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Although lay patronage was abolished in 1690, the study emphasises the importance of linking that Act with the one restoring it in 1712, since there was a difference between the landed interest and the Church in their perception of both pieces of legislation. This divergence, together with the 1690 Act's placement of the heritor class into the process of ministerial election, and the vexations caused by the Abjuration Oath, combined to create the complications which undermined the Church's ability to throw off patronage. The study questions the idea that few patronage disputes arose in the first period after the Act, and goes on to examine how the intensification of Squadrone/Argathelian rivalry in the post-Union scramble for influence drew church vacancy matters inexorably into the web of politics. The most successful manipulators of patronage were Lord Ilay and Lord Milton, and a general comparison is made between their administration and that of the Marquis of Tweeddale. Skilful management of the Church's senior courts, along with a judicious preferment of ministerial loyalists, made concerted opposition to even the worst excesses of patronage, overwhelmingly difficult. The study however draws attention to one period, between 1734 and 1736, when forces antipathetic to the abuses of patronage appeared to achieve an effective unity. Finally, the study looks beyond the influence of simple party politics, to examine what local factors may have impinged upon settlements by presentation, and to this end examines the peculiar circumstances which obtained in the Presbyteries of Edinburgh, Duns and Brechin.

“The existing work is easy to summarise; despite the ever present nature of furniture in people's lives, and its obvious position in a social context as a reflection of taste, wealth and progress, the study in Scotland of the trade which made it, and the furniture itself, has until recently been sadly neglected.” -- From the Preface. “This thesis is intended to hang flesh on the bones of Francis Bamford's ‘Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights', rather than to be a counterpart to Pat Kirkham's study of the London trade¹². Whereas in Glasgow 'no rich vein of documentation has revealed the existence of a dominant city manufacturer comparable with Trotter of Edinburgh, whose furniture and business activities can be traced back into the eighteenth century¹³', in Edinburgh rich veins do exist. They have been used not only to illuminate the careers of individuals but also to explore the great range of services which these individuals offered. The editorial of the 1992 volume of ‘Regional Furniture' states that 'some work on Norwich, Chester, Doncaster, Lancaster and Glasgow is in print, but coverage is patchy'. That Edinburgh had such a clearly vibrant trade will hopefully be of encouragement to historians of all major British cities, even those that did not benefit from the privileges of a capital city, or bask in the reflected glow of the Enlightenment.” – From the Introduction.

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This study explores the moral characteristics of late eighteenth-century Scottish culture in order to ascertain both its specific nature and its contribution to modern consciousness. It argues that, while the language of moral discourse in that socio-economic environment remained in large part traditional, containing aspects from both neo-Stoicism and classical humanism, it also incorporated and helped to develop an explicitly modern conceptual network. The language of sensibility as discussed by Adam Smith and adapted by practical Scottish moralists, played a key role in the Scottish assessment of appropriate ethical behaviour In a complex society. The contribution of enlightened Scottish moralists to the language and literature of sensibility has been virtually overlooked, with a corresponding impoverishment of our understanding of some of the most important eighteenth-century social and cultural developments. Both literary scholars and social historians have made the mistake of equating eighteenth century sensibility with the growth of individualism and romanticism. The Scottish contribution to sensibility cannot be appreciated in such terms, but needs to be examined in relation to the stress that its practitioners placed upon man's social nature and the integrity of the moral community. Scottish moralists believed that their traditional ethical community was threatened by the increased selfishness, disparateness, and mobility of an imperial and commercial British society. They turned to the cultivation of the moral sentiments as a primary mechanism for moral preservation and regeneration in a cold and indifferent modern world. What is more their discussion of this cultivation related in significant ways to the development of new perspectives on adolescence, private and domestic life, the concept of the feminine and the literary form of the novel. Scottish moralists made a contribution to sentimental discourse which has been almost completely overlooked. Henry Mackenzie, Hugh Blair and James Fordyce were among the most popular authors of the century and their discussion of the family, the community, education, the young and the conjugal relationship was not only influential per se but also reflected a particularly Scottish moral discourse which stressed the concept of sociability and evidenced concern about the survival of the moral community in a modern society. To the extent that literary scholars and historians have ignored or misread their works, they have obscured rather than enlightened eighteenth-century culture and its relationship with the social base. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

The Scottish Record Office collection of the Forfeited Estates Papers, 1745, is voluminous, including the documents of the Barons of the Exchequer in Scotland concerning all those estates forfeited in 1747 as well as those relating to forfeited estates that were annexed to the Crown in 1752 and managed by the Board of Commissioners for the Forfeited Estates. This thesis is primarily a study of the work of the Board. [Not from the Abstract - taken from the Preface].

Modern freemasonry emerged in Britain during the eighteenth century, combining earlier stonemason customs and methods of organization with the popular passion for clubs and societies. Although by no means unique in its ideology and constitution, freemasonry established itself after 1700 as a prominent fixture in both British communal and social life. Some mocked masonic lodges and their rituals, but they were an accepted feature on the social scene and, given that they avoided political and religious discussion and swore loyalty to the existing regime, their position was largely uncontroversial. The French Revolution, however, caused a severe backlash against the masons in Britain and Europe. During the 1790s, masonic lodges which were once viewed simply as charitable and convivial organizations were now seen as convenient vehicles for allowing radical groups to pursue covert revolutionary activities. As a result, legislation was passed which attempted to regulate these societies and eradicate any traces of secrecy. Despite its commitment to the establishment, freemasonry came under suspicion. This thesis examines the structure, nature, and characteristics of Scottish freemasonry in its wider British and European contexts between the years 1725 and 1810. As we shall see, masonic lodges and their members changed and adapted as these contexts evolved. The Enlightenment effectively crafted the modern mason and propelled freemasonry into a new era marked by increasing membership and the creation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, with the institution becoming part of the contemporary fashion for associated activity.

