, armed with pen, notebook, and the books which are to be discussed. He must not be absent except for dangerous illness or more important busi- ness. He ought to be teachable, attentive and modest in time of lecture, not talkative or noisy, not laughing or using slangy or unseasonable speech, not interspersing any remarks or wasting time. Nor must he ejaculate loudly while men are writing, or ask questions of the professor while he is dictating, or add anything of his own to what is thus dictated. He must never reach such a height of impudence (impudentiae) as to require his professor to repeat what has just been uttered, or to warn him that the clause dictated has been written out, or to hinder any fellow-student while writing ; or finally to emit any remark during the writing which may be heard by the professor and may give him offence ; but he must receive the prelection in modest silence. The student, after dictation is ended, must give the same attention and silence to his professor's teaching and dissertations. He must take his place without quarrelling and uproar, he must not grab another scholar's seat, or wander from one seat to another, or walk up and down. Nor must he go out before the professor has left the auditorium or has given the sign of dismissal, unless he has first obtained leave. ROBERT BOYD OF TROCHRIGG 1578-1627 MONTAUBAN (i 599-1604) 121 Disputations were to be attended with diligence, and each student must play his assigned part, whether it be to expound, to reply, to propound or to impugn, to teach, to speak, or to make conclusions (docendi, dicendi, deducendi). At the weekly debate (hebdo- mas), he must in his turn submit theses prepared care- fully the day before : he must arrange the number, order, and place of the disputants, partly by lot, partly at the professor's direction. On Sundays, the students at the morning hour of class, two or three men at a time, must treat the particular head {caput) appointed by the professor, not carelessly but with accuracy and diligence. The other students must freely offer their criticism ; but if anything unfair should be said or done, the critics should seriously draw attention to it. The prelections given daily, along with the relevant passages in Aristotle, ought to be pondered and memorised, and this not only in college but at home. A student should not, however, confine himself to the class-lectures, but ought day and night to consult philosophical writers of note, such as Zabarella (and him especially) ; also, Pacius, Piccolomini, Porerius, Fonseca, Toletus, the Conimbricenses.^ The student should never postpone till to-morrow the task of to-day, but render daily his due. Other- wise, carelessness must be reckoned as bad as deceit. Above all, wherever he may be, the scholar must shew himself a man of good morals, avoiding blas- phemy, profanity, quarrelling and intemperance. It should be his habit to be present at, and take part in, 1 Conimbrkenses, Jesuits of the Univ. of Coimbra, Portugal, com- mentators on Aristotle. 122 ROBERT BOYD sermons, hymns, prayers and the other parts of Divine Service. He ought not to absent him- self either at the beginning or at the end of his course. And above all, the scholar at nightfall should never leave his room unless for unavoidable business. For out of such night-haunting arise the desertion of college rooms and studies, the vague wandering in the streets, the secret contentions, the love affairs and drinking-bouts after holidays. Hence also flow brawlings, ambushes, wounds. Hence, in fine, come the other infamies perpetrated under cloud of dark- ness, which no philosophy student ought even to name. " Of those who favour and forward such things, beware thou, O ingenuous youth, as of pitch and plague, and keep company only with those of upright and approved life, and especially thine own equals. And at such hours, rather shut thyself up in thy room as in the muses' shrine and workshop of thy studies, the manufactory in which to perfect and polish the mind ; and with bolted door, finger on lip, and ears stopped as with wax, forbid access and con- ference to those triflers and nightwalkers ! " Thus soberly and almost austerely did Robert Boyd privately exhort his students. His College Rules are entirely admirable, and have lost no frac- tion of value after three hundred years. Nor was this a mere exhortation, for each student had to sub- scribe the regulations according to a formula in which he promised to observe them to his utmost. Wodrow transcribes this formula of subscription and the names of fifty-one students who signed it in i6o2. Some of them no doubt were Scotsmen. Such names as MONTAUBAN (1599-1604) 123 Martin, Warren, Walter, Birrell, Campbell, Herald may perhaps be deciphered from the Latin forms. It is observable that importance is attached to the *' disputations." Something like system discloses itself in the rules regarding them. One student in turn was appointed to propose the theses or questions for discussion, to decide the number of disputants {two or three in each week), and to appoint, subject to the professor, their order and place. Disputations were ordinarily held on Sunday morning.-^ The students criticised their fellows' discourses. These are points of interest, because this exercise of dispu- tation on theses was kept up at Glasgow College for many years, and it was the privilege and duty of the Professor of Divinity to preside. Nothing at pre- sent survives of this ancient custom except perhaps the debates of our Theological Societies. There, a president takes the chair, a paper (the old thesis) is read, and discussion ensues, and is often summed up by the chairman. At other times, and in a formal debate, there is still an affirmative and a negative as in the academic disputations of the middle ages. The method of teaching is also disclosed. The professor offered first his dictatum or dictate, to be taken down in absolute silence. Then he proceeded to explain the various points {docere et disserere). So far as I can gather, praelectio was chiefly the act of dictation, dlssertatio was more closely what we now call lecturing. Boyd seems to sum up the class- work in the phrase praelectionibus, dissertationibusy aViisque congressihus et exerciti'ts philosophicis. A formal and special lecture was oratio. The term ^ The Scottish day for disputations was Saturday. 124 ROBERT BOYD enanare also occurs, and seems to indicate a sort of exposition, either by the professor or by a student. In some at least of our classes to-day, the same methods prevail. The late Professor Flint began each day's lecture with the formula, "Take down the following abstract." Then he delivered a written lecture, to be taken down in silence, as far as his rapid utterance permitted. Many students, writing short- hand, are able to take these dissertations verbatim. But the scholars of Boyd's time probably listened without taking notes. At any rate, such MS. note- books as I have seen consist almost entirely of dic- tated matter. The language used being Latin, there would be much time consumed in the task. And so accurate is the Latin, that one suspects that the notes were revised by the professor and written out fair by the student. Boyd bids the student bring his stylus and his pugillaria to class ; it is possible therefore that the first draught was made on tablets. It was the duty of the professor to supervise his students' notes, although the duty was probably not always performed. The dictates of a regent also were theo- retically liable to be reviewed by the Professor of Divinity, and sometimes heresies or improprieties were detected. It must of course be remembered that the students were boys, and even the regent was frequently a lad in his teens. Boyd was himself barely twenty-one when he gave his inaugural at Montauban. Boyd seems to have become Principal Regent at Montauban, since a letter to him preserved by Wod- row styles him " the Right Honourable Mr. Robert Boyd of Trochrigg, Principall of the coUedge of MONTAUBAN (i 599-1604) 125 Montauban." ^ This suggests a new title for Scot- tish use. The truth is that such expressions are but translations from the grandiloquent Latin of academic letters. Right Honourable is the harmless Honoratissimus. Right Worshipful (which we found in a previous case^) is Dignissimus. And even so, Right Reverend is Reverendissimus. For Very Reverend, I cannot find any equivalent. III. Verteuil (1604-1606) After his five years at Montauban, Boyd passed in 1604 to a pastoral charge, at Verteuil, where he was ordained "with imposition of hands" from M. Pacard, father of one of his students at Montauban. Recording this in his Philotheca, he adds that he was then twenty-one years old. This would make him born in 1583, five years later than the date given by Wodrow. If this were correct, he could only have been sixteen when he began teaching at Montauban ! As he had already recorded in 1626 that it was then forty-five years since his father's death, and that at the date of the death he himself was but three years old, it is manifest that there was a lapse of memory to the extent of five years. Of course, Wodrow may have mistaken a numeral in Boyd's manuscript. And in any case, the difficulty of exact dates is well known as regards such periods, the ten years added to Knox's age being a crucial instance. It is hardly likely that a lad of sixteen would be appointed a professor even in those prodigious days. Moreover, the canonical age for ordination was twenty-five, very ^ Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 29. ^ See suj>fa, p. 2. 126 ROBERT BOYD nearly what Boyd was, supposing him born in 1578. The imposition of hands which he so carefully note* was not invariably added to ordination in Scotland at this time, and probably many Scots pastors never had it at all. It is another question, and one not easy to decide, whether the doctors of theology, being without imposition of hands, ministered the sacra- ments. The same question arises regarding the Scots superintendents, like Erskine of Dun and Robert Pont. That both superintendents and doctors preached is certain ; but Melville was an elder in the Kirk Session of St. Andrews, and there is no likelihood that he ever baptized or administered the Lord's Supper. It may, however, be added, that no one at the time ever regarded superintendents or doctors as " laymen." Boyd's pastorate at Verteuil was brief, lasting less than two years. It was not altogether without its cares. He expressly records that the people of Verteuil "defalked from, my stipend ... 187 pounds (livres) for the charges of Mr. Malcome's journey to Montauban and mine to Verteuil, and my journey to the coUoques and synods and my stay at Rochell, before my reception,"^ These were the expenses incurred in the prosecution of the call from Verteuil, and it seems hard that they should be charged against the young minister. But Boyd was ever unlucky in financial matters, as we shall see in the course of this narrative. Candidates for vacant parishes in Scotland have similar grievances to com- plain of even yet. Though he left Verteuil with this unpleasant memory, his ministry there had not been 1 Wodrow, Life of Boyd, p. 31. VERTEUIL (1604- 1 606) 127 unfruitful. It was a difficult charge, as there were two congregations to serve, and there was some jealousy which ended not long after Boyd's departure in a petition for disjunction. Boyd had stipulated for one' year's trial, with liberty to return to his friends thereafter. The year of probation had elapsed, and he had continued to labour among them. Then came the action of the local Synod, which suddenly agreed to transfer Boyd to Saumur, not of course without his consent. The unfortunate elders of Verteuil complained of this action as shewing lack of considerateness for a struggling church. But they had perforce to submit, and they did it with a good grace. The strict accounting which they took was perhaps excusable in the circumstances. They felt that they had been rather badly treated, and they visited their disappointment on Boyd, by "defalk- ing" from his stipend. The Synod of Rochelle, in which Verteuil lay, was apparently agitated by another difficult controversy, whether or not the subjects of the Roman Pontiff could properly be called a Church at all. A diplo- matic letter to the Synod from Duplessis Mornay is transcribed by Wodrow, in which (under date of March, 1607) he urges them to abandon any attempt to define strictly on this point, on the prudent grounds that if the Synod recognises the Papacy as a Church, it will strengthen the Papacy ; while if it 'unchurches Rome, it will invalidate the Roman bap- tism, infuriate the whole Roman body, and at the same time offend Protestant churches which do not go so far. The matter, he declares, is for contro- versial treatises, not for canons. Canons should 128 ROBERT BOYD touch only things perfectly decided, not matters generally disputed. Therefore, he thinks it safer to go on as before, simply pointing out the corrup- tions of Rome and warning men to avoid its communion. His counsel was adopted, and it was no doubt sage. But it is a little discounted by the fact that he himself denounces Rome as Antichrist, as Apostacy, and even cnroa-Ttjima. It is worthy of passing conjecture, whether Boyd himself had not been involved in this heated dispute. If so, it would help to account for his speedy removal from the region of controversy. IV. Saumur ( 1 606-1 6 1 4) It was at any rate by the influence of Duplessis Mornay that Boyd received an invitation from Saumur in 1606 to become one of the pastors of the church there, and to give lectures and disputations in the university. This probationary trial was so satisfactory that in 1608 he was formally elected professor of Divinity at Saumur. A. Rivet says that he laboured there for six years, that is up to 16 14, and by his excessive studies " contracted a weakness in his stomach." ^ But it is evident that Boyd's ill-health had already become a fact to be reckoned with, for he had hardly settled in Saumur as a pastor when we find him obtaining leave of absence for a whole year, during which he drew his stipend. The letter of dimission and introduction granted him by the University of Saumur recites the fact that Boyd had urgently asked for leave to visit his native land 1 Rivet's Life of Boyd, in Commentary on Ephesians. SAUMUR (1606-1614) 129 and his friends after long absence. While they would incur much inconvenience and expense, and his services would be much missed in the university, they readily granted permission. Nothing is said of health, but it is probable that Boyd was homesick and depressed. It is noteworthy that the academic certificate is signed by the Rector as professor of Divinity, by the Principal (gymnasiarcha), and by the Professor of Oriental Languages.-' It is dated June I, 1607. In his Philotheca, accordingly, Boyd relates that he left Saumur on August 3, taking with him " 760 pounds in gold." He went straight to Paris, and thence visited a number of university towns in Germany and Holland. Thereafter he passed to London and travelled by land to Scotland, where he stayed from December, 1607, t° May, 1608. It appears from the Commissariat Returns that he was served heir to his father in the lands of Trochrig on February 16, 1608, which gives another reason for his absence. On the return journey he visited Cambridge, and then sailed by the Dover-Dieppe route, reaching Saumur "in health and safety" on Sunday, June 28. He had spent 300 crowns in gold. He adds the gratifying fact that he was immediately paid his entire salary in arrear for the bygone twelve months. It was 600 pounds. Out of it he paid his locum tenens (whom he de- scribes as a "proposant" or probationer) about 180 pounds, or less than one-third. He had bought a number of books in his continental tour, and he notes the names of many booksellers and printers of the day, among whom are the Elzevirs. Of his ^Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 55. I30 ROBERT BOYD Scots experiences he says not a word ; and yet it was a stirring time in Scotland. Melville was in the Tower ; many Scots ministers were in exile. The royal policy of the restoration of prelacy was fiilly disclosed. But the situation does not seem to have moved Boyd to any expression of feeling, and indeed his desire to get back to Scotland was already mould- ing his Church views. He had now a fairly good estate in Ayrshire, and naturally wished to look after it personally. His health was benefited by his native air. There were possibilities of controversial trouble at Saumur. His temperament was not altogether averse to episcopacy, as was natural in the son of a Bishop. Nevertheless, he settled down to his work at Saumur with characteristic doggedness. Boyd seems to have been elected Rector Magni- ficus almost immediately on his return to Saumur. The office, which still exists in continental universi- ties, is held in a rotation by the various professors. It was in this capacity that he acted as spokesman in conveying greetings to the Prince of Anhalt in the early days of 1609. A less agreeable duty fell to his lot when he was chosen to address a number of students who had rebelled against the Rector, Beraldus, and had even argued the point with the senate. Three of the offending youths are men- tioned by name in the portentous harangue which Boyd then delivered to them — Cavallius, Grivallius, and Langius. The rebels were exhorted to make public confession and apology, and to undertake to treat the Rector with due respect in future. It does not appear that they all submitted, since Boyd pre- served a copy of the sentence of expulsion passed SAUMUR (1606-1614) 131 against two students, Palletus and Fossanus. The solemn formula is adorned with a distich : Cuncta prius tentanda, sed imtnedicabile vulnus Ense recidendum est, ne pars sincera trahatur. In English. When other cure is none, the surgeon's knife Must be employed, to save the patient's life. While such painful duties were imposed on him, there were others more gratifying. One such was the choice of a professor of Greek, in which Boyd took much interest. One of the directions given to the candidate for this office at his " trials " was " that he quit the old pronunciation, and drop the accents which marr the quantity of the syllables, as they do too generally who bind themselves with too much closness to the accents." There is an echo here of the vexed question which Melville debated with the famous Portus, and which Professor Blackie delighted to revive.^ But even over this appointment there was a dispute. The students also again gave trouble by their processions at examination times. A more serious incident was his enforced return to Scotland in 1 6 10 in order to attend to pressing business. Boyd on this occasion offered to resign his chair, but was persuaded to take a second leave of absence. From a letter preserved by Calderwood, it appears that he made application to King James for employ- ment, so that he might be profitable to his own ^See supra, p. 18. Dr. Irving, in the appendix to his Lives of Scottish Writers, is betrayed by the incident into a long discussion of the question of accents and quantity. See his Lives, I. p. 175 compared with II, p. 351. 132 ROBERT BOYD country and Church. But no encouragement was given. From this we may conclude that he had solicited some appointment in the King's gift ; but if so, the effort was vain. It is a little puzzling to find him at this very time in correspondence with Melville, then a prisoner in the Tower, Wodrow transcribes an intimate note from Melville to Boyd, dated Londini ex Arce, 23 Oct. 1610, referring caustically to the recent consecration of Scottish bishops at London, and the new nickname for Calvinists, viz. "Puritans." Melville addresses Boyd in endearing terms — suavissime Bodi. His efforts to secure a post in Scotland, though futile at the time, brought him, some six months after his return to Saumur, an invitation from the Archbishop of Glasgow to come back to Scotland. But the situation had swiftly changed ; he had fallen in love with a French lady of family. Mile. Anna Maliverne, to whom he was married in May, 161 1. He has carefully noted the cost of the jewellery which he gave her, as well as of various religious books, such as Beza's Sermons, his Meditations on the Seven Penitential Psalms, his Tables of Death ; Duplessis' Meditations ; A. Rivet's Meditations on the 1 1 9th Psalm ; and a lugubrious work called Funeralls (funerailles) of the Daughters of Sodom. It is a characteristic trait which moves him to describe his father-in-law as talis, qualis mihi narranti vix fere quisquam crediderit — a man whose merits were in- credible! Boyd was austere even in his love affairs. At the end of this year (161 1) he took part in the "trials" and admission of his cousin, Zachary Boyd, as a regent in philosophy at Saumur. This same SAUMUR (1606-1614) 133 year, too, Melville's arrival in France is announced by his correspondents. Among them Dumoulin writes that he has seen the redoubtable old scholar, who is rumoured to lean to the views of Piscator.^ But he has not ventured to sound him on that point, because Melville is represented as being un peu cholere. Dumoulin adds that he fears Melville may be uneasy at Sedan, when he finds so few students there ; and that the reason given for the decline in that seminary is that Piscator's views are held by Tilenus, one of the leading Divinity professors there. This echo of the growing Arminian controversy sug- gests that Melville's Calvinism was already suspect among the French divines. A subsequent note from Dumoulin introduces to Boyd two' students from Sedan who have decided to transfer themselves to Saumur because of the Arminian views prevailing in the former College. It will be seen what anxieties awaited Melville in his new sphere.^ A student's letter from Sedan to Boyd gives a clear idea of the position. Melville had begun his lectures, and there had emerged a distinct difference of opinion between him and Tilenus. On the point of Justification by the passive obedience of Christ, he and Tilenus were nearly in accord ; but concerning Reprobation and the interpretation of Romans vii., they differed openly. Tilenus was the fashionable teacher ; the Melvillites were ridiculed as obscurantists and had to absent themselves from lecture. The student longs to return to Saumur. The number of students at Sedan is very small, not nearly the third part of those at Saumur. Melville was lecturing on Pro^ ^See Life of Cameron, pp. 170, 171. ^See sufra, pp. 77-79. 134 ROBERT BOYD verbs, c. xxx. ; Tilenus on the loci communes. The writer little suspected that Saumur was soon to become the headquarters of this new theology, with Cameron and Amyraut as its exponents. Tilenus, according to Wodrow, was an enemy to Presbyterian government and discipline, favouring Arminian doc- trine and hierarchical prelacy. It is a conjunction of tendencies which we may note as fairly general among the Episcopising party in Scotland, and which gives a key to the cryptic movements of some leading divines and ecclesiastics of the troubled epoch between 1610 and 1637. Boyd had a plentiful supply of news from Scot- land. The extracts fi-om letters transcribed by Wod- row, although scanty, throw light on the restlessness of Boyd during his stay at Saumur. There was growing dissatisfaction with Patrick Sharp, the principal and professor of Divinity in Glasgow. It seems probable that his removal had well-nigh been resolved upon at the time of Boyd's second visit to Scotland, in 1610, and that Boyd was even then regarded as his proper successor. The agitation against Sharp increased until in August, 16 14, Boyd was informed that, rather than face the Royal Com- mission appointed to proceed against him, Sharp had resigned his office. Sharp's "utter disgrace" is announced by a cousin of Boyd's. Another urges him to hasten to Scotland. The Archbishop has written to him. The intrigue had succeeded, and the Boyds were jubilant. Wodrow declares that Boyd hung back ; but " his friends had embarked *he King, and there was little left but yielding." ^ 1 Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 118. SAUMUR (i 606-1 6 14) 135 He left Saumur in October, 16 14, amid general marks of regret and esteem. Valuable presentations came to him from Church and College. He received a hundred pounds for the repairs and adornments executed by him on his house, and an additional quarter's salary into the bargain. As a memorial of his professorship and ministry, he was presented with a silver basin costing upwards of fifty crowns, and inscribed with his crest, name, and arms. In the glowing " testimonial " from the elders of Saumur, which accompanied these gifts, he is commended for his orthodoxy in doctrine and his faithfulness as a pastor. They would all have wished him to spend his life among them ; but he had told them that while he would have desired to stay at his post, he was obliged to go back to Scotland for health, and also on account of " the command of his superiors," and his love for his native land. A large company of colleagues and students accompanied him and his household some distance beyond Saumur. His pro- gress from that town to Glasgow occupied no less than three months. Leaving Saumur on October 2, he started from Dieppe on October 24. The passage money was 36s. for each person. He stayed in London till November 15, paying 12 s. 6d. a week for two rooms. His coach fare to Edinburgh was ^24 sterling. The journey required a coach-and- four. It is evident that he was a person of conse- quence, and very much above the social rank of the man whom he came to replace as head of the Univer- sity of Glasgow, where he arrived at the end of 1614. Thus, at thirty-six years of age, Boyd entered on 136 ROBERT BOYD the scene of his chief labours as a theological teacher. He had many advantages — a thorough training in academic and in pastoral work, a considerable landed estate, a close alliance by birth and breeding with the families of Boyd and Cassillis, an ample stock of lectures, and a fluency and learning not excelled by any living teacher. But he had serious defects, as well — chronic dyspepsia, a wife who, though affec- tionate and well-born, did not love Scotland, and remained to the end a Frenchwoman in her language and habitudes, a somewhat stiff manner and temper, and (it may be suspected) a certain niggardliness in money matters which caused him to worry a good deal over his affairs. All these traits and circum- stances may be gathered from Wodrow's vivid and friendly pages. There is one more which arose from that Scots quality of intriguing and caution which, along with Scots pride, had long been proverbial in France, where so many Scottish scholars elbowed their way into good positions. The portrait of Boyd (probably painted in France, certainly copied for Glasgow University) suggests some at least of those characteristics. It is a contrast in its way to Mel- ville's. The latter was, though quick-tempered, gay, jovial, open-handed, and companionable. Boyd was rather saturnine and melancholy, and did not readily win affection. He was probably more polished, but less human, than his great predecessor. His appoint- ment by the Crown at a critical stage in the conflict between Presbytery and Episcopacy placed him at once in a position of cruel perplexity, which lasted to the end of his life. He was at heart a Presby- terian, yet he owed his chair to a monarch bent on SAUMUR (1606-1614) 137 Prelacy. He hated Arminianism, yet he was called to co-operate with Arminian dignitaries. He claimed a suitable provision for the University and its teachers, and found the Court pursuing a policy which spelled disendowment. Some such circumstances as the foregoing help to account for the rather depressing features of his brief tenure of office as Principal and Professor, with which v/e must now deal. V. Boyd in Glasgow University (161 5-1 621) Boyd's actual residence as Principal and Professor of Divinity began, as has been seen, on December 3 1 , 1 6 14, and it ended in September, 1621. Baillie's account of this period is full of flattering generalities. For the first four years, he says, all went well. His regents, among whom was David Dickson, were sympathetic. The best traditions of Melville and Smeaton were not only maintained but bettered. His habits of excessive toil and study remained un- changed ; he laboured " from morning till midnight and sometimes longer, save only a few hours for the necessary refection of nature and the dispatch of the exercises of his place." He was as ascetic in food as any dyspeptic student could be. In private intercourse, Baillie admits that he was "not fit for all company, nor for any company at all seasons." But he was courteous, and among his intimate friends, he was " sometimes very pleasant and cheerful." He was a strict disciplinarian, exhibiting severity, earnestness, authority, charity and prudence. He had a look which was more persuasive than the sharpest chastise- ment. His habit of solemn prayer after the exercise 138 ROBERT BOYD of discipline, " drew rivers of tears from some of his hearers." ^ The prayers were in Latin, and, it may be supposed, produced less effect on others. Baillie declares that thirty years have not obliterated the delight with which he recalls those solemn prayers. Boyd, however, declined to preside at the students' disputations — that " problematicall sporting with Divinity by young men," as Wodrow puts it — because he thought them beneath the dignity of the subject. But Baillie assigns two other reasons, the small number of Divinity students, and the compara- tive novelty in Glasgow of such disputations, how- ever familiar abroad. He adds that Boyd had a contempt for that sort of argumentative theologians, who had, he thought, unwisely revived in Theology the ars quodlibetistica of the Scholastics, and the yet older ars sophistica of philosophers in general. He was rather inaccessible and repellent to his scholars. His well-known devotion to study and his furrowed and severe brow seldom encouraged them to invade his seclusion. But any really earnest student who gained his confidence found a lifelong friend. He frankly regarded the ordinary student as a trifler. Baillie considers that Boyd's strength lay in Prac- tical Divinity, and especially in Casuistry ; and he offers as an example the discussion on chapter vi. of Ephesians, concerning the Christian's conflicts with the Devil. It is curious to note that David Dickson afterwards made his own reputation in Casuistry, and George Sinclair by his volume on ^ Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 126 ; but his translation of Baillie is rather free. Baillie only goes so far as to say that he himself wept. See his yfti Lectoretn Epistola. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1615-1621) 139 Satan's Invisible Works discovered. In regard to Boyd's manner of lecturing, interesting particulars are given. For one thing, he "prelected" twice a week for an hour and a half, not dictating, but speaking almost entirely without book. The very quotations from Greek and Latin fathers were delivered without hesitation from his vast memory, except for an occasional long passage out of Chrysostom.^ Thus far Baillie, a former student and enthusiastic friend, whose character and policy strongly resembled those of his master. Boyd found things somewhat in confusion when he arrived. The principal's house was in bad repair, and he and his family had to accept the hospitality of Sir George Elphinston, and after a three or four weeks' stay, to take refuge in rooms. The Corporation of Glasgow paid the rent, with coal and candle, but board came to fourteen merks a week, a considerable charge as times went. It was only in late autumn of this year that they got entry into the official house. The new Principal gives an account of his Inaugural Address, which represented his " trials." After its delivery, the Archbishop as Chancellor produced to the senate the King's presentation, and he was formally admitted. In accepting the charge, he made certain stipulations. He would take " a trial of it for one year " ; this seems to have been his ordinary custom. He would not undertake all the duties assigned to the Principal in the Nova Erectio, which he thought no one man could properly perform ; but would do only so much 1 All the foregoing is from Baillie's AdLectorem Eplstola, in Boyd's Commentary on Ephesians. The letter is dated 1651. I40 ROBERT BOYD as his infirm health and small strength permitted. In particular, he begged to be excused the duty of personally chastising the students, of eating at the college table, "etc." What his etc. meant it is not easy to say. It included, no doubt, the presiding at disputations, probably also the supervision of the regents' prelections, and the entertainment of scholars at the college meals. It was certainly a bad begin- ning of his career in Glasgow, a city which has always loved hospitality and approachableness. The youth- ful students, however, gained something by his refusal to whip them, since probably they escaped in this way at least some well-deserved chastisement. We know, of course, that Melville the younger got into great trouble by his hearty drubbing of an idle student ; but the regents as a rule did not inflict corporal punishment.^ It is possible that Boyd's success with the students might have been greater had he wielded a vigorous rod. Robert Blair was present at these opening proceedings, being a newly made Master of Arts. He describes the deep im- pression made on his mind by Boyd's address. The speaker raised the question why he, a gentleman of competent estate, should undertake "so painful a calling as both to profess Divinity in the schools and teach people also by his ministry." His answer was that, "considering the great wrath under which he lay naturally, and the great salvation purchased to him by Jesus Christ, he had resolved to spend himself ^See supra, p. 103 ; Melville's Diary, pp. 69-72. Coutts says that Sharp had done the birchings, but was " inured to it as master of the Grammar School before he became principal." Coutts' History of the University of Glasgow, p. 85. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 6 1 5-1 621) 141 to the uttermost, giving all diligence to glorify that Lord who had so loved him." " I thought to my- self," adds Blair, " there is a man of God, one among a thousand ! " The reflections of a later time may suggest that Boyd had earnestly solicited the appoint- ment, and had accepted every possible influence from his family connections and his friends in order to procure it from the Crown. The salary was 2000 merks yearly, a very large income for the time ; the Corporation gave other 500 merks to repair the official house, and paid his rent till it was fit for occupation. His salary at Saumur was about a third of that which was promised at Glasgow. We cannot but suspect some exaggeration in his sentiments, and admire the ingenuous faith of young Robert Blair. As soon as he came to Glasgow, he employed a tutor for three months to teach Mrs. Boyd English. The fee paid was not magnificent, being " an Angelet, value 10 merks." On October 15, he records the birth of his daughter Anne, named after Mrs. Boyd. They had only been three days in the new house. Already, care was riding hard behind the new Gymnasiarch. A letter from William Scott of Elie urges him to swallow his " miscontentment," and to recognise that, after all his friends had done for him, he should " digest the same ad tempus." A greater place would erelong be provided for him ; Andrew Melville had stayed only " three or four years " (this was a blunder, for Melville stayed six), and then was called to St. Andrews. In any case, he should stand to his word, for did not David in the fifteenth Psalm applaud the man who keeps his oaths, even though he is a loser by his bargain.? This letter is fairly 142 ROBERT BOYD outspoken, and proves that already Boyd was repent- ing of his departure from Saumur. Another letter, from Archbishop Spottiswood, deals with the question of a house for the Principal, and incidentally discloses that Boyd's landlord, Archibald Muir, had got into trouble for harbouring John Ogilvie, a priest. It is creditable to Boyd that he appears to have interceded with Spottiswood for relief of Muir's fine. Ogilvy, however, suffered a heavier penalty, being hung on March lo, 1615.^ The incident casts a sombre light on Boyd's early surroundings in Glasgow, as well as on Spottiswood's harsh policy and temper as Arch- bishop of that diocese, and head of the High Commission. Boyd seems to have kept aloof from ecclesiastical politics. He was engrossed in his huge work on the Epistle to the Ephesians, which he had begun at Saumur. It was encyclopedic in its plan, and soon after publication became known as a veritable thesaurus. The General Assembly knew him not ; even his pulpit duties at Govan were not infrequently taken by David Dickson, one of the regents. He had also many cares connected with the struggling University. His staunch friend, Scott of Elie, writ- ing in 161 6, sends him cheering and flattering messages from himself and the Archbishop. Scott advises him to keep quiet, exercising his calling for a year to come ; " thereafter cum tempore to take novum consilium." ^ Wodrow declares that his reputation increased, and attracted, among others, 1 Bellesheim's Hist, of the Catholic Church in Scotland, trans. 1889, III. 417. ^Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 132. