use of these papers, he speaks in high terms of their great merit; but he has
not been candid enough in his printed works, to own the extent of his obligations. Buchanan, in a letter to Christopher Plaintain, informs him, that Scrimger had left notes and observations upon Demosthenes, Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, and many other Greek authors; as likewise upon the philosophical works of Cicero: all which, he informs his correspondent, were in the hands of
Scriuiger's nephew, the learned Mr Peter Young; and being well worth the
printing, should be sent him, if he would undertake the publication. Plaintain
seems to have declined the offer; so that the Novelize and the Account of Spira,
are all that remain of the learned labours of Scrimger, of whom it has been
said, that no man of his age had a more acute knowledge, not only of the Latin and Greek, but also of the Oriental languages. His library, which was one
of the most valuable in Europe, he left by testament to his nephew, Peter
Young, who was Buchanan's assistant in the education of James VI., and it was
brought over to Scotland by the testator's brother, Alexander Scrimger, in the
year 1573. Besides many valuable books, this library contained MSS. of great
value ; but Young was not a very enthusiastic scholar ; and as he was more intent upon advancing his personal interests in the world, and aggrandizing his
family, than forwarding the progress of knowledge, they probably came to but
small account
The testimonies to Scrimger's worth and merits, by his contemporaries, are numerous. Thuanus, Casaubon, and Stephens, with many others, mention his name with the highest encomiums. Dempster says he was a man indefatigable in his reading, of a most exquisite judgment, and without the smallest particle of vain-glory. And the great Cujanus was accustomed to say, that he never parted from the company of Henry Scrimger, without having learned something that he never knew before.
SHARP, James, archbishop of St Andrews, was the son of William Sharp, sheriff-clerk of the shire of Banff, by his wife, Isobel Lesly, daughter of Lesly of Kininvey, and was born in the castle of Banff, in the month of May, 1613. His parents seem-to have been industrious and respectable in the class of society to which they belonged; his father following his calling with diligence, and his mother, though a gentlewoman by birth, assisting his means by setting up a respectable brewery at Dun, which she appears to have conducted creditably and profitably to the day of her death. The subject of this memoir, probably with a view to the church, where, through the patronage of the earl of Findlater, which the family had long enjoyed, a good benefice might be supposed attainable, was sent to the university of Aberdeen. But the disputes between Charles I. and his parliament having commenced, and the prelatic form of the church being totally overthrown in Scotland, he took a journey into England; in the course of which he visited both the universities, where he was introduced to several persons of distinction. He had, however, no offers of preferment; but, finding the church of England ready to follow that of Scotland, he addressed himself to the celebrated Mr Alexander Henderson, then in England as a commissioner from the Scottish church, and enjoying a very high degree of popularity, from whom he obtained a recommendation for a regent's place in the university of St Andrews, to which he was accordingly admitted. Mr James Guthrie was at this time also a regent in the college of St Andrews, but whether suspecting the sincerity, or undervaluing the talents of Mr Sharp, he gave his whole favour to Mr John Sinclair, an unsuccessful candidate for the regent's place which Sharp had obtained, and to whom, when called to the ministry, he afterwards demitted his professional chair. It was with this circumstance, not improbably, that the opposition began which
