Robert Eden (2 September 1804 – 26 August, 1886) was a British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop. He was

Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness The Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Inverness, Scotland. The current bishop is ...

and

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, styled "The Most Reverend the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church", is the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The current Primus is the Most Revd. Mark Strange who became primus on ...

Personal life

Eden, the third son of Sir

Frederick Morton Eden Sir Frederick Morton Eden, 2nd Baronet, of Maryland (18 June 1766 – 14 November 1809) was an English writer on poverty and pioneering social investigator. Early life Frederick Morton Eden was the eldest son of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of ...

, was born on 2 September 1804 and educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He took a third class in Classics in 1826 and proceeded B.A. in 1827. Ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in January 1828 and priest in December 1828 by

Christopher Bethell Christopher Bethell (21 April 1773 – 19 April 1859) was Bishop of Bangor. Bethell was the second son of the Reverend Richard Bethell, the rector of St Peter's Wallingford, Berkshire, who died 12 January 1806 having married his wife Ann in 177 ...

, the

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire. The see's centre of governan ...

, he served successively the

curacies A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

Weston-sub-Edge Weston-sub-Edge (also known as Weston Subedge) is a village in Gloucestershire, England. History This Cotswold village, recorded in the Domesday Book, lies at the foot of Dover's Hill. Named after Robert Dover who organised his ‘Olimpick’ ...

in Gloucestershire, and Messing and

Peldon Peldon is a village and civil parish in the Colchester borough of Essex, England. With Salcott, Virley, Great Wigborough and Little Wigborough, it forms part of the Winstred Hundred parish council. Nearby villages include Langenhoe. The pari ...

in Essex, and became Rector of

St Clement's Church, Leigh-on-Sea St Clement's Church is a parish church affiliated with the Church of England in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. It is a Grade II* listed building dedicated to Saint Clement of Rome, a 1st-century martyr and patron saint of mariners.Bishop Low, he accepted the offer of the Scottish See of Moray and Ross; he was consecrated at

Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh Old Saint Paul's is an historic church of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town in Scotland. It is one of the original congregations of the Scottish Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion, which evolved wit ...

, 9 March 1851. On this occasion his university conferred on him the degree of D.D. In 1862 he was elected

, in succession to Bishop Terrot. In 1827 he married Emma, daughter of Justice Allan Park, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. He died peacefully on the evening of 26 August 1886, at his official residence in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Assessment of his accomplishments

The progress which Scottish episcopacy made in his time must be attributed largely to his influence. He had given up a comfortable English

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * Hu ...

worth £500 or £600 a year for a position of which the yearly

emoluments Remuneration is the pay or other financial compensation provided in exchange for an employee's ''services performed'' (not to be confused with giving (away), or donating, or the act of providing to). A number of complementary benefits in addition ...

were not more than £150 (about £} today), and where there was no settled residence. His pro-cathedral was a small cottage, fitted up as a mission chapel, on the bank of the

River Ness The River Ness (Scottish Gaelic: ''Abhainn Nis'') is a river in Highland, Scotland, UK. It flows from Loch Dochfour, at the northern end of Loch Ness, north-east to the mouth of the Beauly Firth at Inverness, a distance of about , with a fall ...

. During his tenure he quadrupled the income of the see, founded the beautiful

Inverness Cathedral Inverness Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-Eaglais Inbhir Nis), also known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew (1866–69), is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church situated in the city of Inverness in Scotland close to the banks of ...

, and was mainly instrumental in securing a residence for his successor. Dignified and firm in character, he was a good and sound, rather than a brilliant, preacher. He was on the most intimate terms of friendship with Archbishop Longley and Bishops Blomfield, Selwyn,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, and Wilberforce, the last of whom said that his power of surmounting difficulties was just that of his ability at school to jump over anything that he could reach with his nose. Among his most noticeable public acts were his cordial recognition of M. Loyson ( Père Hyacinthe); his co-operation with the

Duke of Buccleuch Duke of Buccleuch (pronounced ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Cou ...

in removing the disabilities of Scottish orders in the ministry of the Church of England; his labours to promote union with the Eastern church; and his enlisting Archbishop Longley to take part in the foundation of

. His defence, in opposition to all the other Scottish bishops, of Bishop Wilberforce, who had held an English service in the presbyterian chapel of

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

, Inverness-shire, was perhaps due less to the somewhat

Erastian Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...

tone which uniformly pervaded Eden's political acts than to the mollifying effect produced by the personal visit of Wilberforce. Grave of Bishop Robert Eden

The Church Society

Not the least service rendered by the Primus to the Scottish church was in 1876. Large and excited meetings of its members were held in Edinburgh for the purpose of remodelling the whole financial system of the church. The Church Society, the creation of the popular Dean Ramsay, had long shown signs of inability to cope with the growing wants of the church. A small body of reformers aimed at replacing this society by an organisation which should represent every congregation, and those who had worked hard and generously on the old lines were opposed to this. The result, therefore, depended on the view which the primus would take. He threw in his lot with the reformers, and composed many heated debates by his courtly suavity and excellent knowledge of business. The new financial body thus formed, known as the ''Representative Church Council'', has been so successful as to justify his action. Eden was perhaps a better primus than diocesan bishop. His bonhomie and love of telling jocose stories somewhat scared strict spirits. But his grand manner, which, said one of his clergy, 'made you feel proud of yourself in five minutes,' was very telling. Theologically he was a moderate

high churchman The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

, politically an uncompromising

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Works

His published works were: * Three tracts against

Wesleyan Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, published before his episcopate began. * Four charges. * Sermons in defence of Scottish episcopacy. * Sermons on the Prayer Book, on the "International Society of Workmen", and against

teetotalism Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...

. * ''Impressions of a Recent Visit to Russia, a Letter addressed to Chancellor Massingberd, on Intercommunion with the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

'', 1866. In addition, he wrote prefaces to Reginald Shuttle's translation of the ''Heliotropium: Conformity of the Human Will to the Divine'' by

Jeremias Drexel Jeremias Drexel S.J. (also known as Hieremias Drexelius or Drechsel) (August 15, 1581 – 19 April 1638) was a Jesuit writer of devotional literature and a professor of the humanities and rhetoric. He served for 23 years as court preacher in ...

(Drexelius), and to

Dmitry Tolstoy Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy (russian: Дми́трий Андре́евич Толсто́й; , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Politician, statesman, a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866). He belonged to t ...

's ''Romanism in Russia''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Robert 1804 births 1886 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Bishops of Moray, Ross and Caithness Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English religious writers 19th-century British writers Primuses of the Scottish Episcopal Church 19th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops Younger sons of baronets