CHAPTER II.

CONDITION OF SCOTLAND IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.

Early in the fifteenth century, the alliance between the Crown and the Church, and the determination of that alliance to overthrow the nobles, became manifest. Indications of this may be traced in the policy of Albany, who was Regent from 1406 to 1419, and who made it his principal object to encourage and strengthen the clergy.[88] He also dealt the first great blow upon which any government had ventured against the aristocracy. Donald, who was one of the most powerful of the Scottish chieftains, and who, indeed, by the possession of the Western Isles, was almost an independent prince, had seized the earldom of Ross, which, if he could have retained, would have enabled him to set the Crown at defiance. Albany, backed by the Church, marched into his territories, in 1411, forced him to renounce the earldom, to make personal submission, and to give hostages for his future conduct.[89] So vigorous a proceeding on the part of the executive, was extremely unusual in Scotland;[90] and it was the first of a series of aggressions, which ended in the Crown obtaining for itself, not only Ross, but also the Western Isles.[91] The policy inaugurated by Albany, was followed up with still greater energy by James I. In 1424, this bold and active prince procured an enactment, obliging many of the nobles to show their charters, in order that it might be ascertained what lands they held, which had formerly belonged to the Crown.[92] And, to conciliate the affections of the clergy, he, in 1425, issued a commission, authorizing the Bishop of Saint Andrews to restore to the Church whatever had been alienated from it; while he at the same time directed that the justiciaries should assist in enforcing execution of the decree.[93] This occurred in June; and what shows that it was part of a general scheme is, that in the preceding spring, the king suddenly arrested, in the parliament assembled at Perth, upwards of twenty of the principal nobles, put four of them to death, and confiscated several of their estates.[94] Two years afterwards, he, with equal perfidy, summoned the Highland chiefs to meet him at Inverness, laid hands on them also, executed three, and imprisoned more than forty, in different parts of the kingdom.[95]

[88] 'The Church was eminently favoured by Albany.' _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 86. But Pinkerton misunderstands his policy in regard to the nobles.

[89] _Skene's Highlanders_, vol. ii. pp. 72-74; _Browne's History of the Highlands_, vol. i. p. 162, vol. iv. pp. 435, 436.

[90] Chalmers (_Caledonia_, vol. i. pp. 826, 827), referring to the state of things before Albany, says, 'There is not a trace of any attempt by Robert II. to limit the power of the nobles, whatever he may have added, by his improvident grants, to their independence. He appears not to have attempted to raise the royal prerogative from the debasement in which the imprudence and misfortunes of David II. had left it.' And, of his successor, Robert III., 'So mild a prince, and so weak a man, was not very likely to make any attempt upon the power of others, when he could scarcely support his own.'

[91] In 1476, 'the Earldom of Ross was inalienably annexed to the Crown; and a great blow was thus struck at the power and grandeur of a family which had so repeatedly disturbed the tranquillity of Scotland.' _Gregory's History of the Western Highlands_, Edinburgh, 1836, p. 50. In 1493, 'John, fourth and last Lord of the Isles, was forfeited, and deprived of his title and estates.' _Ibid._ p. 58.

[92] As those who held crown lands were legally, though not in reality, the king's tenants, the act declared, that 'gif it like the king, he may ger s[=u]monde all and sindry his tenand at lauchfull day and place to schawe thar chartis.' _The Acts of the Parliament of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 4, § 9, edit. folio, 1814.

[93] 'On the 8th June, 1425, James issued a commission to Henry, bishop of St. Andrews, authorising him to resume all alienations from the Church, with power of anathema, and orders to all justiciaries to assist.' This curious paper is preserved in Harl. Ms. 4637, vol. iii. f. 189. _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 116. Archbishop Spottiswoode, delighted with his policy, calls him a 'good king,' and says that he built for the Carthusians 'a beautiful monastery at Perth, bestowing large revenues upon the same.' _Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 113. And Keith assures us that, on one occasion, James I. went so far as to give to one of the bishops 'a silver cross, in which was contained a bit of the wooden cross on which the apostle St. Andrew had been crucified.' _Keith's Catalogue of Scotch Bishops_, Edinburgh, 1755, 4to, p. 67.

[94] Compare _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. pp. 153-156, with _Pinkerton's History_, vol. i. pp. 113-115. Between these two authorities there is a slight, but unimportant, discrepancy.

[95] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 95-98; _Skene's Highlanders_, vol. ii. p. 75; and an imperfect narrative in _Gregory's History of the Western Highlands_, p. 35.

By these measures, and by supporting the Church with the same zeal that he attacked the nobles, the king thought to reverse the order of affairs hitherto established, and to secure the supremacy of the throne over the aristocracy.[96] But herein, he overrated his own power. Like nearly all politicians, he exaggerated the value of political remedies. The legislator and the magistrate may, for a moment, palliate an evil; they can never work a cure. General mischiefs depend upon general causes, and these are beyond their art. The symptoms of the disease they can touch, while the disease itself baffles their efforts, and is too often exasperated by their treatment. In Scotland, the power of the nobles was a cruel malady, which preyed on the vitals of the nation; but it had long been preparing; it was a chronic disorder; and, having worked into the general habit, it might be removed by time, it could never be diminished by violence. On the contrary, in this, as in all matters, whenever politicians attempt great good, they invariably inflict great harm. Over-action on one side produces reaction on the other, and the balance of the fabric is disturbed. By the shock of conflicting interests, the scheme of life is made insecure. New animosities are kindled, old ones are embittered, and the natural jar and discordance are aggravated, simply because the rulers of mankind cannot be brought to understand, that, in dealing with a great country, they have to do with an organization so subtle, so extremely complex, and withal so obscure, as to make it highly probable, that whatever they alter in it, they will alter wrongly, and that while their efforts to protect or to strengthen its particular parts are extremely hazardous, it does undoubtedly possess within itself a capacity of repairing its injuries, and that to bring such capacity into play, there is merely required that time and freedom which the interference of powerful men too often prevents it from enjoying.

[96] Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 126), under the year 1433, says: 'In the midst of his labours for the pacification of his northern dominions, and his anxiety for the suppression of heresy, the king never forgot his great plan for the diminution of the exorbitant power of the nobles.' See also p. 84. 'It was a principle of this enterprising monarch, in his schemes for the recovery and consolidation of his own power, to cultivate the friendship of the clergy, whom he regarded as a counterpoise to the nobles.' Lord Somerville (_Memorie of the Somervilles_, vol. i. p. 173) says, that the superior nobility were 'never or seldome called to counsell dureing this king's reign.'

Thus it was in Scotland, in the fifteenth century. The attempts of James I. failed, because they were particular measures directed against general evils. Ideas and associations, generated by a long course of events, and deeply seated in the public mind, had given to the aristocracy immense power; and if every noble in Scotland had been put to death, if all their castles had been razed to the ground, and all their estates confiscated, the time would unquestionably have come, when their successors would have been more influential than ever, because the affection of their retainers and dependents would be increased by the injustice that had been perpetrated. For, every passion excites its opposite. Cruelty to-day, produces sympathy to-morrow. A hatred of injustice contributes more than any other principle to correct the inequalities of life, and to maintain the balance of affairs. It is this loathing at tyranny, which, by stirring to their inmost depth the warmest feelings of the heart, makes it impossible that tyranny should ever finally succeed. This, in sooth, is the noble side of our nature. This is that part of us, which, stamped with a godlike beauty, reveals its divine origin, and, providing for the most distant contingencies, is our surest guarantee that violence shall never ultimately triumph; that, sooner or later, despotism shall always be overthrown; and that the great and permanent interests of the human race shall never be injured by the wicked counsels of unjust men.

In the case of James I., the reaction came sooner than might have been expected; and, as it happened in his lifetime, it was a retribution, as well as a reaction. For some years, he continued to oppress the nobles with impunity;[97] but, in 1436, they turned upon him, and put him to death, in revenge for the treatment to which he had subjected many of them.[98] Their power now rose as suddenly as it had fallen. In the south of Scotland, the Douglases were supreme,[99] and the earl of that family possessed revenues about equal to those of the Crown.[100] And, to show that his authority was equal to his wealth, he, on the marriage of James II., in 1449, appeared at the nuptials with a train composed of five thousand followers.[101] These were his own retainers, armed and resolute men, bound to obey any command he might issue to them. Not, indeed, that compulsion was needed on the part of a Scotch noble to secure the obedience of his own people. The servitude was a willing one, and was essential to the national manners. Then, and long afterwards, it was discreditable, as well as unsafe, not to belong to a great clan; and those who were so unfortunate as to be unconnected with any leading family, were accustomed to take the name of some chief, and to secure his protection by devoting themselves to his service.[102]

[97] Compare _Chalmers' Caledonia_, vol. ii. p. 263, with _Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. x. p. 286.

[98] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 157, 158.

[99] Lindsay of Pitscottie (_Chronicles_, vol. i. p. 2) says, that directly after the death of James I., 'Alexander, Earle of Douglas, being uerie potent in kine and friendis, contemned all the kingis officeris, in respect of his great puissance.' The best account I have seen of the rise of the Douglases is in Chalmers' learned, but ill-digested, work, _Caledonia_, vol. i. pp. 579-583.

[100] In 1440, 'the chief of that family had revenues perhaps equivalent to those of the Scottish monarch.' _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 192.

[101] 'It may give us some idea of the immense power possessed at this period by the Earl of Douglas, when we mention, that on this chivalrous occasion, the military suite by which he was surrounded, and at the head of which he conducted the Scottish champions to the lists, consisted of a force amounting to five thousand men.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 215. The old historian of his family says: 'He is not easy to be dealt with; they must have mufles that would catch such a cat. Indeed, he behaved himself as one that thought he would not be in danger of them; he entertained a great family; he rode ever well accompanied when he came in publick; 1000 or 2000 horse were his ordinary train.' _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. i. pp. 273, 274, reprinted Edinburgh, 1743.

[102] In the seventeenth century, 'To be without a chief, involved a kind of disrepute; and those who had no distinct personal position of their own, would find it necessary to become a Gordon or a Crichton, as prudence or inclination might point out.' _Burton's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. i. p. 207. Compare _Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 250, on 'the protective surname of Douglas;' and _Skene's Highlanders_, vol. ii. p. 252, on the extreme importance attached to the name of Macgregor.

