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Presented  to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
LIBRARY 

by  the 

ONTARIO  LEGISLATIVE 
LIBRARY 

1980 


THE 


SCO 


HH2§T©!RY   ©IF   §<D<D)f ILAIID)^ 


THIS  IPR1SSHT  TIMS. 


BILACKIE 

8LA8GOW, 


AHB    JLOH2JOU. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND 


FROM 


THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD 


THE    PRESENT    TIME 


WITH  NUMEROUS  "ENGRAVINGS. 


VOLUM.E    III. 


BLACKIE    AND    SON: 

FREDERICK  STREET,  GLASGOW;  SOUTH  COLLEGE  STREET,  EDINBURGH; 
AND  WARWICK  SQUARE,  LONDON. 

MDCCCLVI. 


GLASGOW : 

W.  G.  BLACKIE  AND  CO.,  PBINTEKS, 
VILLAriELD. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 


BOOK  I. 

James  VI.  —  Earl  of  Morton,  Regent  —  Concludes  a  Treaty  with  Chatellerault 
and  Huntly.  —  Kirkaldy  refuses  to  accede  to  it.  —  The  Castle  surrenders. 
—  Kirkaldy  hanged  —  Maitland  puts  himself  to  death.  —  Review  of  the  State 
of  the  Church  since  the  Reformation.  —  Morton  irritates  the  Nobles.  —  Re- 
signs the  Regency  —  A  Council  appointed.  —  Affairs  of  the  Church.  —  Mor- 
ton President  of  the  Nobles  assembled  at  Stirling  —  The  king  holds  a  par- 
liament there  __  Proceedings  of  the  Council  at  Edinburgh.  —  Reconciliation 
between  Morton,  and  Athol,  and  Argyle.  —  Sudden  death  of  Athol.  —  Mor- 
ton advanced  to  the  chief  power.  —  His  proceedings  against  the  Hamiltons.  — 
D'Aubigne  arrives  from  France.  —  Created  Earl  of  Lennox.  —  He  and  Cap- 
tain James  Stuart  become  the  king's  favourites.  —  King  arrives  at  Edinburgh. 
—Lennox  renounces  Popery.  —  National  Covenant.  —  Morton  accused  by 
Stuart  —  Elizabeth's  intercession  fruitless  —  Stuart  created  Earl  of  Arran  — 
Morton's  trial.  —  Execution.  —  Affairs  of  the  Church;  Book  of  Polity.  —  Au- 
bign6  created  Duke  of  Lennox  —  Conspiracy  of  the  Nobles.  —  Raid  of 
Ruthven.  —  Lennox  ordered  to  leave  the  kingdom  ;  his  death  —  Earl  of 
Angus  returns  from  exile.  —  Nobles  bring  the  king  to  Edinburgh  —  Their 
conduct  approved  by  the  Assembly,  and  by  parliament.  1572.  —  1583. 

i.   THE  death  of  the   earl  of  Mar,  left  the  road   to   the    BOOK 
regency  open  to  the  ambition  of  the  earl  of  Morton  ;  who,  _ 
supported  by  the  interest  of  England,  was  elected  to  that      1572. 
high    office   without  opposition,    on  the  24th  day  of  No-     ™"     ' 


vember,  A.  D.  15*72.*     At  the  time  of  his  elevation,  the  chosen 

regent* 

*  On  the  same  day,  Scotland  lost  one  of  her  greatest  benefactors,  John 
Knox,  at  whose  interment  the  new  regent  passed  the  well  known  eulogium  : 
"  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man  ;"  and  never  was  eulogium 
better  merited.  Through  a  life  of  the  most  unwearied  labour,  and  trying  vi» 
cissitude,  his  intrepidity  of  soul  remained  unshaken,  his  constancy  unmoved  ; 
and  when  all  was  dark  around  him,  and  every  heart  filled  with  dismay,  his 
VOL.  IH.  B 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    queen's  party  was   divided  into  two  distinct    bodies,  those 
within  the  castle,  and  those  without.     The  chiefs  of  the  for- 


1572.     mer  were  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  the  most  renowned  warrior, 
and  Maitland,  younger  of  Lethington,  the  most  skilful  poll- 
State  of  the  tjcjan  of  the  day:  at  the  head  of  the  latter,  were  the  duke  of 

Otippn's 

party.  Chatellefault,  and  the  earl  of  Huntly,  the  two  richest,  and 
most  powerful  noblemen,  the  one  in  the  south,  and  the  other 
in  the  north  of  Scotland.  The  strength  of  this  faction,  if 
united,  and  acting  in  concert,  was  such  as  would  have  easily 
enabled  them  to  embarrass  the  government,  especially,  as  a 
number  of  the  king's  party  were  by  no  means  cordial  in 
supporting  the  regent.  Morton,  therefore,  resolved  to  treat 
with  them  separately ;  to  receive  only  one  of  the  divisions 
into  favour,  and  by  ruining  the  other,  to  render  the  whole 
faction  incapable  of  disturbing  his  administration.  As  the 
influence  of  the  Hamiltons  and  Gordons  was  most  to  be 
dreaded,  and  the  extent  of  their  estates  presented  the  most 
tempting  allurements,  he  first  applied  to  Grange,  and  offer- 
ed to  renew  the  negotiations  which  the  death  of  the  last  re- 
gent had  broken  off}  but  at  the  same  time,  intimated  that  it 

energetic  eloquence  imparted  courage  and  ardour,  similar  to  his  own,  into  the 
bosoms  of  his  fainting  companions.  His  zeal  equalled  his  courage,  and  both 
originated  from  an  unfeigned  exalted  piety.  He  possessed  an  intuitive  saga- 
city, which  enabled  him  at  once  to  perceive  the  best  method  for  attaining  his 
object,  and  that  decision  of  character,  which  never  allowed  it  to  escape.  In 
reproof  he  was  perhaps  severe,  but  he  averred  on  his  deathbed,  that  it  was  ne- 
ver the  persons,  but  their  vices,  that  were  the  objects  of  his  dislike.  The  usual 
charges  brought  against  him,  are  rudeness  to  liis  queen,  barbarism  to  the  mo- 
nasteries, and  a  gloomy  moroseness  in  his  general  deportment ,  but  while  Mary 
was  his  sovereign,  and  till  her  hands  were  contaminated  with  her  husband's 
blood,  his  behaviour  was  always  respectful,  and  at  one  period,  when  deceived 
by  her  dissimulation,  even  affectionate.  Considering  the  monasteries  as  the 
strong  holds  of  indolence  and  vice,  he  certainly  did  not  lament  their  destruc- 
tion, nor  think  it  barbarous,  when  a  nation  was  emerging  from  ignorance  and 
superstition,  to  remove  the  temptations,  however  splendid,  to  a  return.  In  his 
social  intercourse,  from  the  traits  that  remain,  he  was  rather  inclined  to  be 
cheerful ;  though  the  care  and  anxiety  which  ever  pressed  upon  him,  rendered 
his  general  deportment  grave.  That  he  possessed  much  natural  humour,  his 
history  bears  indubitable  marks.  He  was  no  less  anxious  to  secure  the  civil, 
than  the  religious  liberty  of  his  country,  and  that  by  the  wisest  and  best  of  me- 
thods ;  securing  the  instruction,  and  the  moral  improvement  of  the  people. 
His  long  and  useful  life,  though  often  in  peril  from  the  "  dag  and  dagger,"  was 
closed  at  last,  by  a  peaceful  and  triumphant  death. 


JAMES  VI. 

must  be  a  separate  treaty,  with  those  in  the  castle  alone.*    BOOK 
Grange,  however,  refused  to  enter  into  any  agreement,  in  _    *• 
which  the  whole  of  his  friends  were  not  comprehended,  con-      1572- 
sidering  himself  in  honour  bound  to  do  nothing  to  their  de-  to  Kirk- 
triment.     In  the  meantime,  sir  Henry  Killigrew,  the  En-  *ldy re- 
glish  ambassador,  endeavoured  to  procure  a  reconciliation 
between  all  parties,  now  that  a  devoted  partizan  of  England 
was  elected  chief  of  the  government.     A  correspondence 
was  immediately  entered   into,   under   his   auspices,   with 
Chatellerault  and  Huntly,  and  the  truce  was  renewed  with 
them.     Grange,    who  refused   to  be  included  in   the  pro-  Hostilities 
longation,  as  soon  as  the  term  agreed  on  had  expired,  recom-  renewed, 
menced  cannonading  the  city  ;  and  in  a  night  sally,  set  fire  to 
the  houses  next  the  castle,  during  a  strong  westerly  wind, 
when  the  whole  tenements,  from  the  foot  of  the  rock  to  the 
Magdalen  chapel,  were  destroyed.     The  estates,  notwith- 
standing, met  in  the  end  of  January,  and  passed  several  acts 
against  papists,  and  those  who  still  resisted  the  authority  of 
the  king. 

ii.  When  parliament  broke  up,  a  meeting  took  place  at 
Perth,  between  the  earl  of  Argyle,  chancellor,  the  earl  of 
Montrose,  the  abbot  of  Dunfermline,  secretary,  the  lords 
Ruthven  and  Boyd,  and  sir  John  Bellenden,  justice- clerk, 
commissioners  from  the  regent ;  the  earl  of  Huntly  for  him- 
self; and  lord  John  Hamilton,  commendatory  of  Aberbro-  T 
thick,  for  the  duke  of  Chatellerault.  There,  through  the  me-  with  Cha- 
diation  of  the  English  ambassador,  a  treaty  was  entered  into,  tellerault- 
by  which  it  was  agreed: — that  both  parties  should  profess  and 
support  the  protestant  religion,  especially  against  the  confe- 
derates of  the  council  of  Trent ;  that  the  queen's  party  should 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  king,  submit  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  regent,  and  declare  all  acts  done  by  them  since 
his  majesty's  coronation,  illegal  ;  that  a  general  amnesty 
should  be  granted,  and  the  parties  on  both  sides  restored  to 
their  estates  and  livings ;  and  that  the  heirs  and  successors 
of  persons  forfeited,  since  dead,  should  be  comprehended 
in  the  pacification,  and  also  restored  to  their  lands  and  pos- 
sessions. The  only  exceptions  from  the  pardon,  were  the 

•  Melville,  p.  236,  «39. 


4  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

murderers  of  the  king  and  the  two  regents,  the  arch 
bishop  of  Glasgow,  the  Scottish  queen's  ambassador  in 
1573.  France,  and  the  bishop  of  Ross,  her  ambassador  in  Eng- 
land, who  were  both  under  sentence  of  outlawry.  But 
a  time  was  stipulated,  within  which  Grange,  and  those 
in  the  castle,  might  accede  to  the  agreement.*  The  Eng- 
lish ambassador,  in  consequence,  repaired  to  the  castle, 
and  having  shown  Kirkaldy  the  treaty,  to  which  Hamil- 
ton and  Huntly  had  agreed,  he  requested  him  also  to  ac- 
cede. The  earl  of  Rothes  too,  and  lord  Boyd,  waited  up- 
on him,  and  pointing  out  the  certain  ruin  which  would  at- 
Kirkaldy  tend  resistance,  entreated  him  to  yield  ;  but  the  governor, 
refuses  to  expecting  assistance  from  abroad,  refused  to  comply  ;  and 
even  if  that  should  fail,  he  did  not  doubt  of  obtaining  more 
favourable  terms  than  liis  former  associates  had  accepted. 
Nor  was  his  resolution  shaken,  although  at  this  time,  his 
brother,  who  had  returned  from  France  with  a  supply  of 
money,  was  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  the  regent,  by  sir 
James  Balfour,  a  wretch  who  had  alternately  served,  and  de- 
ceived both  parties. 

in.  The  Scots  were  never  famed  for  the  art  of  besieg- 
ing,  and  the  regent  at  this  time,  was  totally  destitute  of 
the  means  of  reducing  a  place  of  such  strength   as  Edin- 
Morton  ap-  burgh  castle,  defended  by  so  skilful  a  captain.     He  there- 
pll,es  *° Eli-  fore  sent  to  the  queen  of  England,  to  desire  a  supply  of  sol- 
diers and  cannon,  which  she  readily  granted  ;  and  sir  Wil- 
liam Drury,  proceeded  from  Berwick    on   this  service,  in 
April,  with  a  body  of  troops,  and  a  train  of  artillery.     But 

*  Sir  James  Melville  asserts  that  Grange,  after  the  others  had  agreed,  of- 
fered also  to  come  in,  or  accept  of  any  reasonable  conditions,  but  that  the  re- 
gent would  not  listen  to  any  terms  of  accommodation Memoirs,  p.  240.  Ah, 

however,  the  English  ambassador,  .before  setting  out  for  Perth,  had  in  vain  at- 
tempted to  induce  Grange  to  submit,  Bannatyne,  p.  433,  and  Spotswood  is 
express  as  to  the  offer  he  returned,  I  feel  rather  inclined  to  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Robertson,  that  it  was  the  governor's  distrust  of  Morton,  and  his  proud  un- 
bending spirit,  that  occasioned  the  negotiation  to  be  broken  off;  yet  the  testi- 
mony of  Melville  is  explicit,  and  I  can  only  reconcile  his  accounts  with  the  ac- 
counts of  other  writers,  and  the  state  papers  of  the  time,  Brief  declaration,  &c. 
Bannatyne,  430,  by  supposing  that  Morton,  acting  upon  his  preconcerted  plan, 
had  dealt  deceitfully  both  with  the  English  ambassador  and  with  Grange ;  or 
that  Grange,  after  his  interview  with  sir  J.  Melville,  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
influenced  by  the  intriguing  spirit  of  Maitland. 


JAMES  VI.  5 

in  order  to  prevent  any  future  misunderstanding,  the  re-  BOOK 
gent,  previously  to  the  march  of  the  English,  despatched 
lord  Ruthven  to  arrange  the  conditions  on  which  this  aid  1573. 
should  be  afforded,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  expedition 
should  be  conducted.  The  general  of  the  English  troops, 
and  the  Scottish  commissioner,  met  in  the  church  of  Lam- 
berton,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  bounds  of  Berwick,  and 
there  agreed ; — that  neither  of  the  parties  should  singly  enter 
into  any  arrangement  with  the  besieged ;  that  if  the  castle 
were  taken  by  storm,  all  public  property  should  be  restor- 
ed to  the  regent,  but  the  other  spoil  should  belong  to  the 
soldiers  ;  that  so  far  as  consistent  with  the  rules  of  war,  the 
prisoners  taken  in  the  castle,  should  be  tried  by  law,  the  re-  Treaty, 
gent  acting  by  the  advice  of  the  queen  of  England ;  that  the 
regent  should  furnish  the  English  with  all  necessaries,  and 
join  them  with  a  body  of  horse  and  foot ;  that  the  wives,  or 
nearest  relations  of  the  soldiers  slain,  should  receive  a  gra- 
tuity, to  be  regulated  by  the  English  general ;  that  all  the 
great  guns  destroyed  in  the  siege,  should  be  replaced  by 
others  of  similar  size,  out  of  the  castle ;  that  the  English 
general  should  not  fortify  on  Scottish  ground,  without  per- 
mission of  the  regent,  and  should  retire  immediately  on  the 
castle  being  reduced  ;  and  for  the  fulfilment  of  these  condi- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  Scots,  and  as  a  guarantee  for  the 
safe  return  of  the  English  with  all  their  stores,  the  chances 
of  war  excepted,  the  Scots  were  to  grant  hostages.* 

iv.  On  the  treaty  being  ratified,  and  the  hostages  deliver- 
ed, Drury  set  out  from  Berwick,  at  the  head  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred men,  the  artillery  and  military  stores  being  sent  by 
sea.  On  his  arrival,  the  regent  joined  him  with  all  his 
forces.  Next  day  the  castle  was  summoned,  and  an  offer 

made  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  garrison,  if  they  would  capi-  m. 

J .  .     .     .  The  castle 

tulate  before  the  batteries  were  erected ;  but  this  being  re-  besieged  by 

fused,  the  trenches  were  opened,  and  approaches  regularly  ^rt£n 
carried  on.     Animated   with  all  the  resolution  of  despair,  English. 

*  Robertson  takes  no  notice  of  this  convention,  although  both  Spotswood 
and  Crawford  insert  the  treaty ;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  in  consequence 
of  the  stipulation,  forbidding  any  secret  or  distinct  negotiation  with  the  queen's 
party,  that  reference  was  made  to  Elizabeth  to  determine  the  fate  of  Kirkaldy 
and  his  associates  after  the  castle  fell. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    Kirkaldy   nobly   defended  the  fortress,   against   the  united 
*•        efforts  of  the  English  and  the  regent,  determined  rather  to 


1573.  die,  than  surrender  himself  into  the  hands  of  his  inveterate 
enemy ;  nor  did  his  gallant  unsubdued  spirit  demand  a  par- 
ley, till  a  practicable  breach  was  made,  and  a  lodgment  ef- 
fected within  the  bulwarks ;  yet  even  then,  he  would  have 
sought  the  honour  of  a  soldier's  death,  had  not  his  small 
garrison,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  watching,  and  thirst — for 
the  rubbish  had  choked  the  well  without,*  and  the  firing 
of  the  castle  opening  the  rock,  caused  the  water  of  that 
within  to  be  absorbed — obliged  the  governor  to  ask  a  truce, 
which  was  granted  for  two  days.  During  this  time,  he  at- 
tempted in  vain  to  obtain  terms ;  but  Morton  would  hearken 
to  nothing,  except  unconditional  surrender.  He  then  re- 
solved to  perish  amid  the  ruins.  His  soldiers,  however,  se- 
duced by  the  regent's  emissaries,  refused  to  hazard  another 
assault,  and  he,  by  the  advice  of  Lethington,  surrendered 
Kirkaldy  himself  and  the  castle  to  Drury,  the  English  commander, 
•urrenders  upon  a  promise  that  he  should  be  favourably  treated.  There 
lish.  *  S'  surrendered  along  with  him,  Maitland,  lord  Home,  sir  Ro- 
bert Melville,  some  few  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  and  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  soldiers. 
The  common  men  were  dismissed,  on  promising  not  to 
serve  against  the  king,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  enlisted 
in  the  Dutch  service  ;  but  those  of  rank  were  detained  pri- 
soners, till  the  queen  of  England's  pleasure  should  be  known. 
The  regent  claimed  the  chiefs,  as  guilty  of  rebellion,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  tried  by  law  for  their  offence;  but  to 
this  Drury  would  not  consent.  Admiring  the  valour  of  Kirk- 
aldy, and  unwilling  to  deliver  up  a  man,  who  had  trusted 
to  his  word  and  honour,  he  carried  him  to  his  own  lodg* 
ings ;  where  he  treated  him  with  that  humanity  and  kind- 
ness, which  one  brave  and  generous  spirit  always  shows  to 
another ;  and  at  the  same  time,  used  endeavours  to  induce 
the  queen  of  England  to  confirm  the  engagements  he  had 
entered  into  in  her  name. 

Given  up        v.  Influenced  by  the  representations  of  Morton,  who  alleg- 
to  Morton. 

*  Sir  James  Melville  says,  the  well  without  the  walls,  to  which  the  men 
were  let  down  by  a  rope  was  poisoned. 


JAMES  VI.  7 

ed  that  neither  his  person  nor  government  could  be  secure,  so   BOOK 
long  as  such  intriguing  and  inveterate  enemies  were  alive,  Eli- 
zabeth,  regardless  of  the  honour  or  engagements  of  her  gene-      1573. 
ral,  ordered  the  prisoners  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
recent.  Drury  reluctantly  complied  with  the  imperative  man- 
date, but  immediately  retired  to  Berwick,  and  threw  up  his 
commission  in  disgust.  Morton,  as  soon  as  he  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  personsof  the  prisoners, committed  them  to  separate 
places  of  confinement,  and  in  a  few  days  condemned  Kirkaldy, 
and  his  brother  sir  James,  to  be  hanged  at  the  cross  of  Edin- 
burgh.    Thus  perished  by  the  hands  of  the  public  execu-  Executed, 
tioner,  one  of  the  bravest,  and  most  generous  warriors  of 
his  age,  sacrificed  to  the  jealousy  or  the  avarice  of  Morton. 
He  had  been  one  of  the  earliest  friends,  and  during  the 
first  days  of  peril  and  trial,  one  of  the  most  intrepid  and  suc- 
cessful defenders  of  the  Reformation;  but  personal  disgust 
with  Morton,  or  the  intrigues  of  Maitland,  fatally  alienat- 
ed him  from  the  friends  of  his  youth,  and  induced  him  to 
desert  the  cause  he  had  laboured  so  strenuously  to  estab- 
lish.     Knox  lamented  his  defection,  and  on  his  deathbed 
sent  him  an  affecting,  and,  as  it  proved,  a  prophetical  ex- 
hortation, to  leave  a  party,  his  adherence  to  which  would 
bring  his  life  to  a  shameful  close.     He  despised  the  warn- 
ing at  the  time,  but  at  the  place  of  execution  remembered  it 
with  tears      Two  goldsmiths  were  executed  along  with  the 
brothers.     Maitland,  fearing  a  like  ignominious  end,  is  said 
to  have  escaped  by  a  voluntary  death.     His  talents  as  a  Maitland's 
statesman  were  certainly  of  the  first  order,  but  his  fickleness  denth- 
and  inconstancy  deprived   him  of  that  weight  in  the  state, 
which  his  abilities  would  otherwise  have  commanded.     Bu-  t    * 
chanan,  in  his  Chamselion,  has  commemorated  both  his  ge- 
nius and  versatility. 

vi.  By  this  blow  the  interest  of  Mary  was  effectually  broken       1571 
in   Scotland,  and  her  party  was  never  after  abk  to  make  Mary's  in- 
any  head  against  that  of  the  king.    Abroad,  her  affairs  wore  *j™8 
no  better  an  aspect.     The  duke  of  Alva,  who  had  interest- 
ed himself  strongly  in  her  favour,  being  recalled  from  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands,  and  Charles  IX.  of  France 
dying  about  the  same  time,  she  lost  two  of  her  best  friends. 


8 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
I. 

M*___~». 

1574. 


Morton's 
vigorous 
adminis- 
tration. 


Charles  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Mary's  beauty,  and  had 
sincerely  interposed  in  her  behalf;  but  the  aversion  of  his 
mother  to  that  princess,  and  his  constant  wars  with  the 
protestants,  obstructed  his  exertions ;  while  the  horrible 
massacres  which  disgraced  his  reign,  tended  greatly  to 
weaken  his  influence  in  her  cause.  Henry  III.  who  suc- 
ceeded him,  had  not  the  same  affection  for  her  person, 
and  was  besides,  the  decided  enemy  of  the  house  of  Guise, 
whose  power  and  influence  were  considerably  diminished, 
by  the  death  of  the  cardinal  before  the  end  of  the  year. 
From  this  date  the  unhappy  queen  of  Scots  must  only  be 
considered  as  an  exile,  whose  story  forms  an  interesting  epi- 
sode in  Scottish  history,  but  is  only  incidentally  connected 
with  the  affairs  of  that  country.  In  England,  her  ambas- 
sador was  dismissed  from  the  court,  and  she  was  left  to  pine 
in  the  solitude  of  a  prison,  without  any  regular  medium 
through  which  she  could  convey  her  complaints  to  the  ear 
of  her  oppressors,  or  hold  any  correspondence  with  foreign 
princes. 

vu.  The  civil  war  thus  ended,  Morton  applied  himself  assi- 
duously to  correct  the  mischiefs  naturally  consequent  on  a 
state  of  internal  commotion,  particularly  in  such  a  country 
as  Scotland,  which  had  been  so  long  rent  with  factions  ;  and 
whose  half  civilized  inhabitants,  even  in  the  most  tranquil 
times,  were  hardly  ever  accustomed  to  regard  the  law. 
One  of  his  first  cares  was  to  repress  the  disorderly  border- 
ers, whose  outrages  had  increased  during  the  calamities  of 
the  times,  and  occasioned  frequent  remonstrances  from  the 
English  court.  For  this  purpose  he  proceeded  in  person 
to  the  scene  of  action,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  sir 
John  Forrester,  the  English  warden  of  the  middle  march, 
to  adjust  all  the  differences  which  had  arisen,  and  to  concert 
measures  for  preventing  their  recurrence.  He  compelled 
the  chiefs  of  the  different  districts  to  give  pledges  for  their 
good  behaviour,  and  appointed  as  wardens,  in  whom  he  could 
confide,  sir  James  Home  of  Cowdenknowes  for  tb.o  east- 
ern; sir  John  Carmichael,  one  of  his  principal  ministers, 
for  the  middle ;  and  lord  Maxwell  for  the  western  marches. 
By  these  vigorous  proceedings  the  regent  restored  general 


JAMES  VI.  9 

order  and  tranquillity  to  the  kingdom ;  but  the  rigour  of  his    BOOK 
prosecutions,  and  the  avarice  he  displayed,  lost  him  the  af-        *• 
fections  of  the   people,    which   his  important  services  had  ~~ 
merited.     His   strictness  in   collecting  the  royal  revenues,  Morton 
and  his  rigidity  in  recalling  the  grants  by  which  the  crown  1<£es  *he 
lands  had  been  alienated,  disgusted  the  nobles ;  while  the  of  the 
whole  community  were   injured  by  the  debasement  of  the  Pe°Ple» 
coin,  which  was  carried   to  a  great  extent  during  his   ad- 
ministration;   besides,  he  everywhere  employed  those  mis- 
creants, who  in  all  ages  have  been  held  in  detestation,  and 
whose  encouragement  infallibly  marks  a  government  as  ty- 
rannical and  depraved — spies  and  informers.     By  them  im- 
aginary crimes  were  invented,  petty  trespasses  aggravated, 
and  the  accused  were  often  forced  to  redeem  their  lives  at 
the  expense  of  their  estates.* 

vi TI.  In  the  midst  of  his  exactions,  there  was  nothing  pro- 
cured for  Morton  more  universal  dislike  than  his  conduct 
towards  the  church ;  from  whose  ministers  he  extorted  the 
greater  part  of  the  slender  pittance  upon  which,  at  the  best, 
they  could  scarcely  exist.  The  thirds  of  the  benefices  had 
been  appropriated  for  the  discharge  of  these  stipends ;  but 
through  the  want  of  power  in  the  collectors  to  enforce,  or  the  And  of  the 
unwillingness  of  those  who  had  seized  on  the  spoils  of  the  churtn- 
church  to  part  with  any  portion,  they  received  their  salaries 
slowly  and  irregularly  ;  and  during  the  commotions,  the 
payment  in  some  parts  of  the  country  was  altogether  inter- 
rupted.f  On  pretence  of  remedying  this  evil,  and  to  ensure 
a  ready  and  available  supply,  the  regent  proposed  that  the 
thirds  should  be  vested  in  the  crown,  under  promise  to  make 
the  stipend  of  every  minister  local,  and  payable  in  the  parish 
where  he  served;  and  if  upon  trial  this  arrangement  was 
found  ineligible,  he  engaged,  at  their  request,  to  replace 

*  Dr.  Cooke,  in  his  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  mentions,  but 
without  quoting  his  authority,  a  strange  mode  of  exacting  money  which  Mor- 
ton exercised  :  "  He  also  sentenced  to  whipping  and  imprisonment  those  who 
ate  flesh  in  time  of  Lent,  which  sentences  were  uniformly  remitted  upon  pay- 
ing fines,"  vol.  i.  Note,  p.  234. 

f  Except,  perhaps,  duri.ig  a  short  part  of  the  regent  Moray's  administration. 
— M'Crie's  Life  of  Krox,  vol.  ii.  p.  160,  Note.  Indeed  the  pretexts  used  by 
Morton  to  induce  them  to  surrender  their  right,  implies  as  much. 

VOL.   III.  C 


10  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    them  in  their  former  situation.    But  no  sooner  did  he  obtain  i 

1  possession  of  the  thirds,  than  he  appointed  several  churches, 
1571.  sometimes  four,  to  the  charge  of  one  minister,  who  was 
directed  to  preach  in  them  alternately ;  and  in  his  absence  a  j 
reader,  with  a  pitiful  salary,  performed  the  duty  of  reading 
prayers.  The  allowance  to  the  superintendents  was  at  the 
same  time  altogether  stopped ;  and  when  they  made  appli- 
cation at  court,  they  were  informed  that  their  office  was  no 
longer  necessary,  bishops  being  placed  in  the  dioceses,  to 
whom  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  belonged.  When  the 
ministers  complained,  and  desired  to  be  placed  upon  the 
same  footing  on  which  they  formerly  stood,  they  were  inform- 
ed that  the  surplus  of  the  thirds  belonged  to  the  king  ;  and 
therefore  the  regent  and  council,  and  not  the  church,  ought  to 
regulate  the  stipends  of  the  ministers,  and  manage  the  re- 
mainder. The  assembly,  who  found,  when  too  late,  that  they 
had  acted  unwisely  in  placing  the  funds  allotted  for  their  own 
maintenance  at  the  disposal  of  the  regent,  did  what  they 
could  to  counteract  the  effects  of  this  unfortunate  mistake. 

Proceed-  They  determined  at  their  meeting,  March  1574  : — That  mi- 
ni§ters>  w^°  were  appointed  to  more  churches  than  one, 
should  each  take  the  oversight  of  that  one  only  where  he  re- 
sided ;  at  the  same  time  affording  such  assistance  to  the 
others  as  he  could,  without  interfering  with  the  duty  he  owed 
to  his  own  particular  charge.  The  three  venerable  superin- 
tendents, Erskine,  Winram  and  Spotswood,  who  had  la- 
boured long  and  successfully  in  the  cause  of  the  reformed, 
disgusted  with  the  indifference  shown  by  the  regent,  solicit- 
ed this  assembly  to  accept  their  resignation,  as  the  office 
was  now  considered  unnecessary.  This  was,  however,  una- 
nimously refused ;  and  it  was  further  determined  by  them, 
to  mark  their  disapprobation  of  Morton's  proceedings,  that 
the  bishops  should  not  exercise  any  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion within  the  bounds  over  which  the  superintendents  pre- 
sided, without  their  express  consent  and  approbation. 

ix.  Early  next  summer,  a  trifling  circumstance  had  near- 
ly interrupted  the  harmony  which  subsisted  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  Atone  of  the  usual  meetings  to  adjust  the  differ- 
ences which  might  have  arisen  on  the  borders,  sir  John  Car- 


JAMES  VI.  11 

raichael,  the  Scottish  warden,  demanded,  from  sir  John  For-  BOOK 
rester,  the  warden  of  the  opposite  march,  that  an  English- 
man, who  had  been  convicted  of  theft,  and  was  a  notorious  of-  isnT" 
fender,  should  be  delivered  up  according  to  the  law  of  the 
marches.  With  this  demand,  Forrester  hesitated  to  comply, 
and  appeared  rather  desirous  of  evading  it.  Carmichael,  how- 
ever, continuing  to  urge,  some  passionate  language  ensued ; 
and  the  haughty  demeanour  of  the  English  warden,  appear-  j)jsturb. 
ing  to  his  followers  to  be  the  signal  for  attack,  they  sent  off  a  ance*  °n 
flight  of  arrows  that  killed  one  Scottishman,  and  wounded  se-  ders.01 
veral  others.  The  Scots,  inferior  in  numbers,  and  unexpect- 
edly surprised,  were  thrown  into  confusion  and  driven  from 
the  field ;  but  being  met  in  their  flight  by  some  Jedburgh 
men,  who  were  coming  to  attend  the  warden,  they  rallied,  and 
joining  with  them,  forced  their  pursuers  in  their  turn  to  flee. 
In  this  rencounter,  sir  George  Heron,  keeper  of  Tindale  and 
Ridsdale,  and  about  twenty-four  common  men,  were  slain ; 
sir  John  Forrester,  Francis  Russel,  son  to  the  earl  of  Bed- 
ford, with  several  others  of  higher  rank,  were  taken  prison- 
ers, and  sent  to  the  earl  of  Morton,  at  Dalkeith.  The  re- 
gent, who  regretted  the  unfortunate  affray,  detained  them 
for  a  few  days,  till  the  irritation  occasioned  by  this  unlucky 
occurrence  should  subside ;  entertained  them  with  great  hos- 
pitality, and,  after  receiving  their  promise  to  appear  in  Scot- 
land if  called  upon,  dismissed  them  with  the  highest  profes- 
sions of  regard. 

x.  Elizabeth,  on  being  informed  of  what  had  taken  place, 
ordered  Killigrew,  her  ambassador  in  Scotland,  to  demand 
immediate  satisfaction ;  and  also  to  inform  Morton,  that  she 
had  directed  the  earl  of  Huntingdon,  president  of  the  coun- 
cil at  York,  and  lieutenant  of  the  northern  counties,  to  re- 
pair to  the  borders  and  investigate  the  matter ;  and  that  she 
expected  he  would  in  person  meet  with  him.  Morton  dared 
not  disobey,  and  the  two  earls  met  at  Fouldean,  near  the 
Berwick  boundary ;  where,  after  a  conference  of  some  days, 
it  was  agreed  that  Carmichael  should  be  sent  as  a  prisoner 
to  England,  where  he  was  detained  for  a  few  weeks.  Eliza- 
beth, pleased  at  the  submissive  conduct  of  the  regent,  and 
finding,  on  further  inquiry,  that  her  own  warden  was  the  ori- 


12  HISTOKV   OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ginal  offender,  ordered  him  to  be  honourably  dismissed,  and 

*•        gratified  with  a  present. 

1575.  xi.  This  disturbance  was  scarcely  allayed,  when  more  per- 
plexing difficulties  arose  from  another  source — the  church. 
To  understand  the  nature  of  this  dispute,  and  place  it  in  a 
Mode  of  clear  point  of  view,  it  is  necessary  to  recur  to  some  previous 
church  go  events.  The  leading  feature  in  the  government  of  the 
StJllSd  church  of  Scotland  established  at  the  Reformation,  was 
at  the  Re-  equality  among  her  ministers  ;  whose  office  it  was  to  preach 
the  gospel,  and  administer  the  sacraments.  The  other  of- 
fice-bearers in  the  church  were,  the  doctor  or  teacher,  who 
interpreted  the  scriptures ;  under  which  denomination  was 
included  such  as  taught  theology  in  schools  and  universities, 
the  ruling  elder,  who  assisted  the  minister  in  his  clerical 
duties,  and  the  deacon,  who  managed  the  temporalities  of 
the  church,  and  attended  especially  to  the  state  of  the  poor. 
Besides  these  office-bearers,  who  were  permanent,  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  case  demanded  some  more  temporary  expedi- 
ents to  supply  the  want  of  regular  teachers.  In  parishes, 
therefore,  where  there  was  no  resident  minister,  pious  per- 
sons, who  had  received  a  common  education,  were  appoint- 
ed to  read  the  scriptures  and  common  prayers,  and  were 
called  readers  : — if  capable,  they  were  encouraged  to  add  a 
few  plain  exhortations  to  their  reading,  and  they  were  then 
denominated,  exhorters.  The  same  scarcity  of  regularly 
educated  ministers  gave  rise  to  another  temporary  office  in 
the  church — that  of  superintendent ;  whose  duty  it  was  re- 
gularly to  itinerate,  for  the  purpose  of  preaching,  planting 
churches,  and  inspecting  the  conduct  of  the  ministers,  ex- 
horters and  readers  ;  and  to  each  a  separate  district  was  as- 
signed. "These  men,"  according  to  the  church  polity  pre- 
sented to  the  convention  at  Edinburgh,  January,  1560, 
"  were  not  to  be  suffered  to  live  idle,  as  the  bishops  have 
done  heretofore,  nor  were  they  to  remain,  where  gladly  they 
would,  but  they  must  be  preachers  themselves  ;"  and  aftei 
enumerating  the  rest  of  their  duties,  enjoins,  "that  they 
must  preach  thrice  a-week  at  least."*  In  the  appointment 

•  Spoti wood,  p.  159. 


JAMES  VI.  13 

of  these  office-bearers,  the  name  of  bishop  was  carefully  BOOK 
avoided  ;  and  instead  of  the  enormous  revenues  which  they 
had  possessed,  it  was  only  required  that  moderate  stipends  IS75. 
should  be  appointed  to  the  ministers,  with  an  additional  al- 
lowance to  the  superintendents,  to  defray  their  travelling  ex- 
penses. Connected  with  this  establishment,  it  was  likewise 
proposed,  in  the  book  of  polity,  or  first  book  of  discipline,  to 
erect  three  national  universities,  and  form  a  system  of  paro- 
chial instruction.  For  these  purposes  funds  were  necessary  ; 
and  as  the  property  of  the  church  should  have  devolved  to  the 
public,  by  the  abolition  of  the  Romish  hierarchy,  and  there 
were  not  any  individual  or  class  of  men  who  could  legally 
claim  a  title  to  the  rents  of  the  vacant  benefices,  it  was  consi- 
dered but  fair  that  they  should  be  applied  to  the  most  impor- 
tant purposes  of  public  instruction.  A  considerable  num- 
ber, however,  of  the  protestant  nobility  and  gentry  had 
either  already  seized,  or  expected  to  share  in,  the  spoil, 
and  these  proposals  in  consequence,  never  received  the 
sanction  of  the  estates. 

xn.  The  ministers  continued  to  obtain  a  precarious  support 
from  their  hearers,  and  to  complain  of  their  indigent  circum- 
stances in  vain  :  till,  towards  the  end  of  the  first  year  after 
the  arrival  of  queen  Mary,  the  barons  required  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  their  ministers,  else  they  would 
allow  nothing  to  be  uplifted  on  account  of  such  bishops 
as  still  retained  the  temporalities  of  their  bishoprics,  although 
they  had  ceased  to  exercise  any  of  their  ecclesiastical  func-  Retrospect 
tions  ;  and  who,  on  the  arrival  of  the  young  queen,  began  asticTl  a"." 


to  be  looked  upon  with  a  more  favourable  eye.  The  privy  fairs- 
council  in  consequence,  and  in  order  to  seem  not  to  desert 
the  protestant  clergy,  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  desirous  to 
please  the  queen,  ordered  an  exact  account  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical revenues  throughout  the  country  to  be  taken,  and  di- 
vided into  three  parts,  two  of  which  were  allowed  to  go  to 
the  ejected  Popish  clergy  during  life,  and  the  other  to  be 
divided  between  the  queen  and  the  protestant  ministers  ;  the 
privy  council  appointing  a  commission,  who  were  termed  mo- 
dificators,  to  ascertain  the  proportion  of  each,  and  to  fix  the 
amount  of  the  ministers'  stipends.  But  this  arrangement 


14  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    proved  almost  nugatory  ;  the  stipends  were  fixed  low,  and  sel- 
I-        dom  fully  paid.    In  this  state,  the  ministers  were  forced  to  re- 

'  1575.  main,  till  the  regency  of  the  earl  of  Moray.  In  the  parliament 
held  immediately  after  his  election,  1567,  it  was  enacted  : — 
That  the  thirds  of  the  benefices  should  be  paid  to  collectors 
appointed  by  the  church,  who  should  first  settle  the  stipends 
of  the  ministers,  and  then  account  to  the  exchequer ;  an  im- 
portant alteration  in  favour  of  the  church,  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  Morton,  among  the  first  acts  of  his  regency, 
procured  to  be  abrogated.  But  besides  this,  another  plan, 
which  commenced  during  the  regency  of  the  earl  of  Len- 
nox, had  been  adopted  during  the  regency  of  the  earl  of 
Mar,  for  preventing  the  church  from  receiving  any  ac- 
cession of  funds  from  the  benefices  which  fell  vacant  ; 
and  in  order  to  accomplish  this,  an  innovation  was  intro- 
duced into  the  form  of  her  government,  which  was  after- 
ward productive  of  the  most  mischievous  consequences. 

Churchliv-  As  laymen  could  not  hold  church  livings,  and  their  secu- 
'  larization  was  deemed  rather  too  bold  a  step  to  adopt,  a 
middle  course  was  pursued.  The  hated  titles  were  revived, 
and  bishoprics  and  other  benefices  were  presented  to  such 
ministers  as  could  be  induced  to  accept  them ;  on  condition 
that,  previous  to  their  admission,  they  should  make  over 
the  greater  part  of  the  revenues  to  the  nobleman  who  had 
obtained  the  patronage  of  them  from  court.* 

xin.  The  earl  of  Morton,  who  was  all  along  the  chief  sup- 
porter of  this  plan,  had  obtained  from  the  regent  a  grant  of 
the  temporalities  of  the  see  of  St.  Andrews ;  and  having  pro- 
cured John  Douglas,  rector  of  the  university,  to  be  elected 
archbishop,  he  in  consequence  of  a  private  agreement,  retain- 
ed the  greater  part  of  the  revenues  in  his  own  hands,  allow- 
ing Douglas  but  a  very  slender  stipend.  At  the  meeting  of 
parliament  in  Stirling,  1571,  Douglas  was  admitted  to  a  seat, 
although  the  commissioners  of  the  general  assembly  protest- 
ed against  this  transaction ;  and  the  superintendent  of  Fife 
prohibited  him  to  vote  as  one  of  the  kirk,  till  permitted  by 

*  These  bishops  were  called  Tulchan  bishops.  A  Tulchan  is  a  calf  s  skin 
sniffed  with  straw,  set  up  to  make  the  cow  give  her  milk  freely. 


JAMES  VI.  15 

the  kirk,  under  pain  of  excommunication  ;*  but  the  interest  BOOK 
of  Morton  prevailed  even  over  that  of  the  regent,  who  was 
inclined  to  favour  the  representations  of  the  church,  and  he  1575 
ordered  Davidson  to  vote  as  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
under  pain  of  treason.  A  number  of  the  nobility,  who  ex- 
pected to  derive  similar  advantages  from  the  scheme,  sup- 
ported Morton ;  and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  church,  and  the  strong  remonstrances  and  me- 
morials of  the  barons,  who  were  still  sincerely  attached  to 
the  principles  of  the  reformation,  and  who  refused  even  to 
countenance  by  their  presence,  proceedings  of  which  they 
so  decidedly  disapproved,  the  measure  was  carried  ;  and  bi- 
shoprics and  other  benefices  were  speedily  shared  among 
the  nobility,  and  even  conferred  in  some  instances  upon 
minors.  It  was  during  this  parliament  that  the  earl  of 
Lennox  was  slain,  and  the  earl  of  Mar  succeeded  as  re- 
gent. 

xiv.  The  consequences  of  the  innovating  system  soon  be- 
came apparent.  Letters  were  issued  by  the  new  regent,  pro- 
hibiting the  collectors  appointed  by  the  church  from  gather- 
ing the  thirds  ;  on  which,  Erskine  of  Dun,  the  venerable  su- 
perintendent of  Angus,  a  relation  of  the  regent's,  addressed 
to  him  a  long  urgent  epistle,  protesting  against  this  mandate, 
and  lamenting  the  late  proceedings  at  Stirling.  This,  and 
the  universal  discontent  which  these  proceedings  had  excit- 
ed throughout  the  nation,  induced  the  regent  and  council  to 
call  a  convention  of  the  superintendents,  commissioners,  and 
ministers,  to  meet  at  Leith  in  January,  1572,  to  consult  about 
the  polity  of  the  kirk.  Here,  through  the  influence  of  the 
court,  it  was  agreed  that  the  titles  of  archbishop,  bishop,  and 
other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  should  be  retained,  and  the  Episcopa- 
bounds  of  the  ancient  dioceses  should  not  be  altered  during  cy  revived. 
the  king's  minority.  It  was,  however,  at  the  same  time  re- 
solved, that  all  archbishops  and  bishops  should  enjoy  no 
greater  share  of  power,  andshould  exercise  no  further  jurisdic- 
tion in  their  spiritual  function,  than  the  superintendents  had 
done ;  and  that  they  should  be  equally  subject  to  the  assem- 
blies of  the  church.  In  an  assembly  held  at  Perth,  August, 

*  Calderwood,  p.  48.     Bannatyne,  pp.  24-6,  250,  255,  257,  260,  285. 


J6  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  1572,  the  articles  agreed  on  at  Leith  were  discussed,  and  the 
L  following  resolution  adopted  : — "  Upon  the  said  heads  and 
1575  articles,"  "in  which  [on]  being  considered  and  read,  are 
found  certain  names,  such  as  archbishop,  dean,  archdeacon, 
chancellor,  chapter,  which  names  are  thought  slanderous  and 
offensive  to  the  ears  of  many  of  the  bretheren,  appearing  to 
f  sound  to  papistry : — Therefore,  the  whole  assembly,  in  one 
the  as-  voice,  as  well  those  that  were  in  commission  at  Leith  as 
SCainst  it  ot^ers'  solemnly  protest  that  they  mean  not,  by  using  any 
such  names,  to  ratify,  or  consent  and  agree  to  any  kind  of 
papistry  and  superstition ;  and  wish  rather  the  names  to  be 
changed  into  other  names  that  are  not  scandalous  and  offen- 
sive ;  and,  in  like  manner,  protest  that  the  said  heads  and 
articles  be  only  received  as  an  interim,  till  further  and  more 
perfect  order  may  be  obtained  at  the  hand  of  the  king's  ma- 
jestie's  regent,  and  nobility,  for  which  they  will  press  as  oc- 
casion shall  serve ;  unto  the  which  protestation  the  whole  as- 
sembly convened,  in  one  voice  adhered."*  Thus  was  a  mon- 
grel species  of  episcopacy,  to  which  the  ministers  consented 
only  ad  interim,  and  under  protest,  obtruded  upon  the  church 
of  Scotland,  on  purpose  that  a  rapacious  nobility  might,  un- 
der cover  of  law,  secure  to  themselves  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
venues. It  was  impossible  that  such  an  arrangement  could 
be  acted  on  for  anytime,  without  producing  Animosity,  where 
the  parties  were  constantly  coming  in  contact  with  each  other. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  disputes  immediately  arose, 
and  the  late  appropriation  of  the  thirds  by  Morton,  did  not 
tend  to  allay  them. 

xv.  The  bishops,  although  possessed  of  little  power,  and 
amenable  to  the  assembly  for  their  conduct,  were  objects  of 
suspicion  to  the  majority  of  the  ministers  ;  who  were,  besides, 

•  Calderwood,  p.  58.  Dr.  Cooke  draws  an  inference  from  the  proceedings 
of  this  assembly,  which  I  hardly  think  borne  out  by  the  record.  He  thinks 
that,  at  this  time,  the  church  of  Scotland  must  be  considered  as  having  adopt- 
ed episcopacy,  and  that  upon  rational  grounds,  conformable  to  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation — Hist.  Ch.  of  Scot.  vol.  i.  p.  185.  But  a  temporary 
measure,  adopted  under  protest,  can  scarcely  be  allowed  to  stand  as  one  to 
which  an  assembly  has  agreed.  It  may  have  submitted  from  necessity,  and 
this,  I  apprehend,  is  all  the  church  of  Scotland  ever  did  to  this  pseudo-episco- 
pacy. 


JAMES  VI.  17 

totally  alienated  from  the  government  of  Morton,  by  his  BOOK 
haughtiness,  avarice,  and  despotic  measures ;  they  dreaded 
too,  that  under  his  wings,  his  own  creatures  might  attain  a  1373. 
rank  which  would  once  more  render  them  dangerous  to  the 
church  ;  especially  as  it  was  perfectly  evident  to  all,  that  the 
present  unsettled  state  of  the  ecclesiastical  government  could 
not  long  continue  to  exist.  A  leader  only  was  wanted  to 
systematize  their  opposition,  and  such  an  one  was  found  in  Andrew 
Andrew  Melville.  He  was  a  man  of  profound  erudition,  Melville, 
and  immoveable  intrepidity  ;  keen,  ardent,  and  perhaps 
sometimes  rash  in  the  prosecution  of  his  measures,  but  of 
unsuspected  integrity,  and  eminent  piety.  He  had  spent  a 
considerable  part  of  his  youth  in  Geneva,  whence  he  lately 
returned  with  the  highest  testimonials.  Beza,  in  a  letter  to 
the  general  assembly,  described  him  as  one,  "equally  dis- 
tinguished by  his  piety  and  his  erudition,"  and  added,  "  that 
the  church  of  Geneva  could  not  give  a  stronger  proof  of  af- 
fection to  her  sister  of  Scotland,  than  by  suffering  herself  to 
be  bereaved  of  him,  that  his  native  country  might  be  enrich- 
ed with  his  gifts."  On  his  arrival,  he  was  courted  by  the 
earl  of  Morton,  and  offered  an  office  in  his  family,  the  re- 
fusal of  which,  tended  perhaps  to  heighten  his  influence  in 
the  church.  A  great  admirer  of  the  polity  of  the  Genevan 
church,  he  soon  began  to  discover  his  disapprobation  of  the 
late  innovations  introduced  into  that  of  Scotland ;  and  find- 
ing the  views  of  a  number  of  the  ministers  congenial  with 
his  own,  he  seized  every  opportunity  to  express  them. 

xvi.  In  the  general  assembly  which  met,  August  1575,  Report  t* 
John  Drury,  having  expressed  his  objections  as  to  the  law- 
fulness  of  the  office  of  bishop,  Melville,  in  a  powerful  speech, 
seconded  all  his  objections  ^  and  the  question  was  immediate- 
ly proposed,  whether  bishops,  as  they  now  are  in  Scotland, 
have  their  function  in  the  Word  of  God  or  not ;  and  whe- 
ther the  chapters  appointed  for  electing  them,  ought  to  be 
tolerated  in  a  Reformed  church?  The  consideration  of 
these  being  referred  to  a  committee,  after  two  days  they 
presented  their  report,  waving  the  first  part  of  the  question, 
but  stating  as  their  opinion,  that  if  unfit  persons  were  cho- 
sen as  bishops,  they  ought  to  be  tried  anew,  and  deposed  by 
the  general  assembly ;  and  farther  reported  on  the  follow- 

VOL.   III.  D 


18  .  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  ing  points,  respecting  the  office  of  a  bishop,  or  superinten- 
I.  dent : — that  the  name  of  bishop  is  common  to  all  ministers 
1575.  appointed  to  take  charge  of  a  particular  flock,  and  that  his 
function  consisted  of  preaching,  administering  the  sacra- 
ments, and  exercising  ecclesiastical  discipline  with  the  con- 
sent of  his  elders;  that  from  among  these,  some  one  might 
be  chosen  to  oversee  and  visit  such  reasonable  bounds,  be- 
On  the  of-  side  his  own  flock,  as  the  general  assembly  should  appoint, 
fice  of  bi-  having  power  to  appoint  preachers,  with  the  consent  of  the 
ministers,  within  their  respective  bounds,  and  of  the  flocks 
to  which  they  might  be  admitted ;  and  that  they  might  sus- 
pend ministers  from  the  exercise  of  their  office  for  just  causes, 
with  the  consent  of  the  brethren  of  that  district.  There 
were  six  bishops  in  the  assembly,  but  they  all  remained  si- 
lent, nor  offered  a  word  in  defence  of  their  office  when  the 
report  was  presented ;  the  further  consideration  of  which 
was  deferred  until  next  meeting  of  assembly.  In  this  man- 
ner arose  two  parties  in  the  church,  which  were  afterward  to 
convulse  the  state ;  and  the  history  of  whose  struggles  for 
ascendency  is  so  deeply  interwoven  with  the  civil  history 
of  Scotland  for  the  next  century,  that  it  is  impossible  to  un- 
derstand the  one,  without  in  some  measure  being  acquaint- 
ed with  the  other. 

xvii.  While  Morton  was  enriching  himself  at  the  expense 
of  the  church,  and  impolitically  estranging  from  his  interest, 
a  body  of  men  whose  influence  was  at  that  time  extensive ; 
dreading  no  rival,  he,  at  the  same  time,  behaved  towards 
the  nobility  and  gentry  in  such  a  manner,  as  plainly  evinced 
that  he  considered  his  power  too  secure  to  be  shaken  ;  and 
that  the  dignity  of  the  noblest  in  the  land,  would  not  ex- 
empt them  from  feeling  its  effects.  His  extortions  and  op- 
Morton  at-  pression,  as  long  as  they  were  confined  to  the  middling 
nobles.  *  ran^s»  nad  occasioned  much  discontent,  but  no  serious  re- 
sistance ;  and  he  thence  falsely  imagined  that  he  might  with 
equal  impunity,  attack  the  privileges  of  a  proud  aristocracy. 
But  the  event  proved  upon  how  frail  a  foundation  the  fa- 
bric of  his  grandeur  was  erected.  His  first  attempt  was 
upon  John  Semple  of  Bil trees,  and  Adam  Winford  of  Milne- 
ton,  his  treatment  of  whom  contributed  not  a  little  to 
heighten  the  general  indignation,  and  awaken  the  fears  of 


JAMES  VI.  19 

the  nobles ;  particularly,  as  it  was  believed  that  the  for- 
feiture of  lord  John  Hamilton,  of  Aberbrothick,  and 
his  brother  Claude,  was  what  was  ultimately  aimed  at.  " 
Mary  Livingston,  one  of  queen  Mary's  maids  of  ho- 
nour, had  received  a  gift  of  some  lands  from  her  royal  mi&- 
tress,  and  these  Morton  wished  to  restore  to  the  crown ; 
w.hich,  when  Semplej  to  whom  she  was  married,  understood, 
he  unguardedly  exclaimed  : — "  If  he  lost  the  lands,  he 
should  lose  his  head  also."  This  speech  being  reported  to 
the  regent,  who  had  heard  some  vague  surmise  of  a  conspi- 
racy by  lords  John  and  Claude  Hamilton,  to  assassinate 
him,  immediately  apprehended  Semple,  and  put  him  to  the 
torture;  on  which  he  confessed — as  common  minds  in  such 
circumstances  are  apt  to  do — whatever  he  was  desired ;  and 
on  his  own  confession  was  condemned,  but  was  pardoned 
at  the  scaffold.  His  uncle,  Milneton,  was  also  apprehend- 
ed and  put  to  the  torture.  He,  however,  constantly  denied 
having  been  acquainted  with  any  such  plot,  and  after  being 
cruelly  mangled,  was  set  free.  His  firmness  gained  credit  to 
his  testimony,  while  the  confession  of  his  nephew  was  wholly 
disregarded,  as  being  extorted  from  his  weakness,  by  the 
extremity  of  his  pain. 

xvin.  The  regent's  next  attack  was  yet  more  prejudicial 
to  his  power.     The  Scottish  nobles  were  little  accustomed 
in  that  age  to  obey  the  law ;  and  their  kings  were  often  un- 
der the  necessity  of  overlooking,  what  it  might  have  been 
dangerous  to  attempt  to  punish.     Argyle  and  Athol  were 
two  of  the  most  powerful,  and  a  feud  had  arisen  between 
them,  from  a  trifling,  but  very  common  occurrence ;  which, 
in  the  circumstances  in  which  Morton  stood,  had  he  known  par^i^ 
his  real  situation,  he  might  easily  have  rendered  conducive  ly  Argyle 
to  the  stability  of  his  government ;  by  following  the  insi-  auheVjme* 
dious,  but  safe   policy,   so  often  practised  by  the  Scottish  at  variance, 
monarchs,  of  aiding  the  least  powerful,  and  weakening  the 
one  most  to  be  dreaded ;  or  by  allowing  them  first  to  waste 
their  strength   in   mutual    slaughter,  and    then   effectually 
humbling  both.     One  Maccallum,  a  vassal  of  Argyle's,  and 
a  notorious  robber,  had  committed  some   depredations  in 
Athol,  in  the  course  of  which,  he  was  apprehended  by  the 
earl,  but  pardoned  at  the  request  of  Argyle.     Continuing 


20  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  however,  the  same  practices,  Athol  demanded  that  he  should 
!•  be  delivered  up  to  punishment,  which  the  other  refusing, 
J575.  he  took  arms  to  enforce  his  demand,  and  Argyle  also  arm- 
ed to  resist  it.  Both  were  proceeding  to  extremities,  when 
the  regent  interposed,  and  compelled  them  to  disband  their 
forces.  In  common  cases,  the  affair  would  have  ended  here ; 
but  Morton  had  determined  to  found  on  their  illegal  pro- 
ceedings, a  charge  of  treason,  and  confiscate  their  estates. 
Who  unite  The  parties  however,  having  obtained  information  of  his 
Mm!"  design,  were,  through  the  intervention  of  friends,  reconcil- 
ed ;  and  by  their  union,  perceiving  themselves  sufficiently 
strong  to  set  him  at  defiance,  refused  to  obey  his  summons. 
To  defiance  Argyle  added  contempt ;  for  shortly  after,  hav- 
ing received  some  affront  from  clan-Donald,  he  again  took 
arms,  and  on  being  again  charged  to  disband  his  forces.,  he 
not  only  refused  to  obey,  but  maltreated  the  messenger,  tore 
his  letters,  and  forced  him,  and  the  witnesses  by  whom  he 
was  accompanied,  to  swear  that  they  would  never  return  in- 
to the  county  of  Argyle  upon  a  similar  errand.  As  this 
took  place  in  the  beginning  of  winter,  the  regent,  although 
highly  incensed,  could  do  nothing  but  resolve  to  proclaim  him 
rebel.  Mutual  danger,  in  the  meantime,  had  united  the  two 
earls;  yet  though  they  considered  themselves  safe  from 
Morton's  vengeance,  they  never  could  forgive  his  intention 
of  acting  with  them  according  to  law,  and  ceased  not  to 
pursue  him  with  implacable  revenge,  till  they  finally  effected 
his  ruin ;  the  more  remote  causes  of  which,  it  is  now  neces- 
sary to  explain. 

xix.  Engaged  entirely  in  the  cares  of  government,  or 
Causes  of  'n  plans  °f  personal  aggrandizement,  Morton  had  almost 
Morton's  wholly  forgotten  that  there  was  a  king;  or  that  it  was  at  all 
necessary  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  the  boy,  by  paying 
any  attention  to  those  who  were  placed  around  him.  The 
prince,  during  his  infancy,  had  been  committed  to  the  charge 
of  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  had  resided  securely  in  Stirling 
castle,  while  the  different  parties  were  striving  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  his  person.  The  chief  superintendence  of  his 
education  was  intrusted  to  Alexander  Erskine,  brother  of 
the  earl  of  Mar,  upon  whom  the  governorship  of  that  for- 


3RARY. 


