Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston (1611–1663) was a Scottish judge and statesman.

He assisted Alexander Henderson

Alexander Henderson (theologian)

Alexander Henderson was a Scottish theologian, and an important ecclesiastical statesman of his period. He is considered the second founder of the Reformed Church in Scotland, and its Presbyterian churches are largely indebted to him for the forms of their dogmas and organization.-Life:He was born...

in framing the Scots National Covenant in 1638. Appointed a Procurator of the Kirk in the same year. In 1639 he assisted in negotiating pacification of Berwick, and the treaty of Ripon

Treaty of Ripon

The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Scottish Covenanters on 26 October 1640, in the aftermath of the Second Bishops' War...

in 1640. He was lord of session as Lord Warriston in 1641. In 1643 as commissioner for Midlothian

Midlothian

Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....

he opposed neutrality in English affairs.

He took prominent part in the Westminster Assembly

Westminster Assembly

The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...

, and became in 1644 a member of the Committee of Both Kingdoms

Committee of Both Kingdoms

The Committee of Both Kingdoms, , was a committee set up during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarian faction in association with representatives from the Scottish Covenanters, to oversee the conduct of the War and Foreign Policy...

representing Scotland in London. Named king's advocate

Lord Advocate

Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...

by Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

in 1646, he resisted the Engagement

Engagers

The Engagers were a faction of the Scottish Covenanters, who made "The Engagement" with King Charles I in December 1647 while he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle by the English Parliamenterians after his defeat in the First Civil War....

1648, and perhaps drew up the Act of Classes

Act of Classes

The Act of Classes was passed the Scottish Parliament in 23 January 1649. It was probably drafted by Lord Warriston a leading member of the Kirk Party, who along with the Marquess of Argyll were leading proponents of its clauses....

in 1649; He was appointed lord clerk register

Lord Clerk Register

The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century.The Clerk-Register was from ancient times the principal Clerk in the kingdom, from whom all other clerks, whatever their government positions, and who were essentially his...

in 1649 and is said to have given Lesley

Lesley

-Places:* Fort Lesley J. McNair, American army facility* Lesley University, American academic institution-People:The following people bear the first name Lesley:* Lesley Turner Bowrey , Australian tennis player...

fatal advice at the Battle of Dunbar

Battle of Dunbar (1650)

The Battle of Dunbar was a battle of the Third English Civil War. The English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie which was loyal to King Charles II, who had been proclaimed King of Scots on 5 February 1649.-Background:The English...

in 1650, after which he lost his offices.

In 1657 as a leading remonstrant renamed by the Lord Protector

Lord Protector

Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

as lord clerk register. He was a member of Oliver and Richard Cromwell's

Richard Cromwell

At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...

House of Lords and a member of Council of State (England). On the restoration of the Rump Parliament

Rump Parliament

The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....

in In 1649, and on its suppression he became permanent president of Committee of Safety

English Committee of Safety

The Committee of Safety, established by the Parliamentarians in July 1642, was the first of a number of successive committees set up to oversee the English Civil War against King Charles I, and the Interregnum.-1642–1644:...

.

After restoration of the monarchy

Restoration (Scotland)

The Restoration of the monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the government of occupation that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

he fled abroad. He was condemned to death in his absence, and when he was arrested in Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

he was returned to Scotland and hanged in Edinburgh on 22 July 1663.

Early life

Archibald Johnston son of James Johnstone (died 1617), a merchant burgess

Burgess

Burgess is a word in English that originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh . It later came to mean an elected or unelected official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons....

of 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...

. He was baptised on 28 March 1611, educated 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...

, and admitted to the Faculty of Advocates

Faculty of Advocates

The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary...

in 1633.

Early career

Johnstone first came into public notice in 1637, during the attempt of Charles I

Charles I of England

to force an Episcopalian

Episcopal polity

Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...

liturgy

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

upon Scotland, when as the chief adviser of the covenanting

Covenanter

The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...

leaders he drew up their remonstrances. On 22 February 1638, in reply to a royal proclamation, he read a strong protestation to an enormous multitude assembled at the mercat cross

Mercat cross

A mercat cross is a market cross found in Scottish cities and towns where trade and commerce was a part of economic life. It was originally a place where merchants would gather, and later became the focal point of many town events such as executions, announcements and proclamations...

in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

. Together with Alexander Henderson

Alexander Henderson (theologian)

he was the author of the National Covenant of 1638, drawing up himself the second part, which consisted of a recapitulation of all the Acts of Parliament which condemned "popery" and asserting the liberties of the Scottish church

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

.

Johnstone was appointed clerk to the Tables (the revolutionary executive)
and also clerk and afterwards procurator

Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

The Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the principal legal advisor to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The holder of the office is invariably a Queen's Counsel in Scotland...

or counsel to the General Assembly held at Glasgow the same year, when he discovered and presented several missing volumes of records. In June 1639 he took part in the negotiations leading to the Pacification of Berwick, ending the first Bishops War, when his firm attitude displeased the king extremely. After Charles promised a new Assembly and Parliament to settle the church question, Johnston responded by accusing him of playing for time, to which the king replied in anger "that the devil himself could not make a more uncharitable construction or give a more bitter expression"; and on Johnston's continuing his speech ordered him to be silent and declared he would speak to more reasonable men.

