Robert Douglas (1594–1674) was the only minister of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
to be
Moderator of the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
five times.
Robert Douglas was son of Robert Douglas, an illegitimate son of Sir George Douglas of Lochleven, brother of William,
fifth Earl of Morton. He was educated at
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, graduating with an M.A. in 1614. He was licensed as a church minister about 1617. Almost immediately afterwards he was engaged as chaplain to one of the brigades of Scottish auxiliaries co-operating with
Gustavus Adolphus in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. During that period he is said to have had no other book to read but the Bible, and committed nearly the whole of it to memory.
Returning to Scotland he became "second charge" minister of
Kirkcaldy Parish Church, in 1628. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1638, and was translated, in 1639 to the Second Charge of
St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
in
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 ...
. In 1641 he was moved to the Tolbooth Parish (still within St Giles). He was
Moderator of the General Assembly
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...
in 1642 (and also in 1645, 1647, 1649, and 1651). In 1643 he was elected a Commissioner to the
Assembly of Divines
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopted ...
in a delegation sent to Westminster in London. In 1644 he was chaplain to one of the Scots Regiments in England.
In 1649 he was again minister of St Giles, and assisted in the presentation of the
Solemn League and Covenant to Parliament. In 1650 he was one of the ministers who waited on
Charles II. at Dunfermline, to obtain his signature to a declaration of religion; when Charles refused to sign,
and a serious division of the Church ensued. Douglas became a leader of the
Resolutioners
The Act of Classes was passed by the Parliament of Scotland on 23 January 1649. It was probably drafted by Lord Warriston, a leading member of the Kirk Party, who along with the Marquess of Argyll were leading proponents of its clauses. It bann ...
, the moderate party. On 1 January
1651 he preached at the
coronation of Charles II at
Scone
A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...
. Sent prisoner to London by Cromwell in 1653, he was soon released. In 1654 he was summoned to London (with others) to consult with the Protector upon the affairs of the Church of Scotland. In 1659 he preached the sermon at the opening of
Heriot's Hospital
George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...
. In 1661 he preached before Parliament. After the Restoration he was offered the Bishopric of Edinburgh, but indignantly declined, and remonstrated with Sharp for accepting the Archbishopric of St Andrews.
On 27 June 1662 he was translated to Greyfriars, Edinburgh, but refusing to conform to Episcopacy, he was deprived on 1 October of the same year. He was admitted as an "indulged minister" to
Pencaitland on 2 September 1669, and died (buried 6th) February 1674. "No man," it was said, " contributed more to the Restoration, and received less benefit from it."
Life
He was son of George Douglas, governor of Laurence, Lord Oliphant; the father was said to be an illegitimate son of Sir George Douglas of Lochleven, brother of Sir
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton (c. 1540 – 1606) was the son of Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland.
Career
Connections
Sir William's half-brother from his mother's liaison with the k ...
. Sir George helped Mary Queen of Scots to escape from Lochleven in 1567, and at the end of the seventeenth century the Scottish historians stated that Queen Mary was the mother of Sir George's illegitimate son.
Gilbert Burnet states, in the manuscript copy of his 'History of his own Time' in the British Museum, that the rumour that Robert Douglas was Queen Mary's grandson was very common in his day, and that Douglas 'was not ill-pleased to have this story pass.' Wodrow (Analecta, iv. 226) repeats the tale on the authority of 'Old Mr. Patrick Simson,' and suggests that it was familiar to most Scotchmen. But the report may be a Whig fiction fabricated about Queen Mary to discredit the Jacobites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He was educated at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1614.
![Strasbourg walter gustave adolphe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Strasbourg_walter_gustave_adolphe.JPG)
He became minister of
Kirkaldy in 1628, and a year later was offered a charge at
South Leith, which he declined. He became chaplain to one of the brigades of Scottish auxiliaries sent with the connivance of Charles I to the aid of
Gustavus Adolphus in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. Gustavus landed in Germany in June 1630;
Robert Wodrow
Robert Wodrow (167921 March 1734) was a Scottish minister and historian, known as a chronicler and defender of the Covenanters. Robert Wodrow was born at Glasgow, where his father, James Wodrow, was a professor of divinity. Robert was educate ...
, in his 'Analecta,' gives several anecdotes, showing how he appreciated Douglas's advice. Returning to Scotland, he was elected in 1638 member of the General Assembly, and in the following year was chosen for the second charge of the High Church in Edinburgh. In 1641 he was removed to the Tolbooth Church, and in July of the same year preached a sermon before the Scottish parliament. In the following year he was chosen moderator of the general assembly—a post he also held in 1645, 1647, 1649, and 1651—and in 1643 he was named one of the commissioners of the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...
.
In 1644 he was chaplain to one of the Scottish regiments in England, an account of which he gives in his 'Diary'. In 1649 he was retransferred to the High Church in Edinburgh (
St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
), and with other commissioners presented the
Solemn League and Covenant to the parliament, and was appointed a commissioner for visiting the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St Andrews. In the following year he was one of the ministers who waited on Charles II at
Dunfermline to obtain his signature to a declaration of religion; but as this document reflected on his father, Charles refused to sign it. The result was a division in the Scotch church on the matter, Douglas being a leader of the resolutioners, the party which preferred to treat the king leniently.
