George Gleig

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FSA LLD (12 May 1753 – 9 March 1840) was a Scottish minister who transferred to the Episcopalian faith and became Primus of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

Life

He was born at Boghall Farm, near

Arbuthnott Arbuthnott ( gd, Obar Bhuadhnait, "mouth of the Buadhnat") is a village and parish in the Howe of the Mearns, a low-lying agricultural district of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located on the B967, east of Fordoun (on the A90) and north-west ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the son of a farmer. He was educated at Arbuthnott Parish School. At the age of thirteen he entered King's College,

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, where the first prize in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and moral sciences fell to him. In his twenty-first year he took orders in the

, and was ordained to the pastoral charge of a congregation at

Pittenweem Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747. Etymology The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish ''pett'' 'pl ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, whence he removed in 1790 to

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. He became a frequent contributor to the ''

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

'', the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'', the '' Anti-Jacobin Review'' and the ''

British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...

''. In 1786 he declined the office of

bishop of Brechin The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or angus, Scotland, Angus, based at Dundee. Brechin Cathedral, Brechin is a parish church of the established (presbyterian) Church of Scotland. The diocese had a long-es ...

. He also wrote several articles for the third edition of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', and on the death of the editor,

Colin Macfarquhar Colin Macfarquhar (1744 or 1745? – 2 April 1793 or May 1793, Edinburgh?, Scotland) was a Scottish bookseller and printer who is most known for co-founding ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' with Andrew Bell, first published in December 1768. The dat ...

, in 1793, was engaged to edit the remaining volumes. Among his principal contributions to this work were articles on

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a v ...

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

. The two supplementary volumes were mainly his own work. In 1797 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were James Gregory, Sir James Hall, and

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hut ...

. He was twice chosen

bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the first k ...

, but the opposition of Bishop Skinner, afterwards Primus of Scotland, rendered the election on both occasions ineffectual. In 1808 he was consecrated assistant and successor to the

, in 1810 was preferred to the sole charge, and in 1816 was elected Primus of the

, in which capacity he greatly aided in the introduction of many useful reforms, in fostering a more catholic and tolerant spirit, and in cementing a firm alliance with the sister

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. He died at

. He is buried in the chapel of Greyfriars Church in Stirling.

Works

*''Letters containing an Apology for the Episcopal Church of Scotland'' (1787) *''Some Account of the Life and Writings of the late William Robertson'' (1812) *''Directions on the Study of Theology'' (1827) Besides various sermons, Gleig was the author of ''Directions for the Study of Theology'', in a series of letters from a bishop to his son on his admission to holy orders (1827); an edition of

Thomas Stackhouse Thomas Stackhouse (1677–1752) was an English theologian and controversialist. Life The son of John Stackhouse (d. 1734), who became rector of Boldon in County Durham, and uncle of John Stackhouse, he was born at Witton-le-Wear where his fat ...

's ''History of the Bible'' (1817); and a life of Robertson the historian, prefixed to an edition of his works. See ''Life of Bishop Gleig'', by the Rev. W. Walker (1879). Letters to Alexander Henderson of Edinburgh and John Douglas, bishop of Salisbury, are in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Family

In 1789 he married Janet Hamilton (a widow née Fullton). She died in 1824. His third and only surviving son, George Robert, was a noted soldier and chaplain.

References

Attribution: *

External links

Bibliographic directory
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleig, George Contributors to the Encyclopædia Britannica Primuses of the Scottish Episcopal Church 1753 births 1840 deaths 19th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops Metaphysics writers People from Aberdeenshire Scottish journalists Scottish Episcopal theologians Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Bishops of Brechin (Episcopalian) Scottish encyclopedists