James Carlile (1784–1854) was a Scottish clergyman from
Paisley. He was a joint minister of a
Scots church in Dublin and an Irish commissioner of education. He introduced a different style of education in Ireland whereby children of different denominations could go to the same school.
[
]
Biography
Carlile was born in Paisley. He was educated at Paisley Grammar School
Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland ...
and then studied divinity at the universities in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. He was licensed to preach in 1811 by the Paisley Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
s and in 1815 at the Scots' Church, Mary's Abbey, in Dublin.
On 1 July 1813 he published the constitution of a Purgatorian Society, which was an unusual concept. The constitution took a tract from the Bible as their guide. They agreed to pay one penny a week, and in exchange prayers would be offered for their souls at 10 a.m. every month.[
Delineation of Roman Catholicism Drawn from the Authentic and Acknowledged Standards of the Church of Rome : Namely, Her Creeds, Catechisms, Decisions of Councils, Papal Bulls, Roman Catholic Writers, the Records of History...], By Charles Elliott] The tract they chose was ''It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins''.[ The idea was that members would spend less time in ]Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
. The rules of the society laid down that all members would be entitled to a mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
in their honour assuming that they had a natural death and there were no fees owing to the society.[
In 1817 he made an important speech which changed Irish church policy.][Short History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland]
Prof. John M. Barkley, Chapter 3. Retrieved 1 August 2008
This speech was in protest of Lord Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...
's suggestion that the synod should recognise the Belfast Academical Institution instead of a Scottish university to educate their ministers.
Carlile was moderator of the synod of Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
in 1825.[
]
Education policy
Carlile was appointed resident commissioner to the new Irish board of national education in 1831. He devised and introduced a radical system of education. It was based on the idea of both Protestant and Catholic children being educated together, except for separate religious education. He sat on the school board with the Anglican Archbishop Richard Whately and the Roman Catholic Archbishop Daniel Murray. The two Dublin archbishops both regarded Carlile highly despite the objections they all received from less radical wings of both denominations. In 1839 he resigned, but by this time he had handled the main arguments, commissioned new textbooks and a new Dublin teacher training college where he had served as a professor.[ The educational reforms are seen as divisive. The Catholic encyclopaedia describes how the reform was "left in the hands of the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin (Dr. Whately) and his ]Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
ally, Rev. James Carlile, both of whom were unceasing in unscrupulous efforts to make it an engine of attack on the Catholic faith of the Irish people."
A geography course written by Carlile describes a tour of the world including England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland which are the "British Empire in Europe". The Welsh are so industrious that they "carry their knitting wherever they go", whereas Dublin used to have more factories, but the workers refused to lower their wages to a level that their masters could afford.
Home missionary
In 1839 he successfully persuaded his church to allow him to become their missionary to a church in Birr. This church, led by their minister, had left the Roman Catholic Church and had applied to join the Presbyterians.[ Carlile served in this role of missionary, but continued with other interests.
Carlile journeyed to London to attend the ]World Anti-Slavery Convention
The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The ex ...
on 12 June 1840. The picture above shows him in a painting made to commemorate the event which attracted delegates from America, France, Haiti, Australia, Ireland, Jamaica and Barbados.[The Anti-Slavery Society Convention]
, 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon
Benjamin Robert Haydon (; 26 January 178622 June 1846) was a British painter who specialised in grand historical pictures, although he also painted a few contemporary subjects and portraits. His commercial success was damaged by his often tactles ...
. Retrieved 19 July 2008
In 1845 Carlile was moderator of the church's general assembly and in the same year he was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity from Glasgow University.[ Carlile retired to Dublin in 1852 after his wife, Jane, died in Birr. He died at his home in ]Rathmines
Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...
, on 31 March 1854. A church service in Dublin was followed by a burial in Birr.
His sister Elizabeth married Nathaniel Stevenson, a Glasgow businessman involved with cotton.Nathaniel Stevenson
Glasgow digital library. Retrieved 1 August 2008
Works
*
* ''Sermons on Faith and Repentance,'' London, 1821.
*
* ''The Apocryphal Controversy summed up,'' Glasgow, 1827.
* ''On the Constitution of the Primitive Churches,'' Dublin, 1831.
* ''Letters on the Divine Origin and Authority of Scripture,'' 2 vols., London, 1833.
* ''On the First and Second Advents,'' Edinburgh, 1848.
* ''Fruit gathered from among Roman Catholics in Ireland,'' London, 1848.
* ''The Papal Invasion: how to repel it,'' London, 1850.
* ''Manual of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Mind,'' London, 1851.
* ''Station and Occupation of Saints in Final Glory,'' London, 1854.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlile, James
1784 births
1854 deaths
19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
Irish abolitionists
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
People from Paisley, Renfrewshire
Irish Presbyterian ministers
Moderators of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Presbyterian abolitionists