Francis Rous

Francis Rous or Rouse (1579 - January 1659) was an English politician, and a puritan best known today for the Scottish Psalter, 1650.

Francis Rous (1579-1659). Portrait by Frederick Newenham (1807–1859). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life

Overview

Rous, a Cornishman and a prominent Puritan, took a leading part in Parliament, was Provost of Eton, and wrote several theological and devotional works. His memory has, however, been chiefly kept green by his translation of the Psalms into verse, which with some modifications was adopted by the Church and Parliament of Scotland for use in public worship, a position which it held almost exclusively until the middle of the 19th century. It is still in universal use in the Presbyterian churches of that country, though now accompanied by hymns.

Youth and education

Rous, the 4th son of Sir Anthony Rous of Halton St. Dominick, Cornwall, by his 1st wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Southcote, was born at Dittisham, Devonshire, in 1579.

He matriculated from Broadgates Hall (afterwards Pembroke College), Oxford, on 6 July 1593, and earned a B.A. on 31 January 1596-7. While there he contributed a prefatory sonnet to Charles Fitz-Geffrey's Sir Francis Drake his Honourable Life's Commendation (1596), and composed, in imitation of Spenser, a poem in 2 books, entitled Thule; or, Virtue's history, London, 1598, 4to. (A facsimile reprint of this very rare book was edited for the Spenser Society by J. Crossley, Manchester, 1878, 4to.)

Rous also graduated at the university of Leyden on 10 February 1598-9. In 1601 he entered the Middle Temple, but soon afterwards retired to Landrake, Cornwall, and occupied himself with theological study. By his wife Philippa (1575 - 20 December 1657, and buried in Acton church), Rous had a son Francis, born 1615.

Career

The earliest fruits of Rous's labors were Meditations of Instruction, of Exhortation, of Reprofe: indeavouring the Edification and Reparation of the House of God, London, 1616, 12mo; and The Arte of Happines, consisting of three Parts, whereof the first searcheth out the Happinesse of Man, the second particularly discovers and approves it, the third sheweth the Meanes to attayne and increase it, London, 1619 (also 1631), 12mo, by which, with his Diseases of the Time attended by their Remedies, 1622, 8vo, and his Oyl of Scorpions, 1623, 8vo, he established among the puritans the reputation of a sound divine.

In 1626 he issued a reply to Richard Montagu's Appello Caesarem, entitled Testis Veritatis. The Doctrine of King James, our late Soveraigne of Famous Memory, of the Church of England, of the Catholicke Church plainly shewed to be one in the points of Predestination, Freewill, Certaintie of Salvation. With a Discovery of the Grounds both Natural and Politicke of Arminianisme, London, 4to; and in 1627 a hortatory address to the nation at large, entitled The only Remedy that can Cure a People when all other Remedies Faile, London, 12mo.

In the 1st parliament of Charles I, 1625-1626, Rous represented Truro, and in the 2nd, 1628-1629, Tregony. In the latter he distinguished himself by the violence of his attacks on Dr. Roger Manwaring, Arminianism, and popery. He also represented Truro in the Short parliament of 1640, in the Long parliament, and in that of 1654. In the Little or Barebones parliament of 1653 he sat for Devonshire, and in the parliament of 1656 for Cornwall.

In the Long parliament Rous opened the debate on the legality of Laud's new canons on 9 December 1640, and presented the articles of impeachment against Dr. Cosin on 15 March 1640-1. On the constitution of the Westminster assembly, 12 June 1643, he was nominated a lay assessor, and on 23 September following he took the covenant (Rushworth, Historical Collections, pt. iii. vol. ii. pp. 337-480).

On 10 February 1643-4 he was appointed provost of Eton College. He was also chairman of the committee for ordination of ministers constituted on 2 October following, and a member of the committee of appeals appointed under the ordinance for the visitation of the university of Oxford on 1 May 1647. On 16 July 1648 he was sworn of the Derby house committee.

So far Rous had been a staunch adherent of the presbyterian party, but in the course of 1649 he went over to the independents; and in 1651-2 (February-March) he served on the committee for propagation of the gospel, which framed an abortive scheme for a state church on a congregational plan. This project was revived by the Little parliament, of which he was speaker (5 July-12 December 1653), but with no better success.

On that assembly voting its own dissolution, Rous was sworn of the Protector's council of state. On 20 March 1653-4 he was placed on the committee for approbation of public preachers; he was also on the committee appointed on 9 April 1656 to discuss the question of the kingship with Cromwell, by whom he was created a lord of parliament in December 1657.

He died at Acton in January 1658-9, and was buried on 24 January with great state in Eton College chapel.

Writing

Psalter

When the singing of psalms was discussed at the Westminster assembly (1643-1653), it was agreed that there should also be a new Psalter for British churches. The Psalters then in use were known to have some problems in accuracy. Rous and William Barton had made 2 different metrical Psalters; the assembly chose Rous’s version for its greater accuracy, and began reviewing and revising it, to bring it into greater conformity to the original Hebrew. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland undertook an even more extensive revision, which lasted 2 years. On November 23, 1649, a commission of the General Assembly authorized the finished work to be the only Psalter sung in congregations after May 1, 1650. Since then, the Scottish Psalter has been sung by millions around the world for over 360 years.

In 1673, an edition of the Scottish Psalter was printed in London, which included a preface signed by over 2 dozen Puritan ministers (including Thomas Manton, John Owen, Thomas Watson, and Matthew Poole), described this Psalter in the following words: "The translation which is now put into thy hands cometh nearest to the original of any that we have seen.” About 100 years later, William Marshall, in a sermon preached to the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, gave the same sentiment: “We shall not say that it is the most elegant in respect of the style, yet it is acknowledged to excel in what is far more momentous, [that is,] in expressing the mind of the Spirit.”

