tence of the University and Town Council against a
certain day, or else enter as a prisoner into the
castle of Blackness *. Upon his return, the rector,
a man of great prudence and knowledge of the
country, was of opinion that they should pass from
the decree ; as the pride of the families concerned
would not suffer them quietly to see their relation
make such a humble acknowledgement, and it was
to be feared that the affair would not terminate
without bloodshed. To this advice the principal
peremptorily refused to yield. " If they would
have forgiveness (said he) let them crave it huinbly,
and they shall have it ; but ere this preparative
pass, that we dare not correct our scholars for fear
of bangsters and clanned gentlemen, they shall have
all the blood of my body first."
* See Note P.
88 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
On the day appointed for making the submission,
Lord Boyd came to Glasgow accompanied with his
friends, and the Earl of Glencairn with his, to the
luimber of between four and five hundred gentle-
men. The members of the University being assem-
bled in the College-hall, attempts were made to de-
ter them from appearing at the appointed place, by
persons who professed to act as mediators. " They
that will go with me (exclaimed Melville) let them
go; and they that are afraid, let them tarry." And
setting out instantly, he was followed by the rector,
regents, and students, in their gowns. The church-
yard was filled with gentlemen, who gave way, and
allowed the procession from the college to advance
to the spot where the assault was made. Alexan-
der Cunninghame, with his head and feet uncovered,
but in other respects richly dressed, now cam.e for-
ward, supported by two of his friends, and, with an
air very different from that of a penitent, said he was
ready to make his submission, provided there were
any that would accept it. " Doubt not of the ac-
ceptation (replied the principal) ; we are here ready."
This boldness completely deranged the plans of the
cabal, whose object it was to make a shew of readiness
to give obedience to the order of the Privy Council,
but at the same time to intimidate the College from
requiring it. Accordingly, after a short pause, the
culprit found himself obliged to begin his confession,
which he went through in every article, conformably
to the original sentence, in the presence of his friends
(convened from all parts of the country. When the
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 89
ceremony was over, the principal and his company
left the church-yard in the same manner as they
had entered it, without meeting with the slightest
molestation. And the gentlemen, after spending a
considerable sum of money in the town, returned
home, " greater fools," as some of them expressed
themselves, " than they came *."
We must not omit to notice a charge brought
against JNIelville, which relates to the period of which
we are now writing. It is said that he was accessory
to "a little disturbance" which took place in Glasgow.
" By the earnest dealing of Mr Andrew Melville
and other ministers," the magistrates agreed to
demolish the Cathedral, as a monument of idolatry,
and to build a number of small churches with its
materials. But the trades of the city, resenting
this, rose in a tumult, and forcibly prevented the
workmen from proceeding. The ring-leaders of the
riot were summoned before the Privy Council, when
the king, not then thirteen years of age, took their
part, and told the ministers engaged in the prosecu-
tion, " that too many churches had already been de-
stroyed, and that he would not tolerate more abuses
in that kindf." This statement rests solely upon
the authority of bishop Spotswood. I never met
with any thing in the public or private writings of
Melville, or of any minister contemporary with him,
that gives the smallest ground for the conclusion, that
* Melville's Diary, pp. 52 — 55.
'\ Spotswood, Hist. p. 304.
90 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
they looked upon cathedral churches as monuments
of idolatry, or that they would have advised their
demolition on this ground. The records of the
Town Council of Glasgow and of the Privy Council,
are totally silent as to the alleged order and riot ;
a silence which it is extremely difficult to account
for, on the supposition that the bishop has given a
correct report of the affair. It appears from the
most satisfactory documents, that the magistrates
and ministers of Glasgow, so far from wishing to pull
down the Cathedral, were anxious to uphold and
repair it, that they made representations to the King
and Privy Council on this head, and that, though
the burden of the work did not legally fall on them,
they voluntarily and zealously agreed to contribute
for carrying it into execution *. I think it highly
probable, that any disturbance which may have fur-
nished the ground-work of the statement under ex-
amination, was occasioned by an order, not for de-
molishing, but for repairing the Cathedral ; and that
the craftsmen were aggrieved at some encroachment
upon their rights, real or supposed, in the manner
of carrying this into effect.
During the second year of his residence at Glas-
gow, Melville received from Geneva his library,
consisting of an ample collection of books in vari-
ous languages, and on all sciences, which he had
purchased while he remained on the continent f .
