wrote a testament in his name, containing a recantation of his
principles, and a variety of letters to his brethren, in which he
is made to jefiect on their conduct and motives in opposing the
king and the bishops. These, as well as the real testament, are
inserted in Cald. iii. 537 — 584. His testament informs us, that
he left three children. Among the alumni of the New College
of St Andrews, A. 1601, was " M. Jacobus Lowson, M. Jac. f.
Edinburg. j" of whom the record says, " paulo post obiit." Eli-
zabeth La.vvsoun was the only surviving child on Aug. 23. 1603.
([ncjuisitioncs iirtorn. Ct-ner. num. 142.) She married Mr George
LIFE OF AM')1U:>V :\IKFVII.LK. .'JO5
bishop to desist ^•". \\nicii tlie banished noblemen
came to the English capital, they apj)lied for tlic
nse of a separate place of worshij), but this liberty,
^Yhich was granted to the French and Dntcli, was
refused to them. The Lieutenant of the Tower
invited the Scots ministers to preach in his Cliapel,
^vhich was exempted from the jurisdiction of the
bishop of London. Among other exercises perform-
ed there, ^Melville read a Latin lecture on Genesis,
which was well attended, and much admired,
particularly by the Earl of Angus, who possessed
a more cidti^ated mind than any of the Scottish
peerage f . It is somewhat singular, that he should,
on this occasion, have officiated in the place where
he was afterwards confined as a prisoner of state.
Scotland was in the mean time suffering from
the ravages of the plague, by which its principal
towns were depopulated, and from the scourge of the
worst of all plagues, an insensate and despotical
government. The following anecdotes, which arc
not generally known, will perhaps convey as correct
an idea of the ])olicy with which it was afHicted, as
the more glaring acts of tyranny which have been
often stated. In the year 1584, Robert Erown, the
founder of the sect of Brownists in England, came
out of the Low Countries into Scotland, with a
number of his followers. Having taken up his resi-
Grcir, minister of Haddington. (Commissary records of Edin-
burgh, April 5. I6i5.)
* Cald. iii. 649.
t Hume of Godscroft's Hist. ii. 3G1.
326 LIFE OF ANDUE^V 3IELVILLE.
deiicc in the Can on gate of Edinburgh, he began to
disseminate his peculiar opinions, and to circulate
writings in which all tlic reformed churches were
stigmatized as un scriptural and antichristian so-
cieties. The court took this rigid sectary under
their protection, and encouraged him, for no other
conceivable reason, than liis exclaiminf:^ ap-ainst the
ministers, and calling in question their authority *.
At the same time papists were openly favoured,
and arrangements made with James Skeen, one
of their emissaries, for having a colony of Je-
suits quietly admitted into the country f — The
wives of the exiled ministers of Edinburgh, indig-
nant at an abusive letter which Adam son had ad-
dressed to their husbands, vvrote a reply to it, in
which they expressed themselves with great warmth,
and treated his Grace very unceremoniously i. In-
stead of overlooking this excusable, if not amiable,
display of conjugal affection, or defending himself
by the weapons with which he was assailed, the
affronted primate, in a way rather unmanly, retreat-
ed behind the throne, and directed its thunder
* Cakl. lii. 302 — 304. On his return to England, Brown
published a l)ook into which he introduced various invectives
against tlie ministers and government of tlie church of Scotland.
Dr Bancroft did not scruple to appeal to his inllanicd statements,
as one of the two authorities on which he rested his attack on
the presbyterian discipline. (Sermon preached at Pauls Cross,
9 Feb. 1588, p. 63. Reprinted Lond. 163G.)
T \\. Davison to Sec. Walsingham. Cotton MSS. Calig.
C. viii. 63.
t Harl. MSS. num. 291. 68. Cald. iii. 437.