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 6 1 5-1 621) 143 some foreign students. The Munimenta does not bear out this statement. Boyd's diary gradually ceases to be more than an account of his expenses, a sign that pecuniary anxieties were not wanting. Wodrow describes his expenditure, after taking up residence, as not sparing, but suitable to his station ; but " wine at five shillings Scots per chopin " does not indicate any splendour of hospitality. He gave, however, largely to charitable objects, especially to the relief of poor scholars from Flanders and else- where. His largest item was for books, one hundred pounds a year. The housekeeping at the College was apparently managed by himself, his wife's ignor- ance of the language being a hindrance. Most of his purchases for the house in furniture, pewter, clothes, medicine, candles, etc., were made in Edin- burgh ; Glasgow apparently could not supply them so well. His horse-hire for Govan cost him eight- pence a week. The royal visit to Glasgow in 161 7 put him to much expense. He had to receive the King as he passed through, and deliver an address as Academiae Primarius. This royal visit must have been an important interlude, for it was formally recorded in "The Muses' Welcome to the King's Majestic," published at Edinburgh In 161 8, in which there is a poem by Boyd, in addition to the text of his loyal address.^ He took a characteristic interest in the financial affuirs of the College, which Sharp had left in confusion. We have seen that he was in money matters careful and even meticulous. In 1 61 8 he had the honour of entertaining the Archbishop and the presbytery to dinner, which, he 1 A copy of The Muses' Welcome is in St. Andrews. 144 ROBERT BOYD notes, cost him ten pounds. Incidentally, it appears that he paid a poor-rate of twelve pence a month. A slender ray of light is cast on Boyd's relations with the Court by his correspondence with John Young, a relative of Peter Young, the King's pre- ceptor, ^ whose very courtier-like letters, in a mixture of English, dog Latin, and equally canine Greek, shew that Boyd was hankering after the principalship of St. Andrews University, and that he made but poor progress in Court favour. Nevertheless, he at length recovered from the Exchequer the cost of his removal from France, three hundred pounds sterling. It appears that Buckingham had used his influence with the King to secure this. It was just in time, for the Perth Articles were about to be adopted, and after that, Boyd's star steadily declined. He found himself clearly involved with the party opposed to the Court, and his days were filled with care and perplexity. Though the Synod of Dort in 1618 had condemned Arminianism, the General Assembly of Perth in the same year imposed certain ceremonies which were associated with the condemned theology, as well as with Episcopal pretensions. It is not impossible to detect the causes which turned Boyd from a waverer into a partisan, in spite of his abstinence from General Assemblies and his obstinately retired life. One cause certainly was his intimate friendship with Robert Bruce, the leader of the Anti-prelatists. Another was very probably his silent dislike to the Archbishop of Glasgow and his interfering ways. A third was his distrust of the theological tendencies of the Episcopal party, who 1 Afterwards Dean of Winchester. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1615-1621) 14S were creatures of Archbishop Bancroft, as they were afterwards of Laud. However, his partisanship was, after all, not too stiff to prevent him from keeping the door slightly ajar for preferment. An unfor- tunate incident deepened his distaste for episcopal interference. An election was to have been made to a vacant regent's place, when Boyd was suddenly called away to his mother's sick-bed at Trochrigg. Meantime one of the competitors chanced to offend the Archbishop by some allusion in his sermon or conc'io ; and the right reverend autocrat "railed out strangely " against the unlucky candidate, apparently claiming by his episcopal authority the right to exclude him from the competition.^ At this same juncture, a door seemed to open for Boyd to escape from his Scottish entanglements. His friends at Saumur had heard that he was in trouble, and offered to send him a formal invitation to become Professor of Divinity there, with Cameron as his colleague. But there were disputes at Saumur also, over the rejection by the " examinators " of another candidate, as well as (in some degree) over the ques- tion of Cameron's orthodoxy ; it was suspected that Cameron favoured the " new theology " of Arminius and Piscator. Wodrow confesses that he has no knowledge of Boyd's reply to this flattering overture, except the negative fact that Boyd remained in Glas- gow. The archives of Saumur will doubtless clear up this point. But it would have been interesting to see Boyd and Cameron together as colleagues. A letter from one of the professors of philosophy at Saumur expresses approval of Boyd remaining in 1 Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 146. 146 ROBERT BOYD Glasgow, since Mrs. Boyd has acquired English, and her Father is deceased, while her brother has gone back to Rome ; Scotland also is in peace, while Saumur is threatened with tempests. He has observed a comet which portends some events tristia et infausta, either in France or in South Germany! He would like Boyd to report the comet's wander- ings, so as to calculate its parallax. Thus astro- logically did men of learning and religion think at that time. Meantime, Boyd was " keeping fasts " with Robert Bruce and others, and attending conferences held at the house of Lady Boyd. It was a " day of dark- ness," because the Five Ai-ticles of Perth had at last touched the very nerve of Presbyterian consciences. Prelacy they had managed to endure, though reluc- tantly: constant moderators had been submitted to. The Courts of High Commission had been allowed to pass. But when it came to kneeling at Com- munion and other ceremonies imposed by law, the faithful were shaken to the soul. That brought popery very near, for it was the most striking symbolism of the Mass. Even Melville had pre- ferred a harmless deceit to the removal of his cap as the Host passed.^ Boyd's mind was made up on this point ; he refused to give his support to the Articles. He was not left in doubt as to the feeling which this attitude of his aroused at Court. His friend. Sir George Elphinston, writes in October, 1620, that Dr. Young, whose courtier-like expres- sions were noted on a previous page,^ gives no hope ; the King is " hotly set on edge." Sir George wishes 1 See su/>ra, p. 25. ^ See su/>ra, p. 144. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 6 1 5-1 62 1) 147 that Boyd had never gone to Glasgow, since he would not conform ; plainly enough he regards Boyd's scruples as coming somewhat Tate in the day. He hints that safety may be found only in retirement to " a private corner." Boyd's cousin, then Bishop of Argyll, sends him a note by special messenger, urging him to conform ; " it is no fit time to main- tain any separation in the true Christian Church," he says. Sir George writes again in October, 1621, declaring that he had just got audience of the King, and that his Majesty had complained much of Boyd's attitude. The King pointed out that he had given Boyd preferment, paying the expenses of his coming to Glasgow ; and now Boyd is most unkind in hindering his Majesty's service, on account of matters which his Majesty "knows ye think indifferent (not essential)." He is given his choice between con- formity to the Articles, along with the gift of higher office, any office he may aspire to ; and retirement in the country or, if he chooses, residence abroad. This letter, coming from a devoted friend, clearly discloses the view taken by King James of Boyd's appointment to Glasgow. As we have already seen, Boyd had long been seeking some office at home, either at Glasgow or at St. Andrews. He accepted the Glas- gow post with full knowledge of the King's policy of a uniform Church government, worship, and discipline for England and Scotland. He knew that Melville and many others had preferred exile to such a policy ; yet he came, took the King's money, and now refiased to help him at a pinch. The grounds of Boyd's present resistance were such as already existed before he came over from Saumur. It is an HS ROBERT BOYD unanswerable indictment, though Wodrow tries to answer it. But Wodrow in his haste assumes that to the King these ceremonies were indifferent. Sir George Elphinston says no such thing, but rather indicates the opposite. The King had judged from Boyd's acceptance of his bounty, that Boyd regarded Episcopacy and its forms as open questions. After such a direct message, only one course was open to the harassed Principal. He sought an inter- view with his Archbishop, and intimated very plainly and even sternly his resolution to resign rather than be dismissed. The careful notes left by Boyd of what he said to the Archbishop form a valuable document in the study of his character. He gave five reasons for his resig- nation, of which one was " compulsatory," and the rest were " impulsatory." The first is health ; the " double charge " (as Professor and Minister of Govan) is more than his strength can support. The second is his utter dislike to "scholastic function or superintendence over scholars " ; by which he means frankly the oversight and correction of the students. He has never himself " put his hand " to the chastisement of the scholars ; but he is convinced, by his six or seven years' experience, that it is absolutely necessary for the principal to do so, if " good manners " are to be obtained. It is evident from this that the Glasgow students had been grow- ing unruly in the absence of corporal punishment. But he cannot overcome his repugnance to the task. His third reason is that he has "another stick of work to do," meaning his Commentary on Ephesians. This he is hindered in accomplishing by the burden GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i6 1 5- 1 621 ) 149 and expense of his present office. The fourth reason is creditable to his courage and frankness ; it is that he finds it impossible to go on with any hope of peace and friendship. He has made up his mind to preserve unchanged every custom, ceremony, and discipline in which he was brought up under men like Melville, Welsh, and others, until the proposed changes have been approved by the "whole kirk of this kingdom," and adopted "freely, willingly, un- compelledly, resolvedly and peaceably." He cannot accept the "Canons of your pretended Assembly." And he feels it his duty to express those sentiments more frequently and fully to his hearers, than he ever did before. This would, of course, create an in- tolerable friction between himself and the Archbishop. The last reason he describes as being a worldly one ; it is that he has wife and children (the wife also being " a stranger (foreigner) ") to provide for. His family estate of Trochrigg has suffered badly in his twelve years' absence from it. Should he die, his wife and children will be left destitute " in a strange land " (an odd expression from a Scotsman!). It is true that at Glasgow he has a larger income and easier access to the "necessities" of life than in "a bare landwart place far from a Burrows town." But he "had rather with the bird have freedom . . . than to be pent up in a cage and have meat and chear laid to my hand." Besides, if he has more at Glasgow, he spends more, and can save nothing, although neither he nor his wife is extravagant. Also his position is unstable ; he may be deprived of it at any moment, and, at best, he cannot leave it to his heirs. ISO ROBERT BOYD These are the points which Boyd submitted to Archbishop Law " in his own bedchamber, the 24 of March, 1621, remotis arbitris." He added a refer- ence to the charge of Govan. It seems he had asked for it, but since then his views had changed ; he now thinks that he was wrong. It is too much for one man to be both Principal of the University and Minister at Govan. Still, if relieved of the prin- cipalship, he would not refuse to undertake the separate charge, although it is worth only five or six hundred merks a year. He will not, however, deign to make formal request for it, and the Archbishop may do with it as he thinks fit. But he advises that, in future, the two offices should be kept apart, and that the Nova Erectio should be amended so as to permit of this. This important paper (the preservation of which is one of our many debts to the indefatigable Wodrow) reveals in Boyd a sentiment of deep dis- appointment, if not of positive disgust, with the existing situation. He even describes his duties in the oversight of students as " loathsome " and " hate- fuh" He views the Episcopal innovations as unwarranted and intolerable. He frankly disparages the pecuniary advantages of his office. He regards himself as a stranger in a strange land, so Frenchified had he become by his long stay abroad and by his marriage. His action had been long deliberated, and it came only just in time ; for next month, April, 1621, on Easter Day, at the time of the sacramental celebra- tions in Glasgow, there occurred a scene which made his further continuance in office impossible. The GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1615-1621) 151 Archbishop himself officiated at the Holy Com- munion in the Cathedral, where many students were present, including Livingstone and Blair. Living- stone in his autobiography says that the Archbishop urged all the communicants at the table to kneel in receiving the elements. He and two or three other students refused, and Livingstone even remonstrated. The Archbishop ordered them to leave the table. Blair relates that Boyd, on hearing of this remarkable incident, summoned his regents to accompany him, and waited on the Archbishop, whom he " admon- ished and reproved " for driving from the Lord's Table godly young men. Boyd told the prelate also that he had behaved to the students as if " removing his houseboy from the by-board." ^ The Archbishop was at first dumb with indignation, but recovering at length he indulged in some "very high words." Whereupon, Boyd left him with the exclamation, " I will not sit in Rome and strive with the pope ! " A deadlier affront cannot be put on any Scotsman than to debar him from the Holy Communion with- out scandal being alleged or proved against him. Yet this is what the Archbishop had done in the case of those Divinity students. Boyd, however, promptly sought to make amends. He summoned to his pre- sence Livingstone, the spokesman of the noncon- formist students in the Cathedral, and after announcing that he was going to celebrate the Com- munion in his church at Govan, desired Livingstone to bring along with him on that occasion " any that I knew to be well-affected young men in Glasgow colledge." Blair, who was present at the interview 1 Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 261. 152 ROBERT BOYD between the Archbishop and Boyd described above, indicates that the recusants were afterwards marked men. Boyd had by this time decided to resign his office, and had begun to transfer his household gear to Troch- rigg. Thither he also sent his wife and family. All that remained was to obtain discharge of his intro- missions with College property and papers ; and in reference to this he records an ugly incident, in a letter to his wife in October, 1621. Some "rogues" had broken into his house the Sunday before, and stolen from his closet or study certain deeds belong- ing to the College. He is much upset, as the senate seem disposed to blame him. Wodrow suggests that after Easter, 1621, the partisans of Archbishop Law had subjected Boyd to constant annoyance. The latter himself writes to his wife, in terms almost despairing, of the "labyrinth" in which he is in- volved, the "insupportable burden," the "terror, troubles, sadness, cares and fears, distractions and mis- content." His " back-friends " (i.e. friends who have betrayed him) are demanding the replacement of the lost deeds. The letter, like many others from his pen, betrays a frail, irritable, and hypochrondiac temper. We cannot wonder that even a warm sym- pathiser like Livingstone describes him as " a man of sour-like disposition and carriage." At last, his formal meetings with the Archbishop (Chancellor), and the visitors of the College, were completed, and he obtained a full discharge. His connection with the CoUege was finally severed, as at October i, 1621, after he had been principal and professor of Divinity for six years. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 6 1 5-1 621) 153 It cannot be said that Boyd was a conspicuous success in Glasgow. He never became popular among the students. With his colleagues, the regents, he was rather distant and awe-inspiring. He was undoubtedly respected for his learning and eloquence, and his austere and ascetic habits invited a degree of reverence which is reflected in the utter- ances of his former students. Baillie, who was the best known of them, took an active part in the publication of Boyd's monumental Commentary, which was probably completed in Glasgow, though it remained in MS. until 1652 ; and Baillie emphati- cally regarded his master as among the most eminent of the Reformed Divines.^ But even on Baillie, the chief impression made by Boyd as a professor was one of tremendous gravity and even sternness. He recalls long after the furrowed brow and distant manners of his chief. On the whole, either from the business point of view or from that of social inter- course, Boyd never proved efficient. He was not at home in Glasgow. His heart was in gentle and polished France, above all in Saumur, where he had formed such close ties. I'he abruptness and even violence of Scots manners distressed him. By in- stinct and breeding he was a courtier ; by conviction he was a democrat. The Episcopisers wrote to the King that he had joined the " Puritans." The truth is that he was always among them in spirit. And the times were entirely against him and the school to which he clung in Church matters. With all his sternness, too, he was in reality a waverer through life, incapable of saying a decisive No ! at the proper ^See Baillie's Letters, III. 226. 154 ROBERT BOYD time, and hence driven into situations in which both parties felt aggrieved. Nevertheless, he is the greatest scholar of the long line of the professors of Divinity in Glasgow. His command of the classic tongues was unrivalled even by Melville. As a theologian, he cannot claim the same place, though his place is a very exalted one ; for he lacks the note of independent thinking and of humanness. But he remains one of Glasgow's greatest academic figures, though his temperament and his sorrowful career make him the Hamlet of our College history. VI. Edinburgh University (1622) Probably no storm-tossed sailor ever reached land more thankfully than the displaced Robert Boyd when he found himself, after so many wanderings, safe at home in Trochrigg. He had at last escaped from the fumum strepitusque Romae, if the quota- tion be not too disproportionate to a city like Glasgow in 1 62 1. True, Trochrigg was a "bare landwart place." It was far from any market town. But it was practically his native place and air ; and for a year he breathed deep content. But the respite was short, not only because of the exertions of his friends, but also (and perhaps primarily) because he was him- self unable to throw off the longing for work. Almost in the act of winding up his affairs at Glas- gow, we find him responding in a languid way to the suggestion that he should return. The King was anxious to secure Cameron for that city as Boyd's successor in the College ; but Cameron at first EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY (1622) 155 shewed himself unwilling. Then came the resigna- tion of the principal at Edinburgh, and an immediate and strong movement there to invite Boyd to become principal-professor of Divinity in his room. From a letter of Archbishop Spottiswood of St. Andrews, it seems that there was at the same time some desire to place him in the corresponding position in St. Andrews.^ But Spottiswood spoke distinctly of "" conformity " as a condition. Even Zachary Boyd, now in Edinburgh, says : " The greatest difficulty will be conformity." The usual haze of uncertainty surrounds Boyd's movements and mind at this period. One would have thought, after his Glasgow experi- ence, that he would now make himself perfectly clear ■on the question of the Articles of Perth. Instead of this, however, he rather ambiguously accepted the appointment at Edinburgh from the Town Coimcil, -who were patrons subject to the Crown. They agreed to provide a salary of 1200 merks, with 200 merks more for house rent. He was to be one of the eight city ministers as well as professor of Divinity. Boyd has left another long draft of his thoughts at this crisis, as he delivered them to the Town Council when taking the oath de fideli. He begins this paper with the sentence, "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made the heaven and the •earth. Amen." In painfully long sentences he pro- fesses his keen sense of his unworthiness and of the importance and difficulty of the new office. When lie laid down his charge at Glasgow owing to his iWodrow's Life of Boyd (letter to Boyd from Spottiswood, Oct. 17, 1622), p. 174. 156 ROBERT BOYD being " overweighted," he did not mean by that act to withdraw himself from doing his duty by his native land. But he was a man bruised and broken by the sorrows and " tentations " of life, and especially by the sad trials of his people in the afflicted Church of France. " For why," he adds, " shall I not for ever both count and call them my people .'' " Yet he never meant to do more than retire into private life for a season, that he might mourn and pray for his dis- tressed brethren in France. "Thir (these) are our only armes for their help and relief." That was his " mint and aim." He speaks of himself as being a man in his declining days (he was only forty-four), *' worn not with age but rather with watchfull (sleep- less) care and untimely study and lucubration." But the proof that he had no intention to desert the battle was, that this was the first overture of any public employment made to him by his friends with any likelihood of success. He dared not reject it. He dared not sustain hereafter a " greater challenge " by " flying to Tarsis (Tarshish) there to lurk and lament, whereas He is sending me to Niniveh to do His work." This was perhaps a somewhat damping comparison for Edinburgh. But now here he was, where he first began "to learn Christ " under that " happy and glorious soul," Robert RoUock, first m.aster of the College of Edin- burgh. And therefore good reason it were that he should labour to do some good where he got most o-ood ! Yet he must ask indulgence in some points. First, the most he can undertake is one lecture a week in the College, and one service every Sunday in church. He must beg to be entirely excused EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY (1622) 157 from the actual administration of discipline. He declaims vehemently against the impropriety of a professor of Divinity being "fashed and vexed, grieved and wearyed, troubled, tempted and dis- tempered any way by the faults and follys of insolent youth." He had never, even as a young man at Montauban, undertaken the chastisement of scholars. At Glasgow he had delegated this task to the regents. At Glasgow, it is true, his predecessor (Patrick Sharp) had acted otherwise, but this was simply " continuing his wonted custom wherunto he was ennured in the Grammar school, wherfra he was taken to be prin- cipall of the college." While he would ever take care that the students were kept " in awe and order," he would suggest that the actual chastisement be entrusted to the eldest regent acting as " sub-primar," or that each regent be left to deal with his class under the principal's direction. Second, he thought it reasonable that he should have the two months' vacation then customary, not only from lecturing but also from preaching. Thirdly, he stipulated for a probation of one year, or a year and a half. His closing words contained a veiled promise of *' conformity." He would go thus far, that he pro- mised to avoid, as far as in him lay, all strife with brethren of " whatever either judgment or practise in these matters," as he had done all through his life. From contemporary materials, it appears that the magistrates had elected without previously securing the King's approval. They had Spottiswood's con- sent as Archbishop, but only subject to His Majesty's will. They were not unanimous, although the Town 158 ROBERT BOYD Council's minutes bear no trace of that fact. On the 23rd November, 1622, almost as soon as the postal arrangements of the day permitted, there came a warrant from the King, expressing astonishment that they should have appointed a man " deposed from his ministry " for disobedience " to the King's laws in matter of kneeling at the sacrament," and command- ing them to require Boyd to conform to those laws or be expelled from his place. The magistrates in haste appealed to Archbishop Spottiswood to use his in- fluence. One may strongly suspect that that pre- late's intervention was lukewarm. At any rate, on January 29, 1623, there came a fresh and harsher despatch from the King, reproaching the magistrates for their disobedience, and peremptorily directing that Boyd should be summoned before the Council and required to conform. If he refused, they must expel him, his wife and family, from Edinburgh, or subject themselves to the royal censure. Boyd was summoned at once to confer with the magistrates, who were accompanied by some of the Edinburgh city ministers. He was urged to give a distinct undertaking to conform to the Perth Articles. Never was a poor scholar more hunted, or driven into a corner. All evasions were at an end. Boyd as usual showed grit when hard pressed, though it must be owned that he might well have foreseen the lamentable pass to which he had now brought himself. He declared that he could not conscientiously agree to conform. Thereupon, he demitted his office, after holding it for less than four months. Row and Calderwood, as quoted by Wodrow from MS. copies of their histories, both attribute this EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY (1 622) 159 result to envy on the part of colleagues in the ministry. According to the former " the honest people liked Boyd so well that he was suffered onely to remain in Edinburgh about five months " ; while Calderwood roundly asserts that Mr. Andro Ramsay envied him because " sundry noblemen, lawyers, and countrymen who came upon occasion to the town, resorted frequently to Mr. Robert's lessons (lectures) in the schools and sermons in the kirk, and not to his (Mr. Andro Ramsay's) lessons, howbeit both taught in one college and in one kirk." The " honest people " of Row were, of course, those whcx supported the Presbyterian cause, and the " country- men" of Calderwood may have corresponded to our landed gentry or " county people." Such persons, then and for two centuries at least afterward, had their " season " in Edinburgh. One can understand the passions which Ivirked in Mr. Ramsay's breast. The printed copies of Row and Calderwood, how- ever, have not reproduced this interesting gossip.^ Boyd again retired to his home at Trochrigg, but Mrs. Boyd seems to have been allowed to remain a few months in Edinburgh, no doubt for domestic reasons. But he was not long left in peace. His friend Dr. Sibbald made such exertions that a very strong effort was set on foot to secure his return to his old office in Glasgow. Cameron had come and gone, like a meteor, and the place was vacant. It is true that Dr. Strang, a cousin of the Glasgow Archbishop, was in the field ; he even solicited Boyd's ^See Wodrow's Life of Boyd, pp. 189, 190 ; Row's History, p. 127; Calderwood's History, VII. 569. The editors assiga reasons for omitting these passages. i6o ROBERT BOYD support of his candidature. But very powerful per- sonages were induced to take part in the fresh intrigue, among whom Wodrow, on the evidence of letters from them, mentions the Duke of Bucking- ham, the Duke of Lennox, Sir William Alexander, Sir George Elphinston, and Dr. Young. The Scots bishops and the noble family of Boyd were also involved. Meantime, Boyd had been summoned before the Privy Council for some misdemeanour (no doubt nonconformity), and had been commanded to confine himself to the bounds of Carrick. He was, however, allowed to visit Glasgow in October, 1624, without molestation, in order to place his son Robert at College, and it was during this secret visit that his friends persuaded him to subscribe an under- taking that he would conform to the Perth Articles. This document will be found in Wodrow, and is perhaps the most unhappy illustration of Boyd's peculiar temperament. It recites that he has acted on information and arguments from "ane Reverend Father in God, James, Archbishop of Glasgow and some other my loving friends " : that he has more deeply weighed his duty of employing his talents for the Church : that his nonconformity has hitherto been the " chiefest lett and hinderance to this " ; and that he now finally promises obedience " in due time and place." The document is dated October 25, 1624. Boyd has noted, as usual, certain stipulations to be made if he were reappointed to his chair in Glas- gow. They are, that he shall not be required to lectxu-e more than once a week on the common heads in Divinity : that he shall not be expected to EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY (1622) 161 preach more than once, on each Sunday, at 7 a.m., and shall have the usual vacation free, from " Laurea- tion to Lukesmass":^ that he be excused from chastising the students, and from taking the exercise or common head in presbytery. He will also stipu- late for the teind hay at Govan for his " naig." The stipend to be as before, " only defalking (deducting) the glebe and small teinds." The house to be repaired at his own direction. He will ask the Town to pay his removal-expenses, and to grant a burgess ticket to his manservant, so that he may exercise his craft in the town. All this is rather discouraging to any attempt to picture Boyd as a martyr to conscience. Even Wod- row ventures only to suggest that it reveals Boyd's yielding temper and moderation. The latter, how- ever, in the private memorandum just summarised, speaks of his own " simplicity and weakness." The term simplicity in the usage of that day did not, of course, mean absolute lack of worldly acuteness ; it suggested rather what we know as sincerity. It is tolerably plain that Boyd was confident of being reponed in Glasgow, before he signed his promise of submission ; he is seen even calculating the spoils. The intrigue soon became known, and it was entirely unsuccessfial. So little was it relished by the Presbyterian party that they angrily denied it, This they could do quite honestly, because the pro- mise had been entrusted to Boyd's friends for the King's own eye ; when his Majesty promptly refused to agree to Boyd's restoration, the paper was, accord- ing to previous agreement, returned to him, and the 1 Lukesmass = October 1 8. 1 62 ROBERT BOYD status quo became so far unchanged. It is possible, as Wodrow hints, that the two Archbishops (Law in Glasgow, and the Primate in St. Andrews) played a double game. But nothing unhappily appears to alter the fact that Boyd stooped to a bargain with the prelates, in which he was to be rewarded for his obedience to the Articles of Perth by the gift of a very valuable appointment. There is this extenuation, that one so strict as Zachary Boyd is found urging his learned cousin to send to the Archbishop of Glasgow a written promise to conform at pasch (Easter). Zachary's letter is dated April 15, 1625. He adds that Strang is to meet the bishops at St. Andrews in a week's time> This was putting the test somewhat brutally, and Boyd did not at any rate profane the sacrament by such an act. The next letter from Zachary announces Strang's appointment The King, James VI., died on May 27, 1625, and there was an interval of some length before the matter was finally settled. As late as August, 1625, Boyd is still hopeful that he may be appointed, and answering a rather curious appeal from Strang, he declares that he is " unrightfully withheld " from his chair by the Archbishop of Glasgow. He, however, knows that favour is being made for him with the new King. He advises Strang to persist in his refusal to accept the place, and even to urge his cousin, the Archbishop, to support his (Boyd's) interests. If, however, Strang should accept it, Boyd roundly declares it will never be with his approval or blessing, and he commits his cause to "the righteous Judge." It was with such an approach EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY (1622) 163 to a malediction that Strang was dismissed, to occupy for a quarter of a century a position which Boyd evidently looked on as his own. The promise of submission signed by Boyd left a stain on his reputation, which he sought to remove by a letter written to Robert Bruce or some other leader among the Presbyterian party, and intended as a sort of epistle general. It is docketed by Calder- wood as M.r. Robert Boyd his Apology for his sub- scription, 1625 or 1626. The document is brief and apparently put together in some agitation ; and it practically amounts to an acknowledgment of his want of decision. No doubt he declares that, had he been appointed anew to Glasgow, he would have supported the anti-Episcopal party more firmly than ever. He does not seem to perceive that this makes his case even darker. He was ready, once he had " gotten his foot in that place again," to thwart those who promoted him. This is something like double- dealing. He confesses that he deserves to be thought of " ill aneuch " ; he is indeed " a weak friend and a wavering reed." But never "a transfuga, a betrayer or deserter of my friends and their rychteous caus." The apology is, in fact, a remarkable analysis of his own psychology, perhaps even of the general Scots psychology of his day. It was the natural result of his education in the house of a bishop who was him- self in an ambiguous position, and among men of a type which sought to combine episcopal and presby- terian principles. They succeeded only in becoming blind to delicate points of honour, and in being mis- understood by their friends and their enemies alike. 1 64 ROBERT BOYD VII. Paisley (1626). The last stage in this uneasy and pitiful drama was reached when Boyd yielded to friendly importunities and permitted himself to be admitted by the presby- tery of Paisley into the charge of the Abbey Parish. It was apparently a family affair. Lord Ross and other leading gentlemen in the parish, in the absence of Lord Abercorn, the patron, gave Boyd a kind of " call " to the parish. The Archbishop of Glasgow, in spite of pressure from Lord Ross and others, declined to collate until he was satisfied that Boyd had been lawfully admitted. The step taken by the presbytery was irregular in form, and the appoint- ment lacked the necessary ratification by episcopal authority. Boyd preached after his admission, on January 8, 1626 ; and at a Kirk Session meet- ing after service, he made a severe attack on his friends, who had (he declared) threatened and re- proached him until he consented to the action of the presbytery. He announced that, having been thus " harled to this snare," he would not again occupy the pulpit until all doubts as to his position had been resolved. In the same address, he openly ascribes his troubles to the " ill-will " of the Archbishop. In a subsequent letter to Lord Abercorn, who was abroad, he accuses the Archbishop of threatening to keep him out of Paisley or any other kirk in his diocese, whatever Lord Abercorn, the presbytery, or the parishioners may do to the contrary. Meantime, Strang was duly settled in the place which had once been Boyd's ; and Wodrow goes so far as to suggest that this Paisley imbroglio was to PAISLEY (1626) 165 some extent created by the Archbishop in order to achieve that result. At Paisley itself, the people were kind to Boyd, and he preached to them again for a Sunday or two. But no house was ready for him. When at length he obtained a house, it was " rabbled " (as Wodrow puts it) and his goods were thrown out into the street. It seems (from Wod- row's account, based on manuscript evidence) that he had been assigned as his manse " the forehouse of the Abbey," and had put his books and a bed into it. While he was conducting service in the Abbey, the Master of Paisley, Lady Abercorn's younger son, with some companions, broke into the house, and having thrown out the minister's books, locked the doors. Later, when Boyd was leaving, " the rascally women of the town not only upbraided Mr. Robert with opprobrious speeches, and shouted and hoyed him, but likewise cast stones and dirt at him." The Privy Council had these outrages before them, but nothing was done except to exact a pledge from the Abercorn family to offer no further hindrance to the minister. That the highly-placed offenders escaped punishment is said to have been due to Boyd's own intercession — a statement rendered probable by a former incident In his life.^ The matter had now developed into a faction fight between the Abercorns and the Boyds. It was a detail much emphasised by the local Protestants that the Dowager Countess of Abercorn had apostatised to the Church of Rome, and her example had been largely followed. Boyd's chief supporter, Lord Ross, urged him to persevere in his claims, and " not to be put from it by wives." ' See supra, p. 14.2. 