JAMES  VI. 


tress  devolved  at  the  earl's  death ;  and  when  James  attained    BOOK 
the  fourth  year  of  his  age,  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of        *• 
George  Buchanan,  with  whom  were  associated  Peter  Young,      1575. 
and  David  and  Adam   Erskine,  the  two   commendators  of 
Cambuskenneth  and  Dryburgh,  both  related  to  the  noble 
family  of  Mar — tutors,  the   best  the   nation  could  afford, 
either  for  the  cultivation  of  the  mind,  or  of  those  bodily  ex- 
ercises, which  were  deemed  necessary  royal  accomplishments 
in  that  age.     The  king  was  now  in  his  twelfth  year,  and  his  His  neglect 
mind,  like  a  light  soil,  by  the  luxuriance  of  its  premature  of  Jame»> 
vegetation,  gave  promise  of  a  harvest  which  was  never  to 
ripen.     He  had  discovered  an  aptitude  for  the  languages, 
and  had,  through  the  assiduous  attention  of  his  preceptors, 
acquired  a  share  of  general  knowledge,  very  seldom  the  at- 
tainment of  boys  of  his  age.*     He  had  besides,  an  imposing 
fluency  of  expression,  which  appeared  to  casual  visitors    to 
exhibit  symptoms  of  talents,  superior  to  what  he  in  reality 
possessed.     His  teachers  were  highly  gratified  at  his  profi- 
ciency, and   the  nation   delighted    with  the  prospect  of  a 
young  sovereign,  who  seemed   to  their  fond  imaginations 
formed  to  reign. 

xx.  Courtiers  generally  worship  the  rising  sun,  as  soon 
as  his  first  rays  begin  to  appear  above  the  horizon,  even 
when  the  legal  prince  and  the  parent  is  upon  the  throne ; 
but  when  a  regent  holds  the  sway,  this  assiduity  is  naturally 
redoubled,  and  he  who  knows  that  he  must  quit  his  eleva- 
tion in  a  few  years,  ought  never  to  forget,  that  at  best  it  is 
painful  to  descend ;  and,  therefore,  endeavour  betimes  to 
smooth  the  declivity.  But  Morton  thought  this  event  far 
distant.  While  others  were  cultivating  the  affections  of  the  and  f . . 
royal  youth,  or  endeavouring  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  preceptors 
his  preceptors,  he  alone  seems  to  have  stood  aloof;  and  not 
only  not  to  have  endeavoured  to  conciliate,  but  rather  by 
personal  injuries,  to  estrange  them.  The  story  that  Mel- 

*  Mr.  James  Melville,  who  was  admitted  to  see  the  young  king  in  the  ninth 
year  of  his  age,  speaks  of  him  in  raptures,  as  "  the  switest  sight  in  Europe  that 
day,  for  strange  and  extraordinar  gifts  of  engyne,  judgement,  memorie,  and 
language.  I  heard  him  discourse,  walking  up  and  down  in  the  auld  lady  Mar's 
hand,  of  knawlege  and  ignorance,  to  my  grait  marvel  and  astonishment." 
M'Crie'a  Life  of  Andrew  Melville,  vol.  i.  p.  65. 


22  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  ville  tells,  however,  respecting  Buchanan's   irritation,   does 
*•        not  accord  well  with  the   character  of  "a   Stoick  philoso- 
1575.      pher,"*  which  he  had  given  him  only  a  few  paragraphs  be- 
fore ;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  the   tyrannical  govern- 
ment of  the  regent,  had  alienated  the  affections  of  a  man  who 
bore  such  a  decided  hatred  to  oppression ;  and  it  is  evident 
his  supercilious  carelessness  hurt   the  pride  of  the  others, 
who,  from  the  situations  they  held,  naturally  expected  both 
marks  of  favour  and  emolument. 

xxi.  These  discontents  had  been  long  cherished  in  secret ;. 
but  the  apparent  hopelessness  of  effecting  any  change,  till 
the  king  was  able  to  assume  the  reins  of  government  into  his 
own  hands,  had  hitherto  prevented  their  breaking  out  into 
.open  action.  The  opposition  of  two  such  powerful  noble- 
men, as  the  earls  of  Argyle  and  Athol,  to  the  existing  go- 
vernment, afforded  an  opportunity  which  was  immediately 
seized.  No  sooner  was  it  known  that  they  were  reconciled 
to  each  other,  than  sir  Alexander  Erskine  opened  a  negoti- 
ation with  them,,  and  allowed  them  to  enter  secretly  into  the 
castle,  and  the  king's  presence.  Argyle  came  first,  and  ex- 
Athol  ad.  hibited  to  James  a  miserable  picture  of  the  wretched  state 
muted  to  Qf  ^e  countrVj  occasioned  by  the  mismanagement  and  se- 
verity of  Morton's  administration.  He  complained  of  the 
extreme  rigour  with  which  he  himself  had  been  treated,  in 
being  denounced  as  a  rebel,  though  his  loyalty  had  ever 
been  unimpeachable ;  and  requested  his  majesty  to  do  him 
justice,  by  assembling  a  council  of  the  nobles,  and  ordering 
his  cause  to  be  legally  investigated ;  and  in  the  meanwhile, 
entreated  to  be  allowed  to  remain  with  his  majesty  till  the 
day  of  trial.  Athol  shortly  after  arrived,  as  had  been  pre- 
concerted, and  was  introduced  to  the  king,  who  immediate- 
ly informed  him  of  Argyle's  complaint,  and  requested  his  ad- 

*  "  Mr.  George  [Buchanan]  was/'  he  says,  "  a  Stoick  philosopher,  who 
looked  not  far  before  him."  "  He  was  also  religious."  "  He  became  the  earl 
of  Morton's  great  enemy,  for  that  a  nag  of  his  chanced  to  be  taken  from  his 
servant,  during  the  civil  troubles,  and  was  bought  by  the  regent,  who  had  no 
will  to  part  with  the  said  horse,  he  was  so  sure-footed  and  so  easy,  that  albeit 
Mr.  George  had  ofttimes  required  him  again,  he  could  not  get  him.  And 
therefore,  though  he  had  been  the  regent's  great  friend  before,  he  became  his 
mortal  enemy,  and  from  that  time  forth,  spoke  evil  of  him  in  all  places,  and 
on  all  occasions."  Melville's  Memoirs,  p.  250. 


JAMES  VI.  23 

vice.     He,  as  if  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  whole  busi-    BOOK 
ness,   replied,  that  he  thought  the  earl's  petition   perfectly        *• 
reasonable,  and  that  in  the  present  state  of  the  nation,  it      1575. 

would  be  highly  expedient  to  call  a  council  of  the  nobles.  Advise  him 

'       „  to  call  a 

This  advice,  so  flattering  to  a  boy  of  twelve,  as  it  seemed  to  council  of 

promise  him  the  immediate  exercise  of  sovereignty,  delight-  his  nobles- 

ed  James  ;  he  readily  complied  with  all  that  they  desired, 

and  ordered  letters  to  be  written  to  summon  an  assembly, 

committing  to  the  two  earls  the  charge  of  despatching  them. 

They  took  care  however,  that  none  should  be  summoned  but 

»  their  own  friends,  and  such  as  they  knew  were  inimical  to 

\  Morton  ;  among  whom  were  lord  Maxwell,  who  had  lately 

}  been  warden  of  the  west  marches,  but  was  then  confined  in 

Blackness  castle,  and  lord  Ogilvy,  who  was  prisoner  on  pa- 

role, in  the  city  of  St.  Andrews. 

xxi'i.  No  sooner  was  the  regent  apprised  of  Argyle  and 
Athol's  having  received  admission  to  the  king,  and  that  an 
assembly  of  the  nobles  had  been  called,  under  pretext  of 
trying  the  cause  of  Argyle,  than  he  despatched  the  earl  of 
Angus,  lord  Glammis,  the  chancellor,  and  lord  Ruthven, 
treasurer,  with  a  message  to  the  king,  informing  him  of  the 
outrage  which  Argyle  had  committed  against  his  authority, 
and  of  his  legal  combination  with  Athol  to  disturb  the  public  Morton's 


peace,  and  desired  to  know  his  majesty's  pleasure  as  to  the  ^ 

conduct  he  should  pursue  ;  adding,  in  a  tone  which  seemed 

to  carry  the  appearance  of  a  threat,   that  if  his  highness 

would  allow  the  law  to  take  its  course,  he  was  prepared  to 

do  his  duty;  but  if  he  chose  to  overlook  their  disobedience, 

and  suffer  his  royal  name  and  authority  to  be  trampled  on 

in  the  person  of  his  servant,  he  hoped  his  highness  would 

be  pleased  to  relieve  him  from  the  toils  of  office  ;   in  which 

case,  he  recommended  the  preservation  of  peace  with  Eng- 

land, and  concluded  his  letter  with  a  long  enumeration  of 

the  services  he  had  rendered  the  king  from  his  birth  till 

then,  only  requesting,  in  return,  to  have  a  full  approbation 

of  his  conduct  ratified  by  the  estates.     A  great  number  of 

noblemen  having  attended  at  Stirling,  in  consequence  of  the 

king's   summons,    Morton's  letter  was  laid  before    them  ; 

when  it  was  determined  that  his  offer  of  resignation   should  is  accepted. 

be  accepted,  and  that  the  king  should  take  the  administra- 


24  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND, 

BOOK     t*on  °f  g°vernment  into  his  own  hands.      The  same   day  an 
I.         express  was  sent  to  the  regent,  informing  him  of  this  deter- 
I575       mination. 

xxni.  Morton,  when  too  late,  saw  the  error  he  had  com- 
mitted, and  endeavoured  to  retrieve  it..  He  immediately 
despatched  the  earl  of  Whittingham,  to  request  the  king, 
before  he  made  any  alteration  in  the  officers  of  state,  to  ef- 
James  as  ^ect  ^e  reconciliation  of  such  noblemen  as  were  then  at  va-v 
sumes  the  riance ;  hoping  by  this  means  to  procure,  at  least,  some  de- 
lay ;  but  it  was  of  no  avail, — lord  Glammis,  the  chancellor, 
and  lord  Herries,  were  sent  with  a  written  notification  of  the 
king's  determination,  by  the  advice  of  his  nobles,  to  assume 
the  government  himself,  and  requiring  him  to  give  in  his  de- 
mission formally  in  writing ;  and  at  the  same  time,  to  send 
to  the  king  the  form  of  discharge  which  he  wished  to  be 
granted,  that  his  majesty  might  lay  it  before  his  council  for 
their  deliberation ;  assuring  him  that  he  should  be  treated 
in  the  most  gracious  manner.  The  king  accompanied  this 
mandate  with  an  affectionate  epistle  written  in  his  own  hand, 
in  which  he  declared,  that  it  was  only  "  because  he  saw  no 
other  way  to  maintain  concord  among  his  subjects,  he  had 
accepted  the  government,  and  that  he  was  confident  to  have 
the  defects  of  his  age  and  experience  supplied  by  his  nobi- 
lity ;  especially  by  himself,  whom  he  would  ever  love,  and 
acknowledge  as  his  trusty  cousin,  most  tender  to  him  by 
blood,  and  one  of  his  true  and  faithful  counsellors."* 

xxiv.  Unable  to  breast  the  torrent  which  set  in  so  strongly 
against  him,  Morton  yielded  to  the  tide,  and  assisted  in  person 
at  publishing  theproclamation  in  Edinburgh,  which  announced 
"Morton's  the  king's  assumption  of  the  government.  His  friends  were 
conduct  not  more  amazed  than  grieved  at  the  facility  with  which  he 
resigned  his  power  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies;  for  they 
did  not  consider  the  king  as  yet  capable  of  acting  but  under 
direction,  and  maintained  that  no  power,  except  the  estates, 
could  deprive  him  of  the  regency,  till  the  term  they  had  al- 
lotted was  expired.  In  particular,  lord  Boyd,  one  of  his 
most  intimate  friends,  who  only  arrived  a  few  hours  after  he 
had  sent  in  his  resignation,  strongly  expostulated  with  him 

•  Spotswood  says,  "  These  be  the  words  of  the  letter." 


JAMES  VI.  25 

on  the  impolicy  of  his  conduct,   and   for  not  having  previ-    BOOK 
ously  consulted  with  his  adherents ;  reminding  him  that  there        *• 
was  no  medium  for  a  falling  statesman,  between  supreme      j57q 
power  and  utter  ruin ;  that  if  he  flattered  himself  he  would 
find  it  otherwise, — that  he  would  be  able  to  descend  with-  Blamed  by 
out  danger  to  the  ease  and  tranquillity  of  a  private  life,  h'8  frieBlis- 
he  would  find  himself  sorely  mistaken,  in  imagining  a  rest 
that  he  would  never  see.     Had  he  kept  his  place,  he  con- 
tinued,  his    friends   would   have   rallied  around    him,    and 
frustrated  the  designs  of  his  enemies ;  but  now,  having  de- 
serted  his  own   cause,    there   remained    nothing  for    them 
but  to  lament  the  misfortune  they  could  not  remedy ;  and 
adding  the  prophetic  wish  of: — "  God  grant  that  this  be  the 
worst  of  things,"    he  turned  aside    and    burst  into    tears. 
The  regent  endeavoured  to  justify  his  conduct,  by  urging 
the  king's  letter,  and   the  commotions  which   would  have 
arisen  in  the  nation,  had  he  refused  to  comply ;  yet,  in  secret, 
he  blamed  his  own  precipitancy,  and  now  he  had  left  him- 
self no  room  to  retract.     He  therefore  sent  the  earl  of  An- 
gus and  lord  Glammis,  to  give  in  to  his  majesty  his  formal 
resignation,  and  received  in  return,  a  general  approbation  of  Qbtaing  a 
his  conduct  from  the  king,  and  a  full  pardon,  in  the  most  deed  of 
ample  form  ;  declaring  him  incapable  of  being  accused  or  appro 
brought   to    trial    for   any    crime,    of  whatever    weight   or 
magnitude,     without    exception,     which     might    hereafter 
be   alleged    against  him  ;    and  granting    him    a    complete 
discharge    for    all    his    intromissions    with    money,    rents, 
property,   or  casualties,  which  had  taken  place  during  his 
regency.     This  instrument  was  expressed  in  the  strongest 
language,  and  declared  to  be  irrevocable ;  the  nobility,  who 
surrounded  the  king,  pledging  themselves,  under  a  penalty 
of  five  hundred  thousand  pounds,  to  procure  a  confirmation 
of  the  deed  at  the  first  meeting  of  parliament.     A  coun- 
cil  was,   in  consequence,   immediately  appointed  to  sit    at 
Edinburgh,   to  manage    the  administration  of  affairs,  and 
Morton    retired    to    the    quiet   of  Lochleven,    "  making," 
says   sir  James  Melville,   "  the  walks  of  his  garden  even, 
his  mind,  in  the  mean  time,  employed  in  crooked  paths."* 

'  Melville,  p.  252. 
VOL.  III.  E 


26  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  xxv.  Whether  the  regent  had  begun  to  perceive  that 
*•  he  had  carried  matters  too  far — for  it  is  evident  he  only 
1S78.~~  wished  to  introduce  as  much  of  episcopacy  as  would  enable 
him  to  manage  the  churchmen  easily,  and  retain  the  church 
property  he  had  acquired — or  whether  he  perceived  any 
symptoms  of  dissatisfaction — the  precursors  of  that  storm 
which  afterward  burst  so  unexpectedly  upon  his  head — he  al- 
lowed the  ministers  to  proceed  with  comparatively  little  dis- 
turbance, in  humbling  the  bishops,  and  introducing  that 
form  of  church  polity  which  they  conceived  more  consonant 
Affairs  of  to  the  scriptures.*  In  the  first  assembly,  1576,  the  ques- 
thechurch.  t;on  respecting  the  function  of  bishops  was  again  introduced, 
when  their  equality  was  again  affirmed  ;  and  in  order  that 
the  abstract  proposition  should  not  remain  a  dead  letter,  it 
was  determined  that  every  bishop  should  take  charge  of  a 
particular  congregation.  Nor  was  the  judicial  pow«r  of  the 
general  assembly  over  them  allowed  to  slumber.  James 
Paton,  bishop  of  Dunkeld,  having  been  convicted  of  alie- 
nating the  revenues  of  his  see,  was  deposed.  Paton  appeal- 
ing from  the  sentence  of  the  assembly,  to  parliament,  a  de- 
putation was  sent  to  represent  their  proceeding  to  the  re- 
gent, who  returned  for  answer,  that  he  entirely  approved  of 
their  conduct  ;f  but  desired  that  some  uniform  rule  for 
procedure  in  such  cases  in  future,  should  be  established  ; 
either  that  they  would  adopt  the  articles  settled  on  at  Leith 
as  their  standard,  or  devise  some  new  form  of  government 
by  which  they  would  abide.  The  assembly  chose  the  latter 
alternative,  and  informed  him  that  they  should,  without  de- 
lay, take  the  subject  into  their  consideration,  and  draw  up  a 
scheme  of  church  polity  which  they  would  submit  to  the 
council  for  their  approbation.  For  this  purpose  they  imme- 
diately appointed  four  committees ;  one  for  the  west,  to  meet 

*  Morton  appears,  about  this  time,  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of  buying 
off  the  most  popular  leaders.  He  offered  Andrew  Melville  the  rich  living  of 
Govan,  if  he  would  desist  from  his  opposition  to  the  bishops ;  but  the  purpose 
of  Melville  was  not  to  be  shaken,  and  with  a  disinterestedness  which  unfor- 
tunately, even  among  good  men  is  more  applauded  than  imitated,  he  prefer, 
red  his  integrity  with  a  small  income,  to  a  larger  where  the  least  compromise 
of  principle  was  involved.  He  procured,  however,  the  gift  for  the  college  of 
Glasgow. 

f  Calderwood,  p.  70. 


JAMES  VI.  27 

in  Glasgow  ;  another  for  Lothian,  in  Edinburgh  ;  the  third    BOOK 
for  Angus,  Montrose ;  and  the  fourth  for  Fife,  St.  Andrews ; 
and  these,  after  deliberating  separately,  were  each  to  depute      1578. 
one  or  two  of  their  number  to  meet  at  Stirling,  and  after  a 
conference,  to  draw  up  the  result  in  a  report  to  the  next  ge- 
neral assembly. 

xxvi.  There  is  scarcely  on  earth  a  more  desolate  being 
than  a  fallen  minister  of  state,  if  he  do  not  carry  with  him, 
in  his  retirement,  the  blessings  of  the  people  and  the  favour 
of  the  good.  The  minions  who  basked  in  his  sunshine  are 
the  first  to  desert  him,  and  it  is  the  interest  of  those  who 
have  wrought  his  disgrace  to  prevent  his  ever  attaining  the 
power  of  recovery-  It  was  not  long  before  Morton  began 
to  feel  this.  His  enemies  were  not  satisfied  with  his  remo- 
val from  office ;  and  notwithstanding  their  solemn  engage- 
ments, they  even,  before  he  retired  to  Lochleven,  began  to  The 
show  that  thev  had  no  serious  intention  of  observing  their  mature  de. 

A        f 

agreement.  They  urged  the  king  to  demand  the  surrender  Moan's 
of  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  of  which  he  was  still  possessed  ;  opponents, 
a  sum  of  money,  to  defray  the  expense  attendant  on  his  ma- 
jesty's assuming  the  government;  to  call  him  to  an  account 
for  his  management  of  the  mint,  and  the  profits  he  had  de- 
rived from  it ;  to  institute  a  strict  inquiry  into  the  state  of 
the  borders,  and  his  nephew,  the  earl  of  Angus,  to  be  de- 
prived of  the  wardenship.  Morton  at  first  hesitated  re- 
specting the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  appeared  as  if  he  in- 
tended to  defend  it;  but  a  convoy  of  provisions,  which  he 
was  sending  to  supply  the  place,  being  intercepted  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  he  delivered  it  up  without  resis- 
tance to  lords  Ruthven  and  Lindsay,  who  took  possession 
»f  the  royal  apartments,  and  the  jewels  of  the  crown ;  Seton 
of  Touch,  and  Cunningham  of  Drumwhassil,  at  the  same 
time,  receiving  the  keys  of  the  gates.  He  however,  absolutely 
declined  to  advance  any  money,  alleging  that  he  had  sustain- 
ed the  expense  of  the  civil  war ;  that  he  had  repaired  and 
beautified  the  castles  and  palaces  belonging  to  the  king, 
and  supported  the  royal  household  and  the  dignity  of  the 
regency,  for  which  the  revenue  of  the  crown  was  ina- 
dequate ;  yet,  when  his  majesty  came  of  age,  he  said  he 
would,  without  hesitation,  devote  his  fortune  to  support  his 


28  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  honour.    With  respect  to  the  mint  and  the  borders,  in  reply 

I-  to  the  demands,  he  left  them  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 

~7&78.  king. 
Stimulate        xxvn.  The  confederate  nobles,  trusting  too  much  to  the 

him  to  re-  facyjty  witjj  wnich  they  had  deprived  Morton  of  the  re- 
gain 1118  J  L 

power.  gency,  thus  prematurely  destroyed  any  degree  ot  confi- 
dence he  might  have  felt  disposed  to  place  in  their  ho- 
nour or  promises.  He  now  saw  there  remained  for  him 
no  hope  of  safety,  but  in  a  situation  beyond  the  reach 
of  his  enemies  ;  and  he  determined,  if  he  could  not  re- 
gain the  rank  he  formerly  held,  at  least  to  regain  the 
power.  In  this  determination,  he  was  confirmed  by  an  un- 
fortunate casualty,  which  occasioned  universal  grief,  and 
placed  the  high  office  of  chancellor,  to  the  great  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  nation,  in  the  hands  of  a  papist.  Lord  Glammis, 
on  his  return  from  his  last  mission  to  Morton,  in  going  to 
report  the  issue  to  the  king,  followed  by  a  numerous  train, 
accidentally  encountered,  in  a  narrow  lane,  the  earl  of 
Crawford  similarly  attended.  The  two  earls,  between  whom 
some  quarrel  subsisted,  passed  each  other  in  silence ;  but 
their  retainers  were  not  so  quietly  disposed,  and  a  scuffle 
Earl  of  ensuing,  the  chancellor  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  pistol 
Crawford  ball.  He  was  a  man  of  unblemished  character,  and  in  the 
situation  he  held,  had  secured  the  esteem  of  all  parties  by 
his  moderation.  Athol  was  appointed  his  successor;  and 
the  earls  of  Caithness,  Eglinton,  and  lord  Ogilvie,  were  at 
the  same  time  chosen  members  of  the  council,  all  of  whom 
were  strongly  suspected  of  being  either  papists  or  favourers 
of  popery ;  a  circumstance  which  the  protestants  viewed 
with  a  jealous  eye,  and  compared  with  the  conduct  of  Mor- 
ton, who  never  committed  any  places  of  trust  to  either  pro- 
fessed papists  or  suspected  persons.* 

xxviii.  In  his  retreat,  styled  by  the  people,  the  lion's 
den,-}-  the  ex-regent,  who  was  meditating  schemes  of  ambi- 
tion, was  no  inattentive  observer  of  the  changes  which  were 
taking  place,  and  the  revolution  in  men's  sentiments  with 
regard  to  himself;  and  deeming  the  crisis  favourable,  he 
created,  at  least  took  advantage  of  some  jealousies  which 

•  Spotswood,  p.  28.'5.  t  Robertson. 


JAMES  VI.  29 

had  sprung  up  in  the  Mar  family,  and  left  his  retreat  once    BOOK 
more  to  appear  on  the  theatre  of  action.     The  abbots  of 
Dryburgh  and  Cambuskenneth  fearing,  or  affecting  to  fear,      1578. 
that  Alexander  Erskine  meant  to  retain  the  sole  superinten-  ^?rl  °^ 
dence  of  the  royal  person,  even  after  the  earl,  his  nephew,  tains  pos- 
now  a  youth  of  twenty,  had  come  of  age,   inspired  young  g"*]?™  ol 
Mar  with  a  similar  suspicion;  on  which  he  repaired  sud- Castle  and 

denlv  to  Stirling,  and  being  admitted   as  usual  with  his  at-  the  kmg:  * 

*         .  .  .  person, 

tendants  into  the  castle,  seized  the  gates  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  turning  out  his  uncle,  who  dreaded  no  danger, 
placed  new  guards  upon  the  gates,  and  made  the  garrison 
swear  fidelity.  The  soldiers  without  hesitation  submitted, 
and  thus  he  obtained  an  easy  and  bloodless  possession,  both 
of  the  king's  person  and  of  the  fortress. 

xxix.  No  sooner  were  the  council,  who  remained  at  Ed- 
inburgh, apprised  of  this  unexpected  event,  than  they  pre- 
pared to  set  out  for  Stirling,  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh 
offering  to  furnish  them  with  a  guard;  but  their  advance 
was  prohibited  by  letters  from  the  king,  who  informed  them, 
that  what  had  taken  place,  was  only  in  consequence  of  some 
private  dissensions  among  the  Mar  family,  which  would 
easily  be  adjusted  ;  and  required  them  to  come  in  a  few 
days,  without  any  armed  attendants,  to  Stirling,  and  assist  at 
the  reconciliation.  This  injunction  was  immediately  obey- 
ed ;  and  shortly  after,  a  council  met  at  Stirling,  where  it 
was  agreed,  that  the  earl  of  Mar,  being  now  of  age,  should 
retain  the  castle,  and  personally  attend  upon  the  king ;  and 
that  his  uncle  Alexander,  the  master  of  Mar,  should  con- 
tinue captain  of  that  of  Edinburgh,  but  enjoy  free  access  at 
all  times  to  his  majesty. 

xxx.  In  their  momentary  exultation,    Morton's  enemies 
had  summoned  a  parliament  to  meet  at  Edinburgh  in  the 
month  of  July      The  king  and  his  advisers,  however,  called  CalJ 
a  council  of  the  nobility  to  assemble  previously  at  Stirling,  council. 
on  the  10th  of  June,  to  arrange  the  business  to  be  laid  be- 
fore parliament,  ana  to  which  the  king,  by  special  letter^ 
invited  Morton.     Morton,  who  was  amusing  the  council  at 
Edinburgh  with  a  pretended  negotiation,  immediately  obey- 
ed the  expected  invitation  ;  and  setting  out  at  midnight,  was 


BOOK 
I. 

1578. 
Morton 
appointed 

president. 


Dissen- 
sions. 


30 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


admitted  by  Murray  of  Tullibardine  into  Stirling  castle. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  nobles,  he  was  chosen  president  from 
respect  to  the  situation  he  formerly  held  ;  and  managing  with 
dexterity  the  advantages  he  had  obtained,  soon  possessed  his 
former  ascendency  among  the  immediate  counsellors  of  the 
king.  As  it  would  have  been  highly  imprudent  to  have  car- 
ried the  young  king  to  a  place  entirely  devoted  to  the  op- 
posite faction,  a  proclamation  was  issued  in  his  name,  chang- 
ing the  place  of  meeting  from  Edinburgh  to  Stirling  castle; 
"  because  his  majesty  was  anxious  to  be  present  in  person, 
and  could  not  with  propriety  remove  from  his  usual  resi- 
dence." 

xxxi.  The  nobles  of  the  opposite  party,  who  had  always 
considered  Morton  as  the  author  of  this  sudden  revolution, 
although  he  had  not  hitherto  appeared  in  any  of  its  move- 
ments, now  began  openly  to  express  their  dissatisfaction  ; 
and  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  long  looked  with 
jealousy  at  the  king's  abode  being  fixed  in  Stirling,  now  that 
the  parliament  was  also  to  be  removed  thither,  exhibitec 
their  discontent  by  the  readiness  with  which  they  receivec 
and  propagated  rumours  calculated  to  excite  the  public  mine 
against  the  supporters  of  the  late  change.  The  king,  it  was 
at  one  time  said,  was  detained  captive ;  then  he  was  shortly 
to  be  sent  to  England ;  and  now  the  ancient  league  with 
France  was  to  be  dissolved  by  the  new  parliament,  and  the 
country  delivered  in  bondage  to  their  ancient  enemy,  toge- 
ther with  numberless  other  similar  reports.  To  counteract 
these,  the  council  published  a  proclamation  a  few  days  be- 
fore the  parliament  met,  asserting,  that  it  was  the  king's 
choice  to  remain  in  Stirling ;  denying  that  any  interference 
would  take  place  with  the  foreign  relations  of  the  nation ; 
and  affirming,  that  the  only  object  in  calling  this  parliament 
was,  to  authorise  such  measures  as  would  tend  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  honour  of  God,  the  safety  of  the  king's 
person,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom.  This  procla- 
mation, however,  produced  little  effect.  The  lords  who 
were  at  Edinburgh  determined  to  remain  there,  and  send  a 
deputation  to  protest  against  the  legality  of  holding  parlia- 
ment within  the  walls  of  a  fortress  surrounded  by  armed 


JAiMES   VI.  31 

men,  where  all  freedom  of  discussion  must  be  effectually  de-    BOOK 

stroyed ;  and  to  pray  his  majesty  to  prorogue  the  meeting 

to  a  better  time,  and  a  fitter  place.  1578. 

xxxii.  On  the  day  appointed,  however,  the  parliament  met  Parliament 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle,  and  was  opened  by  the  king  g^1" 
himself  in  a  short  speech;  immediately  after  which,  the  earl  Castle. 
of  Montrose,  and  lord  Lindsay  rose,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
council,  protested  against  the  legality  of  the  session,  from 
its  being  held  in  a  place  whither  they  could  not  repair,  in- 
asmuch as  it  was  wholly  in  the  power  of  their  enemies.  The 
two  noblemen  were  ordered  into  confinement  in  their  own 
lodgings,  and  the  parliament  disregarding  the  protest,  pro- 
ceeded to  business.  The  king's  assumption  of  the  govern- 
ment was  recognised,  the  act  of  idemnity  granted  to  Mor- 
ton confirmed,  and  a  pension  for  life  settled  upon  the  coun- 
tess of  Mar.  Lindsay  submitted  to  the  order  of  court,  and 
retired  to  his  lodgings,  but  Montrose  made  his  escape  to 
Edinburgh,  and  joined  the  lords  there;  asserting  that  he 
brought  his  majesty's  instructions  to  effect  his  rescue  from 
the  thraldom  in  which  he  was  held  by  those  he  hated. 
Athol,  the  chancellor,  who,  together  with  Argyle,  was  at 
the  head  of  the  faction,  on  the  arrival  of  Montrose,  publish- 
ed a  declaration,  accusing  Morton  of  surprising  by  his  in- 
struments, the  castle  of  Stirling,  and  the  king's  person;  of  proceed- 
keeping  the  king  captive,  so  that  his  best  subjects  could  lnss  of  the 
find  no  access  to  him;  of  changing  the  place  of  meeting  of  Edinburgh 
parliament,  and  of  levying  soldiers,  under  the  title  of  the 
king's  authority,  to  support  his  own  usurped  power;  and 
therefore,  they  were  determined  to  deliver  the  king  from 
captivity,  and  the  kingdom  from  oppression.  This  declara- 
tion, which  was  widely  dispersed  over  the  kingdom,  was 
followed  -up  by  preparations  for  hostilities  on  both  sides. 
^Athol  and  Argyle  were  already  at  the  head  of  a  considera- 
ble ibrce  ;  and  the  earl  of  Angus,  Morton's  nephew,  who  was 
appointed  the  king's  lieutenant,  found  himself  in  a  few 
hours,  in  command  of  an  army,  little  inferior  in  numbers, 
but  superior  in  rank ;  and  backed  by  the  authority  of  the 
king,  who,  thus  early  initiated  in  the  art  of  duplicity,  was 
constrained  to  issue  a  counter  manifesto,  in  which  he  de- 
clared that  it  was  at  his  own  desire  he  remained  at  Stirling, 


32  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND 

BOOK    and  was  attended  by  the  earl  of  Mar,  in  whose  fidelity  he 
_.   *•          could  repose  more  confidence  than  in  theirs,  who  had  excit- 
157U      ed  such  commotions  in  the  kingdom.     When  this  proclama- 
tion arrived  at  Edinburgh,  the  nobles  would  not  allow  it  to 
be  published ;    but  quickening   their  operations,   collected 
their  troops,  and  marched  towards  Stirling.     When  they 
halted  at  Falkirk,  they  mustered  about  seven  thousand  men. 
The  differ-  The  earl  of  Angus,  who,  on  hearing  of  their  progress,  had 
ent  parties  ajgQ  a(jvance(l5  encamped  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Carron 
field.  with  five  thousand.     Both  parties  were  unwilling  to  strike 

the  first  blow,  and  sir  Robert  Bowes,  the  English  ambassa- 
dor, taking  advantage  of  this  disposition,  laboured  inces- 
santly to  promote  an  accommodation.. 

xxxii i.  While  the  negotiations  were  going  forward,  and 
the  two  armies  lay  in  sight  of  each  other,  an  incident  took 
place,  which,  as  omens  have  always  had  a  powerful  effect 
upon  large  bodies  of  men,  might  perhaps  have  had  some  in- 
fluence in  inclining  the  parties  to  come  to  a  readier  arrange- 
ment. One  Tait,  a  follower  of  Kerr  of  Cessford,  who  was 
then  with  Athol,  advanced  vauntingly  in  front  of  the  lines, 
and  dared  any  of  the  horsemen  of  the  opposite  party  to 
shiver  a  lance  for  his  mistress.  A  retainer  of  the  master 
of  Glammis,  named  Johnston,  accepted  the  challenge ;  and  a 
small  plain  by  the  side  of  the  Carron,  was  chosen  as  the  spot 
to  decide  the  combat ;  both  banks  of  the  river  being  cover- 
ed with  the  horsemen  of  the  adverse  armies,  to  witness  the 
issue.  At  the  first  charge  Tait  fell,  pierced  through  the 
body,  and  instantly  expired ;  which  the  king's  army  accept- 
ed as  a  sure  pledge  of  victory,  and  the  others,  somewhat 
disheartened,  returned  to  their  camp.  But  extremities  were 
They  con-  at  this  time  avoided  ;  and  the  endeavours  of  the  English  am- 
clude  a  bassador  proving  successful,  a  treaty  was  concluded,  by 
which  it  was  agreed; — that  the  forces  on  both  sides  should  be 
disbanded,  except  a  few  horsemen  to  be  kept  by  the  king, 
for  preserving  peace  on  the  borders ;  that  the  earls  of  Athol 
and  Argyle,  should  have  a  residence  appointed  them  in  Stir- 
ling castle ;  that  the  noblemen,  barons,  and  gentry,  should 
have  free  access  to  the  king ;  Montrose  and  Lindsay  be  add- 
ed to  the  privy  council,  and  a  committee  of  eight  noblemen 
chosen  by  the  king,  four  from  each  party,  appointed  to  in- 


JAMES  VI.  33 

vestigate  all  causes  of  dispute,  and  effect  a  perfect  reconci-    BOOK 
liation. 

xxxiv.  In  the  late  parliament,  it  had  been  agreed  to  send  157^ 
an  embassy  to  the  queen  of  England,  to  announce  the  king's 
assumption  of  the  power  in  his  own  hands,  to  thank  her  ma- 
jesty for  the  kindness  she  had  shown  him  during  his  mino- 
rity, and  to  draw  the  bonds  of  union  closer  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  The  abbot  of  Dunferrnline,  was  accordingly  des- 
patched to  the  English  court ;  but  besides  his  public  des- 
patches, he  carried  private  instructions  from  the  king,  to 
examine  the  will,  and  secure  possession  of  the  estates  of  the 
countess  of  Lennox,  his  grandmother,  who  had  lately  died. 
That  lady's  second  son,  had  left  one  daughter,  Arabella 
Stuart,  who  was  born  in  England,  and  the  chief  objection  to 
James'  claim,  being  the  maxim  of  English  law,  which  ex- 
cludes aliens  from  any  right  of  inheritance  within  the  king- 
dom, Elizabeth's  waving  this  with  regard  to  the  king  of 
Scots,  would  have  been  at  once  to  acknowledge  his  right  to 
the  throne,  by  setting  aside  the  English  heiress.  She  there- 
fore, without  allowing  the  subject  to  be  discussed,  ordered 
the  rents  of  the  estate  to  be  sequestered  by  lord  Burleigh, 
master  of  the  wards,  on  purpose  to  teach  the  Scottish  king  a 
lesson  of  caution,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  should  urge 
his  more  important  demands.  The  other  parts  of  the  em- 
bassage  were  graciously  received,  and  answers  expressive 
of  the  highest  regard  returned.* 

xxxv.  Notwithstanding  the  treaty  which  had  been  signed 
by  the  two  factions,  they  were  far  from  being  completely  re- 
conciled ;  the  earls  of  Athol  and  Argyle,  still  bearing  in 
mind  the  conduct  of  the  earl  of  Morton,  while  regent,  and 
endeavouring  to  subvert  his  influence  at  court — nor  was  it 
without  difficulty,  that  they  were  brought  together  in  the 
king's  presence  at  Stirling,  where,  after  some  days  spent  in 

mutual  recrimination,  the  explanations  of  Morton  were  ad-  ,. 

,  ,.  Morton  rc- 

ITHtted,  and  the  parties  brought,  if  not  to  a  cordial,  at  least  conciled  to 

to  an  apparent  agreement.     In  order  to  celebrate  this  agree-  ^tho\  and 
ment,  Morton  gave  a  splendid  banquet  to  the  principal  no- 
bility of  both  parties,  which  he  pushed  to  the  utmost  extent 
of  what  was  then  termed  Scottish  hospitality.     Athol,  the 

•  Spotswood,  pp.  284>  384..  Robertson,  Book  vi. 
VOL.  III.  F 


34  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    chancellor,  who  was  one  of  the  number,  either  through  th» 
*'       effects  of  the  debauch,  or  in  the  common   course  of  humai 


1579.     events,  sickened  immediately,  and  in  four  days  after,  died 

dea'th'of     at  Kincardine.     The  violence  of  his  disorder,  and  the  sud- 

Athol.        denness  of  his  death,  gave  rise  to  a  suspicion  that  he  had 

been  poisoned  ;  and  although  the  physicians  and  surgeon? 

who  opened  the  body,  declared  upon  oath,  that  they  observ- 

ed no  symptoms  of  any  deleterious  substance  having  enterec 

the  stomach,  or  the  least  mark  of  any  extraordinary  disease  ; 

yet  the  relations  of  the  chancellor  protested  that  these  de- 

clarations  were  unsatisfactory,    and    should    not   interrupt 

the  course   of  justice  ;    and   the  evident   advantage  which 

Morton  derived  from  the  opportune  removal  of  so  formida- 

Morton  re-  ble  an  opponent,  easily  gained  credit  to  a  rumour  which  fol- 

chief  *        lowed  him  to  the  scaffold.     Argyle  was  promoted  to  the  of- 

power.        fice  of  chancellor  instead  of  Athol,  and  Morton  once  more 

obtained  the  administration  of  the  kingdom. 

xxxvi.  Untaught  by  his  late  narrow  escape,  no  sooner 
did  the  earl  feel  himself  again  seated  securely,  as  he  thought, 
in  power,  than  he  resumed  his  attempts  against  the  nobili- 
ty ;  his  first  attack  was  upon  the  house  of  Hamilton,  who 
were  now  the  only  family  in  opposition,  from  whose  power 
or  influence,  he  imagined,  he  had  any  thing  to  dread,  and 
whose  extensive  estates  offered  a  tempting  bait  to  his  cupi- 
dity, and  that  of  the  members  of  his  faction.  The  earl  of 
Arran  had  been  confined  in  Draffan  castle,  as  insane,  for  a 
His  pro.  considerable  length  of  time.  Lord  John  Hamilton,  the  se- 
ceedings  Cond  brother,  abbot  of  Aberbrothick,  acted  as  administrator 
Hamiltons.  °f  n^s  estates,  and  lord  Claude,  was  commendator  of  Paisley. 
The  first,  from  the  nature  of  his  distemper,  was  incapable 
of  committing  any  crime  ;  but  the  two  last  had  been  ac- 
cused as  accessory  to  the  death  of  the  regents  Moray  and 
Lennox,  and  included  in  the  general  act  of  attainder  on  that 
account.  In  the  general  amnesty,  granted  by  the  treaty 
of  Perth,  they  who  were  concerned  in  these  murders  had 
been  excepted.  To  them,  therefore,  it  was  resolved  to  ap- 
ply the  rigour  of  the  law;  and  without  bringing  them  to 
trial,  it  was  determined  to  proceed  upon  the  former  sen- 
tence, as  the  formality  of  summoning  them,  it  was  alleged, 
would  only  be  giving  them  notice  to  flee.  A  commission 
was  in  consequence,  issued  to  the  earls  of  Morton,  Mar,  and 


JAMES  VI.  35 

Eglinton,  and  lords  Ruthven,  Cathcart  and  Boyd,  to  appre-   BOOK 
hend  them  by  surprise.  *• 

xxxvu.  To  facilitate  the  execution  of  this  design,  Mor-  """"" 
ton  had  previously  hired  a  band  of  mercenaries,  whom  he 
kept  in  readiness  to  assemble  on  a  few  hours'  notice,  at 
whose  head  the  commission  set  out  without  delay,  to  seize 
the  persons,  and  confiscate  the  estates  of  the  accused.  The 
two  brothers  had  fortunately  heard  of  their  approach.  Lord 
John  fled  on  foot,  disguised  in  a  seaman's  dress,  into  Eng- 
land, whence  he  made  his  escape  to  France  j  and  lord 
Claude,  after  lurking  privately  for  some  time  in  Scotland, 
found  refuge  with  a  friend  of  the  late  earl  of  Northumber- 
land's, till  an  opportunity  occurred  for  allowing  him  to  join 
his  brother.  Their  castles  were,  however,  seized.  Draffan 
was  given  up  on  the  first  summons,  but  Hamilton  being  de- 
fended for  two  days,  on  its  surrender,  the  garrison  were 
marched  as  felons  to  Stirling,  and  their  captain,  on  the  gib- 
bet, paid  the  penalty  of  his  fidelity  to  his  chief.  Still  how- 
ever, there  were  no  legal  grounds  for  seizing  the  estates,  as 
whatever  might  be  the  offences  of  his  brothers,  Arran  was 
guiltless.  By  a  gross  perversion  of  law,  this  difficulty  was 
overcome ;  the  unhappy  nobleman,  though  in  a  state  of  men- 
tal abstraction,  was  found  answerable  for  the  acts  of  his  ser- 
vants ;  and  because  they  had  refused  to  obey  the  summons 
of  the  king,  he  was  convicted  of  treason,  committed  to  close 
custody,  and  the  estates  were  confiscated.  The  revenues  of 
lords  John  and  Claude  Hamilton  were  both  sequestered ; 
but  the  widow  of  the  earl  of  Cassilis,  who  had  been  married 
to  the  commendator  of  Aberbrothick,  was  allowed  to  retain 
the  jointure  she  had  by  her  former  husband.  These  arbi-  uis  excuses 
trary  proceedings  again  awakened  the  fears  of  the  nobles  ;  for  tliem- 
and  in  order  to  allay  them,  it  was  found  necessary  to  issue 
a  proclamation  in  the  king's  name,  declaring  that  what  was 
done  in  the  present  instance,  was  only  to  avenge  the  death 
of  his  father,  and  the  regents,  to  which  he  was  in  conscience 
and  duty  bound  ;  but  that  no  article  of  the  pacification  should 
be  called  in  question.  Little  did  Morton  think  that  in  a  few 
years,  the  same  plea  would  be  urged  in  justification  of  his 
own  execution  ! 


36  H1STOAY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  xxxviii.  About  this  time,  Mary,  who  had  amused  her 
solitary  hours  in  embroidering  a  vest  for  her  son,  sent 
1579.  him  this  mark  of  maternal  affection,  with  some  jewels  of  va- 
^ue'  an^  a  ^etter  ty  ner  secretary,  Nave;  but  the  letter  be- 
ed  by  her  ing  addressed,  '  To  our  loving  son  James,  prince  of  Scot- 
land,' the  messenger  was  sent  back  to  his  unfortunate  mis- 
tress, with  the  gifts,  without  being  permitted  to  see  the  king. 
xxxix.  Morton,  who  never  was  a  favourite  with  the  in- 
habitants of  Edinburgh,  increased  the  popular  hatred  against 
him,  by  an  action  equally  mean  and  revengeful.  One  Turn- 
bull,  a  schoolmaster,  and  a  W.  Scot,*  having  written  a  sa- 
tire against  him,  in  which  they  enumerated,  with  some  hu- 
mour, all  his  real  or  fancied  delinquencies,  were  apprehend- 
ed for  this  squib,  and  in  spite  of  every  application  for  mer- 
cy, were  carried  to  Stirling,  tried,  and  hung.  He  had 
now  triumphed  over  his  enemies,  and  crushed  all  their  at- 
tempts to  deprive  him  of  the  chief  rule  in  the  state ;  but 
Edinburgh  still  remained  turbulent  and  dissatisfied,  at  the 
want  of  her  sovereign.  To  regain  the  good  will  of  the  inha- 
bitants, he  determined  to  acquiesce  in  their  wishes  ;  and — as 
the  king  was  now  of  an  age  that  would  no  longer  admit  of 
his  being  kept  close  in  Stirling  castle, — to  bring  him  to  the 
capital ;  for  which  purpose,  he  summoned  a  parliament  to 
EsmeStuart  meet  at  Edinburgh.  But  while  preparations  were  making 
amvesfrom  for  the  removal,  Esme  Stuart,  son  of  a  second  brother  of 
rance'  the  earl  of  Lennox,  who  inherited  an  estate  in  France, — the 
reward  of  his  ancestors'  valour, — and  bore  the  title  of  lord 
IVAubigne,  arrived  in  Scotland.  His  ostensible  errand  was 
to  pay  a  complimentary  visit  to  the  king,  his  cousin,  and  de- 
mand possession  of  the  estate  and  title  of  Lennox,  to  which 
he  pretended  some  right.  It  was  generally  believed,  how- 
ever, that  he  had  other  objects  in  view.  The  interest  of 
France  had  been  long  extinguished  in  Scotland,  and  all  in- 
tercourse between  the  two  courts  interrupted  ;  but  anxious 
to  regain  their  influence,  and  deeming  the  present  a  favoura- 

*  They  appear  to  have  been  popular  balladmongers  in  their  day,  "  both  re- 
markable," says  Crawford,  "  for  their  good  humour,  and  knack  of  rhyming,  in 
great  vogue,  both  with  the  gentry  and  common  people."  Crawford's  Mem. 
p.  354. 


JAMES  VI.  37 

ble  opportunity,  he  was  suspected  of  being  employed  on  this 
errand,  especially  as  the  duke  of  Guise  had  accompanied          ' 
him  to  the  ship.     His  handsome  appearance,  and  elegance      1379- 
of  manners,  easily  captivated  his  royal  relative;  who,  even  at  a 
more  mature  age,  was  guided  by  superficial  accomplishments 
rather  than  solid  qualifications,  in  the  choice  of  his  favour- 
ites.    In  a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  he  was  created  earl  of  Created 
Lennox,  which  the  king  persuaded  his  granduncle  to  resign  Lennox, 
in  his  favour,  who,  in  return,  received  the  earldom  of  March. 
The  temporalities  of  Aberbrothick,  forfeited  by  lord  John 
Hamilton,  were  bestowed  along  with  the  earldom  of  Lennox, 
to  support  the  dignity.     At  the  same  time  was  introduced 
to  the  king,  captain  James  Stuart,  second  son  of  lord  Ochil-  Captain  J. 
tree,  remarkable  for  his  irreligion,  indecency,  and  want  o 
every  moral  quality  which  can  render  a  man  estimable  in  so- 
ciety.    His  only  virtues, — if  the  word  may  be  so  prostitut- 
ed,— were  suppleness  and  dexterity  in  managing  his  designs, 
and  a  matchless  impudence  and  audacity  in  supporting  them. 
Both  were  favourites ;   but  notwithstanding  the   proverbial  They  be- 

dislike  of  one  favourite  for  another,  and  the  dissimilarity  ofcome.^ 
i    •  •    i  r  *         vountes. 

their  characters, — tor  Lennox  was  courteous,  rrank,  and  af- 
fable,— they  are  said  to  have  united  without  envy,  and  shar- 
ed without  animosity,  the  favour  of  the  king.* 

XL.    At  length   the   time   for    the    assembling  of  parlia- 
ment arrived ;  and  the  king,  accompanied  by  his  favourites., 
set  out  for  Edinburgh.     The  citizens  received  him  with  thesThe  king 
loudest  acclamations  of  joy,  and  the  most  splendid  and  expen-  ^™es  to 
sive  pageants,f  Lennox  walking  on  his  right  hand  during  burgh. 

*  I  state  this  on  the  authority  of  Robertson,  but  I  doubt  the  fact,  both  from 
its  improbability,  and  the  subsequent  transactions. 

f  At  some  distance  from  the  West  Port,  the  king  alighted  from  his  horse, 
and  a  stately  canopy  of  purple  coloured  velvet  being  held  over  his  head,  he  re- 
ceived the  magistrates  of  the  city,  who  came  bareheaded  all  the  way  without 
the  gate.  Within  the  gate  stood  Solomon,  with  a  numerous  train,  habited  af- 
ter the  Jewish  or  rather  the  Roman  manner,  with  the  two  women  contending 
for  the  child,  &c.  As  his  majesty  ascended  the  street  called  the  West  Bow, 
there  hung  down  from  the  arch  of  the  old  gate,  a  large  globe  of  polished  brass, 
out  of  which  a  little  boy,  clad  like  a  cupid,  descended  in  a  machine,  and  pre- 
sented him  with  the  keys  of  the  city,  all  made  of  massy  silver,  and  very  artifi- 
cially wrought,  an  excellent  concert  of  music,  all  the  while  accompanying  the 
action.  When  he  came  down  the  High  Street,  as  far  as  the  tolbooth.  Peace, 


38 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  the  whole  procession,  which  lasted  more  than  an  hour.  The 
_  parliament  afterward  met,  but  nothing  of  importance  was 

1580.  transacted.  The  sudden  elevation  of  Lennox,  a  foreigner  and 
a  papist,  and  the  influence  which  he  possessed  over  the  king, 
soon  began  to  create  alarm.  It  was  industriously  circulat- 
ed by  Morton  and  his  friends,  that  he  had  been  sent  over 
from  France,  to  corrupt  the  young  king,  and  pervert  his  re- 
ligion ;  and  the  clergy,  who  readily  gave  ear  to  any  surmise, 
when  they  believed  the  protestant  religion  in  danger,  at  first 
seconded  the  efforts  of  Morton  in  spreading  the  rumour  ;  but 
when  they  perceived  that  it  was  only  to  serve  a  political  pur- 
pose, they  became  cooler  in  the  cause,  though  they  did  not 
cease  to  lament  in  their  sermons,  the  countenance  given  to 
papists  at  court  ;  and  the  dangers  to  which  both  the  king  and 
country  were  exposed,  through  the  secret  machinations  of  the 
French.*  The  king,  in  order  to  stop  entirely  these  complaints, 
sent  for  the  ministers,  and  after  informing  them  of  the  great 
pains  he  had  himself  taken  with  his  cousin,  in  order  to  convert 
him  from  the  errors  of  popery,  and  of  his  willingness  to  re- 
ceive farther  instruction,  desired  that  one  of  their  number 
might  be  appointed  to  wait  upon,  and  converse  with  him  ; 
on  which,  Mr.  David  Lindsay,  of  Leith,  was  with  his  ap- 
probation, nominated  for  this  duty,  and  Lennox  profited  so 
much  under  his  care,  that  in  a  very  few  weeks,  either  con- 
vinced by  the  force  of  his  arguments,  or  induced  by  motives 
of  policy,  he  publicly  renounced  popery  in  the  church  of  St. 
Giles,  and  joined  the  church  of  Scotland,  by  signing  her 
confession  of  faith.  This,  although  it  removed  the  ground 


nounces 
popery. 


Plenty,  and  Justice,  met  him,  and  harangued  him  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Scot. 
tish  ;  opposite  to  the  great  church  stood  Religion,  who  addressed  him  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  upon  which  he  was  pleased  to  enter  the  church,  where  Mr. 
Lawson  made  a  learned  discourse  in  behalf  of  the  Reformed.  When  his  ma- 
jesty came  out,  Bacchus  sat  mounted  on  a  gilded  hogshead,  distributing  wine 
in  large  bumpers,  the  trumpets  all  the  while  sounding,  and  the  people  crying, 
God  save  the  king.  At  the  east  gate  was  erected  his  majesty's  nativity,  and 
above  that,  the  genealogies  of  all  the  Scottish  kings,  from  Fergus  I.  All  the 
windows  were  hung  with  pictures,  and  rich  tapestry,  the  streets  strewed  with 
flowers,  and  the  cannon  firing  all  the  while  from  the  castle,  till  his  majesty 
reached  the  palace  of  Holyroodhouse."  Crawford's  Memoirs,  pp.  356,  357. 
•  Crawford,  p.  358.  Spotswood,  p.  308.  Robertson,  Book  vi. 


JAMES  VI.  39 

of  attack  against  the  favourite,  did  not  remove  the  jealousy    BOOK 
of  the  people  ;  which  was  still  further  increased  by  the  in-       *• 
terception  of  some  dispensations  sent  from  Rome,  by  which        gn 
the  papists  were  permitted  to  promise,  swear,  or  subscribe, 
whatever  they  were   desired,  provided    they  privately  ad- 
vanced the  interests  of  the  Romish  church. 

XLI.  This  discovery  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  that  National 
memorable  transaction,  the  swearing  of  THE  NATIONAL  co-  covenant 

sworn  to. 
VENANT.     It  was  drawn  up  by  John  Craig,  and  consisted  of 

an  abjuration,  in  the  most  solemn  and  explicit  terms,  of  the 
various  articles  of  the  popish  system;  and  an  engagement 
to  adhere  to,  and  defend  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Reformed  church  in  Scotland.  As  the  stability  of  the  pro- 
testant  religion  depended  "  upon  the  safety  and  good  be- 
haviour of  the  king's  majesty,  as  upon  a  comfortable  instru- 
ment of  God's  mercy  granted  to  this  country,"  the  covenant- 
ers promised,  "  under  the  same  oath,  handwrit,  and  pains, 
that  we  shall  defend  his  person  and  authority,  with  our 
goods,  bodies,  and  lives,  in  the  defence  of  Christ's  evangel, 
liberties  of  our  country,  ministration  of  justice,  and  punish- 
ment of  iniquity,  against  all  enemies  within  this  realm,  or 
without."  This  bond  was  sworn  by  the  king  and  his  house- 
hold, and  afterward,  in  consequence  of  an  order  of  the  privy 
council,  and  an  act  of  the  general  assembly,  by  all  ranks 
of  persons  throughout  the  kingdom ;  the  ministers  having 
zealously  promoted  the  subscription  of  it  in  their  respective 
parishes.* 

XLII.  The  rumours  which  Morton  had  circulated  against ,. 
Lennox  provoked  retaliation.     A  report  was  raised  that  he  able  reports 
held  a  secret  correspondence  with  Elizabeth,  the  object  ° 
which  was  to  seize  the  king's  person,  and  send  him  into  Eng- 
land.    As  soon  as  this  reached  Morton's  ears,  suspecting 
the  quarter  whence  it  had  originated,  he  complained  to  the 
council,  and  demanded  a  trial ;  but  they,  conscious  of  the 
difficulty  of  proving  the  allegation,  unanimously  expressed 
their  disbelief  of  the  story,  and  a  proclamation  was  issued 
against  the  propagators  of  tales,  tending  to  create  discord 
between  his  majesty  and  any  of  his  nobles.     Yet  as  if  there 

•  Calderwood,  p.  96,  97.     Spotswood,  p.  309.     Cook's  Hist.  Ch.  of  Scot, 
vol.  i.  p.  311. 


40 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    had   been  some  grounds  for   suspicion,   the  office  of  high 
*•        chamberlain,  which  had  long  lain  dormant,  was  revived,  and 
1580      bestowed  upon  Lennox,  Alexander  Erskine,  captain  of  Ed- 
inburgh castle,  and  Morton's  bitterest  enemy,  being  nomi- 
nated his  deputy ;  and  a  guard  of  twenty-four  young  noble- 
men, under  their  command,   appointed   to   wait  constantly 
upon  the  king. 

XLIII.  Morton,  fully  aware  of  the  insinuations  intended  to 

be  conveyed  by  these  precautions,  meditated  a  retreat  from 

court,  which,  unfortunately  for  himself,  was  prevented  by  a 

quarrel  between  lord  Ruthven  and  the  master  of  Oliphant. 

