Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/232

526 though she gave him no political employment, continued him in the chaplainship for Scotland, with the same revenues he had enjoyed under her predecessor. In the year 1704, he was elected principal of the college of Edinburgh, for which he drew up a new and very minute set of rules ; and, as he was wanted to manage affairs in the church courts, he was, at the same time, (at least in the same year,) presented to the church of Greyfriars; and, in consequence of uniting this with his office in the university, he was allowed a salary of 2200 merks a year. Three years after this he was translated to the High Church. Though so deeply immersed in politics, literature had always engaged much of Carstairs' attention; and he had, so early as 1693, obtained a gift from the crown to each of the Scottish universities, of three hundred pounds sterling per annum, out of the bishops' rents in Scotland. Now that he was more closely connected with these learned bodies, he exerted all his influence with the government to extend its encouragement and protection towards them, and thus essentially promoted the cause of learning. It has indeed been said, that from the donations he at various times procured for the Scottish colleges, he was the greatest benefactor, under the rank of royalty, to those institutions, that his country ever produced. The first General Assembly that met after he became a minister of the church of Scotland, made choice of him for moderator; and in the space of eleven years, he was four times called to fill that office. From his personal influence and the manner in which he was supported, he may be truly said to have had the entire management of the church of Scotland. In leading the church he displayed great ability and comprehensiveness of mind, with uncommon judgment. " He moderated the keenness of party zeal, and infused a spirit of cautious mildness into the deliberations of the General Assembly. As the great body of the more zealous clergy were hostile to the union of the kingdoms, it required all his influence to reconcile them to a measure, which he, as a whole, approved of, as of mutual benefit to the two countries; and although, after this era, the church of Scotland lost much of her weight in the councils of the kingdom, she still retained her respectability, and perhaps was all the better of a disconnection with political affairs. When queen Anne, among the last acts of her reign, restored the system of patronage, he vigorously opposed it; and, though unsuccessful, his visit to London at that time was of essential service in securing on a stable basis the endangered liberty of the church. The ultra-tory ministry, hostile to the protestant interests of these realms, had devised certain strong measures for curtailing the power of the church of Scotland, by discontinuing her assemblies, or, at least, by subjecting them wholly to the nod of the court. Mr Carstairs prevailed on the administration to abandon the attempt; and he, on his part, promised to use all his influence to prevent the discontents occasioned by the patronage bill from breaking out into open insurrection. It may be remarked, that, although patronage is a privilege which, if harshly exercised, acts as a severe oppression upon the people; yet, while justified so far in abstract right, by the support which the patron is always understood to give to the clergyman, it was, to say the least of it, more expedient to be enforced at the commencement of last century than perhaps at present, as it tended to reconcile to the church many of the nobility and gentry of the country, who were, in general, votaries of episcopacy, and therefore disaffected to the state and to the general interests."

Principal Carstairs was, it may be supposed, a zealous promoter of the succession of the house of Hanover. Of so much importance were his services deemed, that George I., two years before his accession, signified his acknow-