John Sage (bishop)
Encyclopedia
John Sage was a Scottish nonjuring
bishop and controversialist in the Jacobite
interest.
, Fifeshire, where his ancestors had lived for seven generations. His father was a captain in the royalist forces at the time of the taking of Dundee
by George Monck in 1651. Sage was educated at Creich parish school and St Salvator's College, St Andrews
, where he graduated M.A. on 24 July 1669. Having been parish schoolmaster at Ballingray, Fifeshire, and then Tippermuir, Perthshire
, he entered on trials before Perth
presbytery on 17 December 1673, and gained testimonial for license on 3 June 1674.
He became tutor and chaplain in the family of James Drummond of Cultmalundie, Perthshire. While residing with his pupils at Perth he made the acquaintance of Alexander Rose
, then minister of Perth. He visited Rose at Glasgow
in 1684, and was introduced to Rose's uncle, Arthur Ross
, then archbishop of Glasgow
, who ordained him, and instituted him in 1685 to the charge of the east quarter in Glasgow. He held the clerkship of presbytery and synod. In 1688 Ross, being then primate, nominated him to a divinity chair at St Andrews, but the completion of the appointment was prevented by the abdication of James II.
Driven from Glasgow by the Cameronian
outbreak, Sage made his way to Edinburgh
, and took up his pen in the cause of the extruded clergy. He carried with him nine volumes of the presbytery records, which were only recovered after 103 years according to Hew Scott
. In 1693 he was banished from Edinburgh by the privy council for officiating as a nonjuror. He retired to Kinross
, and found shelter in the house of Sir William Bruce. But in 1696 Bruce was committed to Edinburgh Castle
, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sage. He hid himself in Angus, going by the name of Jackson, and giving out that he was come for a course of goat's milk. After a few months he became domestic chaplain, at Falkirk
, to Anne, dowager countess of Callendar, and subsequently to Sir John Stewart of Grandtully
, Perthshire.
On 25 January 1705 Sage was privately consecrated at Edinburgh, along with John Fullarton
, as a bishop without diocese or jurisdiction, as part of the policy of continuing the nonjuring episcopal order, while respecting the right of the crown to nominate to sees. In November 1706 Sage was seized with paralysis while on a visit to Kinross. He recovered sufficiently to take part in a consecration at Dundee on 28 April 1709. He then went to Bath. Moving on to London, he remained there about a year. He died at Edinburgh on 7 June 1711; his intimate correspondent, Henry Dodwell the elder, died on the same day. Sage was buried in the churchyard of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh. John Gillan in his Life of Sage gives a long Latin inscription intended for his tomb.
Among his unfinished manuscripts was a criticism of the Westminster Confession of Faith
. Gillan gives an account of other literary projects. His ‘Works,’ with memoir, were issued by the Spottiswoode Society, Edinburgh, 1844–6, 3 vols.
Nonjuring schism
The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....
bishop and controversialist in the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
interest.
Life
He was born at CreichCreich
Creich is located near Bonar Bridge, in Sutherland, in Scotland.There is a church and graveyard for the Parish of Creich. Creich Mains farm is located here....
, Fifeshire, where his ancestors had lived for seven generations. His father was a captain in the royalist forces at the time of the taking of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
by George Monck in 1651. Sage was educated at Creich parish school and St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College of the University of St Andrews was founded in 1450 by Bishop James Kennedy on North Street, St Andrews. Several of these original medieval buildings survive, including the college chapel, tower, tenement building and the Hebdomodar's building...
, where he graduated M.A. on 24 July 1669. Having been parish schoolmaster at Ballingray, Fifeshire, and then Tippermuir, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, he entered on trials before Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
presbytery on 17 December 1673, and gained testimonial for license on 3 June 1674.
He became tutor and chaplain in the family of James Drummond of Cultmalundie, Perthshire. While residing with his pupils at Perth he made the acquaintance of Alexander Rose
Alexander Rose
Alexander Rose of Edinburgh was a wood and ivory turner, following in the footsteps of his father, John, who came from Cromarty. He developed an interest in minerals and began a mineral collection, becoming a dealer in minerals...
, then minister of Perth. He visited Rose at Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in 1684, and was introduced to Rose's uncle, Arthur Ross
Arthur Rose
Arthur Rose was a seventeenth century Scottish priest, Archbishop of St Andrews, and Episcopal Primate of Scotland.-Life:The younger son of Elizabeth Wood and her husband, John Rose, minister of Birse, he was born in 1634...
, then archbishop of Glasgow
Archbishop of Glasgow
The Bishop of Glasgow, from 1492 Archbishop of Glasgow, was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Glasgow and then, as Archbishop of Glasgow, the Archdiocese of Glasgow...
, who ordained him, and instituted him in 1685 to the charge of the east quarter in Glasgow. He held the clerkship of presbytery and synod. In 1688 Ross, being then primate, nominated him to a divinity chair at St Andrews, but the completion of the appointment was prevented by the abdication of James II.