Elizabeth    He  then,  as  a  last  resource,  applied  to  Elizabeth,  who,  fully 

nterposes.  sensible  of  his  devotion  to  her  interest,  instructed  sir  Robert 
Bowes,  her  ambassador,  to  accuse  Lennox  of  practices 
against  the  peace  of  the  two  kingdoms.  The  council,  affect- 
ing to  doubt  his  powers,  desired  Bowes  to  produce  his  com- 
mission ;  but  this  he  refused  to  do  to  any  person  except  the 
king  himself;  on  which,  being  denied  an  audience,  he  retired 
in  disgust.  The  court,  somewhat  surprised  at  his  abrupt 
departure,  sent  sir  Alexander  Home  to  England,  to  expos- 
tulate with  Elizabeth  on  the  subject;  but  Elizabeth,  who 
considered  herself  affronted  in  the  person  of  her  ambassador, 
would  not  admit  him  into  her  presence,  but  commanded  him 
to  deliver  his  dispatches  to  her  treasurer,  Burleigh.  At  the 
interview  which  followed  with  this  minister,  Burleigh,  after 
apologizing  for  his  being  refused  admittance  to  the  queen, — 
which  he  assured  him  proceeded  from  no  individual  dislike, 
as  she  had  the  highest  respect  for  his  personal  character — 
informed  him  that  her  majesty  was  highly  displeased  at  the 
unprecedented  manner  in  which  her  ambassador  had  been 
treated,  by  having  his  commission  doubted,  and  being  re- 
quired to  show  his  instructions.  She  did  not,  however,  at- 
tribute this  to  the  king,  whose  youth  and  inexperience 
pleaded  his  excuse,  but  to  the  evil  counsellors  by  whom  he 
was  surrounded.  The  treasurer  then  recapitulated  all  the 
services  which  his  royal  mistress  had  rendered  the  Scottish 
monarch,  in  preserving  the  crown  upon  his  head,  and  defeat- 
ing his  enemies ;  and  recommended  Home  to  advise  him  to 
consult  his  true  interest,  by  listening  more  respectfully  to 
the  advice  of  the  English  queen,  who  had  ever  shown  him  a 


JAMES  VI.  41 

motherly  affection,  and  not  suffer  himself  to  be  influenced  by  BOOK 
his  French  cousin,  a  subject  of  the  French  king,  married  to 
a  French  woman,  and  in  heart  a  papist ;  whose  object  it  was 
to  head  a  faction,  and  now  that  the  Hamiltons  were  banish- 
ed, to  procure  himself  to  be  declared  next  heir  to  the  crown. 
Home  endeavoured  to  reply,  and  after  extolling  James's  wis- 
dom as  far  above  his  years,  was  proceeding  to  protest  the 
sincerity  of  his  affection  towards  Elizabeth,  and  his  strong 
desire  to  remain  upon  amicable  terms  with  England, — of 
which  he  was  confident  he  could  convince  the  queen,  provid- 
ed he  could  obtain  an  interview — when  Burleigh  interrupted 
him ;  and  told  him  he  knew  there  were  more  dangerous 
plots  in  progress  than  the  king  was  aware  of;  and  sarcas- 
tically remarked,  that  it  was  no  great  proof  of  his  majesty's 
superior  wisdom,  to  put  such  unlimited  confidence  in  any  one 
person.  In  conclusion,  he  told  him,  that  it  was  in  vain  to 
think  of  being  admitted  to  the  queen,  for  she  was  determin- 
ed not  to  see  him.  Upon  his  return  home,  the  Scottish 
envoy  reported  to  the  council,  his  uncourteous  reception  in 
England,  and  the  unpleasant  conference  he  had  had  with  the 
treasurer;  all  which  was  attributed  to  the  earl  of  Morton, 
and  the  correspondence  he  carried  on  with  the  English 
court. 

XLIV.  The  two  favourites,  who  had  long  plotted  the  de-  His  ruin 
struction  of  Morton,  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  wholly  determined 
to  alienate  the  king's  mind  from  his  minister,  whom  he 
had  never  loved  ;  for  that  nobleman,  ignorant  of,  or 
despising  the  grand  art  of  a  courtier,  had  neglected  to 
flatter,  and  acted  rather  like  the  tutor  than  the  servant  of 
his  prince.  But  still  they  had  no  plausible  pretext  for  re- 
moving him  from  the  king's  council,  or  getting  rid  of  a  per- 
son they  so  much  hated  and  feared ;  there  was  no  direct 
evidence  of  his  intrigues  with  Elizabeth,  and  he  had  receiv- 
ed an  ample  pardon  for  all  the  transactions  of  his  regency. 
The  murder  of  the  king's  father  was  the  only  crime  which 
could  not  be  enumerated  in  a  deed  of  grace  by  the  son  ;  and 
it  had  been  reported  at  the  time,  that  Morton  was  privy,  or 
accessory  to  the  deed.  Here  he  was  still  exposed,  and  on 
this  side  it  was  determined  to  attack  him.  Captain  Stuart, 
who  never  hesitated  about  any  means  that  tended  to  promote 

VOL.   III.  G 


42  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND, 

BOOK    his  ambitious  projects,  undertook  to  prefer  the  accusation ; 
I-        and  entering  one  day  the  council-chamber,  when  the  coun- 
1580.      cil  was  assembled,  fell  on  his  knees,  and  addressed  the  king. 
Accused  of  «  Urged, — he  said, — by  a  sense  of  duty,  he  had  come  thither 
cessory  to  to  exhibit  a  treason  which  had  been  too  long  concealed ;  but 
the  late      tne  safety  of  njs  majesty's  person  required  that  one  who  had 
murJer.      conspired  against  his  father,  should  not  be  permitted  to  re- 
tain a  seat  in  that  council ;  the  earl  of  Morton  had  been 
guilty  of  this  foul  crime,  and  if  he  were  committed  for  trial, 
he — Stuart — pledged    himself  to  substantiate  the  charge." 
Morton,  who  was  present,  replied  with  a  disdainful  smile, 
"  that  he  knew  not  by  whose  instigation  he  was  accused  ;  nor 
could  he  conceive  on  what  grounds  he  was  charged  with  a 
crime,  he  had  so  rigorously  punished  in  all  who  were  sus- 
pected ;  none  of  whom,  even  when  suffering,  had  ever  in  the 
most  distant  manner,  implicated  his  name.     He  might, — he 
added, — decline  a  trial  in  many  ways ;  but  secure  in  his  in- 
nocence, he  dreaded  no  investigation  before  any  tribunal, 
which  could  only  turn  out  to  the  confusion  of  his  enemies, 
whose  malice  it  would  expose."     Stuart, — still  on  his  knees, 
— averred  that  he  was  instigated  by  nothing  but  anxiety  for 
his  majesty's  safety  and  honour ;  and  demanded  of  Morton 
how  it  happened  that  when  he  punished  all  suspected  of  the 
murder  with  severity,  he  had  preferred  his  cousin,  Mr.  Ar- 
chibald Douglas,  to  a  seat  in  the  college  of  justice,  a  man 
Committed  we^  known  to  have  been  an  accomplice  ?     Morton  was  about 
for  trial,     to  answer,  when  the  king  commanded  both  to  be  removed  ; 
and  the  council,  after  a  short  deliberation,  ordered  Morton 
to  be  committed.     He  was  confined  first  to  a  chamber  in  the 
palace  for  two  days,  and  on  the  third,  conveyed  to  the  cas- 
tle, of  which  Alexander  Erskine  was  the  governor.     Soon 
after,  to  make  the  measure  of  his  indignity  complete,  he  was 
sent  to  Dunbarton,  and  committed  to  the  charge  of  his  ene- 
my, Lennox,  who  had  the  command  of  that  fortress.     An 
attempt  was  at  the  same  time  made  to  apprehend  Archibald 
Douglas,  but  he  being  informed  of  the  imprisonment  of  the 
earl,  fled  into  England. 

XLV.  The  friends  of  Morton,  who,  in  his  fall,  anticipated 
danger  to  themselves,  had  urged  him  to  make  his  escape 
while  it  was  in  his  power ;  but  he  declared,  « that  he  would 


JAMES  VI.  43 

rather  die  ten  thousand  deaths,  than  betray  his  innocency  in  BOOK 
declining  trial."  Elizabeth,  immediately  on  hearing  of  his 
imprisonment,  despatched  Randolph  to  intercede  with  the  1.580. 
king  for  his  liberation.  He  urged  it  as  a  personal  favour  to  ^g^'jf1 
the  queen  ;  but  the  power  of  Morton's  enemies  was  too  strong,  Randolph 
and  the  king  too  highly  prepossessed  against  the  earl,  to  ad-  to  Scotland- 
mit  of  any  effectual  interposition.  To  all  his  solicitations, 
James  answered,  that  he  fully  appreciated  the  kindnesses  he 
had  received  from  his  sister,  the  queen  of  England ;  but  the 
case  of  his  father's  murderers,  was  one  which  touched  him 
so  nearly,  that  he  hoped  her  majesty  would  excuse  him,  if 
he  declined  her  interference ;  although  it  would  render  him 
more  anxious  that  the  accused  should  have  a  fair  trial,  and 
every  facility  granted  him  to  make  his  defence.  Repulsed 
in  this  application,  Randolph  next  turned  to  the  estates,  which 
met  at  that  time.  He  there  accused  the  earl  of  Lennox,  as 
a  person  who  attempted  to  alienate  the  king's  mind  from 
friendship  with  England ;  and  had,  since  his  arrival  in  Scot- 
land, been  the  author  of  many  mischievous  counsels. 
Through  his  interference,  the  most  faithful  servants  of  the 
crown  had  been  removed,  and  others,  ill  qualified  for  the  si- 
tuations, appointed  in  their  room ;  who  endeavoured  to  ir- 
ritate his  majesty  against  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  by  re- 
presenting them  as  seditious,  and  as  disaffected  to  his  per- 
son ;  who  encouraged  the  licentiousness  of  the  borderers, 
and  had  even  invited  foreign  princes  to  invade  England,  as 
he  could  evidently  show  by  their  own  intercepted  corres- 
pondence, in  the  possession  of  his  queen. 

XLVI.  This  effort  being  equally  fruitless,  the  ambassador, 
as  a  last  resource,  endeavoured  in  private,  to  excite  the 
friends  of  Morton,  and  all  who  hated  or  envied  Lennox,  to 
take  arms,  and  effect  by  force  the  liberation  of  the  one,  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  other ;  at  the  same  time  promising  a 
body  of  troops  to  aid  them,  if  necessary.  But  all  Elizabeth's  H;g  eg-ort, 
intercessions  and  threatenings,  rather  accelerated  than  re- '"  favour 
tarded  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  earl.  His  friends  were  ei- 
ther  banished,  or  confined  in  remote  counties ;  and  his  bro- 
ther, the  earl  of  Angus,  because  he  failed  to  go  into  ward, 
and  his  own  two  natural  sons,  for  not  answering  a  summons 
to  appear  before  the  council,  were  proclaimed  rebels  ;  troops 


44  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    were  levied,  and  the  nation  put  in  a  state  of  defence,  against 

any  sudden  attack  on  the  borders. 

15go  XLVII.  The  English  ambassador  finding  all  his  efforts  to 
raise  a  sedition  thus  frustrated,  and  fearing  lest  his  own  safe- 
ty might  be  endangered,  departed  privately  in  the  night  for 
Berwick.  He  was  immediately  followed  by  sir  John  Seton, 
who  had  orders  to  complain  of  his  conduct,  and  to  remon- 
strate against  the  marching  of  troops  to  the  Scottish  bor- 

He  departs,  ders ;  but  the  Scottish  envoy  was  not  allowed  to  proceed  far- 
ther than  Berwick,  and  every  thing  wore  a  warlike  appear- 
ance between  the  two  nations.  When  however,  all  pros- 
pect of  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Scottish  nobles  was 
hopeless,  Elizabeth,  whose  aim  was  to  terrify  the  king  into  her 
measures,  or  to  kindle  once  more  the  flames  of  civil  discord 
in  the  distracted  nation  ;  as  she  found  she  could  not  accom- 
plish either  of  these  objects,  ordered  her  troops  to  retire. 
But  the  demonstration  made  on  the  English  borders,  was 
entirely  ruinous  to  Morton ;  for  it  enabled  his  enemies  to 
raise  and  maintain  a  large  armed  force,  by  which  they  coun- 
teracted a  scheme  his  friends  had  laid  for  his  rescue,  and 
which  but  for  this  must  have  succeeded. 

XLVIII.  Previously  to  the  trial  of  the  ex-regent,  the  estate 
and  title  of  the  earl  of  Arran,  which  he  had  so  iniquitously 

Stuart  ere-  procured  to  be  forfeited,  was  bestowed  upon  his  accuser, 
caPtam  ^ames  Stuart ;  who,  about  the  same  time,  received 
a  commission  to  proceed  along  with  the  earl  of  Montrose  to 
Dunbarton,  and  conduct  the  prisoner  to  Edinburgh.  When 
the  commission  was  first  shown,  Morton,  struck  with  the  ti- 
tle of  James,  earl  of  Arran,  eagerly  inquired  who  he  was, 
for  he  had  not  heard  of  Stuart's  exaltation  ;  when  told,  after 
a  short  pause,  he  replied,  "  Is  it  so  ? — then  I  know  what  I 

-Morton's  m&y  look  for."  He  was  brought  to  Edinburgh,  under  an 
escort  of  one  thousand  men,  29th  May  1581,  and  on  the 
21st  June,  was  brought  to  trial.  The  indictment  charged 
him  with  high  treason,  in  conspiring  against  the  king,  and 
concealing  the  murder ;  and  in  being  actor,  or  art  and  part, 
as  the  Scottish  law  terms  it,  in  the  crime.  The  jury  was 
composed  of  his  avowed  enemies ;  and  although  he  chal- 
lenged the  earl  of  Argyle,  and  lord  Seton,  as  being  preju- 
diced against  him,  yet  his  objections  were  over-ruled,  and 


JAMES  VI.  45 

they  were  admitted  to  sit  on  his  assize.  What  was  the  na-  BOOK 
ture  of  the  proof  adduced,  has  not  been  related  by  our  his-  *• 
torians,  and  the  records  of  the  court  of  justiciary  respecting  1531. 
it,  have  been  destroyed  or  lost.  His  peers,  however,  brought 
him  in  guilty  of  concealing,  and  being  guilty  art  or  part  in 
the  king's  murder.  He  had  anticipated  a  sentence  of  con- 
demnation from  the  moment  he  saw  the  complexion  of  his 
jury,  and  the  partial  manner  in  which  they  were  impannel- 
led;  for  he  afterward  said  he  was  convinced  that  it  was  the 
same  thing,  whether  he  had  been  as  innocent  as  saint  Ste- 
phen, or  as  guilty  as  Judas ;  his  blood  was  sought,  and  he 
must  have  gone.  But  when  the  verdict  was  returned,  charg- 
ing him  with  being  art  and  part  guilty  of  the  murder,  he  ap- 
peared considerably  agitated ;  and  striking  the  ground  re- 
peatedly with  a  small  walking-stick,  he  exclaimed  twice, 
"  Art  and  part !  God  knows  it  is  not  so  !"  He  heard,  how-  gentence 
ever,  the  savage  sentence,  which  our  law  denounces  against 
a  traitor,  and  which  still  disgraces  our  statute  book,  pro- 
nounced, without  apparent  emotion.  As  the  trial  had  lasted 
the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  night  was  drawing  on,  he 
was  remanded  back  to  his  place  of  confinement;  and  upon 
his  subsequent  confession,  the  revolting  part  of  the  punish- 
ment was  remitted  by  the  king,  and  he  was  ordered  to  suffer 
death  next  day,  by  beheading. 

XLIX.  In  that  solemn  interval,  when  the  agitation  and  an- 
xieties of  suspense  had  given  place  to  the  awful  certainty  of 
his  doom,  he  felt,  he  said,  a   serenity   of  mind   to  which 
he  had  long  been    a  stranger.      Resigning  himself  to  his 
fate,  he  supped  cheerfully,  and  slept  calmly  for  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  night.     Early  next  morning  he  was  visit- 
1  ed  by  several  of  the  ministers  of  the  city,  and  an  interest- 
I  ing  account  of  the  conference,  which  John  Durie  and  Wal- 
1  ter  Balcalquhan  had  with  him,  has  been   preserved.*     Re- 
specting the  crime  for  which  he  was  condemned,   he  con- 
fessed that,  after  his  return  from  England,  whither  he  had 
been  banished  for  "  Davie's  slaughter,"  he  met  Bothwell  at 

*  '  The  sowme  of  all  that  conference  that  was  betwixt  the  erll  of  Mortoun 

i  and  John  Durie,  and  Mr.  Walter  Balcolquhen,  and  the  chief  thingis  which  they 

1  hard  of  him,  whairof  they  can  remember  the  day  that  the  said  erll  sufferit, 

I  which  was  the  2d  of  June,  1381'. — Printed  at  the  end  of  Bannatyne's  Journal, 

Edinb.  1806. 


46  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

HOOK.  Whittingham,  who  there  informed  him  of  the  conspiracy 
1-  against  the  king,  and  solicited  him  to  become  an  accomplice, 
I581.  as  the  queen  anxiously  wished  his  death.  He  at  first  expli- 
citly refused  to  have  any  connexion  with  the  business ;  but 
after  repeated  conferences,  both  with  Bothwell  and  Archi- 
bald Douglas,  who  was  with  him,  and  on  their  always  urg- 
ing the  queen's  pleasure,  he  required  a  warrant,  under  her 
own  hand,  authorizing  the  deed,  before  he  would  give  any 
decisive  answer;  which,  never  having  received,  he  never 
would  consent  to  have  any  concern  in  the  transaction.  He 
acknowledged,  too,  that  after  the  murder  was  committed,  he 
Conference  was  informed  of  it  by  Archibald  Hamilton,  one  of  the  assas- 
withthe  sins,  with  whom  he  continued  to  associate,  without  revealing 
what  he  knew.  On  being  reminded  that  his  own  confessions 
sufficiently  justified  his  sentence,  he  answered,  that  he  knew 
according  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  law,  he  was  liable  to  pun- 
ishment ;  but  it  ought  to  have  been  considered,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  have  revealed  it;  for  to  whom  could  he 
have  done  so  ?  To  the  queen  ?  she  was  the  author  of  the 
plot ;  To  the  king's  father  ?  he  was  sic  a  bairn,  [such  a 
child,]  that  there  was  nothing  told  him  but  he  would  revea 
it  to  her  again  ;  and  the  two  most  powerful  noblemen  of  the 
kingdom,  Bothwell  and  Huntly,  were  the  perpetrators.  "  J 
foreknew,  indeed,  and  concealed  it,"  added  he,  "  but  it  was 
because  I  durst  not  reveal  it  to  any  creature  for  my  life ;" 
but  as  to  being  art  and  part  in  the  commission  of  the  crime, 
he  called  God  to  witness,  he  was  entirely  innocent.* 

L.  The  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  ii 
they  do  not  exculpate,  go  far  to  extenuate  the  guilt  of  Mor- 
ton. The  motives  for  concealment  were  undoubtedly  strong, 
but  the  severity  with  which  he  prosecuted  others,  not  more 
guilty  than  himself,  tends  greatly  to  lessen  the  force  of  their 
application  in  his  favour.  He  solemnly  denied  having  any 

*  Then  being  enquyrit  in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  that  seeing  this  raur- 
ther  of  the  king  was  one  of  the  most  filthie  acts  that  ever  was  done  in  Scot- 
land, and  that  the  secreitis  thereof  as  yit  had  not  bene  declared,  neather  yit 
wha  was  the  chief  deid  doars,  whidder  he  was  wirriet  or  blawin  in  the  aire,  and 
therefore  to  declare  gif  he  knew  any  farder  secreit  thereinto;  he  answerit,  as  1 
sail  answer  to  God,  I  knew  na  mair  secreit  in  that  matter,  &c — Confession,  p. 
498. 


JAMES  VI.  47 

hand  in  the  death  of  the  earl  of  Athol,  or  that  he  would,     BOOK 
on  any  account,  have  been  accessory  to  the  administration  of        '• 
poison.     He  also  disowned,  in  the  most  explicit  manner,  his 
ever  having  entertained  any  idea  of  carrying  the  king  out  of 
Scotland,  unless  it  had  been  to  have  had  him  crowned  king 
of  England  ;  adding,  almost  in  the  very  words  of  the  fallen 
Wolsey,  "  I  will  say  more  ;  if  I  had  been  as  careful  to  serve 
my  God,  and  walk  in  his  fear,  as  I   was   to  see   the  king's 
weal,  I  had  not  been  brought  to  the  point  I  am  this  day." 

LI.  In  his  behaviour  toward  the  church,  he  acknowledged 
that  there  were  some  things  he  would  not  defend;  but  he 
had  acted  always  according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment  in 
the  then  state  of  the  times.     In  other  parts  of  his  conduct, 
he  confessed  he  was  to  blame,  and  had  resolved,  if  his  life 
had  been  spared,  to  have  made  reparation.     When  exhort-  Confession. 
ed  to  confess  his  sins  before  God,  and  to  own  that  his  deal- 
ing with  him  was  right,  however  unworthily  he  might  have 
been  treated  by  man;  he  replied,  I  acknowledge,    indeed, 
that  God  has  always  done  justly  to  me,  and  not  only  justly, 
but  mercifully  also  ;  I  acknowledge  myself  one  of  the  great- 
est of  sinners,  and  that  I  have  been  too  deeply  immersed  in 
the  pleasures  of  sense,  and  schemes  of  ambition,  all  which  he 
might  justly  lay  to  my  charge ;  and  therefore  I  beseech  God 
to  be  merciful   to  me.     He  then  expressed  a  sense  of  the 
mercy  he  had  already  received,  in  having  time  and  space  given 
him  to  repent,  and  a  willingness  rather  now  to  die  than  to 
live.       The  ministers  continued  long  in  earnest  conversa- 
tion, and  at  his  request  remained  to  breakfast,    which    he 
himself  partook  of,  and  conversed  with  them  during  the  meal 
with  great  composure.     He  then  retired  to  his  chamber  a 
lit*        after  which,  the  ministers  returned,  and  were  with 
hii          he  ended  his  varied  career  of  ambition.     About  two 
o'clc  ....  in  the  afternoon  he  dined  with  the  clergymen  who  at- 
i  tended  him,  and  soon  after  the  keepers  informed  him  that  it 
was  time  to  proceed  to  the  scaffold.     He  replied,  They  have 
troubled  me  so  much  with  worldly  concerns  this  day — allud- 
ing to  a  number  of  interruptions  he  had  received    in   the 
course  of  his  religious  exercises — that  I  thought  they  might 
have  given  me  this  one  night's  leisure  to  have  communed 
with  my  God.     The  jailor  answered,  All  things  are  ready 


48  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    now  my  lord,  and  I  think  they  will  not  stay.     I  praise  my 

God,  said  he,  I  am  ready  also. 

158].  LI i.  On  passing  to  the  place  of  execution,  Arran,  with  a 
callousness  of  heart  more  than  usual  on  such  an  occasion, 
stopped  him,  and  brought  him  back  to  his  chamber;  requir- 
ing him  to  wait  till  his  confession  should  be  put  down  in 
writing,  and  attest  it  by  his  signature.  Trouble  me  no  more, 
my  lord,  said  Morton,  with  these  things,  I  have  now  a  more 
important  concern  to  think  of — to  prepare  to  meet  my  God. 
I  am  not  in  a  state  to  write,  but  these  honest  men  can  testify 
to  what  I  have  spoken.  The  hypocritical  minion  then  beg- 
ged to  be  reconciled  with  him,  for  he  had  done  nothing 
against  him  from  private  enmity.  This  is  no  time  to  remem- 
ber quarrels,  answered  the  unfortunate  nobleman,  I  forgive 
you,  and  all  others,  as  I  wish  all  to  forgive  me.  He  then 
proceeded  to  the  scaffold,  with  a  steady  step,  and  after  pro- 
fessing his  adherence  to  the  protestant  faith,  and  again  join- 
ing in  some  devotional  exercises,  he  laid  his  head  on  the 
block,  his  hands  being  unbound ;  and  while  in  the  act  of  re- 
E  .  peating  Lord  Jesus  receive  my  soul,  received  the  fatal  stroke. 
His  head  was  fixed  on  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  where  it 
was  suffered  to  remain  for  upwards  of  a  year  as  a  public 
spectacle ;  and  his  body,  covered  with  a  beggarly  cloak,  was 
exposed  till  after  sunset  on  the  scaffold,  when  it  was  carried 
to  the  common  burial  place  of  criminals  by  some  of  the  low- 
est of  the  people,  unattended  and  unlamented ;  none  of  his 
friends  daring  to  show  any  marks  of  gratitude  or  affection 
to  their  chief,  and  none  of  his  enemies  having  the  generosi-  I 
ty  to  pay  a  decent  respect  to  the  remains  of  a  man,  who, 
for  so  long,  had  held  the  first  office  in  the  government  of  his 
country.* 

LIU.  In  person,  the  earl  of  Morton  was  somewhc 

*  The  following  order  appears  in  the  records  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  1582, 
REX.     Prouest  and  baillies  of  our  burgh  of  Edinburgh,  we  greit  zow  weill 
It  is  our  will,  and  we  command  zow  that,  incontinent  after  the  sicht  hereof,  ze 
tak  down  the  heid  of  James,  sum  tyme  erll  of  Mortoun,  of  the  pairt  quhair  it 
is  now  placeit  vpon  zour  awld  tolbuith,  swa  that  the  sam  heid  may  be  buriet  I 
For  the  whilk,  this  our  letter  sail  be  to  zow  sufficient  warrand,  subscryit  with  | 
our  hand  at  Halyrudhous,  the  audit  day  of  December,  and  of  our  reign  the  sext  I 
zeir,  1582.    So  that  Morton's  head  must  have  been  exhibited  eighteen  months, 
a  barbarous  and  a  disgusting  spectacle. 


"by  George  B.  Shaw: 


K!\\U,  OK    MOKTCTN    AND  KKGKNT   OF  SCOTLAND. 
PROKTHE  ORIGINAL  Iff  THE    COLLECTION  OF   THJ?    EARL  OF 


BIACKTE  &  SOK,  GLASGOW,  EMNBUKGH&LONDOH. 


JAMES  VI.  51 

ners,  and  has  the  power  of  ordaining  and  deposing  ministers    BOOK 
within  its  bounds  ;  the  provincial  synod,  as  its  name  express-        *• 
es,  consisting  of  all  the  presbyteries  within  its  bounds,  and  tak- 
ing  cognizance  of  their  proceedings  ;  the  general  assembly, 
or  general  eldership  of  the  whole  churches  in  the  realm,  con- 
sisting of  such  number  of  ecclesiastical  persons,  ministers,  and 
elders,  as  shall  be  thought  good   by  the  same  assembly  ; 
which  acts  as  a  court  of  appeal  and  review  in  all  cases  which 
come  before  the  inferior  courts,  and  treats  of  every  thing 
connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  national  church.     The 


patrimony  of  the  church  includes  all  donations  from  kings,  plication. 
princes,  or  those  of  inferior  station,  together  with  all  lega- 
cies, endowments,  buildings,  annual  rents,  &c.  which  it  is 
declared  sacrilege  either  to  alienate  or  convert,  by  unlawful 
means,  to  other  than  ecclesiastical  purposes  ;  and  these  are 
—  the  support  of  the  ministers  ;  of  the  elders  and  deacons 
as  far  as  necessary  ;  the  relief  of  the  poor,  the  sick,  and  the 
stranger  ;  and  the  keeping  in  a  proper  state  of  repair  the 
places  of  worship.  Under  the  general  denomination  of  clergy, 
are  comprehended  schoolmasters  and  teachers  ;  for  whose  in- 
crease and  encouragement  the  first  assemblies  of  the  church 
of  Scotland  always  showed  the  most  laudable  anxiety. 

LVI.  To  the  order  which  should  be  adopted,  a  long  list 
of  abuses  to  be  reformed  is  subjoined.  Fully  aware  of  the 
mighty  and  imposing  influence  of  titles  with  the  multitude, 
they  enumerate  among  these  abuses,  the  retaining  of  all  such 
as  marked  the  dignities  and  secularities  of  the  Romish  cler-  Abuses  to 
gy,  —  abbots,  priors,  deans,  archdeacons,  and  a  long  list  of  be  reform- 
offices  unknown  until  the  darkest  and  most  debased  ages  of 
Christianity  ;  they  stigmatize  the  unchristian  association,  in 
one  person,  of  temporal  peer  and  bishop  of  souls  ;  and  the 
still  more  baneful  and  unseemly  exercise  of  criminal  jus- 
tice and  the  pastoral  office,  by  the  same  individual  ;  the  plu- 
rality of  livings  is  condemned,  and  patronages  and  presen- 
tations to  benefices,  whether  by  the  prince  or  by  any  infe- 
rior person,  which  lead  to  intrusion,  and  are  inconsistent 
with  lawful  election,  and  the  assent  of  the  people  ever  whom 
the  person  is  placed,  are  pronounced  contrary  to  the  practice 
of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  kirk,  and  good  order.  Such 
is  a  very  concise  sketch  of  that  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity 


52  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    to  which  our  ancestors  were  so  much  attached  ;  and  in  sup- 
port of  which,  some  of  the  best  blood  of  the  country  was 
1581.     shed. 

LVII.  Probably  the  most  acute  intellect  would  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  trace  in  the  New  Testament  any  precise  model  of 
church  government.  Perverse  ingenuity  has  too  frequently 
converted  into  a  subject  of  strife,  what  the  Divine  Lawgiver 
left  as  a  matter  of  forbearance  ;*  but  there  is  a  broad  marked 
line  of  boundary,  to  distinguish  between  a  true  and  a  false 
method  of  worship  ;  and  it  requires  no  great  penetration  to 
discover  that  lordly  titles,  and  princely  revenues,  are  diame- 
trically opposite  both  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion ;  a  conviction  which  must  have  come  with  double 
efficience  to  those  who  had  suffered  under  that  worst  of  ty- 
rannies— the  junction  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  power. 
The  Scottish  Reformers,  and  all  their  successors,  who  had 
participated  in  their  wrongs,  and  inherited  their  spirit,  natu- 

"  It  has  been  invidiously,  but  unfortunately  in  some  cases  justly  remarked, 
that  polemics  do  not  usually  combat  with  the  same  calmness  as  philosophers  ; 
that  in  their  disputes  they  bring  all  their  passions  into  play.     The  reason  is 
obvious,  polemics  contend  for  their  interests  in  time,  and  their  stake  in  eter- 
nity ;  philosophers  dispute  about  abstract  principles,  which  have  little  infla^ 
ence  on  the  present,  and  no  certain  reference  to  a  future  state  of  existence. 
In  questions  of  such  magnitude,  there  is  to  the  theologian  nothing  trifling,  his 
rule  of  obedience  and  belief  is  imperative ;  there  is  no  great  or  small  trans- 
gression.    The  wearing  of  a  vestment  consecrated  to  a  false  mode  of  worship, 
is  to  him  as  serious  an  infringement  of  the  divine  command,  as  is  eating  meat 
offered  to  idols.     Thus  the  primitive  fathers  of  the  Scottish  church  considered 
the  subject,  and  this  was  the  doctrine  which  they  enforced  upon  their  hearers 
for  they  had  not  learned  politely,  or,  as  lukewarmness  is  now  styled,  chari 
tably,  to  concede  to  that  system  of  fraud  and  idolatry — the  Papal  superstition 
— the  name  of  Christianity.     They  knew  no  difference  between  bending  the 
knee  to  an  image  of  an  apostle  Paul,  or  to  one   of  the  god  Mercurius ;  no 
could   they  distinguish  between  the  profanity  of  offering  prayer  to  a  Sain 
Apollos,  or  to  a  Heathen  Jupiter.     And  it  was  owing  to  this  principle,  whicl 
must  never  be  lost  sight  of  in  reading  Scottish  history  during  the  reign  of  the 
Stuarts,  that  we  are  to  attribute  the  inflexible  firmness  with  which  our  fore 
fathers  resisted  the  use  of  copes,  and  gowns,  and  sashes,  and  surplices,  the 
"  rags  of  Rome," — as  they  styled  them — and  the  introduction  of  a  liturgy,  or 
in  the  language  of  king  James,  the  ill  framed  mass  book ;  and  the  abhorrence 
with  which  they  viewed  a  hierarchy,  which  acknowledging  a  temporal  head, 
bore,  in  their  opinion,  too  near  a  resemblance  to  the  system  of  iniquity  be- 
neath which  they  had  groaned,  and  which  it  had  cost  them  so  much  to  over 
turn. 


JAMES  VI.  53 

rally  felt  a  strong  repugnance  to  any  assimilation — by  a  con-    BOOK 
secrated  uniform,  or  an  adaptation  of  the  mass  book — which        I- 
might,  in  the  most  distant  degree,  betoken  an  affinity  with  the      |581t 
degrading  superstition,  and  idolatrous  inthralment  they  had 
just  broken  ;  and  in  their  polity,  carefully  avoided  every  title, 
vesture,  usage,  or  form,  which  in  other  cases  might  perhaps 
have  been  innocent  or  unimportant,  but  in  their  circum- 
stances, could  neither  be  deemed  harmless  nor  safe. 

LVIII.  When  the  book  of  polity  was  presented  to  the  king,  Book  of 
upon  his  assumption  of  the  government,  as  both  parties  were  Polit7  Pr«- 
then  courting  the  favour  of  the  church,  his  counsellors  advis-  to  the 
ed  him  to  return  a  gracious  answer  ;  promising  to  concur  kmg' 
with   them   in  all  things  that  might  advance  religion.     At 
next  parliament,  however,  its  ratification  was  evaded;  and 
when  Morton  regained  full  power,  the  assembly  were  de- 
sired to  use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  promote  peace  and 
obedience  during  the  king's  minority ;  but  refer  the  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  polity  till  the  next  meeting  of  parliament,  at 
which   the  king  himself  was   to  preside  in  person.     Then  Its  m_ 
however,  the  legal  ratification  of  the  order  of  the  kirk  was  tification 
still  evaded  ;  but  the  previous  acts  for  securing  the  liberty  of ev 
the  true  church  were  confirmed,*  and  others  agreeable  to  the 
ministers,  enacted  ; — to  enforce  the  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath ;  to  oblige  all  respectable  persons  to  have  a  Bible 
and  Psalm  Book  in  their  houses ;  and  to  prevent  the  alien- 
ation of  youth  from  the  established  religion  by  a  foreign  edu- 
cation. 

LIX.  The  day  following    Morton's  execution,  Arran   re-  . 
ported  to  the  king  in  council,  what  had  been  his  own  con-  conduct  to 
duct  with  respect  to  tne  trial ;  and  acknowledging  that  he  had 
not  only  tampered  with  Morton's   servants,    but  even  pro- 
ceeded to  inflict  torture  on  some  of  them,  to  obtain  evidence 
against  their  master,  prayed  the  approbation  of  his  majesty 
and  council  for  these  proceedings ;  for  which  he  was  afraid, 

*  The  true  church  is  thus  defined :  "  The  ministers  of  the  blessed  evangel 
of  Jesus  Christ,  whom  God  of  his  mercy  has  now  raised  up  amongst  us,  or 
hereafter  shall  raise,  agreeing  with  them  that  now  live  in  doctrine  and  adminis- 
tration of  sacraments,  and  the  people  that  prefer  Christ  as  he  is  now  offered, 
and  communicate  with  the  holy  sacraments  according  to  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  be  the  true  and  holy  kirk  of  Jesus  Christ  within  this  realm." — Act 
1st  Parl.  James  VI.  cap.  6.  ratified  7th  Parl.  cap.  1. 


BOOK 
I 

1581. 


Lennox 
created  a 
duke. 


His  dis- 


Arran. 


54 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


he  might  afterward  have  been  called  to  an  account.  This  he 
easily  obtained,  and  what  ought  to  have  been  stamped  with 
infamy,  was  acknowledged  as  good  service  to  the  state,  by  an 
express  act  of  council.  As  if  willing,  however,  to  draw  off 
attention  from  the  atrocity  of  his  public  conduct,  by  the  in- 
famy of  his  private  life,  he  nearly  about  this  time,  married 
the  lady  of  the  earl  of  March,  whom  he  had  debauched,  while 
supported  by  the  earl,  and  entertained  at  his  table  —  before 
he  could  boast  of  a  table  of  his  own  —  and  who  had  previous- 
ly divorced  her  husband,  for  a  reason  which  female  delicacy 
would  blush  to  name.*  His  union  with  this  woman,  whose 
ambition  was  as  insatiable  as  his  own,  had  nearly  occasioned 
his  ruin. 

LX.  In  the  month  of  August,  the  earl  of  Lennox  was  cre- 
ated duke,  and  on  the  same  occasion,  Arran  was  solemnly 
confirmed  in  his  title  of  earl,  which  he  had  only  worn  by 
courtesy  before.  Imagining  that  he  was  now  completely  se- 
cure of  the  king's  affection,  he  began  to  feel  the  pangs  of  ri- 
valry ;  and  envying  the  precedence  which  he  perceived  Len- 
nox enjoy,  seized  every  occasion  to  affront  him.  This  na- 
turally occasioned  retaliation  ;  but  their  mutual  resentments 
were  kept  within  bounds  till  the  meeting  of  parliament,  when 
a  point  of  etiquette  occasioned  an  open  rupture.  The  cham- 
berlain  claimed,  as  his  privilege,  to  arrange  the  introductions 
to  the  king,  which  Arran  insisted  belonged  to  his  office,  as 
captain  of  the  guard.  The  duke,  in  consequence,  withdrew 
from  attending  parliament,  which  so  irritated  the  king,  that 
next  day  he  proceeded  to  Dalkeith,  and  took  Lennox  along 
with  him,  forbidding  Arran  to  approach  the  court.f  Such 
trifling,  more  like  the  quarrels  of  children  than  the  rivalry 
of  men,  it  would  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  history  to  record  ; 
did  we  not  still  see,  that  at  courts,  such,  even  yet,  are  the 
mighty  struggles  of  the  great  ;  and  that  on  intrigues  equal- 
ly despicable,  among  the  favourites  of  monarchs,  the  fate  of 
the  most  powerful  nations  too  frequently  depends.  While 

*  Archbishop  Spotswood  describes  her  as  a  woman,  "  intolerable  in  all  the 
imperfections  incident  to  that  sex,"  and  another  writer  thus,  "  maistresse  of  all 
bawdrie  and  villanie  then  lady  Marche,  infected  the  air  in  his  H.  audience." 
MSS.  Bibl.  Jurid.  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie,  in  the  Life  of  Melville. 

f  SpotBwood,  p.  315. 


JAMES  VI.  55 

the  dispute  lasted,  Arran  and  his  lady,  with  impudent,  match-    BOOK 
less  hypocrisy,  went  regularly  and  devoutly  to  sermon  and 
to  prayers ;  pretending  that  religion  alone  was  the  cause  of     1591 
their  difference  with  the  court,  and  that  they  were  disliked 
merely  on  account  of  their  attachment  to  the  protestant  faith. 
But  knowing  that  this  was  a  farce  which  could  not  last  long, 
Arran  employed  the  mediation  of  friends,  made  the  most 
humble  submissions  to  the  duke,  to  whom  he  resigned  the  js  recon- 
office  of  commander  of  the  guard,  and  was  again  received  in-  ciledi 
to  favour.* 

LXI.  The  nobility,  who  had  rejoiced  at  the  rupture  be- 
tween the  two  favourites,  and  had  hoped  to  regain  their  pro- 
per influence  in  the  councils  of  their  sovereign,  were  highly 
disappointed  at  their  union;  and  James,  who  devoted  his 
time  chiefly  to  amusement,  again  resigned  himself  entirely  to 
their  guidance.  The  chief  object  of  the  minions  appears  to  They  cor. 
have  been  to  engross  the  affections  of  the  king  entirely  to  rVP* the 
themselves,  by  corrupting  his  principles,  and  debauching 
his  morals ;  and  in  this  they  were  ably  assisted  by  Monber- 
neau,  a  French  gentleman,  who  had  accompanied  Lennox  to 
Scotland  ;  whose  vivacity,  wit,  and  pleasing  exterior  accom- 
plishments, were  only  equalled  by  his  licentiousness.  The 
whole  of  James'  court  was  even  thus  early,  composed  of  per- 
sons who  were  regardless  of  appearances ;  who  set  the  most 
common  decencies  of  life  at  defiance,  and  whose  conversa- 
tion consisted  chiefly  of  ribaldry  and  obscene  buffoonery, 
when  not  more  mischievously  employed.  Amid  such  com- 
pany, the  better  lessons  of  his  youth  were  soon  forgotten  ; 
and  ever  after  through  life,  his  language  bore  strong  marks 
of  the  taints  he  then  received.  In  this  school  he  learned 
those  despotic  doctrines,  so  alien  to  the  instructions  of  his 
former  tutors,  which  embroiled  the  whole  of  his  future  reign, 

*  Vide  character  of  lady  Arran,  Note,  p.  54.  Lennox,  although  more  pol- 
ished, appears  to  have  been  a  worthy  associate.  In  the  MSS.  quoted  above, 
it  is  said,  "  The  duke,  in  his  own  person  fretted,  and  was  enraged  that  he 
could  not  be  avenged  on  the  ministers,  who  would  not  beare  with  his  hypocri- 
1  sie,  and  adulterouse  life,  wherewith  the  land  was  polluted.  He  intended  to 
I  put  hand  on  John  Durie,  at  Dalkeith.  In  a  French  passion  he  rent  his  beard, 
I  and  thinking  to  strike  the  borde,  strake  himself  in  the  theigh,  crying,  the  devil 
for  John  Durie,  which  Monbrineo  learned  for  the  first  lessoun  in  the  Scottish 
language."  MS.  referred  to  before. 


56  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  and  finally  proved  the  ruin  of  his  race.  His  best  friends, 
*•  and  those  who  had  placed  the  crown  on  his  head,  were  thus 
1581.  driven  from  him  ;  while  they  who  had  been  his  bitterest  ene- 
mies, were  rewarded  and  honoured.  Irregularities  of  every 
kind  were  the  consequence.  The  project  for  associating 
queen  Mary  in  the  government  with  her  son,  was  revived, 
and  strongly  promoted  by  Lennox  ;  who  contended  that  this 
was  the  only  way  to  legitimize  his  right  to  the  throne,  in  the 
Misgovern  eyes  of  foreign  powers ;  a  close  correspondence  was  set  on 
the  State.  fQQ^  Detween  the  king  and  his  mother,  and  considerable  pro- 
gress even  made  in  the  treaty.  Courts  of  justice  were  held 
in  almost  every  county,  the  proprietors  of  land  were  called 
before  them,  and  upon  the  slightest  neglect  of  any  of  the  nu- 
merous forms  which  are  peculiar  to  feudal  holdings,  they 
were  fined  with  unusual  and  intolerable  rigour.  The  lord 
chamberlain  revived  the  obsolete  jurisdiction  of  his  office 
over  the  boroughs,  and  they  were  subjected  to  exactions  no 
less  grievous.  Justice  throughout  the  country  was  held 
venal,  and  the  lives  of  the  lower  ranks  not  unfrequently 
sported  with,  by  the  avarice  or  caprice  of  an  abandoned  wo- 
man.* 

LXII.  The  freedom  of  the  pulpit  was  at  that  time  to  the 
country,  what  the  freedom  of  the  press  is  now ;  and  of  ne- 
Attack  the  cessity,  was  obnoxious  to  all  who  wished  to  trample  on  the 
church.  rights  or  liberties  of  the  people.  It  was  therefore  an  object 
with  Lennox  and  Arran,  to  silence  these  tribunes,  whence 
their  delinquencies  had  been  so  often  denounced,  and  their 
despotic  measures  so  freely  attacked.  To  accomplish  this, 
no  method  seemed  so  effectual,  as  to  reduce  the  church  un- 
der the  civil  power,  by  obtaining  the  whole  influence  and 
patronage,  to  which  they  were  still  farther  stimulated  by  their 
avarice.  The  form  and  constitution  of  the  presbyterian 
church,  as  detailed  above,  is  essentially  opposed  to  any 
overpowering  interference  on  the  part  of  the  civil  power; 
and  therefore,  in  opposition,  episcopacy  has  in  Scotland 

*  By  justice  courts,  the  poor  of  the  countrie,  without  difference  of  the  guil- 
tie  from  the  innocent,  were  sold,  and  ransomed  at  hundredth  pounds  the  score. 
That  monster  of  nature,  the  countess  of  Arran,  controlled — the  judges — at  her 
pleasure,  and  caused  sindrie  to  be  hanged,  that  wanted  their  compositions,  say« 
ing,  what  had  they  been  doing  all  their  days,  that  had  not  so  much  as  five 
punds,  to  buy  them  from  the  gallows  ?  MSS.  Bibl.  Jurid.  referred  to  before 


JAMES  VI.  57 

been  always  the  cherished  religion  of  those  rulers,  who  have    BOOK 
wished  to  govern  despotically ;  and  in  general,  .it  has  been 
more  from  its  ready  subservience  for  this  purpose,  than  from      1581 
any  pious  attachment  to  its  principles,  that  the  different  so- 
vereigns have  attempted  to  force  it  upon  the  people.     For 
these  reasons,  Lennox  and  Arran  now  made  an  attempt  to 
revive  it.     The  regulations  made  at  Leith,  recognising  it  in 
a  modified  form,  and  abrogated  by  the  general  assembly,* 
were  now  restored  by  act  of  the  privy  council ;  and  the  see  of 
Glasgow  being  then  vacant,   the  disposal  was  given  to  the 
duke  of  Lennox,   who  offered  it  to  several  ministers,  upon 
condition  that  they  would  assign  the  revenues  to  him,  after 
deducting  a  moderate  stipend.    All  having  refused ;  at  length  Appoint 
Mr.  Robert  Montgomery,  minister  of  Stirling,  consented  to  MontS°- 
accept  the  archbishopric ;   and  the  price  of  this  "vile  bar- bishop  of— 
gain,"  as  Spotswood  terms  it,  was  fixed  at  an  annual  income  Glasgow. 
of  one  thousand  pounds  Scots,  with  some  horse  corn,  and 
poultry. 

LXIII.  This  simonaical  transaction  brought  the  church  and 
the  court  into  immediate  contact ;  but  while  the  assembly 
were  deliberating,  they  received  a  message  from  the  king, 
disallowing  their  interference  on  any  other  points  than  such 
as  respected  life  or  doctrine ;  on  which,  Melville  exhibited 
various  charges  against  Montgomery,  and  the  assembly  re-  Proceed- 

mitted  the  process  to  the  presbytery  of  Stirling,  who  were  to  mgs  lncon' 

i  •  -T*  sequence, 

report  to  the  synod  of  Lothian.     r  or  entering  on  the  cause 

when  reported,  the  synod  were  summoned  before  the  privy 
council.  They  obeyed  the  summons,  but  declined  the  judg- 
ment of  that  court,  as  incompetent,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  country,  to  take  cognizance  in  a  matter  purely  ecclesias- 
tical. In  the  next  assembly,  where  the  case  was  resumed,  a 
letter  was  presented  from  the  king,  commanding  them,  on 
pain  of  rebellion,  to  desist  from  the  process ;  but  they,  after 
a  respectful  reply  to  his  majesty,  continued  their  proceedings, 
and  were  prevented  only  from  excommunicating  Montgome- 
ry, who  had  been  found  guilty  of  some  errors  in  doctrine,  by 
his  submission,  and  promising  to  interfere  no  farther  with 

•  Vide  p.  15. 
VOL    III.  I 


58  H1STOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  bishopric.     Fearing  his  tergiversation  however,  they  gave 
'•         instructions  to  the  presbytery  of  Glasgow  to  watch  his  con- 
l581'      duct;  and  if  he  violated  his  engagement,  give  immediate  in- 
formation to  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  who  were  autho- 
rized to  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  pronounce  the  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  against  him. 

LXIV.  Scarcely  had  he  quitted  the  assembly,  ere  he  show- 
ed their  precautions  were  not  in  vain  ;  for,  urged  by  Lennox, 
he  revived  his  episcopal  claims.  The  presbytery  of  Glasgow 
having  met  in  consequence,  they  were  forcibly  dispersed  by 
an  order  from  the  king,  and  their  moderator  imprisoned  ; 
but  not  until  they  had  finished  their  deed,  declaring  that 
Montgomery  had  violated  his  engagement  with  the  general 
assembly.  This  deed  was  immediately  transmitted  to  the 
presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  who  appointed  on  its  receipt,  John 
Davidson,  minister  of  Libberton,  to  pronounce  the  sentence 
Montgo-  of  excommunication,  which  he  did  accordingly  ;  and  in  spite 

mery  ex-     f  ^    threat;S  of  the  court,  it  was  on  the  succeeding  Sabbath, 
communi- 
cated,         intimated  from  the  pulpits  of  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and  the 

surrounding  churches.  Enraged  at  these  proceedings,  a  pro- 
clamation was  issued  by  the  privy  council,  declaring  the  ex- 
communication null  and  void. 

LXV.  Besides  this  attack  upon  the  constitution  and  liberty 
of  the  church,  the  ministers  were  individually  subjected  to 
persecution,  for  their  discourses  in  the  pulpit.  They  did 
not  cease  to  inveigh  against  those  whom  they  considered  the 
authors  of  the  calamities  which  afflicted  both  church  and 
state ;  and  in  particular,  John  Dury,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Edinburgh,  named  Lennox  and  Arran,  in  one  of  his  dis- 
courses, as  those  on  whom  the  chief  blame  rested.  They  in 
return,  complained  to  the  king,  of  what  they  thought  the  un- 
warrantable liberty  of  the  preacher  ;  and  the  king,  irritated 
at  what  he  considered  as  oblique  reflections  on  his  own  con- 
duct, ordered  the  magistrates  to  remove  him  from  the  town, 
John  Dury  Wli^n  twenty-four  hours.  Dury  consulted  with  the  general 

ordered  to   assembly  upon  the  occasion ;  and  they  approving  of  his  doc- 
leave  Edin-  .  •  ,  /, 

burgh.  trine,  recommended  him  not  to  withdraw  secretly,  but  re- 
main till  formally  commanded  to  depart,  and  then  obey; 
and  the  magistrates,  although  unwillingly,  finding  themselves 


JAMES  VI.  59 

compelled  to  enforce  his   majesty's  orders,   Dury,  after  so-    BOOK 
lemnly  protesting  at  the  cross,  against  the  force  used,  was 
obliged  to  leave  the  city. 

LXVI.  These  arbitrary  proceedings  occasioned  an  extraor- 
dinary meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  at  which  a  spirited 
remonstrance  was  drawn  up,  addressed  to  the  king  and  coun- 
cil ;— complaining  "  that  he  had  been  persuaded  to  assume  a 
spiritual  authority,  which  belonged  only  to  Christ,  and  the 

execution  of  which  is  committed  to  his  ministers :    as  if  he  8france  of 

the  assem« 
could  not  be  king  of  the  state,  without  being  head  of  the  bly. 

church.  That  in  consequence,  unworthy  and  unfit  persons 
were  obtruded  into  the  ministerial  office,  discipline  obstruct- 
ed, and  the  censures  of  the  church  condemned  and  disan- 
nulled ;"  and  after  an  enumeration  of  their  complaints,  under 
fourteen  heads,  they  besought  his  majesty  to  redress  their 
grievances,  with  the  advice  of  men,  "  that  fear  God,  and  do 
tender  his  grace's  estate,  and  quietness  of  this  commonwealth." 
The  venerable  Erskine,  of  Dun,  and  a  number  of  others  of 
the  older  reformers,  were  associated  with  Andrew  Melville, 
and  ordered  to  proceed  to  Perth,  where  the  king  then  was, 
and  present  the  remonstrance.  In  spite  of  threats  against  their 
lives,  held  out  to  deter  them,  they  boldly  proceeded ;  and 
having  obtained  access  to  the  king  in  council,  presented  their 
remonstrance.  Arran,  who  was  present,  after  it  had  been 
read,  looking  sternly  round  the  assembly,  demanded,  Who 
dare  subscribe  these  treasonable  articles  ?  We  dare,  repli- 
ed Melville,  and  immediately  affixed  his  own  signature,  the  Melville's 
other  commissioners  successively  following  his  example ; mtrepldlty< 
while  the  duke  and  Arran,  overawed  at  their  intrepidity,  of- 
fered no  opposition.  They  were  afterward  dismissed  with 
a  favourable  answer. 

LXVII.  Such  boldness  in  the  exercise  of  their  rights,  by  a 
body  of  men,  who  were  unsupported  by  any  civil  power,  or 
armed  force  ;  while  it  struck  strangers  with  astonishment,* 
shamed  into  action  the  Scottish  nobles,  who  had  long  borne, 
with  irritable  impatience,  the  insolent  presumption  of  two 
upstarts.  Elizabeth  too,  if  she  had  not  secretly  incited,  was 
at  least  ready  to  support  any  attempt  to  rescue  the  king 

•  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  p.  273, 


60  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  from  the  hands  of  the  rash  and  inexperienced  favourites,  who 
!•  had  deprived  her  of  all  influence  in  Scotland,  and  had  al- 
1582  most  involved  the  two  kingdoms  in  hostilities,  A  conspira- 
Nobles  cv>  to  force  the  king  to  part  with  his  favourites,  was  the  con- 
remoreethe  sequence  ;  as  the  legal  methods  of  removing  obnoxious  ser- 
tavourites.  vants  of  the  crown — difficult  even  in  the  best  regulated  states 
— was  either  unknown,  or  impracticable  in  Scotland  at  that 
period.  The  principal  leaders  were  the  earls  of  Mar,  Glen- 
cairn,  and  Gowrie,  lord  Lindsay,  lord  Boyd,  the  masters  of 
Glammis  and  Oliphant,  the  titular  abbots  of  Dunfermline, 
Paisley,  Dry  burgh,  and  Cambuskenneth,  the  lairds  of  Loch- 
leven,  Easter  Wemyss,  Cliesh,  and  the  constable  of  Dundee. 
Their  design  was  to  obtain  possession  of  the  king's  person, 
send  Lennox  to  France,  and  remove  Arran  from  court. 
The  young  monarch,  who  had  been  some  time  in  Athol,  en- 
joying his  favourite  amusement  of  hunting,  intended  to  stop 
at  Dunfermline,  on  his  return  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  here  the 
conspirators  proposed  to  present  a  supplication,  against  the 
illegal  and  tyrannical  conduct  of  the  favourites,  and  carry 
their  object  into  effect ;  but  as  neither  Lennox  nor  Arran 
were  with  him,  and  he  was  only  very  slenderly  attended, 
they,  probably  afraid  lest  the  favourites  should  join  him 
at  Dunfermline,  invited  the  king  to  Ruthven  castle,  whence 
this  enterprise  has  derived  the  name  of  the  Raid  of  Ruthven. 
LXVIII.  James  unsuspiciously  complied  with  the  invitation  ; 
but,  upon  his  arrival,  observing  an  unusual  concourse,  he 
began  to  doubt  that  some  plot  was  in  agitation.  Concealing 
however,  his  suspicions,  he  dissembled,  in  expectation  of 
freeing  himself  from  constraint,  when  he  went  abroad  to  his 
sport.  Next  morning  he  early  prepared  to  take  the  field, 
but  was  anticipated  by  the  nobles,  who,  entering  his  bed- 
chamber, presented  their  memorial.  This  he  received  gra- 
ciously, and  was  hastening  to  be  gone,  when  the  master  of 
Glammis,  stepping  to  the  door  of  the  apartment,  told  him  he 
must  stay.  On  finding  himself  a  prisoner,  he  threatened,  ex- 
postulated, and  at  length  burst  into  tears.  "  It  is  no  matter 
of  his  tears,"  said  the  master  of  Glammis,  when  he  observed 
him  crying,— "better  bairns  should  weep,  than  bearded  men ," 
a  saying  the  king  could  never  afterward  forget ;  so  much  less 
easy  is  it  to  forgive  an  affront,  than  a  real  injury.  Although 


JAMES  VI.  01 

kept  captive,  the  king  was  treated  with  every  outward  mark    BOOK 
of  respect ;  only  his  attendants  were  changed,  and  none  of 
whom  the  conspirators  had  any  suspicion,  were  suffered  to      1582. 
remain   near  his  person.     Finding  himself  totally    cut  off 
from  any  communication  with  his  obnoxious  ministers,  James 
made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  submitted  to  his  fate. 

LXIX.  Lennox  and  Arran,  who  were  residing  in  the  ut- 
most security  upon  their  estates,  the  former  at  Dalkeith, 
and  the  latter  at  Kinneil,  thunderstruck  at  so  unexpected  an 
event,  prepared,  if  possible,  to  retrieve  the  error  they  had 
committed,  in  allowing  the  king  so  easily  to  fall  into  the 
snare  of  their  enemies.  The  earl,  whose  arrogance  imagined 
no  one  would  dare  to  oppose  him,  and  trusting  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  friendship  of  Gowrie — who,  he  either  did  not 
yet  know  had  joined  the  confederates,  or  would  not  believe 
sincere  in  his  attachment — instantly,  on  receiving  intelligence  Arran  pro. 
of  the  seizure  of  the  king's  person,  set  out  with  a  few  follow-  RUthVen. 
ers  towards  Ruthven  castle ;  boasting  as  he  went,  that  he 
would  chase  all  the  lords  into  mouse  holes.  Fearing  lest  he 
should  be  detained  on  his  journey  by  his  attendants,  he  push- 
ed forward,  with  only  one  servant,  by  a  cross  road,  direct- 
ing his  brother,  William  Stuart,  to  follow  with  the  rest,  by 
the  common  highway.  In  this  manner  he  escaped  an  am- 
bush, which  had  been  laid  for  him  by  the  earl  of  Mar,  and 
arrived  in  the  evening  at  Ruthven.  On  entering  the  gate 
of  the  castle  he  asked  for  the  king,  intending  to  proceed  im- 
mediately to  his  presence;  and  here  again,  his  good  fortune 
rescued  him  from  a  peril,  even  greater  than  what  he  had 
previously  escaped.  The  conspirators,  whose  indignation 
was  roused  by  the  appearance  of  a  man  whom  they  detest- 
ed, would  instantly  have  sacrificed,  upon  the  spot,  the  ene- 
my of  their  country  ;  but  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  from  motives 
of  friendship  or  hospitality,  interfered,  and  had  him  convey- 
ed to  a  place  of  safety,  thus  preserving  a  life  destined  to 
wreck  his  own.  Arran  was  afterward  sent  into  confinement 
in  Stirling  castle,  without  being  permttted  to  see  the  king.  Committed 
His  brother  encountered  the  horsemen  who  lay  in  wait,  with  to  Stirll"& 
whom  he  had  a  smart  encounter  near  Duplin,  in  which  he 

was  wounded,  and  taken  prisoner.* 

• 
*  Spotswood,  p.  320.     Melville,  p.  26S. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

I. 

~~J582. 

Lennox 
sends  to 
the  king. 


Is  ordered 
to  leave 
the  king, 
doin. 


