John Sage (1652–1711) was a
Scottish nonjuring bishop and controversialist in the
Jacobite interest.
Life
He was born at
Creich
Creich ( gd, Craoich, ) is a substantial parish on the north side of the Dornoch Firth the largest settlement being Bonar Bridge. It lies in Sutherland, Scotland.
There is a church (now in ruins) and graveyard for the Parish of Creich. Creich M ...
,
Fife, where his ancestors had lived for seven generations. His father was a captain in the royalist forces at the time of the taking of
Dundee by
George Monck
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...
in 1651. Sage was educated at Creich parish school and
St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College was a college of the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1450, it is the oldest of the university's colleges. In 1747 it merged with St Leonard's College to form United College.
History
St S ...
, where he graduated M.A. on 24 July 1669. Having been parish schoolmaster at
Ballingry
Ballingry ( or locally or (older) ); sco, Ballingry, Bingry, gd, Baile Iongrach) is a small town in Fife, Scotland. It is near the boundary with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population (2016) of . The once separ ...
, Fife, and then
Tippermuir,
Perthshire, he entered on trials before
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
presbytery on 17 December 1673, and gained testimonial for license on 3 June 1674.
He became tutor and chaplain in the family of James Drummond of
Cultmalundie, Perthshire. While residing with his pupils at Perth he made the acquaintance of
Alexander Rose, then minister of Perth. He visited Rose at
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 ...
in 1684, and was introduced to Rose's uncle,
Arthur Ross, then
archbishop of Glasgow
The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of ...
, who ordained him, and instituted him in 1685 to the charge of the east quarter in Glasgow. He held the clerkship of presbytery and synod. In 1688 Ross, being then primate, nominated him to a divinity chair at St Andrews, but the completion of the appointment was prevented by the abdication of James II.
Driven from Glasgow by the
Cameronian outbreak, Sage made his way to
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 ...
, and took up his pen in the cause of the extruded clergy. He carried with him nine volumes of the presbytery records, which were only recovered after 103 years according to
Hew Scott
Hew Scott (1791–1872) was a minister of the Church of Scotland parish of Anstruther Wester. He is largely remembered as a religious researcher and author. His "magnum opus" is the comprehensive, multi-volume work, ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae ...
. In 1693 he was banished from Edinburgh by the privy council for officiating as a nonjuror. He retired to
Kinross
Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.
History
Kinross's origins are conn ...
, and found shelter in the house of
Sir William Bruce
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (c. 1630 – 1 January 1710), was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes.Colvin, p.172–176 As a key figure in introduc ...
. But in 1696 Bruce was committed to
Edinburgh Castle, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sage. He hid himself in Angus, going by the name of Jackson, and giving out that he was come for a course of goat's milk. After a few months he became domestic chaplain, at
Falkirk, to Anne, dowager countess of Callendar, and subsequently to Sir John Stewart of
Grandtully
Grandtully (''pronounced as "Grantly" and sometimes also spelt "Grantully"'') is a small village in Perthshire, Scotland.
It is situated close to the River Tay, about from Pitlochry. It has a population of approximately 750 inhabitants.
Paris ...
, Perthshire.
On 25 January 1705 Sage was privately consecrated at Edinburgh, along with
John Fullarton
John Fullarton (c.1645 – 1727), of Greenhall, Argyll, was a Scottish clergyman and nonjurant Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh between 1720 and 1727.
Origins
Fullarton was the son of James McCloy, alias Fullarton, of Ballochindryan and Jean Ste ...
, as a
college bishop
In the early days 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 ...
(i.e. a bishop without diocese or jurisdiction), as part of the policy of continuing the nonjuring episcopal order, while respecting the right of the crown to nominate to sees. In November 1706 Sage was seized with paralysis while on a visit to Kinross. He recovered sufficiently to take part in a consecration at Dundee on 28 April 1709. He then went to
Bath. Moving on to London, he remained there about a year. He died at Edinburgh on 7 June 1711; his intimate correspondent,
Henry Dodwell the elder
Henry Dodwell (October 16417 June 1711) was an Anglo-Irish scholar, theologian and controversial writer.
Life
Dodwell was born in Dublin in 1641. His father, William Dodwell, who lost his property in Connacht during the Irish rebellion, was ...
, died on the same day. Sage was buried in the churchyard of
Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh.
John Gillan in his ''Life'' of Sage gives a long Latin inscription intended for his tomb.
Works
Most of Sage's publications were anonymous, but their authorship was well known; his controversial writings were shrewd. He published:
* ‘Letters concerning the Persecution of the Episcopal Clergy in Scotland,’ 1689, (anon.); Sage wrote the second and third letters, the first was by Thomas Morer, the fourth by
Alexander Monro.
* ‘The Case of the afflicted Clergy in Scotland,’ 1690, (‘By a Lover of the Church and his Country’).
* ‘An Account of the late Establishment of the Presbyterian Government,’ 1693, (anon.)
* ‘The Fundamental Charter of Presbytery … examin'd,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1697, (anon.; preface in answer to
Gilbert Rule
Gilbert Rule (c. 1629 – 1701) was a nonconformist Church of Scotland minister and the Principal of Edinburgh University from 1690 to 1701.
Early life
Rule was born about 1629, probably in Edinburgh, where his brother, Archibald, was one o ...
answered in ‘Nazianzeni Querela,’ 1697, by William Jameson (fl. 1689–1720).
* ‘The Principles of the Cyprianic Age,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1717, (by ‘J. S.’).
* ‘A Vindication of … the Principles of the Cyprianic Age,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1701, (in reply to Rule; this and the previous are answered in Jameson's ‘Cyprianus Isotimus,’ 1705).
* ‘Some Remarks on the late Letters … and Mr.
avidWilliamson's Sermon,’ 1703.
* ‘A Brief Examination of … Mr. Meldrum's Sermon against a Toleration’, 1703.
* ‘The Reasonableness of Toleration to those of the Episcopal Perswasion,’ 1703; 2nd edit. 1705 (anon.; consists of four letters to
George Meldrum
George Meldrum (1634–1709) was a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland who twice served as Moderator of the General Assembly, the highest position in the Scottish Church. He was one of the prominent Scottish Covenanters.
Life
He was ...
).
* ‘An Account of the Author's Life and Writings,’ prefixed to
Thomas Ruddiman
Thomas Ruddiman (October 167419 January 1757) was a Scottish classical scholar.
Life
He was born on a farm near Boyndie, three miles from Banff in Banffshire, where his father was a farmer.
He was educated locally, then studied at the Univer ...
's edition of
Gawin Douglas's ‘Virgil's Æneis,’ 1710. He assisted Ruddiman in the edition, Edinburgh, 1711, of the works of
William Drummond of Hawthornden
William Drummond (13 December 15854 December 1649), called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet.
Life
Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, to John Drummond, the first laird of Hawthornden, and Susannah Fowler, sister of the ...
, and wrote an introduction to Drummond's ''History of Scotland during the Reigns of the five Jameses''.
Among his unfinished manuscripts was a criticism of the
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...
. Gillan gives an account of other literary projects. His ''Works,'' with memoir, were issued by the Spottiswoode Society, Edinburgh, 1844–46, 3 vols.
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sage, John
1652 births
1711 deaths
Nonjurors of the Glorious Revolution
College bishops
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
17th-century Scottish Episcopalian priests
18th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops