under the direction of the archbishop of St. Andrew's, with

1111. . ii i to the prc-

nad set themselves in opposition to all her measures, testants.
Her first step towards the execution of her new scheme,
was to regain their favour. Nor was this reconcilement
a matter of difficulty. The popish ecclesiastics, sepa-

K Melv. 48. Mm. de Castelnau, ap. Jfebb, vol. ii. 446.



142 THE HISTORY BOOK ir.

1559. rated from the rest of mankind by the law of celibacy,
~ one of the boldest and most successful efforts of human
policy ; and combined among themselves in the closest
and most sacred union, have been accustomed, in every
age, to sacrifice all private and particular passions to
the dignity and interest of their order. Delighted, on
this occasion, with the prospect of triumphing over a
faction, the encroachments of which they had long
dreaded, and animated with the hopes of reestablishing
their declining grandeur on a firmer basis, they, at
once, cancelled the memory of past injuries, and en-
gaged to second the queen in all her attempts to check
the progress of the reformation. The queen, being se-
cure of their assistance, openly approved of the decrees
of the convocation, by which the principles of the re-
formers were condemned ; and, at the same time, she
issued a proclamation, enjoining all persons to observe
the approaching festival of Easter according to the
Romish ritual.

As it was no longer possible to mistake the queen's
intentions, the protestants, who saw the danger ap-
proach, in order to avert it, employed the earl of Glen-
cairn, and sir Hugh Campbell of Loudon, to expostu-
late with her, concerning this change towards severity,
which their former services had so little merited, and
which her reiterated promises gave them no reason to
expect. She, without disguise or apology, avowed to
them her resolution of extirpating the reformed religion
out of the kingdom. And, upon their urging her for-
mer engagements with an uncourtly, but honest bold-
ness, she so far forgot her usual moderation, as to utter
a sentiment, which, however apt those of royal condi-
tion may be to entertain it, prudence should teach them
to conceal as much as possible. " The promises of
princes," says she, " ought not to be too carefully re-
membered, nor the performance of them exacted, un-
less it suits their own conveniency."

The indignation which betrayed the queen into this



BOOK ir. OF SCOTLAND. 143

rash expression, was nothing in comparison of that with 1559.
which she was animated, upon hearing that the public ^
exercise of the reformed religion had been introduced their
into the town of Perth. At once, she threw off the %?
mask, and issued a mandate, summoning all the pro- before her.
testant preachers in the kingdom to a court of justice,
which was to be held at Stirling, on the tenth of May.
The protestants, who, from their union, began, about
this time, to be distinguished by the name of the CON-
GREGATION, were alarmed, but not intimidated, by this
danger; and instantly resolved not to abandon the men
to whom they were indebted for the most valuable of
all blessings, the knowledge of truth. At that time
there prevailed in Scotland, with respect to criminal
trials, a custom, introduced at first by the institutions
of vassalage and clanship, and tolerated afterwards un-
der a feeble government : persons accused of any crime
were accompanied to the place of trial by a retinue of
their friends and adherents, assembled for that purpose
from every quarter of the kingdom. Authorized by
this ancient practice, the reformed convened in great
numbers, to attend their pastors to Stirling. The
queen dreaded their approach with a train so nume-
rous, though unarmed ; and, in order to prevent them
from advancing, she empowered John Erskine of Dun,
a person of eminent authority with the party, to pro-
mise in her name, that she would put a stop to the in-
tended trial, on condition the preachers and their re-
tinue advanced no nearer to Stirling. Erskine, being
convinced himself of the queen's sincerity, served her
with the utmost zeal ; and the protestants, averse from
proceeding to any act of violence, listened with pleasure
to so pacific a proposition. The preachers, with a few
leaders of the party, remained at Perth ; the multitude
which had gathered from different parts of the king-
dom dispersed, and retired to their own' habitations.

