book iii. p. 116, in _Robertson's Works_, edit. 1831. The

contemporary narrative, in _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 269, sounds much more vigorous to my ear. 'In all this tyme' (1559), 'all kirkmennis goodis and geir wer spoulzeit and reft fra thame, in euerie place quhair the samyne culd be apprehendit; for euerie man for the maist pairt that culd get any thing pertenyng to any kirkmen, thocht the same as wele won geir.'

[195] 'Knox never dreamed that the revenues of the Church were to be secularized; but that he and his colleagues were simply to remove the old incumbents, and then take possession of their benefices.' _Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 106. 'The ecclesiastical revenues, which they never contemplated for a moment were to be seized by the Protestant nobility.' _Lawson's Roman Catholic Church in Scotland_, p. 233.

In accordance with these opinions, Knox and his colleagues, in August 1560, presented a petition to Parliament, calling on the nobles to restore the Church property which they had seized, and to have it properly applied to the support of the new ministers.[196] To this request, those powerful chiefs did not even vouchsafe a reply.[197] They were content with matters as they actually stood, and were, therefore, unwilling to disturb the existing arrangement. They had fought the fight; they had gained the victory, and shared the spoil. It was not to be supposed that they would peaceably relinquish what they had won with infinite difficulty. Nor was it likely that, after being engaged in an arduous struggle with the Church for a hundred and fifty years, and having at length conquered their inveterate enemy, they should forego the fruits of their triumph for the sake of a few preachers, whom they had but recently called to their aid; low-born and obscure men, who should rather deem it an honour that they were permitted to associate with their superiors in a common enterprise, but were not to presume on that circumstance, nor to suppose that they, who only entered the field at the eleventh hour, were to share the booty on anything approaching to terms of equality.[198]

[196] Compare _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. pp. 89-92, with _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, p. 179. Of this document, M'Crie says, 'There can be no doubt that it received the sanction, if it was not the composition, of the Reformer.' ... 'It called upon them' (the nobles) 'to restore the patrimony of the Church, of which they had unjustly possessed themselves.'

[197] 'Making no answer to the last point.' _Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 327. 'Without taking any notice.' _Keith's Affairs of Church and State_, vol. i. p. 321.

[198] 'They viewed the Protestant preachers as low-born individuals, not far raised above the condition of mechanics or tradesmen, without influence, authority, or importance.' _Lawson's Roman Catholic Church in Scotland_, p. 251. 'None were more unmercifull to the poore ministers than they that had the greatest share of the kirk rents.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 42.

But the aristocracy of Scotland little knew the men with whom they had to deal. Still less, did they understand the character of their own age. They did not see that, in the state of society in which they lived, superstition was inevitable, and that, therefore, the spiritual classes, though depressed for a moment, were sure speedily to rise again. The nobles had overturned the Church; but the principles on which Church authority is based, remained intact. All that was done, was to change the name and the form. A new hierarchy was quickly organized, which succeeded the old one in the affections of the people. Indeed, it did more. For, the Protestant clergy, neglected by the nobles, and unendowed by the state, had only a miserable pittance whereupon to live, and they necessarily threw themselves into the arms of the people, where alone they could find support and sympathy.[199] Hence, a closer and more intimate union than would otherwise have been possible. Hence, too, as we shall presently see, the Presbyterian clergy, smarting under the injustice with which they were treated, displayed that hatred of the upper classes, and that peculiar detestation of monarchical government, which they showed whenever they dared. In their pulpits, in their presbyteries, and in their General Assemblies, they encouraged a democratic and insubordinate tone, which eventually produced the happiest results, by keeping alive, at a critical moment, the spirit of liberty; but which, for that very reason, made the higher ranks rue the day, when, by their ill-timed and selfish parsimony, they roused the wrath of so powerful and implacable a class.

[199] In 1561, 'Notwithstanding the full establishment of the Reformation, the Protestant ministers were in a state of extreme poverty, and dependent upon the precarious assistance of their flocks.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. v. p. 207. Compare a letter, written by Knox, in 1566, 'on the extreame povertie wherein our ministers are brought.' _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 542.