The thesis explores the reception of the works of the Scottish Enlightenment in provincial Scotland, broadly defined, aiming to gauge their diffusion in the libraries of private book collectors and 'public' book-lending institutions, and to suggest the meanings and uses that contemporary Scottish readers assigned to major texts like Hume's History of England and Smith's Wealth of Nations. I thereby acknowledge the relevance of more traditional quantitative approaches to the history of reading (including statistical analysis of the holdings of contemporary book collections), but prioritise the study of sources that also allow us to access the 'hows' and 'whys' of individual reading practices and experiences. Indeed, the central thrust of my work has been the discovery and interrogation of large numbers of commonplace books, marginalia, diaries, correspondence and other documentary records which can be used to illuminate the reading experience itself in an explicit attempt to develop an approach to Scottish reading practices that can contribute in comparative terms to the burgeoning field of the history of reading. More particularly, such sources allow me to assess the impact that specific texts had on the lives, thought-processes and values of a wide range of contemporary readers, and to conclude that by reading these texts in their own endlessly idiosyncratic ways, consumers of literature in Scotland assimilated many of the prevalent attitudes and priorities of the literati in the major cities. Since many of the most important and pervasive manifestations of Enlightenment in Scotland were not particularly Scottish, however, I also cast doubt on the distinctive Scottishness of the prevailing 'cultural' definition of the Scottish Enlightenment, arguing that such behaviour might more appropriately be considered alongside cultural developments in Georgian England.

John Erskine was the leading Evangelical in the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Educated in an enlightened setting at Edinburgh University, he learned to appreciate the epistemology of John Locke and other empiricists alongside key Scottish Enlightenment figures such as his ecclesiastical rival, William Robertson. Although groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, Erskine changed career paths in order to become a minister of the Kirk. He was deeply moved by the endemic revivals in the west of Scotland and determined that his contribution to the burgeoning Evangelical movement on both sides of the Atlantic would be much greater as a clergyman than a lawyer. Yet Erskine was no ‘enthusiast’. He integrated the style and moral teachings of the Enlightenment into his discourses and posited new theories on traditional views of Calvinism in his theological treatises. Erskine’s thought, however, never transgressed the boundaries of orthodoxy. His goal was to update Evangelical Calvinism with the new style and techniques of the Enlightenment without sacrificing the gospel message. While Erskine was widely recognised as an able preacher and theologian, his primary contribution to Evangelicalism was as a disseminator. He sent correspondents like the New England pastor Jonathan Edwards countless religious and philosophical works so that he and others could learn about current ideas, update their writings to conform to the Age of Reason and provide an apologetic against perceived heretical authors. Erskine also was crucial in the publishing of books and pamphlets by some of the best Evangelical theologians in America and Britain. Within his lifetime, Erskine’s main contribution to Evangelicalism was as a propagator of an enlightened form of Calvinism.

This study investigated one central aspect of the political views of John Withexspoon: His steadfast belief in the right of resistance. A product of the Reformation and Enlightenment movements, this doctrine offered justification for questioning the authority of magistrates acting contrary to their sovereignty: it further compelled disobedience to unjust laws and the removal of unjust officials to protect the instituted social order. The context of post-Union Scottish society provided a distinct setting for Witherspoon's introduction to resistance theory. As a devout Scottish Presbyterian and a learned Enlightenment scholar, Withexspoon commanded a thorough understanding of this civil-religious right and duty to protect society.Through his education at Edinburgh University, Witherspoon became acquainted with the substance of Scottish Enlightenment philosophy. Edinburgh instructors utilized the writings of Commonwealth theorists and the classical writers to construct their views of society and social obligation: Society was a constituted civil order, restrained by law, preserved by the efforts of every individual citizen. Witherspoon's Scottish ecclesiastical heritage served to vindicate his Enlightenment education by echoing a similar view of restraint and balance.Covenant Pianism, the product of the 16th-Century reformer John Knox and the Westminster Assembly of the 1640s, invoked the supremacy of a sovereign God over all instituted states. In the Scotsman's view, human depravity and selfish ambition would destroy government if not for the diligent vigil of involved, virtuous citizens. Members of society were thus obliged to oppose tyranny -the unjust, illegitimate exercise of civil-religious authority. Hence, both academic enterprise and doctrinal conviction provided Witherspoon a firm theoretical foundation to support the right of resistance.As President of Princeton during the Anglo-American crisis of the 1770s, Witherspoon directed the education of many future leaders of the new American nation. He was certainly not an idealistic crusader nor a reluctant follower, but consistently argued for the right of American colonists to resist the tyranny of England's Parliament. An early supporter of independence, Witherspoon was the only clergyman to sign Jefferson's Declaration. His most significant contributions, though, were made as a committee member in the Second Continental Congress. / Department of History