lAVE OF ANDREW 31ELVIIJ.E. 327
against the spirited females, ^vliose wrath he had pro-
voked, and whose charges he was nnahle to repel. A
royal proclamation was issued, charging them and
their families instantly, under the pain of rebellion,
to leave tlieir manses ; and also commanding and
charging, under the same pains, certain other ma-
trons, •' worse affected to the obedience of our late
acts of parliament, to remove from the capital, and
retire beyond the water of 'Fay, till they give far-
ther declaration of their disposition *"." The treat-
ment of the Countess of Gowrie, whose husband
had been lately executed, was marked with the
most savage inhumanity. After being different
times repulsed in her suits in behalf of her children,
she one day met the King, and " reaching at his
cloak to stay his Majesty, Arran, putting her from
him, did not only overthrow her, which was easy to
do in respect of the poor lady's weakness, but march-
ed over her, who partly with extreme grief, and
partly with weakness, swooned presently in the
open street, and was fain to be conveyed into one of
the next houses, where with much ado they recovered
life of her f ." The last fact which I shall mention
is, if possible, a proof of still deeper depravity,
whether it be viewed in a political, moral, or religious
point of view. William, Prince of Orange, the
patriotic asserter of the liberties of the Low Couii-
* Harl. MSS. num. 291. 6a. Cald. ill. 531. Janet Adam-
son, relict of Sir James Macgill of Rankeillor, Clerk Register,
•vvas among these *' worse aflected'' ladles.
t Davison to Walsingham. Cotton MSS. Calig. C. viii. 84%
328 LIFE OF ANDKEW .MELYll.LE.
tries, fell at tins time by the hands of a hired as-
sassin. AVhen the news of his death came to Scot*
land, the King said openly, that the prince had met
^vith sucli an end as he deserved, and the greater
part of the court rejoiced at the event *.
A government so much at variance with the sen-
timents of the nation, and which trampled so out-
rageously on its tenderest and most sacred feelings,
could not maintain itself long. Tlie people groaned
for deliverance from a tyranny of which they durst
not complain. The principal courtiers whom Ar-
ran had attached to him by his favours, disgusted
at his arrogance or anticipating the fall of his for-
tunes, consulted their own security by entering into
a correspondence Vvith those who were likely soon to
supplant him. His power rested wholly on the
dread he inspired, and the ascendancy which he had
gained over the royal mind. James himself began
to feel unhappy, though he still continued to be
the slave of an ignoble and vicious favouritism f .
In these circumstances, the exiled noblemen, having
obtained the permission of Elizabeth, appeared on the
borders. They had scarcely entered Scotland when
the inhabitants began to flock to their standard, and
* Cotton ]\ISS. Callg. C. vlli. 63. Cald. iil. 435, 528.
t " Tlie king is become very ill : I \vlll say no "worse. For
being at the hunting, when he came home, he tlrank to all his dogs.
Among the rest he had one called Tcll-ttiic, to Vihom he spake
thir words : Ttll-true, 1 drink to thee above all the rest of my
hounds ; for I m ill give thee mc;e credence nor either the Bishop
or Cruig." (David Hnme of Godscroft to Mr James Carmiehael,
March 20. 1584. Cald. iii. 750.)
LIFE OF ANDKEAV MEI.VU.LE. 32i)
by the time that they had reached Stirling, to Vxhich
the court retreated on their approach, they fouiul
themselves smToiuided \\ith a numerous army.
After meeting A\ith a slight resistance, tliey entered
the town, and Arran consulted his safety by flight.
A short negociation followed ; and the King having
come from the castle, the nobles laid down their arms,
and were immediately admitted to favour and power.
jNIelvillc accompanied the banished noblemen
from London, and returned to Scotland in the be-
ginning of November 1585, after an absence of
twenty months *.
* Melvlllt's Diary, pp. 162— -164.
330 l.IIE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
CHAPTER VII.
1585—1592.
JMLelville exerts himself in recovering the liber-
ties of the church — difficulties in the wmj of this —
selfishness of the restored noblemen — threatened
dissention among the ministers of the church —
dogniatisni of the ICmg — restoration of the theo-
logical college of St Andrews — Melville re-
organises the College of Glasgow — returns to his
2^1 ace at St Andrews — his share in the j^ro-
cess against Adamson — he is ordered to re-
move beyond the Tay — is again restored — exe-
cution of Queen Mary — the French poet^ I}u
JBartas, visits the university of St Andrews —
annexation of the temporalities of bishopj'ics
to the crown — exertions of Melville at the time
of the Spanish Armado — interview between
James Melville and one of the Spanish Admi-
rals — the court favourable to the church — Hobert
'Bruce — Melville's Stephaniskion, pronounced at
the coronation of the Queen — Bancroft's attach on
the Church of Scotland — disgrace, recantation,
and death of Adamson — parliamentary establish-
ment of presbytery — remarks upon it.
