SKINNER, John, a poet and theologian, was born at Balfour in the parish of Birse and county of Aberdeen, on the third day of October 1721. His father, who bore the same name, was master of the parochial school, and had married Jane the widow of Donald Farquharson, Esq. of Balfour, grandfather to the late Dr. Farquharson of Edinburgh. The mother, whose maiden name was Gillanders, died about two years after the birth of this their only son; and Mr. Skinner afterwards removed to the parish of Echt, at the distance of about twelve miles from Aberdeen. Here he continued for fifty years to discharge the duties of a schoolmaster, “to the entire satisfaction of many persons of distinction, whose sons were entrusted to his care and tuition; and so great was his diligence in the line of his profession, that he fitted out more young men for the university, than most country schoolmasters of his day.” After having continued a widower for several years, he contracted a second marriage, and had a numerous family. His youngest son, Mr. James Skinner, a solicitor of Edinburgh, still survives, and has reached a very advanced age.

For the rudiments of learning, John was indebted to his father’s school, where he made rapid progress in the acquisition of the Latin language. At the early age of thirteen, he was emboldened to present himself at the annual competition in Marischal College; and there he gained a considerable bursary, or exhibition, which served to defray a great proportion of his expenses during the four years of his academical course. After the completion of this period, he was for a few months employed as a teacher in Kemnay school; from which he transferred his services to the adjoining parish of Monymusk, as an assistant to the schoolmaster. Lady Grant, admiring some of his poetical effusions in the Scotish dialect, “was pleased to encourage his rustic muse, by affording him in the house of Monymusk every accommodation for prosecuting his studies, and improving his mind in the attainment of useful learning. Here it was, that enjoying the conversation, and the benefit of reading under the direction of a worthy episcopal clergyman in that neighbourhood, he became a convert to the principles of episcopacy, and united himself to the venerable remains of the old established church of Scotland.” This venerable church was, at that period, chiefly distinguished by a narrow bigotry in politics, as well as religion. In the month of June 1740, he became tutor to the only son of Mr. Sinclair of Scalloway, a gentleman of considerable property in Zetland. Here he only resided for about twelve months, the death of his pupil’s father having occasioned another arrangement. He honoured his memory by an English elegy and a Latin epitaph, both of which were printed by Ruddiman. Here he became intimately acquainted with Mr. Hunter, the only episcopal clergyman in those islands, who not only assisted him in[7:20:378] his theological studies, but likewise bestowed upon him the hand of his eldest daughter; “and with her the best of all earthly blessings, a sweetly soothing affectionate wife, who was his dear companion, and ministered tenderly to all his wants, for the uncommon space of fifty-eight years.” This marriage must have taken place when he had scarcely attained the twentieth year of his age.

Having now returned to Aberdeenshire, and made some further preparation, he received ordination from Bishop Dunbar, who resided at Peterhead. In November 1742 he fixed his residence at Linshart in the parish of Longside, as minister of a congregation which bis biographer describes as large and respectable.^[1. During the following year, he wrote a Latin elegy on the death of Bishop Rattray, which appeared in a small publication entitled “A Letter to a Friend: with two Poems sacred to the memory of the late R. R. Dr. Thomas Rattray of Craighall, Bisbop of Edinburgh.” Edinb. 1743, 4to. The letter was also written by Skinner. This elegy is followed by an English poem, written by a different person. ] It is not however to be supposed that his stipend was very ample. The rebellion, which ensued in 1745, exposed him to no small annoyance. The episcopal clergy were very generally disaffected to the existing government, and many of them were subjected to useless severities. On returning home one evening, Mr. Skinner “found his house in the possession of a military party; some of them guarding the door with fixed bayonets, and others searching the several apartments, even the bedchamber where Mrs. Skinner was lying-in of her filth child, and little able to bear such a rude unseasonable visit. No lenity was to be looked for from such unfeeling visitors, who pillaged the house of every thing they could carry with them, hardly leaving a change of linen to father, mother, or child in the family. The chapel with all its furniture was destroyed; and for several years the congregation could find no place to meet in for public worship but the clergyman’s house, which not being sufficiently large, many of them were obliged to stand in the open air, during divine service.” Of this miserable species of persecution, it is not easy to devise any plausible justification. The episcopalians of Longside, even if we suppose all of them to have been the most decided Jacobites, certainly could not convert their chapel to any political or military purpose; nor is it very obvious how this mode of treatment could have any tendency to increase their attachment to the reigning family. With the view of preventing his flock from being scattered from the true fold, he now prepared a small tract, entitled “A Preservative against Presbytery,” which was printed in the year 1746.