This was the treasure on which he set the highest
* See Note Q. t Melville's Diary, pp. 36, 4 L
LIFE OF ANDllEW MELVILLE. 91
value ; though the reverse of parsimonious in every
other respect he does not appear to have heen fond
of making presents of his hooks *, he was even cau-
tious in lending them ; and when he was forced to
fly from home one of the first objects of his anxiety
was the security of his library f . Before its arrival
at this time he must have felt severely the want of
books. For this commodity was then exceedingly
rare in Scotland ; nor was there any thing in which
our universities were more poorly provided.
The foundation of a public library in the Univer-
sity of Glasgow is to be referred to this period.
The small collection formerly possessed by the
College appears to have consisted entirely of text-
books for the use of the regents. But in 1577, the
year in which their revenue was much improved,
the Senatus gave an order to purchase a considerable
quantity of books, of various descriptions, at the pub-
lic expence of the University. About the same
time valuable additions were made to tliese by pre-
sents from individuals who were desirous of encour-
aging this necessary appendage to a literary esta-
blishment. Among its earliest benefactors we find
the names of Buchanan, bishop Boyd, Andrew Hay,
Andrew Polwart, Peter Blackburn, Archibald Crau-
furd, Thomas Jack, and John Howison J.
* I have not found his name among those of his learned con-
temporaries who made donations of this kind to the Universities
of Glasgow and St Andrews.
t Melvini Epistolye, p. 89, 295, 306. X See Note R.
• 92 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
About this time Melville's first publication, wbicb
was printed abroad, made its appearance in Scotland.
It consisted of a poetical paraphrase of the Song of
Moses, and a chapter of Job, with several smaller
poems, all in Latin *. This publication gained
him great reputation among the learned, who eagerly
expected that he would undertake a work of greater
extent, which might prove a durable monument of
his talents. He excused himself for declining this,
by pleading that there were already too many writ-
ers who courted the public favour, and that it was
his duty to devote his attention to the task of edu-
cation, which h^ regarded as the great business
* James Melville speaks of this viork as if it Iiad been first
published in 1378. Diary, p. 49. But 1 have now before me
a copy of the very rare original edition, communicated by Mr
David Laing, whose extensive acquaintance with Scottish biblio-
graphy has often been of great service to me. The following is
the title of the work :
" Carmen Mosis, Ex Deuteron. Cap. xxxii. quod ipse mor-^
iens Israqli tradidit euiscendum &. cantandum perpetuo, latlna
paraphiasi iUustratum. Cui addita sunt nonnulla Epigrammata,
& lobi Cap. III. latino carmine redditum. Andrea Melvino
Scoto Avctore. Basileae m. J). lxxhii.'* 8vo. Pp, 16.
The manuscript of this work was, it is probable, left on the con-
tinent by the author, when he returned to Scotland. But one,
at least, of the epigrams (that on the de:«th of Charles IX.) n^u-t
have been transmitted to the printer by Melville, after his arrival in
Britain. (Seeabove, p. 51, 52.) — In the inventory of books belong-
ing to Thomas Bassinden, printer in Edinburgh, inserted in his
Testament Testamentar, is the following article : " lie. xlviii
carmen moyses, y* dosane xviii**. summa vi s." There can be
no doubt that this is Melville's work. Bassinden died 18th
October 1577. Commissary Records of Edinburgh.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 93
of his life. Accordingly, he checked instead of en-
couraging the inclination to write for the press, con-
fining himself to occasional pieces, epigiams, and
other light effusions of the muse, in which he in-
dulged for his own amusement and the gratification
of his friends *.
The Carmen Mosis is unquestionably the finest
poem in the collection, or perhaps of any that Mel-
ville wrote. It is worthy of the scholar of Buchan-
an, and deserves a place among the productions of
those modern writers who have attained great
excellence in Latin poetry. The author did not
propose to transfuse the peculiar beauties of the
original into his paraphrase. The different genius
of the two species of poetry rendered this impracti^
cable. Its merits must therefore be estimated ac-
cording to the principles of Latin, and not of He-
brew poetry. The language is classically pure, and
at the same time not un suited to the sacredness of
the theme ; the versification is correct and smooth ;
and the imagery is managed with boldness and deli-
cacy. The exordium, though it does not express
the inimitable simplicity and majesty of the origi-
nal, is lofty and beautiful.