The first object that engaged ]Melville's attention,
after his return to ScotLmd, was the restoration of
the liberties of the church, which lay buried under
LIFE or ANDTIEAV MELVILLE. 331
the late parliamentary laws. Considering the coiTupt
influence by which they had been procured, the irre-
gular manner in which they were enacted, and the
baleful effects which they had produced, the abro-
gation of these laws might have been expected, al-
most as a matter of course, at the first meeting of
the estates of the kingdom. But it soon appeared
that this measure would have to encounter the most
strenuous opposition, and that it would find weak
and treacherous friends in those who were under the
greatest obligations to support it.
The removal of the corruptions wliich had been
introduced intx) the church, during the late malad-
ministration, was at first craved by the nobility, and
acceded to by the King in general terms *. But, in
the course of the conferences, the sagacity of Secretary
INIaitland soon discovered, that, provided they ob-
tained satisfaction in v;hat regarded themselves, the
most of the nobles would be easily induced to pass
from their demands respecting the church. Em-
boldened by this information, the King opposed any
alteration of the existing ecclesiastical law, as touch-
ing on his prerogative, which he was determined to
maintain. And the nobility resolved to gratify him
in this, at the expence of their honour and their good
faith. In all the manifestoes which they had pub-
lished to the world, they professed that one of their
primary objects w^as the redressof the grievances un-
der which the church laboured. They had repeatedly
* Melville's Diary, p. 164.
332 LIFE OF AXDKFAV MELVILLE.
and solemnly pledged tlieniseives to the same cause
during their exile * ; and by this means had secured
tlie good wishes, and the cordial support of the na-
tion in their recent attempt. The hardships and
suffei'ings which the ministers of the church had
endured were owing, in no small degree, to the in-
violable attachment which they had shewn to the
liberties of the nation and the interests of the no-
bility. Had they refused to approve of the Road of
lluthven, or liad they afterwards consented to retract
the approbation which they had given it, and yielded
their support to the administration of Arran, they
might liave secured to themselves favourable terms,
or at least have escaped persecution — they might
have escaped imprisonment, and the loss of goods, and
exile, and this last wrong and insult, for which they
-were altogether unprepared, and which was, in some
respects, more galling and intolerable than all the
former. The nobility did not pretend to deny the
truth of these allegations. But they pleaded that
the King was inflexibly bent on the maintenance
of episcopacy ; that he felt his honour implicated in
the support of the late statutes ; that it was neces-
sary to humour him and to gain his affections ; that
as soon as their power was firmly established they
would obtain for the church all that she required ;
and that, in the mean time, if any altercation arose,
they would interpose their influence between her
ministers and the resentment of the sovereign. All
* Cald. Hi. 32S, 329, 800. Melville's Diary, p. 133,
LIFE OF ANDIIEAV MELVILLE. 333
tliis was only an excuse for bad faith ; and it was,
moreover, bad policy. The King could not, and he
would not, have refused the joint demands of the
nobility and the churcli ; his honour could not suf-
fer so much from giving up the bishops as it had
done from declaring good subjects, and admitting
into his secret council, men whom lie had so lately
proclaimed traitors and rebels ; they could urge
their sense of duty and the public pledges which
they had given, with more propriety, and with
less risk of giving offence, than their own personal
claims ; by hmnouring his jNIajesty in the manner
proposed they would foster the prejudices which lie
had unfortunately conceived, infuse jealousies of hlni
into the minds of his best subjects, and give occa-
sion to discord and dissention between him and the
ministers of the churcli ; and, in fine, the boon which,
if now conferred, would allay all animosities, diffuse
joy and gratitude among all his ^Majesty's subjects,
and establish the authority of his present counsellors
on a solid and permanent basis, would, if withheld
till a future and distant period, produce none of
these salutary effects — would be conferred without
cordiality, and accepted without confidence *.
From the charge of selfishness and ingratitude,
to which the nobility of Scotland subjected them-
selves on the present occasion, justice requires that
we should except the Earl of ^Viigus, who rcmahied
faithful to his promises, and deeply lamented the
* HuiiJC oj" Godftcroft's Hist. il. 375 — 381, 402 — 4-()7. CaW.
iih S.'C, .Sir James Mcirille's Mem. 171.
334 I.LFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
defection o^ Lis peers. This is but a small part of
the tribute due to the memory of tlie most patriotic,
pious, and intelligent of the Scots nobility, whose
modest and unassumiHg disposition, and retired
habits, prevented him from taking that lead in
public affairs to which he was entitled by his rank,
and which tliose who best knew^ his wortli and talents
%vere most anxious that he should not have declined *.