The withdrawal of the French troops, in 1560, had left the nobles in possession of the government;[200] and it was for them to decide to what extent the Reformed clergy should be endowed. The first petition, presented by Knox and his brethren, was passed over in contemptuous silence. But the ministers were not so easily put aside. Their next step was, to present to the Privy Council what is known as the First Book of Discipline, in which they again urged their request.[201] To the tenets contained in this book, the council had no objection; but they refused to ratify it, because, by doing so, they would have sanctioned the principle that the new church had a right to the revenues of the old one.[202] A certain share, indeed, they were willing to concede. What the share should be, was a matter of serious dispute, and caused the greatest ill-will between the two parties. At length, the nobles broke silence, and, in December 1561, they declared that the Reformed clergy should only receive one-sixth of the property of the Church; the remaining five-sixths being divided between the government and the Catholic priesthood.[203] The meaning of this was easily understood, since the Catholics were now entirely dependent on the government, and the government was, in fact, the nobles themselves, who were, at that period, the monopolizers of political power.

[200] 'The limited authority which the Crown had hitherto possessed, was almost entirely annihilated, and the aristocratical power, which always predominated in the Scottish Government (?), became supreme and incontrollable.' _Russell's History of the Church in Scotland_, 1834, vol. i. p. 223.

[201] See the _First Book of Discipline_, reprinted in _A Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland_, part i., second edition, Edinburgh, 1837. They summed up their requests in one comprehensive passage (p. 119), that 'the haill rentis of the Kirk abusit in Papistrie sal be referrit againe to the Kirk.' In another part (p. 106), they frankly admit that, 'we doubt not but some of our petitions shall appeare strange unto you at the first sight.'

[202] 'The form of polity recommended in the First Book of Discipline never obtained the proper sanction of the State, chiefly in consequence of the avarice of the nobility and gentry, who were desirous of securing to themselves the revenues of the Church.' _Miscellany of the Wodrow Society_, p. 324. See also _Argyll's Presbytery Examined_, p. 26. Many of the nobles, however, did sign it (_Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 129); but, says Spottiswoode (_History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 373), 'Most of those that subscribed, getting into their hands the possessions of the Church, could never be induced to part therewith, and turned greater enemies in that point of church patrimony than were the papists, or any other whatsoever.'

[203] _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, p. 204. _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. pp. 298-301, 307-309. _Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xvii. p. 500. The nominal arrangement, which was contrived with considerable art, was, that one-third of the church revenues should be divided into two parts; one part for the government, and another part for the preachers. The remaining two-thirds were gravely assigned to the Catholic priesthood, who, at that very moment, were liable, by Act of Parliament, to the penalty of death, if they performed the rites of their religion. Men, whose lives were in the hands of the government, were not likely to quarrel with the government about money matters; and the result was, that nearly every thing fell into the possession of the nobles.

Such being the case, it naturally happened, that, when the arrangement was made known, the preachers were greatly moved. They saw how unfavourable it was to their own interests, and, therefore, they held that it was unfavourable to the interests of religion. Hence, in their opinion, it was contrived by the devil, whose purposes it was calculated to serve.[204] For, now, they who travailed in the vineyard of the Lord, were to be discouraged, and were to suffer, in order that what rightly belonged to them might be devoured by idle bellies.[205] The nobles might benefit for a time, but the vengeance of God was swift, and would most assuredly overtake them.[206] From the beginning to the end, it was nothing but spoliation. In a really Christian land, the patrimony of the Church would be left untouched.[207] But, in Scotland, alas! Satan had prevailed,[208] and Christian charity had waxen cold.[209] In Scotland, property, which should be regarded as sacred, had been broken up and divided; and the division was of the worst kind, since, by it, said Knox, two-thirds are given to the devil, and the other third is shared between God and the devil. It was as if Joseph, when governor of Egypt, had refused food to his brethren, and sent them back to their families with empty sacks.[210] Or, as another preacher suggested, the Church was now, like the Maccabees of old, being oppressed, sometimes by the Assyrians, and sometimes by the Egyptians.[211]

[204] 'The Ministeris, evin in the begynnyng, in publict Sermonis opponed thame selves to suche corruptioun, for thei foir saw the purpose of the Devill.' _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 310.

[205] 'For it seemeth altogether unreasonable that idle belleis sail devoure and consume the patrimonie of the Kirk, whill the faithfull travellers in the Lord's vineyarde suffer extreme povertie, and the needie members of Christ's bodie are altogether neglected.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. ii. pp. 484, 485. This was in 1569; and, in 1571, the celebrated Ferguson, in one of his sermons, declared that the holders of church property, most of whom were the nobility, were 'ruffians.' See an extract from his sermon, in _Chalmers' History of Dunfermline_, p. 309, Edinburgh, 1844. 'For this day Christ is spuilzeit amang us, quhil y^t quhilk aucht to mantene the Ministerie of the Kirk and the pure, is geuin to prophane men, flattereris in court, ruffianes, and hyrelingis.'

