Alexander Carlyle

Alexander Carlyle was born in Cummertrees, a village in the south of Scotland where his father was a Presbyterian minister. He studied at the University of Edinburgh until 1743, when, through family connections, he obtained a scholarship to finish his Divinity studies at the University of Glasgow.[1] While at Edinburgh, he met William Robertson, John Home, and Hugh Blair, who were also students there, and they became lifelong friends.[2]

At Glasgow, he studied under theology with William Leechman and moral philosophy with Francis Hutcheson:  "I attended Hutcheson's class this year with great satisfaction and improvement."[3] Leechman had been recently appointed to the faculty, through the influence of Hutcheson, and he would later become Principal  at Glasgow.

After ordination he was appointed to increasingly important churches until reaching Inveresk, near Edinburgh, in 1748. He remained the minister of this church until his death in 1805. As an ally of William Robertson, he rose to prominence as a leader of the Church of Scotland, being appointed Moderator of the General Assembly in 1770.

Cultural Circles

Along with Robertson, Blair, Hume and Ferguson, Carlyle was part of what historian Richard Sher[3] calls the "Moderate literati" circle of Edinburgh and consequently, an important member of the Select Society and of the Poker Club. John Home, not discussed in detail here, was also a member of this group. Adam Smith often commuted from Glasgow to join the gatherings, and should also be considered a member of the circle. As can be seen, his Autobiography provides a running commentary for this whole website, including very candid descriptions of the interactions among the members of this circle:

Adam Smith, though perhaps only second to David [Hume] in learning and ingenuity, was far inferior to him in conversational talents... Though Smith had some little jealously in his temper, he had the most unbounded benevolence... Dr. Adam Ferguson was a very different kind of man. He was the son of a Highland clergyman, who was much respected, and had good connections...  He had the manners of a man of the world, and the demeanour of a high-bred gentleman, insomuch that his company was much sought after... He had his faults, however, that belonged to that character, for he was apt to be jealous of his rivals, and indignant against assumed superiority. His wife used to say that it was very fortunate that I was so much in Edinburgh, as I was a great peacemaker among them... But as they were all honourable men in the highest degree, John Home and I together kept them on very good terms: I mean by them, Smith and Ferguson and David Hume; for Robertson was very good natured, and soon disarmed the failing of Ferguson, of whom he was afraid. [4]

[1] Alexander Carlyle, Autobiography of the Rev. Dr Carlyle, Second edition (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1860), 62.

[2] Ibid., 47, 56.

[3] Richard B. Sher, Church and University in the Scottish Enlightenment (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985), 14, 57.

[4] Alexander Carlyle, Autobiography of the Rev. Dr Carlyle, 279-283.