It has been one of the great misfortunes of princes
and commonwealths, that men of integrity and real
patriotism have shrunk from the contest necessary
to obtain and keep possession of high official stations,
and have given way to the ambitious, the daring,
and the unprincipled, who deemed no sacrifices too
dear for tlie enjoyment of power, and scrupled not to
set a whole nation or even the world on fire, that they
might rescue their ow^n names from obscurity. This
will continue to be the case until a change take
place, which something more than the reform of
constitutional law^s is required to bring about, wdien
it shall be believed that the affairs of a nation can
be managed on the same principles as other affairs,
and wlien sound sense and uprightness of intention
shall be more regarded and admired by the public,
than a talent for intrigue and bustle and shew — a
period, as to the near approach of which, the wisest
will not be the most sanguine in their expectations.
One of the first acts of the new counsellors was to
* Hume of Godscroft, 11. 2SD, 293, 344, 375. Melville^
DIjiv, {)•). 134, 164, 230. Spots. 372.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE. 335
advise tlie King to summon a parliament to be held
at Linlithgow in the month of December. This
was necessary to rescind the forfeitures under which
they were still lying, and to legalize the step which
they had lately taken. It had been the almost
unifi-'rm practice, since the Reformation, for the
General Assembly to convene before the meeting of
Parliament, that they might have an opportunity of
preparing petitions to lay before that high court.
Accordingly, it was judged proper that the noodera-
tor of last assenibly should call an extraordinary
meeting to be held at Dunfermline in the end of
November. But when the members assembled, the
provost, alleging an express command from his
JNIajesty, refused them admission into the town ;
upon which they met in the fields, and adjourned
to meet again at Linlithgow, some days before the
opening of parliament *.
In the interval ^lelville w^as busily employed in
repressing a dissention which threatened to break
out among his brethren respecting the late subscrip-
tion. Travelling through different i)arts of the
country, he urged the necessity of union in the pre-
sent occasion, and prevailed on the subscribers to
co-operate with their brethren in petitioning for the
rescinding of the offensive lawsf. The success
which attended his labours w-as nearly blasted after
they assembled at Linlithgow. A preacher intro-
duced the subject into the pulpit, and condcran-
* MelviUe'3 Diary, pp. 164—5. t Cald. iii. 810.
336 IJFE OF ANDREW MEEVILLE,
cd the conduct of the suhscribers. Craiir caii-
sidered liis lioiioiir as affected by this, and preached
a sermon before the members of parliament, in whicli
he not only vindicated what he had done, and bla m
the perci>ri/fc )7ihi}.sferfi (as he denominated those
^vho had iled to England) ; but, contrary to tlic
doctrine which he had once maintained, extended
the royal prerogative beyond all reasonable bounds,
and exliorted tlie noblemen, instead of standing upon
their innocence, to crave pardon of his ^Majesty *.
This incident would have led to consequences fatal
to the church, had not the flame been alhiyed by the
interposition of the wiser and more moderate, who
persuaded tlie parties to postpone the adjustment
of their difterences to a future period. This affair
being accommodated, a deputation of ministers was
appointed to wait on the nobility, and again to urge
the fulfilment of their promises. They intreated,
reasoned, expostulated, threatened; but all to no
purpose. The only answer which they could obtain
was, that an insuperable obstacle liad presented it-
self in the repugnance of the royal mind to their
requests. They were thus reduced to the necessity
of having recourse to the King, and this produced a
personal altercation with him, which they were most
anxious to avoid. He received them verv unora-
ciously, repeated all the charges against them which
liey liad been accustomed to liear from Lennox and
Arran, and made use of expressions whicli v.ere
not more disrespectful to them, than they were
^ .Life oi* Knox, ii. 127. coinp. Hume of CotUcroft, ii. 333 — 399.
LIFE OF ANDRF/a^ MELVILLE. 337
indecorous from the moutli of a king. The conse-
quence was, that he was obliged to hear some things
in reply, whicli were not the most grateful to his
royal cars. JMelville defended himself and his
brethren with spirit, and liot speeches passed bc^
tween liim and his Majesty at several interviews.
At the King's desire the ministers drew up theh"
animadversions on the laws, whose repeal they re-
quested. When these were presented, his Majesty
shut himself up in his chamber, and spent a whole
day in writing a reply to them with his own hand.
