M E L 



49 



M E L 



There were also here a great many fine building* within 

 the convent, fur the use of the abbot and monks, with 

 gardens and other conveniences ; all inrloM.il within an 

 high wail, about a mile in circuit. Betides the high 

 church, there has been * large fine chapel where the 

 now fcUn 1 ; and another house adjoining to it, 

 I ition of the pilUn U itill to be teen. 

 On the north side of this hotue, there ha* been curt- 

 ous oratory, or private chapel, the foundation of which 

 has been lately discovered, and a large cbtern of one 



.on. 



Bm 



leaden pipe, convey 



'. .1 (* al "' v I ' 



water to it. 

 . Forsyth'* 



tnfriplioH of the 

 ne, IH:S. ' (:) 

 wn of England, 

 o the banks of 



tw > _ 1 l,ri(l.'t v 



.re 



an canal, which i* atto crowed by a good 

 bridge, run* behind the principal street. The town con- 

 usts of four *tr*at, in the form of a crow, and baa tnany 

 well-built houses. The church, which i* very large, 



ts of a nave, attic*, tramept. and chan. < 

 high and elegant towrr in the centre. There i* here 

 a frer-schwol for girls, and three annual fair*. The 

 jmUtioi. irish m 1811 wa* 411 inhabind 



I. - -. .in 1 I i 1 Ji j ii -if ant . 



. a learned Hnotanaaji, and 

 one ot' the moat distinguished atwcaaaor* of John Knox 



in t) rian 



was 



c 





 i 



rsbyterian cbairrh. was the youngest of nine 



: ortanhir*, and 

 on the 1st of Aa<r*<> .s aecond 



...t hi. l*tl.i-r at thr l.a:i.- .! I'ink:,-. ai-.i . 

 of hi. eldest brother Richard, 

 was tr.-itr.l with great teajrliiiiaaa and aa%*> 

 ln!e a child, he wat dixiagniehed a* much for 

 DCM of his capacity, a* fur thr delicacy of his 

 rother resolved to give htm a* 

 corapbte an education a* the ge could afford He wat 

 uraanmar by I hotna* Andencm, then 

 I after w ard* asiniater. at Mont row. who 

 to the principle* of the rifurraa 



elementary education at the Latin school, he studied 

 I rench language* i.nder Pierre tie Mar- 



14 then engage* : 

 ing at M on trim 



ry's C'olle. idrew's ; and after 



ing his aratleiaicil course there, he sailed to France m 



*nd engaged ardnr 



of letters and philosophy in the university of Part*, 

 if studying the civil law, he repair* 

 its twenty-ant year ; and, on hi* ar- 

 n the college of St. Mar- 

 cnMinikad three yean, proaontttng 

 the )<inprud*nce. ami at 



hing himself aa a teacher of 

 xt object wa* to rtudy theology, and 

 his intention ha went to Geneva, where he imme. 

 . ed bimatlf worthy to fill the vacant chair ot 

 bunav 



at the urgent desire of hi* frkuda 

 in S< resigned hi* office at Geneva, and 



retur native country. Some of his friends 



now endeavoured to persuade him to accept the ap- 



ient of domestic instructor to the Regei 



but th>i he declined, and spent a few month* in hi* el- 



a **tttng the studies of his nephew, 



had recently completed the usual 



t of academical education at St Andrew's. Soon 



Tl. 6 



edto 



the tame tin 

 rhetor 



afterwards, at the solicitation of Archbishop Boyd, ami Melville, 

 other leading men in the west, he accepted the office of _ A ^"*'' J 

 Principal of (ilasgow college, and carried his nephew " ""V" 

 James along with him to act as regent. In this situa-, 

 tion he laboured with great diligtnce and success, in' 

 traduced a new plan of study, and made many useful 

 improvements in the mode of teaching ; and a new 

 foundation, which was given to the college at this time 

 al charter, ratified all the dispositions which Mel- 

 ville had made for the advancement of learning. A- 

 mong his other service* to the univ.-i- :\. I c clc>frvis 

 the credit of Caving founded the public library, though 

 it doe* not appear that he enriched it with any dona- 

 tion* from his own collection. About this time, he tir-t 

 became known as an author. l<y the appearance of hi< 

 poetical translation n: printed at 



Basil, in I ~>~ I. a collection which ptfiaMad a 

 flattering reception from all the men of learning and 

 taste in Enron/. 



n of his office,** a professor of divinity, 

 entitled him to a seat in the ecclesiastical j milestones ; 

 and he took a very active interest in ihr public (Fairs 

 of the church. When he an - utland, an in- 



congruous specie* of chi. uncut. nominally 



Episcopalian, but which neither atufied Epincopalians 

 nor Preabyterian*, had IH-. n intrudm-rd ; but Mel- 

 ville was convinced that prelacy i* not fotindrd on the 

 authority of Scripture, or on the practice of apostolical 

 snd havn .rd a partiality for Presbyte- 



ii contequenre ru-nce of its good 



1 >rneva, he determined to eiert hinuclf to 

 BtaMiah the same model in his own country. In the 

 month of March . was first a memlier of the 



Gettcral Assembly ; and hi* name wat included in a 

 I "amain ii appointed to confer with thr government on 

 the attbject of the polity of the churrli, and to prepare 

 Bsehemeofecclei*ti<-l administration mit- 



ted to a future Aaaembly. In I.'-TS. these* 



corn! book of Discipline was approved by a General 

 Aaaenbry, in w I ' ! pre*i<!- that 



period it ha* been the rtandard tcrian church 



ajovemaaent. 



But the General Assembly, in their zeal to reform 

 the government of the ihurch, were not inav 

 the mean* of improving the seminaries of educ 

 At the suggestion ot njunction .: . Ar- 



bothnot and flBitton, plar 



the conetitutinn* of the um-. w', 



Glasgow, and Aberdeen, on a ..r to that 



whian had been reoomtnended by the reformers in the 

 fint book of Discipline. A f. iect with 



vtlle was to transform one Tee colleges < 



Andrew's into a school ot 



influence with the government and . de- 



sign was accomplished in the year i mo- 



at placed at the bea , w theological se- 



minary, by the voice of his : for more 



than twenty year* the succes* of th< n exceed- 



ed the moat sanguine ex pecta' 



villa) began the duties of principal 



and pi..!. -...r ul (lniin:\ iiln-urw i o, Ii i;-- i.lM. An- 

 drew's, in December ih the n--i-t.itice of his 

 nephew .lame*, a* professor of the oriental I 



John Uohcrtson, as profewor < . 



Hi* class was crowded with auditor*, consi.-.ting 



not only of students of theology, lint <>f masters in the 

 other eoUeire* : all of whom acknowleded t 



other 



p 



of whom ac 



which hi- .11 ii.Mpl;-!.. 'I i 

 Melville, however, withi 

 o 



he singular 

 bis excellencies, 



