Brice, Edward (1)

Brice, Edward (1), an Irish Presbyterian minister, appears to have been a man of good ability and strong moral resoluteness. He studied under Fernu, at Edinburgh, between 1589 and 1597; "he took the degree of M.A. in Edinburgh in 1593, and must have entered college in 1589." In 1607, having resolutely opposed the motion for making Spottiswood, archbishop of Glasgow, permanent moderator of the Synod of Clydesdale — "the expedient then adopted for securing the introduction of prelacy into Scotland" — he was marked out for persecution, and was compelled to leave the kingdom. At this time he was minister of Drymen, in Stirlingshire, where he had been pastor for some years. The next statement in regard to Brice is in reference to the close of his life. He was at this time (1636) at Broadisland. He was deposed by the bishop for holding Presbyterian doctrines; but before the sentence had been carried into effect he died. From the inscription on his tombstone, it appears that he began preaching in Broadisland in 1613, where "he labored with quiet success" until his death in 1636. See Reid, Hist. of the Presb. Church in Ireland.