LXX.  The  duke,  after  a  vain  attempt  to  excite  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Edinburgh  to  take  arms,  sent  some  noblemen  to 
Perth,  where  the  king  had  been  carried,  to  learn  from 
his  majesty  himself,  if  the  revolution  which  had  taken 
place  had  been  with  his  consent.  The  messengers  were 
not  allowed  to  see  the  king  except  in  council,  where  be- 
ing introduced,  and  having  explained  the  nature  of  their 
mission,  the  king  passionately  cried  out; — "I  am  a  cap- 
tive, which  I  wish  all  my  subjects  to  know,  and  earnest- 
ly desire  the  duke  to  use  his  endeavours  to  procure  me  my 
liberty.1'  With  affected  humility,  the  lords  entreated  his 
majesty  not  to  imagine  himself  a  prisoner,  or  that  he  was  un- 
der any  restraint ;  for  he  was  at  liberty  to  go  wherever  he 
pleased,  only  tney  would  not  permit  the  duke  of  Lennox, 
and  the  earl  of  Arran,  to  mislead  him,  and  oppress  the 
church  and  the  kingdom  as  they  had  hitherto  done;  at 
the  same  time,  they  advised  his  majesty  to  inform  the 
duke,  that  it  might  be  prudent  for  him  to  retire  quiet- 
ly to  France;  else  they  would  be  forced  to  bring  hirr. 
to  an  account  for  his  conduct,  and  proceed  against 
him  according  to  the  utmost  rigour  of  law.  The  king, 
finding  it  would  be  in  vain  to  contend  with  persons  in 
whose  power  he  so  completely  was,  dissembled  his  anger 
and  afraid  for  the  fate  of  Lennox,  to  whom  he  seems  to 
have  felt  a  sincere  attachment,  issued  a  declaration,  stating : 
"  That  it  was  his  own  free  and  voluntary  choice  to  remain 
at  Perth ;  that  his  person  was  under  no  restriction,  and 
that  the  noblemen,  who  at  present  attended  him,  had  only 
clone  their  duty,  and  '  performed  a  good  service  to  himself 
and  the  commonwealth;'  and  prohibiting  any  attempt  to 
disturb  the  public  peace,  under  pretence  of  rescuing  him 
from  restraint !"  Lennox,  who  was  still  endeavouring  to 
raise  a  force,  received,  by  return  of  his  messengers,  a  letter 
from  the  king,  commanding  him  to  leave  the  kingdom  be- 
fore the  20th  of  September. 

LXXI.  Unwilling  to  obey,  but  unable  to  resist,  he  continued 
to  linger  about  Edinburgh,  uncertain  how  to  act,  till  at  length, 
by  the  advice  of  his  friends,  he  retired  to  Dunbarton,  to  wait 
the  occurrence  of  anv  favourable  turn  in  his  fortune.  But 


JAMES  VI.  63 

the  nobles  were  inflexible  in  insisting  upon  Lennox  leav-    BOOK 
ing  the  country  ;  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  and   at         *• 
the   earnest   entreaty    of  the  king,  that  he  was  permitted      1582 
to  remain  only  a  few  days ;  yet,  by  various  evasions,  he  con- 
tinued to  delay  his  departure  till  about  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber.    In   October  he  attempted,  or  pretended  to  make  an 
attempt  of  going  to  France  from  the  west  coast,  but  the  wea- 
ther being  tempestuous,  he  fell  sick,  and  landed  again.     He  Hesitates. 
.  then,  by  the  king's   advice,  came  to  Blackness,    to  remain 
there  till  a  passport  was  procured  from  queen  Elizabeth  to 
enable  him  to  travel  through  England  to  France,  on  account 
of  the  season   of  the  year  and  his  ill  health.     He  had  not 
remained  there,  however,  many  days,  till,    upon  a  rumour 
of  his  being  again   to  be  received  into  favour,  lord  Herries 
was  sent  with  a  peremptory  command  for  him  to  begin  his 
journey.     He  only  begged  to  be  admitted  into  the   king's 
presence,  to  salute  his  majesty,  and   bid  him  farewell;  but 
this  the  lords  wisely  denied  him,  and  he  took   his   reluctant 
departure,  much  to  the  pleasure  of  the  people,  and  the   re-  Departe. 
gret  of  the  king. 

LXXII.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  France,  fatigue  or  chagrin, 
or  both,  threw  him  into  a  fever,  which  in  a  short  time  car- 
ried him  off.  In  his  last  moments  he  professed  to  die  in  the  ms  dcatf. 
faith  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  to  keep  the  oath  he  had 
given  to  the  king  inviolate ;  and  the  king,  to  rescue  his  me- 
mory from  the  charge  of  hypocrisy,  eagerly  proclaimed  in 
Edinburgh  his  dying  confession.  Whether  he  was  ever 
sincerely  attached  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformed  or  not, 
is  as  uncertain  as  it  is  unimportant.  That  he  was  insolent,* 

*  Patrick  Galloway,  minister  of  Perth,  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
duke's  behaviour  in  the  church,  when  the  preacher  blamed  the  court  for  sup- 
porting Montgomery,  bishop  of  Glasgow ;  "  When  I  did  speak  against  the 
same,  he  did  plainly  menace  me,  and  called  me  pultron,  villain,  mischant, 
with  many  other  injurious  words,  and  threatened  to  run  me  through  with  a 
rappair,  till  his  majesty  himself  was  compelled  to  lay  his  hand  upon  his 
mouth,  and  stay  the  duke's  fury  and  malicious  language  heard  of  all  that 
stood  in  his  highness'  seat,  and  uttered  publicly  before  the  people.  After  the 
sermon  was  ended,  at  the  duke's  passing  out  of  the  kirk  door  in  plain 
language  laying  his  hand  upon  his  sword,  he  boasted  he  would  have  my  life, 
and  used  diverse  contumelious  and  reproachful  words  of  malice  and  despite."— 


64  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    oppressive,  and  tyrannical,  is  evident  from  the  inflexible  ri- 

_L gour   with  which  the  nobles    insisted   on  his  quitting  the 

1582.  country ;  although  probably  in  some  instances,  his  plausibi- 
lity of  manner*  might  have  led  the  courtiers  to  think  more 
kindly  of  him  than  of  Arran,  whose  insolence  had  more  rug- 
gedness  about  it.  The  king  long  remembered  him  with  af- 
fection, and  showed  many  acts  of  generosity  to  his  posterity. 
He  was  the  earliest,  the  most  obsequious,  and,  unfortunate- 
Character,  ly,  one  of  the  most  unprincipled  of  James'  favourites.  He 
found  the  prince  at  a  period  of  life  comparatively  uncorrupt- 
ed,  and  he  contaminated  him  by  the  licentiousness  of  his 
conversation,  and  the  looseness  of  his  conduct.  Unacquaint- 
ed with  the  manners  of  the  country,  and  educated  in  a  sys- 
tem directly  opposed  to  that  of  James,  passionate  in  his  tem- 
per, and  libertine  in  his  morals,  he  was  the  most  unfit  com- 
panion the  young  monarch  of  a  free  and  a  religious  country, 
could  have  chosen. 

LXXIII.  Immediately  upon  the  report  of  James''  captivity, 
Elizabeth  despatched  two  ambassadors,  sir  George  Carey 
and  sir  Robert  Bowes,  under  pretence  of  inquiring  after  the 
king's  safety,  to  endeavour  to  reconcile  him  with  his  nobles, 
and  induce  him  to  restore  the  earl  of  Angus,  who  had  lived 
in  exile  in  England  ever  since  the  death  of  his  uncle,  the 
earl  of  Morton.  Jam«s,  who  suspected  that  Elizabeth  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  conspiracy,  gave,  in  public,  a  general 
answer,  that  he  was  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the 
lords;  but,  in  private,  he  whispered  his  discontent  to  Carey, 
and  begged  him  to  inform  his  mistress  of  the  real  state  of 
Earl  of  An-  affairs.  At  their  request  he  consented  to  the  return  of  An- 
from  exile.  gus,  wh°  formed  a  farther  addition  to  the  strength  of  the 
party. 

LXXIV.  Besides  the  royal  proclamation,  the  nobles,  who 
were  anxious  to  justify  their  conduct  to  the  nation,  issued  a 
long  declaration,  explaining  the  motives  which  induced  them 


MS.  Apology  of  Mr.  Patrick  Galloway,  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie,  Life  of  A. 
Melville,  vol.  i.  Notes,  and  Calderwood,  p.  152. 

It  is  from  this  circumstance,  I  apprehend,  that  sir  James  Melville  is  in- 
clined  to  represent  him  in  more  favourable  colours  than  he  appears  to  have 
deserved 


JAMES  VI.  65 

to  venture  on  the  irregular  step  they  had  taken.  In  it  BOOK 
they  inveighed  against  the  favourites,  and  enumerated  all 
their  offences  against  the  church  and  state: — their  endeavour- 
ing  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  church,  by  filling  her  livings 
with  unworthy  characters;  abusing,  banishing,  and  suspend- 
ing some  of  her  ministers,  and  libelling  and  traducing  all  as 
traitors,  seditious  persons,  members  of  Satan,  and  enemies 
to  the  commonwealth  ;  their  negotiating  with  the  king's  mo- 
ther;  their  driving  faithful  noblemen  from  the  court;  ba- 
nishing gentlemen  without  trial  or  conviction,  and  overaw- 
ing the  courts  of  law ;  removing  forfeitures  without  the  au- 
thority of  parliament,  and  rendering  the  whole  country  one 
scene  of  confusion,  tyranny,  and  lawless  misrule. 

LXXV.  The  conspirators,  who  had  first  carried  the  Nobles 
king  to  Stirling,  next  proceeded  with  him  to  Edinburgh ;  b™nK  ^ 
for  although  they  had  already  obtained  from  his  majes-  inburgh. 
ty  a  remission  in  the  most  ample  form,  yet,  afraid  lest 
it  might  still  be  urged  against  them,  that  they  had  forced 
this  from  him  while  under  constraint,  they  were  extreme- 
ly anxious  to  procure  some  legal  sanction  of  their  enter- 
prise. The  general  assembly  met  early  in  October,  and 
their  first  application  was  to  that  body.  They  commis- 
sioned the  abbot  of  Paisley  to  explain  to  them  the  reasons 
for  their  approbation  of  the  "  action,"  which  were  the  same 
as  those  enumerated  in  their  public  declaration — the  dan- 
ger of  the  church,  and  the  confusion  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  assembly,  on  receiving  this  information,  inquired  at  the 
members  individually,  whether  they  had  perceived  the  mis- 
chiefs to  be  as  great  as  represented,  when  they  unanimously 
answered  in  the  affirmative.*  Still  unwilling  to  proceed 
hastily,  the  assembly  deputed  Mr.  James  Lawson,  Mr.  Da- 

•  Dr.  Robertson  says,  Hist.  vol.  ii.  book  vi.  "  They  [the  nobles]  applied 
to  the  assembly  of  the  church,  and  easily  procured  an  act  that  they  had  done 
good  and  acceptable  service  to  God,  to  their  sovereign,  and  to  their  native 
country ;"  but  from  the  statement  in  the  text,  it  will  appear  that  the  church 
was  extremely  cautious,  and  first  obtained  the  king's  own  personal  approba- 
tion before  they  would  proceed,  and  after  the  act  was  framed,  the  tutor  of 
Pitcur,  and  colonel  Stewart,  by  special  command  from  James,  signified  his 
assent.  These  are  important  facts  necessary  to  be  kept  in  view. — Dr.  Cooke't 
Hist,  of  the  Ch.  of  Scot.  vol.  i.  p.  351.  and  the  authorities  referred  to— 
Calderwood,  p.  179. 

VOL.  III.  K 


66  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    vid  Lindsay,  and  the  king's  minister,  [Mr.  John    Craig,]  to 
L        wait  upon  the  king,  and  ascertain  his  sentiments  upon  the 
15gg      subject.     He  instructed   them   to  declare,  as   his   opinion, 
Their  con-  "  That  religion  was  in  peril,  and  his  person  also  in  danger ; 
duct  ap-      for  jje  considered  his  own  safety  as  inseparable  from  that  of 
religion.     He  acknowledged  that  abuses  existed  in  the  com- 
monwealth till  the  late  enterprise ;  and  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  all  his  subjects   to  join  in  rescuing  the  kirk,  his  person 
and  estate,  and  to  assist  in  reforming  the  commonwealth." 
On  receiving  this  communication,  the  assembly  proceeded 
to  pass  an  act  approving  the  late  enterprise,  in  which  they 
embodied  his  majesty's  acknowledgment.*     This  act,  dated 
By  the  as-  13th  October,  1582,  was  ordered  to  be  published  in  all  the 
sembly        churches,  and  those  who  maliciously  or  violently  opposed 
the  good  cause,  were  in  the  first  instance  to  undergo  the 
censures  of  the  church  ;  and,  if  obstinate,  to  be  reported  to 
the  king  and  council  for  their  civil  offence, 

LXXVI.  A  few  days  after,  a  meeting  of  the  estates  follow- 
ed, which  was  opened  by  the  king  in  person,  who,  in  a  short 
speech,  expressed  his  regret  at  the  dissensions  that  prevail- 
ed, and  his  willingness  to  follow  the  advice  of  his  parliament. 
With  the  freedom  which  then  prevailed  in  these  assemblies, 
one  of  the  lords — he  is  not  named — rose,  and  addressing 
the  king,  frankly  told  him  :  "  That  the  dissensions  were 
caused  by  those  who,  having  possession  of  his  majesty's  ear, 
abused  his  favour,  ruled  the  state  as  they  chose,  and  dis- 
dained the  advice  of  their  fellow  counsellors ;  particularly 
Lennox  and  Arran,  whose  misrule  was  such,  that  unless 
And  by  some  noblemen  had  procured  a  remedy,  by  repairing  to  his 
parJsament.  majesty,  both  church  and  state  must  in  a  short  time  have 
been  subverted."  After  this,  the  earls  of  Mar,  Gowrie,  and 
Glencairn,  acknowledged  themselves  as  principals  in  the 
transactions  that  had  taken  place,  and,  after  stating  their 
reasons,  withdrew.  The  convention,  on  their  removal,  in 
the  fullest  manner  approved  of  their  proceeding ;  and  re- 
lieved them  from  all  actions,  civil  or  criminal,  that  might  be 
entered  against  them,  or  any  of  them,  for  what  they  had 
done. 

*  Calderwood,  p.  133.    Spotswood,  p.  322. 


JAMES  VI.  (J7 

LXXVII.  The  French  court,  who  continued  to  look  with   BOOK 
regret  on  the  loss  of  their  influence  in  Scotland,  and  omit-        *• 
ted  no  opportunity  by  which  it  might  be  regained ;  despatch-      15    ' 
ed  thither  an  ambassador,  M.  Monevel,  early  in  January,  Embassies 
and  ordered  M.  de  la  Motte  Fenelon,  ambassador  at  the 
English  court,  to  join  him.     Their  instructions  were, — to  en- 
deavour to  procure  the  king  his  liberty;  to   try  to  draw 
closer  the  bonds  of  union  with  France ;  and  to  revive  the 
project  for  associating  the  queen  mother  and  James,  in  the 
government  together.     Elizabeth,  who  dreaded  the  French 
gaining  any  ascendency  in  the  Scottish  council,  although  she 
viewed  with  jealousy  the   embassage,  could  not,  by  any  in- 
trigue, prevent  it.*     She   therefore,  to  counteract  as  much 
as  possible  the  effect,    sent  Davidson,  as  her  ambassador, 
along  with  Fenelon,  under  pretence  of  concurring  in  the  same  And  Eng- 
object;  but,  in  reality,  to  watch  his  motions,  and  support land> 
the  nobles.  / 

LXXVIII.  The  arrival  of  the  French  ambassadors  occasioned 
considerable  agitation,  especially  when  the  object  of  their  mis- 
sion came  to  be  known  ;  and  the  clergy  who  viewed  with  just 
horror  any  approach  towards  an  affinity  with  "  the  treacherous 
and  bloody  house  of  Guise,"  immediately  took  the  alarm. 
James,  who,  since  he  assumed  the  government,  had  receiv- 
ed no  foreign  ministers,  except  from  England,  was  delight- 
ed with  this  honourable  embassy  from  the  French  monarch. 
He  received  the  ambassadors  with  great  distinction  himself; 
and  was  anxious  that  they  should  be  everywhere  treated  with 
respect.  By  a  message  to  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  he 
requested  that  the  ministers  should  refrain  from  speaking 
about  them.  In  reply,  the  ministers  said  they  were  bound,  Conduct  of 
in  every  season  of  danger  to  religion,  to  caution  their  flocks, 
and  admonished  the  king  himself  to  be  upon  his  guard ;  and 
they  proceeded  in  what  they  conceived  their  duty,  warning 
their  hearers  against  the  corruptions  of  popery,  and  against 
any  league  with  its  professors ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  urg- 


•  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  French  king,  Henry  III.,  dreading  some  obsta- 
cle to  M.  de  la  Motte's  progress  from  Elizabeth's  policy,  had  sent  M.  Monevel 
by  sea  as  a  duplicate  to  prevent  disappointments. 


the  minis- 
ters. 


5S  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ed  the  obligation  of  performing  the  offices  of  humanity  to 

L        strangers,  although  they  differed  in  the  articles  of  faith.* 
1583.         LXXIX.  When  M.  Fenelon  found  that  he  made  but  small 
Baiheaet     Pr°gress    in   nis   negotiation,   and  was   preparing  to  leave 
Prencham-  the  kingdom,  the  king,  at  the  request  of  some  merchants 
bassador.     who  tra(je(j  wjth  France,  f  wrote  to  the  council  of  Edin- 
burgh,   to  invite  the   ambassador  to  a  farewell  banquet. 
The  provost  and  magistrates  apparently  pro  forma,  laid  the 
letter   before  the  ministers,  for  their  advice,   who  deemed 
it    unseasonable    and   improper ;    "  for    banqueting,"    said 
they,  "is  a  sign  of  love;  if,  therefore,  ye  be  sincere,  ye 
seal  by   this   feast,   your  fellowship    and    true   love   with 
the   murderers  of  the  people   of  God ;  if  you  dissemble, 
it  is   hypocrisy."     Notwithstanding  which,  the  magistrates 
proceeded   with   their    banquet,    and    the    ministers,    who 
A  fast  held  saw   their  advice  scorned,  and  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship given  to  idolaters,  proclaimed  a  fast  to  be  held  on 
the  same  day4     In  this  conduct,  perhaps  there  might  be 

•  Dr.  Cooke's  Hist.  Ch.  of  Scot.  vol.  i.  p.  362,  and  authorities,  p.  363. 

•f  Calderwood,  p.  138. 

|  We  are  apt  to  err  in  estimating  the  customs  of  other  times,  either  by 
comparing  them  with  our  own,  or  by  forgetting  the  circumstances  which  ren- 
dered necessary  then,  what  might  be  improper  now ;  and  pronouncing  simp!y 
upon  an  insulated  action.  Yet  even  doing  so,  in  this  instance,  I  should  hesi- 
tate before  I  blamed  the  ministers.  The  magistrates  ought  not  to  have  asked 
their  advice,  if  they  did  not  mean  to  follow  it,  and  I  do  not  know  but  in  such 
a  case,  the  fast  was  a  fair  retaliation.  But  when  we  recollect  that  the  blood 
of  the  thousands  immolated  to  the  papal  tyranny,  still  stained  the  streets  of 
Paris,  and  the  fields  of  France ;  that  this  was  justified  upon  principle,  that 
every  papist  of  that  day,  was  in  feet  an  accessory  to  the  deed,  that  some  of 
the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  had  themselves  witnessed  the  cruelties  of  that 
superstition  abroad,  and  that  the  ashes  of  the  Romish  fires  were  scarcely  cool 
at  home ;  when  we  recollect  the  unsettled  state  of  the  government,  and  of  the 
country,  the  conduct  of  the  ministers,  in  decidedly  and  publicly  marking  their 
disapprobation  of  any  convivial  intercourse  with  the  representative  of  the  French 
court,  does  not  appear  so  very  reprehensible.  Spotsvvood,  whose  account,  how- 
ever, is  liable  to  the  charge  of  exaggeration,  says,  "  To  impede  this  feast,  the 
ministers  did,  on  the  Sunday  preceding,  proclaim  a  fast,  to  be  kept  on  the  same 
day  on  which  the  feast  was  appointed ;  and  to  detain  the  people  at  church,  the 
three  ordinary  preachers  did,  one  after  another,  make  sermon  in  St.  Giles' 
church  without  any  intermission  of  time.  Calderwood  tells  us,  "  the  people 
met  between  9  and  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  continued  till  2  afternoon, 
to  signify  their  misliking,"  which  would  allow  a  sufficient  time  for  the  city  ban- 
quet after  all.  Besides,  it  was  not  the  deed  of  the  presbytery,  for  Caldenvood 


JAMES  vr.  (i9 

a  want  of  politeness,  but  it  was  at  least  consistent;  for  how    BOOK 
could  they  look  with  complacency  on  an  official  entertain-        '• 
ment,  given  to  the  representative  of  a  court,  any  connexion 
with  which  they  were  daily  deprecating,  as  the  most  cruel 
misfortune  that  could  befall  their  country. 

LXXX.  Mary,  as  was  natural  for  a  mother,  when  indistinct  Mary's  dis- 
reports  reached  her  of  her  son's  confinement,  felt  all  the  tress> 
bitterness  of  her  unfortunate  situation  with  double  force ; 
and  in  a  passionate  letter  to  Elizabeth,  inveighed  against 
the  cruelty  of  her  own  imprisonment,  and  entreated  her  to 
interfere  on  behalf  of  her  son,  nor  allow  him  also  to  be  over- 
whelmed by  his  rebellious  subjects ;  but  Elizabeth  knew  not 
the  feelings  of  a  parent.  The  letter  was  neglected,  and  the 
unhappy  queen  left  to  brood  in  solitude,  and  with  anxiety, 
over  the  misfortunes  of  herself,  and  to  her,  the  doubtful 
fate  of  her  child. 

adds,  "  If  there  was  any  errour  committed,  it  is  to  be  imputed  to  the  particular 
session  of  the  kirk  of  Edinburgh." 


THE 


BOOK  II. 


James  VI. — The  King  removes  to  St.  Andrews. — Arran  regains  the  ascen. 
dency  over  him. — Deceives  the  Nobles  and  the  Ministers. — Proceedings 
against  Andrew  Melville. — His  escape. — Earl  of  Gowrie  executed. — Mi- 
nisters protest  against  the  Arbitrary  Laws  and  Arran's  Administration,  and 
leave  the  Country. — Arran  attaches  himself  to  the  English  Party. — His  in- 
fluence with  the  King  undermined. — Master  of  Gray  becomes  favourite. — 
Embassy  from  Denmark. — Banished  Lords  return. — Besiege  the  King  in 
Stirling  Castle. — Received  into  favour. — Arran  falls. — Affairs  of  the  Church. 
— A  damson,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  excommunicated. — Feud  be- 
tween the  M'Leans  and  M'Niels — Treaty,  offensive  and  defensive,  with 
England — Queen  Mary,  her  treatment — Babington's  Plot.-— Sent  to  Fo- 

theringay   Castle — Her   Trial. — Condemnation Her   Execution.— Cha, 

racter.  —Elizabeth's  Hypocrisy — 1 583-1 587. 

BOOK    l'  NOTWITHSTANDING  the  apparent  acquiescence  of  James, 
II.       he  was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  his  situation ;  he  sighed 
1583.      after  liberty,  while,  with  the  most  consummate  art,  he  dis- 
James  VI.  sembled  his  uneasiness,  and  appeared  to  the  lords  as  cheer- 
ful and  content ;  and  so  well  did  he  counterfeit,  that  they, 
now  freed  from  all  dread  of  Lennox,  and  Arran  being  at  a 
Nobles  re-  distance  from  court,  and  hated  for  his  violence,  began  to  re- 
.      watching  the  king»  and  the  greater  part  withdrew  to 
their  own  castles.      In  the  mean  time,  colonel  Stuart  and 
Mr.  John  Colville,  who  had  been  sent  to  England,  upon  an 
embassy,  to  demand  the  restitution  of  the  estates  in  that 
kingdom,  which  had  belonged  to  the  king's  grandfather,  th< 
earl  of  Lennox,  acquaint  the  queen  with  the  state  of  affair 


JAMES  VI.  71 

in  Scotland,  and  arrange  a  number  of  other  matters  in  dis- 
pute, having  returned  with  discordant  answers ;  the  king, 
imagining  some  advantage  might  be  made  of  this  circum-  1583 
stance,  consulted  with  Stuart,  who  commanded  the  band  of 
gentlemen  forming  his  body  guard,  respecting  the  best  me- 
thod of  emancipating  himself  from  his  thraldom ;  when  it 
was  resolved  to  call  a  convention  of  the  estates  at  St.  An- 
drews, under  pretence  of  consulting  about  the  relations  with 
England,  but  to  invite  only  such  persons  as  he  thought 
would  be  favourable  to  his  design.  Previously  to  the  day  of 
meeting,  Stuart  advised  the  king  to  send  for  some  of  his 
most  experienced  counsellors  in  this  emergency ;  and  in 
consequence,  sir  James  Melville,  who  had  retired  from 
court,  received  his  majesty's  commands  to  repair  to  Falk- 
land. He  endeavoured  to  dissuade  the  king  from  his  un- 
dertaking, as  rash  and  dangerous ;  but  finding  him  resolute, 
he  advised  him,  if  successful  in  making  his  escape,  to  pro- 
claim a  general  amnesty,  free,  full,  and  without  reserve ;  to 
accede  to  the  requests  of  the  church,  and  choose  for  his 
counsellors,  the  most  virtuous  and  discreet  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry ;  all  which,  the  king,  with  his  usual  facility,  readily 
promised. 

ii.  In  order  to  avoid  suspicion,  some  days  previous  to  the 
meeting  of  the  convention,  he  set  out  for  St.  Andrews,  un- 
.!er  the  pretext  of  visiting  his  grand  uncle,  the  earl  of  March. 
At  first  he  lodged  in  an  open  inn ;  but  some  of  the  lords, 
who  had  heard  of  his  sudden  departure  from  Falkland,  ar-  xhe  king 
riving  at  St.  Andrews  with  armed  followers,  he  became  r*P**™  *-° 
alarmed,  and  entered  the  castle.  Next  morning  the  earls  of  draws. 
Argyle,  Huntly,  Crawford,  Montrose,  and  the  rest  of  the 
lords  who  were  invited,  arrived,  but  unarmed ;  which  induc- 
ed the  others  to  hope  they  might  yet  regain  possession  of 
the  king's  person  ;  but  being  outnumbered,  by  the  defection 
of  the  earl  of  Gowrie  from  their  cause,  they  made  no  serious 
attempt ;  and  the  king  retained  complete  possession  of  the 
castle,  and  the  freedom  of  once  more  choosing  his  own  ad- 
visers. In  the  commencement,  he  appeared  as  if  inclined  to 
perform  the  promises  he  had  made  to  sir  James  Melville ; 
and  having  assembled  all  the  lords,  together  with  the  Fife 
barons,  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  towns  upon  the  coast, 


72  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   the  ministers  of  St.  Andrews,  and  the  masters  of  the  college, 
**'       he   in   their   presence   declared : — That   although    he  had 
1583      been    unwillingly  detained   for   some    time,    yet   he   meant 
His  profes-  not  to  impute  this  as  a  crime  to  any  person  ;  it  was   his  in- 
tention to  bury  in  oblivion  all  that  had   passed   during  his 
tion.  minority,  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  church,  endeavour  to 

heal  the  dissensions  which  existed,  and  show  impartial  fa- 
vour to  all  his  subjects  without  distinction ;  as  he  knew  what 
had  been  done  did  not  proceed  from  any  disaffection  to  his 
person,  but  from  the  unhappy  partialities  of  the  times.  Af- 
ter this  declaration,  and  to  show  his  impartiality,  he  order- 
ed two  of  each  faction  to  retire  from  court  for  a  while,  the 
earls  of  Angus  and  Both  well  on  the  one  side,  and  Huntly 
and  Crawford  on  the  other.  He  then  made  choice  of  the 
earls  of  March,  Argyle,  Gowrie,  Montrose,  Marischal,  and 
Rothes  as  his  permanent  council ;  and  to  evince  the  sinceri- 
ty of  his  reconciliation,  he  paid  a  visit  to  the  earl  of  Gow- 
rie,  at  Ruthven  castle,  and  again  granted  him  a  full  par- 
don. 

in.  When  James  had  regained  his  liberty,   the  earl  of 
Arran,  who,  by  favour  of  the  lords,  had  been  permitted  to 
reside  upon  his  estate  of  Kinneil,  was  extremely  anxious  to 
be  admitted  into  the  royal  presence;  and  the  king,  who  con- 
tinued to  cherish   his  affection  for   the  worthless  favourite, 
notwithstanding  his  repeated  professions  to  the  contrary,  was 
no  less  anxious  to  see  him.     The  nobility  in  vain  opposed 
his  return,  and  sir  James  Melville,  with  as  little  effect,  point- 
ed out  the  mischievous  consequences  of  his  recall,  and  en- 
treated that  the  king  would  not  receive  him  into  confidence. 
The  king  promised  that  he  would  not  admit  him  to  his  con- 
fidence, that  he  only  wished  a  single  interview,   and  would 
not  suffer  him  to  remain  ;  but  the  earl  was  admitted,  and  all 
the  king's  professions  and  promises  were  speedily  forgotten. 
glbTthe"   No  sooner  nad  Arran  regained  the  ascendency,  than  mode- 
nscen-        ration  was  cast  aside,  and  every  regard  to  truth  and  common 
den«y-        honesty  banished  the  king's  counsels.     His  most  solemn  de- 
clarations were  disregarded ;  and  measures,  the  very  oppo- 
site of  those  he  had  promised  to  follow,  were  most  unblush- 
mgly  pursued.     An  insidious  proclamation  was  issued,  of- 
fering  pardon  to   such  as  were  concerned  in  the  Raid  of 


JAMES  VI.  "73 

lluthven,  provided  they  showed  symptoms  of  real  penitence,    BOOK 
asked  forgiveness  in  time,  and  .did  not  by  their  future  con-        ^' 
duct,  awaken  the   remembrance  of  that  treason.     Such  a         _ 
proclamation,  so  different  from  the  full,  free  pardon,  and  act  Dissatis-. 
of  indemnity,  so  repeatedly  promised,  when  the  king  wasfiedt 
under  no  restraint,  plainly  warned  the  nobles  of  their  fate,  if 
they  ventured  to  confide  in  the  word  of  a  king,  or  the  mercy 
of  an  unprincipled,  now  an  exasperated  favourite.     They 
therefore    began   to  take  measures  to  secure  their  safety ; 
while  the  king,  with  his  usual  duplicity,  pretended  to  be  both 
ignorant  of  the  extent,  and  grieved  at  the  nature  of  Arran's 
proceedings. 

iv.  When  Elizabeth  was  informed  of  the  revolution  that 
had  taken  place  in  the  Scottish  court,  she  wrote  James  a  se- 
vere letter,  reproaching  him  with  his  breach  of  faith,  and  re- 
minding him  of  the  account  he  himself  had  written  her  of 
the  dangerous  course  the  earl  of  Arran  was  pursuing;  "and 
yet,"  she  adds,  "you  would  make  them  guilty  who  delivered 
you  therefrom  !  I  hope  you  more  esteem  your  honour  than 
to  give  it  such  a  stain,  since  you  have  so  oft  protested  that 
you  was  resolved  to  notice  these  lords  as  your  most  affec-  Elizabeth 
tionate  subjects,  in  the  full  persuasion,  that  all  they  had  done 
was  by  them  intended  for  your  advantage ;"  and  concludes 
by  requesting  him  to  proceed  no  further,  till  she  should  send 
a  trusty  messenger  to  advise  with  him.  James,  in  an  hum- 
ble, shuffling  answer,  professes  to  take  h«r  "  sharp  admoni- 
tion at  this  time,  as  proceeding  from  a  sisterly  love;"  and 
after  thanking  her  for  her  friendly  attempts  to  procure  his 
liberty,  excuses  his  conduct  from  "  the  time,"  being  "  unfit 
to  dispute  too  precisely  upon  circumstances  that  were  deter- 
mined by  those  who  were  masters  of  him  and  the  state;" 
and  meekly  ends  thus : — "  When  you  desire  that  I  proceed 
no  further,  until  a  trusty  messenger  may  come  from  you,  I 
intend  to  stay  from  doing  any  thing,  till  then,  that  you  may 
be  justly  offended  with."*  The  trusty  messenger,  promised 

•  I  cannot  conceive  how  Dr.  Robertson,  book  vi-  should  represent  James, 
on  this  occasion,  as  replying  with  "  becoming  dignity,"  for  he  refers  to  the 
very  letters  I  quote,  and  their  account  certainly  comports  but  very  little  with 
dignity.  Spotswood,  indeed,  p.  326,  mentions  a  conversation  with  Walsing- 
ham,  in  which  he  makes  James  use  language  similar  to  what  Dr.  K.  represents 

VOL.    III.  L 


74  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    by    Elizabeth,    was    secretary    Walsingham,    the    minister, 

iL       next  to  Burleigh,  on  whom  the  English  queen  most  depend- 

Jfig3      ed.     He  came  attended  by  a  magnificent  train  of  upwards 

of  "  six  score  horsemen,"  but  travelled  gently  in  a  coach, 

on  account  of  his  age  and  the  infirm  state  of  his  health. 

v.  While  the  English  minister  was  slowly  prosecuting  his 

Arran's     journey,  Arran  was  rashly  pursuing  his  violent  measures. 

measure*  The  lords  who  prudently  declined  trusting  him,  and  had 
withdrawn  from  court,  were  required,  by  a  new  proclama- 
tion, to  surrender  themselves  prisoners,  or,  as  the  expression 
of  the  day  was,  put  themselves  in  ward ;  but  they  all  refus- 
ing, except  the  earl  of  Angus,  were  denounced  rebels.  Arran, 
whose  aim  it  was  to  engross  the  whole  power  of  the  king- 
dom, and  drive  from  court  every  one  but  his  own  satellites, 
treated  the  earl  of  Gowrie  with  so  much  insolence,  that  he 
forced  him  to  retire ;  and  even  after  the  king  had  invited 
him  back,  obliged  him  again  to  withdraw,  and  form  the  re- 
solution of  leaving  the  country.  About  the  same  time,  he 
was  appointed  governor  of  Stirling  castle,  of  which  town  he 
was  also  provost ;  and  shortly  after  persuaded  the  king  to 
take  up  his  residence  in  the  castle,  on  purpose  that  no  one, 
except  with  his  permission,  might  find  access  to  the  royal 
presence. 

vi.  Walsingham,  on  his  arrival  in  Edinburgh,  was  wel- 
comed by  sir  James  Melville,  in  name  of  the  king,  and  con- 
ducted by  him  to  Perth,  where  the  king  had  appointed  to 
receive  him.  He  had  there  several  interviews  with  his  ma- 

Walsing.  jesty,  but  refused  to  have  any  personal  communication  with 
tne  earl  of  Arran  5  who  felt  the  affront  so  keenly,  that  he 
sought,  upon  every  occasion,  to  insult  the  ambassador.*  No 
change  in  the  political  situation  of  Scotland,  nor  any  altera- 
tion of  the  relative  circumstances  of  the  two  kingdoms  follow- 
ed this  embassy ;  which  renders  the  conjecture  not  improba- 
ble^ that  his  chief  errand  was  to  discover  the  capacity  and 

as  the  contents  of  the  letter;  but  Melville  is,  I  think,  in  this  instance,  from 
having  been  personally  employed,  the  preferable  authority.— Melville,  p.  279, 
88o> 

*  He  refused  the  captains  of  Berwick,  and  other  respectable  members  of 
tt  alsinghara's  retinue,  admission  to  the  king ;  and,  at  his  departure,  instead 
of  a  rich  diamond  ring  the  king  had  ordered  to  be  given  him,  he  substituted  a 
paltry  crystal — Melville,  p.  296. 

t  Melville,  p.  297.     Robertson. 


JAMES  VI.  75 

disposition  of  the  Scottish  king,  who  was  now  arrived  at  that 
time  of  life  when,  with  some  degree  of  certainty,  conjectures 
might  be  formed  concerning  his  character  and  future  conduct; 
yet  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  whatever  other  business  the  aged 
ambassador  might  have  had  to  propose,  he  declined  enter- 
ing upon  it,  when  he  found  Arran  so  high  in  favour;  for  he 
expressed  himself  to  sir  James  Melville,  in  the  language  of 
strong  disappointment  and  regret,  at  the  company  by  whom 
he  found  his  majesty  surrounded ,  which,  he  said,  "  had  he  Fruitless, 
known  before  he  set  out,  he  would  have  shifted  the  journey." 
James,  however,  who  possessed  plausible  and  showy  powers 
of  conversation,  made  rather  a  favourable  impression  on  the 
English  secretary ;  who,  notwithstanding  the  unworthy  treat- 
ment he  had  met  with,  gave  his  mistress  an  advantageous  re- 
port of  his  abilities. 

vii.  The  altered  measures  of  the  court  had  destroyed  all 
confidence,  and  the  distractions  of  the  country,  in  conse- 
quence, increased  ;  while  Arran,  the  chief  cause  of  the  whole, 
whose  ambition  seemed  to  have  grown  more  insatiable  from 
its  late  check,  procured  himself  to  be  appointed  lord  high 
chancellor,  and  governor  of  Edinburgh  castle.  A  conven- 
tion of  the  estates  was  summoned  for  the  17th  of  December. 
At  this  meeting,  Arran  having  duped  the  nobles,  and — ac- 
cording to  Melville — deceived  the  king,  rendered  the  con- 
fusion more  inextricable  ;  and  instead  of  soothing,  augment- 
ed the  disorder  of  the  state.  He  represented  to  the  nobility 
as  they  arrived  in  Edinburgh,  the  king's  gracious  intention, 
to  grant  to  each  individually,  after  suffering  some  very  trifl- 
ing punishment,  a  pardon  for  his  particular  share  in  the  of- 
fence,— provided  they  would  consent  to  a  vote  of  the  conven-  Arran 
tion,  allowing,  in  general,  the  enterprise  to  have  been  trea-  duPes  tha 
son;  to  which,  if  they  would  not  consent,  they  would  be 
considered  as  vilifiers  of  the  king's  honour,  and  contemners 
of  his  promise.  Considering  Arran's  representations  as  an 
especial  message  from  the  crown,  the  estates,  on  the  first 
day  of  meeting,  passed  an  act,  recommending  a  rigorous  pro- 
secution of  those  who  had  not  embraced  the  offer  of  pardon 
at  the  time  appointed ;  and  ordering  the  act  of  council, 
passed  at  St.  Andrews,  to  be  erased  from  the  council  books. 
This  act  was  productive  of  the  most  pernicious  effects  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
II. 

1584. 


Attempts 
against  the 
church. 


Prudence 
of  the  mi- 
nisters. 


Represen- 
tation of 
the  assert!- 
bly. 


conspirators,  some  of  whom  were  banished  to  Ireland,  others 
confined  within  certain  districts,  and  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  not- 
withstanding his  reconciliation  to  the  king,  and  his  special 
pardon,  deemed  it  prudent  to  request  leave  to  exile  himself 
to  France. 

viii.  The  return  of  Arran  to  power,  was  not  less  baneful 
to  the  clergy  than  to  the  nobles.  The  church  had,  during 
the  ten  months  James  was  under  the  direction  of  the  con- 
federated lords,  enjoyed  a  temporary  calm ;  ministers  were 
allowed  to  preach  with  freedom,  to  exercise  discipline,  and 
to  hold  their  ecclesiastical  assemblies  ;  but  no  sooner  was  he 
reinstated,  than  persecution  commenced.  Several  of  the 
most  respectable  individuals  were  interrogated  before  the 
council  on  their  sentiments  respecting  the  Raid  of  Ruthven, 
which  they  were  urged  to  condemn,  and  approve  of  the 
measures  since  pursued.  In  this  difficult  situation  they  act- 
ed with  much  prudence ;  aware  that  any  unguarded  expres- 
sion might  expose  them  to  a  criminal  prosecution,  they  re- 
quested liberty  to  reply  in  writing.  In  their  answers,  they 
declared  that  they  adhered  to  the  act  of  the  general  assem- 
bly with  regard  to  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  ;  that  as  individuals, 
they  did  not  conceive  it  fell  within  their  sphere  to  intermeddle 
with  political  discussions ;  but  if  his  majesty  were  desirous 
to  obtain  the  judgment  of  the  church,  they  recommended 
him  to  apply  to  the  general  assembly.  That  body,  how- 
ever, without  waiting  for  his  majesty's  command,  at  their  next 
meeting,  expressed  their  opinion,  by  presenting  a  list  of  their 
grievances  to  the  king  at  Stirling  :  "  They  lamented  the  im- 
punity enjoyed,  through  his  sufferance,  by  papists,  apostates, 
and  convicted  traitors  ;  his  evident  partiality  to  the  enemies  of 
God,  both  in  his  own  realm  and  in  France  ;  the  employment 
of  men  of  the  most  dissolute  lives,  in  his  service,  and  the  dis- 
missal of  upright,  zealous,  loyal  noblemen,  who  had  ever 
been  faithful  to  him  from  his  infancy ;  they  reminded  him, 
that  since  his  acceptance  of  the  government,  the  church  had 
had  many  fair  promises,  but  instead  of  performance,  its 
liberties  and  privileges  were  daily  infringed;  and  they  de- 
plored the  wanton  perversion  of  law,  which  excited  univer- 
sal discontent,  and  rendered  both  life  and  property  insecure; 
and  concluded  with  entreating  his  majesty  to  call  the  wisest 


JAMES  VI.  77 

and  most  moderate  of  the  nobility  to  his  councils  ;  that,  by  BOOK 
their  advice,  the  hearts  of  all  good  subjects  might  be  united 
in  maintaining  God's  truth,  and  in  preserving  his  high- 
ness'  estate  and  person."  The  king  made  a  specious  re- 
ply, but  the  historian  of  the  church  observes  "  the  com- 
missioners received  small  contentment."* 

ix.  During  the  winter,  Arran's  misgovernment  became 
every  day  more  insupportable;  and  the  ministers,  whose 
invincible  patriotism  formed  the  only  apparent  barrier  to 
his  tyranny,  were  harassed  in  the  most  vexatious  manner. 
The  intrepid  Dury,  who  had  been  already  banished,  but 
whose  sufferings  could  not  induce  him  to  sit  a  silent  spec- 
tator of  his  country's  oppression,  was  summoned  before  the 
council  for  having,  in  one  of  his  sermons  vindicated  the  con- 
duct of  the  noblemen  concerned  in  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  ! 
and  defending  what  he  had  said,  was  ordered  to  ward  him- 
self in  the  town  of  Montrose.  But  the  most  outrageous 
proceeding  was  the  process  against  Andrew  Melville,  then 
justly  considered  the  leader  of  the  church.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  February  he  was  summoned  to  answer  before  the 
privy  council,  for  some  seditious  and  treasonable  speeches 
uttered  by  him  in  his  sermon  on  a  fast  which  had  been  kept 
the  preceding  month.  Melville  without  hesitation  obeyed ; 
and  the  university  sent  Mr.  Robert  Bruce,  and  Mr.  Robert  procee(j. 
Wilkie,  to  the  king  and  council,  with  the  most  ample  testi-  in£8  a- 
monial,  declaring  that  they  had  been  constant  attendants  on  drew 
his  doctrine,  and  had  never  heard  either  in  his  class  or  in  ville- 
his  pulpit,  any  sentiment  inconsistent  with  the  truth  of  God, 
or  in  the  least  subversive  of  his  majesty's  government;  to 
which  he  had  constantly  exhorted  his  hearers  to  yield  obe- 
dience, and  to  respect  even  the  meanest  magistrate  in  autho- 
rity. Similar  attestations  were  given  him  by  the  town  coun- 
cil, the  kirk  session,  and  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews.  At 
his  first  appearance  he  gave  an  account,  which  he  afterward 
embodied  in  his  protestation,  of  the  sermon  for  which  he 
was  accused.  His  text  was  the  address  of  Daniel  to  Bel- 
shazzar,  before  he  explained  the  handwriting  on  the  wall, 
in  which  he  applied  the  example  of  the  father  in  reproof  of 

*  Calderwood. 