Vos aeterui ignes, et conscla lumliia mundl,
Palantesque polo flammaej vos humida regna
Aerllque super tractus, campique jacentes,
Ht coelum et tellus (ego vos nunc allocjuor) aul'es
Arilgite : et celsas dicenti advertlte mentes.
* Melville's Diary, p. 49.
94 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
Quales rore fluens genimantl argenteus imber
Plurimus, arentes maturis solibus agros
Temperat undanti rivo j glebasque subactas
Evocat in florem, et viiidantes elicit herbas j
Instauratque iiovos opulenti ruris honores.
Talis ab ore fluit sacio vis lactea fandi :
Tale polo veniens numeris liquentibus aureum
Divitis eloquii flumen manablt in artus,
Ossaque, peique imos sensus, perque alta pererrans
Fectora, nectareos laeto feret ubere fructus,
Et gazam aetherea cumulabit messe perennem.
Quippe Dei pango nomen : coelique verendum
Concelebro numen : vos ergo Dei venerandum
Et nomen celebrate, et nuraen pangite nostri.
The description of the eagle's teaching her young
to fly, by which the divine care exercised about
Israel is illustrated, is also extremely beautiful.
Ac velut alituuni princeps, fulvusque Tonantis
Armiger, implumes et adhuc sine robore nidos
SoUicita refovet cura, pingulsque ferinae
Indulget pastus, mox ut cum viribus alas
Vestlcipes cievere, vocat si blandlor aura,
Expansa invitat pluma : dorsoque morantes
Excipit, attollitque humeiis: plausuque secundo
Fertur In arva, timens oneri natat impete presso,
Kemlgium lentans alarum : incurvaque pinnis
Vela legens, humilesque tranat sub nubibus oras.
Hinc sensim supera alta petit : jam jamque sub astra
Erigitur : cursusque leves citus urget in auras,
Omnia pervolitans late loca : et agmine foetus
Fertque refertque suos vario : moremque volandi
Addocet. Illi autem longa assuetudine doctl
Paulatim incipiunt pennis se credere coelo
Impavidj. Tantum a teneris valet a(^Je^e curam.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 95
The smaller poems consist of commendatory verses
to the memory of Admiral Coligni and other pro-
tcstants who perished in the massacres of France,
and of satirical invectives against the tyrannical and
cruel policy of the individuals who had devised
these detestable scenes *. The dedication of the
work to the young king is very happily conceived
and expressed.
Extremse spes sera plagae, lux aurea gentis
Arctoae, et secH solque jubarque tui.
Tot sceptris atavorum ingens, Ingentior alta
Indole, quam tolllt relligionls honos,
Sancte puer, cape sacra meae primordia musae,
Non secus ac grati prima elementa animi.
Parva quldem tanto, fateor, munuscula Regi ;
Parva, sed immensi munere magna Del.
Ipse tlbl majora dabis nostro auspice PhcEbo :
Forsan et ausplclls nos meliora tuis t.
* Two of these have already been given. See above, p. 51, 52.
Some of them are introduced into a work, entitled, '* Memoires
de 1' Estat de France sous Charles IX." Tom. i. p. 571, b. 574.
A Meidelborg, 1578.
t Below the dedication, in the copy of the book which I have
used, a few lines in praise of Buchanan have been written with a
pen. They are not in Melville's hand-writing, but from their
having been introduced here it is probable that he was considered
as the author of them. I have not observed that they have been
printed.
Geo. Buchan. Scotus,
Vlr Excellentiss.
Clarus in HIstorlae carapo, clarusque Poesi,
Nomen ad eeternos fers, Buchanane, dies.
Scotia luce tua perfusa celebrlor audet,
Rex disclplinte gaudet honore tuae.
Maximus es merltis. Q^uid Patria Rexve rependet,
Quando tuls meritis hie sit et ilia minor ^
96 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
The whole of this work was deemed worthy of
being included in the selection of Latin poetry by
Scotsmen, published at a subsequent period under
the direction of Arthur Johnston *
* Delitiae Poetarum Scotorura, torn* ii.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 97
CHAPTER III.
