| Gilbert Burnet | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Salisbury | |
Portrait of Gilbert Burnet after John Riley, circa 1689-1691 |
|
| Church | Church of England |
| Predecessor | Seth Ward |
| Successor | William Talbot |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 September 1643 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 17 March 1715 (aged 71) St John's Court, Clerkenwell, London |
Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian. He was associated with the Whig party.[1]
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Burnet was born at Edinburgh, Scotland in 1643, the son of Robert Burnet, Lord Crimond, a Royalist and Episcopalian lawyer, who became a judge, and of Rachel Johnston, the sister of Johnston of Warristoun, a leader of the Covenanters. His father was his first tutor until he began his studies at the University of Aberdeen, where he earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy at the age of thirteen. He studied law briefly before changing to theology, and earned his Doctor of Divinity by the age of eighteen. He did not enter into the ministry at that time, but travelled for several years. He visited Oxford, Cambridge, London, the United Provinces and France. He studied Hebrew under a Rabbi in Amsterdam. By 1665 he returned to Scotland and was ordained in the Episcopal Church by the Bishop of Edinburgh.
He began his ministry in the rural church at East Saltoun, East Lothian, and served this community devoutly for four years. In 1669, without his asking or even consent, he was named to the vacant chair of Divinity at the University of Glasgow. At first he declined, since his congregation unanimously asked him to remain. But, when Bishop of Edinburgh Leighton urged him, he accepted the post. He was later offered, but declined, a Scotch bishopric.
With the unsettled political times, he left the University in 1674 and moved to London. In London, his political and religious sentiments prompted him to support the Whigs. His energetic and bustling character led him to take an active part in the controversies of the time, and he endeavoured to bring about a reconciliation between Episcopacy and Presbytery. Going to London he was in some favour with Charles II, from whom he received various preferments.
In the mid-1670s a French translation of Nicholas Sanders' De origine et progressu schismatio Anglicani libri tres (1585) appeared. Sanders attacked the English Reformation because it was a political act carried on by a corrupt king. Several of Burnet's friends wished him to publish a rebuttal of the work so in 1679 his first volume of The History of the Reformation of the Church of England was published. This covered the reign of Henry VIII; the second volume (1681) covered the reign of Elizabeth and the Elizabethan Religious Settlement (the third volume (1714) consisted of corrections and additional material).[1] The Parliament of England voted thanks for Burnet after the publication of the first volume and in 1680 the University of Oxford awarded Burnet the degree of doctor of divinity on the advice of William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury.
His literary reputation was greatly enhanced by this publication, which was completed by other two volumes, in 1682 and 1714. For over a century this was the standard reference work in the field, although Catholics disputed some of its content.
Upon the succession of James in 1685 Burnet requested permission to go abroad, which James heartily consented to. He left on 11 May and reached Paris at the end of that month. He travelled through Switzerland to Italy, where Pope Innocent XI offered him an audience, which Burnet declined on account of his poor Italian. After more months of travelling across France, Switzerland and Germany he arrived at Utrecht, Netherlands in May 1686. He was sent letters from the court of William, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Mary inviting him to take up residence at The Hague. This courting of Burnet infuriated James and under his pressure he was formally dismissed from court but still kept in contact with William and Mary.[1]
In 1687, in light of James' policy of wanting to receive William and Mary's support for the repeal of the Test Act, Burnet wrote a pamphlet against repeal. William and Mary declined to support repeal, apparently on Burnet's advice.[1] Burnet also upset James by becoming engaged to the wealthy heiress Mary Scott. James prosecuted Burnet for high treason in Scotland, accusing him of corresponding with the Duke of Argyll and others convicted of high treason. In order to safeguard Burnet, the States General of Holland naturalised him without opposition and James's request for Burnet's extradition was declined.
Burnet was not privy to William's decision-making process because he was apparently unable to keep a secret (he was not informed of William's planned invasion of England until July 1688). However his help was needed to translate William's Declaration which was to be distributed in England after his landing. When William's fleet set sail for England in October 1688 Burnet was made William's chaplain.
William landed at Torbay on 5 November. When Burnet came ashore he hastened to William and eagerly inquired of what William now intended to do. William regarded the interference in military matters by non-military personnel with disgust but he was in good humour at this moment and responded with a delicate reproof: "Well, Doctor, what do you think of predestination now?"[2]
Burnet was appointed to preach the coronation sermon on 11 April 1689.
On Easter 1689, Burnet was consecrated Bishop of Salisbury and three days later was sworn as chancellor of the Order of the Garter.[1] His office as bishop is noted for his liberal views and zealous discharge of duty. He was present at King William's deathbed. He was out of royal favour in the reign of Queen Anne. He was nominated by John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, to write answers to the works sponsored by the Tillotson's friend, the Socinian businessman and philanthropist Thomas Firmin, who was funding the printing of Socinian tracts by Stephen Nye. Yet neither Burnet nor Tillotson was entirely unsympathetic to non-conformism. Of the Athanasian Creed, the new Archbishop of Canterbury wrote to the new Bishop of Salisbury "I wish we were well rid of it".[3]
Burnet began his History of My Own Time in 1683, covering the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. The first volume was published in 1724, ending before the Glorious Revolution. In 1734 the second volume was published, taking the History to the Treaty of Utrecht.[1] A critical edition in six volumes with numerous footnotes was edited by Martin Routh and published by Oxford University Press in 1823 (updated 1833). The work gives a sketch of the history of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth, and a detailed account of the immediately succeeding period down to 1713. While not free from egotism and some party feeling, it is written with a sincere desire for accuracy and fairness, and it has largely the authority of an eye-witness. The style, if somewhat lacking in dignity, is lively and picturesque.
He married several times, once to Lady Margaret Kennedy, daughter of John Kennedy, 6th Earl of Cassilis.[4] His sons included William Burnet and Gilbert Burnet.[5] His daughter Elizabeth married Richard West a distinguished lawyer who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was the mother of Richard West the younger, the poet and friend of Thomas Gray.
Thomas Babington Macaulay describes Burnet in relation to the king he served, William of Orange:
When the doctor took liberties, which was not seldom the case, his patron became more than usually cold and sullen, and sometimes uttered a short dry sarcasm which would have struck dumb any person of ordinary assurance. In spite of such occurrences, however, the amity between this singular pair continued, with some temporary interruptions, till it was dissolved by death. Indeed it was not easy to wound Burnet's feelings. His self-complacency, his animal spirits, and his want of tact, were such that, though he frequently gave offence, he never took it.—History of England, Vol. 2, Ch 7.
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Seth Ward |
Bishop of Salisbury 1689–1715 |
Succeeded by William Talbot |