What the Earl of Douglas was in the south of Scotland, that were the Earls of Crawford and of Ross in the north.[103] Singly they were formidable; united they seemed irresistible. When, therefore, in the middle of the fifteenth century, they actually leagued together, and formed a strict compact against all their common enemies, it was hard to say what limit could be set to their power, or what resource remained to the government, except that of sowing disunion among them.[104]

[103] 'Men of the greatest puissance and force next the Douglases that were in Scotland in their times.' _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. i. p. 344. The great power of the Earls of Ross in the north, dates from the thirteenth century. See _Skene's Highlanders_, vol. i. pp. 133, 134, vol. ii. p. 52.

[104] In 1445, the Earl of Douglas concluded 'ane offensiue and defensiue league and combinatione aganist all, none excepted, (not the king himselue), with the Earle of Crawfurd, and Donald, Lord of the Isles; wich was mutually sealled and subscriued by them three, the 7 day of Marche.' _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. p. 173. This comprised the alliance of other noble families. 'He maid bandis with the Erle of Craufurd, and with Donald lorde of the Ylis, and Erle of Ross, to take part every ane with other, and with dyvers uther noble men also.' _Lesley's History of Scotland_, from 1436 to 1561, p. 18.

But, in the mean time, the disposition of the nobles to use force against the Crown, had been increased by fresh violence. Government, instead of being warned by the fate of James I., imitated his unscrupulous acts, and pursued the very policy which had caused his destruction. Because the Douglases were the most powerful of all the great families, it was determined that their chiefs should be put to death; and because they could not be slain by force, they were to be murdered by treachery. In 1440, the Earl of Douglas, a boy of fifteen, and his brother, who was still younger than he, were invited to Edinburgh on a friendly visit to the king. Scarcely had they arrived, when they were seized by order of the chancellor, subjected to a mock trial, declared guilty, dragged to the castle-yard, and the heads of the poor children cut off.[105]

[105] An interesting account of this dastardly crime is given in _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. i. pp. 274-288, where great, but natural, indignation is expressed. On the other hand, Lesley, bishop of Ross, narrates it with a cold-blooded indifference, characteristic of the ill-will which existed between the nobles and the clergy, and which prevented him from regarding the murder of two children as an offence. 'And eftir he was set doun to the burd with the governour, chancellour, and otheris noble men present, the meit was sudantlie removed, and ane bullis heid presented, quhilk in thay daies was ane signe of executione; and incontinent the said erle, David his broder, and Malcolme Fleming of Cummernald, wer heidit before the castell yett of Edenburgh.' _Lesley's History_, p. 16.

Considering the warm feelings of attachment which the Scotch entertained for their chiefs, it is difficult to overrate the consequences of this barbarous murder, in strengthening a class it was hoped to intimidate. But this horrible crime was committed by the government only, and it occurred during the king's minority: the next assassination was the work of the king himself. In 1452, the Earl of Douglas[106] was, with great show of civility, requested by James II. to repair to the court then assembled at Stirling. The Earl hesitated, but James overcame his reluctance by sending to him a safeconduct with the royal signature, and issued under the great seal.[107] The honour of the king being pledged, the fears of Douglas were removed. He hastened to Stirling, where he was received with every distinction. The evening of his arrival, the king, after supper was over, broke out into reproaches against him, and, suddenly drawing his dagger, stabbed him. Gray then struck him with a battle-axe, and he fell dead on the floor, in presence of his sovereign, who had lured him to court, that he might murder him with impunity.[108]

[106] The cousin of the boys who were murdered in 1440. See _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. i. pp. 297, 816.

[107] 'With assurance under the broad seal.' _Hume's House of Douglas_, vol. i. p. 351. See also _Nimmo's History of Stirlingshire_, Edinb. 1777, pp. 246, 322, 323.

[108] _Hume's House of Douglas_, vol. i. pp. 351-353. The king 'stabbed him in the breast with a dagger. At the same instant Patrick Gray struck him on the head with a pole-ax. The rest that were attending at the door, hearing the noise, entred, and fell also upon him; and, to show their affection to the king, gave him every man his blow after he was dead.' _Compare Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicles of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 103. 'He strak him throw the bodie thairwith; and thairefter the guard, hearing the tumult within the chamber, rusched in and slew the earle out of hand.'

The ferocity of the Scotch character, which was the natural result of the ignorance and poverty of the nation, was, no doubt, one cause, and a very important one, of the commission of such crimes as these, not secretly, but in the open light of day, and by the highest men in the State. It cannot, however, be denied, that another cause was, the influence of the clergy, whose interest it was to humble the nobles, and who were by no means scrupulous as to the means that they employed.[109] As the Crown became more alienated from the aristocracy, it united itself still closer with the Church. In 1443, a statute was enacted, the object of which was, to secure ecclesiastical property from the attacks made upon it by the nobles.[110] And although, in that state of society, it was easier to pass laws than to execute them, such a measure indicated the general policy of the government, and the union between it and the Church. Indeed, as to this, no one could be mistaken.[111] For nearly twenty years, the avowed and confidential adviser of the Crown was Kennedy, bishop of Saint Andrews, who retained power until his death, in 1466, during the minority of James III.[112] He was the bitter enemy of the nobles, against whom he displayed an unrelenting spirit, which was sharpened by personal injuries; for the Earl of Crawford had plundered his lands, and the Earl of Douglas had attempted to seize him, and had threatened to put him into irons.[113] The mildest spirit might well have been roused by this; and as James II., when he assassinated Douglas, was more influenced by Kennedy than by any one else, it is probable that the bishop was privy to that foul transaction. At all events, he expressed no disapprobation of it; and when, in consequence of the murder, the Douglases and their friends rose in open rebellion, Kennedy gave to the king a crafty and insidious counsel, highly characteristic of the cunning of his profession. Taking up a bundle of arrows, he showed James, that when they were together, they were not to be broken; but that, if separated, they were easily destroyed. Hence he inferred, that the aristocracy should be overthrown by disuniting the nobles, and ruining them one by one.[114]

[109] In _Nimmo's History of Stirlingshire_, pp. 99, 100, the alienation of the nobles from the Church is dated 'from the middle of the fifteenth century;' and this is perhaps correct in regard to general dislike, though the movement may be clearly traced fifty years earlier.

[110] See _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 33, edit. folio, 1814; respecting the 'statute of haly kirk quhilk is oppressit and hurt.'

[111] In 1449, James II., 'with that affectionate respect for the clergy, which could not fail to be experienced by a prince who had successfully employed their support and advice to escape from the tyranny of his nobles, granted to them some important privileges.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 226. See also p. 309. Among many similar measures, he conceded to the monks of Paisley some important powers of jurisdiction that belonged to the Crown. Charter, 13th January, 1451-2, in _Chalmers' Caledonia_, vol. iii. p. 823.

[112] _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 188, 209, 247, 254. _Keith's Catalogue of Scotch Bishops_, p. 19. _Ridpath's Border History_, p. 298. _Hollinshead's Scottish Chronicle_, vol. ii. p. 101. In _Somerville's Memorie of the Somervilles_, vol. i. p. 213, it is stated, under the year 1452, that fear of the great nobles 'had once possest his majestie with some thoughts of going out of the countrey; but that he was perswaded to the contrary by Bishop Kennedie, then Archbishop of Saint Andrewes, whose counsell at that tyme and eftirward, in most things he followed, which at length proved to his majesties great advantage.' See also _Lesley's History_, p. 23. 'The king wes put to sic a sharp point, that he wes determinit to haif left the realme, and to haif passit in Fraunce by sey, were not that bischop James Kennedy of St. Androis causit him to tarrye.'

[113] 'His lands were plundered by the Earl of Crawford and Alexander Ogilvie of Inveraritie, at the instigation of the Earl of Douglas, who had farther instructed them to seize, if possible, the person of the bishop, and to put him in irons.' Memoir of Kennedy, in _Chambers' Lives of Scotchmen_, vol. iii. p. 307, Glasgow, 1834. 'Sed Kennedus et ætate, et consilio, ac proinde auctoritate cæteros anteibat. In eum potissimum ira est versa. Crafordiæ comes et Alexander Ogilvius conflato satis magno exercitu, agros ejus in Fifa latè populati, dum prædam magis, quam causam sequuntur, omni genere cladis in vicina etiam prædia grassati, nemine congredi auso pleni prædarum in Angusiam revertuntar. Kennedus ad sua arma conversus comitem Crafordiæ disceptationem juris fugientem diris ecclesiasticis est prosecutus.' _Buchanan_, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xi. p. 306.

[114] 'This holie bischop schew ane similitud to the king, quhilk might bring him to experience how he might invaid againes the Douglass, and the rest of the conspiratouris. This bischop tuik furth ane great scheife of arrowes knitt togidder werrie fast, and desired him to put thame to his knie, and break thame. The king said it was not possible, becaus they war so many, and so weill fastened togidder. The bischop answeired, it was werrie true, bot yitt he wold latt the king sea how to break thame: and pulled out on be on, and tua be tua, quhill he had brokin thame all; then said to the king, "Yea most doe with the conspiratouris in this manner, and thair complices that are risen againes yow, quho are so many in number, and so hard knit togidder in conspiracie againes yow, that yea cannot gett thame brokin togidder. Butt be sick pratick as I have schowin yow be the similitud of thir arrowes, that is to say, yea must conqueis and break lord by lord be thamselffis, for yea may not deall with thame all at once."' _Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicles of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 172, 173.

In this he was right, so far as the interests of his own order were concerned; but, looking at the interest of the nation, it is evident that the power of the nobles, notwithstanding their gross abuse of it, was, on the whole, beneficial, since it was the only barrier against despotism. The evil they actually engendered, was indeed immense. But they kept off other evils, which would have been worse. By causing present anarchy, they secured future liberty. For, as there was no middle class, there were only three orders in the commonwealth; namely, government, clergy, and nobles. The two first being united against the last, it is certain that if they had won the day, Scotland would have been oppressed by the worst of all yokes, to which a country can be subjected. It would have been ruled by an absolute king and an absolute Church, who, playing into each other's hands, would have tyrannized over a people, who, though coarse and ignorant, still loved a certain rude and barbarous liberty, which it was good for them to possess, but which, in the face of such a combination, they would most assuredly have forfeited.

