HAMILTON, PATRICK: Proto-martyr of the
Scottish Reformation; b. at Stanehouse, Lanark,
or Mncavel, Linlithgow, about 1503-04; burned
at the sake at St. Andrew's Feb. 29, 1528. His
father, Patrick, was a natural son of the first Lord
Hamilton, knighted for his bravery, and rewarded
with
the above lands and barony by his sovereign,
James IV. His mother, Catherine Stewart, was a
daughter of Alexander, duke of Albany, second son
of James II.; so that he was closely connected with
some of the highest families in the land. His
cousins, John and James Hamilton, before the
Reformation, rose to episcopal rank in the old
church; and several others of his relatives attained
high promotion. Destined himself for such promotion, Patrick was carefully educated and was in
1517 appointed to the abbacy of Ferne in Rossshire, to enable him to maintain himself in comfort
while studying abroad. Like many of his aristocratic countrymen at that period, he went first to
the University of Paris, and probably
to
the College
of Montaigu, where John Major, the great doctor of
his country, was then teaching with so much dclat,
and gathering around him, as he did afterward at
St. Andrew's, an ardent band of youthful admirers,
who in the end were to advance beyond their preceptor, and to lend the influence of their learning
and character to the side of the Reformers. Before
the close of 1520 Hamilton took the degree of M.A.
at Paris, and soon after left that university for
Louvain, to avail himself of the facilities for linguistic study provided there, or to enjoy personal
intercourse with Erasmus, the patron of the new
learning. At this date he was probably more of an
Emsmian than a Lutheran, though of that more
earnest school who were ultimately to outgrow
their teacher and find their home in a new church.
He made great progress in the languages and philosophy, and was specially drawn toward the system
of Plato. With "the sophists of Louvain" he had
no sympathy. But there were some there, as well
as at Paris, whose hearts God had touched, to whom
he could not fail to be drawn. He may even have
met with the young Augustinian monks of Antwerp,
whom, so soon after his departure, these sophists
denounced, and forced to seal their testimony with
their blood. In the course of 1522 he returned to
Scotland, matriculated at St. Andrew's on June 9,
1523, the same day that his old preceptor Major
was incorporated into the university and admitted
as principal of the Pmdagogium, or, as it came afterward to be called, St. Mary's College. Probably he
heard there those lectures on the Gospels which
Major afterward published in Paris. But his sympathies were more with the young canons of the
Augustinian priory than with the old scholastic;
and possibly it was that he might take a place among
the teachers of their college of St. Leonards that on
Oct. 3, 1524, he was received as a member of the
Faculty of Arts. He was a proficient, not only in
the languages and philosophy, but also in the art of
sacred music, which the canons and the alumni of
their collcge were bound to cultivate. He composed
"what the musicians call a mass, arranged in parts
for nine voices," and acted himself as precentor of
the choir when it was sung. In 1526 the New Testament of Tyndale's translation was
brought over
from the Low Countries by the Scottish traders:
A large proportion of thp copies are said to have been
taken to St. Andrew's, and circulated there. Hamil
ton seized the opportunity to commend the holy
book and its long-forgotten truths to those
over
whom he had influence. His doings could not long
escape the notice of Archbishop Beaton, who, as in
duty bound, issued, or threatened to issue, a sum
mons charging him with heresy. Hamilton, yielding
to the counsels of friends and opponents, made his
escape to the Continent. He had much profitable
intercourse with Tyndale, as well as with Lambert,
and was urged to remain in Marburg. But, late in
the autumn of 1527, he returned to Scotland, deter
mined to brave death itself rather than prove faith
less to his Master where before he had shrunk from
an ordeal so terrible. Nor was it long ere his resolution
was put to a test. After he had labored for a
very short time in his native district, gained over
to the truth several of his relatives, and won the
heart of a young lady of noble birth, to whom he
united himself in marriage, he was invited (Jan.,
1528) by the archbishop to a conference with the
chiefs of the Church "on such points as might seem
to stand in need of reform." At first all displayed
a conciliatory spirit, and appeared to recognize the
evils existing in the Church; some even seemed, in
some points, to share his sentiments, and for nearly
a month
all
possible freedom in making known his
views was allowed to him. At length the mask was
thrown aside. On Feb. 28 he was seized, and on the
29th brought out for trial in the cathedral. Among
the articles with which he was charged, the more
important were " that a man is not justified by
works, but by faith; that faith, hope, and charity
are so linked together that he who hath one of them
hath all, and he that lacketh one lacketh all; and
that good works make not a good man, but a good
man doeth good works." On being challenged by
his accuser, he also affirmed it was not lawful to
worship images, nor to pray to the saints; and that
it was " lawful to all men that have souls to read
the word of God; and that they are able to under
stand the same, and in particular the latter will and
testament of Jesus Christ." These truths, which
have been the source of life and strength to many,
were then to him the cause of condemnation and
death; and the same day the sentence was passed
and executed. But, through all his excruciating
sufferings, the martyr held fast his confidence in
God and in his Savior; and the faith of many in the
truths he taught was only the more confirmed by
witnessing their mighty power on him. Nay, " the
reek of Patrick Hamilton infected all on whom it
did blow."
(A. F. Mitchell†.)
Bibliography:
Sources are: The notices in the Commen-
tary of A. Alesius on
Ps. xxxvii., 1554;
in the Introduction
to F. Lambert's Commentary on the Apocalypse,
Marburg, 1528; J. Foxe,
Acts
and Monuments of the
Church, many editions, e.g., London,
1871; J. Knox,
Works,
ed. D. Laing i 500-515, Edinburgh, 1895; J.
Spottiewoode,
Hist. of
Church of Scotland, e
d. M. Russell,
3 vols., ib. 1851- D. Calderwood,
Hist. of
the
Kirk of
Scotland,
ed. T. Thomson, 8 vols., ib. 1842-49; R. Lind
say,
Chronicles
of Scotland, ad
. J. G. Dalyell, 2 vols., ib.
1814. The only formal biography is P. Lorimer , Patrick
Hamilton,
the
First Preacher and Martyr of the Scottish
Reformation: a Historical Biography, collected
from orig
inal sources,
Edinburgh, 1857. The story of Hamilton
Hamilton
has been told by M. d'Aubignd, Reformation in Europe in
the Time of Calvin, vi. 14-Sb,
London, 1875; recently it has been made the subject of a veritable drama by Rev.
T. P. Johnston,
Patrick Hamilton, a Tragedy of the Reformation in Scotland,
Fdinburgh, 1882. Consult also DNB,
xaiv. 201-203.