Driven from Glasgow by the Cameronian
Cameronian
Cameronian was a name given to a section of the Scottish Covenanters who followed the teachings of Richard Cameron, and who were composed principally of those who signed the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680...
outbreak, Sage made his way to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and took up his pen in the cause of the extruded clergy. He carried with him nine volumes of the presbytery records, which were only recovered after 103 years according to Hew Scott
Hew Scott
Hew Scott , was a minister of the Church of Scotland Parish of Anstruther Wester. His most extensive, multi-volume work, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The succession of ministers in the parish churches of Scotland, from the reformation, A.D...
. In 1693 he was banished from Edinburgh by the privy council for officiating as a nonjuror. He retired to Kinross
Kinross
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was formerly the county town of Kinross-shire.Kinross is a fairly small town, with some attractive buildings...
, and found shelter in the house of Sir William Bruce. But in 1696 Bruce was committed to Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sage. He hid himself in Angus, going by the name of Jackson, and giving out that he was come for a course of goat's milk. After a few months he became domestic chaplain, at Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
, to Anne, dowager countess of Callendar, and subsequently to Sir John Stewart of Grandtully
Grandtully
Grandtully is a small village in Perthshire, Scotland.It is situated close to the River Tay, about 3 miles from Pitlochry...
, Perthshire.
On 25 January 1705 Sage was privately consecrated at Edinburgh, along with John Fullarton
John Fullarton
John Fullarton , of Greenhall, Argyll, was a Scottish clergyman and nonjurant Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh between 1720 and 1727.-Origins:...
, as a bishop without diocese or jurisdiction, as part of the policy of continuing the nonjuring episcopal order, while respecting the right of the crown to nominate to sees. In November 1706 Sage was seized with paralysis while on a visit to Kinross. He recovered sufficiently to take part in a consecration at Dundee on 28 April 1709. He then went to Bath. Moving on to London, he remained there about a year. He died at Edinburgh on 7 June 1711; his intimate correspondent, Henry Dodwell the elder, died on the same day. Sage was buried in the churchyard of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh. John Gillan in his Life of Sage gives a long Latin inscription intended for his tomb.
Works
Most of Sage's publications were anonymous, but their authorship was well known; his controversial writings were shrewd. He published:- ‘Letters concerning the Persecution of the Episcopal Clergy in Scotland,’ 1689, (anon.); Sage wrote the second and third letters, the first was by Thomas Morer, the fourth by Alexander Monro.
- ‘The Case of the afflicted Clergy in Scotland,’ 1690, (‘By a Lover of the Church and his Country’).
- ‘An Account of the late Establishment of the Presbyterian Government,’ 1693, (anon.)
- ‘The Fundamental Charter of Presbytery … examin'd,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1697, (anon.; preface in answer to Gilbert RuleGilbert RuleDr Gilbert Rule was a nonconformist divine and the Principal of Edinburgh University from 1690 to 1701.Rule had previously been Regent in the University of Glasgow, afterwards sub-Principal of King's College, Aberdeen. Before the Restoration, he had been the minister at Alnwick, Northumberland...
answered in ‘Nazianzeni Querela,’ 1697, by William Jameson (fl. 1689–1720). - ‘The Principles of the Cyprianic Age,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1717, (by ‘J. S.’).
- ‘A Vindication of … the Principles of the Cyprianic Age,’ 1695; 2nd edit. 1701, (in reply to Rule; this and the previous are answered in Jameson's ‘Cyprianus Isotimus,’ 1705).
- ‘Some Remarks on the late Letters … and Mr. [David] Williamson's Sermon,’ 1703.
- ‘A Brief Examination of … Mr. Meldrum's Sermon against a Toleration,’ 1703.
- ‘The Reasonableness of Toleration to those of the Episcopal Perswasion,’ 1703; 2nd edit. 1705 (anon.; consists of four letters to George Meldrum).
- ‘An Account of the Author's Life and Writings,’ prefixed to Thomas RuddimanThomas RuddimanThomas Ruddiman was a Scottish classical scholar.-Life:He was born at Raggal, Banffshire, where his father was a farmer, and educated at the University of Aberdeen. Through the influence of Dr Archibald Pitcairne he became an assistant in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh...
's edition of Gawin Douglas's ‘Virgil's Æneis,’ 1710. He assisted Ruddiman in the edition, Edinburgh, 1711, of the works of William Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond , called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet.-Life:Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian. His father, John Drummond, was the first laird of Hawthornden; and his mother was Susannah Fowler, sister of William Fowler, poet and courtier...
, and wrote an introduction to Drummond's ‘History of Scotland during the Reigns of the five Jameses.’
Among his unfinished manuscripts was a criticism of the Westminster Confession of Faith
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition. Although drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly, largely of the Church of England, it became and remains the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland, and has been...
. Gillan gives an account of other literary projects. His ‘Works,’ with memoir, were issued by the Spottiswoode Society, Edinburgh, 1844–6, 3 vols.