In the course of the same year, an act of parliament enjoined the episcopal clergy to register their letters of orders before the first day of September; after which date, it was provided that none should be admitted for registration, except such as had been obtained from a bishop of the church of England or of Ireland. And another act, passed two years afterwards, declared that no letters of orders, unless such as were granted by bishops of those churches, should after the 29th of September be sufficient to qualify any minister of an episcopalian meeting. From such vexatious and unavailing regulations as these, many hardships must have resulted, and Skinner seems to have experienced his full share. In 1753 he was apprehended under the authority of a warrant from the sheriff-substitute of the county; nor did he hesitate to make a voluntary confession that he had violated the recent act, by officiating as a clergyman to more than four persons, beside the members of his own family. For this offence he was sentenced to six months imprisonment. His wife, with her six children, were in the mean time kindly treated by the good people of Longside. The solitude of his prison was enlivened by the visits of some faithful friends, to whom he was likewise indebted for a liberal supply of books. His literary ardour did not suffer any abatement; and he frequently declared that no six months of his life had ever passed with so little interruption to his studies and improvement. In the exercise of his poetical talents he found a pleasing recreation, but his attention was chiefly directed to more serious pursuits.

For several years he had devoted much of his leisure to the study of the Hebrew language; and during his prison hours he formed the design of his Dissertation on the Shechinah, which appeared amongst his posthumous works. In the year 1757 he published at London “A Dissertation on Jacob’s Prophecy, Genesis xix. 10.” According to his interpretation, this prophecy denotes “that the tribeship should not depart from Judah, nor a typifer from between his feet, or from among his descendants, till Shiloh (the Messiah) should come, and till the gathering of the people should be to him.” This explanation, we are informed, was highly approved by Bishop Sherlock, and by other biblical critics of acknowledged eminence. His next work was of a different denomination. Mr. Sievwright, an episcopal minister of Brechin, published a somewhat curious volume, exposing the principles and practices of his nonjuring brethren.^[2. Principles, Political and Religious: or, a Preservative against Innovations in Politics and Religion. By Norman Sievwright, Μ. A. a Presbyter of the Communion of the Church of England as by Law established, and Minister to the authorised Episcopal Congregation in Brechin. Edinb. 1767 12mo. ] It appeared in 1767, and Mr. Skinner soon afterwards published, but without his name, “A Letter to Norman Sievwright, M.A., in Vindication of the Episcopal Clergy of Scotland from his Charge of Innovations in Politics and Religion.” Of his next publication, neither the date nor the precise title is mentioned by his biographer. It however assumed the form of an answer to an Enquiry into the Powers of Ecclesiastics, on the Principles of Scripture and Reason, written by the Rev. Thomas Gordon, minister of Speymouth.