But, notwithstanding this solemn promise, the queen, Breaks a
on the tenth of May, proceeded to call to trial the per- P romise



144 THE HISTORY BOOK 11.

1559. sons who had been summoned, and, upon their non-
whichthey appearance, the rigour of justice took place, and they
had relied, were pronounced outlaws. By this ignohle artifice, so
incompatible with regal dignity, and so inconsistent with
that integrity which should prevail, in all transactions
between sovereigns and their subjects, the queen for-
feited the esteem and confidence of the whole nation.
The protestants, shocked no less at the indecency with
which she violated the public faith, than at the danger
which threatened themselves, prepared boldly for their
own defence. Erskine, enraged at having been made
the instrument for deceiving his party, instantly aban-
doned Stirling, and, repairing to Perth, added to the
zeal of his associates, by his representations of the
queen's inflexible resolution to suppress their religion h .
This occa- The popular rhetoric of Knox powerfully seconded
suirectLn 1 " n ^ s representations ; he, having been carried a prisoner
at Perth, into France, together with the other persons taken in
the castle of St. Andrew's, soon made his escape out of
that country ; and, residing sometimes in England, some-
times in Scotland, had at last been driven out of both
kingdoms, by the rage of the popish clergy, and was
obliged to retire to Geneva. Thence he was called by
the leaders of the protestants in Scotland ; and, in com-
pliance with their solicitations, he set out for his native
country, where he arrived a few days before the trial
appointed at Stirling. He hurried instantly to Perth,
to share with his brethren in the common danger, or to
assist them in promoting the common cause. While their
minds were in that ferment, which the queen's perfidious-
ness and their own danger occasioned, he mounted the
pulpit, and, by a vehement harangue against idolatry,
inflamed the multitude with the utmost rage. The indis-
cretion of a priest, who, immediately after Knox's ser-
mon, was preparing to celebrate mass, and began to
decorate the altar for that purpose, precipitated them

h Keith, p. 84.



BOOK ii. OF SCOTLAND.

into immediate action. With tumultuary, but irresisti-
ble, violence, they fell upon the churches in that city, ~
overturned the altars, defaced the pictures, broke in
pieces the images ; and proceeding next to the monas-
teries, they, in a few hours, laid those sumptuous fa-
brics almost level with the ground. This riotous in-
surrection was not the effect of any concert, or previous
deliberation ; censured by the reformed preachers, and
publicly condemned by persons of most power and cre-
dit with the party, it must be regarded merely as an
accidental eruption of popular rage '.

But to the queen dowager these proceedings ap- The regent
peared in a very different light. Besides their manifest gainst 5
contempt for her authority, the protestants had violated them -
every thing in religion which she deemed venerable or
holy; and, on both these accounts, she determined to
inflict the severest vengeance on the whole party. She
had already drawn the troops in French pay to Stirling ;
with these, and what Scottish forces she could levy of
a sudden, she marched directly to Perth, in hopes of
surprising the protestant leaders, before they could as-
semble their followers, whom, out of confidence in her
disingenuous promises, they had been rashly induced to
dismiss. Intelligence of these preparations and me-
naces was soon conveyed to Perth. The protestants
would gladly have soothed the queen, by addresses
both to herself and to the persons of greatest credit in
her court ; but, finding her inexorable, they, with great
vigour, took measures for their own defence. Their
adherents, animated with zeal for religion, and eager to
expose themselves in so good a cause, flocked in such
numbers to Perth, that they not only secured the town
from danger, but, within a few days, were in a condition
to take the field, and to face the queen, who advanced
with an army seven thousand strong.

Neither party, however, was impatient to engage.

Knox, Hist. 127, 128.
VOL. I. L



THE HISTORY



BOOK n.



1559.



A treaty
concluded.



May 29.



Broken by
the regent.



The queen dreaded the event of a battle with men
" whom the fervour of religion raised above the sense of
fear or of danger. The protestants beheld with regret
the earl of Argyll, the prior of St. Andrew's, and some
other eminent persons of their party, still adhering to
the queen ; and, destitute of their aid and counsel, de-
clined hazarding an action, the ill success of which
might have proved the ruin of their cause. The pros-
pect of an accommodation was, for these reasons, highly
acceptable to both sides: Argyll and the prior, who
were the queen's commissioners for conducting the ne-
gotiation, seem to have been sincerely desirous of re-
conciling the contending factions; and the earl of
Glencairn arriving unexpectedly with a powerful rein-
forcement to the congregation, augmented the queen's
eagerness for peace. A treaty was accordingly con-
cluded, in which it was stipulated that both armies
should be disbanded, and the gates of Perth set open
to the queen ; that indemnity should be granted to the
inhabitants of that city, and to all others concerned in
the late insurrection ; that no French garrison should
be left in Perth, and no French soldier should approach
within three miles of that place ; and that a parliament
should immediately be held, in order to compose what-
ever differences might still remain k .