78  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

JH)OK   the  son;  and  the  general  doctrine  which  he  [Melville]  de- 
IL       ducted  from  the  passage,  and  supported  by  other  places  of 
~~~l5g4.      scripture,    was, — that  it  is  the  duty  of  ministers  to  apply 
examples  of  divine  mercy  and  judgment  in  all  ages  to  kings, 
princes,  and  people,  in  their  time ;  and  the  nearer  the  per- 
sons are  to  us,  the  greater  interest  have  we  in  the  example. 
"  But  if  now-a-days,"  said  he,  "  a  minister  should  rehearse 
in  the  court  the  example  that  fell  out  in  king  James  III.'s 
days,  who  was  abused  by  the  flattery  of  his  courtiers,  he 
would  be  said  to  wander  from  his  text."     He  denied  ever 
having  used  the  words,    "  That   our    Nebuchadnezzar — 
meaning  the  king's  mother — was  twice  seven  years   banish- 
ed, and  would  be  restored  again ;"  and  solemnly  protested, 
that  he  never,  upon  any  occasion,  said,  "  The  king  is  un 
lawfully  promoted  to  the  crown ;"  or  used  any  words  which 
could  by  possibility  be  construed  to  such  a  meaning.     The 
simple  doctrine,  he  said,  which  he  wished  to  establish,  was 
that  whether  kings  be  advanced  to  the  throne  by  inheritance 
by  election,  or  by  any  other  ordinary  means,  it  is  God  tha 
maketh  kings ;  a  truth  which  is  easily  forgotten  by  them 
and  not  by  usurpers  or  robbers  only,  when  exalted  to  tht 
Hisde-       regal  dignity,  but  even  by  good  men,  who  have  been  extra 
iencc.         ordinarily  placed  in  such  high  stations, — as  David,  and  So- 
lomon, and  Joash,  who  all  forgot  the  God  that  had  advanc 
ed  them,  and  were  therefore  punished  ;  and  instead  of  anj 
application,  he  offered  up  a  prayer — according  to  his  accus 
tomed  manner   whenever  he  spoke  of  his  majesty — that  i 
would  please  the  Lord  of  his  mercy  never  to  suffer  the  king 
to  forget  the  goodness  of  that  God  who  had  raised  him  tc 
the  throne  while  yet  an  infant,   and  his  mother  still  alive3 
and  in  opposition  to  the  greater  part  of  the  nobility,   anc 
who  had  preserved  him  hitherto  since  the  weighty  burden 
of  government  was  laid  upon  his  shoulders. 

x.  The  council  not  being  satisfied  with  this  explanation, 
and  having  resolved  to  proceed  with  the  trial,  he  requested, 
first,  that,  as  he  was  accused  of  certain  expressions  alleged 
to  have  been  used  by  him  in  preaching  and  prayer,  his  trial 
should  be  remitted,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  ecclesiastical 
courts,  as  the  ordinary  judges  of  his  ministerial  conduct, 
according  to  scripture,  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  an 


JAMES  VI.  79 

agreement  made  between  certain  commissioners  of  the  privy  BOOK 
council  and  of  the  church ;  secondly,  that  he  should  be  H- 
tried  at  St.  Andrews,  where  the  alleged  offence  was  commit-  1584. 
ted  ;  or,  third,  if  his  first  request  were  refused,  he  should  en- 
joy the  special  privilege,  lately  confirmed  by  his  majesty  him- 
self to  the  university  of  St.  Andrews,  of  having  his  case  first 
submitted  to  the  rector  and  his  assessors ;  fourthly,  that  he 
should  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  apostolic  canon,  "  Against  an 
elder,  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two  or  three 
witnesses ;"  fifthly,  that  he  should  have  the  benefit  of  a  free 
subject,  by  being  made  acquainted  with  his  accuser ;  who,  if 
the  charge  turned  out  false  and  calumnious,  might  be  lia- 
ble to  the  punishment  prescribed  by  act  against  those  who 
alienate  the  king  from  his  faithful  subjects.  In  fine,  he  pro- 
tested that  if  William  Stuart  was  the  informer,  he  had  just 
cause  to  except  against  him,  inasmuch  as  he  bore  him  dead- 
ly malice,  and  had  frequently  threatened  him  bodily  injury, 
and  could  not  therefore  be  received  as  a  witness. 

xi.  On  the  second  day,  commissioners  from  the  presby- 
tery of  St.  Andrews,  attended  to  protest  for  the  liberty  of 
the  church  ;  and  also  commissioners  from  the  university,  to 
re-pledge  Melville  to  the  court  of  the  rector,  but  were  re- 
fused admission ;  and  the  court  was  about  to  proceed,  when 
Melville  gave  in  his  protest  and  declinature,  expressed  in  His  pro- 
language  similar  to  the  requests  and  explanations  he  had  test> 
made  the  day  before.  The  king  and  Arran,  violently  en- 
raged at  the  bold  step  Melville  had  taken,  endeavoured,  by 
alternate  threats  and  entreaties,  to  induce  Melville  to  with- 
draw his  declinature;  but  finding  him  resolute  in  demanding 
that  his  cause  should  be  remitted  to  the  proper  judges,  at 
last,  Stuart  was  brought  forward  as  his  accuser,  and  a  num- 
ber of  witnesses  were  examined,  but  nothing  criminal  could 
be  proved  against  him.  Failing  to  establish  their  charge, 
but  determined  on  vengeance,  a  new  accusation,  and  one  ne- 
ver heard  of  except  in  the  most  arbitrary  courts,  was  brought 
forward,  and  Melville  was  found  guilty  of  declining  the 
judgment  of  the  council,  and  of  behaving  improperly  before 
them,  and  was  condemned  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  castle  is  con- 
of  Edinburgh,  and  further  punished  in  person  and  goods,  demned- 
at  his  majesty's  pleasure.  Learning,  however,  that  the  place  of 


80  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    confinement  was   changed  to  Blackness,  a  damp  and    un- 
IL        wholesome  dungeon,  and  that  if  he  entered   ward,  it  was 
probable  he  would  only  be  released  to  go  to  the  scaffold, 
without  waiting  the  legal  time  for  execution   of  the   sen- 
Escapes  to  tence,  he  secretly  fled  from  Edinburgh,  and  took  refuge  in 
Berwick.    Berwick.* 

xii.  In  the  then  state  of  justice  in  Scotland,  the  line  of 
conduct  adopted  by  Melville,  was  the  only  safe  method  he 
could  have  pursued.  To  have  submitted  in  the  first  instance 
to  the  privy  council,  would  have  been  certain  ruin,  besides 
owning  a  jurisdiction  which  he  did  not  believe  to  be  legal ; 
and  which,  even  if  in  common  cases  it  had,  he  was  not  in 
the  present  instance  bound  to  obey,  as  there  were  two  spe- 
cial exemptions,  which  were  still  in  force,  and  which  he 
pleaded — the  agreement  of  the  court  with  the  church,f  and 
the  privileges  granted  to  the  university  of  St.  Andrews. 
The  claims  of  the  church  were  high,  but  in  that  age  neces- 
sary ;  for  they  had  to  meet  and  resist  the  exorbitant  demands 
of  unqualified  despotism.  In  the  present  day,  when  there 
are  other  methods  of  opposing  the  encroachments  of  power, 
and  when  the  jurisdiction  of  the  several  courts  are  better 
defined;  the  claim  of  hearing,  even  in  the  first  instance, 


*  Calderwood,  pp.  145-7.     M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  pp.  287,  292. 
Cook's  Hist.  Ch.  of  Scot.  voL  i.  pp.  377-9. 

+  An  agreement  had  been  entered  into,  between  the  commissioners  of  the 
council  and  certain  ministers,  after  the  first  imprisonment  of  Dury,  to  avoid 
any  future  dissension ;  in  which  it  was  stipulated,  if  the  king  were  offended  at 
the  doctrine  of  any  preacher,  he  should  cause  a  complaint  to  be  given  in  ; 
against  him  to  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  instead  of  summoning  him  to  appear 
before  the  privy  council :  and  this  was  done  in  the  case  of  Balcanquhall,  one  ; 
of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  who,  in  a  sermon,  had  said,  "  that  within  these  . 
four  years,  popery  had  entered  into  the  country  and  court,  and  was  maintain- 
ed in  the  king's  hall,  by  the  tyranny  of  a  great  champion,  who  was  called 
Grace — alluding  to  Lennox — but  if  his  Grace  continued  in  opposing  himself 
to  God  and  his  word,  he  would  come  to  little  Grace  in  the  end."  The  as- 
sembly, before  whom  the  cause  was  brought,  having  been  unable  to  find  either 
sedition  or  treason  in  the  expressions,  declared  the  doctrine  to  have  been 
"  good  and  sound."  The  king  was  dissatisfied  with  the  decision,  and  this  was 
afterwards  alleged  as  an  excuse  for  bringing  the  other  causes  immediately  be- 
fore the  privy  council ;  as  if  the  assembly  had  bound  themselves  to  condemn 
in  every  case,  when  his  majesty  thought  fit  to  accuse.  James  never  forgot  the 
acquittal  of  Balcanquhall ;  being  an  inveterate  punster  himself,  he  probably 
thought  the  preacher  had  invaded  his  prerogative. 


JAMES  VI.  81 

charges  of  sedition  or  treason,  or  any  civil  offence  committed    BOOK 
by  their  members,  would  never  be  listened  to.     In  matters       H« 
referring  to  religion  and  morals,  the  pulpit  has,  and  ought     1594. 
to  have  a  liberty  unrestrained  by  any  civil   power ;  but  in 
politics,  and  private  character,  it  is  widely  different,  for  the 
obvious  reason,  that  while  in  the  senate,  or  at  the  bar,  any 
improper  observations  may  be  instantly  challenged  and  cor- 
rected, the  pulpit  admits  of  no  immediate  reply;  and  besides, 
there  is  a  natural  tendency  in  church  courts,  to  encroach 
upon  the  civil  jurisdiction,  and  to  protect  their  members, 
which  would  render  such  a  privilege  of  very  doubtful  ad- 
vantage. 

xni.  The  escape  of  Melville  was  made  the  grounds  of  a  Proceed- 
new  stretch  of  power  by  the  privy  council,  and  further  seve-  in?8  of  thc 

.,,...  ,    .    .        privy  coutu 

rities  against  the  fugitives.  An  act  was  passed,  ordaining  til. 
that  such  preachers  as  were  accused,  should  henceforth  be 
apprehended  without  the  formality  of  a  legal  charge ;  and 
it  was  declared  treason  to  hold  any  communication  with 
those  who  had  left  the  kingdom.  An  order  was  at  the  same 
time  issued,  for  all  who  had  obtained  leave  to  depart,  to  set 
out  without  delay  to  the  places  of  their  destination.  Not- 
withstanding these  warnings,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  in- 
veterate enmity  of  Arran,  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  unwilling  to 
leave  his  native  land,  still  delayed  his  departure.  While 
lingering  about  Dundee,  he  received  information  that  the 
lords  who  had  gone  to  Ireland,  had  determined  to  endeavour 
the  liberation  of  their  country,  by  removing  Arran  from  the 
king's  council.  Little  persuasion  was  necessary  to  induce 
him  to  enter  into  their  designs ;  but  as  he  waited  their  mo- 
tions, his  protracted  stay  excited  suspicion,  and  colonel  Stu- 
art, the  captain  of  the  king's  guard,  was  sent  to  apprehend 
him.  The  colonel  surprised  him  at  his  lodgings,  but  not- 
withstanding he  defended  himself  for  six  hours ;  and  endea-  Earl  of 
voured  to  excite  the  inhabitants  to  come  to  his  assistance,  by  prehended! 
exclaiming,  that  he  was  prosecuted  for  the  sake  of  religion. 
He  was,  however,  overpowered,  and  carried  prisoner  to  Kin- 
niel,  the  earl  of  Arran's  seat. 

xiv.  Two  days  after,  the  earls  of  Angus,  Mar,  and  the  Nobles 
master  of  Glammis,  surprised  Stirling  castle,  where  they  in-  ™tze  Stlr* 
tended  to  fortify  themselves ;  and  issued  a  proclamation,  de- 

VOL.  Ill  M 


82  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

\ 

BOOK  daring  that  their  only  object  in  seizing  arms,  was  to  deliver 
IL  the  king  from  evil  counsellors.  But  the  apprehension  of 
'  1584  Gowrie,  of  whose  fidelity  they  were  uncertain,— as  he  had 
formerly  deserted  them, — the  tardiness  of  their  friends  at 
home,  and  their  disappointment  of  aid  from  England,  cast  a 
gloom  over  their  minds,  and  rendered  their  prospects  hope- 
less ;  and  the  king  having  raised  an  army  with  uncommon 
They  flee  expedition,  the  chiefs  fled  to  England,  and  the  castle  surren- 
to  Eng-  dereci  to  Alexander,  master  of  Levingston,  upon  the  first 
summons.  The  speedy  abruption  of  this  ill-concerted  at- 
tempt, rendered  the  favourite  more  secure,  and  added 
strength  to  his  party.  Gowrie  first  felt  its  effects.  The  ex- 
tensive estates  of  that  nobleman,  had  attracted  the  avarice 
of  Arran's  wife,*  and  his  opposition  in  the  council,  had 
drawn  down  upon  him  the  hatred  of  the  earl  himself;  both 
which  circumstances  conduced  to  render  him  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious. He  was  therefore  ordered  to  Stirling  to  stand 
trial ;  but  before  he  set  out,  he  was  induced  by  the  hope  of 
pardon  held  out  to  him,  and  a  promise  that  nothing  he  might 
disclose  would  be  used  in  evidence  against  him,  to  reveal  all 
he  knew  concerning  the  conspiracy ;  and  the  names  of  those 
who,  though  not  actually  engaged,  were  considered  as  favour- 
able to  the  design. 

xv.  On  his  arrival  at  Stirling,  he  wrote  to  the  king,  re- 
questing an  interview,  in  order  to  reveal  some  secret  of  im- 
portance; this  request  was  not  only  denied,  but  conceal- 
ing from  his  majesty  a  secret — the  nature  of  which  was 
not  known  to  his  accusers — made  part  of  the  indictment  pre- 
ferred against  him.  It  was  in  vain  he  objected  deadly  en- 
mity to  some  of  his  judges,  and  the  promises  that  had  been 
made  to  him  previously  to  his  trial;  all  his  objections  were 
over-ruled,  he  was  sent  to  an  assize,  found  guilty  of  treason, 
and  sentenced  to  suffer  the  death  of  a  traitor.  In  the  even- 
Gowrie  ex-  'ng  °f  the  same  day,  he  was  beheaded  ;  but  the  quartering 
ecuted.  of  tne  body  being  dispensed  with,  his  servants  were  permit- 
ted to  bury  the  whole  remains  of  the  unfortunate  nobleman. 


*  He,  [Arran]  shot  directly  at  the  life  and  lands  of  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  for 
the  Highland  oracles  had  shown  unto  his  wife,  that  Gowrie  should  be  ruined, 
as  she  told  to  some  of  her  familiars."  Melville,  p.  310. 


JAMES  VI.  83 

He  died  with  firmness  and  resignation,  expressing  on  the    BOOK 
scaffold  the  usual  regret  of  disappointed  courtiers,  who,  in 
their  career  of  ambition,  have  been  more  anxious  to  study     1584. 
the  humours  or  caprice  of  princes,  than  to  hold  fast  their 
own  integrity.     His  lands  were  divided  among  the  dominant 
party.     On  the  same  day,  two  servants  of  the  earl  of  Mar 
were  executed ;  and  the  rest  who  were  in  the  castle  at  the 
time  of  its  surrender,  were  banished. 

xvi.  A  temporary  calm  ensued ;  and  the  unnatural  vi- 
gour which  a  government  always  acquires  after  the  suppres- 
sion of  an  unsuccessful  insurrection,  promised  to  ensure  its 
continuance.  In  the  usual  method  of  adopting  more  severe 
and  arbitrary  measures,  to  crush  entirely  the  spirit  which  had 
just  been  broken,  James  hastened  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  sum- 
moned a  parliament,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  affairs,.  A  parlia- 
consisted  entirely  of  the  friends  or  supporters  of  Arran,  who 
were  disposed  to  enact  whatever  he  should  be  disposed  to 
dictate.  As  the  church  was  the  peculiar  object  of  his  resent- 
ment, whose  freedom  of  discussion  the  king  and  his  favour- 
ite equally  hated  and  feared,  the  ministers  who  knew  this, 
were  extremely  anxious  in  watching  the  proceedings  of  the 
court,  and  the  court  was  equally  anxious  to  prevent  them 
from  knowing  what  was  in  agitation ;  the  lords  of  the  arti- 
cles were  sworn  to  secrecy,  and  the  business  of  parliament 
was  carried  on  with  shut  doors.  The  ministers,  however, 
having  learned  the  nature  of  some  of  the  acts  proposed,  de- 
puted Mr.  David  Lindsay,  a  man  whose  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion the  king  pretended  greatly  to  respect,  to  wait  upon  his 
majesty ;  and  to  entreat  that  no  law  might  pass,  affecting  the 
interest  of  the  church,  till  the  assembly  was  first  consulted. 
But  Arran  being  informed  of  the  message,  caused  him  to  be 
arrested, — on  a  charge  of  corresponding  with  the  fugitives 
— in  the  palace  yard,  as  he  was  proceeding  to  the  king,  de- 
tained him  that  night  in  Holyroodhouse,  and  next  morning 
sent  him  prisoner  to  Blackness,  where  he  lay  till  the  fall  of 
the  favourite.  They  then  instructed  some  of  their  number 
to  proceed  to  parliament,  and  protest  in  the  name  of  the 
church,  against  any  encroachment  on  their  liberty  ;  but  they 
were  refused  admission. 

xvii.  Such  was  the  unconstitutional,  precipitate,  and  hid- 


g4,  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  den  manner  in  which  the  king  and  Arran  procured  the  enact- 
*'•  ments  of  this  parliament;  and  the  acts  were  in  every  respect 
1584v  worthy  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  obtained.  The 
Arbitrary  jate  usurpations  of  the  privy  council  were  confirmed.  The 
ed!" '  king's  authority  was  declared  to  extend  over  all  persons  and 
all  causes,  and  to  decline  his  majesty's  judgment,  or  the 
council's  in  any  matter,  was  pronounced  treason.  To  im- 
pugn the  authority,  or  to  innovate  or  procure  the  diminution 
of  the  power  of  any  of  the  three  estates,  was  forbidden  un- 
der the  same  penalty.  All  jurisdictions  and  judicatures,  spi- 
ritual and  temporal,  which  had  hitherto  been  exercised,  but 
not  formally  sanctioned  by  parliament,  were  prohibited. 
Commissions  were  to  be  given  to  the  bishops,  and  such 
others  as  should  be  constituted  king*s  commissioners  in  eccle- 
siastical causes,  to  put  order  to  all  ecclesiastical  matters  in 
their  dioceses :  and  it  was  ordained,  that  none  of  whatever 
function,  quality,  or  degree,  should  presume,  privately  or 
publicly,  in  sermons,  declamations,  or  familiar  conferences, 
to  utter  any  false,  untrue,  or  slanderous  speeches,  to  the 
Overturn-  reproach  or  contempt  of  his  majesty,  his  council,  or  proceed- 
ing the  Re-  mgS)  or  to  the  dishonour,  hurt,  or  prejudice  of  his  highness, 
his  parents  and  progenitors  j  or  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of 
his  highness  and  his  estate,  present,  bygone,  or  in  time 
coming,  under  the  pains  contained  in  the  acts  of  parliament 
against  the  makers  and  tellers  of  leasings,  which  were  to  be 
executed  with  all  rigour,  even  upon  those  who  heard  such 
speeches,  and  did  not  reveal  them.  These  acts,  overturning 
the  whole  that  had  been  done  since  the  reformation,  estab- 
lishing the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  council,  restoring  the 
estate  of  bishops,  abolishing,  or  at  least  rendering  subservient 
to  the  royal  will,  every  church  court,  from  the  general  as- 
sembly, to  the  session,*  and  preventing  every  kind  of  political 
discussion,  passed  through  the  parliament  without  opposition. 

*  "  On  the  28th  May,  1584,  a  special  license  was  granted  by  his  majesty,  in 
virtue  of  his  dispensing  power,  for  holding  the  weekly  exercise  and  meetings 
of  the  kirk  session  in  Edinburgh,  notwithstanding  our  late  act  of  parliament, 
or  any  pains  contained  therein,  anent  the  which  we  dispense  be  thir  presents. 
Cald.  vol.  iii.  p.  376.  An  intimation  of  a  similar  kind  was  made  to  the  el- 
ders of  St.  Andrews,  by  Adamson.  Record  of  Kirk  Session  of  St.  Andrews, 
June  17th,  1584.  But  where  the  ministers  or  elders  were  unconformable  to 
the  will  of  the  court,  they  were  prevented  from  assembling.  The  kirk  session 


JAMES  VI.  85 

xviii.  It  was  not  expected  that  the  ministers  would  be    BOOK 
equally  silent  and  submissive;  orders  were  therefore  sent  to  the       H- 
magistrates,  to  silence  or  drag  from  the  pulpit,  any  individual      1584,. 
who  should  presume  to  censure,   or  make  observations  on 
these  statutes.     As  the  acts,  however,  were  not  yet  publish- 
ed, the  magistrates,  who  were  unwilling  to  use  force  with  their 
ministers,  delayed  interfering;  and  the  next  day  being  Sabbath, 
the  ministers  declaimed  with  great  freedom  on  the  subver- 
sion of  their  civil  and  religious  liberty.     On  Monday,  when 
the  acts  were  proclaimed  at  the  market-cross,  Lawson,  Bal- 
canquhall,  and  Pont — who  was  also  a  lord  of  session — fear- 
lessly made  solemn  public  protestation,  in  name  of  the  kirk,  Ministers 
with   the  customary  ceremonies.     Arran,  enraged  at  their  Pro*est 

...         against 
boldness,  threatened  loudly,*  deprived  Pont  of  his  situation,  them, 

as  senator  in  the  college  of  justice,  and  issued  orders  to  ap- 
prehend all  concerned  in  the  protest;  but  they,  dreading 
what  would  follow,  made  a  timely  escape  to  Berwick  ;  a  num-  and  retire 
ber  of  other  eminent  ministers  followed  their  example,  and  to   erwic  ' 
those  who  remained  were  subjected  to  the  most  vexatious 
and  cruel  treatment.     One  instance  of  characteristic  bar- 
barity deserves  to  be  recorded.     Nicol  Dalgliesh,  a  distin- 
guished scholar,  who  had   been   many  years  regent  in  St. 
Leonard's  College,  St.  Andrews,  and  was  now  minister  of  caseofNi- 
the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbert's  church,  was  capitally  tried,  for  C°J  ^al- 
praying  for  his  distressed  brethren.    The  jury  acquitted  him, 
but  he  was  instantly  re-indicted  upon  a  new  charge  of  hold- 
ing communication  with  rebels,  merely  because  he  had  read 
a  letter,  which  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  had  sent 
to  his  wife.      Unconscious  of  crime,   he  was  persuaded  to 
throw  himself  on  the  king's  mercy.     Sentence  of  death  was, 
notwithstanding,  passed;  and  though  it  was  not  executed, 
yet,  by  a  refinement  of  cruelty,  the  scaffold  was  erected,  and 
kept  standing  for  several  weeks,  before  the  window  of  his 
prison.f 

of  Glasgow,  which  used  to  meet  every  week,  did  not  assemble  from  July  18th, 
1584,  to  March  31st,  1585."  Wodrow's  Life  of  Mr.  D.  Weems.  M'Crie's 
Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  pp.  311,  312.  Note. 

*  They  were  threatened,  "  though  their  craig  were  as  great  as  ane  hay  stack, 
their  head  should  lie  at  their  heels." — Calderwood,  p.  160. 

f  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  p.  314.     Calderwood,  p.  170. 


gg  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK        xix.  In  addition  to  all  their  other  grievances,  the  minis- 

H-        ters  were  required  to  subscribe  a  bond,  in  which  they  en- 

1584>      gaged  to  obey  the  late  acts  of  parliament,  and  own  the  au- 

thority of  the  bishops,  under  pain  of  being  deprived  of  their 

livings.     Numbers  refused  ;  but  the  king  invited  the  leaders 

to  a  private  conference,  and   Adamson,   archbishop  of  St. 

Andrews,  having  inserted  a  qualifying  clause  —  "  according 

Distress  of  to    God's   word,"  —  disjoined  the   oppositionists.       Several, 

the  church.  wjlom  tnreats  could  not  bend,  were  juggled  into  compliance  ; 

among  these  were  Dury,  Craig,  and  the  venerable  Erskine 

of  Dun  ;  they  who  continued  firm  in  their  resistance,  were 

forced  to  join  their  brethren  in  exile.     Desolation  and  as- 

tonishment now   appeared    in   every   part    of  the    Scottish 

church  ;  nor  did  the  universities  escape  in  the  general  tem- 

pest; the  professors  of  such  as  were  considered  unfriendly 

to  the  court,  were  banished  or  thrown  into  jail,  the  students 

dismissed,  and  the  colleges  shut  up.* 

xx.  The  tendency  of  the  late  acts  of  parliament,  the 
flight  and  dispersion  of  the  ministers,  the  attacks  upon  the 
seats  of  learning,  and  the  fondness  displayed  for  the  order 
of  bishops,  rendered  the  king  suspected  of  favouring  po- 
pery. This  rumour  being  general,  he  published  a  declara- 
tion, explaining  these  acts,  in  which  he  attempted  to  show 
their  necessity,  and  that  their  sole  object  was  to  settle  the 
form  and  polity  of  the  kirk.  The  only  effect  which  this 
produced,  was  to  call  forth  the  friends  of  freedom,  justice, 
and  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government  to  reply, 
which  they  did,  both  in  prose  and  verse  ;  and  as  they  were 
superior  in  argument,  and  their  reasonings  more  congenial 
to  the  public  feeling,  they  increased  the  hatred  which  all 
ranks  bore  to  the  administration  of  Arran.  The  ministers 
of  Edinburgh  who  had  fled,  as  soon  as  they  reached  Ber- 
wick, wrote  an  affectionate,  and  admonitory  epistle  to  their 
deserted  flocks,  informing  them  of  the  reasons  which  had  in- 
Letter  of  duced  them  to  take  this  step.  —  "  It  was  not,"  they  told  them, 

the  retired  «  the  fear  of  death,  or  love  of  life,  which  had  moved  them  to 

ministers  to     .  ,   , 

their  flocks,  withdraw  tor  a  season,  but  the  open  cruelty  with  which,  by 

*  The  universities  of  Glasgow  and  Aberdeen  were  treated  in  this  manner. 
Cotton  MSS.  quoted  by  M'Crie,  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  p.  3J6. 


JAMES  VI.  87 

the  late  acts  they  were  threatened,  and  in  which  their  flocks    BOOK 

¥1 

too,  must  have  been  involved ;  the  whole  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline plucked  out  of  their  hands,  to  whom  Christ  Jesus  had  I58t. 
committed  the  spiritual  government  of  the  church,  and  in- 
trusted to  those  who  had  their  calling  of  the  world  and  of 
men,  not  of  God.  The  charges  given,  and  that  to  members 
of  their  own  congregations,  for  their  apprehension,  if 
they  dared  to  speak  the  truth  freely,  and  the  danger  which 
their  presence  must  have  occasioned  to  their  people,  after 
these  orders  were  issued,  had  compelled  them,  from  motives 
of  affection  and  love  to  them,  to  absent  themselves.  Besides, 
they  thought  it  lawful  to  follow  the  example  of  their  Lord, 
and  by  fleeing  to  escape  the  rage  of  men,  reserve  themselves 
for  a  better  time." 

xxi.  Upon  receipt  of  this  letter,  the  town  council  of  Ed- 
inburgh, fearing  lest  it  might  be  brought  as  a  charge  against 
them,  immediately  transmitted  it  to  the  king ;  who,  with  the 
characteristic  meanness  of  a  base  mind  in  power,  that  de- 
lights to  add  insult  to  injury,  insisted  on  the  leading  inha- 
bitants of  Edinburgh  subscribing  a  letter,  drawn  up  by  his  The  king 

orders,  and  addressed  to  their  ministers  ; — reproaching  them  dlctates  al> 

answer  to 

with  contemptuously,  irreverently,  and  in  opposition  to  their  it. 
own  conscience,  slandering  the  good  and  necessary  laws 
established  by  his  majesty  and  the  parliament,  and  endea- 
vouring to  disturb  the  realm,  and  excite  sedition  ;  adding, 
they  had  now  discovered  themselves,  by  deserting  their 
flocks,  and  declaring  themselves  fugitives  and  rebels,  and 
had  made  them,  [the  subscribers,]  offend  his  majesty,  by 
holding  any  communication  with  them.  In  conclusion,  they 
thanked  God,  the  ruler  of  the  secret  thoughts  of  all 
hearts,  that  they  had  been  manifested  to  their  own  shame, 
and  the  church's  happiness,  which  was  thus  relieved  from 
wolves  instead  of  pastors,  and  they  hoped  his  majesty 
would  provide  them  with  good,  and  quiet  spirited  teach- 
|ers;  finally,  they  committed  them  to  God,  and  exhorted 
them  to  repent  unfeignedly  of  their  offences.  All  the  power 
I  of  the  court,  could  only  procure  sixteen  names  to  this  un- 
generous production ;  but  among  these  were  some,  who,  in 
other  times  had  been  the  most  zealous  and  forward  in  the 
cause. 


88  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  xxn.  To  open  avowed  oppression,  Arran  added  the  more 
H-  infamous  mode  of  supporting  his  power,  and  advancing  his 
1584..  ambition,  by  fictitious  conspiracies,  and  a  system  of  domes- 
Arran's  tjc  espionage.  Drummond,  of  Blair,  who  had  been  impri- 
tenftfan.  *  soned  in  Edinburgh  castle,  on  suspicion  of  being  connected 
with  the  malecon tents,  and  on  purpose  to  extort  information 
from  him,  when  it  was  found  that  he  had  none  to  give,  was 
set  at  liberty.  But  scarcely  was  he  liberated,  when  he  was 
apprehended  upon  a  new  warrant,  for  some  pretended  of- 
fence, and  examined  before  the  privy  council  at  Edinburgh, 
and  then  carried  to  Falkland,  where  he  underwent  another 
examination  before  the  king.  Having  been  tampered  with 
by  Arran,  he  declared: — that  while  in  prison,  Robert  Dou- 
glas, the  provost  of  Glencluden,  was  also  confined  there ; 
and  that  they  had  had  several  conferences  about  overturning 
the  present  government,  and  putting  the  earl  of  Arran  to 
death.  In  some  of  their  conversations,  the  provost  inform- 
ed him  that  the  earl  of  Crawford  was  friendly  to  the 
scheme,  and  the  Hamiltons,  Douglases,  and  the  other  fu- 
gitives in  England,  were  likewise  parties  to  the  plot.  Dou- 
glas, on  being  examined,  denied  that  any  such  conversa- 
tions had  ever  taken  place,  and  offered  combat  to  Drum- 
mond. 

xxiii.  As  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  proved  the 
conversation,  the  prosecution  was  not  carried  farther  against 
Douglas ;  it  however  answered  a  double  purpose  ;  Mar,  the 
governor  of  the  castle,  was  removed  for  not  being  sufficient- 
ly watchful  over  the  conduct  of  the  prisoners,  and  the  go- 
Made  eo-  vernorsmP  bestowed  upon  Arran ;  and  greater  rigour  was 
vernor  of  exercised  upon  those  who  held  any  correspondence,  of  what- 
ever  nature,  with  the  exiles.  David  Home  of  Argathy,  and 
Patrick,  his  brother,  were  executed  for  exchanging  some 
letters  with  the  commendator  of  Dryburgh,  although  their 
contents  referred  only  to  some  private  accounts,  which  re- 
mained unsettled  when  he  was  forced  to  go  into  exile ;  and 
in  order  to  encourage  that  race  of  miscreants,  detested  by 
all  honourable  men,  and  every  upright  administration — 
public  informers,  proclamation  was  made  : — That  who- 
ever should  discover  any  treasonable  correspondence  or 
conspiracy,  besides  a  full  pardon,  should  receive  a  reward. 


JAMES  VI.  89 

xxiv.  When  rulers  show  a  willingness  to  receive  accusa- 
tions, and  offer  a  bounty  for  the  discovery  of  treason,  it  is 
seldom  long  ere  they  are  gratified  ;  either  by  the  destruction 
of  the  innocent  upon  false  evidence,  or  the  conviction  of 
the  unwary,  who  have  been  entrapped  by  designing  vil- 
lains ;  nor  did  the  present  proclamation  fail  to  produce  these 
consequences.  Malcolm  Douglas  of  Mains,  and  John  Cun- 
ningham of  Drutnwhassel,  gentlemen  of  considerable  pro- 
perty, and  universally  respected,  had  become  objects  of  sus- 
picion to  the  court ;  Douglas  especially,  who  was  dreaded  Fictitious 
on  account  of  his  courage  and  independence  of  spirit.  This  Plots* 
pointed  them  out  as  proper  persons  to  be  denounced ;  and 
one  Robert  Hamilton  of  Ecclesmachan,  allured  by  the  offer- 
ed reward,  and  encouraged  by  the  situation  they  stood  in 
with  the  court,  accused  them  of  having  conspired  to  inter- 
cept the  king  during  a  hunting  match,  and  detain  him  in 
some  stronghold  till  the  lords  should  advance,  into  whose 
hands  they  had  agreed  to  deliver  him.  This  information, 
although  generally  believed  to  be  a  forgery,  was  greedily 
listened  to  by  Arran ;  but  as  another  witness  was  wanting 
to  render  the  accusation  valid,  it  was  agreed  that  sir  James 
Edmonston  of  Duntraith,  one  of  their  most  familiar  acquaint- 
ances, should  be  charged  with  the  same  crime ;  and  an  en- 
deavour made  by  operating  upon  his  fears,  and  then  offering 
him  pardon,  to  extort  some  corroborative  evidence.  Under 
the  influence  of  this  refined  torture,  the  courage  of  sir  James 
yielded,  and  he  incurred  the  everlasting  reproach  of  being 
accessory  to  the  murder  of  his  friend.  The  plan  of  pro- 
cedure thus  settled,  colonel  William  Stewart  was  despatch- 
ed to  apprehend  the  victims ;  and  finding  them  residing 
securely  in  their  own  houses,  arrested  the  whole  without  re- 
sistance, and  brought  them  to  Edinburgh.  They  were  all 
three  put  to  trial,  and  Edmonston  having,  as  was  agreed, 
pleaded  guilty,  the  others  were  also  condemned ;  although 
the  absurdity  of  the  charge,  from  the  impossibility  of  the 
attempt,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  prisoners,  v?as  per- 
fectly and  convincingly  evident.  Drumwhassel  and  Mains  Executions, 
were  executed  the  same  day,  in  the  High-Street  of  Edin- 
burgh. Hamilton,  the  informer,  shunned  and  detested  by 
all,  was  protected  by  Arran,  with  whom  he  resided  till  a 

VOL.  III.  N 


<JO 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1584. 


Arran 
reaches 
summit  of 
power, 


BOOK  «ew  revolution  took  place,  and  the  favourite  was  forced  to 
II-  abscond  ;  when  he,  likewise  endeavouring  to  make  his  es- 
cape, was  overtaken  and  killed  by  Johnston  of  Westraw, 
who  had  vowed  to  revenge  the  death  of  Douglas.  These 
executions  spread  a  general  gloom  over  the  face  of  the  com- 
munity, and  the  dread  of  spies  and  informers  created  such 
universal  distrust,  that  the  common  intercourse  of  society  was 
interrupted,  no  one  knowing  in  whom  to  repose  confidence. 
Meanwhile  Arran  continued  to  concentrate,  in  his  own  per- 
son, all  the  high  offices  of  state,  and  to  grasp  at  all  the  power 
of  the  realm.  On  the  death  of  the  earl  of  Argyle,*  he  was 
reaches  the  rajse(j  to  the  office  of  chancellor,  and  besides  being  governor 

•  iimmif     rtf 

of  Stirling  and  Edinburgh  castles,  he  procured  himself  to  be 
chosen  provost  of  the  city  ;  yet  still  unsatisfied,  he  at  length 
obtained  the  title  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  whole  king- 
dom. 

xxv.  Elizabeth,  whose  policy  was  ever  adapted  to  the 
varying  circumstances  of  the  times,  perceiving  the  difficulty, 
or  rather  the  impossibility,  of  managing  the  affairs  of  Scot- 
land as  she  had  formerly  done,— except  through  the  medium 
of  the  king's  favourites, — despatched  Davidson,  one  of  her 
principal  secretaries,  to  Scotland,  to  attach  Arran  to  her  in- 
terest. Arran,  who  had  in  vain  attempted  to  ingratiate  him- 
self with  Walsingham,  received  the  advances  of  Davidson 
with  the  utmost  eagerness,  and  readily  entered  into  the 
views  of  England;  for,  hated  by  the  nobility  of  his  own 
country,  and  aware  of  the  fickleness  of  his  prince,  he  look- 
ed forward  to  the  friendship  of  Elizabeth  as  the  firmest  sup- 
port of  his  authority.  Soon  after,  a  meeting  was  appoint- 
ed with  lord  Hunsdon,  the  governor  of  Berwick,  at  Foul- 
den,  on  the  borders,  to  which  the  lieutenant  general  pro- 
Private  ceeded  with  a  splendid  train.  At  this  interview  he  renewed 
treaty  with  his  professions  of  attachment  to  the  English  interest ;  and, 
don,  *n  return»  lord  Hunsdon  promised,  on  the  part  of  his  queen, 

that  the  exiled  lords  should  be  removed  to  the  interior,  to 
prevent  their  intriguing  in  Scotland.  At  the  same  time, 
Arran,  by  a  secret  stipulation — as  Elizabeth  was  uneasy  on 


Attaches 


the  Eng- 
lish in- 
teresf. 


•  Spotswood,  p.  339.     Crawford  says,  before  the  death  of  Argyle—  Affairs 
of  State,  appendix,  p.  447. 


JAMES  VI.  91 

the  subject— -engaged  to  keep  James  unmarried  for  three    BOOK 
years,  under  pretext  that  the  queen  had  provided  a  match  for 
him  of  the  blood  royal  in  England,  who  would  be  marriage-      1584. 
able  about  that  time ;  and  on  his  union  with  whom,  her  ma- 
jesty would  declare  him  her  heir. 

xxvi.  Arran,  who  had  dreaded  the  interference  of  England 
on  behalf  of  the  fugitive  lords,  now  relieved  from  all  fear 
upon  that  account,  immediately  on  his  return  called  a  par- 
liament ;  in  which  Angus,  Mar,  Glammis,  and  a  number  of 
their  followers,  were  attainted,  and  their  estates  divided, 
as  was  the  custom,  among  the  chiefs  of  the  dominant  party. 
But  the  exorbitance  of  Arran's  power,  joined  with  his  im-  A  party 
perious  temper,  which  would  admit  of  no  partner,  disgusted  for™8 
a  number  of  his  own  supporters ;  and  a  party  was  secretly  him. 
forming  against  him  at  the  time  when  he  thought  he  had 
most  firmly  fortified  himself  against  any  attack.  The  mas- 
ter of  Gray,  who  had  lately  been  introduced  at  court  on  his 
return  from  his  travels,  possessed  those  qualifications  which 
generally  attracted  the  king — a  graceful  person,  and  an  in- 
sinuating address.  He  had  already  made  considerable  pro-  Master  of 
gress  in  the  favour  of  his  sovereign  ;  and*  ambitious  and  rest- 
less,  he  viewed  with  impatience  the  overpowering  influence 
of  Arran.  Sir  Lewis  Bellenden,  the  justice-clerk,  a  man  of 
a  high  spirit,  submitted  reluctantly  ;  and  even  the  secretary, 
John  Maitland,  who  owed  his  office  to  Arran,  deserted  his  de- 
clining fortune,  and  entered  into  the  schemes  of  his  oppo- 
nents ;  but  while  plotting  his  ruin,  with  the  instinctive  dis- 
simulation of  courtiers,  they  continued  to  flatter  and  fawn 
upon  the  man  they  had  devoted  to  destruction. 

xxvn.  The  increasing  predilection  of  James  for  Gray,  did 
not  long  escape  the  penetration  of  Arran,  who,  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  a  rival,  procured  that  he  should  be  sent  as  ambas- 
sador to  the  court  of  England,  to  negotiate  with  Elizabeth  Hi*  em- 
for  the  performance  of  Hunsdon's  promise — the  removal  of  pss?  to 
the  banished  lords.  Gray  during  his  residence  in  France, 
by  renouncing  the  protestant  religion,  and  pretending  great 
zeal  for  the  captive  queen,  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the 
duke  of  Guise  and  her  friends  there,  by  whom  he  was  em- 
ployed in  managing  a  secret  correspondence  with  her.  On 
his  arrival  at  the  English  court,  he  professed  himself  a  pro- 


92  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    testant  ;*  and,  flattered   by  the  attention   of  Elizabeth,  he 
n<        abandoned  his  former  connexions   without  hesitation,  and 
submitted  implicitly  to  the  direction  of  the  English  govern- 
ment.    He  undertook  to  preserve  the  king  under  the  in- 
fluence of  England,  and  he  betrayed  the  unfortunate  Scottish 
queen,  by  revealing  to  her  enemies  all  the  secrets  with  which    j 
his  high  pretensions  in  her  service  had  made  him  be  intrust-    | 
ed.     It  was  always  the  practice  of  Elizabeth's  ministers  to    I 
Double  po-  play  a  double  game  with  Scotland,  and  never  to  allow  any  of   1 

EHzrieth  the  factions  that  distracted  that  country  to  be  entirely  destroy- 
ed ;  but  alternately  to  feed  the  hopes  of  both,  and  thus 
keep  both  in  constant  dependance.  Their  conduct  on  this 
occasion  was  in  unison  with  their  general  policy.  To  grati- 
fy the  king,  and  yet  not  wholly  cast  off  the  nobles,  they 
avoided  the  request  of  sending  them  out  of  the  country,  but 
ordered  them  to  reside  in  Norwich,  at  a  distance  from  the 
borders  ;  and  Gray  having  gained,  as  he  supposed,  the  ob- 
ject of  his  mission,  was  dismissed  by  the  queen  loaded  with 
presents,  and  carrying  letters  to  his  master,  filled  with 
the  highest  commendations  of  his  talents  and  conduct. 
Seizing  the  opportunity  of  his  absence,  Arran  had  insi- 
diously endeavoured,  by  misrepresentations,  to  prejudice 
James  against  Gray ;  but  his  success  in  the  negotiation, 
and  the  praises  he  received,  increased  his  credit  with 
the  sovereign ;  and  enabled  him,  at  convenient  seasons, 
to  recompense,  with  "  court  charity,"  those  secret  ser- 
vices.f 

xxviu.  Still  unsatisfied  while  the  exiles  were  suffered 
to  remain  in  England,  James  sent  another  embassy,  at  the 
Bellenden's  head  of  which  was  Bellenden,  the  justice-clerk,  to  communi- 
ami  plot.  cate  the  particulars  of  Mains'  and  Drumwhassel's  conspi- 
racy, and  demand  the  expulsion  of  their  associates.  The 
lords,  on  his  arrival,  were  brought  from  Norwich  to  London, 
ostensibly  to  hear  the  accusations  against  them ;  and  in  a 
conference  with  the  ambassador,  before  Elizabeth's  coun 
cil,  they  easily  cleared  themselves  from  this  imputation. 
Other  negotiations  succeeded,  and  Bellenden,  who  evident- 
ly had  preconcerted  the  plan  with  Gray  before  he  left  Scot- 

*  Caldenvood,  p.  170.  f  Melville,  p.  317. 


JAMES  VI  O.S 

land,  and  used  his  public  character  as  a  cloak  for  his  private    BOOK 
intrigue,  consulted  with  the  men  he  had  been  commissioned        ^ 
to  accuse,  about  the  removal  of  Arran,  and  their  own  return      1585. 
to  their  native  country.     Elizabeth   and  her  ministers  were 
privy  to    the  whole,  and  as  they  could  place  no  depend- 
ance  on  so  venal  and  profligate  a  man  as  Arran,  encourag- 
ed the  enterprise ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  to  prevent  sus- 
picion, redoubled  to  him  the  assurances  of  the  queen's  re- 
gard. 

xxix.  Although  standing   on    the   brink  of  a  precipice, 
Arran,  unaware  of  his  danger,  instead  of  attempting  to  sooth, 
continued  to  exasperate  the  discontent  by  which  he  was  sur-  Aram's  in. 
rounded.     As  insatiable  in  his  avarice  as  in  his  ambition,  he  satiable 
imprisoned  the  earl  of  Athol,  because  he  would  not  divorce 
his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Gowrie's,  and  entail  his  estates  on 
him ;  lord  Home,  because  he  refused  to  part  with  the  lands 
of  Dirleton,  which  lay  contiguous  to  some  of  his  property ; 
and  the  master  of  Cassillis,  because  he  would  not  accommo- 
date him  with  a  sum  of  money  which  he  thought  he  could 
spare.     Regardless  of  the  miseries  he  inflicted  on  the  coun- 
try, he  stuck  at  no  measure,  however  desperate,  to  satisfy 
bis  cupidity  or  revenge.     Having  required  lord  Maxwell  to 
exchange  the  barony  of  Mernis,  and  the  lands  of  Maxwell- 
heugh,  for  the  estate  of  Kinniel,  which  he  possessed  by  the  Creates 
forfeiture  of  the  Hamiltons ;  when  Maxwell  refused  to  part  feuds  in 
with  his  paternal  inheritance  for  a  possession  of  very  doubt- 
ful tenure,  not  daring  openly  to  avow  the  cause,  he  involv- 
ed the  district  in  confusion  and  bloodshed ;  and  had  not  the 
plague  prevented,  would  have  kindled  the  flames  of  civil  war 
throughout  the  whole  country.     To  accomplish  his  purpose, 
he  first  prevailed  with  Johnston,  the  hereditary  enemy  of 
Maxwell,  to  accept  of  the  office  of  provost  of  Dumfries,  and 
then  procured  an  order  from  the  king  to  the  inhabitants  for 
his  election.     Maxwell,  who  perceived  the  affront  intended 
him,  collecting  his  vassals,  prevented  Johnston  from  entering  Between 
the  town,  and  caused  himself  to  be  continued  in  the  situa-  ^nd  John- 
tion.     On  this,  the  king  was  immediately  informed  that  his  ston- 
authority  was  despised,  and  there  would  be  no  peace  in  that 
quarter,   unless    the  power  of  Maxwell  was  curbed;    and 
he,  using  as  a  pretext,  the  non-appearance  of  one  of  the 


94.  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    clan  Armstrong,  for  whom  Maxwell  was  bound,  denounced 
H>       him   as  a  rebel,  and  issued  a  commission  to  the  laird  of 
lags.     Johnston    to   pursue    him;    who,    in    addition   to   his   own 
men,  was  to  receive  the  assistance  of  two  companies  of  hir- 
ed soldiers. 

xxx.  Maxwell,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  these  preparations, 
assembled  his  forces,  and  sent  a  detachment  under  his  natu- 
ral brother  to  intercept  the  king's  troops  before  they  could 
Battle  of  jojn  Johnston.  They  encountered  each  other  on  Crawford 
moor.  moor,  where,  after  a  sharp  conflict,  the  mercenaries  were  de- 
feated, one  of  their  captains  killed,  and  the  other  taken  pri- 
soner. Johnston,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  might  not  ap- 
pear to  be  idle,  wasted  Maxwell's  estates  with  fire  and  sword, 
and  carried  off  great  quantities  of  plunder.  Maxwell  re- 
torted by  burning  the  house  of  Lockwood,  and  ravaging  An- 
nandale ;  and  this  system  of  mutual  retaliation  continued  till 
Johnston  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner.  The  court,  en- 
raged at  this  disaster,  summoned  a  convention  of  the  estates, 
who  granted  a  subsidy  of  twenty  thousand  pounds,  for  levy- 
ing soldiers  to  suppress  Maxwell ;  and  the  king  command- 
ed all  south  of  the  Forth,  who  could  bear  arms,  to  be  in 
readiness  to  attend  him  upon  an  expedition  into  the  disturb- 
ed districts.  But  the  plague  raged  with  such  violence  in 
Edinburgh  during  the  summer,  that  the  expedition  was  sus- 
pended ;  and  another  revolution  taking  place  in  the  king's 
council  shortly  after,  it  was  wholly  laid  aside. 

xxxi.  A  fortunate  coincidence  of  circumstances,  together 
with  the  wisdom  of  Elizabeth's  councils,  had  hitherto  con- 
tributed to  preserve  England  comparatively  tranquil,  amid 
the  agitations  which  convulsed  almost  every  other  neighbour- 
ing kingdom ;  but  the  formidable  conspiracy  of  crowned 
heads  against  the  liberty  and  Reformed  religion  of  Europe, 
Holy  known  by  the  name  of  the  Holy  League,  in  which  the  pope, 
L;at!ue.  the  Spanish  king,  and  the  Guises,  who  ruled  France,  were 
combined  to  crush  the  protestant  states,  now  threatened  that 
kingdom;  which  was  considered  the  bulwark  against  the 
despots  and  bigots  who  wished  to  restore  the  passive  obe- 
dience and  implicit  faith  of  the  dark  ages.  Elizabeth,  who 
knew  that  the  power  of  England  was  an  object  of  aversion 
and  dread  to  the  members  of  the  league,  proposed  to  unite 


JAMES  VI.  95 

all  the  protestant  princes  in  a  counter-league  for  their  mu-    BOOK 
tual  defence.     With   this  intent  she   sent  ambassadors  to 
Denmark  and  Germany,  and  under  the  same  pretence,  des-      1585. 

patched  sir  Edward  Wotton  to  the  Scottish  monarch.     The  w°tton'8 

embassy  to 

chief  aim  of  Wotton's  embassy,  though  veiled  under  this  Scotland, 
pretext,  was  to  re-establish  English  influence  in  Scotland  up- 
on a  sure  basis ;  and  this  he  was  instructed  to  attempt  not 
by  any  formal  propositions,  but  by  ingratiating  himself  into 
the  favour  of  the  king,  under  the  mask  of  an  agreeable  com- 
panion ;  and  while  he  appeared  wholly  intent  upon  promot- 
ing his  amusement,  to  seize  every  favourable  opportunity  to 
influence  his  mind,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  cultivate  as- 
siduously the  affection  of  the  nobles  who  were  in  opposition 
to  Arran,  promote  their  designs,  and  lend  them  every  as- 
sistance. 

xxxii.  Wotton  was  well  qualified  for  the  task  ;  he  excell-  His  install- 
ed in  all  the  exercises  for  which  James  had  a  passion,  was  atingquali. 

ti6S« 

gay,  humorous,  and  entertaining,  had  travelled  much,  was 
a  quick  observer  of  men  and  manners,  and  had  a  fund  of 
amusing  anecdote  and  adventure ;  and  early  initiated  into 
political  intrigue,  he  possessed  all  that  pliancy  of  temper  and 
morals  which  qualifies  a  man  to  fill,  with  advantage  to  his 
employers,  the  important  situation  of  a  privileged  spy.  A 
strict  alliance  between  the  two  kingdoms,  in  defence  of  the 
true  religion,  was  what  the  nation  universally  desired,  and 
the  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  continent  rendered  imperiously 
necessary.  James  entered  warmly  into  the  proposal;  and 
having  summoned  a  convention  of  the  estates  to  St.  An- 
drews, in  a  "  long  and  pithy  speech,"  enumerated  the  dan- 
gers that  threatened  religion,  and  enforced  the  necessity  of 
reformed  princes  uniting  together.  The  convention  second-  obtains 
ed  the  zeal  of  the  king,  and  passed  an  act,  empowering  him  a  treaty, 
to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  "  his  dearest  sister,"  offensive 
and  defensive,  for  the  preservation  of  their  common  faith. 
What  probably  contributed,  in  no  small  degree,  to  stimu- 
late James'  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the  Reformed,  was  a  mark 
of  motherly  affection  his  dearest  sister  had  lately  shown,  in 
settling  upon  him  an  annual  pension  of  five  thousand  pounds, 
a  gift  which  his  empty  exchequer  rendered  extremely  accep- 
table. Notwithstanding  Wotton's  ostensible  business  was 


96  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    at  an  end,  he  still  continued  in  the  Scottish  court  amusing 
IL       the  king,  and  intriguing  with  the  nobles.     In  his  private  in- 
1585.      terviews  with  the  master  of  Gray,  secretary  Maitland,  and 
trigue""       Bellenden,  a  plan  was  concerted  for  bringing  back  the  ban- 
ished nobles,  and  enabling  them  to  gain  the  ascendency  ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  he  continued  on  the  most  friendly 
footing  with  Arran,  and  used  him  to  answer  his  purpose  on 
after  occasions. 

xxxin.  Among  the  other  causes  of  Elizabeth's  inquietude, 
was  her  dread  lest  James,  by  marriage,  should  obtain  such 
a  doyvry  as  would  render  him  independent ;  or  contract  an 
affinity  that  might  make  him  indifferent  or  averse  to  her 
management;  and  having  heard  that  an  embassy  was  pre- 
paring in  Denmark  for  Scotland,  Wotton's  mission  had  this 
also  in  view,  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  errand,  and  throw  ob- 
stacles in  the  way,  if  its  object  was  any  matrimonial  project. 
In  the  course  of  the  summer  the  embassy  arrived,  consist- 
Embassy  ing  of  three  noblemen  magnificently  attended,  who  were  in- 
fron?Den~  troduced  to  the  king  at  Dunfermline,  where  they  presented 
their  claim  respecting  the  restoration  of  Orkney  and  Shet- 
land to  the  Danish  crown.  James  received  them  courteous- 
ly, and  appointed  them  to  reside  at  St.  Andrews  till  their 
despatches  were  ready.  But  under  the  influence  of  Wot- 
ton  and  Arran,  every  day  that  he  fixed  to  give  them  their 
audience  of  leave,  was  broken,  and  they  were  detained  at  St. 
Andrews,  mocked  and  insulted  by  the  emissaries  of  Arran ; 
Rude  wno»  besides  the  instigations  of  Wotton,  was  irritated  against 

treatment    them,  because  some  of  their  attendants  having  known  him  a 

of  the  am-         .  ,  ,.        . 

bassadors,    private  soldier  in  Sweden,  they  treated   him  with  neglect. 

Wotton,  however,  who  had  discovered  that  they  were  at- 
tempting to  negotiate  a  marriage  between  one  of  the  prin- 
cesses of  Denmark  and  the  king,  paid  them  the  most  mark- 
ed attention ;  and,  while  he  represented  to  James  the  igno- 
ble descent  from  a  race  of  merchants,  the  barbarous  language 
and  strange  customs  of  the  Danish  monarchs,  which  render- 
ed any  match  in  their  family  degrading  to  a  prince  whose 
lineage  was  the  most  ancient  in  Europe,  he  condoled  with 
the  ambassadors  on  the  usage  they  received ;  and,  under  a 
promise  of  secrecy,  informed  them  of  the  contemptuous  man- 


JA.MES  VI.  97 

ner  in  which  their  king  and  country  were  spoken  of  at  the    BOOK 
Scottish  court,  which  he  represented  as  a  scene  of  the  low- 
est debauchery,  and  most  riotous  excess.  1585. 

xxxiv.  Enraged  at  the  treatment  they  received,  the  am- 
bassadors were  on  the  point  of  departing,  when  they  were 
happily  prevented  by  the  interference  of  sir  James  Melville ;  Explained 
who,   having  himself  been  educated  from  infancy    among  b>'  sir 
courtiers,  had  penetrated  the  designs,  and  discovered  the  Melville, 
arts  of  the  English  envoy.     In  a  confidential  conversation, 
he  exposed  the  artifice  by  which  the  king  had  been  misled, 
and  they  ill  used,  and  entreated  them  not  to  yield  to  the 
underhand  dealings  of  their  opponents,  nor  afford  them  a 
triumph,  and  involve  the  two  countries  in  hostilities,  by  an 
abrupt  departure.     With  considerable  difficulty  he  succeed-  whounde- 
ed  in  undeceiving  the  king ;  to  whom  he  explained  the  alii-  c^vet  the 
ances  which  Denmark  had  formed    with  the  most   ancient 
houses  on  the  continent,  and  the  near  relationship  in  which 
they  stood  to  himself.     He  likewise  represented  the  deceitful 
manner  in  which  Wotton  had  acted,  and  expatiated  on  the 
honour  that  had  been  done  him,  by  sending  so  splendid  an 
embassy.     James,  who  was  liable  to  be  influenced  by  the  last 
speaker,  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  his  information,  and 
said  he  would  not  for  his  head,  but  that  the  verity  had  been 
shown  him. 

xxxv.  Wotton,  counteracted  in  this  attempt,  by  the  supe-  w0tton 
rior  dexterity  of  Melville,  bent  his  attention  with  greater  plots  Ar- 
keenness,  to  accomplish  the  more  important  object  of  his 
mission — the  removal  of  Arran  from  the  councils  of  the  king. 
In  this  he  was  aided  by  a  circumstance,  not  uncommon  in 
these  troublous  times,  but  rendered  important  by  the  rank 
of  the  nobleman  who  fell.  At  a  meeting  between  the  war- 
dens on  the  borders,  to  arrange  their  differences,  and  settle 
the  restitutions,  a  quarrel  ensued,  in  which  sir  Francis  Rus- 
sel,  son  of  the  earl  of  Bedford,  was  killed.  Kerr,  of  Ferni- 
hurst,  the  Scottish  warden,  was  accused  of  being  accessory 
to  the  murder,  at  the  instigation  of  Arran,  whose  niece  he 
had  married,  and  application  made  to  the  Scottish  king  that 
he  should  be  delivered  up ;  but  Arran  opposing  this,  Wot- 
ton entered  a  complaint,  which  was  strongly  seconded  by  the 
master  of  Gray,  and  in  consequence,  Arran  was  committed 

VOL.  III.  O 


98 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1585. 


Banished 
lords  enter 
Scotland. 


BOOK  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews,  and  Fernihurst  to 
n-  Aberdeen.  By  a  bribe  to  the  master  of  Gray,  Arran  in  a 
few  days  procured  his  liberty,  and  was  permitted  to  retire  to 
his  estate  of  Kinniel;  but  before  he  set  out,  James  contriv- 
ed to  borrow  from  him  a  massy  gold  chain,  of  considerable 
value,  which  he  bestowed  as  a  present  on  the  Danish  ambas- 
sadors, who,  about  the  same  time,  were  honourably  dismiss- 
ed. The  absence  of  Arran,  afforded  Wotton,  and  the 
friends  of  the  exiles,  the  fairest  opportunity  for  maturing 
their  plans,  which  they  did  not  fail  to  improve.  Their 
friends  were  all  prepared  for  their  reception,  and  the  whole 
country  directed  to  expect  their  arrival.  James  alone  ap- 
peared ignorant  of  the  plot ;  and  the  first  notice  he  receiv- 
ed, was  information  sent  to  him,  while  hunting  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Hamilton,  that  the  banished  lords  had  passed 
the  borders,  and  were  joined  by  Maxwell,  with  the  forces  he 
had  raised,  to  oppose  Johnston.  Surprised  at  the  intelli- 
gence, he  immediately  sent  for  Arran,  and  returned  to  Stir- 
ling, where  he  was  met  by  another  equally  unexpected  dis- 
covery. Wotton,  not  content  with  effecting  the  return  of 
the  nobles,  had  formed  the  design  of  seizing  the  king's  per- 
son in  the  park  of  Stirling,  and  carrying  him  to  England  ; 
but  the  design  being  discovered,  Wotton  departed,  "  with- 
out bidding  good  night  ;J1  only  he  left  a  letter  for  the  king, 
in  which  he  alleged  the  return  of  Arran  to  court  as  his  ex- 
cuse. 

xxxvi.  Meanwhile,  the  lords  continued  to  advance.  On 
their  entering  Scotland,  they  issued  a  declaration,  which  they 
dispersed  widely,  explaining  the  motives  by  which  they  were 

Their  de-  impelled  to  take  arms ;  these  were, — to  deliver  the  king  from 
evil  counsellors,  restore  the  liberty  of  the  church,  procure 
the  repeal  of  the  late  acts,  relieve  the  country  from  oppres- 
sion, and  preserve  the  relations  of  amity  with  England 
They  also  enumerated  the  crimes  of  Arran,  whom  they  de- 
picted in  the  most  odious  colours,  and  charged  with  having 
aimed  at  the  crown  ;*  and  classed  colonel  Stuart  along  with 

*  He,  m  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  had  deduced  his  descent  from  Murdac, 
the  regent,  who  suffered  in  the  reign  of  James  L,  and  had  had  the  insolence 
or  folly,  to  renounce  formally  in  parliament,  all  claim  or  pretension  to  the  in- 
heritance  of  the  crown.  Spotswood,  p.  34,1. 


claration. 


JAMES  VI.  99 

him,  as  the  chief  corrupters  of  the  king,  but  named  none  of  BOOK 
the  other  attenders  at  court.  This  marked  distinction,  con- 
nected with  the  letter  left  by  Wotton,  which  the  king  had  J5g5 
shown  Arran,  created  dissensions  among  the  courtiers.  Ar- 
ran  and  Stuart  immediately  accused  Gray  of  being  accessory 
to  the  plot.  Gray  denied  it  stoutly,  and  to  such  a  height 
was  the  quarrel  carried,  that  Arran,  with  his  associates,  the 
earls  of  Crawford  and  Montrose,  had  determined  to  have 
assassinated  Gray  and  Bellenden,  had  they  not  withdrawn. 
Meanwhile,  the  preparations  for  resistance  were  either 
thwarted,  or  rendered  ineffectual ;  the  castle  was  unprovi- 
sioned,  and  the  few  troops  that  had  been  assembled,  were 
heartless  in  the  cause.  Nor  were  the  lords  unacquainted 
with  the  state  of  affairs ;  they  therefore  hastened  their  march, 
and  on  the  last  day  of  October,  1585,  arrived  at  St.  Nin- 
ians,  not  quite  a  mile  from  Stirling,  where  they  halted,  and 
drew  up  in  order  of  battle.  The  gates  of  the  town  were 
shut,  and  Arran  had  undertaken  to  guard  the  access  by  the 
bridge  that  night ;  but  by  means  of  their  friends,  they  en- 
tered the  place  in  another  direction,  and  took  possession 
without  resistance.  On  the  cry  that  the  town  was  taken,  Take  Stir 
Arran,  having  locked  the  gate  of  which  he  had  the  command,  ng* 
threw  the  keys  into  the  Forth,  and  fled.  Colonel  Stuart  at- 
tempted resistance  in  the  market-place,  and  might  perhaps 
have  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day,  had  he  been  at  all  sup- 
ported ; — for  the  borderers,  according  to  their  usual  custom, 
had  already  separated  to  examine  the  contents  of  the  stables, 
— but  his  numbers  were  insignificant,  and  were  quickly  dis- 
persed. 

xxxvu.  Next  day  the  castle  was  invested,  and  being  to-  Invest  the 
tally  unprepared  for  a  siege,  the  king  found  himself  under 
the  necessity  of  coming  to  some  agreement.  The  lords  were 
equally  anxious.  They  declared, — "  that  nothing  was  more 
dear  to  them  than  the  king's  honour  and  safety ;  but,  banish- 
ed their  country,  robbed  of  their  estates,  their  friends  cruel- 
ly prosecuted,  and  all  access  to  his  majesty  denied,  they 
were  forced,  in  order  to  save  themselves  from  ruin,  to  act  as 
they  had  done ;  yet,  if  admitted  into  his  majesty's  presence, 
they  would  humbly  solicit  his  forgiveness."  When  this  was 
reported  to  the  king,  who  was  in  no  situation  to  resist  any 


100  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    demand  they  might  have  chosen  to  make,  he  appeared  gra- 
n-        tified  with  their  submission ;  and  replied  he  had  never  ap- 
~~~~~   proved  of  Arran's  violence,  although,  at  the  same  time,  he 
1585      could  not  help  being  dissatisfied  at  the  line  of  conduct  pur- 
sued by  the  lords ;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  public  peace,  he 
would  pardon  and  overlook  every  thing.     Only  he  requir- 
ed  that  none  who  were  with  him,  should  suffer  harm,  parti- 
cularizing the  earls  of  Crawford,  Montrose,  and  colonel  Stu- 
art ;  and  if  this  were  provided  for,  he  would  willingly  con- 
sent to  admit  them  to  an  interview.     To  this  the  lords  an- 
swered, that  if  the  two  earls  were  removed  from  his  majesty's 
presence,  and  committed  to  the  charge  of  some  responsible 
noblemen,  and  colonel  Stuart  dismissed  from  his  office,  and 
it  bestowed  upon  another,  they  would  promise  to  prosecute 
Admitted    no   revenge.     These  requisitions  being  consented  to,  they 
to  the         were  introduced  into  the  royal  presence,  when,  falling  upon 
sence! ?  *"  their  knees,   lord  Hamilton,  as  first  in  rank,  implored  his 
majesty's  mercy  and  favour.     The  king,  in  return,  thus  ad- 
dressed him  :  "  I  never,  my  lord,  ever  saw  you  before,  and 
I  must  confess,  that  of  all  this  company,  you  have  been  most 
wronged.     You  were  a  faithful  servant  to  my  mother,  and  in 
my  minority,  when  I  was  incapable  of  judging,  you  were  in- 
deed hardly  used.     As  for  the  rest  of  you,  your  own  conduct 
procured  your  sufferings  ;  yet,  as  I  believe  none  of  you  meant 
any  harm  to  my  person,  I  give  you  all  my  hand  and  heart  ; 
and  I  will  remember  nothing  that  is  past,  provided  for  the 
Pardoned    future  you  behave  as  dutiful  subjects."     A  pardon  in  the 
and  receiv-  most  ample  form  was  then  granted  them,  and  next  day  pub- 
vour.          licly  proclaimed  by  sound  of  trumpet.     The  earls  of  Craw- 
ford and  Montrose  were  committed  to  the  charge  of  lord 
Hamilton,  who  was  also  appointed  governor  of  Dunbarton 
castle ;  colonel  Stuart  was  allowed  to  retire,  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  guard  was  given   to   the  master  of  Glammis , 
Stirling  castle  was  entrusted  to  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh  to  sir  James  Hume  of  Coldinknows. 
So  soon  as  these  arrangements  were  settled,  a  parliament 
was  summoned  to  meet  at  Linlithgow,  to  establish  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  country.     At  this  parliament,  the  king's  par- 
don was  ratified,  the  forfeitures  reversed,  and  the  returned 
nobles  restored  to  all  their  honours  and  estates.      Arran,  de- 


JAMES  VI.  101 

prived  of  his  title,  which  reverted  to  the  right  owner,  strip-    BOOK 
ped  of  the  fruits  of  so  many  crimes,  and  declared  a  public 
enemy,  protracted  for  some  time  his  wretched  existence  in  a      1585. 
distant  corner,  under  his  original  obscure  name  of  captain  Ar71'{  de" 
James   Stuart ;  by  which   he  must  in  future  be  designated, 
and  which  it  had  been  happy  for  him  he  had  never  exchang- 
ed for  another. 

xxxvin.  As  the  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  church 
had  constantly  formed  a  leading  feature  in  all  the  proclama- 
tions the  nobles  had  published,  this  formed  part  of  their  pe- 
tition at  first,  and  the  king  had  acceded  to  it  in  general 
terms.  But,  as  he  had  a  known  antipathy  to  the  ministers, 
secretary  Maitland,  who  soon  discovered,  that  if  their  own 
claims  were  agreeably  adjusted,  the  nobles  would  not  be 
too  rigorous  in  their  stipulations  for  the  church ;  previously 
to  the  meeting  of  parliament,  concerted  with  them,  to  grati- 
fy him  in  this,  as  well  as  in  the  lenity  shown  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  late  atrocious  administration.*  In  consequence 
the  king  appeared  resolute  to  support  the  arbitrary  laws 
enacted  under  Arran's  influence,  and  would  not  hear  of 
their  repeal,  as  trenching  on  his  prerogative.  The  nobles, 

*  James  identified  his  own  character  with  that  of  the  administration,  by 
the  affection  he  retained  for  the  worthless  favourite,  after  his  dismissal.  This 
is  mentioned  by  H.  Woddryngton,  in  a  letter  to  secretary  Walsingham,  Jan- 
uary 7th,  1585,  and  by  the  French  ambassador,  in  a  letter  to  D'Esneval,  Oc- 
tober 3Ist,  1586.  Nor  did  he  fill  up  the  office  of  chancellor,  vacant  by  his 
dismissal,  but  created  secretary  Maitland  vice  chancellor,  apparently  in  hope 
of  his  return.  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  p.  351.  Note.  Two  anecdotes,  for 
which  we  are  indebted  to  the  research  of  Dr.  M'Crie,  still  farther  establishes 
this  identity  of  the  king  and  his  servant,  by  the  savage  inhumanity,. and  callous 
want  of  principle  which  they  exhibit.  The  countess  of  Gowrie,  after  the  ex- 
ecution of  her  husband,  having  been  several  times  repulsed  in  her  suits  on 
behalf  of  her  children,  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  marched 
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."  Davidson  to 
Walsingham.  William,  prince  of  Orange,  the  patriotic  assertor  of  the  liberties 
of  the  Low  Countries,  fell  at  this  time,  by  the  hands  of  a  hired  assassin.  When 
the  news  came  to  Scotland,  the  king  said  openly,  that  the  prince  had  met  with 
such  an  end  as  he  deserved,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  court  rejoiced  at  the 
event.  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  ii.  pp.  327,  328. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
IIg 

1585. 

bthe 
church. 