Happily, however, the power of the nobles was too deeply rooted in the popular mind to allow of this catastrophe. In vain did James III. exert himself to discourage them,[115] and to elevate their rivals, the clergy.[116] Nothing could shake their authority; and, in 1482, they, seeing the determination of the king, assembled together, and such was their influence over their followers, that they had no difficulty in seizing his person, and imprisoning him in the Castle of Edinburgh.[117] After his liberation, fresh quarrels arose;[118] and in 1488, the principal nobles collected troops, met him in the field, defeated him, and put him to death.[119] He was succeeded by James IV., under whom the course of affairs was exactly the same; that is to say, on one side the nobles, and on the other side the Crown and the Church. Every thing that the king could do to uphold the clergy, he did cheerfully. In 1493, he obtained an act to secure the immunities of the sees of Saint Andrews and of Glasgow, the two most important in Scotland.[120] In 1503, he procured a general revocation of all grants and gifts prejudicial to the Church, whether they had been made by the Parliament or by the Council.[121] And, in 1508, he, by the advice of Elphinston, bishop of Aberdeen, ventured on a measure of still greater boldness. That able and ambitious prelate induced James to revive against the nobility several obsolete claims, by virtue of which the king could, under certain circumstances, take possession of their estates, and could, in every instance in which the owner held of the Crown, receive nearly the whole of the proceeds during the minority of the proprietor.[122]

[115] 'He wald nocht suffer the noblemen to come to his presence, and to governe the realme be thair counsell.' _Lesley's History of Scotland_, p. 48. 'Wald nocht use the counsall of his nobilis.' p. 55. 'Excluding the nobility.' _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. ii. p. 33. 'The nobility seeing his resolution to ruin them.' p. 46. 'Hes conteming his nobility.' _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. p. 206.

[116] Also to aggrandize them. See, for instance, what 'has obtained the name of the golden charter, from the ample privileges it contains, confirmed to Archbishop Shevez by James III. on 9th July 1480.' _Grierson's History of Saint Andrews_, p. 58, Cupar, 1838.

[117] 'Such was the influence of the aristocracy over their warlike followers, that the king was conveyed to the castle of Edinburgh, without commotion or murmur.' _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 308.

[118] 'The king and his ministers multiplied the insults which they offered to the nobility.' ... 'A proclamation was issued, forbidding any person to appear in arms within the precincts of the court; which, at a time when no man of rank left his own house without a numerous retinue of armed followers, was, in effect, debarring the nobles from all access to the king.' ... 'His neglect of the nobles irritated, but did not weaken them.' _History of Scotland_, book i. p. 68, in _Robertson's Works_, edit. London, 1831.

[119] _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. pp. 213, 214; Buchanan, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xii. p. 358. Lindsay of Pitscottie (_Chronicles_, vol. i. p. 222) says: 'This may be ane example to all kingis that cumes heirefter, not to fall from God.' ... 'For, if he had vsed the counsall of his wyse lordis and barrones, he had not cum to sick disparatioun.'

[120] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, folio, 1814, vol. ii. p. 232. 'That the said abbaceis confirmit be thame sall neid na prouisioun of the court of Rome.'

[121] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 240; and the summary of the statute (p. 21), 'Revocation of donations, statutis, and all uthir thingis hurtand the croune or hali kirk.' In the next year (1504), the king 'greatly augmented' the revenues of the bishoprick of Galloway. _Chalmers' Caledonia_, vol. iii. p. 417.

[122] _Pinkerton's History of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 63; _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. viii. p. 135, edit. Wodrow Society, Edinburgh, 1849. The latter authority states, that 'The bishop devysed wayes to King James the Fourth, how he might attaine to great gaine and profit. He advised him to call his barons and all those that held any lands within the realme, to show their evidents by way of recognition; and, if they had not sufficient writings for their warrant, to dispone upon their lands at his pleasure; for the which advice he was greatlie hated. But the king, perceaving the countrie to grudge, agreed easilie with the possessors.'

To make such claims was easy; to enforce them was impossible. Indeed, the nobles were at this time rather gaining ground than losing it; and, after the death of James IV., in 1513, they, during the minority of James V., became so powerful, that the regent, Albany, twice threw up the government in despair, and at length abandoned it altogether.[123] He finally quitted Scotland in 1524, and with him the authority of the executive seemed to have vanished. The Douglases soon obtained possession of the person of the king, and compelled Beaton, archbishop of Saint Andrews, the most influential man in the Church, to resign the office of chancellor.[124] The whole command now fell into their hands; they or their adherents filled every office; secular interests predominated, and the clergy were thrown completely into the shade.[125] In 1528, however, an event occurred by which the spiritual classes not only recovered their former position, but gained a preëminence, which, as it turned out, was eventually fatal to themselves. Archbishop Beaton, impatient at proceedings so unfavourable to the Church, organized a conspiracy, by means of which James effected his escape from the Douglases, and took refuge in the castle of Stirling.[126] This sudden reaction was not the real and controlling cause, but it was undoubtedly the proximate cause, of the establishment of Protestantism in Scotland. For, the reins of government now passed into the hands of the Church; and the most influential of the nobles were consequently persecuted, and some of them driven from the country. But, though their political power was gone, their social power remained. They were stripped of their honours and their wealth. They became outcasts, traitors, and beggars. Still, the real foundation of their authority was unshaken, because that authority was the result of a long train of circumstances, and was based on the affections of the people. Therefore it was, that the nobles, even those who were exiled and attainted, were able to conduct an arduous, but eventually a successful, struggle against their enemies. The desire of revenge whetted their exertions, and gave rise to a deadly contest between the Scotch aristocracy and the Scotch Church. This most remarkable conflict was, in some degree, a continuation of that which began early in the fifteenth century. But it was far more bitter; it lasted, without interruption, for thirty-two years; and it was only concluded by the triumph of the nobles, who, in 1560, completely overthrew the Church, and destroyed, almost at a blow, the whole of the Scotch hierarchy.

[123] The Regency of Albany, little understood by the earlier historians, has been carefully examined by Mr. Tytler, in whose valuable, though too prolix, work, the best account of it will be found. _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 98-160, Edinburgh, 1845. On the hostility between Albany and the nobles, see _Irving's History of Dumbartonshire_, p. 99; and, on the revival of their power in the north, after the death of James IV., see _Gregory's History of the Western Highlands_, pp. 114, 115.

[124] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 180-182: 'Within a few months, there was not an office of trust or emolument in the kingdom, which was not filled by a Douglas, or by a creature of that house.' See also pp. 187, 194; and _Keith's Catalogue of Scotch Bishops_, pp. 22, 23. Beaton, who was so rudely dispossessed of the chancellorship, that, according to Keith, he was, in 1525, obliged 'to lurk among his friends for fear of his life,' is mentioned, in the preceding year, as having been the main supporter of Albany's government; 'that most hath favoured the Duke of Albany.' _State Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, vol. iv. p. 97, 4to, 1836.

[125] The complete power of the Douglases lasted from the cessation of Albany's regency to the escape of the king, in 1528. _Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_, edit. Edinburgh, 1835, vol. i. pp. 33-35. Compare _Balfour's Annales_, vol. i. p. 257. 'The Earle of Angus violentley takes one him the gouerniment, and retanes the king in effecte a prisoner with him; during wich tyme he, the Earle of Lennox, and George Douglas, his auen brother, frely disposses vpone all affaires both of churche and staite.'

[126] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 195, 196. The curious work, entitled _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 10, says, 'In the zeir of God 1500, tuantie aucht zeiris, the kingis grace by slicht wan away fra the Douglassis.' From Stirling, he repaired to Edinburgh, on 6th July 1528, and went to 'the busshop of Sainct Andros loegeing.' See a letter written on the 18th of July 1528, by Lord Dacre to Wolsey, in _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. iv. p. 501, 4to, 1836. Compare a proclamation on 10th September 1528, in _Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. i. part i. pp. 138*, 139*, Edinburgh, 4to, 1833. I particularly indicate these documents, because Lindsay of Pitscottie (in his _Chronicles of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 335) erroneously places the flight of James in 1527; and he is generally one of the most accurate of the old writers, if indeed he be the author of the work which bears his name.

The events of this struggle, and the vicissitudes to which, during its continuance, both parties were exposed, are related, though somewhat confusedly, in our common histories: it will be sufficient if I indicate the salient points, and, avoiding needless detail, endeavour to throw light on the general movement. The unity of the entire scheme will thus be brought before our minds, and we shall see, that the destruction of the Catholic Church was its natural consummation, and that the last act of that gorgeous drama, so far from being a strained and irregular sequence, was in fit keeping with the whole train of the preceding plot.

When James effected his escape in 1528, he was a boy of sixteen, and his policy, so far as he can be said to have had any mind of his own, was of course determined by the clergy, to whom he owed his liberty, and who were his natural protectors. His principal adviser was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews; and the important post of chancellor, which, under the Douglases, had been held by a layman, was now conferred on the Archbishop of Glasgow.[127] These two prelates were supreme; while, at the same time, the Abbot of Holyrood was made treasurer, and the Bishop of Dunkeld was made privy seal.[128] All nobles, and even all followers, of the house of Douglas, were forbidden to approach within twelve miles of the court, under pain of treason.[129] An expedition was fitted out, and sent against the Earl of Caithness, who was defeated and slain.[130] Just before this occurred, the Earl of Angus was driven out of Scotland, and his estates confiscated.[131] An act of attainder was passed against the Douglases.[132] The government, moreover, seized, and threw into prison, the Earl of Bothwell, Home, Maxwell, and two Kerrs, and the barons of Buccleuch, Johnston, and Polwarth.[133]

[127] _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. iv. p. 501.

[128] 'Archibald was depryvit of the thesaurarie, and placit thairin Robert Cairncorse, abbot of Halyrudhous. And als was tane fra the said Archibald the privie seill, and was givin to the bischope of Dunkell.' _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 11.

[129] Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 196) says: 'His first act was to summon a council, and issue a proclamation, that no lord or follower of the house of Douglas should dare to approach within _six_ miles of the court, under pain of treason.' For this, no authority is cited; and the historian of the Douglas family distinctly states, 'within _twelve_ miles of the king, under pain of death.' _Hume's House of Douglas_, vol. ii. p. 99. See also _Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 10: 'that nane of thame nor thair familiaris cum neir the king be tuelf myllis.' The reason was, that 'the said kingis grace haid greit suspicioun of the temporall lordis, becaus thaj favourit sum pairt the Douglassis.' _Diurnal_, p. 12.

