Academic literature on the topic 'Scottish Statesmen'

The ‘Send back the money’ controversy between the Free Church of Scotland and zealous abolitionists was one of the most important events in nineteenth century Scottish religious history. The Revd Isaac Nelson of Belfast is best remembered for his anti-revivalism and his advocacy of Irish nationalism. What has often been forgotten is the centrality of antislavery to the making of Nelson's controversial reputation, even though he was held in high esteem by abolitionists on both sides of the Atlantic. Accordingly, this article examines his opposition to the Free Church's receipt of monies from and extension of christian fellowship to the slaveholding churches in the United States. It highlights his critique of leading ecclesiastical statesmen, including Thomas Chalmers, William Cunningham and Robert S. Candlish. The essay also considers the sophisticated intellectual critique of chattel slavery that under-girded Nelson's opposition to the policy of the Free Kirk, as well as his evaluation of the nature of proslavery religion in America. By means of a biographical case study of an interesting outsider, this article seeks to provide a lens through which one of the most tragic incidents in Scotland's ecclesiastical past can be freshly examined.

Although Catholics were marginalized and strongly associated with Jacobitism under the early Hanoverians, the reign of George III saw a gradual assimilation of Catholics into mainstream political culture. The Vicars Apostolic of Great Britain played a key role in this process by emphasizing passivity and loyalty. The bishop who most strongly personified this Jacobite to loyalist transition was George Hay (1729-1811). A convert to Catholicism from the Scottish Episcopalian faith, Hay served the Jacobite Army as a medic in 1745 and was imprisoned following that conflict. After his conversion and subsequent ordination, Hay became coadjutor of the Lowland District of Scotland in 1769 and was promoted to the Apostolic Vicarate in 1778. Hay actively engaged with many high-profile statesmen and political thinkers, including Edmund Burke. Most notably, he constructively utilized Jacobite political theology to criticise revolutionary ideology. His public involvement in politics was most remarkable during the American and French Revolutions, when he confidently deployed the full force of counterrevolutionary doctrines that formerly alienated Catholics from the Hanoverian state. However, since the Age of Revolution presented a stark duality between monarchy and republicanism, Hay’s expressions of passive obedience and non-resistance endeared him and the Catholic Church to the British establishment.

AbstractThe Melville Monument, which stands at the centre of St Andrew's Square in Edinburgh, was erected between 1821 and 1823 in memory of the Tory statesman Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville (1742–1811). The design for the monument, more than 150 ft tall, was provided by William Burn (1789–1870). The 15 ft statue of Dundas that stands on top, added in 1827, was carved by Robert Forrest (1789–1852), a Scottish sculptor from Lanarkshire, from a design by Francis Chantrey (1781–1841). The Melville Monument, imperial in character and context, is part of a series of highly visible monuments built in Edinburgh in the early nineteenth century to celebrate such figures as Horatio Nelson, Robert Burns, William Pitt, King George IV and the dead of the Napoleonic wars (National Monument). This article examines the commission and construction of the Melville Monument, and analyses the choice and significance of St Andrew's Square as a locus for commemoration. The monument is shown to be part of an emerging commitment to enhance the more picturesque qualities of the city, a reaction against the exaggerated formality of the first New Town and its grid pattern.

This paper examines James Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations. Unlike other Scottish thinkers of the time, Steuart argues that artifice is necessary for the rise of commercial societies. He uses the term “artificial” to refer to a devised process, one that is an alternative to the supposedly natural process arising from innate propensities. The system of trade and commerce is an “artifice” created by merchants to obtain benefits, and established by the sovereign for his ostentation and personal prestige, until it became generalized as a commercial nation. Steuart’s explanation of the emergence of commercial nations accounts for how individuals become dependent on and subordinate to the public market. This paper concludes that Steuart’s Political Œconomy promotes a science of the artificial that seeks to understand the functioning of non-natural mechanisms and to create instruments that the statesman adapts to the needs and objectives of individuals.