The leaders of the congregation, distrustful of the
queen's sincerity, and sensible that concessions, flowing
not from inclination, but extorted by the necessity of
her affairs, could not long remain in force, entered into
a new association, by which they bound themselves, on
the first infringement of the present treaty, or on the
least appearance of danger to their religion, to reas-
semble their followers, and to take arms in defence of
what they deemed the cause of God and of their coun-
try 1 .

The queen, by her conduct, demonstrated these pre-



" Keith, 89.



' Kuox, 138.



BOOK n. OF SCOTLAND. 147

cautions to be the result of no groundless or unneces- 1559.
sary fear. No sooner were the protestant forces dis-~
missed, than she broke every article in the treaty. She
introduced French troops into Perth, fined some of the
inhabitants, banished others, removed the magistrates
out of office ; and, on her retiring to Stirling, she left
behind her a garrison of six hundred men, with orders
to allow the exercise of no other religion than the Ro-
man catholic. The situation of Perth, a place, at that
time, of some strength, and a town among the most
proper of any in the kingdom for the station of a gar-
rison, seems to have allured the queen to this unjustifi-
able and ill-judged breach of public faith ; which she
endeavoured to colour, by alleging that the body of
men left at Perth was entirely composed of native Scots,
though kept in pay by the king of France.

The queen's scheme began gradually to unfold; it
was now apparent, that not only the religion, but the
liberties of the kingdom were threatened ; and that the
French troops were to be employed, as instruments for
subduing the Scots, and wreathing the yoke about their
necks. Martial as the genius of the Scots then was,
the poverty of their country made it impossible to keep
their armies long assembled; and even a very small
body of regular troops might have proved formidable
to the nation, though consisting wholly of soldiers. But
what number of French forces were then in Scotland,
at what times and under what pretext they returned,
after having left the kingdom in one thousand five hun-
dred and fifty, we cannot with any certainty determine.
Contemporary historians often select with little judg-
ment the circumstances which they transmit to pos-
terity ; and with respect to matters of the greatest cu-
riosity and importance, leave succeeding ages altogether
in the dark. We may conjecture, however, from some
passages in Buchanan, that the French, and Scots in
French pay, amounted at least to three thousand men,
under the command of monsieur d'Oysel, a creature of



148 THE HISTORY BOOK n.

1559. the house of Guise ; and they were soon augmented to
~a much more formidable number.

The queen, encouraged by having so considerable a
body of well-disciplined troops at her command, and
instigated by the violent counsels of d'Oysel, had ven-
tured, as we have observed, to violate the treaty of
Perth, and, by that rash action, once more threw the
The pro- nation into the most dangerous convulsions. The earl
aaain take ^ Argyll and the prior of St. Andrew's instantly de-
arms, serted a court, where faith and honour seemed to them
to be no longer regarded; and joined the leaders of
the congregation, who had retreated to the eastern
part of Fife. The barons from the neighbouring coun-
ties repaired to them, the preachers roused the people
to arms, and, wherever they came, the same violent
operations which accident had occasioned at Perth,
were now encouraged out of policy. The enraged mul-
titude was let loose, and churches and monasteries, the
monuments of ecclesiastic pride and luxury, were sacri-
ficed to their zeal.

In order to check their career, the queen, without
losing a moment, put her troops in motion ; but the zeal
of the congregation got the start once more of her vi-
gilance and activity. In that warlike age, when all men
were accustomed to arms, and, on the least prospect
of danger, were ready to run to them, the leaders of
the protestants found no difficulty to raise an army.
Though they set out from St. Andrew's with a slender
train of an hundred horse, crowds flocked to their
standards from every corner of the country through
which they marched; and before they reached Falk-
land, a village only ten miles distant, they were able to
meet the queen with superior force m .