1 66 ROBERT BOYD Dickson, his former colleague and devoted admirer, attributes the opposition to the feet that " the Devel is so feared (alarmed) for his kingdom there, that he is mad against your entry." But the rabbling of his house and the demonstration of " wives " had driven the iron deep into Boyd's soul, and he remained quite inactive at Trochrigg. At last his chief. Lord Boyd, advised him to quit, and accordingly on September 14, 1626, he sent a formal resignation to the Presby- tery. Further well-meant efforts of his friends to place him at Paisley were rendered null by his grow- ing ill-health. A definite disease had declared itself, which Baillie describes as lethale tuber, a m.alignant growth in the throat. He started for Edinburgh to seek medical aid, and on his way he wrote his last letter, addressed from Falkirk to his wife. This was dated December 9, and recounts the incidents of the journey so far. He had seen a Glasgow doctor, who made light of the symptoms. Taking his son with him, he had ridden forward through a violent storm. He meant to ride on next day (December 10), though it was Sunday, " as knowing that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." His last words are pathetic enough : " The Lord be with you and fortify and comfort you by His Holy Spirit, and send us a comfortable meeting in joy and health, for the sake of His well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in whom I remain alwise, my Heart, your faithfial and affect, husband and brother, De Trochorege." The translation is Wodrow's, all Boyd's letters to his wife being written in French ; and his signature is that of a French seigneur, entitled to use " the particle." He died after much suffering at Edinburgh on PAISLEY (1626) 167 January 5, 1627. According to Row, lie had time, before the end came, to condemn " the hierarchy which was come into our Kirk," and the ministers of Edin- burgh who had fostered it. His widow (who two years after married Dr. Sibbald) survived her former husband twenty-seven years. His death placed a sorrowful crown on a somewhat tragic life. He had lived anxiously, and died away from his home, among scenes embittered to him by his recent expulsion from Edinburgh through Episcopal intrigues. All his life he had sought retirement and peace ; but he had made sacrifices for that end which leave us sad. To his phenomenal learning there is strong and unanimous testimony ; of his seriousness and holiness (as his friends phrased it), there cannot be a doubt ; but of his consistency or steadfastness we cannot honestly speak. He was in that point emphatically a weak man ; and indeed he is found constantly acknowledging the fact. With his last breath he deplored his own weakness. In some lines preserved by John Livingstone, and written after his deplorable " submission " to Episcopal tyranny,^ he compares himself to a storm-driven ship which is fain to leave the direct route, and adds- — Sic ego temporibus multum jactatus iniquis, Quae rectum renuunt sub juga curvus eo ! In English. So by unlucky times tossed to and fro. In crooked furrows must I stooping go ! And he prays that Christ may aid him, by his life and conduct, to wash out what stain of undue subjection 1 See p. 163. 1 68 ROBERT BOYD may have followed.^ The irony was, that all his concessions left him worse off than before. It is, however, noteworthy that profound veneration sur- rounded him during his life, and was even augmented after his untimely death. In such times, no doubt, men on all sides did not think, worse of their neigh- bours because they took part in the general game of intrigue. But they preferred the man whose intrigues succeeded. Boyd invariably failed, even when he stooped lowest and used every means. He had indeed no heart for those vmblushing struggles for office which were meat and drink to the Spottiswoods and the Laws. His was the piteous fate of a sensi- tive and austere scholar, forced out of his chamber into the vulgar medley of tuft-hunters and supple courtiers. He gave his time and attention to worldly matters with a grudge, yet he gave far too much. When he got his release, he had saved only so much from the wreck of his peace and leisure as to furnish forth the monumental commentary by which he is remembered among theologians. Works of Robert Boyd of Trochrigg I, Roberti Bodii a Trochoregia Scoti, SS. Theologiae in Academiis Salmuriana, Glascuana, et Edinburgena Professoris eximii, in Epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios Praelectiones supra CC Opus Post- humum. . . . Londini : impensis Societatis Station- ariorum 1652. [Dedication by Boyd's son to the Reformed Pastors and Professors of France and Scot- land : Life by A. Rivet : Letter to the reader, by Robert Baillie. 1245 pp. folio]. 1 Wodrow's Life of Boyd, p. 243. WORKS 169 2. Robert! Bodii a Trochoregia Hecatombe Christiana. [In Johnston's Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum, i2mo. 2 vols. 1637, vol. ii. 209-219. A hundred Latin verses in praise of Christ our Saviour.] 3. Monita de filii sui primogeniti institutione, ex Authoris M.S. autographis per R(obertum) S(ibbaldum), M.D., edita, Edin"^, 8vo. 1701. [A short paper on the educa- tion of his eldest son, edited by Dr. Sibbald.] Reprinted in Wodrovi^ (Life of Boyd, App. xvii. Maitland Club). Wodrovv^ gives a list of unprinted MSS. (Life of Boyd, p. 256, 257.) These include the Philotheca, a fragment of autobiography in Latin verse. Bibliography for the Life of Boyd 1. Wodrow's Lives IL Wodrow Society. 2. Diet, of National Biog. sub voce. 3. Munimenta Almae Univ. Glasguensis. 4. Delitiae Poet. Scot, (for Boyd's poem Ad Christum Servatorem Hecatombe). (See also Wodrow, Life of Boyd, Appendix.) 5. Scott's Fasti, sub Paisley. 6. Records of University of Edinburgh. 7. A. Rivet's Life of Boyd, prefixed to Boyd on Ephesians. 8. M'Ure's Glasgow. 9. Row's History. 10. Wodrow's Lives of Blair and Livingstone. 11. Baillie's Letters and Journals. 12. Dr. Milroy (of Moneydie) — Lee Lecture, 1891. 13. Dempster, Hist. Eccl. Gentis Scotorum, Bannat. Club, 1829. JOHN CAMERON (1579-1625) I. Preparation (i 579-1608) John Cameron started life nearly level with Robert Boyd of Trochrigg, whom he was destined to succeed at Saumur, Glasgow, and Montauban. They were not, however, classmates at college, because Boyd sought his theology in Edinburgh ; but they were very nearly colleagues at Saumur, as will be noted later. They were almost of an age, Boyd being born in 1578, and Cameron not later than 1580. The most probable date is 1579, since his friend Louis Cappel says that in 1 600 Cameron was " little beyond twenty years of age." Baillie records that he was " born in our Salt-mercat, a few doors from the place of my birth." ^ The family was of respect- able rank, of the burgesses of the city ; and a nephew of Cameron's became an episcopal minister. It is not unlikely that his parents had episcopal leanings. They came originally from Argyllshire, where Wod- row tells us that the Camerons were numerous. It need hardly be added that they claimed an ancient ^ Baillie's Letters and Journals, III, 402. JOHN CAMERON 1579-1625 PREPARATION (i 579-1608) 171 lineage. In virtue of their place on the burgess roll, and of their large family and small means, their son John, the future professor, was appointed to a bursary in Glasgow College of the annual value of twenty- five merks. He thus became one of a number of servitors whose duties included ringing of the college tell, acting as famuli to the masters in carrying the books when these gentlemen went in templum, or carrying, on holidays, the arma campestria, bows, arrows, guns, etc. The date of his entrance to col- lege was 1595, in which year he appears in Muni- menta (iii. 62) as Johannes Calmeronous, while in the list of laureates (graduates) his name stands in 1599, and stands first (Munimenta, iii. 8). This at the time meant that he was the most distinguished graduate of his year, and accordingly he was chosen one of the regents or masters in that year. His special subject, in which he had remarkably excelled, was Greek. To that language he often returned in after years. The rather puzzling title of one of his pamphlets, Steliteuticus, is only understood when we realise that it is the Greek a-TtjkiTevTiKos scil. Xoyoy, meaning an impeachment or invective. Among his fellow-students were the two brothers Rivet, after- wards notable divines in the French Reformed Church. So at least says Wodrow ; but only one, William Rivet (Gulielmus Rivetus Selta) stands in the Matriculation Album for 1595.^ And William was not a particular friend of Cameron, as his spiteful remarks on Cameron's pride and prodigality prove. Andrew, the elder brother, was much more favourable 1 Munimenta, III. 6z. Selta is misspelling for Celta. 172 JOHN CAMERON to the Glasgow Grecian, though he embodies his brother's remarks in his own works.* William charges Cameron with having forgotten his humble origin and servile rank at College ; and, when he became a King's friend and engrossed in "Kingly- Theology," of pouring out money like water. " If," says the spitefial Gulielmus, "he was buying aught at a tavern or calling for his reckoning, he scorned to haggle or to say a word about the bill." But this was long after the days of his bell-ringing and book- carrying in the College were ended. Patrick Sharp, of belt-wielding fame, was Principal and Professor of Divinity while Cameron studied and regented in Glasgow. His tenure, however, was brief ; he taught only for a year. His oath will be found in Munimenta, in. 374. In it he undertook, on being coopted into the number of the magistri or masters of arts, that he would faithfully discharge his office : that he would not abandon his post until after the lapse of six years : that he would not leave the university without giving three months' notice ; but, should it happen to him to discharge this office for a longer space, that he would not even then go elsewhere until he had completed one year's course and given three months' notice. Such was the master's oath, with various slight changes in phrase- ology, up to the triumph of Episcopacy in 1660. When Burnet became professor of Divinity in 1669, he signed a formula which first promises to yield fealty to his most serene King (serenissimo Regi), and only secondly to discharge studiously and faith- ^And. Riveti Opera, III. 893 : Wodrow, Life of Cameron, p. 84. PREPARATION (i 579-1608) 173 fully his duties to the College. How to reconcile Cameron's oath of six years' service with his one year of actual tenure is a difficulty ; but the phrase nisi impetrata venia (unless after permission granted), added in the oath of 1602, seems to be the key to the position. In any case, the Glasgow students got only one session of the brilliant young Grecian, for in 1600 he entered on his years of wandering which the custom of the age and the restlessness of his temperament alike suggested. In 1600, being in his twenty-first year, he found his way to Bordeaux, and was speedily appointed a regent in the College des Belles Lettres at Bergerac, by the influence chiefly of Gilbert Primrose, one of the Reformed ministers at Bordeaux. This was a new school, and Cameron was set to teach Latin and Greek. He came with the powerful recommendation of the great Casaubon, who had admitted him to intimacy and affection. But his stay, here also, did not exceed a year. His reputation grew so fast that he was called " to fill the chair of the profession of philosophy " ^ at Sedan. Hither, as we have seen, Melville came to be professor of Divinity in 161 1, and here he died eleven years after. In Sedan, Cameron spent two years teaching the Arts subjects. This was long enough to carry his class onward to laureation, although the average period was three years and a half .^ It was then proposed to make him regent in his favourite subject, Greek. That office 1 Wodrow's Life, p. 86. * Wodrow, Life, p. 86, says two years was the time required in the French Reformed Colleges. 174 JOHN CAMERON happened to be filled at the time by an intimate friend of his own, whom he would not supplant. In the end, both he and his friend left Sedan, going first to Paris and thereafter to Bordeaux. It was in 1604 that he made choice of the Holy- Ministry as his profession, and the determining factor, from the practical point of view, was his appointment as a travelling scholar in Divinity by the Bordeaux church under Primrose and Renaud,. collegiate ministers. To this modest provision,, carrying with it an undertaking to offer his services- as a minister at Bordeaux, there was now added the more lucrative post of tutor to the two sons of M. de Calignon, chancellor to Henry of Navarre. In his house, Cameron spent the first of his four years* course of study, and is said to have taught his pupils,, among other things, to write letters in Greek "very near equal to the ancients in purity and elegance." The next two years, 1605 and 1606, were spent in hard study at Geneva, whither he carried his pupils. For the last year, he repaired to Heidelberg, and there marked the culmination of his theological studies by publishing his De Triplici Dei cum Homine Foedere Theses (Opera Cameronis, fol. Geneva 1642, pp. 544-552). Such theses would ordinarily have secured a doctor's diploma ; their origin, however, was not academic but purely domestic. A number of students of theology at Heidelberg, with whom he had become intimate, begged him to compose those theses, which, we are told, were made known to many men of the highest authority and were found most accurate. So says the chief editor of the Works of Cameron, Louis Cappel, PREPARATION (1579-1608) 175 whose collaborators were Bouchereau and the famous Amyraut.^ Wodrow's analysis of these theses, which remained the standard of Cameron's theological teaching during^ his subsequent career, is interesting and on the whole accurate. There are not merely two, but three cove- nants, between God and Man, the covenant of nature, the covenant of grace, and the Old Covenant. This last was the covenant made at Sinai, and represented Cameron's divergence from Calvinism, in the stress laid by him on the Covenant of Nature as in itself affording satisfaction to the divine righteousness. Calvinism postulates a nature entirely corrupt and enslaved ; Cameron even at this early date was secretly averse to that stern demand, and was dis- posed to extol the gifts of nature even as apart from grace. Yet his theses contain no hint of any con- sciousness that he was setting in motion a new train of ideas, which his disciples would more fully and freely elaborate. Wodrow sees in this idea of a Threefold Covenant the early traces of restless effort after novelty or originality. Two covenants satisfied the body of Reformed opinion ; but Cameron must needs supply a third, based on a special view of Nature in which lurked a suspicion of Arminianism. The state of Nature was assumed to be a state of faith. Man's redemption is but the restoration of that faith. The entire Old Testament economy is a demonstration that faith alone can save ; it holds only a foedus suhserviens — an object-lesson in failure. 1 See Opera Cameronis, 1642; note Lectori, p. 543; also Cappel's prefaces. 176 JOHN CAMERON So obscure, however, are these theses, that we may well believe the editor's statement that many most important and most learned men thought them in the highest degree accurate (quam accumtissimae, Opera Cam., p. 553). It is in the light of his later development of thought that we must interpret them. The conception of a Covenant of Nature contains at least the germ of his fixed idea, in the fulness of his powers, that the nature of man, so far as concerns his will, remained to a certain extent unimpaired. Thus man was still saveable by his contributory act of will, and such an act was open to all on condition of faith. The influences which moulded Cameron at Heidel- berg must have had a share in these theses. He had come to Heidelberg after spending two years under the shadow of Beza, and Dumoulin afterwards de- clared that he took occasion to contradict all divines, especially Beza ; he might indeed be called Bezae- mastix (Beza's scourge). In Heidelberg he breathed a Lutheran, instead of the Calvinistic air: his favourite professor was Schultetus, who was a sort of Broad Churchman in his way, advocating Christian Unity as something altogether superior to mere dogma. "The sanctity of mutual prayers and the sincerity of brotherly love found more favour in the sight of God, than all the contentions about the ubiquity and the carnal manducation of Christ's body." Thus, we are told, Schultetus harangued the dele- gates at a Confederacy meeting at Prague in 1620, preaching as Court Chaplain.^ Such jaunty treat- ment of the central difference between Rome and ' Brandt, History of the Reformation, Eng. trans. 1723, IV. 199, 200. PREPARATION (1579-1608) 177 Protestantism would attract a spirited mind like Cameron's. It lends probability to the story of Cameron's henchman, La Milletiere, that Cameron was concerned in plans of reunion between the Roman Church and the Reformed in France. But another influence toward Arminian ways may have flowed from his sojourn at Sedan as regent in 1602 and 1603 5 fo^ Tilenus had been professor of Divinity there since 1599, and was rapidly passing from Calvinism to the Arminian side, Tilenus shewed something of the restlessness and ambiguity of Cameron's own nature. As we have seen, in describ- ing Melville's last days in Sedan, it remained doubtful to some what were the real opinions of Tilenus on the vexed question of Justification .^ What is certain enough is, that he shared the irritability and envious- ness of the typical theologian of his day. The fame of Gomarus at Sedan as a protagonist of Calvinism helped to drive him into the Arminian camp ; the fame of Andrew Melville produced a similar effect. Perhaps from him Cameron imbibed a little of the spirit of opposition and morose independence,^ as from Schultetus at Heidelberg he got his impulse toward a somewhat lax view of controversies. How- ever this may be, Cameron^ at a later period, shewed remarkable skill in combining opposites in doctrine, and in covering over his own haughty contempt for the received opinions of divines. Bezae-mastix tells a tale, while his ironically polite references to Beza as that most learned commentator are significant of a ^ See Life of Andrew Melville in this vol. p. 77, sqq. ^ Tilenus himself suggested that Cameron was anxious to score off him. 178 JOHN CAMERON temperament not yet unknown among doctors of theology. ^ Cameron at twenty-eight had undergone a varied preparation for the ministry, to which his promise as travelling scholar of the Bordeaux church bound him. There are hints, toward the end of his life, that he would have drawn back now had he not accepted the church's money. It was his misfortune through life that he must take other people's money, and so far conform to their conditions. It had been so since, as bursar, he bound himself to bell-ringing and book- carrying. The time had come to keep his promise. Leaving Heidelberg and its studious associations, he retraced his steps to Bordeaux, and became the col- league of Mr. Gilbert Primrose, filling the place left vacant by the death of M. Renaud. II. Bordeaux (1608-1618) Cameron became co-pastor at Bordeaux in 1608. Here he was ordained, after the usual " trials," including a sermon on Romans viii. 15 ("For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, where- by we cry, Abba, Father"). Characteristically, he found himself unable to cover the ground in one discourse, and was obliged to deliver four ; these, according to the rules of the French Reformed Church, he had to ofFer in completion of his " trials." In a phrase familiar to seventeenth century preachers in Scotland, he made his text his "ordinar" for all the other sermons. There can be no doubt that he ^ Wodrow, Life of Cameron, p. 213. BORDEAUX (1608-1618) 179 was a lengthy and even tedious preacher, though his admiring and faithful friend, Louis Cappel, ascribes to him a fame for knowledge and eloquence which spread throughout the whole Church of France. Dumoulin, however, tells a different tale, which bears intrinsic marks of truth. According to him, Cameron was an unwearying sermocinator (sermoniser), who would have killed even BoUandus with boredom. The English divines could not stand his volubility and unrestrained tongue. He had oddities in the pulpit. His sermon lasted two hours, and was full of obscure and unintelligible digressions. While preaching, he unbuttoned his coat, spread his handkerchief about him like a napkin, and uncovered his head, placing his hat on the bookboard. In those days, as in later days in Scotland, the preacher spoke covered, and his hearers listened hat on head. We know also, from an anecdote about his famous pupil Amyraut, that Cameron used a particular motion of the head and tone of voice. For Amyraut imitated both peculiari- ties of his adored master. Could the " tone of voice " referred to be the Glasgow accent ? The whole figure summed up by these particulars is grotesque, and may well explain Cameron's failure as a preacher. It is added that he was quite uncon- scious of his unpopularity. Like Molifere, who read his plays to his housekeeper, Cameron sought the verdict of " an honest tradesman." " Since you force me," said the honest tradesman, "to tell you what are the discourses and the opinion of your flock, I must own that your sermons are not at all suited to the taste of the people ; they never hear you preach but they are prodigiously tired." Cameron next i8o JOHN CAMERON consulted a lawyer, who gave a similar answer. His colleague, Primrose, however, assured him that people of fashion and education heard his sermons with much pleasure and benefit.^ But this perfiinctory comfort is said to have had little lasting effect on Cameron, and to have been succeeded by a profound discourage- ment. To fail as a preacher is always bitter. His abandonment of the pastoral charge, later on, may partly have been decided on because he had learned that his gift lay in lecturing and disputation rather than in what is known as concio ad populum. More- over, the pulpit is no place for the undecided mind. And Cameron's was plainly such. It was in 1610 that Cameron communicated his thoughts to his friend L. C. (Louis Cappel) in four letters on Christ's Satisfaction and Death. These carry us straight into the controversy which already raged, and which was to continue for many years, as to the process and extent of salvation.* The correspondence was begun by Louis Cappel, then a proposant or probationer (Wodrow cor- rectly says a "preecher"). The young man had written "in anguish and vexation," begging advice on two points concerning the death of Christ. Was it necessary, as a satisfaction to God's righteous- ness.'' And, was the satisfaction made for all men.'' Clearly, Cappel had been touched by Arminian influences, because the replies of Cameron shew that his friend's difficulties sprang fi-om such Arminian propositions as these : " God loves not things because ^See Wodrow's Life of Cameron, pp. 90-91 ; Bayle's Diet., suii voce. *For the letters to L. C, see Opera Cam., pp. 530-536. BORDEAUX ( 1 608-1 6 1 8) 181 they are good, but everything is good because loved of God " : " God is free, and may make of his own what He will " : " The Person who can remove the impediment (sin) by a satisfaction, or not remove it, can also, while the impediment subsists, do the same without any satisfaction for sin ; the doing this is the same de materia as the removing the impedi- ment " : " Christ satisfied for all men ; God imputes this satisfaction only to some." Cameron's com- plaint of such propositions is that they reverse the proper order of divine mercy. Undoubtedly, there is an antecedent mercy of God toward all men, for God loves all. But this general amnesty is condi- tioned by a consequent or hypothetical mercy, which depends on the satisfaction for sin made by Christ. In other words, God is not free to pardon those who lack faith in Christ as their Substitute and Saviour ; thus, only those are saved who are " inned " in Christ and at the same time justified by faith. The death of Christ therefore was certainly necessary, before God's general love to man could become particular. But is Christ's satisfaction, from this point of view, made for all men.'' Cameron's expressions here are strong. "You err widely if you think you can pray for all in faith absolutely, since there is not one single promise in the Bible for the salvation of all ; and without a promise there can be no faith." "If you think that God wills equally the salvation of all without any condition, this is quite wrong, to say no worse." "The King of France so loved the Parisians that he pardoned the penitent." Yes ; but he did not pardon the rest, though he loved them all. Well, but why does God give faith in Christ, and 1 82 JOHN CAMERON consequent imputed righteousness, only to some, and not to all? Cameron answers in true Calvinistic phrase, it is God's good pleasure. In modern terms, it is just God's way. It is a sublime mystery. So far, there is no Arminian element. The correspondence proceeded, and Cameron writes his approval of Cappel's replies and of an essay which had evoked some censure. This censure he explains by the unhappy times, " in which it is reckoned unlawful to depart in the least from the opinions of such as are reckoned pillars." He advises Cappel to be prudent, lest he should bar his way to preferment — a rather significant advice. Cappel is troubled about Isaiah v. 4 — "What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it.?" Surely this implies man's free-will to receive or reject salvation .'' No, says the positive Cameron ; this is one of the chief texts against free-will. It just means that " God acts with men in men's methods," but in vain, unless He shed abroad light in our minds ; "which light is neither common to all, nor given to any of the wicked." He trembles to think of such an opinion as that of free-will, though "plausible enough to reason." God is irresistible, and the vine- yard must yield ; hence this vexatious passage " must be understood after the manner of men." Truly an oracular utterance! But it is at once followed by Cameron's favourite expedient of the antecedent and the consequent. He has lately, he remarks, " in reading the Scriptures, observed a new figure very frequently used, and I have aflixed a new name to it, the antecedent put for the consequent." Thus the phrase " delete our name out of the Book of Life " BORDEAUX ( 1 608-1 6 1 8) 183 puts the antecedent (viz. " deletion ") in room of the consequent or result, namely, "damnation." And even so, he has found 600 places of Scripture where the consequent is put for the antecedent ; e.g. "when He says that His 'bowels sound for Moab,'" this really means that Moab is already destroyed, hence the painful sensation! Surely, this is exegesis run mad. Applied to the great text, St. John iii. 16, it would mean that the divine love followed on the sacrifice of Christ, instead of directly prompting it. It would also mean that "whosoever believeth" does by that act render Christ's sacrifice effectual. A more topsy-turvy " figure " of interpretation cannot be imagined. Thus ran the reply to the second letter. We can see in it no trace of Arminian theory, but rather the pitiable struggle of a keen mind involved in scholastic coils. The third letter has better metal, and far more light in it. Salvation is universal as light is ; but "a person sleeping or shutting his eyes receives no light." " Christ died for all, yet His death makes happy only those who by faith embrace Him." He is " not ignorant of the idle sophisms about resistible and irresistible power of God." But he owns no resistible power in God. God can save whom He will, however strong-hearted. To deny that, is " new Divinity, as ill as Socinianism." But if grace is suffi- cient why should any be lost .'' Because grace is suffi- cient only in so far as it is efficacious. The sunlight is sufficient, but not for the blind. Grace is sufficient only for the believer. The fourth letter comes close to the real heart of 1 84 JOHN CAMERON Cameron. Cappel has very naturally suggested that the phrase "Christ died for all" is not a correct transcription of Cameron's statement that His death is efficacious only for the believer. Cappel offers a new reading of St. John iii. i6 — ^^ God so loved the believing." Cameron as properly replies that the Church has always hailed Jesus as Saviour of the World ; and " divines " (for so Cameron always spoke of the current orthodoxy) do not oppose such a term, "only they soften it by a little distinction because the expression sounds a little harsh (tantum distinctiuncula rem, quia nimis dura videbatur, emol- HuKt), and teach that, in respect of sufficiency, Christ died for all, butj in point of efficacy, only for believers." Cappel shrewdly hints that Cameron's doctrine " Christ died for all " is akin to the Lutheran heresy of universalism, because it implied that Christ died for Judas as much as for Peter. Cameron, quick- witted as ever, retorts that he never made any such assertion. It is true that Christ died for the wicked, but not "as much as" for the pious, in respect that the wicked have rejected Him. What he really said was, that Christ died for all on condition that they were taken (exempti) out of the world and planted in Christ. The gospel-feast was made for all, and all were invited ; but many did not come. Yet the feast was spread for them, though in vain. In this final letter Cameron's temper gives way. His pupil, Cappel, has given him some shrewd thrusts, and he ends with a fiery warning against Socinianism and Pelagianism. Socinus is the special target of his contempt ; actually, Socinus taught BORDEAUX (i 608-1 6 1 8) 18 j his students that the world was not created out of nothing, just as did Vorstius, though he was not the first coiner of this execrable doctrine. But Socinus is sceleratissimus nebulonum omnium qui sunt. He and Vorstius are alike impudentissimi homines. With a salvo of abuse the letter ends abruptly and without the friendly Vale, adding only caetera coram, si dederit Dominus. This series of letters has been described at some length, because it shews a mind extremely acute, ready, and subtle, entangled in difficulties such as have always beset the question of Salvation. Cameron at this date (1610-12) was evidently striving to find a way out of the Calvinistic prison, as he felt it to be. He was pledged to the Reformed principles regarding the divine decree and election ; but his mind dwelt much on the truth of God's antecedent love for the creature, and he strove to account for the facts of Reprobation, in other words, the facts of sin beyond redemption, by a method which was bound to issue in difficulties. The lost sinner is to blame because he lacks justifying faith ; and yet, such faith comes only by the gift of God. The dilemma haunts his thoughts. He did not live to get out of it. Every way, horrid shapes of heresy met him. On one side, he saw the abhorred Pelagius, advocate of an equal chance for all as regards salvation. On another, the two Socini, uncle and nephew, Laelius and M. Faustus (as Cameron called the nephew) stood ready to welcome him as a fellow-labourer. And Arminius was very near his ear, whispering the com- fortable doctrine that every man may be saved if he 1 86 JOHN CAMERON ■will. Wodrow philosophises mildly on Cameron's descensus Averni. Such views of the extent of the satisfaction made by the death of Christ were, to Wodrow, peculiar " to the New Methodists and those of the Middle Way." He traces them in the writ- ings of Cappel, Amyraut, Testard and Placaeus (La Place), all more or less pupils of Cameron. He observes that, for his part, he cannot quite understand how Christ's death was sufficient for all men, as the New Methodists and Arminians maintained. Suffi- ciency is a matter of covenant, and the New Covenant is only for believers. Yet, he sagely adds, the satis- faction made by Christ's death is a divine satisfaction and of infinite value. With such wholesome words, he dismisses the matter. To the year 1 6 1 1 belongs Cameron's first marriage. His wife, Suzanne Bernardin, was the daughter of a citizen of Tonneins in Lower Aquitaine ; she bore him four children, of whom one, the only son, died at two years of age. The other three were daughters, named respectively Joanna, Elizabeth, and Susannah. The theological ferment in the French Reformed Church was reflected in the National Synod of Privas in i6i2, which adopted after much debate a formula of subscription to the Confession of Faith, especially defining the subscriber's relation to Article i8, in the following terms : " That our Lord Jesus Christ was obedient to the moral and ceremonial law not only for our good, but also in our stead ; and that his whole obedience yielded by Him thereunto is imputed to us ; and that our justification consists not only in the forgiveness of sins, but also in the imputation of His active righteousness ; and subjecting myself to BORDEAUX (i 608-161 8) 187 the Word of God, I believe that the Son of Man came to serve, and that He was not a servant because He came into the world. . . "^ This definition directly struck at the teaching of Piscator, of whom some account is necessary. His name, delatinised, was Johann Fischer (i 546-1 625). It is a coincidence that he died in the same year as Cameron. Wodrow thinks that Cameron had " fallen in " with Piscator's views on Justification. Piscator or Fischer was at twenty-five appointed a theological professor in Strasbourg, but his criticism of the Lutheran belief in the ubiquity of Christ's body brought about his dismissal on the score of Calvinism. But what was heretical in Germany was orthodox in France. Piscator sought less troubled waters in Herborn, where he passed the remainder of his life, lecturing to crowded audiences. It seems that he did not entirely agree with Calvinism either, because his teaching ran counter to the view that the satisfac- tion made by Christ included not only His death (passive obedience), but also His whole previous life as a perfect obedience to the Divine Law. His main argument was that, if our Lord's perfect fulfilment of the Moral and Ceremonial Law was adequate to justify, or make satisfaction for sinners, then no further satisfaction was needed. The death of Christ thus became unnecessary. The Confessional doc- trine made God unjust, exacting two punishments for one single sin (the Fall of Adam). For this teaching, Piscator was dealt with and condemned, but on appeal the National Synod of Rochelle, 1607, dealt with him more leniently ; while entirely rejecting his 1 Quick, Synodicon, I. 348. 1 88 JOHN CAMERON theory, they expressed themselves satisfied with the "singular modesty" of his letters, "wherein there is not the least bitterness or provoking expression." And they commended him to God for his better instruction. Larousse adds, " Bel exemple, trop rarement suivi ! " ^ The question was not however set at rest by the Rochelle eirenikon. Sedan, the watchdog of ortho- doxy, was on the alert ; and Dumoulin, from that University, succeeded in raising a storm in which Cameron's reputation became involved. He was required to sign the formula of Privas, and declined. Instead, he took an appeal to the ensuing National Synod at Tonneins (1614), where he had found his wife. There, the whole matter was gone into with anxious care, and a deliverance was issued which in its very terms shewed the desire to meet Cameron's difficulties. The Synod, after a preamble stating that divers persons demanded an explanation of Article 1 8 of the French Confession (1559), the article defining Justification, goes on to state afi-esh the doctrine which ought to be received and taught. Briefly put, it is this — that man, having no righteousness of his own, can be made righteous (justified) only by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ from His birth gave perfect obedience to God both in life and in death. He kept the whole Law. By this perfect obedience we are justified, because by God's grace it is reckoned to be ours, and is apprehended (appropriated) by faith which God gives to us. By all this, we are assured of forgive- ness of all our sins, and become worthy of eternal life. 1 Quick, Synodicon, I. 265 ; Larousse, Diet. Universel, sub voce Fischer (Jean). BORDEAUX (1608-1618) 189 The judgment thus arrived at was imposed on the preachers and ministers, as well as the professors of Divinity, under penalty which might be as severe as deposition. It found Cameron undismayed, and un- willing to submit. Many members of the Assembly then shewed a desire to prosecute ; but it was agreed at first to appoint Andrew Rivet and Bouchereau, pastor at Saumur, to coefer with him. At the inter- view which followed, Cameron said he would rather die than change his opinion ; but he was persuaded to give an undertaking not to teach his special views on the subject of Justification (viz. by the Passive Obedience of Christ alone), "either by word or write." A. Rivet, who was clerk of the National Synod, along with M. Roy, persuaded the Court to accept this in view of the value of Cameron's services. We note the friendly part played by Andrew Rivet. As a contrast, Wodrow quotes a statement of William Rivet, that Cameron had acquired this " stiffness and opinionativeness " from the followers of Peter Ramus. Melville was one of the same school, and was actually suspected of an inclination to Piscator's views on Active and Passive Obedience of Christ.-^ Dumoulin was chiefly responsible for that piece of gossip, as he was for a good deal of the theological wrangling which went on at this time. Matters indeed reached such a point that the ever-oificious King of Great Britain, James I., interposed with a letter to the French Reformed National Synod at Tonneins, urging that all the controversial literature (books, papers, and manuscripts) should be committed to the fire. His Majesty singled out the bitter dispute 1 See supra, p. 133. I90 JOHN CAMERON which had arisen between that stormy spirit Daniel Tilenus, and the heresy-hunting Dumoulin. The Synod, with much na'ivet^, recorded a lengthy judg- ment in reply, ordering that all the printed copies of Tilenus' recent attack on Dumoulin, along with Dumoulin's own books on the subject at issue, should be deposited with the Lord Duplessis Marly ^ at Saumur — ^whether to be burned or to be locked up the deliverance does not indicate. The obsequious Synod also begged His Majesty to suppress all copies which might have been imported into his realm. The Reformed Church of France was evidently a whirlpool of controversy. Tilenus and Dumoulin were the leading disputants : the questions at issue ranged from the "Personal Union" (Hypostatic Union) to the Active and Passive Obedience. Tilenus had charged Dumoulin with " Eutychianism, Nestorianism, Samosatenianism, and Ubiquitism." The Tonneins Assembly took Dumoulin's side, and accorded him a vigorous testimonial of soundness in the faith. Meantime, the enemy scoffed at the dissi- dence of dissent ; and the Protestant princes were sorely exercised. Amid the discharge of big guns from Sedan and Saumur, Cameron's utterances were gladly ignored. An attempt was made to get Tilenus and Dumoulin to shake hands. Urged by a special ambassador from King James of Britain, the Assembly even entered on a consideration of some basis for union among the Reformed Churches of Christen- dom, on the method of distinguishing fixndamental from merely ceremonial differences. The eighteenth chapter of the Acts of the Synod of Tonneins (1614) 1 Otherwise Duplessis Mornay. BORDEAUX (i 608-1 6 1 8) 191 affords very piquant reading in the present juncture, and exposes clearly the mind of its distinguished authors, probably men of fairly Broad Church views.