[130] 'The Erle of Caithnes and fyve hundreth of his men wes slayne and drownit in the see.' _Lesley's History of Scotland_, p. 141.

[131] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 203, 204.

[132] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 324, edit. folio, 1814.

[133] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 207.

All this was vigorous enough, and was the consequence of the Church recovering her power. Other measures, equally decisive, were preparing. In 1531, the king deprived the Earl of Crawford of most of his estates, and threw the Earl of Argyle into prison.[134] Even those nobles who had been inclined to follow him, he now discouraged. He took every opportunity of treating them with coldness, while he filled the highest offices with their rivals, the clergy.[135] Finally, he, in 1532, aimed a deadly blow at their order, by depriving them of a large part of the jurisdiction which they were wont to exercise in their own country, and to the possession of which they owed much of their power. At the instigation of the Archbishop of Glasgow, he established what was called the College of Justice, in which suits were to be decided, instead of being tried, as heretofore, by the barons, at home, in their castles. It was ordered that this new tribunal should consist of fifteen judges, eight of whom must be ecclesiastics; and to make the intention still more clear, it was provided that the president should invariably be a clergyman.[136]

[134] _Tytler_, vol. iv. p. 212.

[135] 'His preference of the clergy to the temporal lords disgusted these proud chiefs.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 230. See also p. 236. His reasons are stated by himself, in a curious letter, which he wrote so late as 1541, to Henry VIII. 'We persaif,' writes James, 'be zoure saidis writingis yat Ze ar informyt yat yair suld be sum thingis laitlie attemptat be oure kirkmen to oure hurte and skaith, and contrar oure mynde and plesure. We can nocht understand, quhat suld move Zou to beleif the samyn, assuring Zou _We have nevir fund bot faithfull and trew obedience of yame at all tymes_, nor yai seik nor attemptis nouthir jurisdictioun nor previlegijs, forthir nor yai have usit sen the first institutioun of the Kirk of Scotland, quhilk We may nocht apoun oure conscience alter nor change in the respect We have to the honour and faith of God and Halikirk, and douttis na inconvenient be yame to come to Ws and oure realme yerthrou; for sen the Kirk wes first institute in our realme, the stait yairof hes nevir failzeit, bot _hes remanyt evir obedient to oure progenitouris, and in our tyme mair thankefull to Ws, nor evir yai wer of before_.' This letter, which, in several points of view, is worth reading, will be found in _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. pp. 188-190, 4to, 1836.

[136] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 212, 213, and _Arnot's History of Edinburgh_, 4to, 1788, p. 468: 'fifteen ordinary judges, seven churchmen, seven laymen, and a president, whom it behoved to be a churchman.' The statute, as printed in the folio edition of 1814 (_Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 335) says 'xiiij psouñs half sp[=u]ale half temporall wt ane president.' Mr. Lawson (_Roman Catholic Church in Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1836, p. 81) supposes that it was the Archbishop of St. Andrews who advised the erection of this tribunal.

This gave the finishing touch to the whole, and it, taken in connexion with previous measures, exasperated the nobles almost to madness. Their hatred of the clergy became uncontrollable; and, in their eagerness for revenge, they not only threw themselves into the arms of England, and maintained a secret understanding with Henry VIII., but many of them went even further, and showed a decided leaning towards the principles of the Reformation. As the enmity between the aristocracy and the Church grew more bitter, just in the same proportion did the desire to reform the Church become more marked. The love of innovation was encouraged by interested motives, until, in the course of a few years, an immense majority of the nobles adopted extreme Protestant opinions; hardly caring what heresy they embraced, so long as they were able, by its aid, to damage a Church from which they had recently received the greatest injuries, and with which they and their progenitors had been engaged in a contest of nearly a hundred and fifty years.[137]

[137] Keith, who evidently does not admire this part of the history of his country, says, under the year 1546, 'Several of our nobility found it their temporal interest, as much as their spiritual, to sway with the new opinions as to religious matters.' _Keith's Affairs of Church and State_, vol. i. pp. 112, 113. Later, and with still more bluntness: 'The noblemen wanted to finger the patrimony of the kirkmen.' vol. iii. p. 11.

In the mean time, James V. united himself closer than ever with the hierarchy. In 1534, he gratified the Church, by personally assisting at the trial of some heretics, who were brought before the bishops and burned.[138] The next year, he was offered, and he willingly accepted, the title of Defender of the Faith, which was transferred to him from Henry VIII.; that king being supposed to have forfeited it by his impiety.[139] At all events, James well deserved it. He was a stanch supporter of the Church, and his privy-council was chiefly composed of ecclesiastics, as he deemed it dangerous to admit laymen to too large a share in the government.[140] And, in 1538, he still further signalized his policy, by taking for his second wife Mary of Guise; thus establishing an intimate relation with the most powerful Catholic family in Europe, whose ambition, too, was equal to their power, and who made it their avowed object to uphold the Catholic faith, and to protect it from those rude and unmannerly invasions which were now directed against it in most parts of Europe.[141]

[138] 'In the month of August (1534), the bishops having gotten fitt opportunitie, renewed their battell aganest Jesus Christ. David Stratilon, a gentelman of the House of Lawrestoune, and Mr. Norman Gowrlay, was brought to judgement in the Abby of Halyrudhouse. The king himself, all cloathed with reid, being present, grait pains war taken upon David Stratoun to move him to recant and burn his bill; bot he, ever standing to his defence, was in end adjudged to the fire. He asked grace at the king. The bishops answred proudlie, that "the king's hands war bound, and that he had no grace to give to such as were by law condemned." So was he, with Mr. Norman, after dinner, upon the 27th day of Agust, led to a place beside the Rude of Greenside, between Leth and Edinbrug, to the intent that the inhabitants of Fife, seeing the fire, might be striken with terrour and feare.' _Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. i. part i. p. 210*. Also _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 106, 107.

[139] 'It appears, by a letter in the State-paper Office, that Henry remonstrated against this title being given to James.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 223. See also p. 258.

[140] In 1535, 'his privy council were mostly ecclesiastics.' _Ibid._ vol. iv. p. 222. And Sir Ralph Sadler, during his embassy to Scotland in 1539-40, writes: 'So that the king, as far as I can perceive, is of force driven to use the bishops and his clergy as his only ministers for the direction of his realm. They be the men of wit and policy that I see here; they be never out of the king's ear. And if they smell any thing that in the least point may touch them, or that the king seem to be content with any such thing, straight they inculk to him, how catholic a prince his father was, and feed him both with fair words and many, in such wise as by those policies they lead him (having also the whole governance of his affairs) as they will.' _State Papers and Letters of Sir Ralph Sadler_, Edinb., 1809, 4to, vol. i. p. 47.

[141] _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 128. _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 22. The Reverend Mr. Kirkton pronounces that the new queen was 'ane egge of the bloody nest of Guise.' _Kirkton's History of the Church of Scotland_, edited by Sharpe, Edinburgh, 1817, 4to, p. 7.

This was hailed by the Church as a guarantee for the intentions of the king. And so indeed it proved to be. David Beaton, who negotiated the marriage, became the chief adviser of James during the rest of his reign. He was made Archbishop of Saint Andrews in 1539,[142] and, by his influence, a persecution hotter than any yet known, was directed against the Protestants. Many of them escaped into England,[143] where they swelled the number of the exiles, who were waiting till the time was ripe to take a deadly revenge. They, and their adherents at home, coalesced with the disaffected nobles, particularly with the Douglases,[144] who were by far the most powerful of the Scotch aristocracy, and who were connected with most of the great families, either by old associations, or by the still closer bond of the interest which they all had in reducing the power of the Church.[145]

[142] 'At his return home, he was made coadjutor, and declared future successor to his uncle in the primacy of St. Andrews, in which see he came to be fully invested upon the death of his uncle the next year, 1539.' _Keith's Catalogue of Scotch Bishops_, pp. 23, 24.

[143] _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, p. 20. _Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 139. _Lawson's Roman Catholic Church in Scotland_, p. 178. _Wodrow's Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers_, vol. i. p. 100.

[144] Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 241) says, that the cruelties of 1539 forced 'many of the persecuted families to embrace the interests of the Douglases.'

[145] It is asserted of the Douglases, that, early in the sixteenth century, their 'alliances and power were equal to one-half of the nobility of Scotland.' _Brown's History of Glasgow_, vol. i. p. 8. See also, on their connexions, _Hume's House of Douglas_, vol. i. pp. xix. 252, 298, vol. ii. p. 293.

At this juncture, the eyes of men were turned towards the Douglases, whom Henry VIII. harboured at his court, and who were now maturing their plans.[146] Though they did not yet dare to return to Scotland, their spies and agents reported to them all that was done, and preserved their connexions at home. Feudal covenants, bonds of manrent, and other arrangements, which, even if illegal, it would have been held disgraceful to renounce, were in full force; and enabled the Douglases to rely with confidence on many of the most powerful nobles, who were, moreover, disgusted at the predominance of the clergy, and who welcomed the prospect of any change which was likely to lessen the authority of the Church.[147]

[146] Henry VIII., 'in the year 1532, sought it directly, among the conditions of peace, that the Douglas, according to his promise, should be restored. For King Henry's own part, he entertained them with all kind of beneficence and honour, and made both the Earl and Sir George of his Privy Council.' _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. ii. pp. 105, 106. James was very jealous of any communication taking place between the Douglases and his other subjects; but it was impossible for him to prevent it. See a letter which he wrote to Sir Thomas Erskine (in _Miscellany of the Spalding Club_, vol. ii. p. 193, Aberdeen, 1842, 4to), beginning, 'I commend me rycht hartly to yow, and weit ye that it is murmuryt hyr that ye sould a spolkyn with Gorge and Archebald Dougles in Ingland, quhylk wase again my command and your promys quhan we departyt.' See also the cases of Lady Trakware, John Mathesone, John Hume, and others, in _Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. i. part i. pp. 161*, 177*, 202*, 243*, 247*.