The queen, surprised at the approach of so formi-
dable a body, which was drawn up by its leaders in such
a manner as added greatly, in appearance, to its num-

Knox, 141.



BOOK ii. OF SCOTLAND. 149

bers, had again recourse to negotiation. She found, 1559.
however, that the preservation of the protestant reli-~
gion, their zeal for which had at first roused the
leaders of the congregation to take arms, was not the
only object they had now in view. They were animated
with the warmest love of civil liberty, which they con-
ceived to be in imminent danger from the attempts of
the French forces ; and these two passions, mingling,
added reciprocally to each other's strength. Together They aim
with more enlarged notions in religion, the reformation fn J ^viTa
filled the human mind with more liberal and generous well as
sentiments concerning civil government. The genius
of popery is extremely favourable to the power of
princes. The implicit submission to all her decrees,
which is exacted by the Romish church, prepares and
breaks the mind for political servitude ; and the doc-
trines of the reformers, by overturning the established
system of superstition, weakened the firmest founda-
tions of civil tyranny. That bold spirit of inquiry,
which led men to reject theological errours, accom-
panied them in other sciences, and discovered every
where the same manly zeal for truth. A new study,
introduced at the same time, added greater force to
the spirit of liberty. . Men became more acquainted
with the Greek and Roman authors, who described
exquisite models of free government, far superior to
the inaccurate and oppressive system established by
the feudal law ; and produced such illustrious examples
of public virtue, as wonderfully suited both the circum-
stances and spirit of that age. Many among the most
eminent reformers were themselves considerable masters
in ancient learning ; and all of them eagerly adopted
the maxims and spirit of the ancients, with regard to
government n . The most ardent love of liberty accom-

The excessive admiration of ancient policy was the occasion of Knox's
famous book concerning the Government of Women, wherein, conformable
to the maxims of the ancient legislators, which modem experience has



150 THE HISTORY BOOK n.

1559. panied the protestant religion throughout all its pro-
~~ gress ; and, wherever it was embraced, it roused an in-
dependent spirit, which rendered men attentive to their
privileges as subjects, and jealous of the encroachments
of their sovereigns. Knox, and the other preachers of
the reformation, infused generous sentiments concern-
ing government into the minds of their hearers ; and the
Scottish barons, naturally free and bold, were prompted
to assert their rights with more freedom and boldness
than ever. Instead of obeying the queen regent, who
had enjoined them to lay down their arms, they de-
manded not only the redress of their religious griev-
ances, but, as a preliminary toward settling the nation,
and securing its liberties, required the immediate ex-
pulsion of the French troops out of Scotland. It was
not in the queen's power to make so important a cog-
cession, without the concurrence of the French mo-
narch; and, as some time was requisite in order to
obtain that, she hoped, during this interval, to receive
such reinforcements from France, as would insure the
accomplishment of that design which she had twice
June 13. attempted with unequal strength. Meanwhile, she
agreed to a cessation of arms for eight days, and be-
fore the expiration of these, engaged to transport the
French troops to the south side of the Forth ; and to
send commissioners to St. Andrew's, who should la-
bour to bring all differences to an accommodation. As
she hoped, by means of the French troops, to overawe
the protestants in the southern counties, the former
article in the treaty was punctually executed ; the lat-
ter, having been inserted merely to amuse the congre-
gation, was no longer remembered.

proved to be ill-founded, he pronounces the elevation of women to the su-
preme authority, to be utterly destructive of good government. His princi-
ples, authorities, and examples, were all drawn from ancient writers. The
same observation may be made with regard to Buchanan's, dialogue, De
Jure Regni apud Scotos. It is founded, not on the maxims of feudal, but
of ancient republican government.



BOOK ii, OF SCOTLAND. 151

By these reiterated and wanton instances of perfidy, 1559.
the queen lost all credit with her adversaries ; and no A secon( j
safety appearing in any other course, they again took treaty vio-
arms with more inflamed resentment, and with bolder
and more extensive views. The removing of the French
forces had laid open to them all the country situated
between Forth and Tay. The inhabitants of Perth
alone remaining subjected to the insolence and exac-
tions of the garrison which the queen had left there,
implored the assistance of the congregation for their
relief. Thither they marched, and having without ef-
fect required the queen to evacuate the town in terms
of the former treaty, they prepared to besiege it in
form. The queen employed the earl of Huntly and
lord Erskine to divert them from this enterprise. But
her wonted artifices were now of no avail; repeated
so often, they could deceive no longer; and, without
listening to her offers, the protestants continued the
siege, and soon obliged the garrison to capitulate.