The Church of Scotland was now unhappily split into two contending sections. Old friends who had fought side by side in earlier days became opponents, and there was much bitterness and occasionally misrepresentations, due in some cases to misunderstandings, exaggerated reports or false rumours. Of the Resolutioners, Robert Douglas was, by head and shoulders, the acknowledged leader. His ministerial supporters included
David Dickson,
Robert Baillie, and James Wood. Among the Protesters the most outstanding ministers were
James Guthrie,
Samuel Rutherfurd,
Andrew Cant,
Patrick Gillespie, and John Livingstone; and, of the elders,
Wariston and Sir John Cheisly; the two most strenuous fighters being Guthrie and Wariston.
In January 1651 Douglas officiated at the coronation of Charles II at Scone, preaching a sermon in which he said that it was the king's duty to maintain the established religion of Scotland, and to bring the other religions of the kingdom into conformity with it.
Douglas was sent prisoner to London by
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
, when he suppressed the Scotch royalists, but was released in 1653. In 1654 he was called to London with other eminent ministers to consult with the Protector on the affairs of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. Douglas was now the acknowledged leader of the moderate presbyterians or 'public resolutioners,' and retained the position till the
English Restoration
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to ...
, which he largely helped to bring about. In 1659 he joined with the other resolutioners in sending
James Sharp to London to attend to the interests of the Scottish church, and Wodrow (''Sufferings of the Church of Scotland'') gives most of the correspondence which took place between them. In this year Douglas preached the sermon at the opening of
Heriot's Hospital
George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...
.
After the Restoration Douglas was offered the bishopric of Edinburgh if he would agree to the introduction of episcopacy into Scotland, but declined the office, and remonstrated with Sharp for accepting the archbishopric of St. Andrews. He preached before the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in 1661, and 27 June 1662 was removed to the pastorate of
Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars Kirk ( gd, Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edin ...
. For declining to recognise episcopacy Douglas was deprived of this charge on 1 October 1662.
In 1669 the privy council licensed him as an indulged minister to the parish of
Pencaitland in
East Lothian. He died in 1674, aged 80.
Works
Hew Scott's list:
* 'The Diary of Mr. Robert Douglas when with the Scottish Army in England,' 1644.
* 'A Sermon preached at Scone, January the first, 1651, at the Coronation of Charles II,' 1651. The text is given in Kerr. An audio recording of this sermon is on YouTube.
* 'Master Douglas, his Sermon preached at the Down-sitting of the last Parliament of Scotland,' 1661.
Family
He married (1) Margaret Kirkaldie, and (2) Margaret Boyd on 20 August 1646. By the former he was father of Thomas, Janet, Alexander, minister of
Logie Kirk
Logie Kirk is an isolated but operational church east of Stirling in central Scotland serving Church of Scotland pastoral duties in the areas of Cambuskenneth, Bridge of Allan, Causewayhead (eastern Stirling), and formerly the estate of Airthrey ...
, Elizabeth, Archibald, and Robert. He had also two children (Robert and Margaret) by his second wife.
He married (1) Margaret Kirkaldy, and had issue — James, of Earnslaw (Fife Sets., xii., 289) ; Thomas, who died before 1667, when Alexander is called second son (G. R. Inhib., 12 March 1680); Janet ; Alexander, minister of Logie ; Patrick, bapt. 28th Jan. 1642 (marr. Margaret Lothian), died before 1673 (G. R. Inhib., 26th Jan. 1674):
Elizabeth, bapt. 3rd Jan. 1643; Archibald, bapt. 8th Jan. 1644; Robert: (2) 20th Aug. 1646, Margaret Boyd, who survived him, and was buried 13 July 1692, and had issue — Eobert; Margaret, bapt. 18 July 1658.
Bibliography
Hew Scott's:
*Kirkton's, Burnet's, and Wodrow's Hists. ;
*Law's Memorials,
*Guthrey's Memoirs;
*Notes and Queries (1st series), iv., 299, (2nd series), vi., 50-1 ;
*Dict. Nat. Biog.
Bickley's:
*Kirkton's Secret Hist. of the Church of Scotland, p. 288;
*Guthrey's Memoirs, p. 190;
*Stephen's Hist. of the Church of Scotland, pt. ii. p. 176 (1845);
*Johnstone's Collection, &c., pp. 328, 445–9;
*Hetherington's Hist. of the Church of Scotland (1852);
*Chambers's Eminent Scotsmen, vol. i.;
*Wodrow's Sufferings of the Clergy in Scotland;
*Wodrow's Analecta;
*Hew Scott's Fasti Ecclesiæ Scotic. i. 21, 26, &c.;
*Notes and Queries, 1st ser. iv. 299, 2nd ser. xi. 50–1
External links
The National Covenants Coronation Sermon at Scone by Robert Douglas (audio) YouTube
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Robert
1594 births
1674 deaths
Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Scottish Commissioners at the Westminster Assembly
17th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
Alumni of the University of St Andrews