In August Johnstone read a paper before the Parliament of Scotland

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

, strongly condemning its prorogation. In the following year he was appointed to attend the general of the army and the committee, and on 23 June, when the Scottish forces were preparing to invade England, he wrote to Thomas, Lord Savile asking for definite support from the leading opposition peers in England and their acceptance of the National Covenant, which drew from the other side at first nothing but vague assurances.

In October Johnstone was a commissioner for negotiating the Treaty of Ripon

Treaty of Ripon

The Treaty of Ripon was an agreement signed by Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Scottish Covenanters on 26 October 1640, in the aftermath of the Second Bishops' War...

and went to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He continued after the peace to urge the punishment of the incendiaries, and especially of Traquair

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Traquair

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Traquair was a Scottish statesman, the son of John Stewart, the younger, of Traquair in Peeblesshire, of a branch, originally illegitimate, of the house of Buchan, and was created Baron Stewart of Traquair in 1628 and earl of Traquair in 1633.He was appointed...

, and in a private interview with the king strongly opposed the proposed act of general oblivion. On the king's arrival in Scotland in 1641 he led the opposition on the important constitutional point of the control of state appointments, supporting the claims of the parliament by an appeal to the state records, which he had succeeded in recovering.

Lord of Parliament

In September Johnston received public thanks for his services from the Scottish parliament, and, in accordance with the policy of conciliation then pursued for a short time by the king, was appointed on 13 November 1641 a lord of session, with the title of Lord Warriston (a name derived from an estate purchased by him near Edinburgh in 1636), was knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

ed, and was given a pension of £200 a year. The same month he was appointed a commissioner at Westminster

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

by the parliament for settling the affairs of Scotland.

Johnston now (Lord Warriston) was a chief agent in concluding the treaty with the English parliament in the autumn of 1643, and was appointed a member of the Committee of Both Kingdoms

Committee of Both Kingdoms

in London which directed the military operations, and in this capacity went on several missions to the parliamentary generals. The articles of the unsuccessful treaty of Uxbridge

Treaty of Uxbridge

The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a significant but abortive negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War.-Background:Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from...

were, for the most part, drawn up by him in late 1644. He took his seat early the same year in the Westminster Assembly

Westminster Assembly

The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...

, to which he had been nominated, and vehemently opposed measures tolerating independency.

Besides his public duties in England Warriston sat in the Scottish parliament for the county of Edinburgh from 1643 until 1647, was speaker of the barons, and served on various committees. After the final defeat of Charles, when he had surrendered himself to the Scots, Johnston was made in October 1646 king's advocate

Lord Advocate

, and the same year was voted £3000 by the estates for his services. He continued to oppose concessions to Charles, and strongly disapproved of the Engagement concluded in 1648 by the government of the Duke of Hamilton

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton

General Sir James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton KG was a Scottish nobleman and influential Civil war military leader.-Young Arran:...

with Charles at Carisbrooke

Carisbrooke Castle

Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke, near Newport, Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial.-Early history:...

, which, while securing little for Presbyterianism

Presbyterianism

Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...

, committed the Scots to hostilities with the English Parliament and the New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

The Remonstrants

Warriston now became one of the leaders of the Kirk Party

Kirk Party

The Kirk Party were a radical Presbyterian faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They came to the fore after the defeat of the Engagers faction in 1648 at the hands of Oliver Cromwell and the English Parliament...

opposed to the engagement, and during the ascendancy of the Engagers

Engagers

retired to Kintyre

Kintyre

Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...

as the guest of the Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...

. He returned again after the Whiggamore Raid

Whiggamore Raid

The Whiggamore Raid was a march on Edinburgh by supporters of the Kirk party of the Covenanters to take power from the Engagers whose army had recently been defeated by the English New Model Army at the Battle of Preston ....

, met Cromwell at Edinburgh in October after the defeat of the Engagers at Preston, and in conjunction with Argyll promoted the Act of Classes, passed on 23 January 1649, disqualifying the royalists from holding public office. The good relations now formed with Cromwell, however, were soon broken by the king's execution, and Warriston was present officially at the proclamation of Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

as king at Edinburgh, on 5 February 1649.

On 10 March 1649 Warriston was appointed Lord Clerk Register

Lord Clerk Register

. In May he pronounced sentence of death on Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

, and he is said to have witnessed with Argyll the victim being drawn to the place of execution. He was present at the battle of Dunbar

Battle of Dunbar (1650)

(3 September 1650) as a member of the Committee of Estates

Committee of Estates

The Committee of Estates governed Scotland during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms when the Parliament of Scotland was not sitting. It was dominated by Covenanters of which the most influential faction was that of the Earl of Argyll....