After the loss of Perth, the queen endeavoured to
seize Stirling, a place of some strength, and, from its
command of the only bridge over the Forth, of great
importance. But the leaders of the congregation, hav- Rapid
ing intelligence of her design, prevented the execution e&sof
of it by an hasty march thither with part of their forces, the pro-
The inhabitants, heartily attached to the cause, set open
to them the gates of their town. Thence they advanced,
with the same rapidity, towards Edinburgh, which the
queen, on their approach, abandoned with precipita-
tion, and retired to Dunbar.

The protestant army, wherever it came, kindled or
spread the ardour of reformation, and the utmost ex-
cesses of violence were committed upon churches and
monasteries. The former were spoiled of every decora-
tion, which was then esteemed sacred ; the latter were
laid in ruins. We are apt, at this distance of time, to
condemn the furious zeal of the reformers, and to
regret the overthrow of so many stately fabrics, the



152 THE HISTORY BOOK n.

1559. monuments of our ancestors' magnificence, and among
"the noblest ornaments of the kingdom. But amidst
the violence of a reformation, carried on in opposition
to legal authority, some irregularities were unavoid-
able ; and, perhaps, no one could have been permitted
more proper to allure and interest the multitude, or
more fatal to the grandeur of the established church.
How absurd soever and ill-founded the speculative
errours of popery may be, some inquiry and attention
are requisite towards discovering them. The abuses
and corruptions which had crept into the public wor-
ship of that church, lay more open to observation, and,
by striking the senses, excited more universal disgust.
Under the long reign of heathenism, superstition seems
to have exhausted its talent of invention, so that when
a superstitious spirit seized christians, they were obliged
to imitate the heathens in the pomp and magnificence
of their ceremonies, and to borrow from them the or-
naments and decorations of their temples. To the pure
and simple worship of the primitive christians, there
succeeded a species of splendid idolatry, nearly resem-
bling those pagan originals whence it had been copied.
The contrariety of such observances to the spirit of
Christianity, was almost the first thing, in the Romish
system, -which awakened the indignation of the reform-
ers, who, applying to these the denunciations in the
Old Testament against idolatry, imagined that they
could not endeavour at suppressing them with too
much zeal. No task could be more acceptable to the
multitude, than to overturn those seats of superstition ;
they ran with emulation to perform it, and happy was
the man whose hand was most adventurous and suc-
cessful in executing a work deemed so pious. Nor did
their leaders labour to restrain this impetuous spirit of
reformation. Irregular and violent as its sallies were,
they tended directly to that end which they had in
view ; for, by demolishing the monasteries throughout
the kingdom, and setting at liberty their wretched in-



BOOK ii. OF SCOTLAND. 153

habitants, they hoped to render it impossible ever to 1559.
rebuild the one, or to reassemble the other.

But amidst these irregular proceedings, a circum-
stance which does honour to the conduct and humanity
of the leaders of the congregation deserves notice.
They so far restrained the rage of their followers, and
were able so to temper their heat and zeal, that few of
the Roman catholics were exposed to any personal in-
sult, and not a single man suffered death .

At the same time we discover, by the facility with
which these great revolutions were effected, how vio-
lently the current of national favour ran towards the re-
formation. No more than three hundred men marched
out of Perth, under the earl of Argyll and prior of St.
Andrew's p ; with this inconsiderable force they ad-
vanced. But, wherever they came, the people joined
them in a body ; their army was seldom less numerous
than five thousand men ; the gates of every town were
thrown open to receive them; and, without striking a June 29.
single blow, they took possession of the capital of the
kingdom.

This rapid and astonishing success seems to have
encouraged the reformers to extend their views, and
to rise in their demands. Not satisfied with their first
claim of toleration for their religion, they now openly
aimed at establishing the protestant doctrine on the
ruins of popery. For this reason they determined to
fix their residence at Edinburgh ; and, by their ap-