[147] 'The Douglases were still maintained with high favour and generous allowances in England; their power, although nominally extinct, was still far from being destroyed; their spies penetrated into every quarter, followed the king to France, and gave information of his most private motions; their feudal covenants and bands of manrent still existed, and bound many of the most potent nobility to their interest; whilst the vigour of the king's government, and his preference of the clergy to the temporal lords, disgusted these proud chiefs, and disposed them to hope for a recovery of their influence from any change which might take place.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 229, 230. These bonds of manrent, noticed by Tytler, were among the most effective means by which the Scotch nobles secured their power. Without them, it would have been difficult for the aristocracy to have resisted the united force of the Crown and the Church. On this account, they deserve special attention. Chalmers (_Caledonia_, vol. i. p. 824) could find no bond of manrent earlier than 1354; but in Lord Somerville's _Memorie of the Somervilles_, edit. Edinburgh, 1815, vol. i. p. 74, one is mentioned in 1281. This is the earliest instance I have met with; and they did not become very common till the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Compare _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. ii. p. 19. _Somerville's Memorie of the Somervilles_, vol. i. p. 234. _Pitcairn's Criminal Trials in Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 83. _Irving's History of Dumbartonshire_, pp. 142, 143. _Skene's Highlanders_, vol. ii. p. 186. _Gregory's History of the Western Highlands_, p. 126. _Kennedy's Annals of Aberdeen_, vol. i. p. 55. _Miscellany of the Spalding Club_, vol. ii. pp. cvi. 93, 251, vol. iv. pp. xlviii. 179. As these covenants were extremely useful in maintaining the balance of power, and preventing the Scotch monarchy from becoming despotic, acts of parliament were of course passed against them. See one in 1457, and another in 1555, respecting 'lige' and 'bandis of manrent and mantenance,' in _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, folio, 1814, vol. ii. pp. 50, 495. Such enactments being opposed to the spirit of the age, and adverse to the exigencies of society, produced no effect upon the general practice, though they caused the punishment of several individuals. Manrent was still frequent until about 1620 or 1630, when the great social revolution was completed, by which the power of the aristocracy was subordinated to that of the Church. Then, the change of affairs effected, without difficulty, and indeed spontaneously, what the legislature had vainly attempted to achieve. The nobles, gradually sinking into insignificance, lost their spirit, and ceased to resort to those contrivances by which they had long upheld their order. Bonds of manrent became every year less common, and it is doubtful if there is any instance of them after 1661. See _Chalmers' Caledonia_, vol. iii. pp. 32, 33. It is, however, so dangerous to assert a negative, that I do not wish to rely on this date, and some few cases may exist later; but if so, they are very few, and it is certain that, speaking generally, the middle of the seventeenth century is the epoch of their extinction.

With such a combination of parties, in a country where, there being no middle class, the people counted for nothing, but followed wherever they were led, it is evident that the success or failure of the Reformation in Scotland was simply a question of the success or failure of the nobles. They were bent on revenge. The only doubt was, as to their being strong enough to gratify it. Against them, they had the Crown and the Church. On their side they had the feudal traditions, the spirit of clanship, the devoted obedience of their innumerable retainers, and, what was equally important, that love of names, and of family associations, for which Scotland is still remarkable, but which, in the sixteenth century, possessed an influence difficult to exaggerate.

The moment for action was now at hand. In 1540, the government, completely under the control of the clergy, caused fresh laws to be enacted against the Protestants, whose interests were by this time identical with those of the nobles. By these statutes, no one, even suspected of heresy, could for the future hold any office; and all Catholics were forbidden to harbour, or to show favour to, persons who professed the new opinions.[148] The clergy, now flushed with conquest, and greedy for the destruction of their ancient rivals, proceeded to still farther extremities. So unrelenting was their malice, that, in that same year, they presented to James a list containing the names of upwards of three hundred members of the Scotch aristocracy, whom they formally accused as heretics, who ought to be put to death, and whose estates they recommended the king to confiscate.[149]

[148] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 370, 371. 'That na mañ quhats[=u]euir stait or conditiouñ he be luge ressauve cherish nor favor ony heretike.' ... 'And alswa that na persouñ that hes bene suspectit of heresie howbeit thai be ressauit to p[=e]nance and grace sall in this realme exers haif nor brouk ony honest estait degre office nor judicato^r sp[=u]all nor t[=e]porale in burgh nor w^tout nor na salbe admittit to be of ou[/r] counsale.'

[149] Lindsay of Pitscottie (_Chronicles_, vol. ii. p. 383) says, that they 'devysed to put ane discord and variance betwixt the lordis and gentlmen with thair prince; for they delaited, and gave vp to the king in writt, to the number of thrittie scoir of earles, lordis, and barrones, gentlmen and craftismen, that is, as thei alledgit, wer all heretickis, and leived not after the Pope's lawis, and ordinance of the hollie kirk; quhilk his grace sould esteme as ane capitall cryme, to ony man that did the same' ... 'all thair landis, rentes, guidis, and geir apperteanis propperlie to your grace, for thair contempt of our hollie father the Pope, and his lawis, and high contempt of your grace's authoritie.' This document was found among the king's papers after his death, when it appeared that, of the six hundred names on the list, more than three hundred belonged to the principal nobility: 'Eum timorem auxerunt codicilli post regis interitum reperti, e quibus supra trecentorum è prima nobilitate nomina continebantur.' _Buchanan_, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xv. p. 424. Compare _Sadler's State Papers_, 1809, vol. i. p. 94; and _Watson's Historicall Collections of Ecclesiastick Affairs in Scotland_, 1657, p. 22. According to Watson, it 'was called the bloudy scroll.'

These hot and vindictive men little knew of the storm which they were evoking, and which was about to burst on their heads, and cover them and their Church with confusion. Not that we have reason to believe that a wiser conduct would have ultimately saved the Scotch hierarchy. On the contrary, the probability is, that their fate was sealed; for the general causes which governed the entire movement had been so long at work, that, at this period, it would have been hardly possible to have baffled them. But, even if we admit as certain, that the Scotch clergy were doomed, it is also certain that their violence made their fall more grievous, by exasperating the passions of their adversaries. The train, indeed, was laid; their enemies had supplied the materials, and all was ready to explode; but it was themselves who at last applied the match, and sprung the mine to their own destruction.

In 1542, the nobles, seeing that the Church and the Crown were bent on their ruin, took the most decisive step on which they had yet ventured, and peremptorily refused to obey James in making war upon the English. They knew that the war in which they were desired to participate had been fomented by the clergy, with the twofold object of stopping all communication with the exiles, and of checking the introduction of heretical opinions.[150] Both these intentions they resolved to frustrate, and, being assembled on the field, they declared with one voice that they would not invade England. Threats and persuasions were equally useless. James, stung with vexation, returned home, and ordered the army to be disbanded. Scarcely had he retired, when the clergy attempted to rally the troops, and to induce them to act against the enemy. A few of the peers, ashamed at what seemed a cowardly desertion of the king, appeared willing to march. The rest, however, refused; and, while they were in this state of doubt and confusion, the English, taking them unawares, suddenly fell upon their disorderly ranks, utterly routed them, and made a large number prisoners. In this disgraceful action, ten thousand Scotch troops fled before three hundred English cavalry.[151] The news being brought to James, while he was still smarting from the disobedience of the nobles, was too much for his proud and sensitive mind. He reeled under the double shock; a slow fever wasted his strength; he sunk into a long stupor; and, refusing all comfort, he died in December 1542, leaving the Crown to his infant daughter, Mary, during whose reign the great contest between the aristocracy and the Church was to be finally decided.[152]

[150] In the autumn of 1542, James 'was encouraged by the clergy to engage in a war against King Henry, who both assured him of victory, since he fought against an heretical prince, and advanced an annuity of 50,000 crowns for prosecuting the war.' _Crawfurd's History of the Shire of Renfrew_, 1782, 4to, part i. p. 48. Compare, in _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 154, a letter written, in 1539, by Norfolk to Cromwell: 'By diverse other waies I am advertised that the clergie of Scotlande be in such feare that their king shold do theire, as the kinges highnes hath done in this realme, that they do their best to bring their master to the warr; and by many waies I am advertised that a great parte of the temporaltie there wold their king shold followe our insample, wich I pray God yeve hym grace to come unto.' Even after the battle of Solway, the policy of the clergy was notoriously the same. 'And undoubtedlie, the kyrkemen labor, by all the meanes they can, to empeche the unitie and establishment of thiese two realmes; uppon what groundes ye can easelie conjecture.' Letter from Sadler to Parr, dated Edinburgh, 27th March 1543, in _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 271, 4to, 1836.

[151] 'Ten thousand Scottish troops fled at the sight of three hundred English cavalry, with scarce a momentary resistance.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 264.

[152] The best account of these events will be found in _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 260-267. I have also consulted _Ridpath's Border History_, pp. 372, 373. _Hollinshead's Scottish Chronicle_, vol. ii. pp. 207-209. _Lesley's History_, pp. 163-166. _Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicles_, vol. ii. pp. 399-406. _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 145-152. _Buchanan_, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xiv. pp. 420, 421.

The influence of the nobles was increased by the death of James V., and yet more by the bad repute into which the clergy fell for having instigated a war, of which the result was so disgraceful.[153] Their party was still further strengthened by the exiles, who, as soon as they heard the glad tidings, prepared to leave England.[154] Early in 1543, Angus and Douglas returned to Scotland,[155] and were soon followed by other nobles, most of whom professed to be Protestants, though, as the result clearly proved, their Protestantism was inspired by a love of plunder and of revenge. The late king had, in his will, appointed Cardinal Beaton to be guardian of the queen, and governor of the realm.[156] Beaton, though an unprincipled man, was very able, and was respected as the head of the national church; he being Archbishop of St. Andrews, and primate of Scotland. The nobles, however, at once arrested him,[157] deprived him of his regency, and put in his place the Earl of Arran, who, at this time, affected to be a zealous Protestant, though, on a fitting occasion, he afterwards changed his opinions.[158] Among the supporters of the new creed, the most powerful were the Earl of Angus and the Douglases. They were now freed from a prescription of fifteen years; their attainder was reversed, and their estates and honours were restored to them.[159] It was evident that not only the executive authority, but also the legislative, had passed from the Church to the aristocracy. And they, who had the power, were not sparing in the use of it. Lord Maxwell, one of the most active of their party, had, like most of them, in their zeal against the hierarchy, embraced the principles of the Reformation.[160] In the spring of 1543, he obtained the sanction of the Earl of Arran, the governor of Scotland, for a proposal which he made to the Lords of the Articles, whose business it was to digest the measures to be brought before Parliament. The proposal was, that the people should be allowed to read the Bible in a Scotch or English translation. The clergy arrayed all their force against what they rightly deemed a step full of danger to themselves, as conceding a fundamental principle of Protestantism. But all was in vain. The tide had set in, and was not to be turned. The proposition was adopted by the Lords of the Articles. On their authority, it was introduced into Parliament. It was passed. It received the assent of the government; and, amid the lamentations of the Church, it was proclaimed, with every formality, at the market-cross of Edinburgh.[161]

[153] 'This defeat being so very dishonourable, especially to the clergy, who stirred up the king to that attempt, and promised him great success from it; and there being such a visible evidence of the anger of God, fighting by his providence against them, all men were struck with fear and astonishment; the bishops were ashamed to show their faces for a time.' _Stevenson's History of the Church of Scotland_, reprinted, Edinburgh, 1840, p. 30.