Ministers 
the  king. 


with  the  exception  of  the  earl  of  Angus,  basely  sacrificing 
their  honour  to  their  interest,  deserted  the  church,  whose 
most  eminent  preachers  had  suffered  so  much  in  their  cause  ; 
anc*  instead  of  any  acts  Deing  past  in  their  favour,  they  en- 
forced  the  one  which  was  considered  the  most  tyrannical  of 
the  whole  ;  and  annexed  the  punishment  of  death,  to  be  ex- 
ecuted with  all  rigour,  against  such  as  should  publicly  or 
privately  speak  to  the  reproach  of  the  king's  person  or  go- 
vernment, or  should  misconstrue  his  proceedings.  Perhaps 
the  nobles,  who  were  extremely  solicitous  to  ingratiate 
themselves  with  the  king,  might  think  they  were  in  some 
measure  relieved  from  the  obligation  of  their  promises,  by 
an  unfortunate  dissension  which  arose  between  the  ministers 
who  had  left  the  country,  and  those  who  remained.  In  a 
sermon  preached  by  one  of  the  former  at  Linlithgow,  he 
introduced  the  subject  of  the  bond,  and  blamed  the  subscrib- 
ers ;  Craig,  one  of  those  who  had  subscribed,  in  a  subse- 
quent discourse,  delivered  before  the  members  of  parliament, 
replied,  and  defended  their  conduct,  blamed  the  ministers 
who  had  fled,  and  maintained  the  doctrine  of  the  royal  pre- 
rogative in  its  widest  extent.  The  dissension  was  allayed 
by  the  interposition  of  the  more  moderate,  but  Craig's  ser- 
mon could  not  be  recalled  ;  and  the  doctrines  which  had 
been  openly  advocated,  and  the  arguments  which  had 
been  used  in  the  pulpit,  afforded,  I  am  inclined  to  believe, 
a  handle  to  the  nobles  for  declining  to  interfere  in  the  busi- 


ness. 


xxxix.  Repulsed  by  the  nobles,  the  ministers  waited  on 
^e  king,  by  whom  they  were  most  ungraciously  received. 
At  his  desire,  they  drew  up  animadversions  upon  the  acts 
of  parliament,  which  they  delivered  in  writing;  and  his  ma- 
jesty spent  a  whole  day  in  his  cabinet,  in  writing  a  reply 
to  them  with  his  own  hand  ;  in  which  he  commences  with 
this  declaration,  which  he  said  should  be  as  authentic  as  an 
act  of  parliament.  "  I  for  my  part,  shall  never,  neither  my 
posterity  ought  ever,  cite,  summon,  or  apprehend,  any  pas- 
tor or  preacher,  for  matters  of  doctrine  in  religion,  salva- 
tion, heresies,  or  true  interpretation  of  the  scripture  ;  but 
according  to  my  first  act,  which  confirms  the  libertie  of 
preaching  the  word,  and  ministration  of  the  sacraments,  I 


JAMES  VI.  103 

avow  the  same  to  be  a  matter  mere  ecclesiastical,  and  alto-    BOOK 
gether  impertinent  to  my  calling;  and  disclaim  for  myself       M< 
and  posterity,  all  power  and  jurisdiction."     He  then  defines      1535. 

what  he  understood  by  a  bishop.     "  I  allow  not  a  bishop  ac-  Hu™WT 

J  to  their  re- 

cording  to  the  traditions  of  men,  or  inventions  of  the  pope,  presenta- 

but  only  according  to  God's  word ;  not  to  tyrannize  over  his  tlon" 
brethren,  or  to  do  any  thing  of  himself,  but  with  advice  of 
his  whole  diocese,  or  at  least  with  the  wisest  number  of  them, 
to  serve  him  for  a  council ;  and  to  do  nothing  alone,  except 
teaching  the  word,  administering  the  sacrament,  and  voting 
in  parliament;"  and  he  thus  concludes,  "I  confess  and  ac- 
knowledge Christ  Jesus  to  be  the  head  and  lawgiver  of  his 
church ;  and  whatever  person  arrogates  to  himself  as  head 
of  the  church,  and  not  as  member,  to  suspend  or  alter  any 
thing  which  the  word  of  God  has  only  committed  to  them, 
that  man,  I  say,  committeth  manifest  idolatry,  and  sinneth 
against  the  Father,  in  not  trusting  the  word  of  his  Son ; 
against  the  Son,  in  not  obeying  him,  and  taking  his  place; 
and  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  said  Holy  Spirit  bearing 
contrary  record  to  his  conscience."  To  this  declaration 
there  was  no  reply  made ;  and  as  the  parliament  was  an- 
xious to  rise,  the  meeting  of  ministers  also  dissolved,  having 
jresented  by  their  commissioners,  a  supplication  to  the  king, 
n  which,  after  praising  God  for  his  majesty's  judgment  and 
cnowledge,  they  craved  that  the  weighty  subject  of  establish- 
ng,  upon  a  permanent  basis,  the  perfect  policy  and  govern-  They  again 
ment  of  the  church,  might  be  gravely  considered  in  a  con-  supplicate 
erence  of  the  most  learned  and  pious  men  within  the  realm  ; 
and  that,  till  next  parliament,  they  might  have  liberty  to  hold 
their  ordinary  assemblies,  and  exercise  their  discipline,  as 
jefore  the  restrictive  acts  were  passed ;  that  all  ministers  and 
masters  of  colleges  should  be  restored  to  their  charges  and 
ivings. 

XL.   When  the  parliament,  from  which  such  great  things 
lad  been   expected,  separated,  without  having  enacted  one 
statute  to  secure  the  civil  or  religious  liberty  of  the  country,  Their  dis 
Vom  being  again  laid  prostrate  at  the  nod  of  the  monarch,  appoint- 
or  of  any  minion  he  might  choose  to  exalt;  the  clergy,  who  m 
aad  most  severely  felt  the  yoke,  and  who  knew  the  value  of 
the  king's  promises,  were  sorely  disappointed ;  and  some  of 


104  HJSTOUY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  more  violent  among  them,  gave  public  vent  to  their  in- 
IL        dignation.     In  particular,  James  Gibson,  minister  of  Pen- 
1585.      caitland,  in  a  sermon  which  he  preached  at  Edinburgh,  used 
the  following  indecorous,    though  perhaps    not   altogether 
Violent       unfounded  expressions.      "  I  thought  that  captain   James 
Gibton!  °f  Stuart,  lady  Jezebel  his  wife,  and  William  Stuart,  had  per- 
secuted the  church,  but  now  I  have  found  the  truth,  that  it 
was  the  king  himself.     As  Jeroboam  and  his  posterity  were 
rooted  out  for  staying  of  the  true  worship  of  God,  so,  I 
fear,  that  if  our  king  continue  in  his  present  course  he  shall 
die  childless,  and  be  the  last  of  his  race."      For  this  lan- 
guage, he  was  called  before  the  privy  council,  and  declared, 
in  terms  of  the  late  act,   to  have  been  guilty  of  treason. 
He  was  committed    to  prison,  but  shortly  after  liberated.* 
Ludicrous  A  more  ludicrous  scene  took  place  in  the  High  Church  a 
conduct  of  jpew  dayS  after.     Balcanquhall,  in  the  course  of  his  sermon, 
having  attacked   the  order  of  bishops,   the  royal  polemic 
arose,  and  demanded   what  scripture  he  had  for  his  asser- 
tions ?     Balcanquhall   replied  he   could   bring  plenty  ;  the 
king  denied  it,  and  offered  to  wager  his  kingdom  that  he 
would  prove  the  contrary.     The  divine  not  appearing  an- 
xious to  take  the  bet,  his  majesty  sat  down  triumphantly, 
adding:  "It  was  a  custom  of  ministers  to  busy  themselves 
with  such  causes  in  the  pulpit,  but  he  would  look  after  them 
And,  in  pursuance  of  his  promise,  sent  for  the  preacher  to 
the  palace,  and  argued  the  subject  with  him  for  more  than 
an  hour. 

Adamson,        XL1-  Adamson,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  first  felt  the 
archbishop  effects  of  the  restoration  of  the  church  courts.       He  was  a 
drews.        man  °f  considerable  ability,   a  polite  scholar,   an    elegant 
poet,  and  an  attractive  preacher ;   but  immoderately  ambi- 
tious, and  of  a  very  doubtful  private  character.     At  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Reformation  he  was  settled  minister  of 
Ceres  in  Fife,  but  gave  up  his  charge  to  accompany  the  eld- 
est son  of  sir  James  Macgill,  clerk- register,  on  his  travels 

*  Gibson  was  afterward  brought  before  the  general  assembly,  and  having 
promised  to  make  satisfaction,  but  failed,  he  was  again  summoned,  and  having 
neither  sent  a  reasonable  excuse,  nor  appeared  himself,  he  was  declared  con- 
tumacious, and  suspended.  Calderwood,  p.  221. 


JAMES  VI.  105 

to  France ;  and  during  his  residence  in   that  country,  ap-   BOOK 
plied  himself  to  the  study  of  law.      On  his  return  to  Scot-        **• 
land  he  practised  at  the  bar,  but  gave  it  up,  and  accepted      1596. 
the  living  of  Paisley,  from  which   he  removed  to  become 
chaplain  to  Morton ;   who,  on  the  refusal  of  Melville  to  ac- 
cept the  dignity,  appointed  him  to  the  see  of  St.  Andrews. 
In  the  assembly  which  met  in  October,  1576,  he  affirmed  he 
did  not  intend  to  prosecute  his  presentation,  but  before  their 
next  meeting  he  was  installed  in  the  archbishopric  and  pri- 
macy of  all  Scotland.   After  much  shifting  and  tergiversation,  His  tergi- 
he  submitted  to  the  general  assembly,  and  subscribed  the  versatlon' 
book  of  discipline,   concerning  episcopacy  and  church  go- 
vernment ;  but  afterwards,  being  sent  on  a  mission  to  Eng- 
land, his  high  episcopalian  views  were  confirmed,  and  on  his 
return  to  Scotland,   he   acted   as   chief  promoter  of  those 
statutes  by  which  presbytery  was  overturned ;  and  strenuous- 
ly defended  by  his  pen,  the  worst  deeds  of  the  late  adminis- 
tration. 

XLII.  At  a  meeting  of  the  synod  of  Fife,  Mr.  James  Mel-  Accused  in 

ville,  in  his  opening  sermon,  attacked  Adamson,  who  was  tlie  8YnoA 

*      .  '  of  Fife, 

present,  and  accused  him  ot  overthrowing  the  scriptural  go- 
vernment established  in  the  church  of  Scotland,  and  exer- 
cising an  unlawful  office.  The  synod  immediately  adopted 
the  preacher's  invective  as  charges  against  the  archbishop, 
and,  although  he  declined  their  authority,  put  him  upon  his 
trial.  He  then  objected  to  several  members,  as  his  declar- 
ed enemies,  being  allowed  to  sit  in  judgment ;  and  on  this 
objection  being  overruled,  he  protested  and  appealed  to  the 
general  assembly.  Notwithstanding  which,  the  synod  pro- 
ceeded, and  a  sentence  of  excommunication,  which  Dr.  Ro-  Excommu- 
bertson  characterizes  as  "  equally  indecent  and  irregular,"  n'cated. 
was  pronounced  against  him.*  The  archbishop,  in  return, 
excommunicated  Melville,  and  several  others  of  his  oppo- 
nents, a  proceeding  not  less  precipitate  and  improper ;  and  He  retorw. 
at  the  same  time,  appealed  to  the  king  and  privy  council. 
The  king  declined  the  appeal  to  himself,  and  referred  the 
whole  to  the  decision  of  the  general  assembly ;  who,  with- 
out entering  into  the  merits  of  the  question,  agreed  to  remove 

*  History  of  Scotland,  Book  vii. 
VOL.   III.  P 


106  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  on  the  bishop's  disclaim- 
IL  ing  all  supremacy  over  the  church ;  acknowledging  his  er- 

ror  in  advancing  any  such  pretensions,  if  he  ever  did  so  ; 

craving  pardon  for  his  imperious  behaviour  and  contempt  of 
the  synod  of  Fife ;  and  promising,  in  time  coming,  to  con- 
duct himself  as  a  pastor  ought,  suitably  to  the  character  of  a 
bishop,  as  described  by  Paul,  and  to  submit  his  life  and 
doctrine  to  the  judgment  and  censure  of  the  general  assem- 
bly, without  reclaiming  or  appealing  from  its  decision.  On 
the  archbishop's  subscribing  a  declaration  to  this  effect,  the 
assembly  declared  they  held  the  sentence  of  the  synod  of 

The  mat-    Fife  as  unpronounced,  and  restored  the  bishop  to  the  state 

ter  com-     ^  •    jmme(Jiately  before.    Notwithstanding  this  was  the 

promised.  •  r  n  • 

most  prudent  measure  they  could  have  followed,  in  counter- 
acting the  bad  tendency  of  proceedings  both  violent  and  rash, 
yet  some  of  the  members  protested  against  the  act ;  and  the 
king  is  represented,  by  Spotswood,  as  having  given  a  deceit- 
ful consent,  temporizing  in  the  hope  of  being  able,  at  some 
future  period,  to  restore  the  bishops  to  their  full  authority 
and  power. 

XLIII.  Previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  general  assembly, 
the  king,  who  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  introduce 
his  favourite  episcopacy,  appointed  a  conference  between  se- 
veral of  the  most  moderate  of  the  ministers,  and  some  mem- 
bers of  the  privy  council.     At  this  conference  a  number  of 
articles  were  agreed  upon,  preparatory  to  bringing  the  polity 
of  the  church  under  the  consideration  of  the  assembly,  in 
Arrange-    which  the  name  and  office  of  bishop  was  allowed,  but  his 
"ectln™"    roinistrations  were  to  be  confined  to  one  congregation ;  he 
bishops.      was   to  act  as  moderator  of  the  presbytery  within  whose 
bounds  he  resided,  and  possess  the  right  of  visitation,  but 
under  their  control;  and  his  life  and  doctrine  were    sub- 
ject to  be  tried  by  the  general  assembly.   These  propositions 
were  now  laid  before  the  assembly,  and  in  substance  adopt- 
ed. 

XLIV.  About  this  time,  the  king  incurred  heavy  and  merit- 
ed censure,  for  his  unaccountable  conduct  to  Archibald 
Douglas.  This  man  was  deeply  implicated  in  the  murder 
of  his  father,  but  having  made  his  escape,  had  fled  into 
England  six  years  before.  The  earl  of  Morton,  and  Bin- 


JAMES  VI.  107 

nie,  a  servant  of  his  own,  both  of  whom  were  executed  for    BOOK 
being  privy  to  the  deed,  declared  that  he  was  present  at  _ 
the  perpetration  of  the   crime,   and  James  had  often  re-     1586. 
quired   Elizabeth  to  deliver  him  up,  which  she  had  refus-  Dougiaslfc- 
ed ;  yet  now  he  obtained  the  king's  license   to  return  to  quitted  of 
Scotland,  and  stand  a  mock  trial,  when,  being  declared  in-  ^JJ^  s 
nocent  by  a  jury,  he  was  not  only  received  into  favour, 
but  sent  back  as  ambassador  to  the  court  of  the  English 
queen. 

XLV.  While  James  was  more  eager  upon  settling  the  con- 
troversies of  the  church,  than  attentive  to  the  civil  adminis- 
tration of  his  kingdom,  the  internal  state  of  the  nation  pre- 
sented a  melancholy  picture  of  lawless  outrage.  During  the 
summer  a  feud  arose  between  the  chief  of  the  M'Leans  and 
the  chief  of  the  M'Niels,  which  exhibits,  in  a  striking  point 
of  view,  the  feebleness  of  the  government,  and  the  barbar-  Feud  be- 

ism  of  the  highlands  and  isles.     M'Lean,  who  was  married  l™e? n  tne 
°  M 'Leans 

to  a  sister  of  M'Niel's,  had  received  his  education  on  the  and  the 

continent,  and  by  his  superior  civilization,  his  suavity  ofM'Niels* 
manners,  and  style  of  living,  was  highly  beloved  in  that 
quarter.  M'Niel,  piqued  at  his  popularity,  had  frequently 
quarrelled  with  him  ;  and,  at  last,  to  such  a  height  did  his 
envious  feelings  rise,  that  he  determined  to  satiate  his  ran- 
cour with  his  blood.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  savage 
purpose,  he  laid  a  plan  of  the  most  detestable  deceit.  He 
sent  a  message  to  his  brother-in-law,  proposing  that  they 
should  lay  aside  all  animosity,  and  henceforth  live  in  that 
harmony  which  became  persons  so  nearly  related ;  and  to 
show  to  the  whole  world  their  reconciliation,  he  offered  to 
spend  a  few  days  in  conviviality  at  his  house,  provided  he 
would  promise  to  return  with  him,  and  do  the  same  at  his. 
M'Lean  replied  by  the  messenger,  that  he  would  receive  his 
visit  with  pleasure,  and  as  to  his  repaying  it,  they  could  talk 
about  that  at  meeting.  On  receiving  his  answer,  M'Niel 
came  next  day,  and  was  cordially  welcomed  by  M'Lean, 
with  whom  he  spent  some  time  in  the  greatest  seeming  cor- 
diality; and  whence  was  about  to  depart,  insisted  on  M'Lean 
accompanying  him,  offering  to  leave  his  eldest  son  and  bro- 
ther-german  as  pledges  for  his  safety.  M'Lean,  overcome 
by  his  importunity,  at  length  consented  to  go ;  but  refused  to 


108  UI8TOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    accept  any  pledge,  lest  he  should  seem  to  distrust  his  kins- 
«.       man's  professions.     Accordingly  he  set  out  along  with  him, 
1586      accompanied  by  about  forty-five  of  the  principal  men  of  the 
clan. 

XLVI.  They  arrived  at  Kintyre,  M'Niel's  residence,  early 
in  the  morning,  and  the  day  was  spent  in  feasting  and  mer- 
riment.    At  night,  after  they  had  retired  to  rest,  M'Niel 
beset  the  house  in  which  M'Lean  and  his  company  were 
lodged ;  and  calling  for  them,  invited  them  to  come  and  re- 
new the  conviviality.      M'Lean  replied,   they  had  already 
drunk  enough,  and  wished  to  be  left  to  their  repose,  as  it 
was  now  time  to  go  to  sleep.    But  it  is  my  will,  said  M'Niel, 
that  you  rise  and  come  out.     On  which  M'Lean,  suspect- 
ing treachery,  arose,  dressed  himself,  and  opened  the  door ; 
when  perceiving  M'Niel  standing  with  his  sword   drawn, 
M'Niel's    he  asked  him  if  he  meant  to  break  his  faith  ?     I  gave  no 
perfidy.       faith,  said  the  inhospitable  savage,  and  I  now  mean  to  have 
my  revenge  on  you  and  yours  for  the  wrongs  I  have  suffer- 
ed.    M'Lean  had  that  night  taken    his  nephew,   a  little 
child,  to  bed  with  him,  and  being  put  to  his  defence,  held 
the  boy  upon  his  left  shoulder  as   a  target.     M'Niel,  per- 
ceiving that  he  could  not  hurt  M'Lean  without  injuring  his 
son,  and  the  child  crying  for  mercy  to  his  uncle,  promised 
to  spare  his  life  if  he  would  give  up  his  weapons,  and  sur- 
render himself  his  prisoner.     M'Lean  who  saw  no  other  al- 
ternative, yielded  to   the  ruffian,   and   was   conveyed  to  a 
place  of  confinement.     His  attendants,  with  the  exception 
of  two,  submitted  to  necessity,  and  followed  the  example  of 
their  chief.     These  two  defended  the  door  with  such  obsti- 
nate desperation,  that  the  banditti  found   it  impossible  to 
force  it ;  and  in  their  rage  set  fire  to  the  house,  which  was 
burned,  together  with   its   resolute  defenders.     They  who 
had  submitted  to  the  mercy  and  promise  of  the  barbarian, 
were  brought  out,  part  next  morning,  and  the  remainder  on 
the  day  following,   and  beheaded  in  presence  of  M'Lean. 
M'Lean  himself,  who  was  reserved  for  the  same  fate,  would 
have  perished  also,  but  M'Niel  was  disabled  by  a  fall  from 
his  horse,  and  the  execution  was  delayed.     In  the  interval, 
information  was  sent  to  the  king  of  the  horrible  transaction, 
who    immediately    despatched    a    herald    to    demand    that 


JAMES  VI.  109 

M'Lean  should  be  delivered  to  the  earl  of  Argyle  ;  but  the    BOOK 
message  was  treated  with  contempt,   and  the  unfortunate 
chief  detained,  and  compelled  to  yield  to  the  most  unrea-      1586< 
son  able  conditions  before  he  obtained  his  liberty.     No  soon- 
er, however,  had  he  regained  it,  than,  regardless  of  his  ex- 
torted engagements,  he  entered  M'Niel's  domains  with  fire 
and  sword,  and  massacring  without  distinction,  man,   wo-  M'Lcan's 
man,   and   child,    took  a  cruel   revenge  on   the   wretched  revenge, 
dependants,  for  the  infamous  treachery  of  their  barbarous 
lord.     Not  long  before  this,  the  earl  of  Eglinton,  a  young 
lobleman  of  the  highest  expectations  was  assassinated  by 
ome  of  the  Cunninghames,  which  was  also  the  occasion  of 
much  bloodshed. 

XLVII.  The  nobles,  who  now  surrounded  the  king,  were 
ittached  to  England,  both  by  interest  and  inclination;  and 
anxiously  promoted  every  measure  to  preserve  peace  be- 
ween  the  two  nations.  The  treaty  which  had  been  propos- 
;d  last  year,  was  now  concluded  by  commissioners  from  the  Treaty 
wo  sovereigns,  who  met  at  Berwick,  in  the  month  of  June,  with  Eng« 
586.*  The  preamble  to  the  treaty  set  forth  the  combina- 
ion  of  the  popish  princes,  for  the  extirpation  of  the  true  re- 
igion,  as  the  occasion  of  this  "  straiter  friendship ;"  and  its 
object  was  declared  to  be  the  defence  of  the  evangelic  reli- 
gion. The  chief  stipulations  were : — that  it  should  be  offen- 
sive and  defensive  against  all  who  attempt  to  disturb  the  ex- 
ercise of  true  religion  within  the  two  kingdoms,  notwith- 
standing any  leagues  existing  between  the  aggressor  and 
either  of  the  contracting  parties ;  that  in  case  of  invasion, 
mutual  aid  should  be  afforded  according  to  the  following 

stipulations :  If  England  were  invaded  in  parts  remote  from  , 

Its  stipula- 
•Scotland,  the  (Scottish  king  should,  when  required,  send  a  tions. 

>ody  of  forces,  not  exceeding  two  thousand  horse,  and  five 
thousand  foot,  into  any  part  of  England  at  the  expense  of 
the  queen ;  in  like  manner,  if  Scotland  should  be  invaded, 
the  queen  of  England  should  send  a  body  of  forces,  not  ex- 
ceeding six  thousand  foot,  and  three  thousand  horse,  to  be 

*  The  commissioners  for  Scotland  were,  Francis,  earl  of  Bothwell,  lord 
Boyd,  and  sir  James  Home  of  Cowdenknowes  ;  for  England,  the  earl  of  Rut- 
and,  lord  Evers,  and  sir  Thomas  Randolph. 


110  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  supported  by  the  Scottish  king;  or  that  if  England  should 
H»  be  invaded  on  the  north,  within  sixty  miles  of  Scotland,  the 
1586.  Scottish  king,  when  required,  should  assemble  the  whole  ol 
his  array,  and  keep  them  in  the  field  for  thirty  days,  or  ii 
necessary,  for  as  long  as  his  subjects  are  bound  to  fight  in 
defence  of  their  own  country ;  and  if  Ireland  were  invaded, 
none  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  highlands,  or  the  isles,  were  to ; 
be  allowed  to  pass  over  to  assist  the  queen's  enemies.  The 
other  articles  referred  to  the  preservation  of  tranquillity  on 
the  borders,  and  provided  for  the  amicable  adjustment  of  any 
disputes  which  might  unfortunately  arise.  In  pursuance  of 
which  arrangements,  the  earl  of  Angus,  the  most  virtuous 
and  patriotic  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  was  appointed  lieutenant 
of  the  marches,  and  had  a  sufficient  force,  both  horse  and 
foot,  allowed  him  to  suppress  the  thieves,  and  restrain  the 
turbulent. 

Its  stabili.  XL viii.  This  treaty,  so  necessary  for  Scotland,  and  so  ad- 
ty  threat-  vantageous  for  both  kingdoms,  was  highly  grateful  to  the 
people;  and  as  Elizabeth  had  accompanied  it  by  a  letter, 
written  with  her  own  hand,  assuring  the  king,  that  nothing 
should  be  allowed  to  take  place  which  might  derogate  from 
his  right  and  title  to  the  English  crown,  it  had  every  appear- 
ance o£  being  long  and  sincerely  adhered  to ;  when  a  cir- 
cumstance took  place,  which,  had  James  been  a  prince  of 
any  spirit,  would  never  have  been  attempted  by  Elizabeth, 
or  would  have  rendered  peace  impracticable,  the  union  with 
England  more  hopeless  than  ever,  and  probably  overturned 
the  throne  of  one  or  other  of  the  sovereigns — the  trial  and 
execution  of  Mary,  queen  of  Scots.  But  it  is  necessary  to 
go  back  a  little. 

Treatment  XLix.  Worn  out  with  the  accumulated  afflictions  of  disap- 
of  Mary.  pOinted  hope,  long  confinement,  and  bodily  distress,  Mary, 
who  had  now  passed  the  meridian  of  life,  was  become  more 
humble  in  her  wishes ;  and  professing  to  lay  aside  the  am- 
bition of  reigning,  appeared  anxious  to  obtain  only  a  little 
more  liberty,  and  to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  chequered 
life  in  dignified  retirement ;  with  the  name  and  rank,  but 
without  the  authority  or  pomp  of  a  queen.  She  proposed  to 
Elizabeth,  that  she  should  be  associated  with  her  son  in 
the  title  to  the  crown  of  Scotland,  but  that  the  administra- 


JAMES  VI.  Ill 

tion  should  remain  wholly  in  him;  while  she  herself  was  con-  BOOK 
tent  to  remain  in  England,  under  the  inspection  of  the  Eng-  H- 
lish  court.  To  this  proposal,  Elizabeth  returned  no  answer, 
so  lono-  as  Lennox  was  in  favour,  and  there  was  any  pro- 
bability of  its  being  acceded  to  by  the  Scottish  administra- 
tion ;  but  immediately  on  his  dismissal,  and  when  she  knew 
any  proposition  of  the  kind  would  never  be  listened  to  in 
Scotland,  she  pretended  to  accede  to  Mary's  proposal ;  and 
alleging  that  no  obstacle  prevented  an  entire  accommoda- 
tion, if  the  Scottish  council  would  concur,  she  ordered  her 
ambassador,  Bowes,  to  open  a  negotiation,  but  without 
allowing  any  person  to  appear  in  behalf  of  the  captive  queen. 
As  she  anticipated,  the  privy  council  of  Scotland  incurred 
the  odium  of  a  refusal ;  and  James  himself  was  induced  to 
declare,  that  he  never  had  listened  to  any  proposals  for  an 
accommodation  with  his  mother.  This  transaction  must  have 
convinced  Mary, — had  she  needed  to  be  convinced, — of  the 
duplicity  of  Elizabeth,  and  of  the  vanity  of  expecting  any 
mitigation  to  the  rigour  of  her  fate  from  that  quarter ;  and 
Elizabeth,  who  had  with  feline  cruelty  sported  with  the  feel- 
ngs  of  her  prisoner,  could  not  venture  to  intrust  her  with  li- 
serty.  It  was,  therefore,  natural  for  Mary  to  hearken  to 
every  overture  that  promised  her  freedom,  and  to  enter  into 
any  correspondence,  from  which  she  could  hope  to  derive  the 
means  of  escape ;  and  it  was  as  natural  for  Elizabeth,  who 
must  have  intensely  hated  the  woman  she  had  so  deeply  injur- 
ed, to  suspect  her  as  connected  with  every  conspiracy  that  was 
either  feared,  or  discovered  in  her  kingdom.  Had  her  own 
iubjects  been  united,  perhaps  time,  and  the  sufferings  of 
Mary  might  have  softened  her ;  but  the  zeal  of  the  Roman 
catholics,  irritated  by  being  deprived  of  power,  daily  threat- 
ened insurrection  or  assassination,  and  personal  fear  knows 
no  pity.  Her  safety  demanded,  that  she,  to  whom  the  Ro- 
manists looked  up  as  their  lawful  queen,  and  whose  sufferings 
they  attributed  to  her  attachment  to  their  religion,  should  not 
Oe  placed  in  a  situation  to  hold  direct  communication  with 
them  ;  and  while  it  is  impossible  to  justify  the  tantalizing  treat- 
ment she  received,  it  must  be  allowed  that  Elizabeth,  after 
mving  first  used  her  ungenerously,  was  constrained  by  policy 
o  use  her  unjustly. 


112  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND, 

BOOK         L.  Deprived  of  all  means  of  directly  communicating  with 
IL        any  of  her  partisans,  the  ingenuity  of  the  Scottish  queen  had 

found  means  of  holding  a  private  correspondence  with  them  ; 

and  as  this  was  a  constant  object  of  dread  to  Elizabeth  and 
her  ministers,  informers,  spies,  and  counterfeit  letters  were 
employed  to  discover  the  secrets  of  the  unhappy  Mary.  In 
the  course  of  these  precautionary  measures,  a  letter  was  in- 
Throck-  tercepted  from  Francis  Throckmorton,  a  Cheshire  gentleman, 
morion's  addressed  to  the  queen  of  Scots,  on  which  he  was  immediate- 
^SaCy  ly  taken  into  custody.  Among  his  papers  were  found  two 
queen  jjsts?  one  of  the  principal  harbours  in  the  kingdom,  their  situ- 
ation and  soundings ;  the  other  of  all  the  eminent  Roman 
catholics  in  England.  At  his  first  examination,  he  denied 
all  knowledge  of  any  conspiracy,  and  although  tortured,  still 
maintained  his  innocence;  but  when  the  rack  was  produced 
a  second  time,  he  confessed  his  secret  correspondence  with 
the  Scottish  queen,  and  discovered  a  design  to  invade  England, 
formed  by  the  pope,  the  duke  of  Guise,  and  the  king  of  Spain. 
The  English  exiles  were  to  accompany  the  invading  force, 
the  papists  at  home  were  to  join  them  on  landing,  and  Men- 
doza,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  was  employed  in  hastening  the 
crisis,  by  encouraging  the  disaffected  in  the  country,  and 
conducting  the  correspondence  with  the  continent ;  but  this 
confession  he  disavowed  at  his  trial,  as  having  been  forced 
from  him  through  fear.  Induced  by  the  hope  of  pardon,  he 
returned  to  it  after  sentence  was  passed  upon  him  ;  but  at  the 
place  of  execution,  when  he  had  nothing  to  fear  or  hope,  he 
solemnly  retracted  it  before  he  suffered ;  and  subsequent 
events  have  shown  that  there  is  a  strong  probability  of  the 
whole  having  been  a  fabrication.  This  plot,  however,  real  or 
fictitious,  furnished  Elizabeth  with  a  pretext  for  increasing  her 
severity  towards  the  Scottish  queen. 

LI.  Scarcely  were  the  terrors  occasioned  by  Throckmor- 

ton's  conspiracy  abated,  when  the  public  apprehensions  were 

Auotker      again  roused  by  a  new  discovery.     One  Crichton,  a  Jesuit, 

conspiracy.  on  njs  passage  from  pjan<iers  to  Scotland,  was  chased  by  a 

pirate,  and  he  in  confusion,  tore  some  papers  to  pieces,  and 

threw  them  away ;  but  by  some  extraordinary  accident,  the 

wind  blew  the  pieces  back  into  the  vessel,  on  board  of  which 

he  was,  and  they  were  picked  up  by  some  of  the  passengers, 


JAMES  VI.  113 

who  carried   them  to  sir  William  Wade,  clerk  of  the  privy    BOOK 
council,    late  ambassador  at  the  Spanish  court ;    he,   with 
great  industry,  joined  them  together,  and  found  that  they      1586. 
contained  the  account  of  a  plot,  formed  by  the  king  of  Spain, 
and  duke  of  Guise,  for  invading  England.    The  circumstances 
attending  this  story,  render  it  still  more  doubtful  than  the 
declaration  of  Throckmorton,  but  it  answered  the  same  pur- 
pose ;  it  pointed  the  indignation  of  the  people  of  England 
against  the  queen  of  Scots,  and  awakened  their  fears  and  af- 
fections for  their  own  sovereign. 

LII.  While  these  feelings  were  inflamed,  an  association  was  Her  nobles 
formed  by  the  earl  of  Leicester,  and  other  courtiers,  to  de-  f^*,,  £".d 
fend  the  queen  against  all  her  enemies,  foreign  and  domes-  fence, 
tic,  and  a  bond  was  framed,  the  subscribers  to  which,  en- 
gaged by  the  most  solemn  oaths: — "That  if  any  violence 
should  be  offered  to  her  life,  in  order  to  favour  the  title  of 
any  pretender  to  the  crown,  they  not  only  engaged  never  to 
allow  or  acknowledge  the  person  or  persons  by  whom,  or 
for  whom,  such  a  detestable  act  should  be  committed,  but 
vowed  in  the  presence  of  the  eternal  God,  to  prosecute  such 
person  or  persons  to  the  death,  and  to  pursue  them  with 
their  utmost  vengeance,  to  their  utter  overthrow  and  extir- 
pation."   Mary,  alarmed  at  the  danger  which  she  saw  threat-  Mary's  re- 
ening  her  safety,   requested  permission  to  sign  the  bond  ;  q.uest. to 
but  instead  of  any  attention  being  paid  to  her  request,  or  fused, 
any  alleviation  given  to  her  sufferings,  she  was  removed  from 
the  charge  of  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury, — a  nobleman  who  had 
fulfilled  his  trust  with  fidelity,  but  with  humanity,  for  fifteen 
years, — and  given  in  custody  to  sir   Amias  Paulet,  and  sir 
Drue  Drury,  men  of  inferior  rank,  whose  dependence  and  ex- 
pectations would  enforce  the  most  severe  vigilance,  and  the 
most  rigid  execution  of  the  harshest  orders. 

LIII.  Another  conspiracy,  with  which  Mary  had  no  con- 
cern, occasioned  an  act  of  the  English  parliament,  that  ul- 
timately brought  her  to  the  block.  William  Parry,  a  doc-  Parry's 

tor  of  laws,  and  a  Roman  catholic,  who  had  been  condemn-  con?Pira<y 
,  f  .     ,  against  Eh- 

ed  tor  some  capital  crime,  but  pardoned  and  allowed  to  tra-  zabeth. 

vel,  set  out  for  Italy.  At  Milan  he  became  acquainted  with 
Palmio,  a  Jesuit,  who  persuaded  him  that  he  would  perform 
not  only  a  lawful,  but  a  meritorious  action,  if  he  took  away 

VOL.  III. 


114 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 


Ii586> 


the  life  of  the  sovereign  who  had  spared  his.     Campeggio, 
the  pope's  nuncio,  approved  also  of  this  pious  deed.     Pass- 
ing   to  Paris,  he  was  still  farther  encouraged  by  Thomas 
Morgan,  a  gentleman  of  great  credit  in  the  party,  and  Ra- 
gazzoni,  the  papal  nuncio  in  that  capital.     Hence  he  wrote 
to  the  pope,  informing  him  of  his  design,  and  craving  abso- 
lution, and  his  paternal  benediction  ;  and  through  cardinal 
Como,  received  a  plenary  indulgence,  and  an  answer  that 
his  design  was  highly  applauded.    When  he  arrived  in  Eng- 
land, he  procured  an  introduction  to  the  queen,  and  entreat- 
ed her  to  relax  somewhat  of  her  severity  towards  the  Roman 
catholics.      He  likewise  got  himself  elected  a  member  of 
the  house  of  commons,  where  he  made  some  violent  ha- 
rangues against  the  severe  laws  for  restraining  papists.     At 
length,  when  he  found  all  his  attempts  unsuccessful,  he  de- 
termined to  carry  his  desperate  design  into  execution  ;  and 
he  communicated  his  intentions  to  Nevil,  who  entered  zea- 
lously into  the  plan,  and  was  ambitious  to  share  in  the  merit 
of  its  execution.     A  treatise  published  by  Dr.  Allan,  after- 
wards created  a  cardinal,  confirmed  them  in  their  purpose  ; 
but  still  some  lingering  hesitation,  arising  from  the  remains 
of  moral  feeling,  which  all  the  sophistry  of  Rome  had  not 
been  able  quite  to  eradicate,  induced  them  to  allow  several 
favourable    opportunities    for   assassinating   the   queen   to 
escape  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  the  earl  of  Westmoreland 
happening  to  die  in  exile,  Nevil,  who  was  next  heir,  and 
whose  zeal  had  been  stimulated  by  his  poverty,  conceiving 
that  by  some  extraordinary  service,  he  might  recover  the 
forfeited  estates  and  honours,  which  he  wisely  deemed  pre- 
ferable to  martyrdom  in  the  cause  of  papacy,  revealed  the 
conspiracy  to  Elizabeth's  ministers  ;  and  Parry  being  appre- 
hended and  brought  to  trial,  confessed  his  guilt,  and  suffered 
the  last  punishment  of  the  law. 

LIV>  These  repeated  conspiracies  were  calculated  to  keep 
English      alive  a  constant  agitation  in   the   country.       Under   such] 
fetal*™6"*  alarming  circumstances,  when  parliament  met,  the  statute 
Mary.         alluded  to,  passed  ;  enacting,  "  that  if  any  rebellion  shall  be 
excited  in  the  kingdom,  or  any  thing  attempted  to  the  hurt 
of  her  majesty's  person,  by,  or  for  any  person  pretending  a 
title  to  the  crown,  the  queen  shall  empower  twenty-four  per- 


Statute  of 


JAMES  VI.  115 

sons,  by  a  commission  under  the  great  seal,  to  examine  in-  BOOK 
to,  and  pass  sentence  upon  such  offences ;  and  after  judg- 
ment given,  a  proclamation  shall  be  issued,  declaring  the  1586. 
person  whom  they  find  guilty,  excluded  from  a  right  to  the 
crown,  and  her  majesty's  subjects  may  lawfully  pursue  every 
one  of  them  to  the  death,  with  their  aiders  and  abettors  ; 
and  if  any  design  against  the  life  of  the  queen  take  effect,  the 
persons  by  or  for  whom  such  a  detestable  act  is  executed, 
and  their  issues  being  in  any  wise  assenting,  or  privy  to  the 
same,  shall  be  disabled  for  ever  from  pretending  to  the 
crown,  and  be  pursued  to  death  in  the  like  manner."  This 
act,  of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  whether  it  be  more 
cruel  or  unjust,  was  so  plainly  levelled  at  Mary,  that  she 
immediately  considered  it  a  warning  to  prepare  for  the  worst ; 
and  from  that  time  she  seems  to  have  looked  forward  to  her 
destruction  as  resolved  upon,  although  it  does  not  appear 
she  ever  dreamed  that  she  would  present  the  novel  and  un- 
precedented spectacle  of  a  sovereign  prince  being  brought  to 
trial  before  the  bar  of  another,  whose  subjects  were  to  be  her 
judges. 

LV.  Motives  of  policy  may  account  for,  or  extenuate  the 
grand  injuries  of  imprisonment,  or  of  death,  which  Elizabeth 
inflicted  on  her  rival ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  any  rea- 
sons, except  such  as  degrade  her  character,  that  could  in- 
fluence her  in  rendering  the  few  remaining  days  of  her  less 
fortunate  cousin  more  wretched,  by  removing  the  only  plea- 
sures which  her  situation  admitted — the  attendance  of  her  Her  more 

confidential   servants,   and    liberty  to   distribute    her   alms  rigorou* 

.  •         r          P        *  treatment, 

among  the  poor ;  destroying  every  vestige  or  comfort,  by  con- 
fining her,  during  the  depth  of  winter,  to  two  cold,  misera- 
ble chambers,  after  years  of  imprisonment  had  broken  her 
constitution;  and  by  adding  insult  and  indignity  to  the 
other  hardships  of  her  lot.  Nor  can  it  be  alleged,  that 
these  outrages  upon  humanity,  were  committed  without  the 
knowledge  of  Elizabeth  ;  for  Mary  often  expostulated,  in  the 
high  unbroken  spirit  of  a  queen,  with  her  oppressor,  but 
her  letters  were  treated  with  neglect ;  and  it  was  not  till 
Castlenau  had  remonstrated  with  vigour  against  the  indigni- 
ties to  which  she  was  exposed,  that  his  importunity  prevailed 


11({  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    in  procuring  her  removal  to  more  tolerable  lodgings  at  Til- 

!'•        bury. 

1686>  LVI.  One  bitter  ingredient  was  only  wanting,  to  fill  up  the 
cup  of  Mary's  suffering;  and  that,  at  the  instigation  of  Eliza- 
beth, was  mingled  by  the  hand  of  her  son.  James  was  per- 
suaded by  Gray,  upon  his  return  from  England,  to  write  his 
mother,  whom  he  had  hitherto  treated  with  respect,  a  harsh 
Ungrateful  and  cruel  letter,  refusing  to  acknowledge  her  queen  of 
jSmes*0^  Scotland»  or  to  consider  her  affairs  as  connected  in  any 
manner  with  his.  Indignant  at  this  undutiful  behaviour, 
in  the  anguish  of  disappointed  affection,  she  gave  vent 
to  her  sorrow,  in  a  letter  to  the  French  ambassador.  "Was 
it  for  this,51  said  she,  "  that  I  have  endured  so  much,  in  or- 
der to  preserve  for  him  the  inheritance  to  which  I  have  a 
just  right  ?  I  am  far  from  envying  his  authority  in  Scotland. 
I  desire  no  power  there,  nor  wish  to  set  my  foot  in  that  king- 
dom, if  it  were  not  for  the  pleasure  of  once  embracing  a  son 
I  have  hitherto  loved  with  too  tender  affection.  Whatevei 
he  either  enjoys  or  expects,  he  derives  it  from  me.  Froir 
him  I  never  received  assistance,  supply,  or  benefit  of  anj 
kind.  Let  not  my  allies  treat  him  any  longer  as  a  king,  h< 
holds  that  dignity  by  my  consent ;  and  if  a  speedy  repent 
ance  do  not  appease  my  just  resentment,  I  will  load  him  wit! 
a  parent's  curse,  and  surrender  my  crown  with  all  my  pre 
tensions,  to  one  who  will  receive  them  with  gratitude,  anc 
defend  them  with  vigour." 

ivn.  But  the  long  protracted  sufferings  of  the  Scottisl 

queen  were  now  drawing  to  a  close ;  and  a  conspiracy  ori 

Roman       ginating  in  the  fiery  zeal  of  the  Roman  catholics,  and  theii 

conspiracy  natred   to   Elizabeth,   intended    to    procure    Mary  liberU 

«gamst       and  the  throne  of  England,  led  her  to  the  scaffold.     The 
Elizabeth,    ™      ,.  ,  .  °    i  •  •    n  i        •  i_ 

Jiinglisn  seminary    at    Khiems,  innamed   with  rage  agains 

the  queen  of  England,  whom  they  considered  as  the  chief  ob- 
stacle to  the  restoration  of  their  religion,  had  adopted  the 
fanatical  notion,  that  the  bull  of  pope  Pius  V.  by  which  he 
excommunicated  and  deposed  that  princess,  was  dictated  by 
the  immediate  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  assas- 
sination of  heretical  sovereigns  was  inculcated  as  a  sacred 
duty,  the  accomplishment  of  which,  or  even  a  failure  in  the 


JAMES  VI.  117 

holy  attempt,  entitled  the  worthy  son  of  the  church  to  the    BOOK 
gratitude  of  all  her  members ;  and  insured  his  entrance  into       H- 
the  society  of  the  saints  and  martyrs,  and  the  inheritance  of     1596. 
an  eternal  crown  of  glory.     Dr.  Gifford,  Gilbert  Gifford,  and  P1an»ed  b 
Hodgson,  who  had  been  educated  at  that  college,  imbibed 
these  wild  doctrines,  and  instilled  them  into  the  mind  of  John 
Savage,  a  man  of  desperate  courage,  who  had  served  some 
years  in  the  Low  Countries,  under  the  prince  of  Parma. 
Elevated  by  these  enthusiastic  reveries;  and  the  exhortations 
of  the  priests,   Savage  bound  himself  by  a  solemn  vow,  to 
murder  Elizabeth. 

LVIII.  About  the  same  time,  John  Ballard,  a  trafficking 
priest  of  that  seminary,  returned  to  France,  from  a  mission 
in  England.  In  his  progress  through  that  kingdom,  he 
had  observed  the  universal  spirit  of  discontent  which  animat- 
ed the  Roman  catholics,  who  only  wanted  a  leader,  and  a 
little  assistance  from  abroad,  to  break  out  into  open  insurrec- 
tion ;  and  upon  this  he  had  built  a  project  for  overturning 
the  throne  of  Elizabeth,  advancing  Mary  to  her  place,  and 
re-establishing  the  ancient  religion.  He  communicated  his 
ideas  to  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambassador  in  Paris,  who 
strongly  encouraged  him  to  expect  assistance  from  his  mas- 
ter, and  the  duke  of  Guise.  But  Charles  Paget,  a  zealous 
Englishman  of  the  same  communion,  and  a  devoted  partisan 
of  the  queen  of  Scots,  strenuously  insisted  upon  the  removal 
of  Elizabeth,  and  the  deliverance  of  Mary,  as  necessary  pre- 
liminaries to  the  re-establishment  of  the  Roman  catholic  re- 
ligion in  England.  Ballard  was,  in  consequence,  sent  back, 
furnished  with  an  introduction  to  Anthony  Babington,  a  Babin^ton 
young  gentleman  of  good  family,  and  large  property,  in  engages  iu 
the  county  of  Derby,  a  zealot  for  the  Romish  faith.  ^ 
While  in  France,  Babington  had  got  acquainted  with  the 
bishop  of  Glasgow,  Mary's  ambassador  at  that  court,  and 
some  other  of  her  exiled  adherents ;  by  whose  representations 
his  young  and  warm  mind  was  so  much  interested  in  the  fate 
of  the  unfortunate  queen,  that  he  was  recommended  to  her 
without  his  knowledge,  as  a  person  well  qualified  for  her  ser- 
vice. On  his  return  to  England,  she  wrote  to  him  a  confi- 
dential letter,  and  for  some  time  he  was  the  medium  through 
whom  her  foreign  correspondence  was  managed  ;  but  after 


118  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  she  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  sir  Amias  Paulet  and 
H>  sir  Drue  Drury,  their  vigilance  rendered  it  unsafe,  and  he 
158(5<  desisted  for  some  time  from  attempting  to  do  any  thing  in 
that  business.  Subsequently,  when  Ballard  arrived,  he  wait- 
ed upon  Babington,  and  imparted  to  him  the  design  of  invad- 
ing England,  and  placing  the  queen  of  Scots  upon  the  throne. 
Babington,  whose  views  were  similar  to  those  of  Paget's,  im- 
mediately represented  the  impracticability  of  any  attempt  to 
overturn  the  established  order  of  things  during  the  life  of 
Elizabeth,  and  Ballard,  in  return,  acquainted  him  with  the 
vow  which  Savage  had  made.  He,  however,  considered  this 
as  too  great  an  attempt  to  be  intrusted  to  one  individual, 
and  proposed  to  join  five  others  in  the  desperate  enterprise 
along  with  him ;  which  being  agreed  upon,  he  engaged  Barn- 
Plan  of  the  well>  of  a  noble  family  in  Ireland,  Charnoc,  a  gentleman  ot 
compira-  Lancashire,  Abington,  whose  father  had  been  cofferer  to  the 
household,  Charles  Tilney,  the  heir  of  an  ancient  family,  and 
Tichbourne  of  Southampton,  to  assist  in  the  assassination  oi 
the  queen ;  while  he,  at  the  same  time,  joined  by  Edward 
Windsor,  brother  to  the  lord  of  that  name,  Thomas  Salis- 
bury, Robert  Gage,  John  Travers,  John  Jones,  and  Henry 
Donne,  all  of  them  men  of  good  families,  united  together  by 
the  bonds  of  private  friendship  and  religious  zeal,  would 
effect  the  rescue  of  the  queen  of  Scots,  by  attacking  her 
guards  with  a  hundred  horse,  when  she  should  be  taking  art 
airing. 

LIX.  While  the  conspirators  were  maturing  their  plans,  a 
they  thought,  with  the  most  profound  and  impenetrable  se 
crecy  ;  not  a  step  that  they  had  taken  was  unknown  to  th 
Discovered  sagacious  Walsingham.     He  had  in  his  pay  Maud,  a  Roma 
.     catn°lic  Priest,  who  accompanied  Ballard  to  France,  and  in 
formed  him  of  the  outline  of  the  plot;  Polly,  another  of  his 
spies  who  pretended  great  zeal  for  the  cause,  had  engaged 
in  the  conspiracy  for  the  purpose  of  betraying  it ;  and  daily 
reported  to  the  secretary  the  proceedings  of  the  conspirators. 
But  still  the  whole  extent  of  the  conspiracy  was  not  known 
when  Gifford,  the  priest,  arrived  in  England,  to  invigorat 
the  resolution  of  Savage,  and  manage  the  correspondence  o 
Mary. 

LX.  From  some  motives  of  interest  or  remorse,  this  un 


JAME6   VJ.  119 

principled  seducer  turned  informer,  and  transferred  his  ser-  BOOK. 
vices  to  the  ministers  of  Elizabeth.  He  was  employed  by 
the  conspirators  to  manage  a  private  correspondence  with  1586. 
Mary,  and  to  inform  her  of  their  designs,  and  he  immediate- 
ly  applied  to  Walsingham  to  afford  him  facilities  for  carrying 
it  on.  Walsingham  directed  him  to  sir  Amias  Paulet,  and 
proposed  that  Paulet  should  connive  at  Gifford's  corrupting 
one  of  his  servants ;  but  Paulet's  stern  integrity  would  not 
consent  to  allow  any  of  his  servants  to  be  tampered  with,  A 
brewer,  however,  who  supplied  the  family  with  ale,  was  brib- 
ed to  carry  letters  to  the  captive  queen,  which  were  thrust 
through  a  chink  of  the  wall,  and  answers  returned  by  the 
same  means.  The  letters  thus  conveyed  were  all  subjected 
to  the  inspection  of  Walsingham ;  who,  after  opening  them 
and  taking  copies,  sealed  them  so  carefully  that  the  deceit 
could  not  be  perceived,  and  forwarded  them  regularly  to 
their  destination.  Babington,  in  his  letters,  informed  Mary 
of  all  their  plans  for  her  escape,  for  the  assassination  of  Eli- 
zabeth, and  the  projected  insurrection ;  and  she,  in  reply  com- 
mended his  zeal  for  the  Roman  catholic  religion,  approved 
of  their  designs,  and  promised  the  highest  rewards  to  the 
gentlemen  who  were  to  carry  them  into  execution.  Besides 
the  letters,  Walsingham  became  possessed  of  another  means 
of  detection,  by  which,  after  being  already  acquainted  with 
the  names,  he  became  also  acquainted  with  the  faces  of  the 
conspirators.  Babington,  with  a  folly  which  tends  greatly  „  ,. 
to  invalidate  the  accounts  given  of  his  superior  ability,  had  ton's  folly, 
caused  a  picture  to  be  painted  of  himself  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  six  assassins,  with  this  motto  affixed  : — Quorsom 
hac  alio  properantibus  ?  Of  this  picture  Walsingham  ob- 
tained a  copy,  which  was  brought  to  Elizabeth,  and  so  well 
was  it  performed,  that  one  day,  when  walking  abroad,  she 
recognised  Barnwell,  one  of  the  conspirators. 

LXI.  Every  thing  being  now  arranged,  Babington  became 
impatient  for  the  arrival  of  the  foreign  auxiliaries,  and  fur- 
nished Ballard  with  money  to  proceed  to  France,  and  urge 
their  departure ;  but  as  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  a  passport, 
he  procured  an  introduction  to  Walsingham,  and  applied  to 
him  for  two,  one  for  Ballard,  under  a  feigned  name,  and  one 
for  himself.  Affecting  great  loyalty  for  the  queen,  and  pro- 


\-20  H1STOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK,    mising,  from  his  connexion  with  the  Roman  catholics  abroad, 
'      IL       to  procure  important  information  respecting  their  designs, 
1586.      Walsingham  allowed  him  to  proceed  ;  pretended  to  give  cre- 
dit to  his  professions,  treated  him  with  the  greatest  apparent 
cordiality,  expressed  a  high  value  for  his  proffered  services, 
and  promised  him  an  ample  reward ;  at  the  same  time,  gave 
him  reason  to  expect  that  he  would  soon  be  furnished  with 
the  passports. 

LXII.  The  conspirators  having  been  allowed  to  bring  their 
plot  almost  to  the  point  of  execution,  Elizabeth,  to  whom 
alone  Walsingham  had  communicated  his  proceedings,  alarm- 
ed for  her  life,  insisted  upon  his  immediately  putting  a  stop 
to  the  further  prosecution  of  the  design.  A  warrant  was  is 
sued,  in  consequence,  for  seizing  Ballard ;  and  this  incident 
alarming  the  others,  they  began  to  consult  about  their  own 
safety.  Some  proposed  that  they  should  immediately  endea- 
vour to  escape ;  others,  urged  by  their  zeal  or  their  despair, 
recommended  that  the  attempt  upon  the  queen  should  be  in 
stantly  made.  Babington,  who  at  first  was  in  the  utmost 
consternation,  when  he  saw  the  seizure  of  Ballard  followec 
up  by  no  other  measures  against  any  of  the  rest ;  and  as  the 
pretext  under  which  Ballard  had  been  apprehended  was5 
that  being  a  popish  priest,  he  had  entered  the  kingdom  with- 
out licence ;  recovered  his  composure,  and  even  waited  upor 
Walsingham  to  endeavour  to  procure  his  liberation.  Tha 
subtle  statesman  expressed  his  regret  at  Ballard's  arrest 
which  he  attributed  solely  to  the  officiousness  of  the  spies 
Conspira-  employed  to  detect  priests  and  Jesuits,  and  promised  his  ut 
tore  flee.  mOst  endeavours  to  procure  his  release.  Meanwhile,  he  gav 
orders  to  have  Babington  more  narrowly  watched,  whicl 
Babington  having  perceived,  made  his  escape,  and  gave  th< 
alarm  to  his  associates  ;*  they  all  fled,  but  after  skulking 

*  Scudamore,  the  person  employed  to  watch  Babington,  received  the  not 
from  Walsingham,  desiring  him  to  be  more  vigilant  in  his  office,  while  at  sup 
per  with  him  at  a  tavern,  and  having  held  it  carelessly  while  he  read  it,  Bab 
ington  had  an  opportunity  of  also  perusing  its  contents  ;  on  which  he  rose  froi 
the  table,  and  leaving  his  cloak  and  sword  behind  him,  went  out  as  if  to  sett! 
the  reckoning,  but  proceeded  instantly  to  Westminster,  and  changing  his  clothes 
withdrew  into  St.  John's  wood  with  some  others,  and  lurking  about  for  te 
days,  were  at  last  discovered  near  Harrow-on-the-Hill,  hid  in  borne,  and  dress 
ed  like  countrymen. — Cambden. 


JAMES  VI.  121 

few  days  in  disguise,   were  taken    and    committed  to  pri-    BOOK 
son.     On  their  examination  they  accused  each  other,  and 
finally  discovered  all  they  knew.     Fourteen  were  executed,     1586. 

seven  of  whom  were  embowelled  alive.  Seized 

mi  f  — execut- 

LXIII.  The  execution  of  the  conspirators  was  immediately  ed. 

followed  by  deliberations  in  the  English  cabinet  about  the 
disposal  of  Mary.  Elizabeth,  and  those  more  immediately 
in  her  confidence,  had  already  determined  her  fate.  They 
proposed  that  she  should  be  brought  to  public  trial,  under 
the  statute  which  had  been  enacted  last  year  with  especial 
reference  to  her  case  ;  others,  who  thought  that  it  would  be  Delibera- 
derogatory  to  the  royal  blood  to  see  a  queen  tried  like  a  *10e"Jn" 
common  felon,  were  averse  to  this  proceeding ;  and  advised,  Mary, 
that  as  her  constitution  was  now  broken  by  long  confine- 
ment and  disease,  she  should  be  suffered  to  sink  silently  un- 
der her  accumulating  infirmities.  Leicester  recommended 
that  she  should  be  secretly  carried  off  by  poison,  and  sent  a 
divine  to  Walsingham,  to  silence  his  scruples  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  but  Walsingham  rejected  with  abhorrence  the  pro- 
posal, and  continued  fixed  in  his  opinion,  that  the  Scottish 
queen  should  be  brought  to  an  open  trial,  which  at  least 
would  have  a  show  of  justice ;  although,  from  the  state  of 
public  opinion  with  regard  to  Mary,  and  the  means  which 
had  been  taken  to  connect  her  death  with  the  safety  of 
their  own  queen,  little  more  than  a  mere  form  was  to  be 
expected  from  any  jury  the  court  would  select  to  judge  the 
cause. 

LXIV.  The  English  ministers  were,  perhaps,  even  more 
than  Elizabeth  interested  in  procuring  the  death  of  Mary. 
They  had  injured  and  insulted  her  beyond  the  possibility 
of  forgiveness.  She  was  unequivocally  the  next  heir  to  the  Her  death 
English  crown ;  and  her  claims  were  supported  by  a  power-  necessary, 
ful  body  in  the  nation,  whose  religion  was  similar  to  hers, 
and  adverse  to  that  of  the  state.  The  people,  who  were  not 
accustomed  to  make  nice  distinctions,  would  most  probably 
adhere  to  her  who  had  no  rival ;  and  her  exaltation  to  the 
throne,  from  which  she  was  only  excluded  by  the  life  of 
Elizabeth,  would  be  the  signal  for  their  ruin.  Their  perso- 
nal safety  demanded  the  sacrifice  of  Mary.  A  general  alarm 
was  therefore  artfully  kept  up  by  them,  and  various  publica- 

VOL.  in.  u 


122  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    tions  had  been  disseminated,  to  persuade  the  nation  that  the 
H<        safety  of  the  two  queens  was  incompatible ;  and  the  public 
1586.      voice  was  made  to  echo  the  sentiments  of  the  confidential  ad- 
visers of  the  crown. 

LXV.  While  all  England  was  agitated  by  these  discus- 
sions, so  strict  was  the  vigilance  exercised,  that  the  person 
most  deeply  interested  in  them  had  been  kept  in  utter  ig- 
norance of  all  that  had  taken  place.  With  the  same  studied 
cruelty  that  had  all  along  been  used  towards  her,  the  com- 
munication of  Babington's  trial  and  execution,  the  discovery 
Accused  of  of  the  conspiracy,  and  the  imputation  with  which  she  was 

being  ac-     }oac|ed  as  accessary  to  it.  were  abruptly  announced  to  her 

cessory  to  *  £     * 

the  conspi-  by  sir  Thomas  Georges,  who  was  despatched  by  Elizabeth 

racy*  for  this  purpose.  The  time  he  chose  for  surprising  her  with 
the  intelligence,  was  just  as  she  had  got  on  horseback  to 
ride  out  with  her  keepers.  Struck  with  astonishment,  she 
would  immediately  have  returned  to  her  apartment,  but  was 
not  permitted.  She  was  led,  for  some  days,  from  one  gen- 
Lodged  in  tleman's  house  to  another,  till  she  was  at  last  lodged  in 
Fotneringay  castle,  in  the  county  of  Northampton.  Her 
two  secretaries,  Naue,  a  Frenchman,  and  Curie,  a  Scot, 
with  her  principal  domestics,  were  all  arrested ;  her  private 
closet  was  broken  open ;  her  cabinet  and  papers,  among 
which  was  her  correspondence  with  persons  beyond  sea,  and 
with  many  noblemen  in  England,  was  sealed  and  sent  to 
London.  About  sixty  different  keys  to  ciphers  were  found, 
and  nearly  two  .housand  pounds  in  money,  which  was  also 
secured. 