[206] In September 1571, John Row 'preiched, wha in plane pulpet pronounced to the lordis, for thair covetusnes, and becaus they wold not grant the just petitiones of the Kirk, Godis heastie vengeance to fall upon them; and said, moreover, "I cair not, my lordis, your displeasour; for I speik my conscience befoir God, wha will not suffer sic wickitnes and contempt vnpunished."' _Bannatyne's Journal_, edit. Edinburgh, 1806, p. 257.

[207] In 1576, the General Assembly declared, that their right to 'the patrimonie of the Kirk' was 'ex jure divino.' _Acts of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 360, Edinburgh, 1839, 4to. More than a hundred years later, a Scotch divine evinces how deeply the members of his profession felt this spoliation of the Church, by going out of his way to mention it. See _Jacob's Vow, by Dr. John Cockburn_, Edinburgh, 1696, pp. 422, 423, 425. But this is nothing in comparison to a recent writer, the Reverend Mr. Lyon, who deliberately asserts that, because these and similar acts occurred in the reign of Mary, therefore the queen came to a violent end; such being the just punishment of sacrilege. 'The practice' (of saying masses for the dead) 'ceased, of course, at the Reformation; and the money was transferred by Queen Mary to the civil authorities of the town. This was, undoubtedly, an act of sacrilege; for, though sacrificial masses for the dead was an error, yet the guardians of the money so bequeathed, were under an obligation to apply it to a sacred purpose. This, and other sacrilegious acts on the part of Mary, of a still more decided and extensive character, have been justly considered as the cause of all the calamities which subsequently befell her.' _History of St. Andrews, by the Rev. C. J. Lyon, M.A., Presbyter of the Episcopal Church, St. Andrews_, Edinburgh, 1843, vol. i. p. 54. Elsewhere (vol. ii. p. 400) the same divine mentions, that the usual punishment for sacrilege is a failure of male issue. 'The following examples, selected from the diocese of St. Andrews, according to its boundaries before the Reformation, will corroborate the general doctrine contended for throughout this work, that sacrilege has ever been punished in the present life, and _chiefly_ by the failure of male issue.' The italics are in the text. See also vol. i. p. 118. For the sake of the future historian of public opinion, it may be well to observe, that the work containing these sentiments is not a reprint of an older book, but was published for the first time in 1843, having apparently been just written.

[208] 'The General Assemblie of the Kirk of Scotland, convenit at Edinburgh the 25 of December 1566, to the Nobilitie of this Realme that professes the Lord Jesus with them, and hes renouncit that Roman Antichryst, desyre constancie in faith, and the spirit of righteous judgement. Seeing that Sathan, be all our negligence, Right Honourable, hes so farre prevailit within this Realme within these late dayes, that we doe stand in extream danger, not only _to lose our temporall possessions_, but also to be depryvit of the glorious Evangell,' &c. _Keith's Church and State_, vol. iii. pp. 154, 155.

[209] In 1566, in their piteous communication to the English bishops and clergy, they said 'The days are ill; iniquitie abounds; Christian charity, alas, is waxen cold.' _Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 87, Edinburgh, 1839, 4to.

[210] 'I see twa partis freely gevin to the Devill, and the thrid maun be devided betwix God and the Devill: Weill, bear witnes to me, that this day I say it, or it be long the Devill shall have three partis of the thrid; and judge you then what Goddis portioun shallbe.' ... 'Who wold have thought, that when Joseph reulled Egypt, that his brethren should have travailled for vittallis, and have returned with empty seckis unto thair families? Men wold rather have thought that Pharao's pose, treasure, and garnallis should have bene diminished, or that the houshold of Jacob should stand in danger to sterve for hungar.' _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. pp. 310, 311.

[211] In May 1571, 'This Sonday, Mr. Craig teiched the 130 Psalme; and, in his sermond, he compared the steat of the Kirk of God in this tovne vnto the steat of the Maccabeis; wha were oppressed sumtymes by the Assyrianis and sumtymes by the Egiptianis.' _Bannatyne's Journal_, p. 150.