GrENEii.iL estimate of the advantages resulting
from Melmlle's teaching at Glasgow — state of
literature in Scotland — royal school at Stirling
— Buchanan — P^ter Young — individuals edu-
cated along with the young king — scholastic phi-
losophy — John Rutherfurd — William Ramsay
— civil law-^ William Skene — Edward Henry-
son — theology and polite letters — Alexander Ar-
huthnot — Thomas Smeton — Patrick Adamson —
Thomas Maitland — John Davidson — gramma-
tical instruction — Thomas Jack — Patrick Sharp
— Thomas Buchanan,
The settlement of Melville at Glasgow forms an
era in the literary history of Scotland. In conse-
quence of the confusions in which the country had
for a numher of years been involved, the study of
letters, introduced by the Reformation, had suffered
a severe check. A number of those intrusted with
education had deserted the kingdom, and such of
them as remained, being discouraged by want of
patronage, desisted from their labours, or contented
themselves with the perfunctorious performance of
their official task, without making those exertions
VOL. I. G
98 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
which were necessary for their own improvement and
the advancement of knowledge. Attempts to effect a
reform on the old mode of teaching in the univer-
sities had repeatedly failed, from want of zeal in the
government, and from aversion on the part of the
teachers. A new impulse behoved to be given to
the public mind before it would move forward in
the prosecution of literature. And this was im-
parted by the arrival of an individual of high re-
putation, by the iraprovetl plan of study which his
authority enabled him to introduce, and by the en-
thusiasm and the success with which he carried his
plan into execution. These improvements were
within a short time extended to the other seminaries
of education ; and the spirit which had been called
forth displayed itself in the erection of new univer-
sities in different quarters of the kingdom.
JNIore than thirty years had elasped since the
Greek language was first taught in Scotland ; and
yet, when Melville returned to his native country,
the students at St Andrews did not acquire any
knovr'ledge of it beyond the regular declensions.
But now the most difficult Greek authors were read
and explained at Glasgow. The knowledge of
Hebrew was brought to the country by a deserving
individual at the establishment of the Reformation ;
and yet, fourteen years after that period, not one of
the professors in the first university of the kingdom
could teach its alphabet *. But now the Hebrew
* Life of John Knox, vol. i. 6. ii. 14. comp. Melville's
Diary, ^. 26.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 99
language was accurately taught at Glasgow, along
with the cognate tongues whicli had hitherto been
utterly unknown in Scotland. The scientific lec-
tures delivered by JNIelville included several useful
branches of knowledge, such as Universal History,
Geography, and Chronology, which were either not
included in the established course of study, or were
treated in the most superficial manner. In a sub-
sequent part of the work, we shall take an oppor-
tunity of inquiring into the advantages that resulted
from the substitution of the Ramean in the room
of the Aristotelian philosophy. To the same
place we shall refer any remarks that we have to
make on the engrossing attention which the learned
at this period gave to the cultivation and use of the
ancient languages. We shall only observe at pre-
sent, that, as long as such importance was attached
to this branch of learning, the plan, introduced by
JNIelville at Glasgow, of combining the reading of the
classics with the study of the arts and sciences, was
proper and judicious. It was not only superior to
the common practice of continually conning over the
barbarous latin of summists and commentators,
which could serve no other purpose than to form
prating sophists and half-learned pedants; but it
was also the best if not the only way of attaining that
thorough knowledge and that complete command
of dead languages, which was regarded as an es-
sential and prime qualification of a man of learn-
ing. It was at least an imitation of nature, in as
much as the knowledge of words and i)f ideas was
G 2
100 LIFE OV ANDREW MELVILLE.
acquired at the same time. Instead of laying aside
the study of Latin and Greek at a certain stage of
his progress, and thus forgetting every day what he
had acquired with little exercise of his understand-
ing, the scholar was obliged to continue it through
the whole of his academical course, and consequently
was qualified for consulting, with ease and advantage,
those writings which, in that age, were the only
standards of taste, and the chief sources of what
was most valuable in secular science. To this cause
we are principally to ascribe that facility in reading,
writing, and speaking the ancient languages which
the learned of that period possessed ; in which they
excelled such modern scholars as are best Acquainted
with the niceties of classical criticism ; and which is
so surprizing to us that we are sometimes disposed
to question the fact.
We shall be able to form a more correct idea of
the state of literature in Scotland, and of what
Melville did for its advancement, if we are ac-
quainted with the principal literary characters whom
he found in it on his return from the continent.
None of these ought to be defrauded of the share
of honour due to their talents and exertions.
With the most of them Melville either had been
or afterwards became connected ; and from some of
them he derived the greatest assistance. I shall
not be very scrupulous as to the order in whicJi I
lay the following notices of them before the reader.