LXVI.  Having  determined  to  dispense  with  the  essentials 
of  justice,  and  subject  to  trial  a  sovereign  princess,  over 
whom  no  law  allowed  her  any  power,  Elizabeth   resolved  to 
render  the  scene  as  imposing  as  possible.     According  to  the 
Commis-      act,  forty  commissioners  were  appointed  to  hear  and  decide 
poTnrdaLinthisimP°nant  Case5  and   to  these  men,   the  most  illus- 
her  trial,      trious  for  rank  and  office  in  the  kingdom,  were  added  five 
judges.     Some  difficulties  were  started  about  the  designa- 
tion of  Mary ;  which  were  at  last  resolved,  by  adopting  the 
one  considered  the  most  humiliating:   "Mary,  daughter  and 
heir  of  James  V.  late  king  of  Scots,  commonly  called  queen 
of  Scots,   and   dowager  of  France."     The  commissioners 


JAMES  VI.  123 

came  to  Fotheringay  on  the  llth  of  October,  and  next  BOOK 
morning  delivered  to  Mary  a  letter  from  Elizabeth,  written  II- 
in  the  most  bitter  style,  and  filled  with  invective ;  inform-  1586 
ing  her  that  she  had  at  last  been  compelled,  by  a  regard  to 
her  own  safety,  to  institute  a  public  inquiry  into  her  con- 
duct, and  requiring  her  to  submit  to  the  laws,  whose  protec- 
tion she  had  so  long  enjoyed.  Mary  replied,  that  she  had 
always  considered  the  association,  and  the  act  of  parliament, 
as  aimed  at  her  life,  and  that  she  would  be  brought  to  bear 
the  blame  of  whatever  was  concerted  in  other  countries ;  but 
she  was  surprised  that  the  queen  of  England  should  consi- 
der her  as  a  subject,  and  command  her  to  submit  to  a  trial. 
She  was  a  sovereign  queen,  and  would  do  nothing  prejudi- 
cial to  the  honour  of  royalty,  to  her  own  dignity,  or  to  that 
of  the  king,  her  son.  Besides,  she  was  ignorant  of  the  laws 
and  statutes  of  England,  was  destitute  of  counsel,  nor  diu 
she  know  who,  in  that  kingdom,  were  entitled  to  be  called 
her  peers,  or  had  a  right  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  her  con- 
duct. She  affirmed  solemnly,  that  she  was  guiltless  of  the 
crime  imputed  to  her,  nor  had  she  ever  countenanced  any 
attempt  upon  the  life  of  Elizabeth  ;  and  she  demanded  to 
be  charged  only  upon  her  own  words  or  writings,  which  she 
was  confident  were  never  criminal,  and  challenged  their  pro- 
duction. Next  morning  the  commissioners  sent  her  a 
copy  of  her  answer,  which  she  said  was  accurately  enough 
taken,  only  she  had  omitted  one  material  objection.  It 
was  said  that  she  should  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  England, 
because  she  had  lived  a  long  time  under  their  protection  ; 
now  it  was  notorious  to  the  whole  world,  that  she  came  to 
England  to  implore  the  assistance  of  the  queen,  her  sister, 
not  to  subject  herself  to  her  authority ;  but  she  had  been 
ever  since  detained  in  prison,  and  had  enjoyed  no  protection 
from  the  laws,  nor  did  she  so  much  as  understand  their  na- 
ture. 

LXVII.  For  two  days  she  continued  to  decline  the  authority  g^e  de_ 
of  the  commissioners,  and  would  not  admit  that  Elizabeth  dines  their 
possessed  any  jurisdiction  over  her,  except  what  was  usurped  aB 
by  force.     The  judges,  who  had  affected  to  find  a  difficulty 
about  a  mere  trifle,  the  style  and  title  by  which  Mary  was 
to  be  indicted,  found  none  in  setting  aside  the  two  substan- 


124  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    tial  and  incontrovertible  pleas  which  she  urged  against  her 

II.       trial her  royal  dignity  and  forcible  imprisonment.     A  de- 

"  putation  was  sent  to  her  by  the  commissioners  on  the  second 
day,  but  still  she  refused,  even  although  threatened  to  be 
proceeded  against  in  absence ;  when  Hatton,  the  vice-cham- 
berlain, by  an  insidious  speech,  at  last  prevailed  upon  her  to 
consent  to  appear.  He  told  her  :  "  That  she  was  accused, 
but  not  condemned  ;  that  if  innocent,  she  injured  her  repu- 

Entrapped  tation  by  allowing  a  sentence  to  be  passed  against  her  with- 
out  taking  the  opportunity  of  publicly  clearing  herself  before 
a  court  of  upright  and  honourable  men  ;  and  that  the  queen 
herself  had  told  him  at  his  departure,  that  nothing  would  give 
her  greater  pleasure  than  to  find  that  the  charges  were 
groundless." 

LXVIII.  On  the  14th  of  October,  Mary  made  her  first  ap- 
pearance before  the  commissioners,  and  at  no  period  in  her 
life  does  the  unfortunate  queen  of  Scots  appear  so  interest- 
ing, as  when  the  whole  legal  and  political  array  of  England 
was  marshalled  against  her ;  and  she,  friendless  and  alone, 
without  counsel,  and  without  even  the  use  of  her  own  pa- 
pers, had  to  combat  at  once  the  greatest  lawyers,  most  acute 
counsellors,  and  most  implacable  enemies.*  The  chancellor 
opened  the  business  of  the  court  by  informing  Mary,  that 

Charges  a-  she  was  accused  of  compassing  the  death  of  the  queen,  con- 

gamst  er.  Spjrjng  against  the  safety  of  the  realm,  and  attempting  the 
overthrow  of  the  protestant  religion ;  and  that  they  were 
commissioned  to  examine  the  truth  of  the  accusation,  and 
hear  her  answer.  The  queen  then  rose  and  protested,  that 
although  she  had  condescended  to  appear  there  to  vindicate 
her  innocence,  her  appearance  was  not  to  be  construed  as 
any  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  of  the  judges ;  she 
was  a  queen,  and  no  subject  of  Elizabeth's,  and  if  she  stood 
before  them,  it  was  only  to  secure  her  honour  and  reputa- 
tion. The  chancellor  answered,  that  all  who  resided  in 
England  were  amenable  to  the  laws  of  England ;  and  the 

*  The  judges  met  ra  the  great  hall  of  the  castle.  At  the  upper  end  of  the 
room,  was  placed  a  chair  of  state  for  the  queen  of  England,  under  a  canopy 
of  state ;  over  against  it  below,  at  some  distance,  near  the  beam  that  ran  across 
the  room,  stood  a  chair  for  the  queen  of  Scots.  By  the  walls  on  both  sides 
were  placed  benches,  on  which  sat  the  commissioners — Cambden. 


JAMES  VI.  125 

statute  upon  which  her  accusation  was  founded,  recognised  BOOK 
no  distinction  of  persons.  The  commissioners  ordered  both  iL 
protest  and  answers  to  be  recorded,  and  proceeded  with  the  1586. 
trial.  The  attorney-general  then  read  the  commission  for 
her  trial,  in  which  the  act  was  specified.  When  he  had 
finished  reading,  she  strongly  protested  against  the  act,  as 
passed  directly  and  purposely  against  her.  Cecil — lord 
Burleigh — replied,  every  person  in  that  kingdom  was  bound 
by  the  laws,  however  enacted ;  and  the  commissioners  de- 
termining to  proceed,  Mary  at  length  said  she  would,  not- 
withstanding the  protestation,  hear  and  answer  respecting 
any  facts  committed  against  the  queen  of  England.  On  this 
the  attorney-general  proceeded  with  the  charge  against  her, 
detailed  all  the  proceedings  of  Babington's  conspiracy,  and 
produced  copies  of  Babington's  letters  and  confession,  and 
some  letters  in  cipher  from  herself  to  Babington,  in  which 
mention  was  made  of  the  earl  of  Arundel  and  Northumber- 
land. Mary,  who  had  hitherto  remained  unmoved,  when 
she  heard  this  passage,  burst  into  tears,  and  exclaimed : 
"  Alas  !  what  has  the  noble  house  of  the  Howards  endured 
for  my  sake."  The  confessions  of  Savage  and  Ballard  were 
next  read,  acknowledging  that  Babington  had  communicat- 
ed to  them  several  letters  he  had  received  from  the  queen  of 
Scots ;  after  which,  other  letters  in  cipher  were  brought  for- 
ward, wherein  she  approved  of  the  conspiracy,  and  these  let- 
ters were  substantiated  by  the  confessions  of  her  own  secre- 
taries, Naue  and  Curie. 

LXIX.  Mary,  who  answered  the  articles  seriatim,  denied  Her  an. 
that  she  knew  Babington,  or  ever  received  any  letters  from  swers. 
him ;  affirmed  that  she  never  had  entered  into  any  plot 
against  the  queen's  life ;  and  to  prove  such  a  charge,  it  was 
requisite,  not  to  produce  copies  which  might  be  forged,  but 
the  letters  themselves  in  her  own  handwriting  or  subscrip- 
tion, which  they  could  not.  As  to  Ballard,  she  never  saw 
him ;  and  being  a  prisoner,  she  could  not  prevent  the  plots 
of  a  foreigner.  The  ciphers,  she  said,  she  knew  nothing 
about,  and  besides  the  ease  with  which  her  enemies  could 
procure  them  to  be  counterfeited,  they  contained  internal 
evidence  of  their  being  fabrications ;  for  how  could  she  ever 
think  of  employing  the  earl  of  Arundel,  who  was  at  the  time 


126 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
II. 

1586. 
Accuses 
Wai  sing- 
ham. 


His  reply. 


Continues 
her  obser- 
vations, 


shut  up  in  the  tower,  or  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  quite 
a  youth,  and  totally  unknown  to  her ;  but  she  was  afraid  this 
was  a  practice  too  familiar  to  the  secretary,  who,  she  had 
heard,  had  frequently  plotted  against  her  life.  At  this  re- 
mark Walsingham  rose,  and  protested  that  neither  in  his 
private  nor  public  capacity,  had  he  done  any  thing  unbecom- 
ing an  honest  man.  But  his  regard  for  the  safety  of  the 
queen  and  the  realm,  had  made  him  diligently  search  out  all 
plots  and  designs  against  them ;  and  if  Ballard  had  offered 
his  assistance,  he  would  not  only  not  have  refused,  but  have 
rewarded  him  for  his  services ;  and  if  he  had  tampered  with 
any  of  them  unfairly,  how  was  it  that  none  of  them  accus- 
ed him  when  their  lives  were  at  stake  ?  With  this  answer 
Mary  declared  herself  satisfied ;  and  begged  of  him  that  he 
would  give  no  more  credit  to  those  who  slandered  her,  than 
she  did  to  those  who  slandered  him.  Spies,  she  added,  were 
men  who  were  little  to  be  depended  upon. 

LXX.  At  the  second  sitting,  in  the  afternoon,  copies  of  the 
letters  Mary  had  received,  informing  her  of  the  conferences 
held  at  Paris,  for  the  purpose  of  invading  England,  were 
read,  and  proved  by  the  evidence  of  her  secretaries,  Naue 
and  Curie,  given  before  the  privy  council.  These,  she  ob- 
served, had  no  reference  to  a  design  upon  the  queen's  life ; 
and  as  any  attempt  to  invade  an  enemy's  kingdom  had  never 
been  considered  unlawful,  she  neither  affirmed  nor  denied 
the  fact;  but  remarked  upon  the  proof  adduced  from  the 
testimony  of  her  secretaries,  that  she  believed  Curie  the  Scot 
to  be  an  honest  man,  but  no  competent  witness ;  as  he  was 
wholly  under  the  direction  of  Naue,  the  Frenchman,  who 
she  feared  was  not  inaccessible  to  corruption,  who  might  have 
written  as  her  letters,  what  she  never  dictated ;  they  ought 
therefore  to  have  been  produced  in  court,  and  examined  in 
her  presence,*  and  she  was  persuaded  their  evidence  would 

*  Hume  endeavours  to  defend,  but  I  think  unsuccessfully,  the  keeping  back 
these  witnesses.  "  The  not  confronting  of  witnesses,"  he  concludes,  "  was 
not  the  result  of  design,  but  the  practice  of  the  age."  Hist,  of  Etig.  vol.  v.  ch. 
4,2.  note.  Now  by  an  act  of  the  13th  of  Elizabeth,  to  which  he  himself  re- 
fers,  it  was  expressly  declared  that  witnesses  should  be  confronted  with  the 
accused  ;  and  although  Mary  was  not  tried  under  that  act,  yet  the  principle  was 
acknowledged  in  the  law  of  England.  It  is  needless  to  say  this  "  was  a  novel- 


JAMES  VI.  127 

have  acquitted  her.     To  elude  the  force   of  this  objection,  BOOK 
which  it  was  impossible  fairly  to  meet,  Burleigh  brought  for-  — IL  . 
ward  two  new  charges,  which   had  no  connexion  with  the  New    ' 
crime  they  were  commissioned  to  investigate  ;  and  accused  charges 
her  of  intending  to  send  the  king  her  son  to  Spain,  and  to^"^. 
make  over  to  Philip   II.  her  right  to  the  English  crown. 
To  the  first  she  did  not  deign  to  reply ;  and  as  to  the  second, 
affirmed  her  right  to  convey  to  whoever  she  chose,  all  her 
hereditary  claims ;  but  this,  she  added,  was  no  proof  of  her  Which  she 
having  consented  to  any  project  for  killing  the  queen  ofrcPel8t 
England.     The  invasion  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  overthrow 
of  the  protestant  religion  were  then  introduced,  and  her  let- 
ters to  Inglefield,   Mendoza,  and  Paget  read.     These  she 
said,    merited  no  answer,  being  also  unconnected  with  the 
charge  of  her  accession  to  the  conspiracy  against  the  life  of 
her  sister,  to  whom  she  had  often  told,   that  she  would  use 
every  effort  to  procure  her  liberty. 

LXXI.  Next  day,  when  the  court  met,  Mary  repeated  her  Again  pro- 
protestation   against  its  authority,   and  complained  of  the  tes.ts  a~ 

*  gainst  the 

manner  in  which  she  had  been  treated  by  the  introduction  authority 

of  much  extraneous  matter :   and   that  all   her  letters  were  of  ^e 

court. 

publicly  read,  even  when  containing  matters  altogether  fo- 
reign to  the  impeachment.  When  she  sat  down,  Burleigh 
said  he  would  answer  her  in  his  double  capacity  of  commis- 
sioner and  privy  counsellor ;  as  a  commissioner,  he  informed  Burleigh's 
her,  her  protest  was  recorded,  and  a  copy  would  be  deliver-  ai 
ed ;  that  their  authority  was  founded  on  letters  patent,  un- 
der the  queen's  own  hand,  and  the  great  seal :  and  as  to 
reading  her  letters,  of  which  she  complained,  the  circum- 
stances which  were  not  immediately  connected  with  the 
charge,  were  so  interwoven  with  others  that  were,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  separate  them,  and  rendered  it  necessary 
to  read  the  whole.  She  here  interrupted  him,  and  remind- 
ed him,  that  the  letters  were  not  authenticated,  that  those 


ty,"  it  was  an  enactment  previous  to  the  act  under  which  Mary  was  tried,  had 
been  introduced  into  practice,  and  was  not  repealed  by  that  act.  The  letter 
of  Elizabeth,  quoted  in  the  same  note,  contains  strong  symptoms  of  the  omis- 
sion being  designed.  She  had  been  consulted  about  allowing  Naue  and  Curie 
to  be  produced,  and  "  she  was  willing  to  agree  to  it,  only  she  thought  it  need- 
less," a  very  intelligible  hint  to  the  managers  of  the  trial. 


J28  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  produced  had  no  subscription  or  address,  might  be  directed 
n-  to  others  than  the  persons  alleged,  or  things  might  be  in- 
1586.  serted  in  them,  which  she  had  never  authorized ;  and  that 
having  been  deprived  of  all  her  papers,  she  was  prevented 
from  every  means  of  vindicating  herself,  or  detecting  what 
was  false.  To  this  the  lord  treasurer  replied,  that  as  no- 
thing was  charged  against  her,  that  had  taken  place  previous 
to  the  19th  June  last,  her  memory  could  easily  furnish  what- 
ever was  necessary  for  her  defence;  besides,  the  papers 
could  be  of  no  service  to  her,  as  Babington  and  her  secre- 
taries had  owned  that  they  came  from  her ;  and  it  was  for 
the  commissioners  to  judge,  whether  their  affirmation,  or  her 
denial  was  most  worthy  of  credit.  As  a  privy  counsellor,  he 
would  allow  that  she  had  made  many  efforts  to  procure  her 
liberty ;  but  it  was  owing  to  herself  and  the  Scots,  that  they 
had  proved  fruitless.  The  Scottish  lords  had  refused  to  give 
the  king  as  a  hostage,  and  during  the  very  last  negotiation, 
Morgan,  one  of  her  agents,  had  sent  Parry  to  England,  to 
assassinate  the  queen.  At  this  unmanly,  unfair,  and  insidi- 
ous insinuation,  Mary  cried  out,  Ah  !  you  are  my  adver- 
sary !  Yes,  said  he,  I  am  an  adversary  to  all  queen  Eliza- 
beth's enemies.  The  last  evidence  produced  against  Mary, 
was  her  letters  to  Paget,  telling  him  that  in  her  opinion  there 
was  no  way  left  to  reduce  the  rebellious  Netherlands,  but 
by  placing  a  true  catholic  on  the  English  throne ; — a  copy 
of  a  letter  to  her  from  cardinal  Allen,  in  which  he  calls  her 
his  most  dread  sovereign  lady,  and  told  her  that  the  busi- 
ness was  recommended  to  the  prince  of  Parma's  care  ; — and 
some  passages  out  of  her  letter  to  Mendoza,  mentioning  her 
design  to  make  over  her  right  to  the  throne  of  England  to 
the  king  of  Spain. 

Her  final  Lxxn.  In  her  final  reply,  Mary,  who  was  chiefly  anxious 
to  free  herself  from  the  only  charge  which  could  be  consider- 
ed criminal, — compassing  the  queen's  death, — again  repeated 
her  denial  of  any  knowledge  of  the  proposed  attempt,  or  any 
connexion  with  Babington's  conspiracy ;  asserting  that  Bab- 
ington and  her  secretaries  had  accused  her,  to  save  them- 
selves ;  and  Naue  and  Curie,  had,  probably  from  fear,  confess- 
ed any  falsehoods  that  were  suggested,  imagining  that  her 
royalty  would  protect  her.  But,  besides  their  testimony  was 


.JAMES  VI.  129 

unworthy  of  credit ;  for  having  sworn  never  to  reveal   any    BOOK 
of  her  secrets,  they  could  not,   without  perjury,  give  evi- 
dence against  her.     She  never  had  heard  of  any  such  person      |58(5. 
as   Ballard,  but  one   Hallard   had  offered  her  his  service, 
which  she  refused,  because  she  knew  he  was  one  of  Wal- 
singham's  spies.     All  the  rest  of  the  charges,  even  if  proved, 
were  of  no  importance,  for  they  did  not  bear  upon  the  prin- 
cipal charge.     She  could  not  hinder  foreigners  from  giving 
her  what  titles  they  pleased ;  nor  could  she  be  accountable 
for  the  conduct  of  persons  in  other  countries,  while  she  was 
herself  a  prisoner  in  this.     With   respect  to  her  design  of 
making  over  her  rights  to  the  crown  of  England  to  the  king 
of  Spain,  her  friends,  from  the  state  of  her  health,  had  sug- 
gested its  propriety ;  and  she,  without  hope  of  ever  obtain- 
ing her  liberty  from  the  justice  of  the  queen  of  England,  or 
by  any  other  means,  had  now  resolved  not  to  refuse  foreign 
aid.     When  Mary  had  concluded,  Burleigh  asked  her,  if  she 
had  any  thing  else  to  offer  in  her  defence ;  upon  which  she 
demanded  to  be  heard  before  parliament,  or  the  queen  in 
council.     To  this  no  reply  was  made,  and  the  court  adjourn-  Court  ad. 
ed  to  the  star  chamber,  Westminster,  without  coming  to  any  J°urns> 
decision. 

LXXIII.    When    the  court  again   assembled,    Naue   and 
Curie  were  brought  before  them,  and  confirmed  their  for- 
mer declaration  upon  oath ;  and  the  commissioners  unani- 
mously declared   Mary  to  have  been  privy  to  Babington's 
conspiracy,  and  "  also,  that  the  said  Mary,  pretending  a  title 
to  the  crown  of  this  realm,  has  had  compassed,  and  imagin-  Their  ver 
ed  within  this  realm,  divers  matters,  tending  to  the  destruc-  dict* 
tion  of  the  royal  person  of  our  sovereign  lady  the  queen,  con- 
trary to  the  tenor  of  the  statute  made  for  the  security  of  the 
queen's  life." 

LXXIV.  It  were  superfluous  to  enlarge  on  the  unfairness  of  Reflections, 
this  trial — as,  even  on  the  supposition  of  Mary's  guilt,  and 
allowing  that  Elizabeth  had  possessed  a  jurisdiction  over 
her ;  to  remove  from  her  every  means  of  defence,  usually 
granted  to  the  lowest  criminal ;  to  refuse  confronting  Naue 
and  Curie  with  the  accused,  and  afterward  to  produce  them 
before  the  commissioners  in  the  star  chamber ;  and  to  allow 
her  declared  enemies  to  sit  in  judgment;  were  acts  of  op- 

VOL.  m.  s 


130  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  pression  or  partiality,  incompatible  with  equity.  It  is  indeed 
n-  evident  from  the  whole  proceedings,  that  Mary^  death  was 
1586.  determined  upon,  before  these  commenced  ;  and  that  the  so- 
lemn farce  was  got  up,  to  throw  an  air  of  justice  over  an  ac- 
tion which  the  parties  wished  to  perpetrate,  and  did  not  well 
know  otherwise  how  to  accomplish  : — for,  however  the  coun- 
cil of  Elizabeth  may  have  been  persuaded  of  Mary's  partici- 
pation in  Babington's  conspiracy,  and  however  strong  the 
presumptions  may  be  that  she  really  was,  yet  the  evidence 
adduced  did  not  amount  to  legal  proof.  On  the  same  day 
that  sentence  was  pronounced,  the  judges  gave  their  opi- 
nion that  this  sentence  did  not  derogate  in  any  manner  from 
the  title  of  James,  the  king  of  Scotland,  to  the  English 
crown. 

LXXV.  Four  days  after  the  sentence  was   pronounced,  a 
parliament  was  summoned,  which  was  opened   by   commis- 
sion, the  queen  professing,  that  from  motives  of  tenderness 
and  delicacy,  she  could  not  be  present ;  as  she  foresaw  that 
the  affair  of  the  queen  of  Scots  would  come  under  consider- 
ation, and  she  had  not  courage  to  stand  the  discussion.     Both 
houses  immediately  entered  upon  an  inquiry  into  the  late 
conspiracy,  the  danger  that  threatened  the  queen's  life,  as 
well  as  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  safety  of  religion. 
The   whole   proceedings    at   Fotheringay  were  laid    before 
them,  and  unanimously  approved  of.     The  sentence  of  the 
Parliament  commissioners  was  likewise  ratified,  and  declared  to  be  just, 
sentence—  an(^  we^  founded ;  and  a  joint  address  was  voted   to  the 
and  re-       queen,  beseeching  her  to  allow  its  publication,  and  consent 

quires  its        '     ..      L    •  .     ,  .  .  -»r          i  i 

execution.  to  lts  Delng  carried  into  execution.  Yet  the  reasons  they 
brought  in  support  of  these  violent  measures,  were  not  found 
ed  on  the  clearness  of  Mary's  guilt,  but  on  the  restlessness 
of  her  character ;  and  expediency,  rather  than  justice  was 
urged,  to  hasten  the  punishment  of  a  dangerous  and  design 
ing  rival.  Her  own  safety,  and  the  safety  of  her  people,  il 
was  alleged,  could  never  be  secure,  so  long  as  she  was  suf- 
fered to  live,  whom  the  utmost  vigilance  could  not  preven 
from  intriguing;  and  who,  even  in  the  solitude  of  a  priso 
had  for  so  many  years  kept  the  kingdom  in  a  state  of  con 
stant  agitation  and  alarm.  Elizabeth  replied  to  their  peti 
tion,  in  an  ambiguous,  embarrassed,  and  seeming  irresolut 


JAMES  VI. 


131 


speech.     She  stated  the  numerous  dangers  she  had  escap-    BOOK 

ed:  adverted  to  the  increasing  affection  of  her  people  after  J 

a  reign  of  twenty-eight  years,  which  she  considered  as  little     1586. 

,  ,  .   ,  ,  ,  i  •    i  .  Elizabeth's 

less  than  miraculous ;  and  which  were  she  to  lose,  she  might  answerto 
continue  to  breathe,  but  would  cease  to  live.     She  then  ex-  their  ad- 
pressed  her  grief  at  the  crime  of  one  so  nearly  allied  to  her 
by  blood,  of  the  same  stock,  and  of  similar  dignity  ;  yet, 
were  her  own  life  only  concerned,  and  not  the  welfare  of 
her  people,  she  could  willingly  and  readily  pardon ;  or,  if 
by  her  death  England  would  be  rendered  more  flourishing, 
and  obtain  a  better  prince,  she  would  cheerfully  lay  down 
her  life ;  as  it  was  for  her  people's  sake  alone  she  desired  to 
live.     She  expressed  great  reluctance  to  execute  the  sen- 
tence on  her  kinswoman  ;  affirmed   the  late  statute,  so  far 
from  being  framed  to  ensnare  her,  was  intended  rather  to 
warn  and  deter  her  from  engaging  in  any  treasonable  prac- 
tices ;  and  now  it  had  enabled  her  to  select  a  number  of  the 
noblest  personages  of  the  land   to  examine  so  weighty  a 
cause,   instead   of  sending  a  princess  to  be  tried  before  a 
jury  of  twelve  ordinary  men     Then,  after  alluding  to  her  ab- 
senting herself  from  parliament,  lest  she  should  have  had 
her  troubles  increased,  by  hearing  the  matter  mentioned,  she 
assured  them  it  did  not  proceed  from  any  dread  of  danger, 
or  apprehension  of  any  treacherous  attempts;  and    imme- 
diately added,  "  but  I  will  tell  you  a  farther  secret — though 
it  be  not  usual  for  me  to  blab  forth  in  other  cases  what  I 
know — it  is  not  long  since  these  eyes  of  mine  saw  and  read 
an  oath,  wherein  some  bound  themselves  to  kill  me  within  a 
month,"  and  concluded  by  telling  them,  that  it  was  her  cus- 
tom to  deliberate  long  in  lesser  matters  than  this,  before  she 
resolved ;  and  hoped  they  would  not  expect  any  immediate 
decision  from  her,  on  a  subject  of  such  immense  magnitude. 
In  the  mean  time,  she  besought  Almighty  God  to  illuminate 
and  direct  her  heart,  to  see  clearly  what  would  be  best  for  the 
good  of  the  church,  the  prosperity  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
their  mutual  safety ;  and  the  result  she  would  immediately 
communicate  to  them. 

LXXVI    A  few  days  after,   Elizabeth  sent  a  message  to  Herdissi- 
both  houses  of  parliament,  entreating  them  to  devise  some  mulatlon' 


132  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  expedient,  by  which  the  life  of  the  queen  of  Scots  might  be 
^'  preserved,  and  the  safety  of  the  state  secured.  The  message 
1586.  was  taken  into  immediate  consideration,  and  four  ways  were 
suggested  to  save  Mary ;  but  all  were  declared  inefficient : — 
Her  repentance — which  was  not  to  be  expected ;  her  oath 
and  bond,  that  she  would  engage  in  no  conspiracies  for  the 
future — these  were  not  to  be  trusted ;  her  giving  hostages 
— a  vain  precaution ;  or  allowing  her  to  depart  the  kingdom 
— the  most  dangerous  of  all : — for,  if  while  a  prisoner,  she 
had  stirred  up  so  many  in  her  cause,  what  would  she  not  at- 
tempt if  set  at  liberty  ?  There,  therefore,  remained  no  me- 
thod for  securing  public  tranquillity,  and  the  queen's  safety, 
but  by  carrying  the  sentence  into  immediate  execution  ;  and 
an  address  was  voted  to  her  majesty  to  that  effect,  in  which 
they  represented  the  impropriety  of  delay  : — for  if  it  were  in- 
justice to  deny  the  execution  of  the  law  to  the  meanest  of 
her  subjects,  how  much  more  to  refuse  it  to  the  unanimous 
demand  of  the  whole  people.  Although  this  was  the  point 
to  which  all  Elizabeth's  proceedings  tended,  her  second  an- 
swer was  equally  indecisive,  though  not  quite  so  ambiguous 
as  the  first ;  for  it  more  plainly  insinuated  the  necessity  of 
the  death  of  Mary.  She  complained  of  the  distressing  si- 
tuation to  which  she  was  reduced,  by  having  her  safety  made 
to  depend  upon  the  ruin  of  another;  and  the  great  reluc- 
tance that  she,  who  had  pardoned  so  many  rebels,  felt,  in 
appearing  cruel  toward  so  great  a  princess,  notwithstanding 
their  resolution,  that  her  security  was  desperate  without  the 
death  of  the  other.  "  But  so  far,"  continued  she,  "  am  I 
from  cruelty,  that  though  it  were  to  save  my  own  life,  I 
would  not  offer  her  the  least  violence ;  neither  have  I  been 
so  careful  to  prolong  my  own  life,  as  how  to  preserve  both 
her's  and  mine ;  which  now,  that  it  is  impossible  to  do,  is 
my  most  grievous  affliction."  To  show,  however,  "  what 
manner  of  woman  she  was,  about  whose  preservation  they 
had  taken  such  extraordinary  care,"  she  expatiated  at  length 
upon  her  care  for  religion,  her  love  to  her  people,  and  her 
constant  labours  for  their  advantage,  from  the  first  day  she 
had  swayed  the  sceptre ;  and  then,  after  expressing  her 
gratitude  for  their  labours,  dismissed  the  committee  of 


JAMES  VI.  133 

parliament,  in  a  state  of  as  great  uncertainty  as  ever,  with  BOOK 

regard  to  her  final  determination.*     The  queen  having  thus  n* 

obtained  from  their  urgent  entreaties,  a  plausible  apology  for  1586. 
ordering  the  execution  of  Mary  whenever  she  chose,  the 


parliament  was  prorogued,  and  the  sentence  published  by  municated 

to  Mary. 
proclamation. 

LXXVII.  As  soon  as  parliament  broke  up,  lord  Buckhurst, 
and  Beale,  the  clerk  of  the  council,  were  sent  to  acquaint 
Mary  with  the  sentence  pronounced  against  her  ;  with  the 
earnest  supplications  of  that  assembly,  and  the  clamorous 
importunity  of  the  people  for  its  execution,  as  the  establish- 
ed religion  of  England  was  not  considered  secure,  so  long 
as  she  continued  alive.  Mary  received  the  intelligence,  as 
what  she  had  long  expected,  not  only  with  firmness,  but 
even  with  triumph  ;  attaching  to  herself  from  the  last  ex- 
pressions, the  character  of  a  martyr  for  her  religion.  She 
added,  "  it  was  not  strange  that  the  English,  who  had  so 
often  murdered  their  own  sovereigns,  should  now  treat  her, 
who  was  sprung  from  the  same  origin,  in  a  similar  manner." 
After  the  annunciation  of  the  sentence,  Paulet,  her  keeper, 
was  ordered  to  treat  her  no  longer  as  a  sovereign  prin- 
cess. Her  canopy  of  state  was  taken  down,  and  he  told  her 
•she  was  now  to  be  considered  as  a  dead  person,  incapable 
of  any  dignity.  She  only  replied,  that  she  had  received  her 
i  royal  character  from  the  hands  of  the  Almighty,  and  no 
earthly  power  could  bereave  her  of  it.  In  her  last  letter 
I'  to  Elizabeth,  however,  she  complained,  though  mildly,  of 
|the  indignities  to  which  she  was  exposed,  while  she  express- 
I  ed  her  gratitude  to  heaven,  that  they  were  now  drawing  to 
an  end  ;  and  she  preferred,  as  her  dying  requests,  that  Her  last 
her  body  might  be  buried  in  catholic  ground  in  France, 
pear  the  remains  of  her  mother;  that  she  might  not  be 

The  conclusion  of  her  speech  is  curious.  "  And  now  for  your  petition,  I 
lesire  you  for  the  present  to  content  yourselves  with  an  answer  without  an- 
swer. Your  judgment  I  condemn  not,  neither  do  I  mistake  your  reasons,  but 
'.  must  desire  you  to  excuse  those  thoughtful  doubts  and  cares,  which  as  yet 
perplex  my  mind,  and  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  profession  of  my  thankful  es- 
teem of  your  affections,  and  the  answer  I  have  given,  if  you  take  it  for  any  an- 
iwer  at  all.  If  I  should  say  I  will  not  do  what  you  request,  I  might  say  per- 
Japs  more  than  I  intend,  and  if  I  should  say  I  will  do  it,  I  might  plunge  my  - 
wlf  into  as  bad  inconveniences,  as  you  endeavour  to  preserve  me  from." 


134,  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    put  to  death  in  private,  but  in  the  presence  of  her  servants, 
11        who  might  bear  testimony  to  her  constancy  in  the  faith ;  and 


1586.  that  afterward  they  might  be  allowed  to  depart  without  mo- 
lestation, wherever  they  chose,  and  enjoy  the  legacies  she  had 
bequeathed  them  in  her  will;  and  she  besought  her  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  by  the  soul  and  memory  of  Henry  VII.  their 
common  ancestor,  and  by  the  royal  dignity  with  which  they 
were  both  invested,  to  grant  her  these  favours.  To  tin's  let- 
ter no  answer  was  returned. 
King  of  LXXVIII.  No  sooner  were  the  extraordinary  proceedings 

France  m-  against  Mary  known,  than  Henry  III.  of  France  ordered 

tercedes  for    n  *  »  • 

her.  L'Aubespine,  his  resident  ambassador,  to  interpose  in  behalf 

of  Mary ;  and,  in  addition,  he  despatched  Bellievre  with  the 
professed  intention  of  interceding  for  her  life,  but  it  is  said, 
with  private  instructions  to  hasten  her  death.  With,  per- 
Herson  re-  haps,  more  sincerity,  but  with  as  little  effect,  the  young  king 
monstrates.  of  gcotg  soucjtecj  Elizabeth  to  mitigate  the  sentence  of  hi* 
mother.  Whenever  he  heard  of  her  trial  and  condemnation, 
he  despatched  sir  William  Keith,  a  gentleman  of  his  bed- 
chamber, to  London,  with  a  letter  to  the  queen,  expressing 
his  astonishment  that  English  nobility  and  counsellors  should 
presume  to  pass  sentence  upon  a  queen  of  Scotland,  descend- 
ed from  the  blood  royal  of  England  ;  but  he  would  be  still 
more  astonished,  were  she  to  stain  her  hands  with  the  blood 
of  his  mother,  equal  in  rank  to  herself,  and  of  the  same  sex. 
This  he  could  not  believe  possible;  yet,  if  she  did  entertain 
any  such  intention,  he  desired  her  to  recollect  that  neither  his 
honour  as  a  king  or  a  son,  would  suffer  him  quietly  to  allow 
an  independent  princess,  and  his  mother,  to  be  put  to  an  ig- 
nominious death.  No  answer  being  returned  to  this  remon- 
strance, James  instructed  his  envoy  to  remonstrate  still  more 
strongly  on  the  insult  offered  to  royalty  itself,  in  allowing  a 
sovereign  to  be  treated  as  a  common  subject ;  and  to  remind 
Elizabeth,  that  both  nature  and  a  sense  of  honour  would  call 
for  revenge,  if  she  inflicted  so  enormous  an  injury  ;  and  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  justify  himself  to  his  own 
subjects,  or  to  the  world,  if  he  should  patiently  endure  it; 
and  he  further  instructed  him  to  procure  a  delay,  till  hte 
should  send  an  ambassador  with  such  overtures  as  might  at 
once  satisfy  the  queen,  and  save  his  mother.  At  the  same 


JAMES  VI. 


135 


lime,  he  made  a  show  of  vigorous  preparation,  as  if  to  carry    BOOK 
his  threats  into  execution.     Sir  William  Keith  acted  up  to          ' 
his  instructions,  and  urged   Elizabeth  with  so  much  honest      i5Hfi. 
sincerity,  that  she  broke  into  a  violent  rage  ;  and  would  in- 
stantly have  dismissed  the  Scottish  ambassador,  had  not  her 

courtiers  interposed  ;  and  at  their  entreaty  she  consented  to  Her  execu- 

i  j  u      i     tlon  delay- 

suspend  the  execution,  till  the  promised  ambassadors  should  ed. 

arrive  from  Scotland. 

LXXIX.  Immediately  on  learning  that  they  might  still  ar-  James 

*  f        ,    J  sends  other 

rive  in  time  to  prevent  the  catastrophe,  James  sent  the  mas-  ambassa. 

ter  of  Gray,  and  sir  Robert  Melville,  to  the  English  court.  d°rs- 

They  offered  that  the   Scottish  king  would  pledge  himself, 

and  give  some  of  his  chief  nobility  as  hostages,  that  no  plot 

or  conspiracy,  against  her  crown  or  person,  should  hereafter 

DC  carried  on  or  countenanced  by  his  mother  ;  or  if  she  were 

sent  to  Scotland,  effectual  measures  would  be  taken  to  pre- 

vent the  possibility  of  such  an  occurrence.     Calling  in  the 

earl  of  Leicester  and  her  chamberlain,  Elizabeth  sneeringly 

repeated  to  them  the  offers  that  had  been  made.     When  Their  con. 

these  offers  were  rejected,  the  ambassadors  proposed  that 


Mary  should  resign  all  right  and  pretension  to  the  English  beth. 

crown  to  her  son,  from  whom  no  danger  to  the  protestant 

interest,  or  to  the  realm,  could  be  dreaded  ,  on  which,  Eliza- 

Deth  exclaimed  with  an  oath  :  —  "  That  were  to  cut  mine  own 

throat      He  shall  never  come  in  that  place  ;"  assigning,  as  a 

reason,  the  little  confidence  she  could  repose  in  the  loyalty 

of  courtiers,  were  she  to  name  a  successor,  any  of  whom,  she 

said,  for  a  dutchy,  or  an  earldom,  would  procure  some  des- 

perate knave  to  kill  her  ;  and  with  another  oath,  confirmed 

the  royal  estimate  of  their  value.     One  of  the  envoys  then 

remarked,  that  the  king  would  be  more  unequivocally  in  his 

mother's  place  if  she  were  removed  by  death.     "  Well,  tell 

pour  king,"  said  Elizabeth,  sternly,  "  what  I  have  done  for 

bim  to  keep  the  crown  on  his  head  since  he  was  born.     For 

Bay  part  I  intend  to  preserve  the  league  between  us,  which 

I  he   break,  his  be  the  blame  ;"  and  with  these  words  she 

was  retiring,  when  sir  Robert  Melville  following,  begged  that 

the  execution  might  be  delayed  but  eight  days.     "  No,  not 

an  hour,"  was  her  reply.     But  while  Gray  in  public  acted  Gray's  du- 

along  with  the  other  envoys,  in  private,  he  performed  a  most  PHcity- 


136 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1586. 
Elizabeth's 
conduct, 


BOOK    perfidious  part,  and  encouraged  Elizabeth  to  carry  the  sen 
H<        tence  into  execution ;  engaging  to  pacify  the  king,  and  pre 
vent  any  rupture  between  the  two  kingdoms. 

LXXX.  Elizabeth,  who  was  an  admirable  judge  of  charac 
te^  knew  tne  prjnce  with  whom  she  had  to  deal,  and  endea- 
voured to  work  both  on  his  fear  and  his  cupidity.  While 
she  talked  in  a  high  tone  to  James'  ambassadors,  she  employ- 
ed her  ministers  to  state  to  him,  in  confidential  letters,  all  the 
disadvantages  which  would  arise  from  any  attempt  of  his  to 
revenge  the  death  of  his  mother ;  and  by  representing  her  in 
the  worst  colours,  as  a  determined  enemy  to  his  religion,  and 
wholly  alienated  from  his  interest,  to  show  that  she  was  un- 
worthy of  being  revenged.  In  the  mean  time,  she  herself  he- 
sitated, and  dissembled.  She  wished  the  death  of  her  rival, 
but  she  also  wished  to  escape  the  infamy  of  the  action.  In 
order,  therefore,  to  give  the  appearance  of  necessity  to  what 
she  had  resolved  upon,  numerous  rumours  were  circulated  to 
procure  additional  solicitations,  and  prevent  the  public  mind 
from  relapsing  into  indifference.  At  one  time  the  Spanish 
fleet  was  arrived  at  Milford  haven ;  at  another,  the  duke  of 
Guise  had  landed  in  Sussex  with  an  army ;  now,  the  queen  of 
Scotland  had  escaped  out  of  prison,  and  was  raising  troops 
in  the  north ;  then,  several  plots  were  laid  to  kill  the  queen, 
and  set  fire  to  the  city  of  London.  And  to  give  some  ap- 
pearance of  credibility  to  such  vague  alarms,  L'Aubespine. 
the  ambassador,  was  examined  before  the  council,  upon  a 
charge  of  having  hired  two  assassins  to  murder  the  queen 
By  these  means,  the  passions  of  the  people  were  inflamed  to 
madness ;  and  a  universal  cry  raised  for  the  blood  of  the  un- 
fortunate Mary,  as  the  only  means  of  allaying  the  public  ter- 
ror. 

LXXXI.  Although  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  affection 
of  James  for  his  mother,  whom  he  never  saw,  was  very  ar- 
dent;* yet  common  decency  required  that  he  should  shov 

*  It  does  not  appear  that  James  ever,  during  the  whole  time  of  his  mother' 
captivity,  made  one  application  to  Elizabeth  in  her  favour,  till  a  sense  of  sham> 
forced  him  upon  the  present  occasion,  and  it  is  very  problematical  whether  the;* 
he  was  sincere  ;  for  when  his  mother's  danger  was  mentioned  to  him  by  lord 
Hamilton,  at  the  request  of  Courcelles,  the  French  ambassador,  his  unfeeling 
answer  was  -.  «  That  the  queene,  his  mother,  might  well  drink  the  ale  and  been 


Inflames 
the  public 
mind. 


JAMES  VI.  1ST 

some  interest  in  her  fate,  and  some  resentment  at  the  man-     BOOK 
ner  in  which  she  was  treated.     He  therefore,  as  soon  as  he 
understood  that  her  execution  was  determined,  recalled  his      [^ 
ambassadors,  and  ordered  prayers  to  be  offered  up  for  her  James  or- 
in  the  churches.     To  prevent  any  opposition,  he  prescribed  e^f^^i 
a  form  to  which  he  thought  there  should  have  been  little  ob-  mother, 
jection : — "  That  it  might  please  God  to  illuminate  her  with 
the  light  of  his  truth,  and  save  her  from  the  danger  that 
threatened  her."     All  ministers  were  charged,  by  public  pro- 
clamation, to  use  this  form,  on  pain  of  incurring  his  majes- 
ty's  displeasure;   and   commissioners   and   superintendents 
were  commanded  to  suspend  from  preaching  such  as  refus- 
ed.    With  this  requisition  some  of  the  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh, either  from  an  idea  that  the  king  was  usurping  power 
in  the  church  by  prescribing  a  form,  or  that  praying  for 
Mary  implied  a  belief  of  her  innocence,  and  a  censure  of  Eli- 
zabeth, would  not  comply.     On  which,  the  king  appointed 
a  public  fast,  and  ordered   solemn  prayers  to  be  made  for 
her;  at  the  same  time  directing  the  bishop  of  St.  Andrews  Conduct  of 
to  officiate  in  St.  Giles's  church  on  the  occasion.     The  mi-  tne  inini- 

,  .        «,..  -IT  -\/r       T  i       stersofEd- 

nisters,  to  prevent  his  officiating,  prevailed  upon  Mr.  John 

Cowper,  "  a  young  man  not  entered  as  yet  in  the  function," 
to  take  possession  of  the  pulpit,  and  exclude  the  bishop. 
When  the  king  arrived  he  found  the  service  begun,  and 
stopped  Mr.  Cowper  in  the  middle  of  his  prayer,  telling  him, 
that  that  place  was  destined  for  another ;  but  added,  since 
you  are  there,  if  you  will  obey  the  charge  that  is  given,  and 
remember  my  mother  in  your  prayers,  you  may  go  on.  To 
this  the  preacher  replied : — "  he  would  do  as  the  Spirit  of 
God  should  direct  him."  On  which  he  was  commanded  to 
leave  the  pulpit ;  but  hesitating  to  obey,  the  captain  of  the 
guard  went  to  pull  him  out,  when  he  reluctantly  left  his  post, 

which  herself  had  brewed ;  and  further,  that  hauing  bound  herself  to  the  queene 
of  England  to  doe  nothing  againste  her,  she  ought  to  have  kept  her  promise ; 
notwithstanding,  he  woulde  no  waye  faile  in  his  dutie  and  natural)  obligatione 
he  ought  her."  To  sir  George  Douglas  who  represented  to  him  how  dis- 
creditable it  would  be  to  him  to  allow  Elizabeth  to  put  his  mother  to  death,  the 
king  said  that  he  knew  "  she  bore  him  no  more  good  will  than  she  did  the 
queene  of  England ;  and  that,  in  truth,  it  was  meete  for  her  to  meddle  with  no. 
thing  but  prayer  and  serving  of  God." — Courcelles'  Negotiation,  quoted  by  Dr. 
M'Crie,  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  pp.  366 — 7. 
VOL.  III.  T 


138  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    exclaiming  :  —  "  this  day  shall  be  a  witness  against  the  king 

H*       in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord  ;"  and  denounced  a  wo  against 

~  1587.      the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh.     The  bishop  of  St.  Andrews 

then  went  up  and  finished  the  service.     For  this  conduct 

Cowper  was  called  before  the  council,  and  sentenced  to  be 

imprisoned  in  Blackness  ;  and  those  who  at  first  refused, 

afterward  yielded  to  pray  for  Mary.* 

LXXXII.  When  Elizabeth  had  sufficiently  excited  the  fears 
of  the  vulgar,  and  received  as  many  solicitations  as  afforded 
her  a  decent  excuse  for  complying  with  what  was  her  own 
wisn>  sne  ordered  Davidson,  one  of  her  secretaries,  to  draw 
warrant  for  out  the  warrant;  which  when  she  had  signed,  she  gave  it 
jocularly  bade  him  tell  Walsingham  what  she  had 


*  In  the  above  statement  I  have  chiefly  followed  Spotswood,  as  I  do  not 
see  any  good  grounds  for  rejecting  his  account.  It  is  clear  that  Cowper  must 
have  pre-occupied  the  pulpit  of  St.  Giles  by  the  advice,  or  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  young 
man,  who  could  be  persuaded  to  take  possession  of  a  pulpit  the  king  had 
destined  for  another,  might,  with  equal  imprudence  utter  the  speech  attributed 
to  him.  Dr.  M'Crie  thinks  that  Spotswood,  who  must  have  seen  the  record 
of  the  privy  council,  "  has  introduced  circumstances  not  warranted  by  the 
record  ;  which  if  true,  it  would  scarcely  have  failed  to  mention."  It  [the 
record]  says  nothing  of  the  king's  giving  Cowper  liberty  to  proceed  if  he  would 
pray  for  his  mother,  nor  of  Cowper's  reply  ;  nor  was  Cowper  imprisoned  fo 
refusing  to  pray  for  the  queen,  but  "  becaus  his  Ma'tie  desyrit  him  to  staj 
efter  he  had  begwyn  his  prayer  in  the  pulpit,  w'in  St.  Geill's  kirk  in  Edin- 
burgh, declaring  that  yr  was  ane  vther  appoyntit  to  occupy  that  rewme. 
That  he  vttered  thir  words  following,  thay  ar  to  say,  That  this  day  suld  here 
witnes  against  his  Ma'tie  in  the  greit  day  of  the  Lord,"  and  denounced  a  wo 
against  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh.  —  Record  of  Privy  Council,  February  3d, 
1586-7.  Now  the  circumstances  mentioned  by  Spotswood,  might  easily  have 
taken  place,  yet  not  be  narrated  in  the  books  of  the  privy  council.  Praying 
for  Mary  was  a  question  about  which  the  nation  was  divided.  Contempt  of 
the  king's  authority,  in  taking  possession  of  the  pulpit,  which  he  knew  the 
king  had  expressly  ordered  to  be  filled  by  another,  and  denouncing  a  threat- 
ening against  his  majesty,  in  presence  of  the  congregation,  when  ordered  to 
come  down,  was  conduct,  the  criminality  of  which  could  admit  of  no  dispute. 
Therefore  the  higher  and  more  evident  charge  was  preferred  against  him  and 
inserted,  while  the  dubious  one  was  left  out.  This  transaction  occurred  pre- 
viously to  the  3d  of  February  ;  the  ministers  of  St.  Andrews  complied  with 
the  requisition  on  the  8th,  and  Courcelles,  in  a  letter  written  on  the  28th  of 
the  same  month,  says,  that  even  those  who  at  first  refused,  yielded.  So  that, 
as  Spotswood  states,  the  whole  might  at  first  refuse  —  though  they  afterward 
came  in  —  and  it  is  not  unlikely  the  punishment  of  Cowper  might  have  some 
influence  in  settling  their  scruples  —  Vide  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  p. 
364,  Note,  and  365  Note. 


JAMES  VI.  139 

done;  "though  I  am  afraid,"  she  added,   "he  will  die  for   BOOK 
grief  when  he  hears  it."     Next  day  she  sent  to  Davidson,  _ 
telling  him  she  had  altered  her  mind,  and  desired  him  to     1587. 
forbear  executing   her   former   orders.       When    Davidson 
came  and  informed  her  it  had  already  passed  the  great  seal, 
she  blamed  his  precipitancy,  and  said  she  thought  a  better 
mode  might  be  adopted,  hinting  at  a  more  private;  but  Da- 
vidson, rejected  the  proposal,  and  answered  that  the  just  and 
the  openest  was  always  the  best  and  safest  course.     Still  she 
would  willingly  have   had    Mary   removed  in    some   other 
way,  and  ordered  a  letter  to  be  written  to  Paulet,  complain- 
ing of  his  remissness  in  sparing  so  long  the  life  of  her  ene- 
my ;  but  Paulet,  who  knew  the  danger  as  well  as  disgrace 
which  would  have  been  the  consequence,  refused  to  comply  ; 
and  in  his  answer  to  the  queen,  told  her,  she  might  dispose 
of  his  life  at  her  pleasure,  but  he  would  never  consent  to 
an  action  which  would  leave  an  indelible  stain  on  his  honour. 
Elizabeth,  vexed  at  his  refusal,  called  him  a  dainty  and  pre- 
cise fellow,  who  would  promise  much,  but  perform  nothing. 
Davidson,  when  he  parted  from  the  queen,  went  directly  to 
the  council,  and  acquainted  them  with  the  whole  transaction. 
They  were  of  opinion  that  the  execution  should  be  hasten- 
ed, each  professing  that  the  blame  of  the  business  would  be 
equally  borne  by  every  member ;  and  a  commission  signed  by  Shrews- 
all  present,  was  transmitted  by  Beale  to  the  earls  of  Shrews-  ^"T  and 
bury  and  Kent,  empowering  them,  together  with  the  high  dered  to  see 
sheriff  of  the  county,  to  see  the  sentence  carried  into  execu-  "  carr'ed 

*  into  effect, 

tion. 

LXXXIII.  On  Tuesday,  7th  February,  1587,  the  two  earls 
came  to  Fotheringay  castle;  and  being  introduced  to  Mary, 
in  the  presence  of  her  domestics,  read  their  commission, 
and  desired  her  to  prepare  for  death  next  morning  at  eight 
o'clock.     She  heard  the  dreadful  annunciation  with  compo-  She  re- 
sure,  and  replied,  "  I  did  not  think  that  queen  Elizabeth,  ™™£™ 
my  sister,  would  have  consented  to  my  death ;  but  since  it  is  posure. 
so,  death  is  to  me  most  welcome.     That  soul  is  not  worthy 
of  the  joys  of  heaven,  that  cannot  look  forward  to  the  stroke 
of  the  executioner  without  dismay."     The  earls  then  re- 
minded her  of  her  crime,  the  fair  and  honourable  trial  she 
had  had,  and  the  necessity  imposed  on  Elizabeth  of  execut- 


140  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  ing  the  sentence,  as  it  was  found  she  and  her  could  not  both 
IL  exist  together ;  for  even  since  her  sentence  was  known,  new 
15g7  conspiracies  were  attempted,  and  would  be  while  she  was 
permitted  to  live.  She  had  now  had  long  warning  to  pre- 
pare, and  they  hoped  she  was  ready  to  die ;  but  that  no 
Christian  duty  might  be  said  to  be  omitted  that  might  be 
for  her  comfort,  and  tend  to  the  salvation  of  her  body  and 
soul  in  the  world  to  come,  they  offered  her,  as  a  spiritual 
counsellor,  the  dean  of  Peterborough.  But  she  refused  his 
assistance,  saying,  she  was  prepared  to  die  in  the  Roman 
catholic  faith,  which  her  ancestors  had  professed,  and  re- 
quested that  she  might  be  allowed  now  in  her  last  moments, 
a  priest  of  her  own  persuasion  to  attend  her ;  but  this  was 
peremptorily  denied,  and  the  earl  of  Kent  told  her,  that  her 
death  would  be  the  life  of  their  religion.  She  then  asked 
what  answer  had  been  returned  to  the  requests  she  had 
made  to  the  queen,  but  the  earls  had  received  no  instruc- 
Solemnly  tions.  When  Babington's  conspiracy  was  mentioned,  she 
innocence,  solemnly  protested  that  it  was  entirely  unknown  to  her, 
and  expressed  her  belief  that  it  was  not  for  the  conspiracy, 
but  for  her  religion,  that  her  life  was  sought ;  and  when 
Kent  denied  that  she  would  have  been  touched  for  her  re- 
ligion, had  she  not  conspired  against  the  queen  of  England, 
she  again  protested  her  innocence;  and  added,  that  al- 
though she  herself  forgave  those  who  had  persecuted  her  to 
death,  there  was  a  God  who  would  take  vengeance  on  the 
guilty ;  and  when  she  was  dead,  it  would  appear  how  injuri- 
ously she  had  been  treated.  After  the  departure  of  the 
earls  she  hastened  supper,  that  she  might  have  time  to  ar- 
range her  affairs. 

LXXXIV.  At  supper  she  ate  sparingly,  as  was  her  custom, 
and  conversed  cheerfully  with  her  attendants ;  remarking  to 
Burgoin,  her  physician,  that  although  they  pretended  that 
she  must  die  for  conspiring  against  the  queen's  life,  the  earl 
of  Kent  had  let  out  the  secret;  her  religion  was  her  real 
crime.  She  then  called  in  her  servants,  and  drank  to  them. 
They  pledged  her  on  their  knees,  and  asked  pardon  for  any 
omission  or  neglect  of  duty,  while  she  requested  them  to 
forgive  any  offence  she  might  unwittingly  have  committed 
towards  them.  She  then  distributed  her  money,  clothes, 


JAMES  VI.  141 

and  jewels,  among  them,  according  to  their  rank  and  merit,    BOOK 
and  also  wrote  to  the  king  of  France,  and   the  duke  of 
Guise,  recommending   them   to   their  protection.     At  her      1587. 
wonted  time  she  retired  to  bed,  slept  some  hours  quietly, 
and  afterwards  spent  the  rest  of  the  night  in  prayer.     About 
day  dawn  she  dressed  herself  in  a  rich  mourning  habit  of 
silk  and  velvet,  such  as  she  generally  wore  on  festivals,  and 
employed  the  remainder  of  her  time  in  devotion.     At  eight 
o'clock,  Andrews,  the  sheriff,  entered  her  apartment,  and 
informed  her  the  hour  was  come,  and  she  must  attend  him 
to  the  place  of  execution.     She  replied  that  she  was  ready, 
and  with  a  calm  and  unaltered  countenance,  followed,  lean- 
ing upon  two  of  Paulet's  guards,  on  account  of  a  rheumatic 
affection  in  her  limbs.     At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  she  was  met 
by  the  earls  of  Shrewsbury  and  Kent,  sir  Amias  Paulet,  sir 
Drue  Drury,    and   many    other   gentlemen   of  distinction. 
Here  also  sir  Andrew  Melville,  her  steward,  was  waiting 
to  take  his  last  farewell.     As   soon  as  she  approached  he 
fell    on  his  knees,  and  weeping,  lamented  the  situation  of 
the  queen,  and  his  own  unhappy  lot  in  being  the  messen- 
ger destined  to  carry  such  melancholy  tidings  to  his  native 
country.     "  Do  not  lament  for  me,  my  good  Melville,"  re- 
,  plied  she  to  her  disconsolate  servant,  "  rather  rejoice  that 
thou  shalt  this  day  see  Mary  Stuart  delivered  from  all  her 
cares  !     And  take  this  message  from  me,  that  I  die  true  to 
my  religion,  and  unshaken  in  my  affection  towards  Scotland 
and  France.     Thou  hast  been  ever  faithful  to  me,  though  of  Her  mes- 
a  different  persuasion,  yet  as  there  is  but  one  Christ,  I  charge  S&K°  to  her 
thee,  as  thou  shalt  answer  to  him,  carry  these  my  last  words 
to  my  son ;  tell  him  that  I  enjoin  him  to  serve  God,  to  pro- 
tect the  catholic  church,  to  rule  his  kingdom  in  peace,  and 
to  take  warning  from  me,  never  to  put  himself  in  the  power 
of  another.     Assure  him  that  I  have  done  nothing  prejudi- 
cial to  the  crown  of  Scotland,  and  it  is  my  wish  that  he  would 
maintain  his  amity  with  the  queen  of  England.     Serve  him 
faithfully  as  thou  hast  served  me.     Farewell."     Then  turn- 
ing to  the  noblemen,  she  requested  that  her  servants  might 
be  permitted  to  attend  her  at  her  death.     At  first  Kent  ob- 
jected, lest  their  weeping  and  cries  should  disturb  both  him- 
self and  the  spectators,  or  lest  they  might  indulge  in  some 


142  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  superstitious  practices,  which  it  would  be  improper  for  htm 
n-  to  allow ;  and  instanced  the  dipping  their  handkerchiefs  in 
1587t  her  blood.  "  My  lord,"  replied  the  queen  of  Scots,  "  I  can 
promise  they  shall  not  incur  any  blame  for  such  actions  as 
you  mention,"  and  repeated  her  request.  Kent  still  refus- 
ing, "  I  am,"  cried  she  indignantly,  "  cousin  to  your  queen, 
of  the  same  blood  royal,  married  queen  of  France,  anointed 
queen  of  Scotland  ;"  on  which,  perceiving  how  invidious  their 
obstinacy  would  appear,  the  commissioners  consented  that 
she  might  take  a  few  of  her  servants  along  with  her,  and  she 
chose  Melville,  her  physician,  apothecary,  and  surgeon,  and 
two  of  her  maids. 