But neither persuasions nor threats[212] produced any effect on the obdurate minds of the Scotch nobles. Indeed, their hearts, instead of being softened, became harder. Even the small stipends, which were allotted to the Protestant clergy, were not regularly paid, but were mostly employed for other purposes.[213] When the ministers complained, they were laughed at, and insulted, by the nobles, who, having gained their own ends, thought that they could dispense with their former allies.[214] The Earl of Morton, whose ability, as well as connexions, made him the most powerful man in Scotland, was especially virulent against them; and two of the preachers, who offended him, he put to death, under circumstances of great cruelty.[215] The nobles, regarding him as their chief, elected him Regent in 1572;[216] and, being now possessed of supreme power, he employed it against the Church. He seized upon all the benefices which became vacant, and retained their profits in his own hands.[217] His hatred of the preachers passed all bounds. He publicly declared, that there would be neither peace nor order in the country, until some of them were hung.[218] He refused to sanction the General Assemblies by his presence; he wished to do away with their privileges, and even with their name; and with such determination did he pursue his measures, that, in the opinion of the historian of the Scotch Kirk, nothing but the special interference of the Deity could have maintained its existing polity.[219]

[212] The first instance I have observed of any thing like menace, is in 1567, when 'the Assembly of the Church being convened at Edinburgh,' admonished all persons 'as well noblemen as barons, and those of the other Estates, to meet and give their personal appearance at Edinburgh on the 20th of July, for giving their advice, counsel, and concurrence in matters then to be proponed; especially for purging the realm of popery, the establishing of the policy of the Church, and _restoring the patrimony thereof to the just possessors_. Assuring those that should happen to absent themselves at the time, due and lawful advertisement being made, that they should be reputed hinderers of the good work intended, and as _dissimulate professors be esteemed unworthy of the fellowship of Christ's flock.' Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 64. This evidently alludes to the possibility of excommunicating those who would not surrender to the Protestant preachers, the property stolen from the Catholic Church; and, in 1570, we find another step taken in the same direction. Under that year, the following passage occurs in _Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 181. 'Q. If those that withold the duty of the Kirk, _wherethrough Ministers want their stipends_, may be excommunicate? A. All things beand done that the civill ordour requyres of them that withhaldis the duetie of the Kirk, quherby Ministers wants their stipends; _the Kirk may proceed to excommunication, for their contempt_.'

[213] In 1526, 'the poore ministers, exhorters, and readers, compleaned at church assembleis, that neither were they able to live upon the stipends allowed, nor gett payment of that small portioun which was allowed.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. ii. p. 172. Compare _Acts of the General Assemblies_, 1839, 4to, vol. i. p. 53; 'To requyre payment to ministers of there stipends for the tyme by past, according to the promise made.' This was in December 1564. In December 1565, the General Assembly said (p. 71), 'that wher oft and divers tymes promise hes bein made to us, that our saids brethren, travelers and preachers in the Kirk of God, sould not be defraudit of their appointit stipends, neither zet in any wayes sould be molestit in their functioun; zet nottheless universallie they want ther stipends appointit for diverse tymes by past.' On the state of things in 1566, see 'The Supplication of the Ministers to the Queen,' in _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 529. See also, in the _Miscellany of the Spalding Club_, vol. iv. pp. 92-101, Aberdeen, 1849, 4to, a letter written by John Erskine in December 1571, especially p. 97; 'the gretest of the nobilitie haifing gretest rentis in possessione, and plaicet of God in maist hie honouris, ceasis nocht, maist wiolentlie blindit with awarice, to spoilye and draw to thame selfis the possessiones of the Kirk.'

[214] 'The ministers were called proud knaves, and receaved manie injurious words from the lords, speciallie from Morton, who ruled all. He said, he sould lay their pride, and putt order to them.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iii. pp. 137, 138. This was in 1571.

[215] _Chambers' Annals of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 79, 80.

[216] 'The nobilitie wnderwrittin convenit in Edinburgh, and chesit and electit James erle of Mortoun regent.' _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 320.

[217] In 1573, 'when any benefeces of Kirk vaikit, he keapit the proffet of thair rents sa lang in his awin hand, till he was urgit be the Kirk to mak donatioun tharof, and that was not gevin but proffeit for all that.' _The Historie and Life of King James the Sext_, edit. Edinburgh, 1825, 4to, p. 147. Even in 1570, when Lennox was regent, 'the Earle of Mortoun was the chiefe manager of every thing under him;' and was 'master of the church rents,' and made 'gifts of them to the nobility.' _Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. part i. pp. 27, 126, Glasgow, 1834, 4to.

[218] 'During all these Assembleis and earnest endeavoures of the brethrein, the regent was often required to give his presence to the Assemblie, and further the caus of God. He not onlie refused, but threatned some of the most zealous with hanging, alledging, that otherwise there could be no peace nor order in the countrie.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iii. pp. 393, 394. 'Uses grait thretning against the maist zelus breithring, schoring to hang of thame, utherwayes ther could be na peace nor ordour in the countrey.' _The Autobiography and Diary of James Melvill_, edited by R. Pitcairn, Edinburgh, 1842, pp. 59, 60.