^ Cameron was next embroiled with the Papalists, and entered on a disputation with M. Parent, dean of Rheims and doctor of the Sorbonne, concerning the certainty of Salvation. Cameron contended that Rome offers no true assurance to men that they are saved ; it gives them only a hope, and nothing more. The dean was Lenten preacher at Bordeaux, and could not escape from the pertinacious Cameron. Ulti- mately, the Cardinal Sourdise intervened, and drew from Cameron a trenchant reply entitled " Ab incom- petentis judicis Helvetium se mentientis sententia a Cardinale Surdisio confirmata . . . Joannis Cameronis Appellatio." (Opera Cam., pp. 840-848.) This ap- peared in 1 61 5, and was followed by two incidents which exasperated the Roman Catholic feeling against him. Incident of the Avocats (16 16) The popish party had published a very favourable declaration on behalf of the Reformed, renewing edicts formerly made for their protection. The Reformed, on the maxim Timeo Danaos, had received these favours with much suspicion, especially as they were accompanied by the disarming of the Protestant population at Bordeaux. As it was customary to supply armed soldiers as a protection for the Protes- tants while going to and from church, the unhappy ^ For the foregoing account of the Synod of Tonneins, see Quick's Synodicon, I. 392-450. For chap. 18, on Union of Ref. Churches, see i&id. pp. 434-437. 192 JOHN CAMERON Protestants felt themselves literally to be sheep among wolves. Primrose and Cameron, their ministers, arranged that for a time at least public diets of wor- ship should cease. Men would then worship at home. The Consistory or Kirk Session was not, however, unanimous in this resolution to discontinue the public ordinances. Two avocats who were elders in the Consistory opposed this measure very keenly. When left in a minority, they appealed to the parle- ment of Bordeaux, the supreme judicatory of the province. It had on its rolls no less than i6o avocats and 75 procureurs.^ The two appellants charged the Consistory with exciting treasonable fears. The parlement of Bordeaux issued an order to the Consistory to resume the public services under pain of Lese Majeste. This order was naturally dis- obeyed, and the Consistory sent their two pastors away until the storm of civil strife should blow over. Cameron went to Tonneins, to his wife's friends there ; Primrose took refuge at Rouen.^ The pro- testant people continued their conventicles, and the parlement was too busy to execute its sentence. After peace was restored, the two pastors came back, and the public ordinances in church were resumed. But without delay the two Erastian lawyers were brought to book. One of them challenged the juris- diction of the Consistory and, on appealing anew to parlement, obtained from it an order to the Consis- tory to sist procedure in their trial of the offending elders. 1 Larousse, Diet Universe!, XII. 301. Larousse describes and enumerates these parlements. * See Cameron's Santangelus. BORDEAUX (i 608-1 6 1 8) 193 This order the Consistory regarded as a breach of the Edict of Nantes granting liberty to the Church Courts of the Reformed. They proceeded in the case, and finally suspended the avocats from Church privileges. These gentlemen, nothing daunted, ap- pealed to the parlement, which then called for the Kirk Session records to be produced. Cameron appeared on this citation : the Civil Court reversed the judgment of suspension as an abuse of power, and forbade any further process against the accused. Cameron was subjected to a small fine ; but the chief complainer, St. Angel (Latine, Santangelus) was not awarded expenses. Still worse, after long pleadings, the avocats were punished with the lesser excommuni- cation, which was solemnly read by M. Hesperion at public worship. The matter then dropped. St. Angel or Santangelus remained obdurate. He declared that his life was in danger, and created by his complaints such indignation that Cameron launched against him an extraordinary pamphlet which he called Steliteuticus,^ meaning an Invective or Impeachment. It is a sort of certificate of infamy. The word is derived from stele, the Greek for a post or pillar, to which placards may be aflfixed. Sant- angelus was thus posted, placarded, or pilloried by his infuriated pastor. The title in fiall is, Sant- angelus, sive Steliteuticus in Eliam Santangelum causidicum, quo ejus in calumniando inscitia, audacia, et feritas traducitur. The pamphlet is described on the title-page as an answer to the report which Sant- angelus had published of his address in court. This pamphlet is pure Cameron. It is in its way 1 See supra, p. 171. 194 JOHN CAMERON a gem of passionate abuse, and helps us to understand the temper and defects of its reverend author better than a dozen descriptions such as Louis Cappel's Icon. It is impossible to resist the temptation of going into some details. Cameron hinaself prefixes to the pamphlet (Opera, p. 849-864) a specimen of his Latin verse, in the mode known as a Scazon.^ It does him little credit, starting as it does with the virulent line Libelle, flammis ustulande Plutonis — Booklet, for Pluto's flames most fit — not book But poison, than the pest more pestilent, Foul portent of an impious age, abhorred Thrice and four times by the All-Highest and His flock ; Far hence betake thee, flee the light, and hide In Satan's gloom, thy father, where are heard Cries barbarous, where brazen fraud grows rank, Whereof thou art the fearful rubbish-heap, O booklet, kindling fit for Pluto's flames ! Nor is this all. Cameron's colleague, Gilbert Prim- rose, supplies an even stronger set of verses, in which he ends by declaring that the unhappy avocat should be called not Santangelus but Satanangelus ! In a short preface Cameron explains that St. Angel had long lain perdu (delituisset) in the Roman Church, and was little changed when at length he came over to the Reformed. He had always been troublesome, and had incurred frequent censure, sometimes in the Consistory, at other times publicly in sermon. But all had been vain. For a year 1 The Scazon (from Gr. a-Ka^itv, to limp) is a regular senarius, with a spondee or trochee at the end. BORDEAUX (1608-1618) 195 before the trouble he had absented himself from sermon and sacrament (synaxis =ljord^s Supper). Finally, he sought revenge by his complaint to the parlement, as before narrated. The pamphlet itself charges St. Angel with three unpleasant qualities, ignorance, falsehood, and bar- barity. The ignorance was shewn by his clumsy use of French at the tribunal. The falsehood was proved by the recital of a dozen mendacia ; that which stung Cameron most was the slander that he and others had fled from Bordeaux in sheer bodily fear. The bar- barity chiefly lay in St. Angel having dragged his co-religionists before a civil court. Finally, in a violent peroration, Cameron contrasts the unlucky avocat with the preachers of the Roman Church. They had never dared raise the charge of treason and rebellion against the Reformed ; yet this was just the charge which St. Angel had brought upon his own fellow-Christians. His object was plain, to magnify himself as the only loyal citizen among them, to secure his own fortunes at the cost of his friends. In short, he was a traitor in the camp, a Doeg, an Achitophel, and should be so addressed until he repented. Let him repent therefore, and bethink himself. He will have a terrible disillusion- ment. "That I may sum up most briefly what I have charged so copiously against you, that you are Ineptus, Audax, and Barbarus, trust rather the testi- mony of others than your own. Abhor yourself : burn ardently for Christ. Despise yourself : aspire unto Him. Bewail your sin and shame : implore His pity. Let His depth swallow up your degradation. Would that your disease had admitted of a gentler 196 JOHN CAMERON medicine! Then I would never have gone so far in my denunciation. But such a vile ulcer and obstinate cancer brook only knife and cautery! " Thus tempestuously ends Cameron's exhortation to repentance. By an odd and ironical chance, this laboured invective stands last in his collected Works (p. 864). It evokes mingled feelings. One only may be recorded ; it is the feeling of compassion for the unhappy lawyer, a septuagenarian, who had ex- changed the frying-pan for the fire, and found presby- terian censures even worse than those of Rome. It is certain, from the records of the French National Synods, that his was not a solitary case of imperfect conversion, either among laymen or among pastors. Such men suffered the penalty of the Laodicean. Neither party would digest them. While this tempest raged, Cameron had to go away for a time ; and from his retirement he wrote an epistle of condolence to his flock. Wodrow gives it at length ; for the present purpose it is enough to say that Cameron mingles with pastoral comfort a rather discouraging amount of scolding. He charges his people roundly with "looseness in manners, luxury in dress, feasting and dancing." His return was followed by a second and graver incident, which helped to make his position less tenable than before. Incident of the "Pirates" (1617) Two persons described as "captains," and belong- ing to the Reformed, were brought before the parle- ment of Bordeaux, charged with piracy. Their names were Blanquet and Gaillard. They appealed to the Chambre Mipartie, set up by the Edict of BORDEAUX (i 608-1 6 1 8) 197 Nantes, 1598, for the hearing of causes in which protestants were concerned. The Chambre Mipartie at Bordeaux consisted of two presidents and twelve councillors, half of each religion ; hence the name, half-and-half. The parlement of Bordeaux refused leave to appeal to the Mipartie, on the ground that it had no jurisdiction over "pirates." This however was a plain evasion of the Edict of Nantes, sect. 34 — "All the said Chambers, composed as above, shall determine and judge ... in all matters as well civil as criminal." The accused, thus de- frauded of their right to be tried by the mixed tribunal, were sentenced by the parlement to be broken on the wheel. They were accordingly exe- cuted, wearing paper crowns with the legend " Captains of Pirates, Traitors, and Rebels to the King." The paper crowns pointed to a religious feud, the sufferers in the auto da fe being thus adorned. The two captains died so bravely and piously that Cameron (who had ministered to them) issued a pamphlet describing their behaviour in glow- ing terms. The parlement retorted by ordering Cameron's pamphlet to be burned by the common hangman, and by prohibiting its author from writing or publishing any other such tract. The title of this brochure was Constance, Foy et Resolution a la mort des Capitaines Blanquet et Gaillard. It is needless to add that it was not included in his Works. ^ 1 For the above curious episode of the " Pirates," see Quick, Synodicon, Vol. I. pp. Ix to xcvi ; Benoit, Hist, de I'Edit de Nantes, II. 190-3 ; Bayle, Diction., I. 744. The First Synod of the French Ref. Church (Paris, 1559) gave judgment on the question whether pirates should be admitted to Holy Communion. Quick, I. 9. 198 JOHN CAMERON It is possibly due to this enforced leisure from public agitation that Cameron was able to publish in 1 61 7 or 1 61 8 his best known work — Tractatus in quo Ecclesiae Romanac asseclarum adversus Reli- gione-m Reformatam praejudkia examinantur [Opera Cam. 555-595). This was his parting shot ere he left Bordeaux, where for some years he had been growing more and more obnoxious to the authorities. The importance of this book de Praejudiciis in the time of Cameron was considerable, and it has its value still. The author sets himself to deal with the popular impressions and misconceptions which tell in favour of Rome and against the Reformed Churches. He refers first and naturally to the outward pomp of the Roman Church, by which the populace are attracted, and then to the poverty of the Reformed, who have few endowments and scanty State aid. Thereafter, he proceeds to deal with the fundamental issues. The Roman Church relies on the Papal authority ; but the true rest and support of any Church must be in God. The Roman Church claims supremacy over princes ; but princes are, according to Scripture, the Church's nursing-fathers. Cameron's view of kingly authority emerges here. Pomp and ritual may attract some, but in truth those supersti- tious ceremonies hurt the Church, as does also her despotic government. The Church of Rome is Anti- christ, even if it be the largest and most comprehen- sive of all. Mere numbers, or outward union is not the only mark of a true Church. There is at anyrate no real unity within the Roman Church. And from the earliest times there have been divisions in the Church, yet even Cyprian does not exclude those who BORDEAUX (1608-1618) 199 are separatists. On the contrary, he declares that such persons may be regarded as truly baptized Chris- tians, unless a valid apostolic tradition says otherwise. The antiquity of Rome is a popular argument, but antiquity must be conditioned by truth, which is the only thing really ancient. Nor is there any assurance that what once was a true church may not cease to be so, through degeneracy and error. But Rome boasts herself semper eadem. Such a claim is only too easily disproved, for no Church has more abounded in changes, though it may be impossible to give the exact dates or authors of such mutations in every case. And therefore it is absurd to ask the Reformers, Where on earth was your Church before the Reformation.'' The true Church is not always or everywhere visible, as the Scriptures themselves shew. It may lie hid, yet God in His time brings it to light. The true Apostolic Succession is not neces- sarily one of persons or of office, but rather of truth and character ; it depends on God's free election alone. To this vexed question of Succession Cameron devotes no less than six chapters (25-30), showing that the Pope has not apostolic succession, nor have the various Roman orders, nor have the ceremonies, nor above all have the doctrines; nor finally is there even an unbroken succession of per- sons. These chapters may fitly be studied for contemporary controversy. But what right had the Reformers to intervene.'' Cameron answers that the necessity of the case gave them a right and a duty to take up the work of reformation. An outward call or authority for such work is not always to be demanded ; yet the 200 JOHN CAMERON Reformers did not open a door to confusion, or encourage schism. Indeed there is a sense in which the Reformers recognise the Roman Church as a true Church, though so far corrupted that it became duty to withdraw from it. Of its corruption the most striking instance is Monachism, which Cameron pro- ceeds to indict of its many crimes. With this counterblast Cameron bade farewell to Bordeaux. His ten years had been troubled. He had become something like the enfant terrible of his own Church, and his removal to a theological chair was a tribute to his temper as well as to his formidable learning and talent:;. III. Saltviur (1618-1621) In 161 8, Cameron, uneasy at Bordeaux, listened willingly to the suggestion of his friends that he should be a candidate for the Divinity chair at Saumur in succession to Gomarus. There were two candi- dates, Cameron and Louis La Coste, pastor at Dijon. ^ The office was awarded after a contestation, the re- cord of which has been discovered, and is described in detail by Haag.^ The competition took place on August 8, 161 8. The examining board consisted of one commissioner from each colloquy (presbytery) within the Provincial Synod, and certain professors at Saumur— among whom Wodrow mentions Louis Cappel, rector ; Andrew Duncan, gymnasiarcha ^It is stated that William Rivet was also put forward, ' Haag, La France Protestante, Ilf. 650. SAUMUR (1618-1621) 201 (principal) ; F. Burgersdyck, and William Geddes. Other examiners were Duplessis Mornay, Bouchereau, and Placaeus. Each candidate was required to give two " lessons " or lectures, and to defend his theses. Cameron is said to have done so during a whole day, irom 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The other parts of the exami- nation included the three sacred tongues (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin) ; philosophy in general ; and theology.^ The chair was adjudged to Cameron. His rival. La Coste, had twice broken down, and had been quite unwell in consequence. But in spite of the formal award to Cameron, La Coste maintained that the post was his, founding on the deliverance of the National Synod (Vitre, chap. 12), which nominated him to the chair. His case does seem a hard one, inasmuch as the appointment by the National Synod of Vitr6 in 1617 reads quite distinctly in his favour. But the commissioners at the Contestation having rejected him, it was held that he could not fulfil the conditions demanded. La Coste then sought pecuniary com- pensation, but this also was refused. Cameron's friends were too numerous. We note that there were two Scotsmen on the board of examiners, Duncan and Geddes. It is of course certain that Cameron was by far the better scholar and lecturer ; yet La Coste seems to be in some degree worthy of sympathy. He had counted on being chosen, and had demitted his charge at Dijon in consequence. Wodrow devotes some space to an account of Cameron's exercises at this notable competition. They were based on St. Matthew xvi. 18 ("Thou 1 Wodrow, Life of Cameron, p. 124 sqq. 202 JOHN CAMERON art Peter"), and will be found at the beginning of his Works. His theses de Efficacia Gratiae are at page 330, and were published because of certain persons who were reviving " old and and buried semi- pelagianism " — a curious phrase from one of Cameron's leanings. He complains of being accused of teaching "that those persons have fallen away from Christ who attribute to man's will and the strength of free-will ( liberi arhitrii) even the smallest share in the matter of salvation (negotio salutis), who leave to the Spirit of God only the role of persuasion, and urge that God acts just the same on hypocrites as on His own elect." Cameron might well defend himself against such a charge, since his tendency was rather to treat the question of Moral Suasion and of Irresistible Grace with some degree of breadth. Such complaints confirm our impression that Cameron, all through, believed himself to be orthodox, though almost universal opinion soon after his death adopted the opposite view. Wodrow confesses that the theses are " on a subject pretty nice and quisquous." They did not please the " New Methodists " or Cameron- ites, who alleged that Cameron privately went much further than those theses go. Wodrow shrewdly says — " here he seems to me strongly to argue against the doctrine of general grace." His arguments were used later against Amyraut, Testard, and others. There are indeed some fairly significant phrases which " favour the Middle Way," such as the statement that the Spirit's work in conversion is "suasive," a rectification of the apprehensions and judgment, and not a " physical operation " on the human will. Yet, adds Wodrow, "he bases his teaching on Romans ix.> SAUMUR (1618-1621) 203 which is as much opposite to pelagianism, semi- pelagianism, and any other thing that tends to them, as words almost can be." ^ Cameron's appointment excited the opposition of the provincial synod of Poictou on the ground of his supposed sympathy with Piscator. On appeal, the National Synod of Alais, 1620, pronounced in favour of Cameron, at the same time putting La Coste on the roll of pastors preparing for theological chairs, and making him a liberal allowance until he should be settled in a new pastorate.^ Thus at last Cameron reached what might seem to be firm ground. Yet his own friends in this disputed settlement were far from sure of him. An effort had been made at the outset to secure Boyd of Trochrigg as professor of Divinity at Saumur, along with Cameron as his col- league. There had generally been two professors in this department. But the attempt for various causes failed. Both Louis Cappel and M. Bouchereau were concerned in it. Wodrow is of opinion that Cameron's innovations in doctrine might have been prevented in some respects if Boyd had been there as a steadying force. ^ Cameron lost no time in starting his lectures, of which the larger part will be found in Works, pp. 1-207. Beginning with the passage St. Matt, xvi. r 8 (" Thou art Peter "), he dealt with numerous passages from that gospel on which important doc- trines were held to depend. The papal ascendancy 1 Wodrow, Life, p. 140. 2 Quick, Synodicon, II. 1 5, 29. * Supra, p. 145 ; Wodrow, p. 124. 204 JOHN CAMERON was rigorously controverted in the first-mentioned treatise. In another, on Phil. ii. i2, 13 ("Work out your salvation"), the meaning of salvation is dis- cussed, and the grace of God is held to be irresistible. Here emerges Cameron's characteristic theory of Moral Suasion, for he shews how the human will is turned or bent by the Spirit through most urgent persuasion {persuasione vehementissima). On psalm Ixviii. 19 (" He hath ascended up on high") he main- tains our Lord's divinity against Socinus, and adopts the view of a double Ascension, having double fruits or effects. On St. Matt. xvi. 17 he develops an attack on the papalists (pontificios), on the Ubiqui- tarians, on the Jews and Samosatenians, and on the Arminians. This praelection is a specially good example of his keenness and logical power. On St. Matt. xvii. 14-22 (the healing of the Lunatic), he discourses on miracle, its nature and authority, and concludes that faith which comes by miracles (fides historica) is not the highest kind of Faith. The highest faith is that which is united to charity (caritas). And charity itself is greater than faith. Such pro- positions are ample proof of the broad-mindedness of Cameron. On St. Matt, xviii. 2-5 (" Except ye be converted and become as little children"), he dis- cusses minutely the question. An dentur varii gloriae gradus in vita futura? Are there different degrees of glory in the future life .'' He proves the negative by fourteen arguments against sixteen for the affirma- tive. Other lectures deal with Scandal, Angels, and Church Authority, from familiar texts, all taken from the first gospel. This brief reference will make clear the method of the theological professors of his time. SAUMUR (1618-1621) 205 They acted loyally on the belief that all doctrine is founded on and conditioned by Holy Scripture. They used Old and New Testament passages with equal confidence. They developed first the strict exegetical meaning, and thereafter detailed the loci communes, or recognised doctrinal propositions. In defending these, they distinctly shewed where they differed from the teaching of contemporary dogma- tists, as Socinus, Arminius, and Bellarmine (as repre- senting Roman theology). Their teaching varied in its main character according to temperament and cir- cumstances. Cameron's theology was paramountly polemic, as Turrettin's afterwards was expressly elenctica or evidential. Cameron's fondness for con- troversy appears in every line ; and the times in which he lived made controversy unavoidable. There was no part indeed of the theological training of students more carefully and incessantly attended to, than the controversial part. Disputation was the recognised method of reaching religious truth. The almost complete disappearance of this exercise in the Reformed Churches is probably to be deplored, in view of the fact that the Roman seminaries have preserved it in its fulness. Hence it is, that protes- tant writers and preachers find it so difficult to meet those of Rome in the field of controversy. Unless this defect of protestant theological education be remedied, it may be expected that the cause of the Papacy will continue to gain ground. There are other remains of Cameron's theological work, embodied in the ponderous folio of 1642, such as the very important tractate de Ecclesia, covering more than a hundred pages. In it are discussed with 2o6 JOHN CAMERON much exactness the name, the nature, the visibility, the duration, the infallibility, the jurisdiction, the discipline, of the Church. Finally, a chapter is devoted to the thorny question of Schism. This whole treatise is well worthy of being translated into English, since the really burning question to-day, as always, is. What and where is the Church.? There are some unfinished courses of lectures in the collected Works, notably on the Epistle to the Hebrews as far as chapter 8, and on the Word of God {de verbo Dei). The latter course, begun in Saumur and interrupted by civic broils, was used and continued in Glasgow, and there also had but a short run. The truth is that he never really settled down in any of his offices. Even at Bordeaux, where he spent ten years, there were serious interruptions. And now, at Saumur, he was hardly entered fully on his professorial duties when his mind was distracted by a challenge ^ from the redoubtable Tilenus to debate with him " the shares of the grace of God, and the powers of man's free-will, in our effectual calling." This was in April, 1620. The incident created as much excitement in theological circles as a modern prize-fight does among devotees of sport. The arrangements were made with much formality. The place of meeting was at the country-house of Jerome Groslot Sieur de I'Isle, a protestant gentleman carried when a child to Scotland after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572. His father had fallen in the Massacre, and the son was of such rank and birth as to be educated in Scotland under Buchanan along •' Tilenus denies this, asserting that the conference was engineered by Milleti^re. SAUMUR (1618-1621) 207 with the young king, James VI. Groslot had been both at Oxford and at Cambridge, and was an excep- tionally well-read man.^ At this date he was over sixty years old. His country-seat near Orleans offered ample hospitality to the two combatants and their suites. The record of this celebrated discus- sion, taken down by Louis Cappel and Milletiere, was printed and published under the title Arnica Collatio de gratiae ex voluntatis humanae concursu in vocatione, et quibusdam annexis. It had a remark- able circulation throughout the learned world, and especially in Holland. Though styled " a friendly conference," it resembled rather a duel between two pundits, of whom Tilenus was certainly the older and the more pretentious. It was Goliath against David ; and Cameron, in his prefatory remarks to the official report, claims with hardly concealed pride the success of David over his bulky opponent. Cameron dedicates the report to Groslot, who, how- ever, had died since the discussion, if one must not even say because of it. It is at any rate recorded that the combatants met in Groslot's cubiculum, so that perhaps he was already ill. Cameron in his preface describes how the disputa- tion arose, how he had few auditors owing to the Communion Season, only Louis Cappel, Milletiere, and Merouville, how he left Saumur actually on Easter Day, April 16, and reached the appointed place on April 18. Tilenus however did not appear on the day fixed. He arrived five days late, just as the Saumur party were giving up hope and getting ready to go home. Tilenus does not seem to have ^See M'Crie, Andrew Melville, ed. 1824 ; I. 254, note. 2o8 JOHN CAMERON made any excuse/ and the conference began on April 24. The disputation turned on articles 21 and 22 of the French Reformed Confession of 1559 ; but it was soon restricted to the problem — " Of two equally wicked adults, why should one be savingly illumi- nated, and the other lost in the shadow of death ? " Cameron answered, in true Calvinistic style — Because God wills to have mercy on the one, and not on the other. Tilenus answered — Occultissimis hominum mentis, because God sees in the saved a certain merit, though most hidden from others. Both quoted Augustine and the Bible. The con- ference, which began on April 24, was abruptly ended on April 28 by Tilenus going off in some degree of displeasure. There ensued an acrimonious correspondence. Cameron claimed the victory, and he triumphs over Tilenus thus — "See how great is the Truth, when, even handled by so mean an exponent, it cannot be overthrown by one who is facile princeps among the other faction ! " The report of the Amica CoUatio might well have gained for Cameron a certificate of orthodoxy ; ^ but the Leyden Faculty of Theology, fresh from their victory at Dort, saw difficulties in Cameron's favourite distinction between the spirit (mind) and the will in effectual calling. To him the mind and will are entirely depraved as to the negot'ium salutis : here he is at one with Calvin, Bucer, and Peter Martyr, and claims complete accord with the Dort decrees. But this corrupt will is still a will, i.e. able ^ Tilenus knows nothing of this ; see his Canones Dordrachenae, Paris, 1622. ^ Tilenus declares that such was Cameron's object. SAUMUR (1618-1621) 209 to act, though lamely. The Holy Spirit entering into the mind and into the will supplies properties and powers (habitus) which are in a formal relation to the corrupt properties. The contention is some- thing like that of Liddon in his paper on Nihilianism.^ The divine does not annihilate the human. At this point Cameron is clearly non-Roman, though he may be Arminian. In point of fact, he is a victim to compromise, and his followers were justly called the Middle Way. He seeks to preserve man's faculties even amid their ruin. His thought is, perhaps, this — God must save a man, not a cadaver or corpse, or a " lifeless statue " as Luther figured. In reality, Tilenus and Cameron were not far apart. If God chooses the saved man because of that man's hidden merits, then the saved man has never really been entirely depraved. God finds him saveable. He has in him semen insitum religionis — a phrase not unknown to Calvinistic teaching. As for the reprobate, he is already self-condemned. The very light that is in him is darkness. But the men of Dort and Leyden knew or sus- pected Cameron's secret inclinations. They offered him a crucial test. Would he prefix to the report of the Friendly Conference an " advertisement " stating that he was entirely in agreement with the Synod of Dort ; and would he also explain and alter anything in his arguments which seemed otherwise ? Cameron's Highland pride revolted, and he declined. The Report therefore appeared without the valuable im- primatur of the Leyden Faculty. * Liddon, Dissertations on subjects connected with the Incarna- tion, p. 229. 2IO JOHN CAMERON Wodrow, who is excellent in his notes at this point, puts the issue as between Moral Suasion and the Renewing of the "Will (i.e. between supernatural con- version and rational conviction). Cameron's was a new method of salvation. He believed that God's Spirit does flow in on the man, but that is simply to enlighten the mind, which in turn moves the will. Salvation is wrought by the concursus (cooperation) of God's will with man's will, in a world of subordi- nate or secondary causes. Cameron is thus contending for a measure of free-will ; God's spirit acts immedi- ately on the mind, but mediately on the will.^ If there is a modern parallel to the issue between Cameron and Tilenus it may be the question as between Miracle and Scientific Law : between Sin and Heredity. But the new psychology leaves no room for a parallel at all, because it has demolished the distinction of faculties in human nature. Nor is it much concerned with questions of sin or corrup- tion. Yet its chief modern link with religion is the voluntarism of William James, to whom religion is essentially a choice, an act of Will, as it was to Cameron. Who can say whether Cameron was not, in some dim way, a pragmatist before the Pragmatists ? Three years at Saumur soon passed in such learned agitations ; and then came a change. Duplessis- Mornay was displaced and ceased to govern Saumur, and his friends were fain to bow before the political storm. Cameron, always unbending, went away to Paris, and thence to London. It was to him a real ^See the whole passage in Wodrow, Life of Cameron, pp. 151-152. SAUMUR (1618-1621) 211 exile, for, like Boyd of Trochrigg, he was more Frenchman than Briton (Scoto-Britannus he called himself). We find him in London in March, 1621, and there he remained for more than a year. It is not unlikely that he had been encouraged to come by the prospect of preferment. At any rate, he got, through the influence of Wren, bishop of Ely, per- mission to lecture to French refugee students "privately in his own chamber." His prelections were directed against Roman claims, and will be found in the collected Works, pp. 516-524. IV. Glasgow (1622-3) We come at last to Cameron's brief period of office as principal and professor of Divinity in Glasgow. His appointment was, according to William Rivet, due to the influence of the Bishop of Ely. Bayle attributes it to the English bishops as a body, who, he says, distrusted Boyd of Trochrigg, lately Prin- cipal. Cameron was fathered by the High Church school of bishops, of whom Wren of Ely was one. This was but a poor introduction to Scotland ; and Wodrow says that Cameron was badly received in Glasgow, and regarded as a stranger. Before how- ever he began his work there, he seems to have made a short stay in Edinburgh. There, in July, 1622, he probably wrote his Letter to the King, vindicating his loyalty in answer to the aspersions of his old opponent, Tilenus. At all events, this Letter is dated ex Scotia. Tilenus had published a volume on the Dort Canons, to which he had appended some severe observations on Cameron's alleged anti- 212 JOHN CAMERON monarchical views. ^ Cameron himself roundly attri- butes these charges to the anger of Tilenus at being beaten in the Arnica CoUatio. In this Letter to the King (James I.) we have Cameron's political confession of faith, for which he was to give his life three years after. Kings, he says, are subject only to God, and in no way to men's judgment. If kings are contemned, there can be no right worshipping of God, no true peace in the Church or in society. "From a child," he writes to His Majesty, " I looked on the kingly majesty not only with the highest honour, but with a kind of veneration ; kings being set as it were infinitely above the rest of mortals, and placed over them. But as my years grew, this became my fixed judgment." He emphatically denies the charge made by Tilenus that, while at Paris, he had preached against the royal authority after the outbreak of war. He denies also the charge of having fled from Paris for fear of being "mobbed." Oddly enough, Cameron was destined to be done to death in this very way ; but he declares in this letter that his flight was not dishonourable, for Cassillis helped him to get over to Britain. Wodrow proves by evidence of correspondence that Cameron wrote this letter on the suggestion and with the help of Law, archbishop of Glasgow.^ Duly appointed by the King, whose royal ears must have tingled with delight at such sentiments, Cameron went from Edinburgh to Glasgow in August, 1622. It is a significant token of his care- ^Canones Synodi Dordracenae, Paris, 1622 ; see pp. 186-228. *For this Letter to the King, see Miscellany of the Abbotsford Club, I. 115. GLASGOW (1622-3) 213 less habits, that he forgot to bring with him the King's Commission. The "Moderators" of the College, however, accepted in lieu of it a copy made from Boyd's commission, and supplied by Boyd him- self. This was surely to seethe the kid in its mother's milk ! He began his lectures on November i ; they were on the Word of God, and had already served at Saumur. They will be found in Works, pp. 466- 471. They were abruptly closed with the words — " Here I must stop, being recalled to France ; the remainder I shall accomplish wherever and whenever the Lord giveth." The editor adds his own note that the remaining lectures were given publicly at Montauban in 1625. The lectvxres are of value, as dealing with the Necessity of Revelation, and with the " Notes " of Inspiration, both general and special. Cameron at the utmost taught only during one session, November to March. It is probable that he was a warming-pan for Strang, who succeeded him. At any rate, those appointments were often subject to one year of trial or probation. Boyd regularly made that stipulation. As we have seen, it was Col- lege law to finish a year, and then give three months' notice. But it is not difficult to see what causes moved Cameron to retire so quickly. He was socially a failure in Glasgow, just like his predecessor Boyd. Both had become Frenchmen, married French, wives, and adopted the somewhat stately manners of the French nobles. Moreover, Cameron was too obvi- ously the King's catspaw for the "ceremonies" (Articles of Perth, 161 8), which Boyd had been unable to swallow with grace. Cameron's Letter to the King revealed the utmost degree of monarchical 214 JOHN CAMERON prejudice. He was passive obedience embodied. Then, too, there had come a lull in the French storm, and he was absolutely sure of a chair either at Saumur or elsewhere. And in France he was a much greater man than in Glasgow, where his humble origin was well known. In Glasgow, also, his orthodoxy was suspect. Arminian views, which he was supposed to hold, meant for Scotland Episcopal pretensions and laxity. Add to all this the unhappy fact that he did not get on with his colleagues in the University. The decisive instance is well vouched for, and deserves to be recorded, especially as it throws light on academic ways three hundred years ago. Quarrel with Robert Blair (1622) Robert Blair, Trochrigg's friend, had remained as a regent in the College, and was distinctly not a persona grata to Archbishop Law. The latter was not sorry to do him an ill turn, and suggested to Cameron that he should exercise special supervision over Blair's dictates to the students. We have seen that this was not only a right, but a recognised duty, of the Principal. But it is hinted that Cameron had " set his inspectors " on Blair, employing students to watch him for questionable opinions. The same course was pursued in the case, long after, of Professor Simson, against whom students were called as wit- nesses.