EDINBURGH] ST GILES 55
favour till 1596, when, giving offence by his
opposition to James's prelatic tendencies,
he, with others, was banished from Edin-
burgh. He was allowed to return after a
time, and in May 1598 was admitted to the
Little Kirk. At first he refused the im-
position of hands, notjudging it an essential
part of the ordination ceremony, but ulti-
mately he consented to accept it "as a
ceremony of entry only." In August 1600
the Gowrie Conspiracy took place, and
Bruce being one of those who entertained
doubts as to the treason of the Ruthvens,
refused to offer up thanks in the manner
prescribed for the King's deliverance. As
a result (and spite of the efforts of his
friends to get the matter settled), Bruce
was ordered to quit Edinburgh, and pro-
hibited from preaching anywhere in the
kingdom upon pain of death. The last
thirty years of his life were spent in various
places. From 1605 to 1609 he was confined
to Inverness, where he met with much hard
treatment from Lord Enzie and others,
but where his preaching was much appreci-
ated by his friends. On a vacancy he
supplied the charge of Forres for a time,
after which, on the solicitation of his son,
he received permission to return to his
patrimonial estate of Kinnaird, near Stir-
ling, where he repaired at his own expense
the church of Larbert, and discharged all
the duties of the ministry, officiating some-
times also at Stirling. Occasionally he
resided on his other property at Monkland.
"Wherever he had an opportunity of
preaching, great crowds attended ; he
preached with remarkable power, and his
own life being in full accord with his
preaching, the influence he attained was
almost without parallel in the history of
the Scottish Church." In 1620 he was
again banished to Inverness, where, broken
in health and in increasing weakness, he
remained till 1624. On King James's death
in 1625 the severity against him was much
mitigated, andbyKing Charles's orderhewas
allowed to return to Kinnaird, where he died
27th July 1631. Tn person he was tall and
dignified, with a majestic countenance and
venerable appearance in the pulpit. He had
a knowledge of the Scriptures beyond most
of his time. Andrew Melville described
him as a "hero adorned with every virtue,
a constant confessor and almost martyr to
the Lord Jesus," whilst Livingstone of
Ancrum said : "Mr Robert Bruce I several
times heard, and in my opinion never man
spoke with greater power since the Apostles'
days.
;:
He marr. 22nd Aug. 1590, Martha
(died Nov. 1620), second daugh. of Sir
George Douglas of Pittendreich, and had
issue—Robert, ancestor of James Bruce,
African explorer ; Anna, bapt. 10th March
1595 ; Rebecca (marr. Andrew Young,
minister : Stirling Sas., iv., 89) ; Margaret,
bapt. 9th July 1598 ; Maria, bapt. 1st Sept.
1599 ; James ; Jean, bapt. 21st Jan. 1601
;
Mary (marr. 15th Feb. 1618, Michael Elphin-
stone of Quarrel : Reg. of Deeds, eclxxviii.,
295) ; John, a clergyman of the Church of
England ; Elizabeth (marr. 26th April 1624,
James Campbell, younger, of Moy) ; Martha
(marr. in 1648, James Ramsay, son to Barn-
bougie). Publications
—
Sermons upon the
Sacrament of the Lord'sSupper (Edinburgh,
1590 ; republished and edited by Prof. John
Laidlaw, D.D., Edinburgh, 1901); [see
Answer to foregoing by William Reinolde,
priest at Antwerp, 1593]; The Way to True
Peace and Rest (London, 1617); [which,
with another, and Life by Wodrow, were
edited by William Cunningham, D.D., and
printed for the Wodrow Society, 1843].
—
[Sermons; The Edin. (Rajit.), Counc, and
Test. Reg. (Stirl.) ; Rooke of the Kirk ; Pet-
rie's, Spottiswood's, Row's,and Calderwood's
IFists. ; Melvill's Autob. ; Scots Mag., lxiv.
;
Orig. Lett., Maitland's Hist, of Edinburgh,
Diet. Nat. Riog., W. Bruce Armstrong's
Rruces of Airth, M. E. Cumming Bruce's
Family Records of the Rruces, Macnicol's
Master Robert Rruce (contains account of
recently discovered MS. Sermons of R. B.).]
JOHN HALL, son of Andrew H,
burgess of Kirkcudbright ; mentioned
as min. of Hailes or Colinton in 1579 ;
one of the commissioners for trial of the
brethren in Lothian in 1586 ; trans, to
Leith 24th Oct. 1596; adm. min. of the
Second Charge, St Giles, 7th Dec. 1598;
along with others of the city ministers he
declined to believe in the genuineness of