[219] 'He mislyked the Generall Assembleis, and would have had the name changed, that he might take away the force and priviledge thereof; and no questioun he had stayed the work of policie that was presentlie in hands, if God had not stirred up a factioun against him.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 396. See also _The Autobiography of James Melvill_, p. 61.

The rupture between Church and State was now complete. It remained to be seen, which was the stronger side. Every year, the clergy became more democratic; and, after the death of Knox, in 1572, they ventured upon a course which even he would hardly have recommended, and which, during the earlier period of the Reformation, would have been impracticable.[220] But, by this time, they had secured the support of the people; and the treatment they were receiving from the government, and from the nobles, embittered their minds, and drove them into desperate counsels. While their plans were yet immature, and while the future was looming darkly before them, a new man arose, who was well qualified to be their chief, and who at once stepped into the place which the death of Knox left vacant. This was Andrew Melville, who, by his great ability, his boldness of character, and his fertility of resource, was admirably suited to be the leader of the Scottish Church in that arduous struggle in which it was about to embark.[221]

[220] 'During the two years following the death of Knox, each day was ripening the more determined opposition of the Church. The breach between the clergy with the great body of the people, and the government or higher nobility, was widening rapidly.' _Argyll's Presbytery Examined_, p. 70.

[221] 'Next to her Reformer, who, under God, emancipated her from the degrading shackles of papal superstition and tyranny, I know no individual from whom Scotland has received such important services, or to whom she continues to owe so deep a debt of national respect and gratitude, as Andrew Melville.' _M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville_, vol. ii. p. 473, Edinburgh, 1819. His nephew, himself a considerable person, says, 'Scotland receavit never a graitter benefit at the hands of God nor this man.' _The Autobiography of James Melvill_, p. 38.

In 1574, Melville, having completed his education abroad, arrived in Scotland.[222] He quickly rallied round him the choicest spirits in the Church; and, under his auspices, a struggle began with the civil power, which continued, with many fluctuations, until it culminated, sixty years later, in open rebellion against Charles I. To narrate all the details of the contest, would be inconsistent with the plan of this Introduction; and, notwithstanding the extreme interest of the events which now ensued, the greater part of them must be omitted; but I will endeavour to indicate the general march, and to put the reader in possession of such facts as are most characteristic of the age in which they occurred.

[222] He left Scotland in 1564, at the age of nineteen, and returned 'in the beginning of July 1574, after an absence of ten years from his native country.' _M'Crie's Life of Andrew Melville_, vol. i. pp. 17, 57. See also _Scot's Apologetical Narration of the State of the Kirk of Scotland_, edit. Wodrow Society, p. 34; and _Howie's Biographia Scoticana_, p. 111, Glasgow, 1781.

Melville had not been in Scotland many months, before he began his opposition, at first by secret intrigues, afterwards with open and avowed hostility.[223] In the time of Knox, episcopacy had been recognized as part of the Protestant Church, and had received the sanction of the leading Reformers.[224] But that institution did not harmonize with the democratic spirit which was now growing up. The difference of ranks between the bishops and the inferior clergy was unpleasant, and the ministers determined to put an end to it.[225] In 1575, one of them, named John Dury, was instigated, by Melville, to bring the subject before the General Assembly at Edinburgh.[226] After he had spoken, Melville also expressed himself against episcopacy; but, not being yet sure of the temper of the audience, his first proceedings were somewhat cautious. Such hesitation was, however, hardly necessary; for, owing to the schism between the Church and the upper classes, the ministers were becoming the eager enemies of those maxims of obedience, and of subordination, which they would have upheld, had the higher ranks been on their side. As it was, the clergy were only favoured by the people; they, therefore, sought to organize a system of equality, and were ripe for the bold measures proposed by Melville and his followers. This was clearly shown, by the rapidity of the subsequent movement. In 1575, the first attack was made in the General Assembly at Edinburgh. In April 1578, another General Assembly resolved, that, for the future, bishops should be called by their own names, and not by their titles.[227] The same body also declared, that no see should be filled up, until the next Assembly.[228] Two months afterwards, it was announced that this arrangement was to be perpetual, and that no new bishop should ever be made.[229] And, in 1580, the Assembly of the Church at Dundee, pulling the whole fabric to the ground, unanimously resolved that the office of bishop was a mere human invention; that it was unlawful; that it must be immediately done away with; and that every bishop should at once resign his office, or be excommunicated if he refuse to do so.[230]

[223] He appears to have first set to work in November 1574. See _Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 261, London, 1848.

