Preface
VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
Armed with the knowledge that he was a minister of the early Church, my first step was to contact the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.
There I was furnished with the relevent extract from the `Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae`, a register of all the parish ministers since the Reformation.
Here I discovered the churches that he had ministered in throughout his turbulent career in Scotland.
Accompanied by my late wife, I set off to visit these churches. However, over the years all that remains of them are ruins. Visits to various parishes, communications with councils, museums, and universities resulted in the accumulation of much material from which I have based the following narrative.
If you get half as much enjoyment out of reading it as I have of compiling it, then I am a happy man.
Please, do not hesitate to append something or another to my message-board if you feel so inclined. I look forward to hearing from you.
The Subject
A post Reformation minister of the gospel, Livingstone lived and worked during the turbulent period of the early 17th century.
The Prelacy and Presbyterianism were in constant conflict in attempting to fill the vacuum left by the overthrow of the Roman Catholic Church in the late 16th century both in Scotland and Ireland.
A prominent protestor, when many about him were content to accept the rules and dictates of the bishops, and through them the supreme right of the monarch in all things spiritual, he aligned himself with others who baulked at this claim maintaining the power of the throne stopped short of this.
John Livingstone was prominent in this assertion and, for his efforts, found himself banished along with others from the country for the last years of his life.
Continually under fire from the bishops for his outspokeness, his ordination was long delayed as a result; he was eventually to receive "the hands on" prior to taking up his first parish in Killinchy, Ireland in 1630.
Accused of non-conformity, he was deposed and re-instated many times, often despairing for his own personal safety. Nevertheleass, his resolve and convictions were strong and unyielding, and throughout his sixty nine years, he never shirked from his mission. This was illustrated in no uncertain terms when he was ordered to appear before the Privy Council in Edinburgh on December 11, 1662.
Here he was asked to swear the Oath of Allegiance. He remained steadfast in his refusal to do so
even at the prospect of exile. His testimony was in sharp contrast to his self-confessed lack of debating ability; often he would chide himself for his failure to argue his case when in confrontation, later regretting not having asserted himself at the time.
Although much of his time was taken up by the affairs of the church, his pastoral duties were never ignored. His regret at not being allowed to spend more time with his parishioners was expressed continually in his writings. His reputation as a parish minister was exemplary and the esteem he was held in by his flock can be guaged by the number of ex parishioners who were prepared to travel great distances just to hear him.
On his deathbed he exclaimed, " If my heart was lifted up, it was in the preachings of Jesus Christ. I die in the faith that the truth of God . which He hath helped the Church of Scotland to own, shall be owned by him as truths so long as sun and moon endure."
He has been largely ignored by historians while the work of his contemporaries has been well recorded. This chronicle is my attempt to accord him some of the credit which he deserves.
My first encounter with him was purely by chance. I had been investigating the frequency that the name of Livingston occurred in its usage of naming towns after it. It was one such instance, Livingston, New Jersey which intrigued me.
I discovered the New Jersey Livingston was named after William Livingston*, the first governor of the state, and a member of a distinguished New York family which had featured prominently in the American War of Independance and subsequent events. This prompted me to delve further into the family`s history.
I found they were descended from a Scottish emigrant , Robert Livingston, the son of a "vigorous Scots minister." Who was this person, unnamed, yet obviously someone of note? Further research came up with his name John Livingstone,* born 1603, died 1672, a minister of the gospel.
*
There would seem to be an anomaly in the way the name Livingston is interpreted here, viz, with and without an "e". John Livingstone`s predecessors did not use it and likewise his American descendants. However, the Wodrow Manuscripts of Livingstone`s written works credit him with the "e". For continuity`s sake, I have included the "e" in the narrative on both Alexander and William, John`s grandfather and father.
During the course of my research I uncovered something of his father and of his grandfather, both clergymen before him. The account of their lives, although brief, I felt had to be included in order to portray some of the background to his story. Similarly, short narratives of the exploits of John`s son, Robert, the founder of the American dynasty of the Livingstons of Livingston Manor, New York, and his immediate prominent descendants have been appended for further interest.
Whilst John Livingstone was being hounded for his beliefs, another member of the `clan` that of Kilsyth was being rewarded for his support of the crown, receiving the Viscountancy of that name. Truly a family of conflicting loyalties.
I have also provided some text on:
The Minims or Fratres Minores, an order of Greyfriars who had a priory in Lanark to which William Livingstone was confined for a period.
A typical parish church of the time, the presbytery and the founding of the Scots church in Rotterdam.
Three family genealogical trees.
Names of the famous and infamous who have been associated with the Livingstons.
The Wodrow Society. Robert Wodrow (1679-1734, an ecclesiastical historian had a society named after him which undertook to publish the works of early writers of the Church of Scotland. The society dissolved in 1847 but not before publishing some of the writings of John Livingstone.
These are in the safekeeping of Glasgow University to whom I am indebted for releasing photocopies to me in my reasearch.
I have attempted to collate and present some of this material in modern text but in the quest for desired effect, the colourful descriptive language of early to middle 17th century Scotland has been retained where necessary.
