Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 33.djvu/10

  either the bishop's palace or its grounds. A more questionable transaction was the conversion of the revenues of St. Peter's Hospital to the maintenance of his table and the support of two chaplains of St. Peter in the cathedral; for this, however, he obtained the sanction of Pope Eugenius IV in 1435. He was employed on many diplomatic missions—to England (to arrange for the ransom of James I), to Rome, to France (to treat of the marriage of the infant Princess of Scotland with the dauphin), and in his old age he was appointed to mediate between the factions of Crichton, the chancellor, and the Livingstones. He died 14 Dec. 1440, and was buried in the north transept of his cathedral, where, though another's effigy has usurped his monument, his epitaph may still be read.



LEIGHTON, HENRY (d. 1669), French scholar, a native of Scotland, was chiefly educated in France. In 1642 he bore a commission for the king. On 1 Nov. 1642, when more than seventy persons were created M.A. by command of Charles, Leighton adroitly contrived to obtain the degree by presenting himself at dusk, although his name was not on the list. When the king's cause declined, he settled at Oxford as a teacher of French. He died by falling downstairs in St. John's College, where he had a room allowed him, on 28 Jan. 1668–9, and was buried the next day in St. Giles's Church, Oxford. According to Wood he was a man of debauched character.

He published for the use of his pupils ‘Linguæ Gallicæ addiscendæ Regulæ,’ 8vo, Oxford, 1659; another edition, 1662.



LEIGHTON, ROBERT (1611–1684), archbishop of Glasgow, second son of Dr. [q. v.] by his first marriage, was born in 1611, probably in London. In 1627 he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, and placed under the care of Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees. Dr. Leighton entreated Sir James, in the presence of the youth, ‘to train him up in the true presbyterian form, and Robert was strictly enjoined with his father's blessing to be steady in that way.’ Though ‘accounted a saint from his youth,’ during his first session he contributed the following lines to some satirical verses written by the students on Aikenhead, the provost of Edinburgh, who had deprived them of some holidays:—

He was censured for this effusion, but in a letter to his ‘kind and loving Father’ he tells him that Principal Adamson and the regents thought his offence ‘not so heinous a thing as he himself did justly think it.’ At a later period one of the professors wrote to Dr. Leighton congratulating him ‘on having a son in whom Providence had made him abundant compensation for his sufferings.’ He graduated M.A. 28 July 1631, and was then sent by his father to travel on the continent. He spent several years in France, and was often at Douay, where he had relatives among the Roman catholic clergy. He thus learned to speak French like a native, made himself master of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and familiar with all branches of theological literature. He was also greatly attracted by the piety of the Jansenists, and his intercourse with them gave a permanent colouring to his religious character. Soon after his father's liberation he returned to Scotland and was licensed by the presbytery of Edinburgh in July 1641. On 16 Dec. following he was ordained by the presbytery of Dalkeith, and inducted to the parish of Newbattle, of which the Earl of Lothian, a zealous covenanter, was patron.

There were nine hundred communicants in the parish, and besides visiting and catechising his flock and attending the frequent meetings of presbytery, Leighton had always to preach twice on the Sunday and at least once during the week. Nearly all his sermons and expositions were written at Newbattle, and his fame as a preacher of a new school who wrote and spoke English undefiled spread far and wide. He took no part in public affairs at this time beyond what was required in the discharge of his official duties. He had warmly approved the national covenant, but was less enamoured of the solemn league, and disliked the way in which it was imposed. In 1648 he was placed in great difficulty by the opposition of the church to the resolution of parliament in favour of the ‘Engagement.’ Instead of reading the declaration against it himself, he made his precentor read it, and when taken to task he said it was contrary to his intention, but that he was suffering from a bad cold. He was mildly censured by his brethren for not attending the general assembly when it had this business on hand,