^ Blair's own story will be found in his auto- biography.^ He had just returned from visits paid to certain ministers interned by the King's command 1 Calderwood's History, II. 567. * Blair's Life, Wod. Soc, 1848, pp. 41-44. GLASGOW (1622-3) 215 — David Dickson at Turriff, Robert Bruce at Inver- ness. Both were intimate friends of the late Prin- cipal, Robert Boyd ; and Cameron was jealous. Yet Blair behaved with propriety, attending and taking down Cameron's lectures. There were some French students who had come to Glasgow with Cameron. In the Munimenta, iii. 76 we find such names as Joannes T0II6 Turonensis Gallus : Daniel ToUe Turonensis Gallus, fratres ; Joannes Massonius ex Andigavia Gallus : Renatus Venaldus Picto-Gallus : Elias Constans Gallus. With these Frenchmen Cameron kept very close intercourse, and he had appointed one of them to defend a thesis. Blair was appointed, as hebdomader, to " impugn the Thesis," and found Cameron and his French protege propounding the thesis of Election for foreseen faith — a proposition condemned by the Synod of Dort. When, in course of disputation, Blair referred to that condemnation, the praeses (Cameron) replied, "Tu polles argumentis ; omitte testimonium," meaning, "Rely on arguments, and not on authority." Cameron was nettled by the incident, and determined to arrange a " rebuff." He appointed the same thesis week by week, until the students in sheer weariness implored Blair to attend and again "impugn" it. This however was a "snare." Cameron employed a " theologue " (divinity student) to entice Blair to the haU of debate. There he resumed his argument, and Cameron lost his temper. Blair said — " I will not dispute contentiously." Whereupon Cameron put a dilemma, " Either we are contentious, or you ; answer! " A minister among the audience pulled Blair's gown, murmuring — " Sit 21 6 JOHN CAMERON still, and answer nothing ! " But the regent insisted, and answered, " I charged no one with contention, but I wished to avoid it." (Applause.) Cameron rejoined with "minacing and injurious words," till rebuked by the Rector, Robert Scot, minister of the Cathedral. The French student in charge of the thesis having spoken, the disputation was adjourned. The principal (Cameron) and the regents escorted the Rector to the College gate, where Cameron left them. Blair however approached the Rector and his party, and asked them to pronounce whether he (Blair) had deserved those " reproachfull and menacing speeches." All agreed that Blair's behaviour had been correct ; but one added that there was "something behind" Cameron's action. A senior regent, James Robertoun, reconciled Blair and his chief. But soon after, at a meeting of the "Moderators" (equal roughly to the modern Uni- versity Court), there arose a question of accuracy in scholarship. It was Christmastide, and in course of conversation one of the " Moderators " raised the question whether at any time in the Church the keep- ing of Christmas was questioned. Cameron promptly answered "Never," quoting Augustine's Epistle to Januarius as proof that Christmas was kept through the whole world. Blair happened to have read the Epistle lately, and ventured to say — " I trow Augus- tine makes no mention of the nativity-day in that epistle." Cameron ("of whom," says Blair, "it was said that he knew not what it was to forget"), took up the book, which was in the room, probably the Divinity Hall Library room ; but on turning to the place found no reference to the keeping of Christ- GLASGOW (1622-3) 217 mas. Blair gives a malicious sketch of Cameron pretending to read on for the expected passage, and then suddenly throwing down the book with the pettish exclamation, " I wonder how Augustine did forget this! " The scene is life-like in Blair's page.'^ It must be added that there are in Augustine two epistles to Januarius, but both of them deal chiefly with Lenten observances ; in neither is there mention of the Nativity.^ The mistake of Cameron was not unnatural, since the two letters deal with observance of days ; only, Augustine inveighs against super- stitious and magical days, quoting St. Paul (Galat. iv. 11), and declaring emphatically — "We do not observe days and years and months and times! " So that, every way, Blair triumphs. He himself left Glasgow dviring the "superstitiously abused days," and Cameron availed himself of this absence to secure one of Blair's students as a spy. The youth's name was John Gardner ; he was afterwards arrested for book-stealing! At Cameron's instance, he searched Blair's dictates on philosophy, copied out incriminating passages on magistrates, law, and obedi- ence, and when none appeared, selected other passages capable of being wrested. The object was to convict Blair of anti-monarchical views. On this point, Cameron was specially bent, as will appear from what follows. The Munimenta, ir. 300, 301, under date 6 Janu- ary, 1623, records a resolution of the Senate requiring in future an oath of supremacy and fidelity from every aspirant to University offices. And Cameron, ^ Blair's Autobiography, Wod. See, p. 44. *See Migne, Patrologie, Augustine, vol. II. pp. 199 sqq. 21 8 JOHN CAMERON as gymnasiarcha, was requested to frame a form of prayer for daily use, morning and evening, alike in classes and in the general meetings, in which the supplication for His Majesty and the royal family should stand first. The form of prayer is recorded, and runs as follows, in English : — " Formula. " Regard and govern the orders of King and Church — to the King, whom we own inferior on earth to Thee alone, do thou grant long life ; under his rule and empire grant peace and tranquillity to Kingdom and Church, and to us all give an obedient and thankful spirit because it hath been our lot to be born in his happy reign. Thereafter, we commend to thee the King's eldest son and heir the prince, as also' the whole royal offspring and house, also and even more piously the King's coun- cillors, nobility, magistrates, bishops, and ministers of the Church, on whom we beseech thee to bestow liberally thy Holy Spirit and all those gifts pro- vided with which they may be able to discharge their appointed duty piously, purely, honestly, faithfully and fruitfully. To us also of both civic and ecclesiastical rank do thou graciously grant a spirit of reverence and deference, as we seriously bethink us that thou art the author of every rank, that if any order is contemned thou art thereby contemned, and that by such contempt of dignities nought either in kingdom or in kirk can be rightly done or administered." Truly a most monarchical prayer, in which the GLASGOW (1622-3) 219 Church takes second place to the King and his house, and a place still lower in the enumeration of the ordineSy councillors, nobles, magistrates, bishops and ministers (clergy) ; the mere commoners standing lowest in deep observance and submission. Seldom has a more verbose and pretentious prayer been con- structed for Scotsmen to repeat. It may be doubted if it was much used in the classes, though it may have been read at the graduations. The date of this enact- ment seems toi fit in to the scene at Christmas. The searching of Blair's papers during the vacation yielded some ambiguous opinions which Cameron took to the Archbishop (Law) as Chancellor. Blair hastened to defend himself ; but, sick of the whole business, he at length demitted his place, regardless of Cameron's somewhat tardy protests and promises of friendship. It is plain that the policy of the King (James I.) and his advisers was being steadily applied tO' forward the Episcopal ascendancy in the University as in the Church. Boyd had been got rid of with that pur- pose, and Cameron was sent in his place as one likely to reduce the stubborn Presbyterian regents to obedi- ence. So far as high-flying monarchical principles went, Cameron was absolutely suited for such a task. In all other respects, in temper, birth, and doctrinal tendencies, he lay open to obvious and fatal criticism. His temper was undoubtedly quick and domineer- ing: his birth was humble and his early career one of poverty ; and his incurable fondness for novelties in doctrine had made him an object of suspicion throughout the ranks of the Reformed. The dispu- tation with Tilenus had failed to rehabilitate him as a theologian. Neither side in the controversy would 220 JOHN CAMERON own him. The Calvinists saw in his theses the influence of Piscator ; the Arminians resented his attack on their view of the process of Salvation. He succeeded also one who took very high rank as a defender of Reformed doctrine, and who had left a deep impression on the Scottish mind. In short, Cameron must have felt uneasy in Glasgow from the first. Accordingly, he left that city in May, 1623, and was back in France by the month of July. In the brief interval, during which we find him in London, he spent his time mostly in dancing atten- dance at Court. The authority of William Rivet is quoted by Bayle for the statement that Cameron "returned empty-handed from his friend the King, a Prince of lavish generosity to others." ^ It may be remembered that Boyd of Trochrigg was better treated by King James. But Boyd was supported by powerful and aristocratic friends ; Cameron had none, and was probably little of a courtier. While thus vainly trying to get financial assistance from the Crown, he had the ill-luck to encounter a theological expert among the King's " servants," by name Thomas Reid (Rhaedus, Regi Britt. a manu), to whom he was introduced by the King's Remem- brancer, Sir James Galloway. The incident is curiously suggestive of a certain pawkiness in the King's Remembrancer, and a lack of worldly wisdom in the quondam Principal. Mr. Thomas Reid was perhaps only King James arguing per alium. He wrote to Cameron on the question of Divine Provi- dence, a noted controversial point between Arminian 1 Bayle, Diet., sub voce Cameron; he refers to A. Rivet's Opera, IIL 900. GLASGOW (1622-3) 221 and Calvinist. Does the concursus Dei make God the author of sin? Reid's problem is thus un- folded: — Cameron asserts that God is mixed up in every human action ; now sin being action, why- should God be exempt from responsibility for sin, and man alone suffer for it? Is not God necessarily particeps criminis, and (since He is God) the true author of sin ? Again, if sin be ens rede, and if God is creator and preserver of all entia, then God created sin. Somewhat thus run Reid's artful syllogisms. Cameron answers : — Sin is certainly not a non- entity ; it is however an ens only in respect that, in every action, good must be distinguished from evil. The action is an ens in respect of the good ; the bad in it is but a privation of good, that is, a depravity. Cameron offers illustrations. In a man who has a lame leg, the will is responsible for motion, but not for a halting motion. A good musician playing on a guitar which is out of tune is not responsible for the discords. Sin, like every privation (e.g. blindness) is certainly from God in its matter, for it is the depri- vation of something good (e.g. sight) ; but in its form, it is man's own. Cameron does not expressly say that these are his own views ; in point of fact, they were not ; his usual phrase reappears, that " divines have always held " such views. The con- cursus Dei with "secondary causes" was the Calvin- istic view. God is not the author of sin, but He is the author of the powers and circumstances whereby man sins. Reid's reply shows that he detected Cameron's ambiguous meaning. He pounces on the illustra- tions with glee. It is surely, he urges, the good 222 JOHN CAMERON musician's duty to see that the instrument is in tune ; so God ought to keep man from sin and its discords. Moreover, the sound does not come from the musi- cian and his guitar well-tuned, but from the strings alone. The limp illustration is thus disposed of: — The limp is not from the man's will, but from the faulty muscles. The idea of sin as privation of good is destructive not of sin only but also of good itself. They serve only as negatives to each other. Virtue and vice become merely opposites and nothing more. Yet we know that both are true qualities of man, even though they be opposites. Thus evil, as much as good, is an ens both in matter and in form. Cameron feels himself in touch with a worthy foe- man, and responds by launching a general proposition which he is confident that Reid cannot deny, viz., that the immediate efficient cause of every entity is God. "Divines" have precisely defined the con- cursus or influx of God on every entity, " not indeed continued," as its efficient and immediate cause ; but " divines " also maintain a " beautiful " series of secondary causes to which effects owe their immediate and proper origin. "Divines" go " some farther" ; but here Cameron ingenuously owns that he does not fully understand them, and " cannot follow where he does not fully understand." A significant and damaging admission. He then defends his simile of the good musician. The faults of the instrument are not his ; they may be accounted for by his desire to show that the instrument is bad, or to show how sweet is real harmony, or to punish the contempt of music among his hearers! The musician, in fact, may permit the strings to jar, when he could have GLASGOW (1622-3) 223 prevented it if he had chosen. God cannot be blamed for permitting men's souls to go wrong! The lame leg is also defended. Reid is convicted of admitting that the limp comes not from the man's will, but from the defective " moving power." Therefore, sin comes not from God's will, but from man's defects. As to the term privation when applied to sin, perhaps disconvenientia, " disagree- ableness" (= incongruity) would be better; thus even philanthropy is sin when not done for God. Vice and virtue are always contrary when their matter is contrary. Thus while philanthropy is not contrary to Christian love in its matter, theft is contrary to honesty in its matter, yet only in so far as concerns its ara^la or disconformity. We are not surprised to learn that Reid complained to Sir James Galloway about these answers of Cameron's. Cameron then wrote to Sir James in reference to two points of which his wily opponent made a difficulty. The first was, Cameron's ignor- ance of facts (ana-Topicrla) : the second his " incon- stancy " or shifting of ground. As regards the first, Cameron reiterates the proposition that "the divines" teach that all entities are from God, and that there is a cooperation or concursus with secondary causes. No one except Durandus teaches immediacy pure and simple. If indeed God is everywhere immediate in His action, what room is left for the concursus Dei .'' He quotes Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Fonseca, and Suarez on the point — a showy display of learn- ing, but rather inept from the protestant standpoint. As to the charge of shifting ground, he retorts on Reid by taxing him with ignoratio elenchi. Inciden- 224 JOHN CAMERON tally, and not without a touch of pious cunning, he defends the memory of " the most holy and learned Calvin of happy memory." Wodrow concludes from the foregoing that Cameron denied the " simultaneous efficacious con- course of God with the actions of second causes " ; that is, he held some form of human free-will, an Arminian tenet. In the reprint of the correspon- dence (Opera Cam. pp. 325-530) Cameron states categorically his views on the method and order of the divine decrees, in terms which were afterwards freely appealed to by his pupils and followers, Placaeus (de la Place), Amyraut, Testard, and the "New Methodists." This statement is really a discussion of the divine attributes, which he classifies as either absolute (affecting God alone), or relative and condi- tioned (as touching man also). The idea of con- ditioned or relative attributes is clearly Arminian, according to Wodrow's judgment. Thus mercy ceases to be a divine or perfect attribute when it is described as conditioned by faith and repentance in man. Wodrow's chief criticism is not without force ; he points out that Cameron forgets that God's actions in time are not necessarily identical with His eternal decree. The conception of a conditioned universal salvation also points to the idea of merit in the saved, of faith foreseen in the eternal decree. Now, merit is thoroughly Roman and Pelagian. "Not," adds the cautious Wodrow, "that I think Cameron had any views that way . . . but it's my business to give things as I find them." ^ * For the whole incident of the correspondence, see Wodrow, Life of Cameron, pp. 169-182. FRANCE (1623-5) 225 V. France : The Last Phase (1623-5) Leaving London with a heavy heart and an empty purse, Cameron went to Paris. He attended the National Synod of Charenton, where Curcellaeus (de Courcelles) made his submission to the Canons of Dort. This happy result, it is said, was brought about by a friendly conference with Cameron, held in a "doctor of medicine's house" at Paris on August 2, 1623. The Synod met in September, and was one of peculiar interest to Cameron, because of the episode of de Courcelles, and because also of his own situation. As regards the former, we learn that the conference between Cameron and Curcellaeus turned on the question of the fate of infants born of parents outside the Visible Church, and dying in infancy. Cameron propounded the thesis. Original Sin deserves damnation ( = eternal punishment) ; and thus easily proved that such infants were lost. Cur- cellaeus shines throughout the debate, which was taken down by Testard, then a divinity student, after- wards pastor of Blois. Yet an auditor, Durand, pastor at Paris, declared that they were all of them *'like boyes and children when compared to men, in respect of Mons. Cameron." Curcellaeus, though temporarily recovered from his Remonstrant heresies, afterwards, as Wodrow puts it, " licked up his vomit," and went to Holland among the followers of Arminius.^ As regards Cameron's personal position, he was obliged to appeal to the Synod in a manner rather ^Ibid. pp. 183, 190. 226 JOHN CAMERON piteous ; he has a whole section to himself in the Synod's records. ^ He told the Synod that he had been " sought after, and earnestly urged to accept of very advantageous employments without (outside) the kingdom, yet he would not at all close with them, because of his great affection and obligation to the Churches of France . . . but he was now destitute of employment, and so without any convenient means for the maintaining of his family." He was promptly rewarded for his humble and flattering appeal by a grant of looo livres out of the Royal Bounty — 700 livres for salary as professor at Saumur, and 300 for arrears of the past year. Thus, while the King's order forbade Cameron to hold office as pastor or professor, for state reasons, the Synod practically con- tinued him in his old chair at Saumur, to which, in fact, the provincial synod of Anjou had strongly recalled him. The fidelity of Saumur to its Scots professors is amply proved. When Boyd found himself uneasy at Glasgow, the Saumur authorities sought to bring him back there. When Cameron, equally uneasy, escaped from Glasgow, and returned among his French friends, Saumur eagerly welcomed him. Indeed, the action of the Synod of Charenton, 1623, suggests that Saumur had only lent Cameron to Glas- gow for a season. Apparently he had subsisted more or less, during his Scottish episode, on the bounty of Saumur. At any rate, the Synod ordered the College treasurer there to refund to the Royal Bounty the stipend furnished to Cameron from that source. Yet the King's prohibition of any public office for 1 Quick, Synodicon, II. 1 1 7. FRANCE (1623-5) 227 Cameron stood in the way, so that though he went to Saumur he was unable to do more than lecture privately to a mere handful of students. The tide had ebbed from Saumur, as formerly from Sedan. The Synod of Dort had deepened the prejudice against Cameron and his school. After lecturing for some months, he accepted an invitation to the College of Montauban in November, 1 624. While at Saumur during this melancholy year, he lost his wife and only son (the latter born in London in his exile from France). They fell victims to consumption — perhaps to privation. Wodrow suggests that Cameron spent much of this year (i 623-1 624) in conferences (discussions). It is possible that he may have earned some fees in this connection. In September, 1624, he had a new experience. There appeared an anonymous pamphlet called Epistola viri docti ad amicum, in quo expen- ditur sententia Johannis Cameronis de gratia et libero arhitrio. It affords a curious sidelight on the methods of seventeenth century criticism. Two copies of this Epistola were sent by an unknown correspondent to Durand, pastor at Paris, who forwarded one of them to Cameron. Thus indirectly reached him the most important discussion of his principles which had yet appeared. At first he suspected Tilenus as its author, but on examination decided against this because the pamphlet was written " with a good deal more temper and decency." Ultimately, it was known that the writer was Simon Episcopius, whom Curcellaeus joined on going over to the Remonstrants. Such is the testimony of Grotius on the subject. Episcopius charges Cameron with Pelagianism and Manichean- 228 JOHN CAMERON ism.^ Cameron's reply will be found in Works, PP- 715-791- It is the most thorough declaration of his views to be found in all his surviving works, and shows a marked advance in clearness and maturity of expression. To fill vacant space at the end, he re- printed some rather pathetic Latin verses, written ineunte adolescentia, in his first youth. They are entitled Animam Alloquitur. They were designed to present his view of the combined servitude and freedom of the human will. At least, he says so after something like thirty years ; but it may be doubted whether a lad of fifteen had so farseeing an aim. After many couplets reproaching his soul with yielding supinely to the inherent evil of its origin, he declares that light not darkness is the soul's true destiny. Unable though it be by reason of sin's blindness to penetrate the heaven whence it came, he beseeches the Holy Spirit to enter his mind (mens), and then shall his blindness yield to divine light, and his feet spurn the muddy way of sin. Then pleasure shall offer its honeyed but poisonous cup in vain. The earthly mind (mens) shall know itself heavenly. Though hampered by heavy fetters, the mind shall enjoy free action as if unchained, and shall wing its way beyond the skies! (Opera Cam. p. 790). It may be questioned whether these verses im- pressed the mind of Episcopius and his friends. It is certain that Cameron felt this critical pamphlet to be a compliment to his fame as an original thinker, and that it infused new vigour into his teaching. 1 See Wodrow, Life, pp. 197-204. MONTAUBAN (1624-5) 229 MONTAUBAN (l 624-5) In the beginning of the year 1625, he married again, after a year's mourning (his first wife having died March 11, 1624). His lectures at Montauban were on the Word of God [de Verba Dei), being a continuation of the course given at Glasgow. Here also, he wrote his tractate De Supremo in Religionis negotio Controversiarum Judice. The Latin transla- tion is in Works, pp. 593-604. This French brochure was translated into English by John Vernill, sub-librarian of the Bodleian Library, under the title " A Tract of the Sovereign Judge of Controversys in matters of Religion," Oxford, 1628. VerniU appears in the Bodleian catalogue as Verneoill, or Verneuil, or Vernulaeus, and has left a MS. " Nomen- clator," or directory to sermons on Old and New Testament texts, which must in its day have served the ends of indolent preachers. Cameron's Death (1625) It was only a few months after his second marriage that Cameron sustained the severe injuries which finally caused his death. Bayle's account of the cir- cumstances is the fullest. According to him Cameron, as a thoroughgoing Royalist, opposed keenly the party of the Due de Rohan at Montauban, where unluckily the Due de Rohan was in a majority. The actual facts were glossed over by Louis Cappel in his Icon, because of his regard for the city and the whole party, on whom it was a great stain that 230 JOHN CAMERON Cameron should have been so brutally handled with- out any punishment being inflicted on his assailant, whose name was perfectly well known. Bayle would, he says, have kept silence also, but that Dumoulin and William Rivet had already told all. The truth was that Cameron by his political opinions had made many enemies, among them one so brutal as to beat him so that he was left for dead. Thus injured, he retired to Moissac, a neighbouring village, and find- ing no benefit there, returned to Saumur, where he died of "languishing and grief." Vivid details are given by Dumoulin and William Rivet. According to the former, Cameron had gone out into the crowded street and tried to still the com- motion. He rebuked those rioters whom he met, and one such person (drunk, at least with fury) beat him with his fists and a baton which he carried, so badly as to make him senseless. Cameron had bared his breast to the blow, saying " Strike, wretch ! " W. Rivet says the words were "Strike, wretch, strike! " (Peri, miser, feri) and were spoken before the blows were struck. Provoked by the words, the assailant knocked him down and would have slain him, but for a woman who rushed up and flung herself on the prostrate victim, thus covering his body with her own and saving him from the strokes (ab ictibus). Haag tells the story thus : " Cameron was called to Montauban to fill a theological chair. There he found himself confronted by a party of zealots who saw no salvation for protestants save in taking up arms. In one of the tumults then frequent at Mon- lauban between the fanatics (les exaltes) and the CAMERON'S DEATH (1625) 231 moderates, on 13 May, 1625, accompanied by the pastors P. Oilier, Pierre Charles and Timothee Delon, he hastened out to calm the excitement, and finding himself confronted by a man who threatened him with his sword (de son epee), he offered his breast crying, Strike, wretch! He was at once grappled, thrown down, trampled under foot, and barely rescued by a woman (a widow named Petit) who covered him with her body." After these distressing particulars, the dignified and reticent narrative of Cameron's life-long friend, Louis Cappel, seems inadequate. He says — "When he {Cameron) would not join the party then in the majority, he left the town, and shortly after, while removing his household thence, was seized with a fever and died of it a few days after." The minutes of the National Synod are even less explicit, simply noting that " Mr. Cameron was called afterward to be Professor of Divinity at Montauban, where he died in the year 1625, about 44 or 41; years of age." On the whole, the account given by Bayle, Dumoulin, and William Rivet, and used by Wodrow, may be relied on as authentic. What adds interest to the tragic episode is the probability that his assailant was armed with a weapon much more alarming than is suggested by Dumoulin's phrase pugnis et fustibus (fists and staves). Wodrow so understood it, for he speaks of a baton (baston), and the baton of the seventeenth century in France was something of a halberd. As we have seen, Haag's well-informed account describes it as a sword (epee). The jeu du baton was a fencing bout, like that of quarter-staves, in which each sought to break the other's staff. After 232 JOHN CAMERON all, the assailant may have been a halberdier, a guardian of the peace. It is not uncommon for those who play the part of peacemaker in a mob to suffer from the arm of authority. In a mob it is not always easy to discriminate.'^ Cameron had never liked mobs, and was no favourite with them. The story told by Haag sug- gests that he perished in a collision between zealots who upheld the protestant cause by arms, and the moderate protestants who counselled an unswerving obedience to the King. Bayle, in fact, sharpens his wit on this suggestion, observing — "Who would have thought that a Scotsman would have exposed himself to blows for the sake of passive obedience and non-resistance .'' " Scotsmen in France were in- deed notorious for their fighting qualities, intensified by a stubborn pride. Fier comme un Ecossais was a proverb. But it may be feared that Cameron on this occasion had not been quite passive. Dumoulin has probability when he describes him as planting himself in front of those who met him, striving to stem the current of rioters, and scolding them (increpans eos in quos incidebat). The date of Cameron's death was November 27, 1625, and his age about 46. The following year, 1626, the National Synod of Castres voted 700 livres for his three daughters, apparently ignoring his widow. The Synod also allowed a yearly portion, ^ For all the above, see Bayle, Diet., sub voce Cameron ; Dumoulin, de Mosis Amyraldi libro Judicium ; And. Riveti Opera ; Haag, La France Protestante, sub voce Cameron ; L. Capelli Icon, in Opera Cam. For baton, see Victor Gay, Glossaire archaeologique. CAMERON'S DEATH (1625) 233 till next National Synod, to be paid from Church funds. Montauban was in arrears of Cameron's salary, and was ordered by the Synod to pay it to the children. Pastor Oilier seems to have tried to get out of this just debt.^ The money thus voted was to be entrusted to the daughters' " guardian " ; per- haps this phrase refers to the widow, whose name was Jeanne, daughter of Jacques de Thomas, avocat, and widow of Jean Gautier, a doctor of medicine.^ Character of Cameron The description of Cameron's characteristics, physical as well as moral, varies with the source from which it is drawn. The well-known and racy descrip- tion from Louis Cappel's friendly and partial hand deserves to be quoted in fiall. It is as follows : — "He was in person neither tall nor short but of middle height, slender and meagre rather than stout, not strong or robust yet healthy. In his looks (vultu) open and beaming (renidente), with a frank countenance (facie), vivid and pleasant eyes, yellow hair, somewhat too careless in his walk, dress, and general appearance, because he was almost always buried in thought and meditation. He was of the sweetest manners, not morose or austere, or on the other hand remiss and happy-go-lucky {effusus), but shewing a grave yet gentle composure, sharp- tempered indeed and quickly provoked especially in his intercourse with intimate friends and close associ- ates {familiar es) ; but he was a man who readily laid 1 See Quick, Synodicon, II. 210. ^ Haag, ut sup. 234 JOHN CAMERON aside his anger and of his own accord acknowledged his fault and error. A man notable for loyalty and probity, of absolute integrity, straightforward, totally void of pretence, dishonesty and cunning, entirely free from covetousness and boasting, nay even in money matters remarkably and (considering his cir- cumstances) excessively regardless, and immoderately easygoing in his expenditure, not to say extravagant. He was faithful to friends, and not unfair to foes. He had those who were jealous of his glory and good fortune, to whom nevertheless he was the last man to bear a grudge ; nay more, there was no' one to whom he did not wish well and, on opportunity afforded, was not ready to shew kindness. One who liberally shared with others his learning no less than his purse and table, he had no secrets for such as would learn from him, and even whatever he had which was original and rare he readily imparted to them. As for writing, he wrote hardly anything spontaneously ; but when either provoked and stung by rivals and adversaries or urged and as it were spurred on by friends, it was with difficulty he put his hand to paper even to a moderate degree, though nothing would have been easier to him than to compose something. Some few things were published during his life by himself, but most of his work was published by his friends without his aid or knowledge, or after his decease. Unless they had with great pains gathered from his own lips whatever could thus be obtained, and sought out the scattered and by him neglected fragments, all the monuments of his genius would have perished entirely, so indolent was he by nature in signing his manuscripts, as well as careless and CHARACTER OF CAMERON 235 untidy in keeping them. In his early manhcrad as well as (though less often) in later life, he wrote several things in verse, just as occasion offered, and one theme or another presented itself to him ; these he would repeat to friends, but almost never did he write them out ; or, had he by chance done so, he would give them to this friend or that immediately. He kept nothing of them by him in manuscript, relying on the excellence of his memory, which prompted him faithfully when he chose. Whence it happens that these have all perished, though he excelled in the highest degree in that gift, so that one might say he was so to speak fashioned by nature for a poet." ^ The affectionate writer of the Icon goes on to eulogise Cameron's poetry, comparing him to Virgil, Lucretius, and Tibullus, who were his models ; and he adds equal praise of his linguistic gifts and of his mastery of the purest and most exact philosophical style — not that of the scholastics (Scholasticae illius spinosae, aculeatae et sophisticae). Thereafter he speaks of his love of and intense devotion to Theo- logy, " the chief and mistress of all the sciences," and explains his comparatively slender output in theo- logical work by the fact that he was by temperament impatient of the toil of writing, being always busy in meditation or in talk and discourse with his friends. He next describes his manner and gifts in disputa- tions, emphasising his wonderful readiness and clear- ness, with just a slight censure on his dicendi vis inexhausta, as being perhaps too luxuriant. None of his numerous pupils, says the panegyrist finally, 1 Opera Cam. (Cameron's Icon, by L. Cappel). 236 JOHN CAMERON were likely to produce anything equal to his work ; for all who loved the truth and had no malice, Cameron would live and be a benefactor. The portrait of Cameron in the possession of Glasgow University is undoubtedly authentic. It is mentioned among others in Munimenta, iii. 436, where it appears that a sum of sixty-six pounds Scots was disbursed for copying portraits of Luther, Buchanan, Boyd, Cameron, and Alexander Hender- son. Of these all but Boyd and Cameron have always been hung in the Divinity Hall at Glasgow ; and those two ought certainly to be restored to that place. A separate entry shows that twenty-eight pounds sixteen shillings Scots was paid for " pictures of Calvin and Mr. Dunlop." The first lot were paid for in December, 1693 ; Calvin and Mr. Dunlop in 1702. The portrait of Calvin appears to be missing, a doubtful omen for Calvinism in our ancient Divinity Hall.^ The description in the Icon above quoted is remarkably true to the portrait (" beaming look, vivid eyes, middle height, meagre"), and must set at rest any uncertainty which may have arisen. On Cameron's characteristics some observations must be made, not altogether in harmony with the sonorous panegyric of Cappel. "In his disputa- tions he was most prompt, ready, meek, and solidly acute." But if his quarrel with Blair ^ is truly described, it shows some lack of readiness and very little sign of meekness. " Of a most sweet temper" 1 Munimenta, III. 436 (quaestor's accounts). "A guinea per piece," says the entry in Dec. 1693. Calvin and Dunlop cost rather more. The copyist was " Mr. Scugall." * Supra, pp. 2 1 5 sqg. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 237 . . . but this is not borne out by his language con- cerning D. Tilenus in his letter to the King ; ^ or by his Steliteuticus or " Flyting " against the septua- genarian church-elder Santangelus.^ " His verses almost equal to Virgil, Lucretius, and TibuUus." It is impossible to come to a decision, since the verses have perished. Not all, however, as Cappel asserts ; for we have his Scazon on Santangelus, a really poor piece of work, and his poem at the end of the answer to Episcopius {Animam dloquitur) in Works, p. 791. This latter has one or two lines of some beauty, but is confessedly a juvenile production and not free from pomposity. TibuUus would not be flattered by it. "An almost inexhaustible flow of words" — rather (if Dumoulin be credited) an intolerable fluency, com- bined with angry impatience of any interruption. Dumoulin's picture is indeed vastly different from that of Louis Cappel, for Dumoulin (the formidable Molinaeus), protagonist of Calvinism at Sedan, had no great liking for Cameron or his friends. Yet there is corroboration for most of Dumoulin's state- ments, unflattering as they are. Naturally they are adopted with his whole heart by the sardonic Bayle, who has little good of his own to say about Cameron. According to Dumoulin, Cameron was a lengthy preacher, very little versed in the Fathers : somewhat unpeaceable : always meditating something new. He did not like to tread in beaten paths. He took occa- sion to contradict almost all divines, especially Beza. " He battled with Beza," says Dumoulin apud Bayle ; and adds that Cameron might be styled Bezae-Mastix. He shewed a certain doctrine of reserve in theology, iMiscell., Abbotsford Club, I. 115. *See p. 193. 