AbstractThe reign of Peter the Great is regarded as one of the most significant and contentious epochs in Russian history. It has been customary to view the reforms of the period as either a progressive transformation of an antiquated society or the destructive suppression of traditional Russian culture. This dichotomy rests on an accepted perception of Peter the Great and his reign as rational and secular.This paper attempts to revise this dichotomy by focussing on the Masonic and occult influence prevalent at the Petrine Court. These two complimentary aspects of Petrine society and culture have been censured or overlooked by successive generations of historians, yet they exerted a considerable hold on some of the most powerful statesmen of the period, including the Tsar himself. The importance of studying Masonic and occult influence in Petrine Russia lies in the fact that it can help to overcome the starkly secular image of Peter the Great, without denying the progressive nature of his reforms.The first section of the article examines the powerful symbolic representations of the Tsar as a "Mason King" and architect of a new Russia. It reveals a concerted campaign to portray Peter the Great as a new King David, leading his people—new Israelites—to their promised land and a New Jerusalem, crystallised by the foundation of St. Petersburg. This is then followed by examining how Peter the Great's worldview—encompassing religious tolerance, a scientific curiosity open to esotericism and a passion for chivalrous societies—was wholly compatible with the ideals of Freemasonry as it developed at the beginning of the eighteenth-century.The second part of the paper focuses on the Masonic links and strong occult interests of Jacob Bruce (1669-1735), Feofan Prokopovich (1681-1736) and Robert Erskine (1677-1718)—three of the most prominent statesmen in Petrine Russia. Bruce came from a Scottish Jacobite family and played an active role in practically all fields of Russian state life, ranging from the military to the promotion of science and education. Prokopovich was the most eminent ecclesiastic figure in Petrine Russia and a loyal stalwart of Peter the Great's state reforms. Erskine, like Bruce, also descended from a powerful Jacobite family in Scotland. He enjoyed a close relationship with Peter the Great and was his Chief Physician and Head of the Russian Medical Chancellery, as well as being Director of the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera and Library.This triumvirate played an active role in transforming the Russian State, but do not represent the archetypal embodiments of purely rational and secular enlighteners. They all displayed a strong religiosity and a marked interest in esoteric matters and Bruce and Erskine, in particular, had strong ties to Jacobite Freemasonry. Peter the Great displayed similar interests and acted as their enthusiastic patron. Thus, it is hoped that this paper will reveal the significant extent to which Masonic ideals and a fascination with the occult were rife at the Petrine Court and helped to shape the transformations enacted during this pivotal period in Russian history. Le règne de Pierre le Grand est considéré comme étant l'une des époques la plus marquante et contestée de l'histoire russe. Les réformes de cette période ont souvent été envisagées en tant que transformation ascendante d'une société désuète ou comme l'abrogation pernicieuse de la culture russe traditionnelle. Cette dichotomie réside dans une idée convenue du rationnel et du séculier de Pierre le Grand et de son règne.Cette communication tente de réévaluer la dichotomie par l'étude de l'influence occulte et maçonnique qui prévalait à la cour de Pierre le Grand. Ces deux aspects complémentaires de la société et la culture pétrine ont été censurés ou mis à l'écart par des générations successives d'historiens, pourtant ceux-ci ont exercé une influence considérable sur certains des hommes d'état les plus puissants de l'époque, y compris le Tsar lui-même. L'examen de l'influence maçonnique et occulte de la Russie pétrine peut aider à surpasser l'image séculière forte de Pierre le Grand, sans remettre en cause la nature progressiste de ses réformes.La première partie de l'article envisage les représentations symboliques solides du Tsar en tant que "Roi Maçon" et architecte d'une nouvelle Russie. Celle-ci dévoile une campagne convergente pour décrire Pierre le Grand comme le nouveau Roi David, conduisant son peuple (les nouveaux Israélites) vers les terres promises et la Nouvelle Jérusalem, concrétisée par la fondation de St. Pétersbourg. Nous examinerons ensuite comment la vision du monde de Pierre le grand (sa tolérance religieuse, sa curiosité scientifique tournée vers l'ésotérisme et sa passion pour les sociétés chevaleresques) était entièrement compatible avec les idéaux de la Franc-Maçonnerie, telle qu'elle se développait au XVIIIIème siècle.Dans la deuxième partie de l'article, nous nous concentrerons sur les liens maçonniques et les forts intérêts occultes de Jacob Bruce (1669-1735), Feofan Prokopovich (1681-1736) et Robert Erskine (1677-1718)—trois des plus grands hommes d'état de la Russie pétrine. Bruce, issu d'une famille jacobite écossaise, jouait un rôle actif dans presque tous les ressorts de la vie d'état russe, de l'armée à la promotion des sciences et de l'éducation. Prokopovich était la figure ecclésiastique la plus éminente de la Russie pétrine et un fidèle partisan des réformes de l'Etat de Pierre le Grand. Erskine, comme Bruce, descendait d'une famille Jacobite puissante d'Ecosse; il appréciait être proche de Pierre le Grand. Il était son Médecin en Chef, Directeur de la Chancellerie Médicale Russe et Directeur de la Kunstkamera de St. Pétersbourg et de la bibliothèque.Ce triumvirat a joué un rôle actif dans la transformation de l'état Russe, toutefois, ils ne symbolisent pas des incarnations archétypes des lumières purement rationnelles et séculières. Ils affichaient tous un grand sentiment religieux et un intérêt marqué pour l'ésotérisme. Bruce et Erskine, en particulier, avaient de fortes attaches avec la Franc-Maçonnerie Jacobite. Pierre le Grand exhibait des intérêts similaires et était leur fervent bienfaiteur. Ainsi, nous espérons que notre article mettra en avant la prédominance nette des idéaux Maçonniques et d'une fascination pour l'occulte dans la Cour pétrine et permettra de façonner les transformations édictées durant cette période pivot de l'histoire russe.