This was followed by a more elaborate work, “An Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, from the first appearance of Christianity in that kingdom, to the present time: with remarks on the most important occurrences. In a Series of Letters to a Friend.” Lend. 1788, 2 vols. 8vo. Prefixed is a dedication, in Latin verse, to his son the bishop. The value of this work is far from being considerable. It is written in a spirit too sectarian, and in a style too provincial. Many facts are very inaccurately stated. Thus he asserts that with the exception of Dr. Featley, no episcopalian divine ever sat in the Westminster assembly. According to this ecclesiastical historian, the praise of Archbishop Laud “is and ever will be in the English church.” A man who could thus bestow commendation on a merciless bigot, is not to be admired for his wisdom or moderation. Nothing is so apt as bigotry to blind a man’s understanding, and to suppress the best feelings of his heart. In the nefarious sentence of death pronounced on the earl of Argyle for adding an explanation when he took the test-oath, Mr. Skinner finds nothing to condemn. According to the same authority, King James’s attachment to popery was acknowledged by his greatest enemies to be the only blemish of his character. The sufferings of the episcopal clergy after the Revolution are commemorated in terms sufficiently tragical; but the bloody persecution of the presbyterians during the reign of Charles the Second is represented as a very trivial matter; and it seems to have been the author’s deliberate opinion, that they were treated neither better nor worse than they deserved. A very different opinion was entertained[7:20:379] by a more impartial, as well as a more able writer. “Scotland,” says Jonathan Edwards, “has also been the scene, for many years together, of cruelties and blood by the hands of high-churchmen, such as came very little short of the popish persecution in Queen Mary’s days, and in many things much exceeded it.”^[3. Edwards’s History of the Work of Redemption, p. 291. Edinb. 1771, 8vo ] Mr. Skinner is lively where he is not edifying or instructive; and if he is here entitled to any other praise, it is that of supplying an account of his own sect from the era of the Revolution. A supplementary volume, under the title of “Annals of Scottish Episcopacy,” was published at Edinburgh in 1818 by the author’s grandson the Rev. John Skinner of Forfar.

Towards the close of the century, he published “a Letter to the Congregation of the Chapel of Old Deer and “Some plain Remarks on a plain Account of Conversion, now in circulation through the Parish and Neighbourhood of Old Deer.” This last tract, printed in 1799, is directed against William Ward, A.M., a clergyman of the church of England. He continued to augment his stores of theological learning, and undertook some more laborious works, which were not however published till after the death of the author. His name was favourably known to many distinguished individuals in England, as well as Scotland. As a poet, he corresponded with Bums; as a man of erudition, with Doig. The master of Stirling school and the minister of Longside chapel were both remarkable men in their generation; and to those who complain of the want of leisure, opportunities, and encouragement in the pursuit of learning, their history supplies a most edifying example. During the summer of 1795, Dr. Doig and Mr. Ramsay of Ochtertyre paid him a visit; and he spent a delightful week with them at Peterhead, which was then a watering place of fashionable resort.

Of the activity, as well as the benevolence of his disposition, he exhibited a signal proof by devoting a portion of his time to the study of physic, not for his own benefit, but for that of his poor neighbours, whether episcopalians or presbyterians. “Nor was it only to those,” says his biographer, “who were placed more immediately under bis pastoral care, that his benevolence was extended. Though he always considered them as entitled to his first and principal concern, yet did he never feel himself more happily employed, than when administering relief to the distresses, whether bodily or mental, of all that were within his reach, and would listen to his advice, whatever might be their religious profession. As no medical practitioner resided within four or five miles of Longside, soon after his settlement there, Mr. Skinner’s sympathy was often excited by perceiving his neighbours suffering under a want, of which the state of the country afforded no prospect of a regular supply. He resolved therefore to devote part of his own time to the study of physic; and with the aid of an eminent physician in Aberdeen [Dr. Thomas Livingston], who approved of his design, and felt the force of the motives from which it sprung, he soon acquired such a knowledge of the healing art, as enabled him to afford to the poor, labouring under disease, that relief which they could not otherwise have easily obtained, and the want of which might sometimes have proved fatal. It is proper to add, that for his medical prescriptions he accepted no fees.”

During the autumn of 1799 he had the heavy misfortune to lose his wife. This was a loss which could not be repaired; and at length, when the weight of age pressed more heavily upon him, his only surviving son Bishop Skinner invited him to spend the remainder of his days under his roof. He accordingly removed to Aberdeen on the 4th of June 1807, and for about eight days he apparently enjoyed his usual health and spirits. Some feverish symptoms, with a difficulty of respiration, afterwards supervened: but during the last day of his life, he moved into the garden, when finding his strength to be totally impaired, and having with much difficulty been supported into the house, he was placed in a chair, and calmly closing his eyes, expired without a groan or a struggle. He thus departed on the 16th of June, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. In compliance with his own request, his remains were interred in the church-yard of Longside, in the same grave with those of his wife. A marble tablet was there erected by the members of his congregation, by whom his memory was much revered.