. After the defeat he urged the removal of Leslie, afterwards Lord Newark, from the command, and on 21 September delivered a violent speech in Charles' presence, attributing all the late misfortunes to the Stuarts and to their opposition to the Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

.

After Dunbar the Committee of Estates persuaded the General Assembly that it was necessary to abandon the Act of Classes, to allow a new national army to be raised, to include supporters of the Engagement and other royalists. A resolution to this effect was immediately drawn up. Warriston, along with some of the more implacable Presbyterian, drew up a Remonstrance or Protest against this move. The Act of Classes was duly abandoned, but the division between the majority Resolutioners and the minority Protestors was to haunt the Church of Scotland for decades after.

In the autumn of 1656 Warriston went to London as representative of the remonstrants; and soon afterwards, on 9 July 1657, he was restored by Cromwell to his office of Lord Clerk Register

Lord Clerk Register

, and on 3 November was appointed a commissioner for the administration of justice in Scotland, henceforth remaining a member of the government until the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

. In January 1658 he was included by Cromwell in his new House of Lords, and sat also in the upper chamber in Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

's parliament. Upon the latter's abdication and the restoration of the Rump, he was chosen a member of the Council of State, and continued in the administration as a member of the Committee of Public Safety

Committee of Public Safety

The Committee of Public Safety , created in April 1793 by the National Convention and then restructured in July 1793, formed the de facto executive government in France during the Reign of Terror , a stage of the French Revolution...

Restoration

At the Restoration

Restoration (Scotland)

Warriston was excluded from the general pardon. On 1 February 1661 he was summoned along with John Home of Kello, William Dundas of Magdalens, and others to appear before Parliament on a charge of high treason. He had already fled to Holland and thence to Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

in Germany, so he was condemned to death (and stripped of his properties and title), in his absence on 15 May 1661. In 1663, having ventured into France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, he was discovered at Rouen

Rouen

, and with the consent of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

was brought over and imprisoned in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. In June he was taken to Edinburgh and confined in the Tolbooth

Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh

The Old Tolbooth was a medieval building located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.Demolished in 1817, the Tolbooth served various purposes during its existence. It housed early meetings of the Estates of Scotland, Court of Session, and also of the Provost and Burgesses of the Burgh Council...

. He was hanged on 22 July at the Mercat Cross

Mercat cross

, Edinburgh, the scene of many of his triumphs, and a few yards from his own house in High Street

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...

, which stood on the east side of what is now known as Warristons Close. His head was exposed on the Netherbow and afterwards buried with his body in Greyfriars churchyard.

Character and political views

Johnston was a man of great energy, industry and ability, and played a large part in the defence of the Presbyterian settlement of 1638. He was learned in Scottish law, eloquent and deeply religious. His passionate devotion to the cause of the Scottish church amounted almost to fanaticism

Fanaticism

Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...

. According to the History by his nephew Gilbert Burnet

Gilbert Burnet

Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian...

, he looked on the Covenant as the setting Christ on his throne.

Johnston had by nature no republican leanings; all the Royalists in Scotland, writes Robert Baillie

Robert Baillie

Robert Baillie was a Scottish divine and historical writer.-Life:Baillie was born at Glasgow, the son of Baillie of Jerviston...

as late as 1646, could not have pleaded so much for the crown and the king's just power as the chancellor and Warriston did for many days together. When, however, Presbyterianism was attacked and menaced by the sovereign, he desired, like John Pym

John Pym

John Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...

, to restrict the royal prerogative by a parliamentary constitution, and endeavoured to found his arguments on law and ancient precedents.

Johnston's acceptance of office under Cromwell hardly deserves the severe censure it has received. He stood nearer both in politics and religion to Cromwell than to the royalists, and was able to offer useful service in office. Johnston was wanting in tact and in consideration for his opponents, confessing himself that his natural temper (or rather distemper) hath been hasty and passionate.

He was disliked by Charles I, and hated by Charles II, whom he rebuked for lack of commitment to the Covenants; but he was associated in private friendship and public life with Argyll.

Family

He had a large family, the most famous of his sons being James Johnston (1643-1737), known as Secretary Johnston. Having taken refuge in Holland after his father's execution, Johnston crossed over to England in the interests of William of Orange

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

just before the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

of 1688. In 1692 he was appointed one of the secretaries for Scotland

Secretary of State, Scotland

The Secretary of Scotland was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland.The office appeared in the 14th century when it was combined with that of Keeper of the Privy Seal. Called Clericus Regis , he was regarded as an Officer of State...

, but he was dismissed from office in 1696. Under Anne, however, he began again to take part in public affairs, and was made Lord Clerk Register

Lord Clerk Register

. Johnston's later years were passed mainly at his residence (much later known as Orleans House) Twickenham

Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

, and he died at Bath in May 1737, see the separate article.

Early life

Early career

Lord of Parliament

The Remonstrants

Restoration

Character and political views

Family

Further reading