Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 30.djvu/322

 university of Aberdeen from 1805 to 1809, where he graduated B.A. on 1 April 1809, and proceeded D.D. in 1833. He was licensed by the presbytery of Garioch on 17 March 1813, presented by the prince regent to St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire, in July, and ordained 27 Aug. 1816; this appointment he resigned through illness in 1840. In 1839, being sent by the church of Scotland as member of a commission of inquiry into the state of the Jews, he visited Palestine and Eastern Europe. In 1844, accompanied by his son, Dr. George Skene Keith, he revisited Palestine, and was the first to take daguerrotype views of notable places in the Holy Land. He joined the free church secession in Scotland, and his name was removed from the roll of the ministers of the established church on 20 June 1843. At an early age he obtained wide distinction as an author. His first important book, ‘Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion from the Fulfilment of Prophecy,’ appeared in 1828. It soon took its place as a standard treatise on the evidences of Christianity, passed through a large number of editions, and was translated into numerous foreign languages. ‘It is recognised,’ Dr. Chalmers said, ‘in our halls of theology as holding a high place in sacred literature, and it is found in almost every home and known as a household word throughout the land.’ At subsequent periods Dr. Keith published various works on prophetical subjects, the most popular of which were ‘The Signs of the Times, illustrated by the Fulfilment of Historical Predictions,’ 1832, and ‘The Harmony of Prophecy,’ being a comparison of the Book of Revelation with the prophecies of Scripture (1851). The moderatorship of the free church of Scotland was repeatedly offered to Keith, but he declined it on account of his infirm health. He died at Aberdeen House, 56 West Street, Buxton, where he had resided for some years, on 8 Feb. 1880, and was buried at Chinley, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, on 12 Feb. He married, 10 Dec. 1816, Jane, eldest daughter of John Blaikie, plumber, Aberdeen; she died in February 1837, leaving three sons: Alexander, who was his father's assistant at St. Cyrus, and his successor 1840–3, George Skene, and Thomas, who were both well-known physicians in Edinburgh.

The chief works by Keith, other than those noticed, were: 1. ‘Sketch of the Evidence from Prophecy,’ 1823. 2. ‘Demonstration of the Truth of the Christian Religion,’ 1838. 3. ‘The Land of Israel according to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,’ 1843. 4. ‘Examination of Elliott's “First Six Seals,”’ 1847. 5. ‘The History and Destiny of the World and of the Church according to Scripture,’ 1861. Among the authors who discussed in print the merits of Keith's works on prophecy were John Brewster, D.D., E. B. Elliott, R. Govett, and C. Housman.

[Black's Jewish Missionary Travels to the Jews, 1841, pp. 3 et seq.; Hew Scott's Fasti Scoticanæ, 1868, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 865, 881; Annual Register, 1880, p. 149; Times, 13 Feb. 1880, p. 11; Men of the Time, 1879, pp. 583–584; High Peak News, Buxton, 14 Feb. 1880, p. 5; information from George S. Keith, esq., M.D., Currie, Midlothian.] 

KEITH, GEORGE, fifth (1553?–1623), founder of Marischal College, Aberdeen, eldest son of William, lord Keith, by Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter of the sixth earl of Errol, was born about 1553. He was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, where at the age of eighteen he had made great progress in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and in the study of history, antiquities, and literature (Oratio Funebris, p. 10). He afterwards resided at Geneva with Theodore Beza, who specially instructed him in divinity, history, and the art of speaking. Beza formed a very high opinion of his character and talents (Preface to Icones Virorum Doctrina et Pietate illustrium). After the death of his brother William, during an excursion into the country near Geneva, Keith broke off his studies, and visited the principal courts of Europe, producing a very favourable impression on various dignitaries. He succeeded to the earldom on the death of his grandfather, William Keith, fourth earl [q. v.], on 7 Oct. 1581. Like him he took an active part in kirk affairs, and by the general assembly which met at St. Andrews on 24 April 1582 he was appointed one of a commission to visit the north of Scotland and deal with persons ‘suspected of papistrie’ (, iii. 599). He was one of the noblemen who on 18 Oct. of this year assembled, after the raid of Ruthven, in convention in Holyrood Palace (, Memoirs, p. 40). On the 26th he was nominated a privy councillor (Reg. P. C. Scotl. iii. 522). In the following year he accompanied the king on his progress (, iii. 713), and, after the king's escape on 27 June from Falkland to St. Andrews, was nominated one of the privy council to wait on him there (Reg. P. C. Scotl. iii. 576), but was afterwards charged to pass home (ib.) On 8 June 1585 he obtained a remission under the great seal for having been art and part in the slaughter of his kinsman William Keith, heir-apparent of Ludquhairn. When the banished lords in 1586 approached Stirling to recover their authority over the king, the defence of