ing the protesters, he became one of their leaders, and with the rest of that party separated from the church in 1651. Soon after he espoused the interests of Cromwell, and avowed himself an independent. He was processed in consequence by the synod of Aberdeen, but their proceedings against him were stopped by order of the commandant of the English garrison. Cromwell, having put an end to the meetings of the general assembly, called up Menzies and other protesters to London in 1654 to assist in preparing an ordinance for the admission of ministers to parishes in Scotland similar to that of the tryers in England, and Menzies was appointed a tryer for his own part of the country. After a time he lost faith in independency, in reference to which system he said, ‘It is dangerous to slip a buckle,’ and became again a presbyterian. At the Restoration he refused to conform to episcopacy, but when summoned before the privy council, and threatened with deposition by the bishop and synod if he did not comply before January 1663, he accepted the change and retained his offices. He afterwards took an active part in controversy with the Roman catholics and with the quakers, who had then obtained a footing in the north, and made himself so acceptable to the authorities that he was several times spoken of for a bishopric. The professorship of divinity in King's College, Old Aberdeen, he accepted from the bishop and synod, after some hesitation, in January 1679; but very soon he resigned, and was reinstated in his professorship in Marischal College and in the charge of Greyfriars Church. In 1681 he refused the test imposed by parliament, with many others of the clergy, and was deprived of his office in consequence. The following year, however, he changed his mind, and was continued in his post.
He died 1 Feb. 1684, much troubled in conscience for having fallen into independency, for having conformed to episcopacy, and most of all for having taken the test. He professed penitence for his vacillation, and charged his brother-in-law to publish his declaration to that effect. Menzies was a man of much ability and learning, a zealous controversialist, and a most fervent preacher, but his pliability injured his influence and reputation.
He married Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir W. Forbes of Craigievar, Aberdeenshire, and had one son, whom he survived. His publications were: 1. ‘Papismus Lucifugus,’ Aberdeen, 1668. 2. ‘Roma Mendax,’ London, 1675. 3. ‘A Sermon on the Death of Sir Alexander Fraser of Doores,’ Edinburgh, 1681.
[Scott's Fasti Eccl. Scot.; Records of Marisch. Coll.; Wodrow's Hist. and Analecta; Eccles. Rec. of Aberdeen (Spalding Club); Baillie's Letters; Jaffray's Diary.]
MENZIES, JOHN (1756–1843), founder of Blairs College, Kincardineshire, was the last member of an ancient family long settled at Pitfodels, Aberdeenshire, which had always adhered to the Roman catholic faith. He was born on 15 Aug. 1756, a few months after his father's death. The care of his education devolved on his mother, a daughter of the house of Kirkconnel. She resided for some time at Dinant in Belgium, where her son was educated, and, on the breaking up of the Jesuit College there, she applied in 1774 to Bishop Hay, vicar-apostolic of the lowland district of Scotland, for permission to employ the services of Sir Alexander Strachan, the ex-jesuit missionary at Kirkconnel, in completing the education of her son. Hay was compelled, however, to decline the request. It has been said of Menzies that for thirty-seven years he never became aware of distress or difficulty without exerting himself to relieve it. Sir Walter Scott, writing on 30 Jan. 1827, says: ‘About three, Pitfoddels called. A bauld crack that auld papist body, and well informed. We got on religion. He is very angry with the Irish demagogues, and a sound well-thinking man’ (Journal, 1890, i. 349). In the course of that year Menzies conveyed to Bishop Paterson his beautiful estate, with the large mansion-house of Blairs, Kincardineshire, about six miles from Aberdeen. There the college dedicated to St. Mary, for the education of secular priests, was opened 2 June 1829, and the students from the two seminaries of Aquhorties and Lismore were removed to the new institution. Menzies was also a munificent benefactor to the convent of St. Margaret, Edinburgh, opened in 1835. For many years he discharged the duties of convener of Aberdeenshire, and he was a member of the Abbotsford Club, to which he presented ‘Extracta e variis Cronicis Scocie,’ 1842 (Lowndes, Bibl. Man. ed. Bohn, App. p. 38). He died at Greenhill Cottage, near Edinburgh, 11 Oct. 1843.
[Catholic Mag. new ser. (July–December 1843), ii. 295; Catholic Mag. and Review (Birmingham, 1831–2), i. 281 n.; Irving's Eminent Scotsmen, p. 348; Hist. of St. Margaret's Convent, Edinburgh, pp. 104–8; Sir W. Scott's Journal, i. 347, ii. 168; Stothert's Catholic Mission in Scotland, p. 129.]
MENZIES, MICHAEL (d. 1766), advocate and inventor, had a younger brother who was sheriff-depute of East Lothian (Hepburn, Agriculture of East Lothian, Edin-