This he delivered to the ministers as his declaration
and interpretation of the acts, and told them it
should be as authentic as an act of parliament*. It
differed very considerably from the declaration lately
published by authority, and which James now thought
proper to disavow under the name of " the bishop
of St Andrews's own declaration f ." But still it
* Printed Calderwood, pp. 193 — 196. James prefixed to his
Declaration the words, Ejus est expUcare cujus est condcie ; a
legal maxim of which he was extremely fond, and which he
often used in this application. King James's Works, p. 520.
Lord Hailes, Memorials, i. 52.
t The following is a specimen of his Majesty's explicationn*
" My hi^hops, which are one of the three estates, shall have
power, as far as God's word and example of the primitive kirk
will permit, and not according to that man of sin his abominable
abuses and corruptions.— In the fourth act, / discharge all juris-
dictions not approved in parliament and conventions without
my special license. — I acclaime not to mys-elf to be judge of doc-
trine in religion, salvation, heresies, or true interpretation of Scrip-
ture. I allow not a bishop according to the traditions of men or
snventions of the pope, but only according to Gou's wofd. — Fi-
nally I say his office a solum iTria-KOTruv ui vitam^ having therefore
ome prelation and dignity above his brelliren, as was in the pri-
voL. I. y
338 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE.
defended, and indicated a disposition to support, the
main encroachni^ents which had been made on the
jurisdiction and liberties of the church. Notwith-
standing the challenge with which it concluded, the
ministers declined engaging in a contest in which
authority would have supplied the lack of argument.
As parliament was in haste to conclude its business,
they contented themselves with presenting a suppli-
cation to the King, in which, after expressing their
satisfaction at the display which he had given of
his " knowledge and judgement," they craved that
the subject should be submitted to grave consultation;
that the execution of the objectionable acts should
be suspended until the next meeting of parliament;
that they should have liberty to hold their ecclesi-
astical assemblies as heretofore ; that the bishops
should assume no more power than they exercised
before the late enactments ; and that all ministers
and masters of colleges should be restored to their
places and possessions. The last article of their
request was ratified by the estate s *.
This parliament dissolved without fulfilling any of
mltlve kirk. — To conclude, I confess and acknowledge Christ
Jesus to be head and lawgiver to the same, and ivhatsomever
person doth arrogate to himself as head of the kirk, and not as
member, to suspend or alter any thing that the word of God
hath only remitted unto them, that man, I say, committeth manifest
jdolatry, and sinneth against the Father, in not trusting the word
of the Son ; against the Son, in not obeying him, ajid taking his
place ; against the Holy Ghost, the said Holy Spirit bearing con-
trary record to his conscience."
* Cald. ili. 810— -288, 253. Melville's Diary, p. 175—179.
Act. Pari. Scot. ili. 395.
LIFE OF ANDREW MELVIELE. 339
the expectations which had been excited by the cir-
cumstances in which it met. In the long list of its
acts, consisting of so many ratifications to noblemen
and gentlemen who had been lately outlawed, and
including the names of hundreds of their retainers,
we look in vain for one statute calculated to secure
personal or public liberty against the invasions of
arbitrary power *. On the other hand it decreed
the punishment of death, " to be executed with all
rigour," against such as should publicly or privately
speak to the reproach of his INIajesty's person or
government, or should misconstrue his proceedings ;
and it prohibited, under the pains of sedition, all
leagues or bands among the subjects without his Ma-
jesty's privity and consent, under whatever pretext
they should be madef ; although the principal mem-
bers owed their seats in that parliament to a league
of this description, and had recently been charged,
by open proclamation, with using those very free-
doms against which they now denounced so exam-
plary a punishment. The despotical acts of Arran's
parliament were left untouched ; and although some
of them were in whole or in part rescinded or dis-
abled by subsequent statutes, yet others continue
to this day to disgrace our legal code, and recourse
has been had to them, even in modern times, by
* The only act which has the semblance of this Is that which
relates to charges super {nquirendis ; and all the provision which
it makes is, that the charge shall be subscribed by four of the
chief officers of state. Act. Pari. Scot. ill. 377.
t Act. Pari. Scot. ill. 375, 376.
Y 2
34)0 LIFE OF ANDREW MELVILLE,
liigli-fiying statesmen and conrt-lawyers to crush op-
position to unpopular measures, or to inflict vengeance
on those who had incurred their political resentment.
It has been remarked, that the lords, after the inter-
prize of Ruthven, " improved the opportunity of
insinuating themselves into" the king's "favour with
little dexterity *." It appears that they were now