[154] We may readily believe the assertion of an old chronicler, that 'the nobilitie did not greatlie take his death grievouslie, because he had fined manie, imprisoned more, and caused no small few (for avoiding his displeasure) to flie into England, and rather to commit themselves to the enemie than to his anger.' _Hollinshead's Scottish Chronicle_, vol. ii. p. 210.

[155] _Hume's History of the House of Douglas_, vol. ii. p. 111.

[156] It has been often said, that this will was forged; but for such an assertion I cannot find the slightest evidence, except the declaration of Arran (_Sadler's State Papers_, Edinburgh, 1809, vol. i. p. 138), and the testimony, if testimony it can be called, of Scotch historians, who do not profess to have examined the handwriting, and who, being themselves Protestants, seem to suppose that the fact of a man being a cardinal, qualifies him for every crime. There is no doubt that Beaton was thoroughly unprincipled, and therefore was capable of the forgery. Still, we have no proof; and the will is such as we might have expected from the king. In regard to Arran, his affirmation is not worth the paper it is written on: for he hated Beaton; he was himself very unscrupulous; and he succeeded to the post which Beaton had to vacate on the ground that the will was forged. If such circumstances do not disqualify a witness, some of the best-established principles of evidence are false. The reader who cares to look further into this subject, may compare, in favour of the will being forged, _Buchanan_, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xv. p. 422, Abredoniæ, 1762; _Knox's History of the Reformation_, edit. Laing, Edinburgh, 1846, vol. i. pp. 91, 92; _Irving's History of Dumbartonshire_, second edition, 4to, 1860, p. 102; and, in favour of its being genuine, _Lyon's History of St. Andrews_, Edinburgh, 1843, vol. i. pp. 304, 305. Some other writers on the subject leave it doubtful: _Tytler's History of Scotland_, 1845, vol. iv. p. 274; _Lawson's Roman Church in Scotland_, 1836, p. 99; and a note in _Keith's Church and State in Scotland_, 1844, vol. i. p. 63.

[157] On the 26th of January 1542-3, 'the said cardinall was put in pressoune in Dalkeith.' _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 26. See also, respecting his imprisonment, a letter written, on the 16th of March, by Angus and Douglas, in _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 263. He was then in 'firmance.'

[158] His appointment was confirmed by Parliament on the 12th of March. _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 411: 'tuto^r lau^tfull to the quenis grace and gounour of this realme.' He excluded the clergy from power. On 20th March, in the same year, Sir Ralph Sadler writes to Henry VIII., that Sir George Douglas 'brought me into the council-chamber, where I found a great number of noblemen and others at a long board, and divers standing, but _not one bishop nor priest among them_. At the upper end of the board sat the governour.' _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 78.

[159] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 415, 419, 424, 423*; and _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 285.

[160] 'Had become a convert to its doctrines.' _Tytler's Hist. of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 286. But he, as well as the other nobles, neither knew nor cared much about doctrines; and he was, moreover, very venal. In April 1543, Sir Ralph Sadler writes to Henry VIII.: 'And the lord Maxwell told me apart, "That, indeed, he lacked silver, and had no way of relief but to your majesty;" which he prayed me to signify unto the same. I asked him what would relieve him? and he said, 300_l._; "for the which," he said, "as your majesty seemed, when he was with your grace, to have him in more trust and credit than the rest of your majesty's prisoners, so he trusted to do you as good service as any of them; and amongst them they will do you such service, as, if the war succeed, ye shall make an easy conquest of this realm; as _for his part he shall deliver into your hands, at the entry of your army, the keys of the same on the west marches, being all the strongholds there in his custody_." I offered him presently to write to my lord of Suffolk for 100_l._ for him if he would; but he said, "he would stay till he heard again from your majesty in that behalf."' _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 165.

[161] _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 415, 425. _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 83. Knox, in his _History of the Reformation_ (edit. Laing, vol. i p. 100), archly says, 'The cleargy hearto long repugned; butt in the end, convicted by reassonis, _and by multitud of votes in thare contrare_, thei also condiscended; and so, by Act of Parliament, it was maid free to all man and woman to reid the Scriptures in thair awin toung, or in the Engliss toung; and so war all Actes maid in the contrair abolished.'

Scarcely had the nobles thus attained the upper hand, when they began to quarrel among themselves. They were resolved to plunder the Church; but they could not agree as to how the spoil should be shared. Neither could they determine as to the best mode of proceeding; some being in favour of an open and immediate schism, while others wished to advance cautiously, and to temporize with their opponents, that they might weaken the hierarchy by degrees. The more active and zealous section of the nobles were known as the English party,[162] owing to their intimate connexion with Henry VIII., from whom many of them received supplies of money. But, in 1544, war broke out between the two countries, and the clergy, headed by Archbishop Beaton, roused, with such success, the old feelings of national hatred against the English, that the nobles were compelled for a moment to bend before the storm, and to advocate an alliance with France. Indeed, it seemed for a few months as if the Church and aristocracy had forgotten their old and inveterate hostility, and were about to unite their strength in one common cause.[163]

[162] Or, as Keith calls them, 'English Lords.' _History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_, vol. i. p. 80.

[163] In May 1544 the English attacked Scotland, _Tytler's History_, vol. iv. p. 316; and in that same month, the 'Anglo-Scottish party' consisted only of the Earls of Lennox and of Glencairn, since even 'Angus, George Douglas, and their numerous and powerful adherents, joined the cardinal.' p. 319. As to the part taken by the Scotch clergy, see, in _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 173, a letter to Henry VIII., written on the 1st of May 1543: 'And as to the kirk-men, I assure your majesty they seek the war by all the means they can, and do daily entertain the noblemen with money and rewards to sustain the wars, rather than there should be any agreement with your majesty; thinking, verily, that if peace and unity succeed, that they shall be reformed, and lose their glory, which they had rather die, and put all this realm in hazard, than they would forego.' See also p. 184, note.

This, however, was but a passing delusion. The antagonism between the two classes was irreconcilable.[164] In the spring of 1545, the leading Protestant nobles formed a conspiracy to assassinate Archbishop Beaton,[165] whom they hated more than any one else, partly because he was the head of the Church, and partly because he was the ablest and most unscrupulous of their opponents. A year, however, elapsed before their purpose could be effected; and it was not till May 1546, that Lesley, a young baron, accompanied by the Laird of Grange, and a few others, burst into Saint Andrews, and murdered the primate in his own castle.[166]

[164] Buchanan records a very curious conversation between the regent and Douglas, which, as I do not remember to have met with elsewhere, I shall transcribe. The exact date of it is not mentioned, but, from the context, it evidently took place in 1544 or 1545. 'Ibi cum Prorex suam deploraret solitudinem, et se a nobilitate derelictum quereretur, Duglassius ostendit "id ipsius culpa fieri, non nobilium, qui et fortunas omnes et vitam ad publicam salutem tuendam conferrent, quorum consilio contempto ad sacrificulorum nutum circumageretur, qui foris imbelles, domi seditiosi, omniumque periculorum expertes alieni laboris fructu ad suas voluptates abuterentur. Ex hoc fonte inter te et proceres facta est suspitio, quæ (quòd neutri alteris fidatis) rebus gerendis maxime est impedimento."' _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xv. p. 435. Buchanan was, at this time, about thirty-eight years old; and that some such conversation as that which he narrates actually took place, is, I think, highly probable, though the historian may have thrown in some touches of his own. At all events, he was too great a rhetorician to invent what his contemporaries would deem unlikely to happen; so that, from either point of view, the passage is valuable as an evidence of the deep-rooted hostility which the nobles bore towards the Church.

[165] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. p. 337. 'The plot is entirely unknown either to our Scottish or English historians; and now, after the lapse of nearly three centuries, has been discovered in the secret correspondence of the State-paper Office.' The first suggestion of the murder was in April 1544. See _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 377, and the end of the Preface to vol. iv. But Mr. Tytler and the editor of the _State Papers_ appear to have overlooked a still earlier indication of the coming crime, in _Sadler's Papers_. See, in that collection, vol. i. p. 77, a conversation, held in March 1543, between Sir Ralph Sadler and the Earl of Arran; Sadler being conducted by the Earl of Glencairn. On that occasion, the Earl of Arran used an expression concerning Beaton, the meaning of which Sir Ralph evidently understood. '"By God," quoth he, "he shall never come out of prison whilst I may have mine own will, _except it be to his farther mischief_." I allowed the same well' (replied Sadler), 'and said, "It were pity, but he should receive such reward as his merits did require."'

[166] _State Papers of Henry VIII._, vol. v. p. 560. _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, p. 42. _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 221-223. Lindsay of Pitscottie (_Chronicles_, vol. ii. p. 484) relates a circumstance respecting the murder, which is too horrible to mention, and of which it is enough to say, that it consisted of an obscene outrage committed on the corpse of the victim. Though such facts cannot now be published, they are so characteristic of the age, that they ought not to be passed over in complete silence.

The horror with which the Church heard of this foul and barbarous deed,[167] maybe easily imagined. But the conspirators, nothing daunted, and relying on the support of a powerful party, justified their act, seized the castle of Saint Andrews, and prepared to defend it to the last. And in this resolution they were upheld by a most remarkable man, who now first appeared to public view, and who, being admirably suited to the age in which he lived, was destined to become the most conspicuous character of those troublous times.