238 JOHN CAMERON with vague Romish leanings. For example, he judged the ministerial character ( = stamp, i.e. ordina- tion) a bar to the truth ; fear of excommunication stopped his mouth. The person who divulged those awkward traits was his fidus Achates, Milletiere, who himself was very near Roman views, and was at length excommunicated and professed himself a papist. Dumoulin's dislike of Milletiere is pronounced. He tells how this bosom-friend of Cameron published a book against him, defending merit, and justifica- tion by good works : how he spoke not unfavour- ably of transubstantiation, and very respectfully of Rome : how he considered that the Roman Church had kept all points of Christian doctrine pure, although in some things she had erred. All this Milletiere professed that he had learned from his master Cameron. " What I call Cameronism," wrote this author, " is that solid elucidation of many diffi- cult points which that eminent person hath left . . . I well know that he aimed at the same end which I set before me, and that he would have followed his views much further had he not been a minister. But from some experience of that zeal (=vindictiveness) which hath prosecute him since his death, he easily foresaw that, had he undertaken any thing this way, he would have fallen under deposition and been anathematized. Ah how often did he tell me in secret conversation, as one of his most intimate friends, that he could have used the talent God had given him much more usefully had he never been a minister ! " ^ Dumoulin adds, that a minister at 1 See Wodrow, Life of Cam., pp. 2i$-zi6. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 239 London wrote — " Mr. Cameron was lately here ; he is a man profoundly melancholick, and very much fitted to maintain a heresy." This is a charming expression of the old prejudice that a heretic is necessarily either a wicked or a dis- tracted person, the eminent example being Arius. It lets in a glimpse, however, of the real Cameron, who had excellent cause for melancholy while in London, seeing he had besieged the King's Remembrancer in vain for money to account of services rendered to the Episcopal cause. Wodrow however sagely reflects that La Milletiere had such an ill character that his statements will not win respect or credence.^ For he had " turned papist, and when he was not entertained (treated) by them as he would, threatened again to turn protestant." A letter of Grotius in 1636 is quoted by Wodrow, shewing that La Milletiere claimed for his master, Cameron, that he had taught a gospel of God's love for all men, that the unsaved are victims of something inevitable, of fatality ; that Cameron was the only writer who " hath stopped Arminius' mouth " ; that Cameron had baffled Tilenus ; and that thereafter no one dared openly attack him, only Episcopius ven- tured an anonymous pamphlet. Grotius of course, as an Arminian, resented these statements, and char- acterises Cameron's own position as "an idle fig- ment." That position, according to Grotius, was " The will's being immovable but (except) as deter- mined by the intellect." This, he adds, makes God inevitably the cause of all sin, even of the first, 1 Wodrow, p. 216. 240 JOHN CAMERON The interest of the Milletiere episode lies in the suggestion that Cameron had private leanings to a reunion with Rome. Such a design was not in the least unlikely or unusual at the time. The question of the Reformed Church was a source of constant unrest, politically as well as ecclesiastically. But the gulf was so wide and deep, that it stamped a man as either traitor or fool to attempt reunion. Accord- ingly, Cameron's friends angrily denounced as untrue La MiUetiere's revelations of Cameron's private views on this point. Wodrow speaks of his "ill char- acter " ; others hinted that he was rather crack- brained. Tallemant des Reaux calls him "un bon homme, mais vain, et qui a quelque chose de demonte dans la tete." ^ It is certain, however, that born in 1596, he was under Cameron's close influence from his early manhood. According to Tilenus, it was he who engineered the discussion in 1620 between Cameron and Tilenus. He was Cameron's ame damnee, his Achates (to use Dumoulin's term). At his patron's death, he was hardly thirty years old, yet he found himself a sort of heir to Cameron's private opinions. The man himself bears a curious resem- blance in character to his master ; he shewed the same restlessness, the same fluency and profuseness of phrase, the same fondness for novelty, and, it must sorrowfully be added, the same vanity. His career was, like Cameron's, that of a wandering scholar and pundit. First an avocat, he abandoned the pleader's task for theological disputation, and became an elder of the Church and a member of the General Assembly. ^ See Larousse, Diet. Univ., sub voce La Milletiere ; Bayle, Diet., sub voce Milletiere. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 241 He joined the militant party in the Reformed Church of France, whose efforts indirectly occasioned Cameron's death. He was arrested, tortured, and condemned to death. While in prison, says Bayle, "he laid the first design of Syncretism" (Church Union). His release was attributed to a compact entered into by him to promote the return of the Protestants to the bosom of the Church ; and he is said to have accepted a pension of a thousand crowns from the Government to enable him to prosecute his designs for Reunion. Larousse says the pension came from the Cardinal de Richelieu, and was a thou- sand ecus. This was in 1631, and thenceforth tiU his death in 1665, La Milletiere issued a succession of works designed to promote the reunion of the French Reformed Church to that of Rome. A list of the principal treatises will be found in Larousse. Among them was one entitled La Triomphe de la Verite pour la paix de I'Eglise pour convier le Roi de la Grande Bretagne d'embrasser la foi Catholique. This was dedicated to the exiled Charles IL, and received in 1655 ^ ^^T severe rebuff from one of his Anglican bishops. It was apparently regarded as sheer impu- dence, for it proposed to Charles the certain restora- tion of his throne if he would become a Roman Catholic. It may well be imagined that such a man would rouse, by his reminiscences of Cameron, a good deal of wrath. The fact that he had himself made his peace with Rome gave little extenuation. The signal for controversy after Cameron's sad death was given by his pupil, Paul Testard, pastor at Blois, who pub- lished in 1630 a book De Natura et Gratia^ embody- Q 242 JOHN CAMERON ing his master's views. Then in 1634-5 came Mil- letiere's thunderbolt, De Universi orbis Christiani pace et concordia. This was succeeded by a plea for concord inter catholicos et evangelkos. These labours were believed to be fostered by Richelieu, to whom indeed the volume in 1634-5 was dedicated. Next came a volume from Amyraut, another student of Cameron's, on Predestination, setting forth " Cameron's hypotheses," as Wodrow puts it. Amy- raut was professor at Saumur ; but this did not hinder Dumoulin from attacking Amyraut in a dialogue called " Thaumasion and Capito " (Amyraut and Tes- tard), which had a great run. Next to him came Andrew Rivet (married, as Wodrow says, "on" Dumoulin's sister), who published the weighty views of the Leyden, Franeker, and Groningen doctors of theology. His brother William, who never liked Cameron, joined the swelling chorus against him and his pupil, Testard. All this damaged Cameron's memory. A National Synod met at Charenton, and "made a peaceflil Act" (March, 1637). But the work was done, and Cameronism, or New Method- ism, or Amyraldism had taken their place as alterna- tive descriptions of a new phase of doctrine not to be identified with Calvinistic and Dordrechtian ortho- doxy.-^ It is likely, in view of all the foregoing, that Cameron just died in time to save himself from con- demnation as a heretic. The fact, that his pupils came into collision with the dominant theology of the Reformed Church in France and Holland, suggests that their impulsive and really able teacher would ^ See, on all the above, Blonde), Actes Authentiques, pp. 18-29. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 243 have made his own position impossible if he had lived to three-score and ten. Whether, as La Milletiere declares, he was moving forward in the direction of Rome, and would in the end have advocated a basis of reunion, is a very interesting inquiry. His pre- mature death leaves it unanswered, and unanswerable, because there is not a line in his published works which offers anything but the most uncompromising opposition to the papal teachings. On the other hand, he had certainly a devotion for monarchy and episcopacy. That had taken him to Glasgow as King James's catspaw. In France, it might well have led him, where La Milletiere, his protege, arrived, a few years after his master's death, to the levee of Cardinal de Richelieu, and a pension for pamphleteering in the interest of Rome. On the whole, Cameron's chequered story leaves us unsatisfied and depressed. We cannot help feel- ing that he shewed, with the readiest gifts of learning, a certain truculence and self-assertion which with a stronger frame might have made him a sort of academic bravo or bully. We are, also, shrinkingly conscious of intrigues and reservations, alternate pride and mean compliance. Perhaps it is better not to dig too much in the lives of these princes of learning, like Boyd and Cameron, who pass so grimly across the Reformation stage. In Cameron's case, it was a brief apparition, especially in Glasgow. And the keen hasty spirit of this old-world scholar soon burned itself out. He died of " languishing and grief." One might use of him the ancient tag — " Foede mun- dum intravi : anxius vixi : perturbatus egredior ! " For the first, the Saltmarket stands proof. For the 244 JOHN CAMERON second, our detailed record in the present pages is ample guarantee. The last truly gives us pain, as we think of Cameron's bruised, aching, if not wounded body, and still more shamed and wounded soul. Nevertheless, Cameron left a deep mark on his time, and a reputation more than local. In the same curious way of Scots scholars as the Admirable Crichton, he has insinuated himself into the fabulous record of prodigies. Even that cool critic, Bayle, admitted that it was fortunate that Cameron's works were preserved to some extent ; "for," he says, "we have very good things of him." The legend grew of his prodigious learning ; Louis Cappel dedares that he spoke Greek as men then spoke Latin. That delightful gossip Sir Thomas Urquhart, in his eKa-Kv8a\avpov, or The Discovery of a most exquisite Jewel, 1652, says in a well-known passage: "There was another Scotish man named Cameron who, within these few yeers, was so renowned for learning over all the provinces of France, that, besides his being esteemed, for the faculties of the minde, the ablest man of all that country, he was commonly designated because of his universal reading by the title of the Walking Liberary ; by which he being no less known than by his own name, he therefore took occasion to set forth an excellent book in Latine, and that in folio, intituled Bibliotheca movens, which afterwards was translated into the English lan- guage."^ Irving on this remarks that this book appears ," to have belonged exclusively to the knight of Cromarty's library."^ But two of Cameron's ^Sir T. Urquhart's Works, Maitland Club, p. 257. ^ Irving's Lives, p. 343. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 245 tractates were actually translated into English, notably that on the Supreme Judge of Controversies referred to on a previous page.-^ The most conclusive proof of Sir Thomas Urquhart's error, however, is the state- ment that a scholar like Cameron would accept Bibliotheca Movens as Latinity for "The Walking Library." Obviously it would be ambulans, if any- thing. Dempster's laconic record is as ever a curious mixture of truth and error ; " John Cameron," he says, " a man of the greatest eloquence, long professor in France of good literature (bonarum artium), of a distinguished reputation, a man undoubtedly destined for the highest rank had he preferred the Catholic Faith to heresy. He wrote a Collation of the Oriental Tongues in one volume, and translated several Hebrew 'writers into Latin in one volume. He lived at Saumur an honour to his fatherland ; now, I hear that he has at Paris professed the ortho- dox faith and is employed at Glasgow." ^ The refer- ence to his works is characteristically vague ; it maybe supposed that one volume refers to some lost treatise, and the other to Myrothecium, though that volume deals only with New Testament passages. There is however value in the second part of Dempster's note, added some time after he had penned the former part, in which he deplored Cameron's preference of heresy to orthodoxy. This addendum states that Cameron liad made profession of faith (as a Roman Catholic) at Paris, and was then working in Glasgow. La Milletiere's statements as to Cameron's reactionary leanings lend colour to the sxiggestion that Cameron iSee p. 229. 2 Dempster, Hist. Eccl., Bannat. Club, I. 173. 246 JOHN CAMERON may have had some communings with learned men on the Roman side. But that he should go to Glas- gow after turning Roman Catholic, and be placed at the head of a Protestant College, implies a degree of Jesuitry which cannot be believed. Only the author of John Inglesant could make it probable. Demp- ster's hearsay report is perhaps founded on the fact that Cameron from an early point was credited with Arminian notions, and that it was not uncommon for Arminians to return to Rome. His intimate rela- tions with Wren, bishop of Ely, and with other extreme High Churchmen in London, would also fit in with such gossip. Finally, his "Syncretism," or Desire of Catholic Reunion, would readily grow to the legend that he had been received into the bosom of the Catholic Church, as Milletiere, his life-long attendant and scholar, actually was. Irving ^ records the high opinion of Cameron held by Bishop Hall — " the most learned writer that Scot- land has produced " ; and by Simon, who, in his Histoire Critique des principaux commentateurs du Nouveau Testament, declares him to have shown a correct critical judgment and an accurate knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. Milton in his Tetrachordon (on the four Scripture loci on " Marriage, or nullities in Marriage ") quotes Cameron on i Cor. vii. 10-16 as "an ingenious ■Hriter (ingenuous in copy referred to below) and in high esteem." The phrase is, "but to the rest speak I, not the Lord" ; and Beza remarks that "the Lord spake it not in person, as he did the former precept." Milton rejects this, and after some reasoning, adds : 1 Irving's Lives, I. 343. CHARACTER OF CAMERON 247 " But what need I more when Cameron, an ingenious writer and in high esteem, solidly confutes the sur- mise of a command here, and among other words hath these, that 'when Paul speaks as an apostle he uses this form,' The Lord saith, not I, verse 10 ; but as a private man he saith, I speak, not the Lord.' " ^ It is a neat specimen of Cameron's ingenuity and of Milton's prepossessions in his campaign for Divorce. Another poet has left us the lasting memorial of Cameron's excellence as a writer of French verse, not (as Irving supposes) as the possessor of a pure accent. Says John Dunbar : Gallica Calliope vix te, Camerone, notaret. The Muse of France could scarce with pencil note One blunder, Cameron, in the lines you wrote ! Cameron, as we know, spoke French with a Scots (probably a Glasgow) accent.^ Dunbar uses license in Camerone ; the classic form was Camero. The fame of Cameron belongs rather to France than to Scotland, and Scottish theology took little note of his peculiar attitude on the question of the method and extent of Salvation. That he was an Arminian he himself denied, and even sought out Tilenus in order to clear himself of the charge. Nor would he submit to be called a follower of Piscator. It is to be suspected that he was bent on establishing a niche for himself in the temple of heresy, or (to use a milder term) theological originality. He succeeded posthumously, through the labours of his pupils, the Saumur school of Amyraut and Placaeus and others. 1 Prose Works of John Milton ; Bohn, 1848, IV. 4.07. ^ Irving's Lives, I. 346 ; see supra, p. 179. 248 JOHN CAMERON But it still remains doubtful whether Amyraldism accurately represents " Cameronism." Probably a light-hearted generation will judge it idle to inquire into that point. But there is room for inquiry, per- haps even for useful inquiry, at a time when the vexed problem of Free-Will has assumed new and threatening forms. Meantime, one parts from Cameron with some reluc- tance. His is by far the most romantic and suggestive story among those told in this volume. Only Mel- ville comes near him. But Melville died of gout at a great age: Cameron perished at forty-six, the victim of a baton stroke. In their lives and deaths we see the natural difference between Lowlander and Highlander. In their theological tendencies, too, they were at variance ; Melville remained with the Calvinists, Cameron was moving steadily towards the Arminians when death arrested him. In the Church of Scotland to-day, there are the same contrasts, partly of temperament, partly of training. What is lacking is that entente cordiale which justifies us in regarding Melville, Smeaton, Boyd and Cameron as almost Frenchmen in their culture.. But this may be remedied by recent events, which have opened a new chapter in Anglo-French relations. Works of John Cameron (From Haag, La France Protestante, 1881, III. 664.) 1 . Discours apolog^tique pour ceux de la Religion r6form6e au jugement de Dieu. Bergerac, 1614. 2. Santangelus, sive Steliteuticus in Eliam Santangelum causidicum. Ruppel. 16 1 6. WORKS OF CAMERON 249 _ 3. Constance, Foy et Resolution k la mort des Capitaines Blanquet et Gaillard. See page 197. 4. Theses de gratia et libero arbitrio, 1618, at Saumur. These are pieces de concours at his " trials " for the Saumur Chair of Divinity. 5. Traict6 auquel sont examinez les prejugez de ceux de I'Eglise Romaine contre la Religion Reformee. La Rochelle, i6i6. This is the de Praejudiciis Romanis in its Latin form ; it was also translated into English, Oxford, 1624, under the title "Examination of those plausible appearances which seem most to commend the Romish Church." 6. Theses XLIL theologicae de necessitate satisfactionis Christi pro peccatis. Saumur, 1620. 7. Amica Collatio de gratiae et voluntatis humanae con- cursu in vocatione et quibusdam annexis. Leyden, 1622. 8. Sept Sermons sur Jean VI. Saumur, 1624 9. Defensio sententiae de gratia et libero arbitrio. Saumur, 1624. 10. Praelectiones theologicae in selectiora quaedam loca N.T., una cum Tractatu de ecclesia et nonnullis miscellaneis opusculis. Saumur, 1626-7. Edited by Louis Cappel. 11. Above, No. 10, reprinted under the care of F. Spanheim under the title "J. Cameronis . . . ra a-oo^ofjieva" Geneva, 1642. This contains all Cameron's works of importance, several of them translated into Latin from the French, in which he wrote them for publication. 12. Above, No. lo, reprinted under the title " Myrothecium evangelicum." Saumur, 1632. This is the work specially praised by Simon in his Critical History, and quoted by Milton in the Tetrachordon. 13. Of the sovereign judge of controversies in matters of religion. Oxford, 1628. This is Verneuil's translation of the tractate written by Cameron in French, and appearing in Latin in the Geneva collection. No. 11, under the title De supremo in religionis negotio contro- versiarum judice. 250 JOHN CAMERON Bibliography for the Life of John Cameron 1. Wodrow, Life of John Cameron. Maitland Club, 1848. 2. Icon. Memoir by L. Capellus, prefixed to Opera. Geneva, 1642. 3. Bayle's Dictionary. Eng. Trans., sub voce Cameron. 4. Dumoulin (Pierre), otherwise Molinaeus, De Mosis Amyraldi libro Judicium. (Reminiscences and observa- tions). 5. Rivet (Andre), Opera. (Reminiscences, also remarks by G. Rivet.) 6. Milletiere (Th^ophile Brachet de la), De universi orbis Christian! pace et concordia, 1634: Christianae con- cordiae inter catholicos et evangelicos . . . 1636. See Larousse, sub voce La Milletiere. 7. Larousse, Dictionnaire universel, 1873. 8. La Grande Encyclopedie. Paris. 9. Dempster, Historia Ecclesiastica. Bannatyne Club, 1829. 10. Irving's Lives of Scottish Writers. 2 vols. 1851. (Life of Cameron in Vol. L pp. 333-346.) 11. Haag, La France Protestante, 2nd ed. Paris, 1881 (sub voce Cameron). 12. Urquhart (Sir Thomas, of Cromarty), Works. Mait- land Club, 1834. 13. Milton (John), Tetrachordon. 14. Dunbar (John), Epigrammata. 15. Abbotsford Club, Miscellany, 1837. (Cameron's Letter to King James, L 115.) 16. Munimenta Almae Universitatis Glasg. 4 vols. Mait- land Club, 1854. 1 7. Cameronis . . . ra aoa^ofxeva. (Collected Works, fol. Geneva, 1642.) 18. Quick, Synodicon in Gallia Reformata. 2 vols. fol. Lond., 1692. 19. Blondel, Actes Authentiques. Amsterdam, 1655. 20. Baillie (R.), Letters and Journals, ed. by David Laing. 1841. BIBLIOGRAPHY 251 21. Brandt, History of the Reformation. English Trans., 1723. 22. M'Crie (Thos.), Life of Andrew Melville. 23. Benoit, Histoire de I'Edit de Nantes. 24. History of the Edict of Nantes. Eng. Trans., Lond., 1694. 25. Tilenus (Dan.), Canones Synodi Dordracenae. Paris, 1622. (Appendix with Tilenus' account of his "Friendly Conference" with Cameron in 1620.) 26. Calderwood, History of the Kirk of Scotland. Wodrow Society. 27. Blair (Robert), Autobiography, and Life by William Row. Wod. Soc, 1848. 28. Coutts, History of the University of Glasgow, 1909. 29. Simon (Richard), Histoire critique des principaux com- mentateurs du Nouveau Testament. Rotterdam, 1693. (Contains an extremely racy notice of Cameron as a New Test. Critic, pp. 780-782.) 30. Revue Chr^tienne, 1907, vol. i. p. lOO sqq. (art. by Paul Mellon on Andrew Melville, see esp. pp. 107-109). Also 191 1, vol. i, p. 586 sqq. (art. by Paul Mellon on U Acadimie de Sedan — ses rkglements). 3 1 . Bourchenin, Academies protestantes. 32. Dictionary of National Biography, sub voce Cameron. 33. Dr. Milroy of Moneydie — Lee Lecture, 1891. 34. Chambers, Biog. Diet, of Eminent Scotsmen, sub voce Cameron. 35. Michel, Les Ecossais en France. 2 vols. London, 1862. VI JOHN STRANG (i 584-1 654) I. Preparation Fortunately for the biographer, Wodrow has a comparatively brief life^ of John Strang, principal and professor of Divinity from 162 6- 1650. He describes Strang as a scholar "known by his works through all the protestant as well as the popish coun- tries." Wodrow relies chiefly on Baillie's short notice of Strang's career prefixed to the De Interpre- tatione et Perfectione Scripturae ; but he has not neglected to record his own information and impres- sions. He acknowledges also a certain debt to Calderwood. With all this, he regrets that the materials are " short." John Strang was born in 1584 at Irvine, "chief town in the Bailliarie of Cunninghame in the shire of Ayr." ^ His father, William Strang, was trans- lated in the same year from Kirkliston to Irvine, ' Collections for the Life of Mr. John Strang, D.D., minister of Errol and Principal of the College of Glasgow. Wodrow MSS. in Glasgow University, vol. II. There are two copies. 2 Wodrow MSS. Glasg. vol. II. PREPARATION 253 where he died on May 2, 1588, at forty-two. The shrewd compiler of the Fasti notes that he left an inventory and debts of ^804 12s. 8d. Scots; and ten merles for the poor. His account of his call to the ministry is as follows : " it pleasit Him to prepair me afoir the hand to the ministrie, quhairunto he had appointit me be his merciful! Providence. Lykeas he caUit me thairunto, being ane zoung man xxiii zeiris of aige or thairby." He states also that he was under impressions from twelve years of age — the age his son went to college. His wife, Agnes, was a sister of Alexander Borthwick, portioner of Nether Leneyher ; there were of this marriage two sons and two daughters. .One of the daughters, Barbara, married John Blackadder, whose son was afterwards confined in the Bass."^ After the death of William Strang, minister of Irvine, when his son John was but four years old, the widow married Robert Wilkie, minister of Kil- marnock. This was Wilkie's second marriage, of which one son, Thomas Wilkie, was the fruit. The young Strang was sent to school in Kilmarnock, where he proved a clever and well-behaved scholar. Zachary Boyd, afterwards vice-chancellor and a princely benefactor of Glasgow College, records that his schoolmate, John Strang, was distinguished for "modesty and piety." At twelve, his stepfather (" father-in-law " Wodrow calls it) sent him to " the Leonardine College of St. Andrews, to be under the instruction of Robert Wilkie, his kinsman," prin- cipal of St. Leonard's. There he was to study Greek and "philosophy" (i.e. the Arts subjects). His ^ See Fasti, II. 152. Crichton's Memoirs of Blackadder, p. 15. 2 54 JOHN STRANG regent was John Eccline, a name rather unusual, and coming nearest to Eggeling. At sixteen, John Strang graduated M.A., and was unanimously coopted by the principal and professors (or regents) as a regent. He was second to none in disputations and in philosophy, so says BaiDie. His education at St. Leonard's may have determined to some extent his bias toward a cautious and friendly policy in Church affairs. Had he gone to St. Mary's, it might have been different. It appears that he had always intended the ministry, and only awaited a proper age to accept preferment. We have no account of any special theological studies ; certainly he sought no foreign university, and his theology may be reckoned to be as Scottish as any of the period. Probably while regenting he attended the theological lectures of Principal Wilkie. Promotion came as soon as he had attained his twenty-ninth year, for at the end of 1613, when he had served as regent for about four complete courses,^ he was unani- mously chosen by the parish of Errol as minister. He carried from the Presbytery of St. Andrews a glowing certificate, signed by Alexander Henderson of Leuchars, John Carmichael, Robert Howie, John Dykes, and William Erskine. His character was evidently of the highest. II. Errol (1614-1625) In sending Strang to Errol, the presbytery had in view the peculiar circumstances of that parish. The leading family was that of the Earl of Errol, who iThe regent's course covered about 3 J years. ERROL (1614-1625) 255 with Huntly, Angus, Home, and Herries, had for some years been the cause of anxiety to the Reformers on account of their Roman sympathies. Bellesheim says that the "leaders of the Kirk naturally directed a large share of their attention to the Catholic nobles, whose conversion to Protestantism they endeavoured to effect by every means in their power. Special preachers were appointed to each of the noble families of Huntly, Errol, Angus, Home, and Herries, and charged with the task of converting the whole house- hold."^ Under this pious tutelage, the Earl of Errol was slowly brought to the point of offering to subscribe the Confession, though not until he had been threatened with excommunication. This was in 1 610, and it is added that when required to sign, he " fell into such a trouble of mind as he was near to have killed himself." The morning after this attempted suicide, he was visited by the Archbishop of Glasgow, Spottiswood, to whom he confessed his dissimulation.^ He had evidently been advised to practise the Roman art of reservation, as expounded by Liguori and other eminent casuists. Excom- munication at this time inferred forfeiture and other severe penalties. It is not stated that he was ever excommunicated, or that he signed the Confession. The offer to subscribe was however tantamount in law to subscription. Accordingly, he was permitted to return home, and at the date (16 14) when Strang became minister of Errol, he "keeped a learned Jesuit" who, according to Baillie, had succeeded in 1 Bellesheim, Hist, of the Catholic Church of Scotland, III. 402. 2 Spottiswood, History, III. 193, 208. ^S^ JOHN STRANG seducing almost the entire household, including the Earl, to the Roman faith. The Jesuit was of the Earl's blood, by name Hay — a name illustrious at Paris in the person of Edmund Hay, head of the Jesuit College there, and friendly director of Smeaton in his search for light.^ Strang was deemed specially suitable as an antidote to the Jesuit Hay, and he is said by Wodrow to have "stopped the infection." But Baillie only ventures to record that he preserved the parish and the whole neighbourhood immune from any increase of papistry. In the Earl's own household he had less success. The Earl himself refused to apostatize. His son Francis who died young was however converted, along with the two daughters, married respectively to the Earl of Mar and the Earl of Buccleuch. The Countess of Mar in particular became eminent for her Protestant zeal. After all, the pressure of the "Kirk" was not so severe as is usually supposed ; for the Earl remained steadfast though he abated his controversial zeal, and Father Hay, for all we learn, remained an honoured inmate of the house. It is not superfluous to quote here Bellesheim's report of the Earl's decease in 1631, seventeen years after Strang began his efforts to convert him : " The Earl of Errol, after more than forty years of suffering for the faith," died in 1631. "This excellent noble- man was buried with great simplicity in the church of Slaines, having desired all that could be saved from his funeral expenses to be given to the poor. Spalding [Hist, of the Troubles in Scotland^ 1624- 1645, ed. 1792, vol. I. p. 16) speaks in the highest ^ See Life of Smeaton, pp. 84, 85. ERROL (1614-1625) 257 terms of his piety and fortitude under long and heavy trials." Spalding adds that he " died within his own place of the Bowns ( = Bounds), now Slains," and that he was buried "within the church of Slains upone the nicht . . . with torche licht . . . ane trewlie noble man of ane great and couragious spirit." ^ From the Protestant standpoint, Strang was not successful with the Earl, and it may be conjectured that he did not press him too hard. It is likely indeed that the sufferings referred to by Bellesheim were not so heavy as that Roman Catholic historian suggests. They may have amovmted to little more than a few exhortations from the parish minister, and the knowledge that in the parish church itself Roman errors and rites foimd no quarter. Of Strang's pastoral ways and activities there is no record. What remains of the Errol ministry is rather the account of his public life, which indicates how highly he was esteemed, and with what difficulty he retained the obscurity of a rural manse. Two years after his settlement as minister he was called back to St. Andrews to receive the degree of D.D. Calderwood records the incident thus: — "Upon the 29th of Julie [161 6], Mr. Robert Howie, Mr. Peter Bruce, Mr. James Martin, Principalis of the thrie colledges of St. Androes ; Mr. Patrick Melcome, Mr. Henrie Philip, Mr. John Strang, Mr. James Blair, and Mr. David Barclay, were inaugurate Doctors at St. Androes. This noveltie was brought 1 See Baillie's Life of Strang, in the De Interpretatione ; Wodrow in MS. Life of same ; Bellesheim, IV. 29 ; Spalding, Memorials of the Troubles in Scotland and in England, a.d. 1624-A.D. 1645, 2 vols. ; Spalding Club, L 1 6. 258 JOHN STRANG in amongst us without advise or consent of the Kirk. Mr. Jhone Carmichael, Mr. David Mearnes, and Mr. Jhone Dykes, refused to accept that degree. Doctor Yoving was the director of the solemnities of this action."^ It is noteworthy that Henderson of Leuchars was not among those invited to receive the degree. The names of Howie, Carmichael and Dykes appear among the signatures attached to Strang's presbyterial certificate in 1614. Doctor Young was a Court favourite, afterwards Dean of Winchester. The "solemnities," like the degree itself, came from England. Wodrow observes that Aberdeen quickly followed the subservient course of St. Andrews in conferring the Anglican honour, but that Glasgow and Edinburgh were chary in doing so.^ Wodrow also points out that Strang's presence among the new dignitaries was due to his academic fame rather than to his suppleness as a courtier. It cannot however be denied that his new honour com- promised him for the rest of his life. The growing party in the Church, which opposed the "cere- monies" and would have none of such Anglican titles as Dr. Young dispensed, regarded him from that time forward with some suspicion. In the end, his career was fatally damaged, as we shall see. The distribution of honorary degrees was a pre- parative for the King's visit to St. Andrews in 16 17. That monarch was fond of making progresses through his kingdoms, and a Scottish progress was already long overdue. His interest in the Universities was iCalderwood, Hist, of the Kirk of Scotland, Wod. See. VII. 222. « Wodrow MSS. Glasg. II. ERROL (1614-1625) 259 heartfelt and a little obtrusive ; and part of the royal entertainment at each was the recital of speeches and laudatory verses in Greek and Latin, accompanied by disputations in which learned men contended with each other for the royal approval. His Majesty never failed to sum up and characterise their efforts, sometimes in a homely and jocular style. It was a quaint substitute for the tournaments of a former time, in which contusions, broken bones, and blood- shed took the place of such battles of words. Though no bones were broken in these encounters, reputa- tions were freely lost or won. Among others, Strang rose to sudden eminence as a disputant in the King's presence at St. Andrews. We are told that he excelled the rest, as the motto of St. Andrews University requires. He shewed himself pious, modest, and full of the subtlest learning. In fact. King James specially complimented the St. Andrews disputants on their mastery of the works of Aristotle. From the Muses'' Welcome to the High and Mightie Prince James . . at his Majesty's happy Return, after XIIII. Tears Absence, in anno 16 17, we get full information of the proceedings, with copies of the addresses and poems. There is a preface by John Adamson, Greek verses tSi ^aa-iKel by the same, Latin verses by Alexander Hume, Drummond of Hawthornden, Henry Charters, Thomas Synserfius (Sydserf), Andreas Junius (Young), Robert Balcon- quall, of Tranent, David Wedderburn, Joannes Leochaeus, Alexander Adamides (Adamson), James Wedderburn, and Andreas Brussius, Philos. Prof. This last was Principal of St. Leonard's later, when James Sharp, of Magus Muir tragedy, taught there 26o JOHN STRANG as a regent. The chosen theses in which Strang shone so brightly were Theses de Potestate Principis, a significant problem and much to the King's taste. It is true that Strang was appointed with others to impugn the propositions laid down. But we may well believe that he shewed a courtly subtlety in doing so. In the same volume, we find a Glasgow address by Robert Boyd of" Trochrigg, then principal and professor of Divinity in that city, with a poem by the same hand in Latin ; and another poem, in Greek, by David Dickson, then a Glasgow regent.^ Strang returned to Errol with fresh laurels added to his doctor's degree ; but his new court favour was almost at once shadowed at the notorious Perth Assembly of 1618. As is well-known, the chief difficulty at that Assembly arose over the Five Articles, concerning which a very searching vote was taken. It is recorded that Strang alone among the new D.D.'s had the courage to vote against those unpopular enactments. That however did not pre- vent his nomination in the same year as a member of the High Commission, under the presidency of the Archbishop of St. Andrews (Spottiswood, trans- lated from Glasgow). The main design, according to Wodrow, was to "cram down the Articles," though its official and public remit was to "bear down popery." Wodrow is surprised, as were many others, to find Strang's name on "that gravaminous Court " ; but he endeavours to explain the fact by the theory that the Government placed most of the iSee Tie Muses' Welcome, 1617, pp. 177, 212, 257 ; also, The Kings Progresses in locis. Neither work is in the Glasgow Univ. Library. I found them, however, in St. Andrews. ERROL {1614-1625) 261 new D.D.'s on their list of commissioners, so as " to make the Dash the greater." Strang could hardly be overlooked in such a policy. But he attended no meetings of the Court of High Commission, nor would he have joined in what proved to be its chief business — "harassing of ministers for nonconformity to Perth Articles." ^ In short, here as in the matter of the D.D. degree, Strang revealed the weakness of his character ; he was only too ready to remain in- active, and to accept positions whose fiiU significance and duties he did not try to realise. Though absent from the meetings of High Commission, he must be held responsible while remaining a member ; and it is a serious responsibility, for many harsh sentences were pronounced by it, and some of his own friends were badly treated. Baillie characteristically makes no mention of the circumstances ; but Baillie was of the same breed. Strang's steady rise in reputation had its natural result in promotion. In 1620 the people of Edin- burgh being burgesses exercised their right of patron- age and placed on a leet the names of David Dickson, Andrew Cant, Robert Howie, Walter Balcanquall, John Strang and others. On November 5 the leet was reduced to two, Strang and Balcanquall. This choice is ascribed by Wodrow to the Edinburgh ministers and those who favoured the Perth Articles. Both of the nominees declined the invitation to join the Edinburgh ministry. Strang had to make a stout resistance ; but neither persuasion nor " threatened force" (i.e. a forcible translation such as was then common) moved him to leave his beloved people of 1 Wodrow MSS. Glasgow, vol. I 262 JOHN STRANG Errol, where he was much valued. He "had no heart to enter in among the flames and contentions he knew were at that time at Edinburgh upon the Ceremonies." The same promotion was offered to James Sharp at a later date. It was reckoned the highest Church preferment next to a bishopric. But something more congenial to his cautious and vacillating nature came six years after, when the King ap|X)inted him Principal and Professor of Divinity in Glasgow, in room of "Mr. John Camero." III. Glasgow University (1626- 1650) John Cameron had shaken the dust of Glasgow off his feet in May, 1623, and it was after an interval of two academic years that the King issued his pre- sentation in favour of John Strang, D.D., minister of Errol. He had spent thirteen years in that rural parish, and was about forty-two years of age. In early life, he had enjoyed about eleven years of .academic work at St. Andrews, and was therefore no tyro in University matters. The Munimenta (in. 367) records his admission on February 21, 1626, at a public gathering of the University, including the students. There he was unanimously admitted by those who had the right to examine, choose, and admit the Gymnasiarcha (Principal) ; he received the right hand of fellowship, and took oath to discharge his duties zealously and faithfully, and to preserve to the utmost the rights and privileges of the University. No oath of allegiance was exacted. Strang is de- scribed as Sacrosanctae Theologiae Doctor, Academiae Glasguensis Praefectus. Wodrow says that he had a GLASGOW UNIVERSIfTY (1626- 1650) 263 unanimous call from all the Masters of the College ; nevertheless, he accepted "very unwillingly," and only yielded on a second letter from Court, and many solicitations from the town of Glasgow. But the facts were slightly different, as a reference to the Life of Robert Boyd reveals.