[224] 'The compilers of the Book of Discipline' (_i.e._ the First Book, in 1560) 'were distinguished by prelatical principles to the end of their days.' ... 'That Knox himself was no enemy to prelacy, considered as an ancient and apostolical institution, is rendered clear by his "Exhortation to England for the speedy embracing of Christ's Gospel."' _Russell's History of the Church in Scotland_, 1834, vol. i. p. 240. 'The associates of Knox, it is obvious, were not Presbyterians, and had no intention of setting up a system of parity among the ministers of their new establishment.' p. 243. See also p. 332. Even in 1572, the year of Knox's death, I find it stated that 'the whole Diocie of Sanct Andrews is decerned be the Assembly to pertain to the Bishop of the same.' _Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 264, 4to. 1839. The Scotch Presbyterians have dealt very unfairly with this part of the history of their Church.

[225] Some little time after this, David Fergusson, who died in 1598, and was minister at Dunfermline, said very frankly to James VI., 'Yes, Sir, ye may have Bishops here, but _ye must remember to make us all equall_; make us all Bishops, els will ye never content us.' _Row's History of the Kirk of Scotland from 1558 to 1637_, edit. Wodrow Society, p. 418. Compare _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iv. p. 214: in 1584 'these monstruous titles of superioritie.' In 1586, 'that tyrannicall supremacie of bishops and archbishops over ministers.' p. 604.

[226] 'He stirred up John Dury, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, in an Assembly which was then convened, to propound a question touching the lawfulness of the episcopal function, and the authority of chapters in their election. He himself, as though he had not been acquainted with the motion, after he had commended the speaker's zeal, and seconded the purpose with a long discourse of the flourishing estate of the church of Geneva, and the opinions of Calvin and Theodore Beza concerning church government, came to affirm, "That none ought to be esteemed office-bearers in the Church whose titles were not found in the book of God. And, for the title of bishops, albeit the same was found in Scripture, yet was it not to be taken in the sense that the common sort did conceive, there being no superiority allowed by Christ amongst ministers,"' &c. _Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 200. See also _Acts of the General Assemblies_, vol. i. p. 331, where it appears that six bishops were present on this memorable occasion. The question raised was, 'Whither if the Bischops, as they are now in the Kirk of Scotland, hes thair function of the word of God or not, or if the Chapiter appointit for creating of them aucht to be tollerated in this reformed Kirk.' p. 340.

[227] 'It was ordained, That Bischops and all vthers bearand Ecclesiasticall functioun, be callit bethair awin names, or Brethren, in tyme comeing.' _Acts of the General Assemblies of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 404.

[228] 'Therfor the Kirk hes concludit, That no Bischops salbe electit or made heirafter, befor the nixt Generall Assemblie.' _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 408.

[229] 'Anent the Act made in the last Assemblie, the 28 of Aprile 1578, concerning the electioun of Bischops, suspendit quhill this present Assemblie, and the farther ordour reservit thereto: The General Assemblie, all in ane voyce, hes concludit, That the said act salbe extendit for all tymes to come, ay and quhill the corruptioun of the Estate of Bischops be alluterlie tane away.' _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 413.

[230] 'Forsameikle as the office of a Bischop, as it is now vsit, and commounly takin within this realme, hes no sure warrand, auctoritie, nor good ground out of the (Book and) Scriptures of God; but is brocht in by the folie and corruptions of (men's) invention, to the great overthrow of the Kirk of God: The haill Assemblie of the Kirk, in ane voyce, after libertie givin to all men to reason in the matter, _none opponing themselves in defending the said pretendit office_, Finds and declares the samein pretendit office, vseit and termeit, as is above said, vnlaufull in the selfe, as haveand neither fundament, ground nor warrant within the word of God: and ordaines, that all sick persons as bruiks, or sall bruik heirafter the said office, salbe chargeit simpliciter to demitt, quyt and leave of the samein, as ane office quhervnto they are not callit be God; and siclyke to desist and cease from all preaching, ministration of the sacraments, or vsing any way the office of pastors, quhill they receive _de novo_ admission from the Generall Assemblie, vnder the paine of excommunicatioun to be denuncit agains them; quherin if they be found dissobedient, or contraveine this act in any point, the sentence of excommunicatioun, after dew admonitions, to be execute agains them.' _Acts of the General Assemblies_, vol. ii. p. 453.

