“Item, to him ane sleik of chamlot of silk, xxijli.
“Item, ij elnis ij quarteris of Londoun claith, the eln iiijli xs. Summa, xijli vijs vjd.” [Compot. Thesaur.]
As his imprisonment in Portugal, and his release from confinement, have been imperfectly related, I shall here insert two accounts of them, which have escaped the notice of his biographers. Principal Smeton’s account, which was most probably derived from Buchanan himself, is the following. “Vivit adhuc,” says he in his answer to Hamilton, “te utinam diu vivat, orbis terrarum,non Scotiæ tantum, decus Georgius Buchananus; quem inepte facerem, si a rabidi canis latratu defendere conarer, extra omnem ingenii aleam omnium judicio constitutum. Quod de abjurata ab eo hæresi adscribis, impudentissimum est mendacium, Hamiltoni. Duplici quidem de causa in veræ religionis suspicionem in Lusitania venit; tum quod Seraphici ordinis mysteria in Franciscano suo apertius reuelasset: tum quod in priuato colloquio discipulis quibusdam dixisset, videri sibi Augustinum transubstantiationis figmento non prorsus fauere. In carcerem coniectus causam capitis perorauit. Franciscanum se regis sui iussu scripsisse; nec quicquam in eo esse quod vllum fidei Christianæ dogma conuellat. Versus quosdam memoriter pronuntiare iussus (nam nemo ibi libellum habebat) memoriæ iacturam causatus est. De transubstantione respondit; non alia se quam Augustini verba recitasse, ex cap. 16. lib. 3. de Doctrina Christiana. Quæ sic habent. ‘Si præceptiua locutio est, aut flagitium aut facinus vetans, aut vtilitatem aut beneficentiam iubens, non est figurata: Si autem flagitium aut facinus videtur iubere, aut vtilitatem aut beneficentiam vetare, figurata est. Nisi manducaueritis, inquit, carnem filij hominis et sanguinem biberitis, non habebitis vitam in vobis: facinus vel flagitium videtur iubere. Figura est ergo, præcipiens passioni Domini esse communicandum, et suauiter atque vtiliter recondendum in memoria, quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa et vulnerata sit.’ Hæc, inquit, si hæresim sapiunt, prius Augustinum damnate; quod vt feceritis, haud æquum tamen erit, vt ego alienæ culpæ pœnas luam. Ergo cum nec ratione, nec testimonio cuiusquam conuinci posset, iudicum calculis absolutus in Galliam redijt; tanto bonarum litterarum damno, vt ipsemet postea Lusitaniæ Rex amantissimis eum scriptis reuocarit. Sed frustra. Summo enim Dei beneficio ex crudelissimis inquisitorum manibus liberatus, in discrimen se iterum conijcere noluit: cum in Gallia præsertim, omnium quæ sub sole sunt regionum humanitate, optimarum artium studijs et doctorum numero prima, opimæ illi, et admodum honorificæ conditiones deferrentur. Sed Buchananum singularis animi candor, et in omni genere perspecta virtus satis per se defendet.” Smetoni Responsio ad Virulentum Arch. Hamiltonii Dialogum, Edinburgi, 1579. p. 89, 90.
I shall add the account which Archibald Hamilton gives of thisaffair, in his reply to Smeton, although the judicious reader will be of opinion that no credit is due to such a writer, especially when his testimony is flatly contradicted by that of Smeton, and of Buchanan himself. “Tam illud quidem contra regis Scotorum integritatem, quam hoc contra Hyspanorum nunquam satis laudatam in examinandis hæreticis severitatem, malitiose confictum, et utrumque longe falsissimum est. Nequo enim Jacobus Quintus, in tenenda atque asserenda fide Catholica princeps nulli omnium secundus, tam impuro et procaci pasquillo, auctorem se unquam dedisset: neq; theologorum gravissima censura, tam impiam athei poetæ dicacitatem impune abire permisisset: et ut prioris mendacii falsitas illustrium dominorum Askein et Levingston publico testimonio evicta tunc fuit: quando legatione apud Gallos functi, regis nomine hæreseos convictum Buchananum Hyspanorum legato detulerunt: Ita ducentorum qui non disputationem sed supplicem lachrymantis deprecationem audiverunt, sententiis, alterius illius figmenti vanitas coargui potest. sin illæ non satis fortiter premunt quod longe a nobis absint, et nostrorum hominum, quod rei gestæ non interfuerunt narratio digna fide minus videatur: Publicè tamen urbis commentarii, in quos res gestæ referri solent, auctoritate vacare non debent, qui aperte adhuc testabuntur non Augustini testimonio. cap. 17. libri tertii de doctrina Christiana, sed Psalmographi versum, psalmo vigesimo quarto, subsidio ei tunc fuisse: dum ad Cardinalis pedes provulutus, flebili voce, verba ista proferebat (delicta juventutis meæ et ignorantias ne memineris Domine) eam recantationis formulam, ab eo tunc temporis usurpatum, ad eum sane finem obiter attigi, ut tandem Scotia intelligeret, quam gravem et constantem nunc patriarcham in religione sequitur: dum levis poetæ et abjurati hæretici paradoxa omnia pro certissimis spiritus sancti oraculis habet.” Calvinianæ Confusionis Demonstratio.—per Archibaldum Hammiltonium, p. 252 b. 253 a. Parisiis, 1581.
Of David Ferguson, and the cultivation of the Scottish Language.—I have said in the text, that the reformers, while they exerted themselves to revive the knowledge of the learned languages, did not neglect the improvement of their native tongue; and that, amongothers, David Ferguson, minister of Dunfermline, distinguished himself in this department. It appears, from a document already produced, (vol. I., [Note GG],) that he belonged originally to Dundee. Though “not graduated in a college,” he was very far from being illiterate, and was much admired for the quickness of his wit and good taste, as well as for his piety—“elegantis ingenii et magnæ pietatis virum,” says Smeton, Responsio ad Hamilt. Dialog. p. 92. Row’s Coronis to his Historie, p. 314 of copy in Divinity Lib. Edin. The sermon which he preached at Leith before the regent and nobility, and afterwards published, (see above, [p. 210],) is a proof of this; and had it not been a sermon, would most probably have been republished before this time, as a specimen of good Scottish composition. Extracts from it may be seen in [Note B]. John Davidson, then one of the regents at St Andrews, celebrated the success of the author in refining his vernacular language, in the following Latin lines, which are prefixed to the sermon:—
Græcia melifluo quantum det nestoris ori,
Aut Demostheneo debeat eloquio;
Ipsi facundo quantum (mihi crede) parenti