^ There had been a protracted intrigue to recall Boyd to his old place as Principal. Dr. Sibbald (who married Boyd's widow), had made strenuous interest with very exalted per- sons, including the Duke of Buckingham, the Duke of Lennox, Sir William Alexander, Sir George Elphinston, and Dr. Young, dean of Winchester. The Scots bishops and the noble family of Boyd were also involved. The Archbishop of Glasgow and others persuaded Boyd to promise conformity to the Perth Articles. Zachary Boyd urged his cousin to receive the communion, kneeling, at Easter, 1625 ; and added that Strang was to meet the Scots bishops in St. Andrews in a week. Strang was a cousin of the Glasgow Archbishop, James Law, ^ and was con- ducting an active canvass, in which he ventured to include Boyd himself. There is no evidence that the latter did communicate in the form then prescribed ; for which his memory must benefit. But at the critical moment. King James VL died. The place had already been offered to Strang, who delayed his decision, and sought the support of Boyd. This was in August, 1625, and Boyd's reply, though described by Wodrow as "a very kind return" (answer), ^See Life of Boyd, pp. 162, 163. ^ James Law was "son to Mr. Law, portioner of Lathrisk in Fife, and Agnes Strang of the house of Balcaskie." Keith's Catalogue, p. 264. 264 JOHN STRANG declares that he (Boyd) is being " unrightfully with- held" from his chair by the Archbishop of Glasgow, Strang's cousin. But favour is being made for him with the new King, Charles I. He advises Strang to persist in his refusal to go to Glasgow, and to press his cousin, the Archbishop, in his (Boyd's) interest. If however he accepted the chair, Boyd refused his blessing and approval, and committed his own cause to " the righteous Judge." It is an unpleasant story for all parties. Boyd plainly shewed that he regarded the post as promised to him ; Strang was honestly unwilling to leave Errol, yet strongly tempted by the prospect of academic work. He was a poor preacher, and had made no striking appearance as an ecclesiastic. It had become certain that Boyd was no longer in the running. The new King was even less inclined than his father to brook opposition to his policy, and Strang seemed the most suitable instrument to advance it. He was a Royal D.D., and a member of the High Commis- sion ; and doubtless, though he had voted against the Articles of Perth, he had since conformed. His appointment was politically the best. He was man- ageable at least, while Boyd was unmanageable. Following Baillie, Wodrow declares that Strang, as Principal and Professor, discharged all his duties well. As Professor, he gave "theological praelections " twice a week, as customary in Glasgow, from the beginning of November to the end of July. He taught Hebrew, presided at the weekly disputations, heard the homilies and other discourses, and super- vised the regents or lecturers, of whose training he took special care. He was a strict disciplinarian ; no GLASGOW UNIVERSITY {1626-1650) 265 doubt this included a vigorous use of " the belt of correction." ^ There were weekly censures of public delinquencies. He presided at all degree examina- tions, taking the largest share in the questions — a work in which he shewed " dexterity." He attended regularly in his place at the presbytery ; his name appears always first in the sederunt. When any co- presbyter was sick or "otherwise prevented," he " supplied his room in Word and Sacrament." This must be taken with a grain of salt, as it appears he was a poor preacher and seldom administered the Holy Communion. He was more at home "in the schools" (i.e. examinations and disputations). He had little of a preaching gift. Once, when pressed by David Dickson, one of his colleagues, to give the address at the "second table" in the Inner Church (College Chapel), he held up the bread, saying — " See, this is the papists' God ! " and proceeded to give a lecture on the Mass. At another Communion Service, he enlarged on the particle e-n-l ! Wodrow says — " I could give many instances of Ministers of Learning" who were halting and dull in the pulpit. He instances Calderwood, the author of the porten- tous History. Much of this will not be found in Baillie, whose short biography of Strang is peculiar for its omissions. Wodrow excuses Strang's failure as a preacher by sagely observing that it is fortunate when a man is equal to his proper work. Unfor- tunately, in law, the work of preaching and exercising the pastoral office is as much the "proper work" of the Professor of Divinity in a Scots College, as that iCrichton, Memoirs of Blackadder, 1826, p. 18 ; and M'Crie's Melville, p. 38. 266 JOHN STRANG of lecturing or examining. The popular verdict on theological professors in Scotland, however, remains the same to-day as in Strang's time — that they are usually dull preachers. Caird, TuUoch, Charteris, and perhaps Flint, are the bright exceptions. Nor have professors been unknown in our day who were unskilled in the sacraments. But Wodrow adds that Strang amply made amends by his piety, strict dis- cipline, and aiFectionate care of godly students. He was much respected and beloved, though a source of weariness in the pulpit. All this gives a lifelike out- line of the new Principal. Strang took a special interest in the Common Table, where he dined in company with regents, bursars, and frequently a considerable number of gentlemen's and noblemen's sons. "The youth," says Wodrow, "being thus dieted under the eye of their teachers, and having their beds likewise within the walls of the College, made great proficiency in piety and good manners, and were quite removed from the noises and corruptions of the town." Strang was much keener on this common meal than many of his predecessors ; he sat at the head of the table constantly, though he lost by it in cash and conveni- ence. But he would not take for himself a penny of College money, remaining content with "his own sellary," though much less than Errol. Baillie sug- gests a violent contrast in this respect with Patrick Gillespie who later became Principal, and shewed a grasping and covetous spirit.^ It is however as a great business Principal that 1 Baillie, Letters and Journals, IV. 242 ; Vita Autoris, in the De Interpretatione. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 267 Strang is usually remembered in the records of Glas- gow College. Of his work in this respect, a brief description is given in the official Account of Glasgow University, edited by Professor William Stewart, D.D., LL.D., published in 1891 (see esp. pp. 28, 29 on buildings). It was in his time and by his energy that the Inner Court of the College in the High Street was built on the north and south sides (Baillie says east, orientali), and a large and stately orchard was enclosed in the rear of the buildings. The neces- sary funds were raised by voluntary contributions, solicited by himself and the other masters of the College. Thus the Kirk Session of Ayr gave ;oo merks, the town of Ayr gave 200. The King gave 3600 merks ; while Strang's lifelong friendship with Zachary Boyd procured from that generous donor the remarkable gift of 24,000 pounds Scots to build the "publick library" and complete other parts of the edifice. Zachary Boyd's effigy in stone is in the Library to-day, with an inscription telling the tale of his beneficence to his Alma Mater. Never was there a shrewder or stricter custodian of the College income. It appears that the teinds of Kilbride and Renfrew, granted to the College by King James VI., had almost disappeared, as teinds have a trick of doing even yet. Strang sought out and recovered those teinds. At the same time he obtained from the Crown a grant of the teinds of the Bishopric of Galloway. A large part of his strength and time was devoted to this superintendence and improvement of the College finances, since the other masters were tied to their classes, while he could "go abroad." Moreover, he had a peculiar genius for business ; he 268 JOHN STRANG enjoyed much " interest " with lawyers ; and he never once lost a College law-suit. Strang's work as Professor of Divinity was of course much interrupted by such avocations ; but after fourteen years the General Assembly secured the appointment of a Professor whose work should be entirely confined to Divinity, and David Dickson was chosen as the first occupant of this chair. In 1642 a second professor of Divinity was added in the per- son of Robert Baillie. In our University Calendar, it is stated that the Professorship of Divinity "was founded in 1640, and the foundation ratified by Act of Parliament."^ But this statement is incomplete if not inaccurate, because from Melville's time the Professorship had existed in union with the position of Princeps, or Principal Regent. What happened in 1640, when David Dickson began his work as a Professor of Divinity, and in 1 642 when Baillie was added, was that the vast and growing subject known as Divinity was subdivided. The Principal became Primar or Primarius Professor of Divinity, and by special arrangement undertook to explain the hard places of Scripture, to go through the common places (loci communes) of doctrine, and to preside at dis- putations. The senior professor of Divinity was to take charge of the discussion of the text of Scripture (Biblical Criticism), to teach "casuall (casuistical) Divinity" as he could undertake it, and to regulate the students in their composition of homilies ; and the junior professor was entrusted with the contro- versies, oriental languages, and chronology.* This 1 Calendar of the Univ. of Glasgow, 1916, p. 185. ^Coutts, Hist, of the Univ. of Glasgow, p. 105. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 269 division of labour obviously left the Principal Pro- fessor at leisure to attend to the increasing duties devolved on him, as the University gathered strength and called for greater financial and administrative care. By it something like a faculty of theology was out- lined, including such subjects as Biblical Exegesis, Systematic Doctrine, and General Ethics (for Strang) ; Biblical Criticism, Special Ethics (Casuistry or Moral Theology), and Homiletics (for Dickson) ; and His- tory of Doctrine, Oriental Languages, and Church History (for Baillie). The classification of Modern Theology is of course much wider, and this Glasgow scheme finds no place for Theological Encyclopedia, Comparative Religion, Pastoral Theology, and other modern departments. Yet it is a really comprehen- sive scheme, for the times, and was probably unexcelled in any Scots College then existing. It shows how exhausting and excessive was the field hitherto assigned to the Principal as Professor of Divinity, and reflects particular credit on Strang, whose hand is plainly recognisable in the new arrangement. But for the troublous days which too soon came on Scot- land it would undoubtedly have produced a great development of Scots theology. The credit due to Charles I. for the provision then made for theological education is unhappily diminished by the ill effects of his determined policy of Episcopising the Scottish Church. In some respects, Strang's term may be called the Golden Age of Scots theological training ; but it endured only a short time, and Glasgow was again reduced to the lowest level in the years of Episcopal domination. There was also, in the com- bination of a professorship with the office of principal. 270 JOHN STRANG even to so small an extent, the risk that the principal would gradually become engrossed in business to the neglect of teaching. This actually took place when Patrick Gillespie was appointed Principal in Crom- well's time. Baillie roundly declares of Patrick Gillespie, whom he correctly describes as "prime professor of Theologie," that " his whole dictates of Theology Lessons, for the space of five yeares, will be comprehended in two sheet of paper." ^ In fact, the principalship, after Strang's day, became practically divorced from theological duties, although to a far later period and up to the Universities Act of 1889, it was theoretically the Principal's duty to take the lectures of the Professor of Divinity when incapaci- tated, and he was distinctly recognised as Primarius Professor of Divinity.^ So far as concerns Strang, there can be no doubt that he bore the heavy burden of the chair of Divinity unaided from 1625 to 1640, and his published volumes show how fully and diligently he was accus- tomed to deal with theological doctrine. These two volumes, on Scripture and on Sin respectively, are specimens of his care and ability in the department of Systematic Doctrine or Dogmatics. But Baillie says — "In lingua Hebraea studiosos assidue in- stituebat," so that Hebrew also received his close attention. It seems likely that he was unable to do very much in other subjects ; but his constant super- vision of homiletic essays, and of the weekly disputa- tions, would give him regular opportunities of 1 Baillie's Letters and Journals, Appendix to vol. III. p. 594. 2 In 1889 the Principal was relieved of subscription to the Confession, and thus also of his theological responsibilities. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 626-1 650) 271 imparting general instruction in them all. On the whole, never was there a more diligent and versatile Professor and Principal, or one more deserving of grateful remembrance by his successors. Baillie says : " All he does is very well and accurately done, only the pity is the length ; but in this it is reason he have his will, for no principal in Scotland teaches one line, and he hath ane charge would kill ane ox." ^ It must however in fairness be added that Baillie suggests a different origin for the new Divinity Chair, namely, the growing distrust of Strang in the General Assembly from 1638 onward. Strang was too much of "a waiter on Providence" to please the dominant party in that Assembly. Something like clever manoeuvring was discovered in his policy at ,the Assembly and in other quarters. The Assembly appointed a committee of Visitors to inquire into University matters, and in particular to provide as "conjunct professor of Divinity" David Dickson of Irvine, "that by his grace and diligence, the great backwardness we had oft experienced in the College and Town might be remedied without any man's trouble" {i.e. without any process against Strang).* Later, BaiUie writes that Strang was very unpopular owing to things he had done, that visitors of the College were appointed : that a professor of Divinity was to be added ; Rutherford was spoken of for that post, but Dickson was " intended." ^ As the Uni- versity had already asked the Assembly to provide additions to the theological staff, and the Assembly had accordingly recommended the application to par- iBaillie's Letters and Journals, II. 71. 2 Ibid. I. 135. Hbid. I. 172. 272 JOHN STRANG liament and appointed visitors to assist the University in securing professors, the truth would seem to be that Strang himself gave the initiative, but the Assem- bly went further than he intended. That Baillie's story of Strang's unpopularity and its results is not baseless would seem to follow from the fact that the new professor, David Dickson, and the Principal, did not get on with each other. From the year 1640 onward to Strang's retirement in i6£o, there are indi- cations of dissension, with Baillie as peacemaker. Strang wanted to monopolise the University's seat in the General Assembly. Baillie tries to reconcile them to each other in 1644. In 1648 he thinks he has got their differences " reasonable well composed ; this halfe year no displeasure betwixt them."^ However peculiar may have been the means, the new distribution of labour was itself most necessary and advantageous. The staff of three theological masters was unrivalled. Each has left valuable works which still merit a careful study, as will be shewn more fully in telling the story of Dickson and of Baillie in subsequent pages. But it is fairly certain that the movement for appointing a colleague or col- leagues to Strang arose amid the troubled currents of the Glasgow Assembly of 1638. With these, in so far as they affected Strang's whole after-life, we must now proceed to deal. The history of the Assembly in 1638 is of the deepest interest and deserves a renewed study and treatment. The issue of the Service Book and Canons had led to the drafting and widespread signa- ture of the National Covenant. The memorable ^ Baillie, Letters and Journals, II. 86, 189 ; III. 32. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 626-1 650) 273 scene in the Greyfriars Churchyard on February 28, 16385 was followed by the circulation of the Covenant among the presbyteries of Scotland for signature by their members and by the people generally. BaiUie writes to Strang on April 5, 1638,'- that the greatest opposition to Covenant-subscription was from "our friends in Glasgow," including Zachary Boyd. There was much confusion in Glasgow at the "Pasche Communion." Strang assisted Maxwell in serving four or five tables in the High Church (Cathedral), the communicants kneeling ; while in the Laigh Kirk, not on Easter day but on the Sunday following, Robert Wilkie and John Bell, senior, assisted David Dickson at the Communion, the people sitting at the tables. It was, says BaiUie, "a proclamation of red warre among the clergy of that town." He writes from Kilwinning where he was minister. It was also "red warre" in the College, because, though "all the Colledge" was against subscription, there were some who not only withheld their signatures but were " pathetick reasoners " against the Covenant. " But," adds Baillie, " the pley, I think, shall be shortly reedde" (i.e. The quarrel shall soon be settled).^ Writing in hot haste and with almost despairing earnestness to Strang, he approves Strang's cautious refusal to put his thoughts in a letter, and thanks God that he is weakening in his objections to the Cove- nant ; he emphasises the importance of Strang's support in the crisis — " one of the greatest occasions that ever ye had in your life." But Strang's offer to sign upon conditions Baillie dismisses somewhat curtly. The two conditions are characteristic: (i) 1 Baillie, Letters and Journals, I. 63. ^ jbid. I. 63 sqq. 274 JOHN STRANG He will sign in so far as not prejudicial to the King's authority, the episcopal office and government per se, and the lawful power of bishops — this, says Baillie, is needless because the Covenant is expressly loyal in its terms. (2) He will sign with "protestation that he is free to practise conformity in case of depriva- tion" — i.e. to conform to the Five Articles under penalty, a frank case of hedging — Baillie thinks this might be managed. He confirms that view by a notable piece of casuistry (i. 68). In his view, the Five Articles have always been voluntary, and will continue to be so after the Service-Book and Canons have been repealed by parliament. No doubt, it would be impossible to obtain for him any written attestation of his claim to conform if threatened with deprivation ; but he might surely rely on the verbal assurance of as many " famous men " as he required (demanded). And he was not wont to be scrupulous about mere "formalities." Baillie, as a crowning argument, sends him proofs of popery being Laud's real objective, and further offers "another little write of Parallele of our Service with the Masse and Brevi- arie." This may have been The Canterburians^ Self- Conviction (Ladensium Autokatakrisis), Baillie's first serious irruption into the controversy with Laud and his followers. The meetings of the Assembly of 1638 were pre- ceded by agitated conferences, and there were doubt- less numerous instances, like Strang's, of hesitation and caution. Baillie writes his own story of the Assembly in letters chiefly addressed to his cousin. Rev. William Spang, minister of the Scots Church at Campvere from 1630 to 1659, when he was trans- GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 275 lated to Middelburg, and died there in 1654. Spang had been a "doctor or teacher" in the Edinburgh High School before he went to Campvere, and was a man of wide reading and author of a volume called Historia Motuum . . .^ There was trouble about the appointment of representatives from the Glasgow University ; Strang had had the " witt " to send up a commission in favour of four, to be members of the Assembly, as if the College were a presbytery. The commission was challenged, and ultimately the University had no representative, and " stood aside." This brought Strang into deep disfavoxir "as a decliner of the Assembly." Strang also was much "dashed" (discredited) on account of his signing a protest against " lay elders," which he handed secretly to the Commissioner, the Marquis of Hamilton, to be used as a decoy for other protesters. "The invention (conception) we ascryved to the Principal and Mr. William Wilkie " (minister of Govan). At a private conference in Lord Loudon's chamber Strang at first refused to withdraw his protest because the Commis- sioner already had it in his possession ; at last he did next day unexpectedly desire that the protestation should be withdrawn "for a time." The Commis- sioner demurred, stating that it was signed not only by the Principal (Strang), but also by the majority of the Presbytery of Glasgow of whom many were covenanters. The Assembly nevertheless decided not to read the document. In the Large Declaration of Charles I., ascribed to Walter Balcanquall, dean of Durham, it is stated that Strang had been subjected 1 Steven, Hist, of the Scottish Church, Rotterdam, pp. 5, y;^, 244,318. 276 JOHN STRANG to threats at the meeting in Lord Loudon's chamber, at which the Moderator, Henderson of Leuchars and others were present. Unless he withdrew the pro- test, they said "he must never looke to live quietly in Glasgow, nor any where in Scotland." His wire at a later hour (the private meeting was at lo p.m.) had begged him with tears to withdraw it.^ This was a bad beginning for Strang in an Assem- bly tuned up to the intensest note of determination, and Baillie notes that " the spleen of manie against the Principal in the Assemblie was great, for manie passages in his carrying in this affair, especiallie the last two : his subscrvying that which we affirmed, and he denyed, to be a protestation against elders, and so our Assemblie consisting of them and ministers elected by their voyces : also his deserting of the Assemblie ever since the Commissioner's departure, upon the pretence that, his commission being once cast (disallowed) because it was foure, the electors would not meet again to give him or any other a new commission. Everie other day some one or other, nobleman, or gentleman, or minister, was calling that Doctor Strang should be summond." ^ . . . Baillie adds that his friends got the matter delayed and finally dismissed ; but Wodrow has left evidence which incontestably establishes the fact that Strang was pledged to the Episcopising party before the Assem- bly met. The story of how the evidence reached the Covenanting leaders is sufficiently remarkable to be set down from the unpublished MS. of Wodrow's life of Strang : — ' Large Declaration. By the King. 1639. P-^^7-'??- * Baillie, Letters and Journals, L 172. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 277 " At this Assembly, the Doctor was suspected by many as not so forward for the Covenant and the Explication the ministers now put on it, as many others were ; and this raised considerable jealousie of him among those who were most forward in adhering to and carrying on our Reformation-work. And though what I am to lay before the reader was not known till some years after, by severall branches of the Doctor's carriage he was suspected to have some warm side to those who then were named Malignants and opposers of the work of Reformation now begin- ning. And 'tis very certain both sides were very willing to have so great and learned a person with them. Dr. Walter Balcanquell, Dean of Rochester, a great stickler at this time in our Scots affairs in behalf of the falling and building of prelacy, came down to Scotland with the Marquise of Hamiltoun and was at Hamiltoun during the sitting of the Assembly at Glasgow. With him at that time, Mr. William Wilkie, minister at Govan, corresponded, as appears from severall original letters from him to Dr. Balcanquell in my hands. Bound up in the same packet with them I have a letter from Dr. Strang to the Dean (but what time, I cannot say, it wanting date), with a very large paper upon the Covenant. "Before I come to insert Dr. Strang's letter, let me give a hint of what I know of thir original papers. I had them among many other originall letters and papers belonging to the Rev. Mr. Robert Douglas, minister at Logic, as I have publickly owned in the History of the Sufferings of this Church after the Restoration ; and the Principal's paper upon the Covenant were (sic) found after Nasby rancounter, or 278 JOHN STRANG some otherwhere Dr. Balcanquell happened to be, in a trunk found among the baggage which fell into the hand of the parliament's army. Those papers, when seen to relate to Scots affairs, were taken up to Lon- don and lodged in the hands of our Commissioners from Scotland to the General Assembly.^ Hints of them, it seems, came down to Scotland, and it was some time before the Commissioners at London saw meet to send them down when desired to doe so. The papers at length were sent down, with the follow- ing letter to Mr. Robert Douglas as a wrapper to them. I shall transcribe it here from the original. It is directed To the Right Reverend Mr. Robert Douglas, Minister at Edinburgh: — Sr. The reason for which we have so long detained those letters and papers herewith sent is, That it was our opinion and likewise our brother Mr. Henderson's when here, that they should not be made publick, but. resorted to to keep the per- sons that wrote them in aw, and as a mean to winn them to a strict and circumspect carriage in their callings. And being now required to send them to the Commission of the G. Assembly, we have directed them to you, that ye may make such use of them as ye shall see fitt. And we remain Your very afFectionat Brethren, 29 Sept. 1646. Loudoun Lauderdail. _, 1 ... r A. TOHNSTOUN. I. \\ru'\Ju -f f Samuel Rutherfurd. Mr. W,ll : Wilkie s, one of q^^ Gillespie. Doctor Strang s, and a Robert Bailie. Treatise. * i.e. the Westminster Assembly of Divines. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 279 Mr. Baillie, colleague to the principal and who writes of him with great respect, I conjecture brought the Commissioners to keep up these letters, and when urged to send them down, to give their opinion in the terms we see. Indeed, the principal was a man of that character, as he was worth preserving as long as he could be usefuU." Wodrow then discusses the dates of Wilkie's letters, of which he found only six, and settles them by the facts of Balcanquall's promotion from Rochester to the Deanery of Durham shortly before the Assem- bly met in 1638. The same method fixes the date of Strang's undated note addressed to the Right Wor- shipfuU Doctor Balcanquell, Dean of Rochester. It becomes in this way certain that Strang was in cor- respondence with Balcanquall long before the Assem- bly, and had lent him much aid on the anti-Cove- nanting side. A letter from Balcanquall to Laud in October, 1638, is printed in the appendix to Baillie's Letters and Journals, i. 475-7, mentioning a " protes- tation " by the " Principall of the CoUedge of Glasco, the learned'st covenanter in Scotland, but so fearfuU (timid) that he darre not owne it ; and indeed if it should be knowen, beside his danger we should loose that great use which my Lord Commissioner maketh of him. My L. Commissioner meaneth presently (immediately) to putte it to the presse." There is no doubt that the so-called "protestation" was the document described in the Scots Commissioners' covering note as a " treatise." The following letter from Strang to Balcanquall, referred to above, speaks for itself: — 28o JOHN STRANG "Right worshipfull S''- ... I am loath that the write which ye sent to me be published, and I hope ye will not do it till you be better advysed and at least have revised and corrected it carefully ; yet I have resolved to satisfy your desire and to send it back to you, after the manner ye require, — to Patrick Hamiltoun, my Lord's Baillie, dwelling in Hamiltoun, upon Munday next, inclosed in a paper directed to you. He will deliver it to any bearer whom you please to direct to him, to receive it (for this, I think, is the safest way ; and ye will not want occasion to send to Hamiltoun for it, miskenning my name). I cannot be answerable for the correct wryting in all points, especially for the spelling, which ye will not easily get helped. I will not be content that my name be any way heard in the matter. I lippen to your word, and shall alwise remain Yours at command, to power, A. C.» Read and ryve (tear up). Wodrow's comments are as usual mild and tolerant ; it was no doubt, he observes, important for Strang to have his correspondence with the Dean kept secret. He had sent to that dignitary a reasoned statement of his views on the crisis, in a sense so favourable to the Episcopising party that the Lord High Commissioner had decided to publish the paper at once. Balcanquall had returned it with a request for revision, and Strang complied in the circuitous way which he describes. The "Treatise," according GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 281 to David Laing, is in the Archives of the Church of Scotland, Wodrow MSS. vol. 31, No. 2. The originals of the letters picked up at Naseby are in vol. 25. These letters are printed in Baillie's Letters and Journals, Appendix to vol. i. pp. 481-491. They merit careful study, as they reveal the practices of Mr. William Wilkie of Govan, a near relation of Strang, whom Hailes describes as "a sort of ecclesi- astical spy." It appears that William Wilkie had a brother for whom he sought preferment to the Master- ship of the Savoy or other benefice. It remains uncertain from the letters whether the Dean paid him his price ; but Wilkie himself was suspended and finally deposed. Strang must be held privy to 4iis doings, though he escaped the penalty. The "Treatise" runs to twenty-eight closely written pages in folio, and is prefaced by a letter "To his Beloved Brother, J.D." (James Durham.''). This letter is a plea for loyalty to the King, and plainly enough shews how Strang's sympathies lay. The Treatise itself deals with the entire situation from the same standpoint, and is a thoroughly ex parte state- ment. The suspicious secrecy observed by Strang is notable ; his letter is signed A. C, the instniction is given to " read and ryve," his paper is to be published (if published at all) without his name. What his price was (if any price was in his mind) can only be conjectured. A bishopric would not have been exces- sive for a man in his high rank. Balcanquall's opinion of his agent is clear enough — a man most learned, a Covenanter, but so timid that he dared not appear openly, and indeed would cease to be " useful " if he did so. It is a sad revelation of Strang's 282 JOHN STRANG "prudence," and might furnish a homily on the temptations of the via media in Church matters. The "Treatise" is docketed by Balcanquall "The Principal of Glasgow against the Covenant," and entitled by its author " Reasons why all his Majesty's orthodox Subjects in Scotland, and namely those who subscribed the late Covenant, should thankfully acquiesce in to his Majesty's Late Declaration." In Wodrow's opinion, it was based on a misreading of history, inasmuch as Strang contended that the original Reformers, headed by Knox, had regarded Episcopacy as lawful. Combined with Strang's pro- testation against elders, it establishes the fact that he was entirely out of sympathy with the Covenanting party, though he continued to confer with them and to acquire knowledge of their programme. While such tactics may be defended on the plea that they were not unknown on the other side, they can hardly be reconciled with perfect straightforwardness, especi- ally in one who filled his high and sacred office. They compare unfavourably with the conduct of his pre- decessor Cameron, who after all was an out-and-out King's man, and may almost be said to have fallen a martyr in the royal cause. The secret of this private correspondence with Laud's agent in Scotland was well kept up to the end of 1646. Strang took his place in the General Assembly unchallenged, though not unsuspected. In 1 64 1, there was a slight breeze in the Assembly over Baillie's appointment to the place of second pro- fessor. Dickson had been doing a great deal of preaching in Glasgow, along with his lecture work, and had declared that he expected Baillie to make up GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 626-1 650) 283 deficiencies in the latter. Some members, who rightly held that there should be no " mixing of offices," raised the question of this combination of the preacher or pastor and the professor ; on discussion it was "gladly condescended (granted) that it should be leasmne (lawful) for him (Dickson) to exercise so much of the ministrie ... as he fand himselfe able without detriment to his profession (professorship)." ^ Strang had not been consulted about this, and on that ground he made complaint. After Philiphaugh ■(September 13, 1645), Strang was in much danger: Montrose's temporary success had betrayed Strang into some public sympathy with the anti-Covenanting party : Philiphaugh brought imprisonment and fines to some, and Baillie says — " I fear the Principall's -case shall be little better." ^ The sending down of Strang's compromising letter and "Treatise" in September, 1646, brought matters to a head. The secret was out. And Baillie must have known that this lay at the bottom of the "great dinn in all our Universities and Assemblies about the Principall's dictats," though he adds — " To this day I could never liear the true ground of it." Wilkie had certainly been made the scapegoat ; and Baillie confesses that he, and only he, was the cause of Wilkie's downfall. But Wilkie was only a go-between, who lurked at the Commissioner, Hamilton's, gate.^ The arrival of the letters from the Scots Commissioners, with a note from them signed among the rest by Baillie, is quite > Baillie, op. cit. I. 374. *Ibid. 11. 321. He adds: "It's good to be honest at the heart." 8 Ibid. I. 490. 284 JOHN STRANG enough to explain the "great dinn." Yet Baillie cannot restrain his grief and anger at the dead set which was now made against his reverend friend and father-in-law. " Ding his bussiness dead so soon as yow are able! " he writes from London to George Young, one of the "moderators" of the University of Glasgow ; and he adds that he cannot digest the tendency or movement to submit a pro- fessor's dictates to the General Assembly and the other Universities.^ The General Assembly had by this time actually taken that step, by remitting to a committee to examine the dictates. The Committee included Alexander Henderson, Robert Douglas, George Gillespie from Edinburgh : Robert Blair, Samuel Rutherford, David Forret, James Wood from St. Andrews : Andrew Cant, William Douglas, and William Strachan from Aberdeen ; and David Dick- son, Robert Ramsay, Robert Baillie from Glasgow ; with delegates from other presbyteries, among whom were Edward Calderwood, Robert Knox, James Guthrie, Robert Leighton, etc. They were directed to make accurate scrutiny to see whether the dictates contained anything contrary to Reformed teaching, or even si ullae phrases essent quae veritatis hostibus faverent (to quote Baillie's Latin version). For this purpose, it was recited that Strang had delivered to them his volume of dictates, to be returned on their honour after examination. They were also to confer with Dr. Strang, and report. A year after, the com- mittee reported that they had found some things so expressed that scruples had arisen therefrom to grave and learned men ; but having heard Dr. Strang's 1 Baillie, ibid. II. 404. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 285 explanations, and also received from him certain addi- tional words to be inserted, they were satisfied of his orthodoxy.