LEIGHTON

leighton, robert (1611-1684), archbishop of glasgow, was born, probably in london (others say at ulishaven, forfarshire), in 1611, the eldest son of dr alexander leighton, the author of _zion's plea against the prelacie_, whose terrible sufferings for having dared to question the divine right of episcopacy, under the persecution of laud, form one of the most disgraceful incidents of the reign of charles i. dr leighton is said to have been of the old family of ulishaven in forfarshire. from his earliest childhood, according to burnet, robert leighton was distinguished for his saintly disposition. in his sixteenth year (1627) he was sent to the university of edinburgh, where, after studying with distinguished success for four years, he took the degree of m.a. in 1631. his father then sent him to travel abroad, and he is understood to have spent several years in france, where he acquired a complete mastery of the french language. while there he passed a good deal of time with relatives at douai who had become roman catholics, and with whom he kept up a correspondence for many years afterwards. either at this time or on some subsequent visit he had also a good deal of intercourse with members of the jansenist party. this intercourse contributed to the charity towards those who differed from him in religious opinion, which ever afterwards formed a feature in his character. the exact period of his return to scotland has not been ascertained; but in 1641 he was ordained presbyterian minister of newbattle in midlothian. in 1652 he resigned his charge and went to reside in edinburgh. what led him to take this step does not distinctly appear. the account given is that he had little sympathy with the fiery zeal of his brother clergymen on certain political questions, and that this led to severe censures on their part. early in 1653 he was appointed principal of the university of edinburgh, and primarius professor of divinity. in this post he continued for seven or eight years. a considerable number of his latin prelections and other addresses (published after his death) are remarkable for the purity and elegance of their latinity, and their subdued and meditative eloquence. they are valuable instructions in the art of living a holy life rather than a body of scientific divinity. throughout, however, they bear the marks of a deeply learned and accomplished mind, saturated with both classical and patristic reading, and like all his works they breathe the spirit of one who lived very much above the world. his mental temper was too unlike the temper of his time to secure success as a teacher. in 1661, when charles ii. had resolved to force episcopacy once more upon scotland, he fixed upon leighton for one of his bishops (see