[167] Respecting which, two Scotch Protestant historians have expressed themselves in the following terms: 'God admonished men, by this judgement, that he will in end be avenged upon tyranns for their crueltie, howsoever they strenthen themselves.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 224. And, whoever considers all the circumstances, 'must acknowledge it was a stupendous act of the judgment of the Lord, and that the whole was overruled and guided by Divine Providence.' _Stevenson's History of the Church and State of Scotland_, p. 38.

That man was John Knox. To say that he was fearless and incorruptible, that he advocated with unflinching zeal what he believed to be the truth, and that he devoted himself with untiring energy to what he deemed the highest of all objects, is only to render common justice to the many noble attributes which he undoubtedly possessed. But, on the other hand, he was stern, unrelenting, and frequently brutal; he was not only callous to human suffering, but he could turn it into a jest, and employ on it the resources of his coarse, though exuberant, humour;[168] and he loved power so inordinately, that, unable to brook the slightest opposition, he trampled on all who crossed his path, or stood even for a moment in the way of his ulterior designs.

[168] Even the editor of _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, Edinburgh, 1841, p. xxxv., notices 'the ill-timed merriment he displays in relating the foul deed' of Beaton's murder.

The influence of Knox in promoting the Reformation, has indeed been grossly exaggerated by historians, who are too apt to ascribe vast results to individual exertions; overlooking those large and general causes, in the absence of which the individual exertion would be fruitless. Still, he effected more than any single man;[169] although the really important period of his life, in regard to Scotland, was in and after 1559, when the triumph of Protestantism was already secure, and when he reaped the benefit of what had been effected during his long absence from his own country. His first effort was a complete failure, and, more than any one of his actions, has injured his reputation. This was the sanction which he gave to the cruel murder of Archbishop Beaton, in 1546. He repaired to the Castle of Saint Andrews; he shut himself up with the assassins; he prepared to share their fate; and, in a work which he afterwards wrote, openly justified what they had done.[170] For this, nothing can excuse him; and it is with a certain sense of satisfied justice that we learn, that, in 1547, the castle being taken by the French, Knox was treated with great severity, and was made to work at the galleys, from which he was not liberated till 1549.[171]

[169] Shortly before his death, he said, with honest and justifiable pride, 'What I have bene to my countrie, albeit, this vnthankfull aige will not knowe, yet the aiges to come wilbe compelled to bear witnes to the treuth.' _Bannatyne's Journal_, Edinburgh, 1806. p. 119. Bannatyne was Knox's secretary. It is to be regretted that no good life of Knox should have yet been published. That by M'Crie is an undistinguishing and injudicious panegyric, which, by provoking a reaction of opinion, has damaged the reputation of the great reformer. On the other hand, the sect of Episcopalians in Scotland are utterly blind to the real grandeur of the man, and unable to discern his intense love of truth, and the noble fearlessness of his nature.

[170] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. iv. pp. 374, 375. _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, pp. 27, 28. _Lawson's Roman Catholic Church in Scotland_, p. 154. _Presbytery Displayed_, 1663, 4to, p. 28. _Shields' Hind let loose_, 1687, pp. 14, 39, 638. In his _History of the Reformation_, edit. Laing, vol. i. pp. 177, 180, he calls it a 'godly fact,' and says, 'These ar the workis of our God;' which, in plain language, is terming the Deity an assassin. But, bad as this is, I agree with M'Crie, that there is no trustworthy evidence for deeming him privy to the murder. Compare, however, _A Diurnal of Occurrents_ p. 42, with _Lyon's History of St. Andrews_, vol. ii. p. 364.

[171] _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, pp. 38, 43, 350. _Argyll's Presbytery Examined_, 1848, p. 19.

During the next five years, Knox remained in England, which he quitted in 1554, and arrived at Dieppe.[172] He then travelled abroad; and did not revisit Scotland till the autumn of 1555, when he was eagerly welcomed by the principal nobles and their adherents.[173] From some cause, however, which has not been sufficiently explained, but probably from an unwillingness to play a subordinate part among those proud chiefs, he, in July 1556, again left Scotland, and repaired to Geneva, where he had been invited to take charge of a congregation.[174] He stayed abroad till 1559, by which time the real struggle was almost over; so completely had the nobles succeeded in sapping the foundations of the Church.

[172] _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, pp. 44, 71.

[173] _Ibid._ p. 99. As to the nobles, who received him, and heard him preach, see p. 102.

[174] 'Influenced by motives which have never been fully comprehended, he departed to Geneva, where, for a time, he became pastor of a Protestant congregation.' _Russell's History of the Church in Scotland_, 1834, vol. i. p. 193. M'Crie, who sees no difficulty, simply says, 'In the month of July 1556, he left Scotland, and, having arrived at Dieppe, he proceeded with his family to Geneva.' _Life of Knox_, p. 107.

For, the course of events having been long prepared, was now rapid indeed. In 1554, the queen dowager had succeeded Arran as regent.[175] She was that Mary of Guise whose marriage with James V. we have noticed as one of the indications of the policy then prevailing. If left alone, she would probably have done little harm;[176] but her powerful and intolerant family exhorted her to suppress the heretics, and, as a natural part of the same scheme, to put down the nobles. By the advice of her brothers, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine, she, in 1555, proposed to establish a standing army, to supply the place of the troops, which consisted of the feudal barons and their retainers. Such a force, being paid by the Crown, would have been entirely under its control; but the nobles saw the ulterior design, and compelled Mary to abandon it, on the ground that they and their vassals were able to defend Scotland, without further aid.[177] Her next attempt was to consolidate the interests of the Catholic party, which she effected, in 1558, by marrying her daughter to the dauphin. This increased the influence of the Guises,[178] whose niece, already queen of Scotland, would now, in the ordinary course of affairs, become queen of France. They urged their sister to extreme measures, and promised to assist her with French troops. On the other hand, the nobles remained firm, and prepared for the struggle. In December 1557, several of them had drawn up a covenant, agreeing to stand by each other, and to resist the tyranny with which they were threatened.[179] They now took the name of Lords of the Congregation, and sent forth their agents to secure the subscriptions of those who wished for a reformation of the Church.[180] They, moreover, wrote to Knox, whose style of preaching, being very popular, would, they thought, be useful in stirring up the people to rebellion.[181] He was then in Geneva, and did not arrive in Scotland till May 1559,[182] by which time the result of the impending contest was hardly doubtful, so successful had the nobles been in strengthening their party, and so much reason had they to expect the support of Elizabeth.

[175] Knox, in his savoury diction, likens her appointment to putting a saddle on the back of a cow. 'She maid Regent in the year of God 1554; and a croune putt upone hir head, als seimlye a sight (yf men had eis), as to putt a sadill upone the back of ane unrewly kow.' I copy this passage from Mr. Laing's excellent edition of _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. i. p. 242; but in _Watson's Historicall Collections of Ecclesiastick Affairs in Scotland_, 1657, p. 73, there is a slightly different version. '"As seemly a sight," saith John Knox, in the new gospel language, "as to put the saddle upon the back of an unruly _sow_."'

[176] The Duke of Argyll, in his _Presbytery Examined_, p. 9, calls her 'ambitious and intriguing.' Not only, however, is she praised by Lesley (_History_, pp. 289, 290), which might have been expected, but even Buchanan does justice to her, in a passage unusually gracious for so Protestant and democratic a writer. 'Mors ejus varie mentes hominum affecit. Nam et apud quosdam eorum, quibuscum armis contendit, non mediocre sui desiderium reliquit. Erat enim singulari ingenio prædita, et animo ad æquitatem admodum propenso.' _Buchanan_, _Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xvi. p. 487.

[177] _History of Scotland_, book ii. p. 91, in Robertson's Works, 1831. _Tytler's History_, vol. v. pp. 22, 23. It appears, from Lesley (_History_, pp. 254, 255), that some of the nobles were in favour of this scheme, hoping thereby to gain favour. 'Albeit sum of the lordis of the nobilitie for pleasour of the quene seamed to aggre thairto for the tyme, yit the barronis and gentill men was nathing content thairwith' ... 'affirming that thair foirfatheris and predicessouris had defendit the samyn' (_i.e._ the realm) 'mony hundreth yeris, vailyeantlie with thair awin handis.'

[178] 'It completed the almost despotic power of the house of Guise.' _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. v. p. 27.

[179] This covenant, which marks an important epoch in the history of Scotland, is dated 3rd of December 1557. It is printed in _Stevenson's History of the Church of Scotland_, p. 47; in _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. i. pp. 326, 327; and in _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. i. pp. 273, 274.

[180] In 1558, 'the lords of the congregation had sent agents through the kingdom to solicit the subscriptions of those who were friendly to a reformation.' _Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland_, London, 1848, vol. i. p. 58.

[181] Keith (_Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 82) calls him 'a trumpeter of rebellion,' which he undoubtedly was, and very much to his credit too, though the courtly bishop imputes it to him as a fault. The Scotch, if it had not been for their rebellious spirit, would long since have lost their liberties.

[182] 'He sailed from Dieppe on the 22nd of April 1559, and landed safely at Leith in the beginning of May.' _M'Crie's Life of Knox_, p. 139. Knox himself says, 'the secound of Maij.' _History of the Reformation_, edit. Laing, vol. i. p. 318. 'He was called home by the noblemen that enterprised the Reformation.' _Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland_, edit. Russell, vol. ii. p. 180.

Nine days after Knox entered Scotland, the first blow was struck. On the 11th of May 1559, he preached in Perth. After the sermon, a tumult arose, and the people plundered the churches and pulled down the monasteries.[183] The queen-regent, hastily assembling troops, marched towards the town. But the nobles were on the alert. The Earl of Glencairn joined the congregation with two thousand five hundred men; and a treaty was concluded, by which both sides agreed to disarm, on condition that no one should be punished for what had already happened.[184] Such, however, was the state of the public mind, that peace was impossible. In a few days, war again broke out; and this time the result was more decisive. The Lords of the Congregation mustered in great force. Perth, Stirling, and Linlithgow, fell into their hands. The queen-regent retreated before them. She evacuated Edinburgh; and, on the 29th of June, the Protestants entered the capital in triumph.[185]

[183] _Penny's Traditions of Perth_, p. 310. _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. i. pp. 321-323. _Lyon's History of St. Andrews_, vol. i. p. 329; and a spirited narrative in _Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia_, lib. xvi. pp. 471, 472. Some interesting circumstances are also preserved in _Lesley's History_, pp. 271, 272; but, though Lesley was a contemporary, he erroneously places the riot in 1558. He, moreover, ascribes to Knox language more inflammatory than that which he really used.