^ This was in August, 1 647, and it might have been expected that the storm would be allayed. Baillie himself states that it arose simply from some differ- ences of opinion, between Strang on the one hand and Dr. Twisse and Samuel Rutherford on the other, in respect of scholastic speculations about the relation of Divine Providence to Sin.^ The special points were submitted to Spang by Baillie in a letter of June, 1647, before the meeting of Assembly which exonerated Dr. Strang. They were such as the rela- tion of the Divine Decrees to the existence of Sin. Strang held that, in order to avoid making God the author of Sin, Sin itself must be entirely excluded from the scope of the Decrees. " I do not like," says Baillie, "his withdrawing from the Divine Decree the act and entitle of any sinne, much less of free and indifferent actions." He adds that he will endeavour to persuade the Assembly not to meddle with such subtle questions, but leave them to the schools . ' From this it may fairly be concluded that the Assembly's judgment in favour of Strang's orthodoxy was a fore- gone conclusion, and largely the result of private "friendship. The real charge was one of "Laudian, popish, and Arminian schemes in point of doctrine," as Wodrow puts it, adding that he had it from P. Simpson of Renfrew, "an old minister," that Strang narrowly escaped being "staged (libelled) for 1 Wod. MSS. Glasg. vol. IL 2 Baillie in the De Interpretatione. * Baillie, Letters and Journals, III. 5, 6. 286 JOHN STRANG his Dictates, which were smoothed in his printed Book." "He would have been removed from his place if he had not admitted it." These phrases put,, colloquially, what is more obscurely expressed in the Assembly's deliverance by the statement that Strang had supplied of his own accord several words of explanation. Such a result left the complainants unsatisfied. They could not of course revive the question in the Supreme Court ; but Baillie declares that they did not allow Strang to remain long at peace. Wearied out by their annoyance of him, he ceased to lecture, expressing the wish to enjoy an honourable leisure in his old age (he was but sixty-four), and to give final revision to his writings. To this desire the whole University demurred, and gave at last a very unwilling consent. At length in 1650, Strang was relieved of his post, with a most flattering eulogium and a liberal pension.'- The Visitors of the College issued on April 19, 1650, the following testimonial : — "The Visitors of the CoUedge of Glasgow appointed by the Estates of the Kingdom, and General Assembly, having read and considered a Supplication presented to them by Doctor John Strang, the tenor of which followeth : ' Unto the Reverend and Honourable Visitors of the Colledge of Glasgow appointed by the Estates of the King- dom, and General Assembly, humbly sheweth, John Strang, D.D. Whereas I can assert from the bottom of my heart that I cordially assent to the Synod of Dort and Confession of Faith sett forth 1 Baillie in the de Interpretatione. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 287 by the Church of Scotland, both new, ancient, and modern, in every article, and particularly in those that relate to the Decrees of God, his provi- dence, election, Grace, and Free-will, and other heads, anent which some objections were made against my Dictates ; I therefore humbly begg that you will grant me your testimonial of my ortho- doxy as to those points.' The forsaid Visitors charitably judging and believing the truth of what the Doctor so' solemnly declares, do grant him a Testimonial of his orthodoxy and right sentiments according to his forsaid declaration. And further, the said Visitors, in testimony of their affection to the Doctor, appoint and ordain, that not only the whole of the sallarie belonging to the Principall of this CoUedge for the year 1650 be intirely given to him, but further, that during all the dayes of his life, that he have a thousand merks Scots paid to him by the University yearly, and two hundred pounds more money forsaid, as often as the cir- cumstances of the Colledge affairs can allow it." As will be noted, the certificate of orthodoxy was asked for by Strang, and he himself clearly indicates the points in which his orthodoxy had been attacked. They may all be embraced under the question of the Divine Decrees, although they raise several other important questions ; and they were all notoriously involved in the issues decided against Arminianism at Dort in 161 8. The response of the Visitors to Strang's request is sufficiently cordial, and the financial provision, for the times, was generous. Strang retained the confidence of his immediate circle 288 JOHN STRANG in University and General Assembly. Even one so firm in his principles as George Gillespie submitted to him that important pronouncement on Church Government entitled " One Hundred and eleven Pro- positions concerning the Ministry and Government of the Church," Edin. 4to. 1647. T^is was a some- what testing matter for one like Strang, who had special sympathies and relations with Laud. Strang's comments, of which Wodrow preserves some speci- mens, are guarded but significant, leaning mostly to a more liberal theory than Gillespie and his school represented. There remains little doubt of the genuine affection felt for Strang by his friends. It had been sorely tried, and was amply displayed. Henderson had advised that the incriminating Balcan- quall papers should be held in retentis. Baillie had concurred, and had laboured his hardest to "ding down " the movement directed against the Principal : the Assembly's committee had permitted him to ^' smooth down " his Dictates on the Decrees ; finally, when he sought an honourable retreat from a position which was no longer tenable, the Visitors dismissed him with a handsome absolution and a generous allowance for his support. Nevertheless, his retire- ment marked a victory for the Covenanting party, and a real defeat for Baillie. For as late as 1649, Baillie had told Spang that he had "got the Prin- cipal reasonably faire off" ; but it had cost him much "fasch" (worry), and he can but console himself by reflecting that even the " super-excellent Mr. Hender- son" was once under "a cloud of infamie."^ The reference here is to the widespread rumour that 1 Baillie, ibid. III. 93. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (162 6- 1650) 289 Henderson had died of grief caused by his failure in conference with Charles I. at Newcastle in 1646; and that he had made a death-bed recantation of his life-long principles.^ Baillie was quickly undeceived. A letter reached him from Robert Blair, dated July 29, 1650, to warn him against further "inter- meddling " in Strang's behalf, which might " defyle your conscience and destroy your name, which already suffers not a little. . . . Get you to your book and your work, and meddle not unhappilie to your pre- ice. " 2 judi Strang was very loth to resign : " his demission," says Baillie, " was very much grating to him." " I see," he remarked, " they will have me to lay down my charge, and I see not whom they have to fill my room unless it be that young lad that is this year done with his philosophic, Hugo Binning." Wod- row, who records this remark, treats it as a proof of Strang's keen discernment of rising talent ; but it was rather a petulant expression of his contempt for the theological attainments of the Covenanting party. Binning was not twenty at this time, and the sugges- tion that he should succeed to the office conveyed a cutting sarcasm. It was however true that Strang's place proved difficult to fill. James Durham had been thought of ; he had actually been appointed to the first chair of Divinity in Dickson's place, but had never been admitted, as he was transferred to a chap- 1 The whole matter is well summed up in the excellent mono- graph on Alexander Henderson the Covenanter, by J. P. Thomson, 1912, pp. 147-150. Mr. Thomson fell in battle in 1916 — a loss to historical science. 2 Baillie, III. 105. 290 JOHN STRANG laincy with the forces of the new King, Charles II. ; so that he was out of the question at that juncture. The Rector's meeting nominated unanimously Mr. Robert Ramsay, one of the regents, and he accepted this rather hasty call at once and took oath of office. But ere long Ramsay died : Baillie himself was pressed to take the office and declined, because "I knew it belonged to Dr. Strang " ; and Patrick Gillespie, George's brother, began to be canvassed for Principal, a proposal which Baillie unthinkingly dismisses as "exceeding absurd." At last the dominant Cove- nanters appointed Patrick Gillespie, with John Young, a regent in philosophy, as junior professor of Divinity. Baillie, to the end loyal to Strang, protested, and refused to recognise either P. Gillespie or Young as lawfully elected. His view was that Strang was still Principal, and Durham professor next to him : which shows how far prejudice may lead a man. Nor does he cease to record any circumstance which suggests that the new Principal had been forcibly intruded to Strang's detriment. Gillespie, he declares, deprived Strang of a chamber constantly assigned to him, and gave it to Young by force; and he "quarrelled" Strang's College accounts. This was in the very year of Strang's decease, which thus took place amid storm and contention.^ Thus ended Strang's long tenure of the double office of Principal and Professor of Divinity. A few particulars may be added, chiefly from the Muni- menta, concerning his varied activities. The minutes show that early, in his first year of office, on March i, 1626, he obtained a resolution of the Senate confining 1 Baillie, III. 150, 237, 238, 242. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (i 626-1 650) 291 the right to grant College holidays to the Principal, and withholding it entirely from the Rector. ,The Rector (Robert Scot) was present and consenting. He was thenceforth neither to give nor to ask for ludendi veniam} The asking is however long since restored as a privilege of the Rector. On 20th August, 1628, it was unanimously resolved that all those entitled to elect regents to their chairs should beforehand swear to choose the best man whether as principal or as regent.^ In 1628, the senate regulated the honoraria payable to regents ; if the class-collec- tion exceeded 40 pounds Scots, it was to be unlawful to give or to accept more. To the merenda after examinations (commonly called charitatis poculum or loving-cup) none were to be invited but the ordinary examiners, and the Glasgow city ministers along with the Ludimagister (Master of the Grammar School), these being examiners extra ordinem. Nor were others besides to be supplied with tickets (chirothecis) at the common expense ; and the cost of such tickets must not exceed sixteen pounds Scots. This sump- tuary regulation was evidently intended to discourage the practice of regents " touting " for students, and students from bribing examiners and from holding extravagant festivities after degree examinations. From February 27, 1645, onward, there is a series of regulations concerning hours, examinations, gradu- ations, punishment for speaking Scots too broadly and too often (nimis Scotice), chxxrch attendance and devotional exercises and lessons, sittings in church, the supply of Divinity students, waiting on the Prin- cipal before enrolment in regents' classes, holding iMunimenta, II. 301. * Ibid. II. 302. T2 292 JOHN STRANG > disputations on Saturdays in public, supervision by the Principal of dictates, etc., in the regents' classes, suppression of vernacular speech by students in academic costume. The regulation or resolution as regards supply of Divinity students is dated Decem- ber lo, 1647. By it the Ludimagister was directed to get the Town Council to visit the Grammar School within twenty days ; and the Dean of Faculty was delegated to write to each presbytery in the Synods of Glasgow and Ayr, urging that students of Theo- logy might be sent up to the University without further delay. It is noteworthy that for 1647 there is no list of students whatever recorded in the Muni- menta. In 1648 only two theological students are recorded. It was about this time that the pressure on Strang to resign grew stronger.^ On December 27, 1648, we find a valuable oudine of the course of study in the various classes (Muni- menta, II. pp. 316-320). The particulars are of con- siderable interest from an educational standpoint, and may be found stated in detail in Coutts' History of the University of Glasgow, pp. 1 08-1 11. For our immediate purpose, it is enough to point out that there was no special method or programme approved for the teaching of Divinity. The course prescribed was an Arts Course culminating in the Master's degree ; but there is at the close of the enactment the following reference to Religious Instruction : — "In order that the youth may make progress not only in human but also in divine wisdom, the Masters are to see that the Catechisms (praelecta chatechetica) are accurately committed to memory, the Novitii to ^ But the plague raging in 1 645-1 648 might account for this. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 293 be proficient in one-half of the Palatine Catechism, the Semi-Baccalaurei in the whole of it. The Bacca- laurei and Magistrandi to be drilled (exerceantur) in the loci communes^ and in the controversies, of which David Pareus treats in his Commentaries on the Palatine Catechism, against the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Arminians, Socinians, Anabaptists, and other enemies of the truth." ^ The omission of any mention of Theology is not surprising, because it was regarded as a post-graduate discipline, practically controlled by the Church through its presbyteries. The presbyterial examinations and exercises represented this control in a way and to an extent but faintly indicated at the present day. There was no scruple, however, felt in teaching New Testa- ment Greek and Hebrew as part of the Arts Course, so that the theological student came to his special studies in Divinity already so far fitted to make progress without grammatical or linguistic delays. The old method of regenting (i.e. each regent carry- ing his class through the whole course) had been restored, and thus the professor of Divinity and his colleagues were charged with the entire work of training the theologues or Divinity students. Some of the entries yield a picture of Strang as a thoroughly alert and practical man. One of them records the rule that each person who got a key to the " door-lock of the Bak Hall " should give a written receipt for it, undertaking not to lose it or to lend it to students ; or to lend it to any others without a common agreement. This was signed by the prin- cipal and regents, as well as by others entided to 1 Munimenta, II. 319. 294 JOHN STRANG ingress. Strang was most careful about the College board or rations ; there are preserved two contracts for board, one made with John Grahame as Provisour or Victualler, at loo merks salary with his board, the other with James Stirling, who was to board the " founded persons " at a quarterly rate of 46 pounds Scots for the Principal and each of the regents, and of 26 pounds Scots for each of the bursars. There were to be three "meatless days," Friday, Saturday, and Wednesday. The food seems to have been abundant in other respects.^ It was in Strang's time that a vigorous attempt was made to secure a uniform Cursus Philosophiae (or Arts Curriculum) for the four universities. On this undertaking a Commission of the General Assembly laboured for some time, and framed certain regulations ; but the scheme broke down owing to the different atmospheres of the universities. In some Ramus was favoured ; others, like Glasgow, preferred Aristotle. At a later date, the same difficult undertaking was again attempted.^ The problem of Education for the Scottish Ministry was always in the forefront, and it remains to-day unsolved. As we close this account of Strang's professorship of Divinity, we cannot help regretting that he was withdrawn from his special theological work by the distractions of ecclesiastical politics, and the growing burden of his duties as Principal, to which also his 1 Munimenta, III. pp. 532, 539-40; see for details Coutts' History, pp. 91-100. 'Bower, Hist, of the Univ. of Edinburgh, vol. I. pp. 218 and foil. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY (1626-1650) 295 strong practical instinct allured him. But we recog- nise that he was a most valuable head to the struggling College, and left it much improved in buildings, finances, and organisation. For these undeniable achievements he was revered and respected, though his theology passed under a cloud for a time. IV. The Last Years (1650-1654) After the painful business of resigning was com- pleted, Strang employed his leisure in the preparation of his works for the press. He continued to reside in Glasgow, though deprived in 1653 of his "chamber" in the College buildings. According to Baillie, the new Principal, Patrick Gillespie, had " made him flitt from his house ; and when he was unwilling to give him the key of his chamber in the Colledge, till he had been heard in a Facultie to speak for his right, without more adoe he causes break up the doore, and put on a new lock, and setts Mr. John Young in the chamber, which we thought he would not have accepted." Strang had presented 600 merks long before for the building of those " chambers," and the Faculty had unanimously assigned him one of them for life.^ Thus become an outcast from his old realm, Strang gradually declined in health. At length, at the end of May, 1654, having gone to Edinburgh on business, he caught a fever of which he died on June 20, 1654, aged 70. During his twenty days' illness, he had numerous visitors who were greatly edified by his sense of the love of God, his humility, piety, faith, and penitence, and his extra- 1 Baillie, Lett, and Journals, III. 242. 296 JOHN STRANG ordinary longing for things celestial. So writes Baillie in his Fita Jut or is. He adds that Robert Douglas and David Dickson, ministers of Edinburgh (Dickson had become Professor there in 1650), fre- quently came to converse and pray with him, and noted how great an abundance of the Holy Spirit refreshed him to his last breath, which he drew at 8 a.m. on June, 20, feriae secundae. Two days after, amid a very great assembly of all ranks, he was con- veyed to his burial. His grave had been chosen near that of Robert Boyd of Trochrigg in the Greyfriars Churchyard. They had been friends in youth ; the struggle for preferment had for a time estranged them ; but they now came together in silence and peace. He was a man, says Baillie, of great moderation all his life, and enjoyed such health that he never had a day's illness till the very end. He had thrice mar- ried and had many children, of whom only four daughters survived him. His son William died in 1 65 1 at twenty-two, a youth of the highest promise who had already won an excellent reputation as a regent in philosophy. It was a great blow to his father, following as it did the troubles of his resigna- tion of office. The father's Latin epitaph for the tombstone ^ ran in English thus — Learned and good, a youth of heavenly mind, To heaven upborne, his soul he soon resigned. " Whom the gods love die young." Three of the four daughters married ; the youngest 1 William Strang is buried in the "tomb of the Strangs in Glasgow."— Wodrow MSS. THE LAST YEARS (1650-1654) 297 died unmarried. Strang was "in prosperity much blessed by God ; he left his family amply provided for, but not to the detriment of his friends who were in poverty or of the public interest. Beyond his gener- ous gifts while he lived, he left them legacies of more than 10,000 merks — an example not too common." Strang did not lack his own epitaphs. Baillie prints two of them — the first a series of Latin elegiacs, novercantibus Musis (as the venerable author says), by Andrew Ramsay octogenarius ; the second by James Wright, minister of Cockburnspath. The latter in his verses recalls the former luminaries of Glasgow University: — Melville, who brought to Glasgow the culture alike of Athens, Greece, and Zion : Smeaton, the wanderer in foreign lands : Boyd, who dropped words sweet as the honey of Zion: Cameron, whom France both prepared and finished in his accomplishments. He rather unkindly omits Patrick Sharp. Strang, like the phoenix, had risen from the ashes of our sorrow for such great losses ; in him Melville, Boyd, Smeaton and Cameron lived again. Such are the hyperboles of the minister of Cockburnspath. It remains to notice briefly the two posthumous volumes of Strang. According to Wodrow, he had no ambition of authorship, and his teaching became noteworthy first through the efforts of "those who pushed at him," i.e. his critics in the General Assem- bly. Owing to the need of self-vindication, he was forced out of his beloved privacy. Of the published work Wodrow's opinion is cautious, especially regarding the Be Voluntate Dei. The treatment of 298 JOHN STRANG its subtle questions was, he thought, "too nice," turning on very narrow points. Wodrow rather shies at it. Baillie says it was entrusted by Spang to the Elzevirs to print, and the editorial task was accepted by Alexander Moore (Morus), who rather injudiciously dedicated the volume to M. Mestrezat, pastor at Paris. The dedicatory letter led to fresh troubles in the theological world, for Mestrezat was not free from suspicion. He had studied theology at Saumur, and Saumur was now the haunt of a modified Arminianism. He became a noted dispu- tant with Roman Catholic apologists, such as the Jesuit Veron, Pere Regourd, and the famous Abbe de Retz, afterwards Cardinal. A good story is told of his disputation with De Retz. Mestrezat shewed such skill and delicatesse at a rather awkward point for the Abbe's hopes of preferment, that the Abbe paid him a grateful compliment on his courtesy. Mestrezat promptly replied — " II n'est juste d'em- pecher M. I'Abbe de Retz d'etre Cardinal ! " Mestrezat was of sufficient eminence to justify a dedication, for he had been a Moderator of the Assembly (Charenton, 1631), he was a great preacher, and he took high rank as an authority on University education.^ Moore himself was professor at Amster- dam when Spang laboured at Campvere.^ He also was throughout nearly all his career under clouds of suspicion, first of coquetting with Rome, and latterly of being somewhat irregular in his conduct. The choice of an editor by Spang was therefore unfor- 1 Larousse, sub voce Mestrezat. Haag, La France Prot. VII. 397- 2 Steven, Scott. Church, Rotterdam, p. 288. THE LAST YEARS (1650- 1654) 299 tunate ; and Moore shewed his characteristic indis- cretion. In directing some blows against the critics of Strang's orthodoxy, he managed to suggest that Strang's book De Voluntate Dei showed affinity to the views of Amyraut, Mestrezat, and "other New Methodists" in France. This, Baillie stamps as "a groundless calumnie." Moore in a letter to the Reader (the modern preface) denounces the "syco- phants and slanderers " who spared no pains to annoy Strang by arts worthy only of mere technologi and theologastri, charging him with heresy, and with a secret sympathy with the Arminians ; " as they were called." " I knew," he writes " a man to whom the same charge was laid by those who, though almost ignorant of things and names, nevertheless sat as judges. ' What think you of the five articles of the Herminians ? ' asked the pontiff who was moderator, consulting his notes. The answer was — 'The Her- minians are not mentioned in the list of heretics.' The questioner, a man venerable so far as his awful and bristling beard was concerned, cries with lifted eyebrows — 'He's a heretic himself who would say so ! ' The other submits that there are no such beings in nature as Herminians ; and while the rest of the presbytery indulged in a knowing smile, the aged and excellent moderator insists that he is right, and adds, ' You can't m.ake a fool of the old man ! ' So I read in some musty records which I have by me. That old man was never after of account in that pres- bytery." It is a good presbytery story, and will bring something of a blush to the cheek of incompetent examiners. Moore did not improve matters by sub- joining a fulsome epigram on Strang and Spang, as 300 JOHN STRANG author and editor ; and some hendecasyllabic lines of a sufficiendy provoking character. Baillie declares that Spang did not see these effusions until the book appeared, and he excuses Moore on account of his intimate friendship with Mestrezat. It appears that the prefatory matter was to have been supplied by Baillie himself, who however was unexpectedly hindered from sending it in time. The second volume, De Interpretatione et Perfec- tione Scripturae suffered from inferior printing, and was not done by the Elzevirs like its predecessor. It was produced at Rotterdam in 1663, after Baillie, its editor, had himself died. In addition to the admir- able discussion of the doctrine of Scripture, it contains a lengthy treatise on the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, a second much shorter on the Image of God in Man, and a third on Divorce and Polygamy. They are all excellent examples of Strang's painstaking and judicious work. It was by the cruelty of fate that so cautious, deliberate, and conscientious a Avriter should ever have been charged with heresy. Perhaps, after all, the true reason was that given by Moore, quod Ecclesiae regnique perturbatoribus noluit accedere. Strang would not throw himself whole-heartedly into the Covenanting counsels. Like his son-in-law, Baillie, he trimmed, procrastinated, and manoeuvred. His fair fame unavoidably suffered by such a course. It was no doubt a difficult time to live in. In his favour we may remember that, however much he suffered for his temperament, he did no harm to his University. Rather he left it better endowed, accom- modated, and staffed than he found it. Thus, if he THE LAST YEARS (i 650-1 654) 301 failed as a theologian and ecclesiastic, he was a decided success as a Principal. Works of John Strang 1. Joannis Strangii, SS. Theologiae Doctoris et in Academia Glasguensi Professoris Primarii, De Voluntate et Actionibus Dei circa Peccatum Libri quatuor, Ecclesiae Reformatarum, inprimis Scoticanae, judicio humiliter oblati, et lubentissime submissi. Amstelodami, apud Ludovicum et Danielem Elzevirios : 1657. 2. Joannis Strangii Sacrae Theologiae Doctoris, et in Academia Glasguensi Professoris Primarii, De Interpre- tatione et perfectione Scripturae . . . una cum opusculis de Sabbato, Imagine Dei, Polygamia, et aliis. Etiam Autoris Vita. Roterodami, in Officina Arnoldi Leers : 1663. Bibliography for the Life of John Strang 1. Life, by Baillie (prefixed to the De Interpretatione). 2. Baillie, Letters and Journals. 3. MS. Life, by Wodrow, among the Wodrow MSS. in Glasgow University. 4. A Large Declaration. By the King. 1639. [Really drafted by Dr. Balcanquall.] 5. Account of Glasgow University, Edited by William Stewart, D.D. 1891. 6. Crichton, Memoirs of Rev. John Blackader. 1826. 7. Scott, Fasti Eccl. Scot., in loco. 8. Dempster, Historia Ecclesiastica. 9. Coutts, Hist, of the Univ. of Glasgow, 1909. 10. The Progresses of King James VI. 1 1. The Muses' Welcome to the High and Mightie Prince, James, . . . 161 7. 12. Munimenta Almae Univ. Glasguensis. 13. Larousse, Diet. Universel, 1873. 302 JOHN STRANG 14. Steven, Scottish Church, Rotterdam, 1833. 15. Old and New Statistical Account. 16. Haag, La France Protestante. 17. Bellesheim, History of the Catholic Church of Scotland, 1887 (translation). 18. Spottiswood, History, from 203-1625. 3 vols. ed. by Rev. M. Russell. 1851. 19. Bower, History of the University of Edinburgh. 2 vols, 1817. 20. Spalding, Memorials of the Troubles. 2 vols. Spalding Club, 1850. 21. Diet, of Nat. Biography, for Strang, Balcanquall, and others. 22. Calderwood, History. 23. Keith, Catalogue of Scottish Bishops. 24. Thomson (J. Pringle), Alexander Henderson the Covenanter, 191 2. INDEX Adamson, Bishop Patrick, 6i, 62, 64. Amyraut or Amyraldus, 134, 179, 186, 247. Arbuthnot, loi. Aristotle, 11, 13, 14. Assembly of Aberdeen, 66, 108. of Perth, 144. Glasgow, 272. Avocats, Incident of the, 191. Bachelor, " Determining," 5 ; baccalaureus confirmatus, 9. Bachelor of Divinity, 9. BailUe, Robert, 59, 137, 269. Balcanquall, Dean of Durham, 275 sqq. Baldovy, i, 26. Bancroft, Archbp., 69, 145. Basilicon Doron, 66. Baton, 3, 231. Bayle, 230. Bellesheim, 255. Beza, 17, 19, 20, 177. Bible in schools, 4. Blair, Robert, 141, 214 sqq. Bonnefoy, 19. Bordeaux, 173, 178 sqq. Boyd, Archbp. James, 44. Boyd, Robert (1578-1627) — birth and education, 115 : goes to France, 117 : regent atMontauban, 1 18-125 • his counsels to students, 119 : pastor at Verteuil, 125 : professor at Saumur, 128- 137 : revisits Scotland, 129, 131 : his marriage, 132 : succeeds Patrick Sharp, 135 : his work in Glasgow, I37"i54 • his difficulties with the Archbishop, 144 : attempt to recall him to Saumur, 145 ; troubles from Five Articles of Perth, 146 : he resigns, 148 : not a success in Glasgow, 153 : appointed to Edinburgh, 155 : but dismissed, 158 : efiorts to recall him to Glasgow, 159 : he agrees to conform, 161 : but the scheme fails, 162 : accepts Paisley Abbey, 164 : but is forced to withdraw, 166 : is seized by cancer in the throat, and dies, 166 : his character, 167 : Works, 168 : Bibliography, 16 304 INDEX Boyd, Zachary, 132, 253, 267. Bruce, Robert, 117, 144. Buchanan, George, 19, 30, 32. Burnet, Bishop, 59, 172. Bursars, 43. Calvin, 14, 20, 47. Cameron, John (1579-1625) — ^bom in Saltmarket, 170 : a college servitor, 171 : eminence in Greek, 171 : extravagant habits, 172 : regent under P. Sharp, 172 : goes to Bordeaux, 173 : regent in Bergerac, 173 : at Sedan, 173 : bursar of Bor- deaux church, 174 : studies at Geneva and Heidelberg, 174 : his theses on Three- fold Covenant, 175 : severe critic of Beza, 176 : rela- tions with Tilenus, Melville, and Schultetus of Heidel- berg, 177 : pastor at Bor- deaux, 178-200 : an eccen- tric preacher, 179 : corre- spondence with Louis Cappel, 180-185 ■ fi^'st mar- riage, 186 : the Piscator controversy, 187 : required to sign Formula of Privas, 188 : attacks Church of Rome, 191 : incident of the Avocats, 191 : his Steliteu- ticus, 193 : incident of the Privateers, 196 : his trea- tise de praejudiciis Ro- manis, 198 : appointed to Saumur, 200 : treatise de Ecclesia, 205 ; de Verbo Dei, 206 : disputation with Tilenus, 206-210 : goes to London, thence to Glas- gow, 211 : his Letter to King James VI., 212 : un- easy in Glasgow, 213 : quarrel with Robert Blair, 215 : his monarchical poUcy, 217 : returns to London, 220 : correspondence with Reid, 220-224 • returns to France, 225 : at Synod of Charenton, 225 : attack on his views by Episcopius, 227 : appointed to Mon- tauban, 227 : second mar- riage, 229 : death, 229-233 : character, ^ 233-236 : por- trait, 236 : Dumoulin on Cameron, 237 : La Mille- tidre on Cameron, 238 : La Milletidre and reunion with Rome, 240 : eminence of Cameron in the Ref. Church, 244 : his alleged leanings to Rome, 246 : his place in theological controversy, 248 : compared with Mel- ville, 248 : Works, 248, 9 : Bibliography, 250, i. See also pp. 76, 145, 154. Campbell, Bishop of Brechin, 22. Capellus, 76, 180 sqq., 186. Casuistry, 17, 138. Charenton, Synod of, 225, 242. Church, the true, 91 sqq. : Visible and Invisible, 113. Clerical dress, 109. INDEX 305 Coligny, Admiral, 15. CoUace, William, 27. Commission, High, 66, 107, 260. Common Table, 266, 294. Conimbricenses, 121. Contestation for Divinity Chair, 200. Corporal pimishment of stu- dents, 140, 148, 157. Curcellaeus (de Courcelles), 225. Davidson, John, 30, 33. Dempster, 97. Dickson, David, 114, 137, 142, 268. Dictates (dictation of lec- tures), 13. Disputations, 123, 138. Doctor of Divinity, 9 : Doctor or Teacher, 30 : D.D., 31, 257- Dort, Synod of, 78, 144. Douglas, Archbp., 7, 23, 64. Dumoulin, 78, 188, 190, 237. Duplessis Momay, 127. Durham, James, 281, 289. Elzevirs, 129. Epigram, Melville's, 67. Episcopacy, 54, 56, 57, 60, 62, 65- Episcopius, 227. Epitaphs on Queen Mary, 53. Enrol, Earl of, 255 sqq. Exercise, The weekly, 46. General Assembly dinners, lOI. Geneva, 10, 11, 17. Glasgow Cathedral, 100 : Town Council, 33. Golf, 3. Gomarus, 177. Go van, 38. Greek, 18, 131. Hamilton, Archbp., 5. Hamilton, Archibald, 86, 91, 92. Hampton Court conference, 66 sqq., 107. Hay, Andrew, parson of Ren- frew, 33, 51, 98. Hay, Edmund, 84, 85. Hebdomader, 47. Heidelberg, 176. Herminians {for Arminians), 299. Host, Procession of the, 25. Hottoman (Hotman), 18, 20. Howieson, John, 100. Huguenots, 15. Hyperius, 97. James VI., 12, 31, 162, 190, 211, 259. Januarius, 216. Jesuits' College, 25, 97. Johnston, Arthur, 53. Knox, John, 19, 105. Laing, David, 86. Languet, H., 20. Large Declaration, 275. Laud, 279. Law, Archbp., 150 sqq., 160, 263. 3o6 INDEX " Lay " elders, 275. Lee, Principal, 6, 65. Library of Glasgow Univer- sity, 51. Loci communes, 36. Lombard, Peter, 8. Lord's Prayer in Latin verse, 119. Louvain, 10. Maitland, Thomas, 97. Marriages of regents, 34. Marsiliers, Pierre de, 5. M'Crie, Dr. Thos., 30, 34, 77. Mellon, M. Paul, 73 sqq. Melville, Andrew (1545-1622) — ^birth, parentage, and education, 1-14 ; regent at Poitiers, 15 : studied at Geneva, 19 : summoned to Scotland, 21 : called to Glasgow, 30 : his method, 34 : the Nova Erectio, 37- 44 : his Latin verse, 52, 67, 102 : translated to St. Andrews, 55 : enters on contest with Episcopacy, 56 : his teaching at St. Andrews, 58 : first exile, 62 : ten years' favour, 63 : ten years' conflict, 65 ; ex- iled to Sedan, 68 : relations with Tilenus, 75 : ill-health, 79: death, 80: Works and Bibliography, 80-82. Melville, James, min. of Ar- broath, 2. Melville, James, nephew of Andrew Melville, 3, 21, 27-29, 68, 72. Melville, John, min. of Crail, 2, 31- Melville, Richard, of Baldovy, 2. Melville, Richard, min. of Mary ton, 2. Mestrezat, 298. Methodists, New (or Cameron- ites), 186. Milletidre, La, 177, 239 sqqj Milton on Cameron, 246. Moderator of Assembly, cho- sen by leet, 104 : of Pres- bytery, 109. Moncrieff, Gilbert, 32, 84. Montauban, 117, 118 sqq., 229. Montgomery, Archbp. Robert, 98, 99- Morton, Earl of, 26. Moore, Alexander, 298. Myrothecium, 245. Nicholas V., Pope, 33. Niddrie, his school-books, 4. Nova Erectio, 37 sqq., 139. Ogilvy, Father, 142. Ordination, 48, 125 sqq. Orthodoxa Responsio, 86 sqq. Paisley, 164 sqq. Perth Assembly, 65 : Articles of Perth, 146, 158. Hrates (privateers), 196. Piscator, 187 sqq., 203. Placaeus, 186. Poitiers, 14, 117. Polwarth, Andrew, 22, 24, '86, 98. INDEX 307 Prayer, Boyd's Class-prayer, 119: Cameron's, 218. Primrose, Gilbert, 178. Privas, Synod of, 186. Psalm tunes, 4. Puritans, 132. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 70. Ramus, Peter, 11, 12, 13, 14. Rector Magnificus, 130. Regent, 7, 8 : " regenting," 42. Rivet, Andrew, 114, 117. Rivet, William, 171, 221. Rochelle, Synod of, 127. RoUock, Robert, 116. Sacraments, 113. St. Andrews : St. Mary's Coll., 5. 30. 55. 58. 62 : St. Leonard's, 17, 27 : St. Salvator's, 83. Salaries of professors, 42. Saltmarket, 170. Santangelus, 192 sqq. Saumur, 76, 128 sqq., 145. Schultetus, 176. Scot, William, 66, 69. Scots College, Paris, 84. Scots tongue forbidden in College, 291. Scrimger, Henry, 18, 21. Sedan, 57, 68, 73 : Calvinism at, 77. Sharp, James, Archbp., 13, 24. Sharp, Patrick ( ? 1615) — master of Grammar School, Glasgow, 106 : member of High Commission, 107 : at Hampton Court, 107 sqq. : a " courtier," 108 : Con- stant Moderator, 109 : at Falkland Conference, 109 : condemned by Royal Com- mission, 109 : his Short Explication of the Christian Faith, 110-113 : his distin- guished pupils, 114. See also pp. 44, 48, 134. Seminary, Melville's Anti- Roman, 103. Sibbald, Dr., 263. Smeaton, Thomas (1536-1583) — ^birth and education, 83 : friendship with Melville, Thomas Maitland, and Gilbert Moncrieff, 84 : at Jesuit College, Paris, 84, 85 : min. of Paisley Abbey, 86 : he answers Hamilton, 87 : Hamilton's rejoinder, 96, 97 : trans- lates treatise on Preach- ing into Scots, 98 : elected to Glasgow College, 98 : struggle with Montgomery, 99 : character, loi : Mel- ville's tribute, 102 : mar- riage, 103 : works, etc., 105 : his account of Knox's deathbed, 105. Socinus, 185. Spottiswood, 142, 157, 289. Steliteuticus, 171, 193- Stephaniskion, 63. Stephens, Henry, 51. Strang, John (1584-1654) — birth and education, 252- 254 : regent at St. Leo- nard's, St. Andrews, 254 : 3o8 INDEX min. of Errol, 255-262 : influence against Roman- ism, 256 : made a D.D., 257 : his disputation before King James VI., 259 : appointed on High Com- mission, 260 : called to Edinburgh, 261 : app. to Glasgow, 262 : true story of this appointment, 263 : work as professor, 263- 266 : a poor preacher, 265 : work as principal, 267 : two additional professors appointed, 268 : subdivi- sion of Divinity teaching, 268, 9 : principal relieved of Divinity lectures, 270 : suspicion of heresy, 271 : intrigue with High Com- missioner, 275 : with Bal- canquall, 277, 8 : men- tioned in a letter to Laud, 279 : his anonymous " treatise," 280-282 : in- trigue discovered, 282 : committee of Assembly to examine his lectures, 284 : he is exonerated, 286, 7 ; resigns, 289 : his activities as principal, 290-294 : last years, 295 : character by BailUe, 296 : posthumous works, 297 : bibhography, 301, 2. See also p. 159. Students, Foreign, 58, 59 : Rules for students, 119 sqq. : Scots students at Montauban, 123 : scarcity of Divinity students, 292. TertuUian on Apost. Succes- sion, 94. Testard, 186. Tilenus, Daniel, 74 sqq. : 133, 177, 206 sqq., 211. Tonneins, Synod of, 188 sqq. Trilingual teaching at Scots schools, 4 : at Paris, 10. Tulchan bishops, 22, 23. Urquhart, Sir Thomas, 244. Verteuil, 125 sqq. Virgin Birth, 113. Wemyss, David, 44, 98. Wodrow, 210, 224. Young, Alexander, 21. Young, John, Dean of Win- chester, 144, 258. Young, Peter, 30, 32. GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNU-ERSITY PRESS BY HOBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. __ ^^ 3=---^