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TRAILL, REV. ROBERT.—The
family of the Traills is of considerable antiquity, and was settled in
Fifeshire, where they possessed the estate of Blebo. The first of the name
who appears in Scottish history was Walter Traill, son of the laird of Blebo,
who was appointed Archbishop of St. Andrews, by King Robert III., about the
year 1385. The father of Robert Traill, who was minister of the Greyfriars’
Church, Edinburgh, was one of those bold witnesses for the Covenant, who
lived during the stormy period of the Commonwealth, and the still more
trying season of the Restoration, in which, at the age of sixty, he was
banished from Scotland for life upon the charge of holding a conventicle,
because he had read and expounded Scripture to a few friends who were
assembled in his house. In consequence of this sentence he retired to
Holland, the usual place of refuge for the exiled Presbyterians of Scotland,
and there spent the rest of his life.
It was in the midst of these
troubles that the subject of the present memoir was ushered into the world.
He was born at Elie, in Fifeshire, of which parish his father at first was
minister, in May, 1642. Being destined for the ministry, at a period when
the office in Scotland possessed few secular attractions, and was best
fitted to test the disinterestedness of its candidates, he prosecuted the
usual course of study in the university of Edinburgh, and secured by his
proficiency the approbation of the professors. While a divinity student, and
as yet only nineteen years old, he evinced his sincerity and courage by
attending James Guthrie, of Stirling, to the scaffold, when that faithful
martyr was executed for his adherence to the persecuted Kirk of Scotland. It
was easy to foresee from such a commencement that the course of the young
man would be neither a profitable nor a safe one. On the banishment of his
father two years afterwards, the circumstances of the family were so
straitened, that Robert Trail, who shared in all their trials, was often
without a home. Matters in 1666 became even worse, in consequence of some
copies of the "Apologetic Relation"—a work obnoxious to the prelates and
privy council, having been found in their house; for in consequence of this
discovery, his mother, brother, and himself were obliged to hide themselves
from pursuit. While he was thus a fugitive, the unfortunate rout at Pentland
occurred; and—as in the trials that followed, all the homeless and
persecuted in Scotland were assumed as being more or less implicated in the
insurrection—Robert Traill, whether truly or falsely, was said to have been
in the ranks of the insurgents, in consequence of which charge, he was
liable every hour to be apprehended and executed as a traitor. In this
difficulty he fled to Holland in 1667, and joined his father, who had been
settled there four years. Here he resumed his studies in theology, and
assisted Nethenus, professor of divinity at Utrecht, in publishing
"Rutherford’s Examination of Arminianism."
The stay of Robert Traill in
Holland must have been a short one, probably only till the close of 1668;
for in April, 1669, he was preaching in London upon a Thursday previous to
the administration of the Lord’s Supper. It is probable, that having
completed his theological studies in Holland, he had come to England in the
earlier part of the year, and received ordination from the London
Presbytery. Here he preached for some time without any settled charge, and
was afterwards permanently appointed to the Presbyterian Church at Cranbrook,
a small town in Kent. In this retirement he could exercise his calling in
safety, as the Presbyterianism of England was not regarded as either so
formidable or so important as to provoke the interposition of state
persecution. But the case was very different in his native Scotland, which
he visited in 1677. During his sojourn in Edinburgh he privately preached
there, notwithstanding the severe laws against conventicles; and as the
privy council had their spies everywhere, he was soon arraigned for this
highest of offences before their bar. His trial was a brief one. He was
first accused as a holder of house-conventicles, and this he acknowledged to
be true. He was then asked if he had also preached at field-conventicles;
but as this was the trying question, upon what was a capital offence, he
gave no answer; and when required to clear himself by oath, of having
preached at, or attended such meetings, he refused to comply. For lack of
witnesses or proof they would oblige him to be his own accuser, and were
prepared to punish him whether he confessed or remained silent! But such was
the law of Scotland in those days against the persecuted children of the
Covenant. On further questioning, all that he acknowledged was, that he had
been ordained a minister in London, and that he had conversed with Mr. John
Welch, one whom they had proscribed, upon the English border. For these
offences he was sentenced to imprisonment in the Bass—a punishment only
short of the gallows; and here he remained three months, at the end of which
period he was released by order of government. It is not impossible that he
had some influential friends in the English metropolis, otherwise he might
have remained in the Bass for years, had his life endured it so long. On
being released from his damp and dismal dungeon, that was scooped in the
bowels of the sea-girt rock, Traill returned to Cranbrook, and resumed his
ministerial duties over his little flock, until he was called to a wider
sphere in London. There he lived and laboured as a Presbyterian minister,
until he died in May, 1716, at the ripe age of seventy-four, having
witnessed before he closed his eyes the deposition of the Stuarts, the firm
establishment of Presbyterianism in his native country, the union of the two
kingdoms, and the prospect of peaceful days and more liberal principles of
rule under the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty.
Such are the few particulars
that can be ascertained of the life of Robert Traill; and from these it is
evident that he was a man of peace, and that the persecutions he so manfully
endured were not sought by him, but thrust upon him. It is easy, also, to
perceive from his published works, that he was a thoughtful student, as well
as one of large and vigorous intellect; and that his taste as a writer was
greatly in advance of his contemporary countrymen. His writings are
essentially English—clear, nervous, and Saxon—while the catholicity of their
sentiments made them a favourite with every class of religious men both in
England and Scotland. Although so well adapted, also, to obtain influence
and distinction in authorship, he did not commit his first work to the press
until he had attained the ripe age of forty, and even then, such was his
modesty, that it was extorted from him by the importunity of his admirers;
while his second publication did not follow till ten years after. The
following is a list of his writings:—
Sermon on "How Ministers may
best win Souls."
Letter on "Antinomianism."
Thirteen discourses on "The
Throne of Grace; from Heb. iv. 16."
Sixteen sermons on "The
Prayer of our Saviour; in John xvii. 24."
These works obtained such
high popularity, and were found so useful, that after his death the
following were also published from his manuscripts:--
Twenty-one sermons on
"Steadfast Adherence to the Profession of our Faith; from Heb. x. 23."
Eleven sermons from 1 Peter i.
1-4.
Six sermons on Galatians ii.
21.
Ten sermons on various
subjects. These were transcribed from family MSS., and issued by the Cheap
Publication Society of the Free Church of Scotland in 1845. |