The minister and the people had now done their work, and, so far as they were concerned, had done it well.[231] But the same circumstances which made them desire equality, made the upper classes desire inequality.[232] A collision, therefore, was inevitable, and was hastened by this bold proceeding of the Church. Indeed, the preachers, supported by the people, rather courted a contest, than avoided it. They used the most inflammatory language against episcopacy; and, shortly before abolishing it, they completed, and presented to Parliament, the Second Book of Discipline, in which they flatly contradicted what they had asserted in their First Book of Discipline.[233] For this, they are often taunted with inconsistency.[234] But the charge is unjust. They were perfectly consistent; and they merely changed their maxims, that they might preserve their principles. Like every corporation, which has ever existed, whether spiritual or temporal, their supreme and paramount principle was to maintain their own power. Whether or not this is a good principle, is another matter; but all history proves that it is an universal one. And when the leaders of the Scotch Church found that it was at stake, and that the question at issue was, who should possess authority, they, with perfect consistency, abandoned opinions that they had formerly held, because they now perceived that those opinions were unfavourable to their existence as an independent body.

[231] As Calderwood triumphantly says, 'the office of bishops was damned.' _History of the Kirk_, vol. iii. p. 469. 'Their whole estat, both the spirituall and civill part, was damned.' p. 526. James Melville (_Autobiography_, p. 52) says that, in consequence of this achievement, his uncle Andrew 'gatt the nam of [Greek: episkopomastix], _Episcoporum exactor_, the flinger out of Bischopes.'

[232] Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. vi. p. 302) observes that, while 'the great body of the burghers, and middle and lower classes of the people,' were Presbyterians, 'a large proportion of the nobility supported episcopacy.' Instead of 'a large proportion,' he would not have been far wrong, if he had said 'all.' Indeed, 'Melville himself says the whole peerage was against him.' _Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 269. Forbes ascribes the aristocratic movement against presbytery to 'godles atheists,' who insisted 'that there could be nothing so contrair to the nature of a monarchie,' &c., 'than that paritie of authoritie in pastours.' _Forbes_, _Certaine Records touching the Estate of the Kirk_, p. 349, edit. Wodrow Society. See also p. 355. 'That Democratie (as they called it) whilk allwayes behoved to be full of sedition and troubble to ane Aristocratie, and so in end to a Monarchie.' The reader will observe this important change in the attitude of classes in Scotland. Formerly, the clergy had been the allies of the crown against the nobles. Now, the nobles allied themselves with the crown against the clergy. The clergy, in self-defence, had to ally themselves with the people.

[233] On the difference between the two productions, there are some remarks worth looking at, in _Argyll's Presbytery Examined_, 1848, pp. 38-43. But this writer, though much freer from prejudice than most Presbyterian authors, is unwilling to admit how completely the Second Book of Discipline contradicts the First.

[234] By the Scotch episcopalians.

When the First Book of Discipline appeared, in 1560, the government was in the hands of the nobles, who had just fought on the side of the Protestant preachers, and were ready to fight again on their side. When the Second Book of Discipline appeared, in 1578, the government was still held by the nobles; but those ambitious men had now thrown off the mask, and, having effected their purpose in destroying the old hierarchy, had actually turned round, and attacked the new one. The circumstances having changed, the Church changed with them; but in the change there was nothing inconsistent. On the contrary, it would have been the height of inconsistency for the ministers to have retained their former notions of obedience and of subordination; and it was perfectly natural that, at this crisis, they should advocate the democratic idea of equality, just as before they had advanced the aristocratic idea of inequality.

Hence it was, that, in their First Book of Discipline, they established a regularly ascending hierarchy, according to which the general clergy owed obedience to their ecclesiastical superiors, to whom the name of superintendents was given.[235] But, in the Second Book of Discipline, every vestige of this was swept away; and it was laid down in the broadest terms, that all the preachers being fellow-labourers, all were equal in power; that none had authority over others; and that, to claim such authority, or to assert preëminence, was a contrivance of man, not to be permitted in a divinely constituted Church.[236]

[235] See the _First Book of Discipline_, reprinted in the first volume of _A Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland_, 2d edit., Edinburgh, 1837. The superintendents were 'to set, order, and appoint ministers,' p. 61; and it would seem (p. 88) that no minister could be deposed without the consent of his superintendent; but this could hardly be intended to interfere with the supreme authority of the General Assembly. See also the summary, p. 114, where it is said of the superintendents, that 'in thair visitatioun thei sal not onlie preiche, but als examine the doctrine, life, diligence, and behavior of the ministeris, reideris, elderis, and deaconis.' According to Spottiswoode (_History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 167), 'the superintendents held their office during life, and their power was episcopal; for they did elect and ordain ministers, they presided in synods, and directed all church censures, neither was any excommunication pronounced without their warrant.' See further, on their authority, _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 161. 'That punyschment suld be appointed for suche as dissobeyid or contemned the superintendentes in thair functioun.' This was in 1561; and, in 1562, 'It was ordained, that if ministers be disobedient to superintendents in anything belonging to edification, they must be subject to correction.' _Acts of the General Assemblies of the Kirk_, vol. i. p. 14. Compare p. 131: 'sick things as superintendents may and aught decyde in their synodall conventiouns.'