[184] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. v. pp. 59, 62, 63. Of the Earl of Glencairn, Chalmers (_Caledonia_, vol. iii. p. 485) says, that he was a 'religious ruffian, who enjoyed pensions from Henry VIII., for injuring the country of his birth, and benefits.' This, besides being ungrammatical, is foolish. Glencairn, like the other aristocratic leaders of the Reformation, was, no doubt, influenced by sordid motives; but, so far from injuring his country, he rendered it great service.

[185] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. v. pp. 64-73.

All this was done in seven weeks from the breaking out of the first riot. Both parties were now willing to negotiate, with the view of gaining time; the queen-regent expecting aid from France, the Lords expecting it from England.[186] But the proceedings of Elizabeth being tardy, the Protestants, after waiting for some months, determined to strike a decisive blow before the reinforcements arrived. In October, the principal peers, headed by the Duke of Chastelherault, the Earl of Arran, the Earl of Argyle, and the Earl of Glencairn, assembled at Edinburgh. A great meeting was held, of which Lord Ruthven was appointed president, and in which the queen-regent was solemnly suspended from the government, on the ground that she was opposed to 'the glory of God, to the liberty of the realm, and to the welfare of the nobles.'[187]

[186] It is stated of the queen-regent, that, in July 1559, 'shee had sent alreadie to France for more men of warr.' See the curious pamphlet entitled 'A Historie of the Estate of Scotland, from July 1558 to April 1560,' in _Miscellany of the Wodrow Society_, p. 63, Edinburgh, 1844. All sorts of rumours were circulated; and a letter, dated 12th October 1559, says, 'Summe thinke the regent will departe secretlie. Summe that she will to Ynchkeith, for that three shippes are a preparing. Summe saye that she is verie sicke. Summe saye the devill cannot kill her.' _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 499.

[187] _Tytler's History of Scotland_, vol. v. p. 104. This was on the 22nd of October 1559. Compare _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 512. 'This Mondaye, the 22 of October, was the douagier deprived from her authoritie by commen consent of all lords and barons here present.' On this occasion, 'Johne Willocke,' the preacher, delivered himself of a discourse in favour of her deposition. Among other arguments, he said, 'that in deposing of princes, and these that have beene in authoritie, God did not alwayes use his immediat power, but sometimes he used other meanes, which his wisdome thought good, and justice approved. As by Asa, He removed Maacha, his owne mother, from honour and authoritie, which before she had used; by Jehu He destroyed Joram, and the whole posteritie of Achab.' _Therefore_ 'he (the orator) could see no reasoun why they, the borne counsellers, the nobilitie and barons of the realme, might not justlie deprive her from all regiment.' _Calderwood's History of the Kirk_, vol. i. pp. 540, 541; and _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. i. pp. 442, 443.

In the winter, an English fleet sailed into the Frith, and anchored near Edinburgh.[188] In January 1560, the Duke of Norfolk arrived at Berwick, and concluded, on the part of Elizabeth, a treaty with the Lords of the Congregation, by virtue of which the English army entered Scotland on the 2nd of April.[189] Against this combination, the government could effect nothing, and in July, was glad to sign a peace, by which the French troops were to evacuate Scotland, and the whole power of administration was virtually consigned to the Protestant Lords.[190]

[188] The _Diurnal of Occurrents_, pp. 55, 272, says, that the fleet arrived on 24th of January, 1559-60; 'aucht greit schippis of Ingland in the raid of Leith.' And a letter (in _Sadler's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 697) dated the 23rd of January, says, 'the shippes arrived yesterdaye in the Frythe to the nomber of ix. or x., as yet, and the remanent followith.' The date, therefore, of the 10th of January, given in a note to _Keith's Church and State in Scotland_, vol. i. p. 255, is evidently erroneous. Important as the event was, its exact date is not mentioned either by Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. v. pp. 114, 115), or by Chalmers (_Caledonia_, vol. ii. p. 631).

[189] _Chalmers' Caledonia_, vol. ii. p. 632. _Knox's History of the Reformation_, vol. ii. p. 57. The Berwick treaty, in February, is printed in _Keith's Church and State in Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 258-262. So great was the influence of the nobles, that the English troops were well received by the people, in spite of the old and bitter animosity between the two nations. 'Especially in Fyfe they were thankfully receaved, and well entreated, with such quietnes and gentle entertainement betwixt our nation and them, as no man would have thought that ever there had beine any variance.' _A Historie of the Estate of Scotland_, from 1558 to 1560, in _Miscellany of the Wodrow Society_, p. 78.

[190] 'Vpoun the vi. day of Julij, it wes concludit and finallie endit betuix the saids ambassatouris, tuitching all debaittis, contraversies and materis concernyng the asseiging of Leith, depairting of the Frenchemen thairfra, and randering of the same; and the said peax daitit this said day.' _A Diurnal of Occurrents_, pp. 277, 278. See also p. 60; and _Keith's Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_, vol. i. p. 295.

The complete success of this great revolution, and the speed with which it was effected, are of themselves a decisive proof of the energy of those general causes by which the whole movement was controlled. For more than a hundred and fifty years, there had been a deadly struggle between the nobles and the Church: and the issue of that struggle, was the establishment of the Reformation, and the triumph of the aristocracy. They had, at last, carried their point. The hierarchy was overthrown, and replaced by new and untried men. All the old notions of apostolic succession, of the imposition of hands, and of the divine right of ordination, were suddenly discarded. The offices of the Church were performed by heretics, the majority of whom had not even been ordained.[191] Finally, and to crown the whole, in the summer of the same year, 1560, the Scotch parliament passed two laws, which utterly subverted the ancient scheme. By one of these laws, every statute which had ever been enacted in favour of the Church, was at once repealed.[192] By the other law, it was declared that whoever either said mass, or was present while it was said, should, for the first offence, lose his goods; for the second offence be exiled; and, for the third offence, be put to death.[193]

[191] 'That Knox himself was in priest's orders, is a fact which his biographer, the late Dr. M'Crie, has placed beyond dispute; and some of the other leaders were also priests; but the greater number of the preachers, and all those who subsequently became ministers, were totally without any orders whatever, not even such as the superintendents could have given them; for their own supposed call, the election of the people, and the _civil_ ceremony of induction to the living, was all that was then "judged necessary."' _Stephen's History of the Church of Scotland_, 1848, vol. i. pp. 145, 146. 'A new-fashioned sort of ministry, unknown in the Christian Church for all preceding generations.' _Keith's Church and State in Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 204. Compare _Argyll's Presbytery Examined_, pp. 34-36.

[192] 'The thre estaitis of parliament hes [=a]nullit and declarit all sik actes maid in tymes bipast not aggreing w^t goddis word and now contrair to the confessiouñ of oure fay^t according to the said word publist in this parliament. Tobe of nane avale force nor effect. And decornis the said actis and every ane of thame tu haue na effect nor strenth in tyme to cum.' _Acts of the Parliament of Scotland_, 1814, folio, vol. ii. p. 535. This was on 24th August 1560.

[193] 'That na maner of person nor personis say mess nor zit heir mess nor be pñt thairat vnder the pane of confiscatiouñ of all thair gud movable and vnmovable and pvneissing of thair bodeis at the discretiouñ of the magistrat within quhais jurisdictiouñ sik personis happ[=y]nis to be apprehendit ffor the first falt: Banissing of the Realme for the secund falt, and justifying to the deid for the thrid falt.' _Ibid._, 24th August 1560, vol. ii. p. 525.

Thus it was, that an institution, which had borne the brunt of more than a thousand years, was shivered, and fell to pieces. And, from its fall, great things were augured. It was believed, that the people would be enlightened, that their eyes were opening to their former follies, and that the reign of superstition was about to end. But what was forgotten then, and what is too often forgotten now, is, that in these affairs there is an order and a natural sequence, which can never be reversed. This is, that every institution, as it actually exists, no matter what its name or pretences may be, is the effect of public opinion far more than the cause; and that it will avail nothing to attack the institution, unless you can first change the opinion. In Scotland, the Church was grossly superstitious; but it did not, therefore, follow, that to overthrow the establishment, would lessen the evil. They who think that superstition can be weakened in this way, do not know the vitality of that dark and ill-omened principle. Against it, there is only one weapon, and that weapon is knowledge. When men are ignorant, they must be superstitious; and wherever superstition exists, it is sure to organize itself into some kind of system, which it makes its home. If you drive it from that home, it will find another. The spirit transmigrates; it assumes a new form; but still it lives. How idle, then, is that warfare which reformers are too apt to wage, in which they slay the carcass, and spare the life! The husk, forsooth, they seek out and destroy; but within that husk is a seed of deadly poison, whose vitality they are unable to impair, and which, shifted from its place, bears fruit in another direction, and shoots up with a fresh, and often a more fatal, exuberance.

The truth is, that every institution, whether political or religious, represents, in its actual working, the form and pressure of the age. It may be very old; it may bear a venerated name; it may aim at the highest objects: but whoever carefully studies its history, will find that, in practice, it is successively modified by successive generations, and that, instead of controlling society, it is controlled by it. When the Protestant Reformation was effected, the Scotch were excessively ignorant, and, therefore, in spite of the Reformation, they remained excessively superstitious. How long that ignorance continued, and what its results were, we shall presently see; but before entering into that inquiry, it will be advisable to trace the immediate consequences of the Reformation itself, in connexion with the powerful class by whose authority it was established.

The nobles, having overthrown the Church, and stripped it of a large part of its wealth, thought that they were to reap the benefit of their own labour. They had slain the enemy, and they wished to divide the spoil.[194] But this did not suit the views of the Protestant preachers. In their opinion, it was impious to secularize ecclesiastical property, and turn it aside to profane purposes. They held, that it was right, indeed, for the lords to plunder the Church; but they took for granted that the proceeds of the robbery were to enrich themselves. They were the godly men; and it was the business of the ruling classes to endow them with benefices, from which the old and idolatrous clergy were to be expelled.[195]

[194] As Robertson says, in his measured, and somewhat feeble, style, 'Among the Scottish nobility, some hated the persons, and others coveted the wealth, of the dignified clergy; and by abolishing that order of men, the former indulged their resentment, and the latter hoped to gratify their avarice.' _History of Scotland_,