Archibald Maclaine (1722–1804) was an Irish minister, known as a translator. He spent nearly half a century as pastor at the English church in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Life

From a Scots-Irish background, the son of Lauchlin Maclaine and brother of

James Maclaine "Captain" James Maclaine (occasionally "Maclean", "MacLean", or "Maclane") (1724 – 3 October 1750) was an Irish man of a respectable presbyterian family who had a brief but notorious career as a mounted highwayman in London with his accompl ...

the highwayman, he was born at

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

. He was educated at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he studied under Francis Hutcheson for the Presbyterian ministry. He matriculated there in 1739, took his M.A. degree in 1746, and was awarded a D.D. in 1767. In 1746 Maclaine became assistant to his maternal uncle, Robert Milling, a pastor of the Church of St John and St Philip at

, and in 1747 was admitted co-pastor. Known in Holland for his learning, he was for a time preceptor to the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...

. Ill-health, and the disturbances of the fall of the Dutch Republic after the Flanders campaign, led him to resign his charge in 1796. Maclaine settled at Bath, Somerset where he died on 25 November 1804, and was buried in Bath Abbey. The Rev. John Simpson attended his death-bed. A monument was erected to Maclaine's memory by his friend

Henry Hope Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business Hope & Co. at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the manager of Hope & Co. and he participa ...

. The epitaph was by Simpson.

Works

Maclaine published in 1765, in 2 vols., a translation from Latin, with notes, of Johann Lorenz Mosheim's ''Ecclesiastical History''. It was reprinted in 1768 in 5 vols., and in 1782, 1806, 1810, and 1825, in 6 vols. This major work met with the approval of John Wesley, who used it in his abridgement of Mosheim, ''A Concise Ecclesiastical History'' (1781). Maclaine also translated from the French Jean Jacob Vernet's ''Dialogues on some Important Subjects'', 1753. Other works were: *''Series of Letters on occasion of his "View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity,"'' 1777; 2nd edit. 1778, addressed to

Soame Jenyns Soame Jenyns (1 January 1704 – 18 December 1787) was an English writer and Member of Parliament. He was an early advocate of the ethical consideration of animals. Life and work He was the eldest son of Sir Roger Jenyns and his second wife E ...

. These contained criticism of

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is ...

for his tone. Having stated that Gibbon was free to speak his mind—in contrast to French citizens—he wrote " ..a sneer may have its place and time: but surely its ''place'' cannot be historical narrative, when Christianity the subject of discussion." *''Religion, a Preservative Against Barbarism and Anarchy: A Sermon from Jeremiah, XIII. 16. Preached at the Hague, February 13th, 1793'' (1793). *''The Solemn Voice of Public Events Considered in a Discourse from Zephaniah iii. 6,7.'' (1797). *''Discourses on Various Subjects Delivered in the English Church at the Hague'' (1799). With his father-in-law, Maclaine was involved in editing a periodical, the ''Bibliothèque des sciences et des beaux-arts''. He contributed literary articles to '' The Monthly Review''.

Family

Maclaine married in 1758 Esther Wilhelmina Chais (1736–1789), daughter of the Genevan minister

Charles-Pierre Chais Charles-Pierre Chais (1701–1785) was a Genevan pastor, who spent much of his life in The Hague. He completed a Bible translation in French; however, it derived with commentary from English-language sources. Life Chais was born in Geneva in Jan ...

. They had three sons and a daughter; Charles Anthony, the eldest, was a lawyer, recorder of Brabant, and Henry, the second son, an army officer in Dutch service.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaine, Archibald 1722 births 1804 deaths 18th-century Irish Presbyterian ministers Irish translators Christian clergy from County Monaghan 18th-century translators Alumni of the University of Glasgow Irish emigrants to the Netherlands People from The Hague 18th-century Irish non-fiction writers