LEIGHTON, Robert, Anglican archbishop, son of Alexander Leighton (q.v.) : b. prob ably London, possibly Unshaven, Forfarshire, 1611; d. London, 25 June 1684. He took his A.M. at the University of Edinburgh in 1631 and afterward traveled in France, acquiring the language, and through his association with relatives of Roman Catholic faith, a broad re ligious tolerance which remained a dominating characteristic all his life. He apparently re turned to England after his fathers pardon in 1640, and- in 1641 he was ordained a Presby terian clergyman at Newbattle, Midlothian. He resigned his charge in the following year, find ing himself unable to co-operate with the fiery zeal of his associates. In 1653 he became prin cipal of the University of Edinburgh and pri mantis professor of divinity, where he re mained seven or eight years. His addresses and prelections of that period evidence an ex ceptionally cultivated mind and a high spiritual elevation. When, after the R.estoration, Charles II determined to bring Scotland again within the fold of Episcopacy, he selected Leighton as one of his bishops. While long severed from his connection with the Presbyte rians, Leighton was averse to accepting the ap pointment, but was persuaded in the belief that the Episcopacy contemplated was of the liberal order advocated by Archbishop Ussher and which he was sure the more liberal non-con formist leaders would accept. He chose the diocese of Dunblane and administered its af fairs with exemplary mildness. . His associ
ates, however, were if anything more intoler ant than those he had left in the Presbyterian ministry and the persecutions inflicted upon the Covenanters induced him to go to London in 1665 with the purpose of resigning his bishop ric. Receiving from Charles II the promise of milder methods Leighton returned to his charge, but finding no results from the prom ises made he returned to London in 1669 again to plead for milder methods of spreading the religion he consistently believed to be the best but which was being injured by the usages in force. Promises were again forthcoming and in the following year there appeared a slight effort to carry them out, so that Leighton, noon being promised co-operation in the conciliatory measures he deemed advisable, accepted the archbishopric of Glasgow. He occupied this post in 1670-74, when, despairing of
his colleagues to depart from their immoderate courses, and finding himself with both the Episcopalians and Presbyterians as antagonists, he resigned. He lived thereafter with his sis ter at Broadhurst in Horsted Keyes, Sussex. His writings were collected and published after his death, but have suffered from over-editing. The best edition is considered that of Rev. W. West (7 vols., 1869-73), which includes a bi ography of Leighton. Consult also Burnet,