[236] 'For albeit the Kirk of God be rewlit and governit be Jesus Christ, who is the onlie King, hie Priest, and Heid thereof, yit he useis the ministry of men, as the most necessar middis for this purpose.' ... 'And to take away all occasion of tyrannie, he willis that they sould rewl with mutuall consent of brether and _equality of power_, every one according to thair functiones.' _Second Book of Discipline_, in _A Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 126, 127. 'As to Bischops, if the name [Greek: episkopos] be properly taken, _they ar all ane with the ministers_, as befoir was declairit. For it is _not a name of superioritie and lordschip_, bot of office and watching.' p. 142. To understand the full meaning of this, it should be mentioned, that the superintendents, established by the Kirk in 1560, not unfrequently assumed the title of 'Lordship,' as an ornament to the extensive powers conferred upon them. See, for instance, the notes to _Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. part ii. p. 461. But, in the Second Book of Discipline, in 1578, the superintendents are, if I rightly remember, not even once named.

The government, as may be supposed, took a very different view. Such doctrines were deemed, by the upper classes, to be anti-social, and to be subversive of all order.[237] So far from sanctioning them, they resolved, if possible, to overthrow them; and, the year after the General Assembly had abolished episcopacy, it was determined that, upon that very point, a trial of strength should be made between the two parties.

[237] Just as in England, we find that the upper classes are mostly Episcopalians; their minds being influenced, often unconsciously, by the, to them, pleasing spectacle of an inequality of rank, which is conventional, and does not depend upon ability. On the other hand, the strength of the Dissenters lies among the middle and lower classes, where energy and intellect are held in higher respect, and where a contempt naturally arises for a system, which, at the mere will of the sovereign or minister of the day, concedes titles and wealth to persons whom nature did not intend for greatness, but who, to the surprise of their contemporaries, have greatness thrust upon them. On this difference of opinion in Scotland, corresponding to the difference of social position, see the remarks on the seventeenth century, in _Hume's Commentaries on the Law of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 544, Edinburgh, 1797, 4to.

In 1581, Robert Montgomery was appointed archbishop of Glasgow. The ministers who composed the chapter of Glasgow refused to elect him; whereupon the Privy Council declared that the King, by virtue of his prerogative, had the right of nomination.[238] All was now confusion and uproar. The General Assembly forbad the archbishop to enter Glasgow.[239] He refused to obey their order, and threw himself upon the support of the Duke of Lennox, who had obtained the appointment for him, and to whom he, in return, had surrendered nearly all the revenues of the see, reserving for himself only a small stipend.[240] This was a custom which had grown up within the last few years, and was one of many contrivances by which the nobles plundered the Church of her property.[241]

[238] Record of Privy Council, in _M'Crie's Life of Melville_, vol. i. p. 267. 'The brethrein of Glasgow were charged, under paine of horning, to admitt Mr. Robert Montgomrie.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iii. p. 596.

[239] 'Charges the said Mr. Robert to continue in the ministrie of the Kirk of Striveling,' &c. _Acts of the General Assemblies_, vol. ii. p. 547. This was in October 1581; the Record of the Privy Council was in April 1582. Moysie, who was a contemporary, says that, in March 1581, 2, not only the dean and chapter, but all the clergy (the 'haill ministrie') declared from the pulpit that Montgomery's appointment 'had the warrand of the deuill and not of the word of God, bot wes damnit thairby.' _Moysie's Memoirs_, Edinburgh, 1830, 4to, p. 36.

[240] 'The title whereof the said duke had procured to him, that he, having the name of bishop, and eight hundred merks money for his living and sustentatioun, the whole rents, and other duteis of the said benefice, might come to the duke's utilitie and behove.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iv. p. 111. See also p. 401.

[241] _Scot's Apologetical Narration of the State of the Kirk_, pp. 24, 25. _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. iii. p. 302. _Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers_, vol. i.