We shall begin with the Royal School in the
castle of Stirling. This seminary attracts our first
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 101
notice from the celebrity of the individual at the
head of it, no less than the rank of the illustrious
pupil for whom it was provisionally established,
and in whose education Britain and the protestant
world at large felt the deepest interest. James
was accustomed to complain of the treatment he
received from those who governed the kingdom
during his minority. In these complaints there
was much ingratitude mixed with the political pre-
judices which he unhappily imbibed. No monarch
of that age had such attention paid to him in his
early years. Every provision was made, by the
estates of the kingdom, for his personal safety
and comfort, and for his being educated in a man-
ner becoming his rank and prospects. The com-
mand of the castle of Stirling, in which he resided,
was intrusted, upon the death of the Regent JNIar,
to his brother, Sir Alexander Erskine of Gogar, a
gentleman of a))proved courage, and of the strictest
honour and integrity. The immediate care of
James's person, during his youth, was committed to
Annabella, countess of Mar, the widow of the de-
ceased Regent, who discharged the duties of her
place with the most unexceptionable propriety *'.
David and Adam Erskine, commendators of Dry-
* " Secl hoc est memoi abile quod Comitissae Maria;, Fioregis ux-
or!, comissus fuerit enutrieiidus, quce, profecto, gravitate, bonitate,
onines nobiles exsuperavit, qua;, quantum pr£e loci ejus ilignitate
potuit, Regem sicut ejus filium aluit, fovit, et, Zoilo etiam contra-
testante, nutrivit. Sic Hex puer omnimodo telix, si foitunani
suam non laisisset." Arch. Sim&on, Annales Eccl. Scot. MS.
p. 158. See also Act. Pari. Scot. vol. iii. p. 158.
102 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
burgh and Cambuskenneth, both gentlemen of ex-
cellent character, superintended the bodily exercises
and sports proper for a young prince. Gilbert
Moncrieff, a learned man who had studied in
foreign universities, and sustained the fairest re-
putation both abroad and at home, held the place of
physician in the royal household *. The superin-
tendence of the prince's studies, and of whatever
related to the improvement of his mind, was de-
volved on Buchanan, who was qualified for this im-
portant task not less by his unbending integrity
and the soundness of his judgment, than by the
splendour of his genius and the extent of his erudi-
tion.
The plan on which the education of James was
conducted is a proof of the enlightened views of
his preceptor. It included the learned languages,
arithmetic, geography, astronomy, rhetoric, logic,
and history f . In the exercises in composition pre-
scribed to the royal pupil, more attention appears
to have been paid to improvement in the vernacular
language than w^as common at that period :j:. Great
care was taken to instruct him in modern history,
and especially the history of the nation over which
he was to rule j. And next to the imbuing of his
* Buchanani EpJst. p. 27. Melville's Diary, pp. 39, 56.
t Irving's Memoirs of Buchanan, p. 160. 2(1 edit.
% It is liighly probable, that " The Esayesof a Prentice in the
Divine art of Poesie," the earliest publication of James, consisted
chiefly of exercises performed by him at the direction of his
teachers.
j SibbaUli Comment, in Vltam G. Buchanani, p. 20.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 103
mind with the principles of religion and virtue, it
was Buchanan's great concern to give him just views
of the nature of government, and what was incum-
bent on the king of a free people *.
Peter Young acted as Buchanan's assistant, and
w^as sufficiently qualified for attending to the more
trivial parts of instruction f . When the education
of a young man is intrusted to more than one tutor,
it is of the utmost consequence that they harmonize
in their views and mode of management. To the
want of this is to be ascribed in no small degree the
disappointment of the hopes formed from the edu-
cation of James. Young was destitute of Buchan-
an's genius, and every way his inferior in literature ;
but he possessed one talent to which his colleague
was an utter stranger, that of improving the situation
which he held to his own advantage. He did not
fail in outward respect for Buchanan, nor resist his
authority, but he injured him more than if he had
committed both these offences. Buchanan had
undertaken the delicate task of directing the young
king's education from the most disinterested motives,
and he never suffered himself to be diverted from
his duty by the slightest regard to his own emolu-
ment. He did not forget that he was training up
* See his Dedications to the king of his Baptistes, De Jure
Tiegfii\ and Histor. Rer. Scot, Translations of these may be seea