Though rough, and sometimes, through the endeavor to maintain literalness, grotesque, it is strong and simple, and not seldom rises to a certain severe beauty; and association has endeared it to many generations of Scottish Christians.

Prose

Rous's piety was of an intensely subjective cast, as appears by his Mystical Marriage: or Experimental Discourses of the Heavenly Marriage betweene a Soule and her Saviour, London, 1635, 18mo, 1653, 12mo; and Heavenly Academic, London, 1638, 16mo. Both these tracts were reissued in a Latin translation with a 3rd, entitled Grande Oraculum, under the title Interiora Regni Dei, London, 1655, 12mo; reprinted in 1674, and in English, in a collective edition of his Treatises and Meditations, London, 1657, fol.

Other works by Rous, all of which appeared in London, are: Catholicke Charity: complaining and maintaining that Rome is uncharitable to sundry eminent Parts of the Catholicke Church, &c., London 1641, 4to. The Psalmes of David in English Meeter, 1643, 24mo; 1646, 12mo; a version approved by the Westminster assembly, authorised by parliament for general use, and adopted by the committee of estates in Scotland, where it still retains its popularity. 'The Balms of Love to heal Divisions,' &c., 1648. 'The Lawfulness of obeying the Present Government,' &c., 1649. 'The Bounds and Bonds of Publick Obedience,' &c., 1649, 4to. 'Mella Patrum,' &c., 1650, 8vo; an inaccurate compilation from the fathers. His more important parliamentary speeches (partly printed in Rushworth's 'Historical Collections,' pt. i. pp. 585 et seq. and 645 et seq., pt. ii. pp. 1362 et seq., pt. iii. vol. i. pp. 208 et seq.; Cobbett's 'Parliamentary History,' ii. 443 et seq. and in pamphlet form) are preserved with other papers by or concerning him in manuscript at the British Museum, the Cambridge University, and the Bodleian Libraries.

Recognition

Portraits of Rous are at Pembroke College, Oxford, and Eton College (cf. Catalogue First Loan Exhibition at South Kensington, 132). An engraving by Faithorne is prefixed to the 1657 edition of his Treatises and Meditations. By his will, dated 18 March 1657-8, he founded 3 scholarships at Pembroke College.

Publications

Poetry

• Thule; or, Vertues historie. London: Felix Kingston, for Humfrey Lownes, 1598. Book I, Book II

Non-fiction

• Meditations of instruction, of exhortation, of reprofe. London: I. Legat, for George Gibbs & Francis Constable, 1616.
• The Arte of Happines. London: John Haviland, 1619.
• The Oile of Scorpions: The miseries of these times turned into medicines and curing themselves. London: W. Stansby, for Iohn Parker, 1623.
• Testis Veritatis: The doctrine of King James. London: W. Iones, 1626.
• The Mystical Mariage; or, Experimentall discoveries of the heavenly mariage betweene a soule and her saviour. London: William Iones & Thomas Paine, for I. Emery, 1635.
• The Heavenly Academie; or, The highest school. London:Robert Young, for John Bartlet, 1638.
• The Great Oracle: or, The main frame and body of the Scripture. London: R.O. & G.D., for I. Bartlet, 1641; London: S. Palmer, for John Clarke, 1718.
• Mr Rous His Speech before the Lords. 1640; London: John Bartlet, 1641.
• Catholick charitie. London: R. Young for J. Bartlet, 1641.
• A religious and worth speech spoken by Mr. Rouse in Parliament. London: W.H., 1641.
• A Speech Made before the Lords in the Vpper Hovse. London: Iohn Wright, 1641.
• Mr Rowse His Speech Made in the Lower House. London: 1642.
• The Ancient Bounds; or, Liberty of conscience, tenderly stated. London: Matthew Simmons, for Henry Overton, 1645.
• The Balme of Love to Heal Divisions. London: John Wright, 1648.
• The Bounds and Bonds of Publique Obedience. London: John Wright, 1649.
• The Lawfulness of Obeying the Present Government. London: John Wright, 1649.
• Treatises and Meditations. London: Robert White, for John Wright, 1657.

Collected editions

Works. 1657.

Translations

• The Psalmes of David in English Meeter. London: R.Y., for Ph. Nevill, 1641; London: James Young, for Philip Nevill, 1643; London: Tho. Parkhurst, 1700.
• Archælogiæ Atticæ libri septem: Seven bookes of the attick antiquities (with Zachary Bogan). Oxford: H. Hall printer to the University, for John Adams / Edw. Forrest, 1662.

Edited

• Mella Patrum Nempe Omnium. Londini: Impensis Authoris, Typis Tho. Maxey, & prostant apud Sa. Gellibrand, 1650.

The Lord's my Shepherd

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• Translators of the Psalms
• List of British poets

References

•  Rigg, James McMullen (1897) "Rous, Francis" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 49 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 316-317  . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 23, 2018.

External links

Poems

• Francis Rous the Elder (1579-1659) at English Poetry, 1579-1830

Books

• The Psalms of David set forth in English meeter

Audio / video

• Complete text of the Scottish Psalter of 1650 audio files
• 1650 Psalter Metrical Psalter, Audio, and Study Notes.

About

• Francis Rous, 1579-1659 at STEM Publishing
• The 1650 Psalter Official weblog

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Rous, Francis