Skinner appears to have been a man of a cheerful and friendly disposition; and in the discharge of his pastoral duties, he is represented as very exemplary. During the greater part of his professional life, it was not his practice to commit his discourses to writing, but he nevertheless preached with much ease and fluency. His opinions were deeply tinctured with the Hutchinsonian philosophy. To a lively fancy he added no despicable share of learning. He had cultivated not only a knowledge of the Latin and Greek, but likewise of the Hebrew language. In the composition of Latin verse he had attained to great facility, and to considerable skfll. The longest of his poems is a Latin version of the Batrachomyomachia ascribed to Homer. He likewise translated Christis Kirk of the Grcne, a Scotish poem remarkable for its genuine humour. The measure which he has here adopted, hexameter and pentameter verse, is not peculiarly suited to so familiar and ludicrous a subject: iambics would certainly have been more appropriate. Some of his Scotish poems are written in a pleasant strain, and three of his songs, Tullochgorum, John o’ Ba-denyon, and the Ewie wi’ the crookit Horn, have obtained a great share of popularity.

Not long after his death appeared “Theological Works of the late Rev. John Skinner, Episcopal Clergyman in Longside, Aberdeenshire. To which is prefixed a biographical memoir of the author.” Aberdeen, 1809, 2 vols. 8vo. This publication was accompanied or immediately followed by “A miscellaneous Collection of Fugitive Pieces of Poetry,&c. Vol. III. of his Posthumous Works.” Edinburgh, 1809∙ A separate edition of his poems was published under the title of “Amusements of Leisure Hours: or, Poetical Pieces, chiefly in the Scottish dialect.” Edinburgh, 1809, 12mo. A copious life of the author, evidently written by his son, is prefixed to the theological works. The first volume likewise includes a series of “Letters addressed to Candidates for Holy Orders in the Episcopal church of Scotland” The second contains “A Dissertation on the Shechinah, or Divine Presence with the Church or People of God,” “An Essay towards a literal or true radical Exposition of the Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s,” and “Psalms viii., xxiii., and xlv. translated into Latin verse.” In his Essay he strenuously maintains the opinion of those who regard the Song of Solomon as an inspired book. Of the value of his Dissertation, some notion may perhaps be formed from a single specimen. The divine presence, says this learned theologian, “is not now to be looked for, but in the way of God’s own divine appointment, and under the sacred symbols of bread and wine, set apart and instituted for that very purpose by Christ himself. . . . And if Corah and his company met with so signal and sudden a punishment for invading but a part of Aaron’s office, of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy, as St. Paul argues in a like case, who dare thrust themselves, without any call, order, or commission, into the ministry of the Christian priesthood, and will take upon them to consecrate the symbols of the divine presence, and to stand as priests between God and the people? It is no wonder that such unruly invaders of the priesthood should do what they can to bring the sacrament of the divine presence into contempt[7:20:380] and should refuse to appear in any posture of adoration before it, since they cannot but know that God will not vouchsafe to be present in it, but in the way and method of his own appointment.” According to this pure and enlightened theology, the divine presence, utterly withheld from all non-episcopalian assemblies of worshippers, is regularly manifested wherever a popish or half-popish priest “offers the unbloody sacrifice.” It is truly pitiful that any man, calling himself a protestant, should be so besotted as to represent all this as the way and method of God’s own appointment. It is the very essence of such an adulterated form of Christianity, that, without the supplementary aid of bishops and priests, Christ has died in vain, and in vain has risen from the dead. (x.)

Skinner , Stephen, an English lexicorapher, was born in the year 1622. He travelled, and studied in several foreign universities during the civil wars; and in 1654, he returned and settled at Lincoln, where he practised physic with success until the year 1667, when he died of a malignant fever. His posthumous work was published in folio in 1671, by Mr. Henshaw, under the title of Etymolog icon Lingua; Anglicanae.