The Admirable Crichton. 117 



be compacted together not in a feigned but in a genuine alliance. 

 [There the Oration ends.] 



The Admirable Crichton's Career. 



And now I will attempt a brief account of his career. James 

 Crichton was born on the 19th of August, 1560, at Eliock, 

 Dumfriesshire. His father, Robert Crichton, without doubt 

 descended from the Lords Crichton of Sanquhar, was a Lord of 

 Session, and from 1562 until his death in June, 1582, Lord 

 Advocate of Scotland. The Admirable Crichton's mother was 

 Elizabeth Stewart, and through her he was clearly descended from 

 the Duke of Albanj' (first cousin of James I.), whose residence 

 was Doune Castle (near Stirling), where the young King James 

 VL frequently stayed during the summer months. It is of 

 some historical interest to mention that Crichton's maternal 

 grandfather. Sir James Stewart, erstwhile Constable of Doune 

 Castle, was murdered by William Edmonstone of Duntreith in 

 the High Street of Dunblane in the year 1547. 



It will be seen that Crichton was related to some of the 

 noblest, most wealthy, and most powerful families in Scotland, 

 and yet we know that he travelled about Italy in a poverty- 

 stricken condition. What was the reason? To the student of 

 his history the reason is not far to seek. 



Crichton entered St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews Uni- 

 versity, when he was nine years old, three years later became a 

 Bachelor of Arts, and a couple of years later still, at the age of 

 fourteen, took his Artium Magister degree. One of his masters 

 was the celebrated George Buchanan. There is a .special signifi- 

 cance attaching to Crichton's membership of St. Salvator's in 

 relation to subsequent matters connected with his religious faith, 

 concerning which he seems to have fully made up his mind 

 before he left Scotland, and to that mental attitude he after- 

 wards adhered with a firmness, a courage, and a determination 

 which — whether or not one disagree with his choice — were 

 wholly admirable in face of the sacrifices he made for it. For 

 some considerable time after Scotland, along with most of its 

 academic institutions, had accepted the Reformed Faith, St. 

 Salvator's College remained true to the old regime. This may 

 have had some influence upon Crichton's religious convictions, 