LXXXV.  The  scaffold,  about  twelve  feet  broad,  and  two- 
feet  high,  was  erected  in  the  same  hall  in  which  she  had 
been  tried,  opposite  the  chimney,  where  a  large  fire  had  been1 
kindled.  It  was  covered,  as  well  as  a  chair,  the  cushion, 

Herbehavi-  and  block,  with  black  cloth.     Mary  entered  the  hall,  and 

our  at  her    surveyed  with  solemn  composure,  all  the  dreadful  apparatus 
execution.        „  ,       ,  ,..        ,  i/.-ii 

or  death,  and  signing  herself  with  the  cross,  she  sat  down  on 

the  chair.  The  room  was  crowded  with  spectators,  who  be* 
held  with  mingled  emotions  of  admiration  and  pity,  the  for- 
titude and  the  fate  of  the  royal,  and  still  lovely  sufferer  ;  for,, 
neither  her  age,  infirmities,  nor  misfortunes,  had  yet  destroy- 
ed her  former  beauty.  When  silence  was  procured,  Beale 
read  with  a  loud  voice,  the  warrant  for  her  execution,  to 
which  she  listened,  as  if  her  thoughts  had  been  employed 
on  some  more  interesting  subject.  This  finished,  the  dean  of 
Peterborough  began  a  discourse,  such  as  he  thought  suitable 
to  her  present  condition,  and  attempted  to  administer  some 
consolation ;  but  the  topics  on  which  he  insisted  being  harsh, 
controversial,  and  ungrateful,  she  repeatedly  requested  him 
to  desist,  as  she  could  not  attend  to  him.  Still  he  persisted,, 
and  pled  his  orders  from  her  majesty's  council,  for  his  un- 
gracious perseverance  ;  till  at  last,  in  a  peremptory  tone,  she- 
desired  him  to  be  silent,  as  she  had  nothing  to  do  with  him, 
and  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  her.  Some  of  the  noblemen 
then  interfered,  and  desired  him  to  trouble  her  no  farther. 
"  Yes  !"  said  she,  "  that  will  be  best,  I  am  decidedly  attach- 
ed to  the  ancient  catholic  religion ;  in  it  I  was  born,  I  have 
lived  in  it,  and  in  it  I  am  determined  to  die."  The  earl  of 


JAMES  VI.  143 

Cent  replied,  yet  would  they  not  cease  to  pray  to  God  for  BOOK 
ier,  that  he  would  vouchsafe  to  open  her  eyes,  and  enlighten  **• 
ler  mind  with  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  that  she  might  1597. 
lie  therein.  In  that,  my  lord,  answered  the  queen,  you  may 
o  as  you  choose,  as  for  me,  I  will  pray  by  myself.  The 
lean  then  commenced  a  prayer,  while  she  apart  prayed  in 
he  Latin  tongue.  When  the  dean  had  finished,  Mary,  with 
n  audible  voice,  and  in  the  English  language,  commended 
o  God  the  afflicted  state  of  the  church,  prayed  for  the  pro- 
perity  and  happiness  of  her  son  ;  and  for  queen  Elizabeth, 
bat  she  might  live  long,  and  have  a  peaceful  reign.  She 
ben  added,  that  she  hoped  only  to  be  saved  through  the 
jlood  of  Christ,  at  the  feet  of  whose  figure  represented  on 
be  crucifix,  she  would  willingly  shed  her  own ;  then  lifting 
t  up,  and  kissing  it,  she  said,  "  As  thy  arms,  O  Jesus  !  were 
pread  abroad  on  the  cross,  so  with  the  outstretched  arms 
f  thy  mercy,  receive  me,  and  forgive  my  sins."  The  earl 
f  Kent,  who  was  displeased  at  her  using  a  crucifix  in  her 
evotions,  reproved  herJfor  her  attachment  to  such  popish 
rumpery,  and  exhorted  her  to  have  Christ  in  her  heart  and 
ot  in  her  hand.  She  replied,  it  was  difficult  to  hold  such 
n  object  in  the  hand,  without  feeling  the  heart  affected.  She 
ben,  with  the  assistance  of  her  two  women,  began  to  dis- 
obe  herself  of  her  upper  garments,  and  the  executioner  offer- 
ng  to  assist,  she  put  him  back,  saying,  she  had  not  been  ac- 
ustomed  to  be  served  by  such  grooms,  nor  undressed  before 
o  great  a  multitude.  Her  upper  robe  being  taken  off,  she 
lerself  loosened  her  doublet,  which  was  laced  on  the  back, 
md  put  on  a  pair  of  silken  sleeves.  She  then  kissed  her 
naids,  and  bade  them  farewell.  At  this  last  mark  of  ten- 
erness,  they  burst  into  tears,  on  which  she  turned  to  them, 
md  putting  her  finger  to  her  lips,  as  a  sign  of  silence,  said, 
promised  you  would  be  silent,  pray  for  me  !  Then  kneei- 
ng undauntedly  down,  she  repeated,  "  In  thee,  O  God,  I 
rust,  let  me  not  be  confounded  for  ever !"  and  one  of  her 
naids  having  covered  her  eyes  with  her  handkerchief,  she 
aid  her  neck  on  the  block,  crying  aloud,  in  manus  tuas  Do- 
nine — into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commit  my  spirit.  The 
executioner  at  two  blows,  separated  her  head  from  her  body, 
md  he  held  it  up,  yet  streaming  with  blood,  while  the  dean 


144  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  of  Peterborough  exclaimed,  "  So  perish  all  queen  Elizabeth's 
H-       enemies."     The  earl  of  Kent  pronounced  a  solitary  Amen 
15g7       The  rest  of  the  spectators  remained  silent,  their  attention 
fixed  on  the  melancholy  scene  before  them,  every  harshei 
feeling  being  hushed   by  sympathy  for  the  misfortunes  o 
a  woman,  and  a  queen,  whose  tresses,   prematurely  gray, 
bore  witness  to  the  weight  and  intensity  of  her  afflictions. 

LXXXVI.  Mary  was  forty-four  years,  and  two  months  old, 
when  she  ended  on  the  scaffold,  a  life  chequered  beyond  the 
common  lot  of  humanity,  and  nearly  nineteen  years  of  which 

Character,  had  been  passed  in  captivity.  Possessed  of  exquisite  per- 
sonal beauty,  she  was  also  endowed  with  admirable  natural 
talents.  To  the  most  fascinating  manners,  she  added  every 
elegant  accomplishment  of  her  sex.  Affable  and  polite  in 
her  demeanour,  gay  and  sprightly  in  her  disposition,  she 
possessed,  or  could  counterfeit,  all  the  softer  graces,  which 
render  a  lovely  woman  irresistibly  captivating.  But  here 
panegyric  must  stop ;  her  passions  were  violent,  and  under 
no  restraint ;  she  was  impatient  of  contradiction,  capable  of 
the  most  profound  dissimulation,  and  the  most  terrible  re- 
venge. 

LXXXVII.  Mary's  misfortunes,  and  the  unjust  treatment  she 
received  from  Elizabeth,  her  protracted  imprisonment,  and 
melancholy  death,  have  contributed  to  throw  into  shade,  the 
causes  which  led  to  her  sufferings ;  for,  while  we  view  with 
pity  the  pressure  of  her  calamity,  we  are  apt  to  forget  the 
extent  of  her  crimes.  Yet,  historical  truth  requires  that  they 

Reflections,  be  not  altogether  passed  in  silence.  During  the  short  time 
she  allowed  Moray  to  direct  her  councils,  no  king  in  Scot- 
land ever  had  more  cheerful  obedience;  and  if  her  own  in- 
tolerant spirit,  and  ardent  attachment  to  the  Romish  church, 
and  her  repeated  breach  of  promise,  had  not  alienated  the 
minds  of  her  protestant  subjects,  and  raised  their  suspicions,  | 
she  would  have  been  allowed  the  quiet  exercise  of  her  own 
religion,  nor  would  any  of  the  ministers  have  dared  to  insult 
her.  Her  first  attachment  to  Darnly,  was  as  indelicate 
and  imprudent,  as  her  subsequent  hatred  was  implacable  and 
deadly.  Her  connexion  and  marriage  with  Bothwell,  can 
be  defended  upon  no  principles,  which  do  not  at  the  same 
time  obliterate  every  distinction  between  innocence  and  guilt. 


JAMES  VI.  145 

Her  unhappy  education, — as  a  queen — from  her  birth,  in  a  las-   BOOK 
civious  and  tyrannical  court,  which  early  corrupted  her  mo-  _  _____ 


on 


rals,  and  perverted  her  judgment  ;  which,  intent  on  produc-  1687. 
ing  a  graceful  and  princely  exterior,  neglected  to  cultivate 
the  better  affections  of  the  heart,  can  unfortunately  account 
for  the  rash  and  obstinate  perversity  with  which  she  rushed 
upon  her  ruin  ;  even  allowing  that  she  possessed  the  materi- 
als, which,  under  other  tuition,  might  have  formed  a  model 
of  almost  spotless  perfection. 

LXXXVJII.  When  Elizabeth  was  informed  of  Mary's  exe-  Elizabeth's 

cution,  she  affected  the  utmost  astonishment,  rage,  and  sor-  f°°*J? 

_  _  learning 

row  ;  she  put  herself  in  deep  mourning,  was  frequently  in  her  execu- 
tears,  refused  her  ministers  all  access  to  her  presence,  and  tlon' 
secluded  herself  with  her  maidens,  to  bewail  the  deplorable 
misfortune,  which,  contrary  to  her  wishes  and  fixed  purpose, 
had  befallen  her  kinswoman.  She  had  now  accomplished 
one  great  object  of  her  wishes,  and  got  rid  of  a  rival,  whom, 
during  all  her  reign,  she  feared  and  hated.  Her  next  drift 
was  to  persuade  the  world,  that  this  consummation  was  with- 
out her  knowledge,  and  in  opposition  to  her  will.  For  this 
purpose,  with  a  hypocrisy  more  glaring  than  any  she  had  yet 
practised,  she  rolled  over  the  whole  blame  upon  Davidson,  rjavidson 
her  secretary,  an  honest,  upright  servant,  whom  she  had  em-  blamed  for 
ployed  as  her  instrument,  and  who  had  not  been  sufficiently 
initiated  in  her  artifices  to  avoid  the  snare.*  He  was  imme- 
diately deprived  of  his  office,  thrown  into  prison,  and  soon  af- 
ter, tried  in  the  star  chamber.  The  secretary,  confounded  at 
the  charge,  and  knowing  the  danger  of  contending  with  the 
queen,  acknowledged  himself  guilty  of  an  error,  which  he 
said  he  could  not  attempt  to  vindicate,  without  failing  in  the 
respect  and  duty  he  owed  her  majesty;  but  he  protested,  it 
was  by  the  advice  of  the  whole  council  that  the  warrant  was 
put  in  execution,  as  they  were  afraid  lest  the  queen  or  the 
state  might  incur  any  damage  by  delay.  Yet  he  would  not 
contest;  he  left  the  whole  with  the  queen,  to  whose  con- 
science, and  the  verdict  of  the  judges,  he  entirely  submitted 


*  He  had  been  only  made  secretary  a  few  days  before  the  trial  of  queen 
Mary,  probably  with  the  intention  of  taking  advantage  of  his  unsuspecting  in- 
tegrity. 

VOL.    HI.  17 


14«  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    himself.     On  this  confession,  after  enduring  the  reproaches 
of  the  very  counsellors, — who,  if  there  was  any  guilt,  were 
U87.      more  deeply  involved  than  himself — he  was  condemned  to  be 
His  punish  firi ecj  in  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  imprisoned  during  the 
queen's  pleasure.     He  suffered  a  long  confinement,  was  beg- 
gared by  the  fine,  and  all  the  favour  he  ever  received,  was 
an  occasional  pittance  to  save  him  from  starvation.       Such 
is  the  gratitude  of  courts. 

LXXXIX.  Filial  affection  is  an  instinctive  passion,  in  some 
degree  felt  by  every  human  being,  and  one  of  the  mysterious 
ties  in  our  nature,  that  link  us  to  our  kind.  By  it  we  are 
interested  in  the  fate  of  those  to  whom  we  have  owed  our  _ 
birth,  although  we  may  never  have  seen  them,  or  never  knew 
any  of  the  endearments  of  a  mother's  love,  or  the  kindness  , 
of  a  father's  protection.  In  James  this  was  neither  vigorous 
nor  strong;  and  Elizabeth  knew  well,  that  whatever  feeling 
the  death  of  his  mother  might  produce,  it  might  be  acute,  but 
it  would  be  only  momentary  ;*  she  therefore  despatched  Mr. 
Robert  Carey,  a  son  of  lord  Hundson,  with  a  letter,  in  her 
own  hand-writing,  calculated  to  meet  its  first  ebullition.  It  ^ 

*  Alexander  Stuart,  sent  in  company  with  the  ambassadors  "  with  more 
secret  charge,"  had  said  to  Elizabeth,  "  were  she  even  deade,  yf  the  king  at 
first  shewed  himselfe  not  contented  therewith,  they  might  easily  satisfy  him  in 
sending  him  doges  and  deare."  On  being  informed  of  this,  the  king  was  in 
marvilose  collore,  and  sware  and  protested  before  God,  that  yf  Stuart  came, 
he  would  hange  him  before  he  putt  off  his  bootes,  and  yf  the  queene  medled 
with  his  mother's  life,  she  should  knowe  he  would  follow  somewhat  else  than 
doges  and  deare.  (February  10th.)  Courcelles  expresses  his  fears,  that  if 
Mary's  execution  should  happen,  James  would  "  digeste  it  as  patiently  as  he 
hath  done  that  which  passed  between  the  queene  of  England,  and  Alexander 
Stuart,  whose  excuse  he  hath  well  aUowed,  and  vseth  the  man  as  well  as  be- 
fore." (February  28th.)  Courcelles'  Negotiation,  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie.  And 
neither  Courcelles  nor  Stuart  were  much  mistaken  in  their  remarks,  as  the 
following  anecdote,  preserved  by  Wodrow,  fully  evinces.  A  little  after  the 
king  had  got  on  his  mournings  for  his  mother,  one  day  when  Mr.  Melville 
came  in  to  wait  upon  his  majesty,  he  was  laughing  heartily,  frisking  and 
dancing  about  the  room  with  no  little  levity,  as  was  not  unusual  with  him  while 
in  his  younger  years.  Mr.  Melville  observed  him  a  little,  and  the  following 
lines  struck  him  in  the  head  extempore,  from  his  bright  poetical  fancy ;  and 
smiling,  he  turned  to  a  nobleman,  and  repeated  them.  The  nobleman  was 
mightily  pleased,  and  burst  out  into  laughter.  The  king  soon  came  up,  and 
asked  the  reason.  The  nobleman  waved  it  saying  it  was  a  merry  tale  of  Mr. 
Andrew.  The  king  would  know  it.  Mr.  Melville  said  it  might  be  offensive 


JAMES  VI.  147 

was  of  this  purport.  "  My  dear  brother,  I  would  you  knew,  BOOK 
though  not  that  you  felt,  the  extreme  anguish  that  over- 
whelms my  mind,  on  account  of  that  miserable  accident  which  1587. 
has  happened,  far  contrary  to  my  inclination.  I  have  there- 
fore sent  my  kinsman,  whom  you  have  been  formerly  gracious- 
ly pleased  to  favour,  that  he  may  instruct  you  truly  of  that, 
which  my  pen  refuses  to  write.  I  beseech  you,  that  as  God 
and  many  others,  know  my  innocence  in  this  case,  so  you 
will  believe,  that  if  I  had  commanded  it,  I  should  not  have 
disavowed  it.  I  am  not  so  base  minded,  as  that  the  fear  of 
any  living  creature  should  make  me  afraid  to  do  what  is  just ; 
nor  so  degenerate  or  vile,  as  to  deny  it  when  done.  Open- 
ness best  becomes  a  king,  and  I  shall  never  stoop  to  dissem- 
ble. This  assure  yourself  of  from  me,  that  as  I  know  it  was 
deserved,  I  would  never  have  laid  the  blame  on  another ;  but 
neither  will  I  impute  to  myself,  that  which  I  did  not  so  mueh 
as  think  of.  You  will  learn  the  particulars  from  the  bearer ; 
and  believe  me,  you  have  not  in  the  world  a  more  loving 
kinswoman,  and  more  dear  friend,  nor  any  that  will  watch 
more  carefully  to  preserve  you  and  your  state ;  and  if  any 
would  persuade  you  to  the  contrary,  consider  them  as  more 
attached  to  others  than  to  you.  Thus  in  haste  I  have  trou- 
bled you,  beseeching  God  to  send  you  a  long  and  happy 
reign." 

xc.  James  refused  either  to  see  the  messenger,  or  receive 
the  letter ;  and  his  resentment  seemed  for  the  time  both  live- 
ly and  sincere.  The  estates  of  Scotland,  who  were  then  sit- 

TJio   _ 

ing,  participated  in  these  feelings,  and  urged  him  to  revenge,  tatesurge 

professing  their  readiness  both  to  expend  their  lives  and  es-  Wm  to  re- 

venge. 
tales  in  the  quarrel ;  and  lord  Sinclair,  when  the  courtiers 

appeared  in  mourning,  presented  himself  in  armour,  as  the 


to  his  majesty.  The  king  said  he  would  not  be  offended,  and  so  Mr.  Andrew 
repeated  them.  Be  these  circumstances  as  they  will,  the  lines  contained  much 
wit  and  salt — they  were 

Quid  sibi  vult,  tantus  lugubri  sub  veste  cachinnus, 
Scilicet  hie  matrem  deflet,  ut  ilia  patrcm. 

Why  the  loud  laugh  ?  beneath  the  vesture  sad, 
He  mourns  his  mother,  as  she  did  his  dad. 


148 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
II. 

1587. 


Walsing. 
ham's  letter 
to  Thirl- 
stane. 


proper  mourning  for  the  queen.  Carey,  on  not  being  ad- 
mitted into  the  king's  presence,  consulted  with  his  court; 
and  received  instructions  to  deliver  his  letter  to  some  of  the 
council,  with  a  memorial  to  be  laid  before  James,  expressing 
the  queen's  determination  never  to  have  put  his  mother  to 
death,  notwithstanding  the  solicitations  of  her  nobility,  and 
the  cries  of  her  people ;  and  informing  him  that  she  had  de- 
livered the  warrant  to  her  secretary,  Davidson,  to  be  kept 
secret,  and  not  to  be  produced,  except  in  case  of  actual  inva- 
sion by  an  enemy,  or  any  insurrection  by  rebels  to  procure 
her  liberty.  But  the  secretary  having  shown  it  to  the  coun- 
cil, they,  without  her  consent,  sent  a  mandate  for  the  execu- 
tion,— which  she  protested  to  God,  was  done  before  she 
knew  it, — for  which  the  secretary  should  not  escape  her  high 
displeasure ;  and  this  the  envoy  heard  her  express  with  such 
a  heavy  heart,  and  sorrowful  countenance,  that  had  his  ma- 
jesty been  present,  he  would  have  rather  been  inclined  to 
pity  her  grief,  than  blame  her  for  a  fact  to  which  she  never 
gave  consent.  James  however,  would  not  immediately  listen 
to  these  excuses ;  and  Elizabeth,  uncertain  what  effects  vio- 
lent counsels  might  produce  on  his  facile  disposition,  employ- 
ed those  among  his  ministers  who  were  best  affected  towards 
England,  to  sooth  his  mind,  and  prevent  any  sudden  or  rash 
sally. 

xci.  Walsingham  wrote  to  lord  Thirlstane,  the  secretary, 
who  then  stood  high  in  James'  favour,  a  long  letter,  in  which 
he  employed  every  argument  that  could  operate  upon  the 
hopes  or  fears  of  the  young  monarch,*  to  induce  him  to  lay 
aside  all  hostile  intentions,  and  continue  to  cultivate  the  ami- 
ty of  Elizabeth.  He  was  absent,  he  said,  from  court,  when 
the  execution  of  the  king's  mother  happened ;  but  on  his 
return,  he  had  communicated  to  Douglas  what  some  of  the 
king's  best  friends  considered  the  course  he  ought  to  pursue 
in  consequence  of  this  remediless  accident,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve friendship  between  the  two  crowns,  so  necessary  for 

•  "  The  kinge  of  Scotts  will  not  declare  himself  openly  against  her  (Eliza- 
beth) though  his  mother  he  put  to  death,  vnlesse  the  queen  and  the  statts 
would  deprive  him  of  his  right  to  that  crowne,  which  himself  hath  vttered  to 
earl  Bothwill,  and  chevaliere  Seaton."  Courcelles'  Negotiation,  quoted  as  be- 
fore. 


JAMES  VI.  149 

the  welfare  of  both.     But  as  he  would  not  interfere,  he  there-     BOOK 
fore  stated  to  him  the  reasons  which  should  prevent  any 
interruption  of  the  harmony  subsisting  between  the  two  na-      1587. 
tions.     The  ground  of  the  quarrel  would  be  revenge,  and 
that  on  account  of  an  act  of  justice  founded  on  necessity,  a 
cause  of  war,  which  no  good  man  would  support,  and  on 
which  no  blessing  could  be  expected.     But  setting  this  aside, 
motives   of  policy  forbade  a  rupture.     The  king  could  not 
hope,  inferior  as  he  was  in  force,  to  attack  England  with  any 
prospect  of  success,  without  foreign  assistance ;  and  the  ex- 
amples, both    of  ancient  and  modern  times,  with  which  a 
prince  of  his  knowledge  must  be  familiar,  should  leach  him 
how  precarious  and  dangerous  it  is  to  depend  upon  such  aid. 
The  only  two  powers  to  which  he  could  apply,  were  France 
or  Spain,  and  his  religion  rendered  him  obnoxious  to  both, 
neither  of  whom  would  wish  to  see  his  power  increased  by 
the  union  of  the  crowns,  an  event  which  must  be  prejudicial 
to  the  catholic  cause ;  and  such  an  union  was  not  only  re- 
pugnant to  the  general  policy  of  France,  because,  in  case  of 
war,  this  would  prevent  her  from  distracting  the  forces  of 
England  as  formerly,  by  involving  Scotland  in  her  quarrels; 
but  particularly  so  to   the  present  king,   who  would   not 
wish  to  see  a  near  relation  of  the  house  of  Guise  aggrandiz- 
I,  lest  he  should  lend  them  assistance  to  usurp  his  throne, 
which  they  had  but  just   attempted.     Spain    was  a  more 
likely,  but  more  dangerous  ally ;  whose  monarch   aimed  at 
[the  whole  empire  of  the  west  of  Europe,  and  he  pretended 
ito  have  a  claim  superior  to  the  Scottish  king  upon  the  crown 
England,  as  descended  from  Lancaster ;  being  the  nearest 
|eatholic  heir  by  blood,  and  possessed  by  gift  of  the  rights 
[of  his  mother.     Nor  would  the  king's  changing  his  religion 
.procure  him  any  advantage.     Catholic  princes  would  never 
aid  him,  merely  because  he  was  a  catholic ;  and  the  protes- 
its  of  England  would  hate  him  for  his  apostacy,  while 
;he  catholics  would  never  believe  in  his  repentance.     By 
sviving  his  mother's  pretensions,  he  would  forfeit  the  cer- 
tin  prospects  of  his  succession  ;  and  by  resenting  her  death 
violently,  he  would  force  all  the  noblemen  in  England 
'ho  had  assented  to  it,   to  oppose  his  ever  obtaining  that 
:rown  ;  and  however  some  persons  might  endeavour  to  per- 


150  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  suade  him  that  his  honour  required  him  to  seek  vengeance, 
^  yet  the  true  honour  of  a  prince  consists  in  moderation. 
1587.  Having  used  every  endeavour  to  save  her  life  so  long  as 
there  was  any  hope,  he  had  performed  his  duty  ;  and  there 
remained  now  only,  that  he  should  rather  consult  the  dig- 
nity of  a  prince,  than  prosecute  any  private  revenge.  These, 
James'  an-  and  similar  considerations,  induced  James,  who  was  sensi- 
^e  °^  n's  own  wea^ness5  an^  wno  delighted  more  in  the 
polemical  arena  than  in  the  tented  field,  to  lay  aside  all 
thoughts  of  revenge,  and  return  by  degrees,  to  his  usual  cor- 
respondence with  the  court  of  England  ;  and  although  a  num- 
ber of  his  courtiers  were  known  to  have  tampered  with  the 
English  ministers  during  the  trial  of  the  queen,  and  after 
the  sentence  to  have  hastened  the  execution,  the  master  of 
Gray  was  the  only  person  who  was  punished ;  perhaps,  how- 
ever, more  through  court  intrigue  and  his  own  insolence, 
than  from  any  regard  the  king  paid  to  the  memory  of  his 
mother.* 

xcn.  Sir  William  Stewart  had,  about  this  time,  returned 
to  court,  and  attached  himself  to  the  master  of  Gray,  who 
was  then  engaged  in  a  plot  with  lord  Maxwell,  for  the  destruc-  i 
tion  of  lord  Thirlstane,  sir  James  Home  of  Cowdenknowes, 
and  Mr.  Robert  Douglas,  the  collector.  Gray,  believing 
that  sir  William  would  readily  assist  him  in  removing  those 
who  were  the  determined  enemies  of  his  brother,  particular- 
ly lord  Thirlstane,  as  having  been  one  of  the  chief  instru- 
ments in  bringing  back  the  lords  to  Stirling,  revealed  to  him 
the  design.  Sir  William  pretended  to  agree  to  the  propo- 
sal ;  but  aware  of  the  treacherous  disposition  of  Gray,  and 
of  the  little  confidence  that  could  be  reposed  in  him,  went 
directly  and  informed  the  king.  Lord  Thirlstane  having 
also  received  similar  information,  complained  to  the  coun- 
cil, and  desired  that  it  should  be  investigated ;  on  which, 
both  Stewart  and  Gray  were  examined,  when  Stewart  ad- 
hered to  what  he  had  said  to  the  king,  and  Gray  as  stren- 
uously denied  having  ever  held  any  such  conversation  with 

•  When  Gray  was  banished,  the  queen's  death  was  not  mentioned,  "  lest 
he  should  have  accused  others."  Courcelles'  Negotiation,  quoted  by  M'Crie, 
Life  of  Melville,  vol.  i.  p.  367,  Note. 


JAMES  VI.  151 

lim  ;  and  the  dispute  becoming  warm,  Stewart  asserted  that  BOOK 
Gray  was  unworthy  of  any  credit;  for,  having  been  sent  to 
London  on  an  embassy  to  endeavour  to  save  the  life  of  15g7 
the  king's  mother,  he  had  treacherously  consented  to  her  Charges 
death.  A  report  of  Gray  having  written  a  letter  to  the 
queen  of  England,  advising  her  to  put  the  queen  of  Scots  to  Gray, 
death,  and  of  his  having  used  as  an  argument,  the  adage, 
Mortui  non  mordent, — the  dead  do  not  bite, — had  been  very 
generally  current;  though,  on  account  of  the  favour  in 
which  he  stood  with  the  king,  no  one  had  ventured  to  accuse 
lim ;  but  now,  when  he  was  challenged  to  his  face  with  his 
conduct,  the  council,  who  viewed  him  with  the  common 
dndness  that  courtiers  bear  to  favourites,  seized  the  occa- 
sion, and  requested  the  king  to  bring  him  to  trial ;  and  the 
dng,  whose  affection  had  begun  to  grow  cool,  consenting, 
the  accused  and  the  accuser  were  both  committed  to  Edin- 
Durgh  castle.  Three  days  after,  they  were  again  brought 
before  the  council,  when  Stewart  repeated  his  former  charges, 
and,  in  addition,  stated  that  Gray  had  engaged  in  a  corre- 
spondence inimical  to  religion,  both  with  the  king  of  France 
and  the  duke  of  Guise;  informing  them  that  the  king  in- 
tended to  ask  their  assistance  to  revenge  the  death  of  his 
mother,  but  desiring  them  not  to  grant  it  unless  he  came  un- 
der an  obligation  to  extend  liberty  to  the  catholics  for  the 
exercise  of  their  religion.  Gray,  perceiving  that  he  had 
lost  the  favour  of  his  master,  on  being  desired  to  make  an 
ingenuous  confession,  if  he  expected  mercy,  acknowledged 
that  he  had  endeavoured  to  procure  toleration  for  the  ca- 
tholics ;  that  he  disliked  some  of  the  officers  of  state,  and 
did  wish  an  alteration,  but  that  he  had  ever  entertained  the 
highest  regard  for  his  majesty's  person,  and  hoped  his  er- 
rors would  be  imputed  to  his  youth,  and  a  foolish  ambition. 
Being  interrogated  respecting  his  letter  to  the  queen  of  Eng- 
land, he  owned  that  when  he  perceived  her  resolved  to  take 
fiway  the  queen  of  Scots'  life,  he  advised  her  rather  to  do 
It  in  a  private  way,  than  publicly,  under  form  of  justice. 
He  likewise  acknowledged  that  he  had  used  the  words, 
|9forftM  non  mordent,  but  not  in  the  sense  alleged  against  Found 
Ihim.  He  was  found  guilty  on  his  own  confession,  and  sen- 
(lenced  to  perpetual  banishment  from  Scotland,  under  pain 


152  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    of  death  in  case  of  returning,  and  prohibited  from  going 
H-        either  to  England  or  Ireland. 

1587.         xciu.  Captain  James,   who  ever   since  his  disgrace  had 
8  s-  skulked  privately  among  his  friends,  supposing  this  a  fa- 


unsuccess- 


ful attempt  voura\)le  opportunity  for  obtaining  revenge  on  the  rest  ol 
the^g^s  his  enemies,  ventured  from  his  lurking  place ;  and  in  a  let- 
favour.  ter  to  jjjg  king,  offered  to  prove  that  lord  Thirlstane,  and 
some  of  the  other  counsellors,  were  equally  accessory  to  hit, 
mother's  death  with  Gray ;  and  had  even  formed  a  design 
of  delivering  the  king  himself  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 
But  time  had  extinguished  the  king's  favour  for  one  who 
so  little  deserved  it;  and  his  ministers  now  were  both  more 
able  and  complaisant,  than  those  who,  after  the  Raid  of 
Ruthven,  gave  way  to  his  superior  influence.  The  king,  on 
receiving  the  information,  laid  it  before  his  council,  and  an 
order  was  sent  to  captain  James  to  enter  ward  within  the 
palace  of  Linlithgow,  and  remain  there  till  the  truth  of  his 
accusation  should  be  examined  ;  under  pain  of  being  forfeit- 
ed as  a  sower  of  discord  between  his  majesty  and  his  nobi- 
lity. Failing  to  comply  with  this  mandate,  the  office  of 
chancellor,  of  which  he  had  still  retained  the  title,  was  de- 
clared vacant,  and  bestowed  upon  lord  Thirlstane,  who  had 
for  a  considerable  time  performed  its  duties. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  III. 


James  VI. — Attains  full  age — Reconciles  the  Nobles — Church  lands  annex- 
ed to  the  Crown. — Representatives  for  Counties  first  introduced  into  Parlia- 
ment— Ancient  constitution  of  Parliament — Warlike  preparations  of  Spain. 
— James  courted  by  Philip  and  Elizabeth ;  adheres  to  England Philip  in- 
trigues with  the  Popish  Nobles. — Bond  for  defence  of  Church  and  State. — 
Lord  Maxwell  preparing  to  assist  the  Spaniards,  made  prisoner. — Destruction 
of  the  Invincible  Armada. — Proposal  of  the  Popish  Peers  to  Philip — Their 
Conspiracy  defeated — The  King's  too  lenient  conduct  towards  them — 
His  marriage  with  Anne  of  Denmark — His  panegyric  on  the  Presbyterian 
Church — Disordered  state  of  the  Country — Feud  between  Huntly  and  Mo- 
ray.— Bothwell  accused  of  consulting  witches  respecting  the  King's  death. 
— Escapes  from  prison. — Defeated  in  an  attempt  to  seize  the  King — Hunt- 
ly murders  Earl  of  Moray. — Critical  state  of  the  Kingdom — Presbytery 
established  by  Law — Bothwell  foiled  in  another  attempt  to  seize  the  King. 
— Dreadful  Feud  in  the  North — Captain  James  Stuart,  (Earl  of  Arran)  kill- 
ed.— Death  of  John  Erskine,  of  Dun. — Another  plot  of  the  Popish  Lords 
defeated — Bothwell  extorts  a  pardon  from  the  King,  which  is  declared  null 
by  Parliament — Popish  Lords  excommunicated, — Act  of  Abolition. — 
Feud  between  Maxwells  and  Johnstons. — Bothwell's  unsuccessful  invasion. 
— Argyle  is  sent  against  the  Popish  Lords. — Battle  of  Glenlivet — They 
are  allowed  to  leave  the  Country. — Bothwell  retires  to  Italy. — His  estates 
divided 1587-1594. 

i.  THE  king  had  now  completed  his  twenty-first  year,  and    BOOK 

he  issued  a  proclamation,  summoning  a  parliament  to  meet          J 

on  the  29th  of  July ;  previously  to  which,  he  attempted  the      1587- 
truly  royal  design  of  completely  reconciling  all  his  nobles,  attains  ma- 

especially  such  as  had  cherished  inveterate  feuds,  or  were  Jorit7,— re- 
»  ,  XT      •      •      i     i          concilesthe 

known  to  be  open  enemies  at  the  time.     He  invited  them  nobles. 

all  to  Edinburgh,  and  prevailed  upon  the  whole  to  pro- 
fess a  mutual  oblivion  of  injuries  ;  except  lord  Yester,  who 
refused  to  accommodate  his  difference  with  lord  Traquair, 
till  a  few  months  confinement  in  the  castle  brought  him 

VOL.  III.  X 


154  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   to  a  better  temper.     The   highly   delighted    monarch    en- 

Hk       tertained  the  rest  magnificently  in  the  palace  of  Holyrood- 

1587.     house,  and  thence  they  walked  to  the  Cross  in  procession, 

hand   in   hand,    where,    in    presence   of   the    people,    they 

pledged  each  other,  and  drank,  amid  the  rejoicings  of  the 

spectators,  to  the  continuation  of  the  harmony  now  so  happily 

effected. 

ii.  Before  the  meeting  of  parliament,  the  general  assembly 
convened  at  Edinburgh,  to  consider  some  propositions  from 
the  king,  respecting  the  ministers  who  had  used  insulting 
language  towards  him,  and  about  receiving  Montgomery 
Affairs  of  again  into  communion.  In  answer,  they  replied,  that  if 
the  church.  tnere  was  anv  prospect  of  the  king's  acceding  to  their  re- 
quests for  the  security  of  the  protestant  religion,  and  restor- 
ing to  the  church  the  same  liberty  enjoyed  before  the  year 
1584,  they  would  endeavour  on  these  points  to  satisfy  his 
majesty.  Commissioners  were  at  the  same  time  appointed 
to  attend  parliament,  and  watch  over  the  interests  of  the 
church,  among  whom  was  the  venerable  Erskine  of  Dun,  now 
in  extreme  old  age,  and  almost  the  last  of  the  original  p 
moters  of  the  reformation. 

in.  When  parliament  sat  down,  their  attention  was  first 
directed  to  the  rights  of  the  lords  spiritual,  to  meet  along 
Parlia-  with  them.  The  commissioners  of  the  church  who  attend- 
ed, petitioned  for  the  removal  of  the  prelates,  as  they  possess- 
ed no  authority  from  the  church,  and  the  majority  of  them 
had  neither  function  nor  charge  in  it.  Bruce,  the  abbot  of 
Kinloss,  defended  their  right  as  the  first  estate  in  the  realm, 
— a  right  which  the  churchmen  had  ever  enjoyed, — and 
complained  against  the  ministers,  for,  after  having  first  de- 
prived them  of  their  ecclesiastical  dignities,  now  wishing  to 
exclude  them  from  their  places  in  the  state.  Pont,  who 
though  a  bishop,*  was  one  of  the  commissioners,  replying  in 

*  Pont  was  presented  by  the  king  to  the  bishopric  of  Caithness  without  so- 
licitation ;  but  before  accepting  it,  he  consulted  the  general  assembly,  whether 
they  thought  he  might  do  so  with  a  good  conscience  and  without  slander,  as 
he  meant  to  officiate  at  one  church,  and  submit  to  all  the  regulations  of  the 
assembly.  They  thought,  in  consideration  of  his  severe  losses,  that  he  might 
accept  the  temporalities,  and  as  he  was  a  bishop  indeed,  according  to  the 
character  described  by  St.  Paul,  they  did  not  object  to  the  name.  But  in  a 


JAMES  VI. 


155 


rather  keen  language,  the  king  put  an  end  to  the  debate,  and  BOOK 
desired  the  petition  to  be  presented  in  a  regular  manner  to 
the  lords  of  the  articles.  This,  which  was  a  specious  way 
of  getting  rid  of  a  troublesome  discussion,  being  adopted, 
the  petition  was  refused.  But  as  a  douceur  to  soften  their 
disappointment,  they  obtained  the  ratification  of  all  the  laws 
passed  in  favour  of  the  protestant  religion  during  the  mi- 
nority of  the  king ;  the  enactment  of  a  new  and  severe  sta- 
tute against  seminary  priests  and  Jesuits,  the  most  able,  ac- 
tive, and  insidious  enemies  of  the  reformation  ;  and  an  act  an- 
nexing the  unappropriated  church  lands  to  the  crown.  This 
last,  so  important  in  its  consequences,  was  recommended  to 
the  presbyterians,  as  the  most  effectual  preservative  against 
episcopacy,  by  this  most  irrefragable  consideration  : — "  If 
you  take  away,"  said  its  proposers,  "  the  rich  benefices,  you 
will  not  be  troubled  with  indolent  bishops."*  The  king, 
who  did  not  immediately  perceive  the  tendency,  was  induc- 
ed to  give  his  consent  to  what  he  afterward  pronounced  a 
vile  and  pernicious  act,f  by  the  necessities  into  which  his  pro- 
fusion to  his  favourites  was  constantly  plunging  him. 

iv.  The  revenues  of  the  crown  had  become  nearly  inade-  Low  state 
quate  to  meet  the  ordinary  expenditure,  as  the  administra- 
tion  of  the  government,  owing  to  the  extending  connexion 
of  Scotland  with  other  nations,  was  now  more  heavy,  and 
the  increase  of  luxury  rendered  the  court  more  extravagant ; 
while  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  since  the  discovery 
of  India  and  America,  the  limited  bounds  of  the  royal  do- 
mains, and  the  waste  of  so  many  minorities,  rendered  the 
monarch  more  indigent.  To  meet  the  public  exigency 
some  new  fund  was  necessary ;  but  the  nobles  had  not  been 
accustomed  to  endure  taxation,  and  there  was  little  or  no 
commerce  to  tax.  The  property  of  the  church,  which  was 
still  considerable,  was  therefore  the  only  source  from  which 

letter  to  the  king,  to  prevent  misconception,  they  added  :  "  As  to  that  cor- 
rupt estate  or  office  of  those  who  have  been  deemed  bishops  heretofore,  we 
find  it  not  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  it  hath  been  damned  in  divers 
others  of  our  assemblies,  neither  is  the  said  Mr.  Robert  willing  to  accept  of 
it  in  that  manner." — Calderwood,  pp.  215-6. 

»  Spotswood,  p.  365.     Calderwood,  p.  218.     Parl.  11.  Jac.  VL  c.  28. 

+  Basilicon  Doron,  lib.  2. 


156  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   any  supply  could  be  drawn ;  and  as  the  presbyterian  minis- 

[^ ters  performed  the  duty,    it   seemed  no  great  injustice  to 

1587.      withdraw  the  emoluments  from  the  bishops,   who  did  no- 
Church       thing.    The  nobles  were  urgent  for  the  bill,  because  it  secur- 
nexedato"    e{^  to  tnem  tne  ^ega^  possession  of  all  the  grants  of  church 
the  crown,  lands  they  had  obtained  from  regents,  or  from  the  king  in 
his  minority — which    he   now    might   have    revoked — and 
which  they  held  by  a  precarious  tenure,  having  previously 
no   proper   parliamentary    sanction;    and    the   ministers — 
whose  aims  were  not  high — were  secured  in  a  moderate 
living    from   the   tithes,  which  then,    with  the  majority  of 
the  Scottish  clergy,  was  the  utmost  of  their  temporal  ambi- 
tion. 

Scottish  v.  Another  act,  passed  this  session,  produced  a  consider- 
parha-  a^je  cjlange  jn  tne  Scottish  parliament,  by  introducing  repre- 
sentatives for  the  counties  among  the  commons ;  and  al- 
though its  effects  were  not  immediately  perceived,  it  even- 
tually counteracted  the  beneficial  tendency  of  the  others. 
This  may  seem  strange  and  paradoxical;  but  a  very  short 
view  of  the  constitution  of  the  Scottish  parliament  will  un- 
riddle the  apparent  contradiction,  and  show  that  a  measure 
essentially  despotic,  may  be  promoted  by  means  apparently 
favourable  to  freedom.*  The  three  estates,  as  their  name 
implied,  consisted  of  the  lords  temporal — the  great  and 
small  barons — the  lords  spiritual,  bishops,  abbots,  and 
priors ;  and  the  commons,  consisting  at  first  of  a  few  com- 
missioners of  boroughs,  who  all  met  together  in  one 
chamber,  where  the  lord  chancellor  presided.  The  num- 
bers naturally  varied  considerably  at  different  times,  from 
deaths,  minorities,  and  forfeitures,  among  the  nobility; 
from  vacancies  among  the  ecclesiastics  ;  and  from  a  general 
disinclination  in  the  boroughs  to  be  at  the  cost  of  sending 
representative,  as  they  had  to  pay  his  expenses  during  th 
time  he  served. 

*  It  was  not  till  after  the  revolution,  when  the  lords  of  the  articles  were  de 
clared  a  grievance,  by  Conv.  Est.   1689,  and  actually  suppressed,   1690,  that 
freedom  of  discussion  was  known  in  the  Scottish  parliament.     Of  course,  the 
king's  influence  depended  upon  the  number  of  votes  he  could  command.     Ther 
appears,  likewise,  to  have  been  a  discretionary  power  sometimes  used  by  the 
king,  in  only  calling  such  as  he  knew  were  friendly  to  the  measures  he  intend- 
ed to  propose. 


JAMES  VI.  157 

vi.  Iii  1488,  the  whole  of  the  titled  Scottish  nobility  BOOK 
amounted  to  about  forty.  The  dukes  were  confined  to  the 
royal  family,  the  others  were  earls  and  lords ;  the  lesser  ba-  15s?. 
rons  were  lards,  or  lairds,  generally  designated  from  their 
estates ;  they  held  immediately  of  the  crown,  but  their  pro- 
perties were  comparatively  small.  As  peers  of  parliament, 
however,  they  were  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  titled 
nobles,  and  considerably  exceeded  them  in  number.  The 
roll  of  parliament,  1472,  gives  the  following,  as  the  propor- 
tion in  which  that  assembly  was  formed  : — One  duke,  four 
bishops,  six  abbots,  four  priors,  eight  earls,  fourteen  lords, 
thirty-four  lesser  barons,  the  commissaries  of  the  burghs, 
eleven  ;*  and  here  it  will  be  observed,  the  number  of  the 
lesser  barons  was  nearly  equal  to  both  the  clergy  and  the 
peers ;  and  this  proportion  continued  down  to  the  time  of  the 
reformation,  when  a  most  important  change  took  place  in  the 
constitution,  by  the  exclusion  of  the  ecclesiastics,  or  their  re- 
duction to  comparative  insignificance  in  the  high  council  of  Ancient 
the  land.  The  nobles  were  hereditary ;  the  clergy,  ex  officio,  tjon 
members ;  their  rights  were  always  definite  and  known ;  those 
of  the  burgesses  are  more  dubious ;  they  are  noticed  first  in 
the  parliament  of  Bruce,  1326;fbut  it  does  not  appear  whether 
they  were  summoned  as  a  constituent  part  of  the  parliament, 
or  simply  for  a  particular  purpose  in  the  then  exigencies  of 
the  country, — to  authorize,  or  rather  regulate  the  mode  of 
taxation  about  to  be  imposed  on  the  boroughs.  In  that  of 
David  II.  held  at  Scone,  20th  July,  1366,  are  enumerated 
certain  burgesses,  summoned  from  each  burgh,  "  for  especial 
reasons."  In  another  council,  held  at  the  same  place,  27th 
September,  1367,  thirteen  delegates  are  mentioned  from  the 
burghs  of  Edinburgh,  Aberdeen,  Perth,  Montrose,  Had- 
dington,  and  Linlithgow.  The  object  was  to  levy  a  tax.  At 
the  parliament  in  the  same  place,  12th  June,  1368,  "  appear- 
ed the  prelates,  lords,  and  burgesses."  Here  no  specific  ob- 
ject was  mentioned,  and  the  business  of  the  parliament  ap- 
pears to  have  been  general.  From  this  period  the  burgesses 
seem  to  have  met,  and  voted  along  with  the  other  members 
of  parliament.  It  may,  however,  be  proper  to  remark,  that 

•  Kaimes'  Essay  on  British  Antiq.  p.  125.  -f  Abercromby,  p.  635. 


158  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  almost  all  the  members  of  parliament  considered  it  as  a  grie- 
**L  vous  burden  to  be  constrained  to  attend,  except  those  who 
1587.  were  immediately  connected  with  government,  or  had  some 
particular  purpose  to  serve.  The  smaller  or  lesser  barons 
were  extremely  averse,  and  penalties  were  considered  neces- 
sary to  compel  them  to  do  their  duty.  James  I.,  who  wished 
to  form  his  parliament  on  the  English  model,  taking  advan- 
tage of  this  disposition,  procured  an  act,  exempting  the  mi- 
nor barons  from  personal  attendance,  and  empowering  them 
to  choose  two  commissioners  for  each  county  to  represent 
them ;  but  this  act  was  never  carried  into  effect  by  that  mon- 
arch, and  the  kings  retained  the  power  of  enforcing  the  per- 
sonal attendance  of  all  the  minor  barons,  as  vassals  of  the 
crown. 

vn.  A  love  of  ease  often  forms  the  failing  of  some  of  the 
noblest  minds ;  and  the  arguments  by  which  they  can  defend 
the  superiority  of  their  choice  are  so  plausible,  that  they 
were  ill  to  refute,  did  not  the  whole  practical  knowledge  of 
life  refute  them.     The  active  politician,  though  of  inferior  ta- 
lents, succeeds  in  getting  into  place  and  power,  while  the  fa» 
superior  endowments  of  a  better  competitor  are  buried  in  the 
shade ;  merely  because  he  declines  the  contest,  from  motives 
it  were  difficult,  even  for  the  most  ingenious,  to  support,  di 
he  stop  to  analyze  them.     This  principle  however,  which  i 
more  ignoble  cases  receives  its  proper  name  of  indolence,  ope 
rates  with  stronger  power  among  half  cultivated  men,  wh 
are  glad  to  get  rid  of  what  costs  a  continuity  of  thought  o 
of  exertion.     It  produced  among  the  Scottish  chieftains  c 
early  ages,  those  anomalies  in  the  constitution  of  Scotlanc 
which  rendered,   in  these  times,  the  Scottish  parliament  th 
most  passive  thing  upon  earth;  while  the   Scottish  noble 
were  the  most  untractable  and  ungovernable  of  human  be 
ings.     They  could  not  be  troubled  with  public  business,  an 
with  pleasure  allowed  the  fatigue  to  be  taken  out  of  the 
Commit-     hands  by  committees.     The  first  of  these  was  chosen  in  th 
parliament  held  at  Perth,  6th  March,  1368,  when  the  scare 
ty  of  the  season  was  assigned  as  the  reason  for  committin 
the  whole  business  into  the  cognizance  of  a  select  numbe 
while  the  rest  were  allowed  to  go  home.     This  committe 
consisted  of  sixteen  barons,  sixteen  clergy,  and  eight  bui 


JAMES  VI.  159 

gesses ;  but  in  the  last  general  council  of  David  II.,  the  coin-    BOOK 
niittees  assumed  a  rather  different  form,  and  appear  as  the  _ 
first  undoubted  institution  of  the  LORDS  OF  THE  ARTICLES,     1587. 
afterward  to  present  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  parliament  ^  ^°ti_ 
of  Scotland.     At  this  meeting  some  were  elected,  by  the  ge-  cles, 
neral  and  unanimous  consent  of  the  three  communities  as- 
sembled, to  treat  and  deliberate  on  certain  "  special "  and 
"  secret "  affairs  of  the  king  and  kingdom,  before  they  came 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  said  general  council.     This  commit- 
tee consisted  of  six  for  the  clergy,  fourteen  for  the  baixms, 
and   seven  burgesses ;  which  plainly  shows,  that  it  had  first 
originated  with  the  members  of  parliament,  and  was  more 
likely  to  have  proved   an  instrument  of  oligarchical,  than  of 
kingly  tyranny  ;  but  the  impatience  of  civil  drudgery,  which 
the  warlike  nobles  possessed,   threw  the  advantage  into  the 
hands  of  the  king,  who  was  surrounded  always  with  the  high 
dignitaries  of  the  church — men  clear  sighted  to  perceive,  and 
ambitious  enough  to  seize  every  avenue  that  led  to  influence. 
In  consequence,  from  being  a  committee  of  parliament,  it  be- 
came completely  a  king's  committee,  and  was  latterly  as  much 
ander  his  control,  as  his  own  privy  council.*     The  lords  of 
the  articles  had  the  sole  arrangement  of  whatever  business 
was  to  come  before  parliament;   to  receive  or  to  reject  peti- 
tions, recommendations,  &c.  and  to  shape,  previously  to  their 
meeting,  all  their  acts.     After   the  institution  of  this  body,  their  influ. 
the  Scottish  parliament  became  merely  a  court  for  register-  ence* 
ing  edicts,   in  which  any  opposition  to  the  royal  will,  would 
i  probably  have  been  held  as  treasonable  as  any  opposition  in 
the  field.f     The  Scottish  king  had  no  negative  voice  in  par- 
liament.    Whatever  acts  were  presented  to  him,   as  passed 
by  the  estates,   he  was  bound  to  ratify ;   but  this  was  mere- 

*  They  were  elected  at  this  time  in  equal  numbers  from  each  estate  ;  eight 
from  the  nobles,  eight  from  the  clergy,  and  eight  from  the  representatives  ot 
boroughs  ;  to  which  were  added,  eight  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  crown. 

f  "  For  here  I  must  note  unto  you,  the  difference  of  the  two  parliaments 
in  these  two  kingdoms,  for  there  [in  Scotland]  they  must  not  speake  without 
the  chauncellor's  leave,  and  if  any  man  doe  propound  or  vtter  any  seditious 
or  vncomely  speeches,  he  is  straght  interrupted,  and  silenced  by  the  chaun- 
cellor's authority." — King  James'  Works,  p.  521,  528.  Such  was  the  liberty 
of  speech  in  the  days  of  James  VI.  It  did  not  improve  under  any  of  the  suc- 
ceeding Stuarts. 


160  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ly  nugatory,  as  no  acts  were  presented  to  him  which  had 
HI'       not  previously  received  his  sanction;  or  if  any  such  had  been, 

1587.  they  were  silently  removed  before  they  received  the  con- 
firming touch  of  the  sceptre.     This  James  VI.  in  his  speech 
to  the  commons  at    Whitehall,   distinctly   states.     He  re- 
marks :   "  It  has  likewise  been  objected,  that  in  the  parlia- 
ment of  Scotland,  the  king  has  not  a  negative  voice,   but 
must  pass  the  laws  agreed  on  by  the  lords  and  commons. 

Subservi-  I  can  assure  you,  that  the  form  of  parliament  there,  is  no- 
^tcaete°sf  the  thing  inclined  to  popularity.  About  twenty  days  before 
parliament,  proclamation  is  made  to  deliver  to  the  king's 
clerk-register,  all  bills  to  be  exhibited  that  session.  They 
are  then  brought  to  the  king  to  be  perused,  and  considered 
of  by  him,  and  only  such  as  I  allow  of  are  put  into  the 
chauncellor's  hands,  to  be  proposed  to  parliament.  Besides, 
when  they  have  passed  them  for  laws,  they  are  presented 
to  me,  and  I,  with  my  sceptre  put  into  my  hands  by  my 
chauncellor,  must  say,  I  ratify  and  approve  all  things  in  this 
parliament ;  and  if  there  be  any  thing  I  dislike,  they  raze 
it  out  before." 

Confirmed  viu.  Such  being  the  constitution  of  a  Scottish  parlia- 
represent!  ment,  it  might  seem  of  little  consequence,  how  the  minor 
tion.  arrangements,  the  collecting  of  its  subordinate  constituent 

parts,  was  conducted.  But  the  reformation  had  greatly 
strengthened  the  power  of  the  aristocracy,  by  destroying 
that  of  the  clergy,  and  by  the  erection  of  many  priories 
and  abbeys  into  temporal  lordships ;  and  in  the  same  pro- 
portion had  the  influence  of  the  crown  been  weakened. 
The  king,  therefore,  in  order  to  counterbalance  this,  pro- 
cured an  act,  similar  to  that  of  James  I.  to  be  passed;  by 
which,  representatives  were  chosen  for  the  counties,  and 
ever  after  continued  to  form  a  part  of  the  Scottish  parlia- 
ment. By  this  means  the  king  regained  his  full  influence; 
it  being  always,  or  for  the  most  part,  in  his  power  to  di- 
rect the  election  of  the  representatives  of  the  shires. 

1588.  1X<  Europe  had  for  some  years  resounded  with  the  war- 
Warlike      like  preparations  of  Spain,  the  object  of  which  was  un- 
tions  of"      known,  but  the  magnitude  of  the  scale  on  which  they  were 
Spain.         conducted,  evinced  its  importance.     Philip,  by  the  con- 
quest of  Portugal  acquired  the  command  of  the  commerce 


JAMES  VI.  161 

and   wealth   of  India,  as  he  had  already  possession  of  the   BOOK 
treasures  of  America,  and  both  were  expended  on   this 


vast  armament.  A  fleet,  the  greatest  known  in  modern  15g7 
times,  was  collected  at  Lisbon,  which  had  been  appointed 
the  rendezvous,  and  a  numerous  army,  composed  of  ve- 
terans, esteemed  the  best  soldiers  in  Europe,  was  assem- 
bled ready  to  embark.  Elizabeth,  who  knew  the  enmity 
of  Philip,  and  the  provocation  she  had  given  him,  by  aid- 
ing his  heretical  subjects  in  the  Netherlands ;  by  allowing 
her  ships  to  insult  the  coasts  of  Spain,  and  threaten  his  do- 
minions in  the  New  World,  was  neither  inattentive  to  her 
danger,  nor  to  the  means  of  defence.  Aware  of  the  im- 
portance of  having  Scotland  secured,  she  instructed  her  am- 
bassador, Ashby,  to  warn  James  of  the  impending  danger 
which  threatened  his  own  crown  equally  with  her's.  The 
bigoted  disposition  of  Philip  left  no  room  to  doubt,  but  that  james 
when  he  subdued  England,  he  would  not  allow  Scotland, —  courted  by 

P  n  .      ,  Elizabeth 

so  obnoxious  to  the  court  or  Kome, — to  remain  Jong  unmo-  and  Philip, 
ested ;  and  she  used  besides,  other  arguments,  which  she 
upposed  might  have  equal  weight — she  promised  him  a 
dutchy  in  England,  with  suitable  estates  attached  to  it,  be- 
sides a  pension  of  five  thousand  pounds  per  annum,  and  to 
maintain  for  him  a  body  guard.  The  king  of  Spain,  who 
was  equally  anxious  to  gain  James,  was  not  less  liberal  in  his 
sromises ;  he  flattered  him  with  the  hope  of  sharing  in  his 
conquest,  and  offered  him  his  daughter,  the  infanta  Isabella, 
in  marriage.  But  it  required  little  penetration  to  perceive 
that  the  safety  of  Scotland  was  closely  joined  to  that  of  Eng- 
land, and  that  Philip  was  not  a  monarch  who  would  con- 
quer kingdoms  to  give  them  away;  James,  therefore,  pursu-  Adheres  to 
ing  the  line  of  conduct  which  his  own  interest  imperiously  de-  England. 
manded,  rejected  the  offers  of  Philip,  and  adhered  to  his  al- 
liance with  the  queen  of  England. 

x.  Philip,  in  addition  to  his  negotiation  with  the  king, 
had  sent  over  numerous  emissaries,   priests  and  Jesuits,  to 
tamper  with  his  nobles,  and  seduce  his  subjects  from  their  Philip  en- 
adherence  to  the  protestant  faith,  and  their  loyalty  to  their  t*aVjUrs 
prince.     James  Gordon,  a  Jesuit,  uncle  to  the  earl  of  Hunt-  the  noble*, 
ly,  and  Edmond  Hay,  of  the  same  order,  a  man  of  great 
VOL.  in.  Y 


162  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    ability,  and  insinuating  manners,  had  been  particularly  ac- 
III-      live,  so  much  so,  as  to  draw  upon  them  the  attention  of  the 


1588.  court;  and  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  their  apprehen- 
sion, together  with  a  long  list  of  others  who  had  attracted 
the  notice,  of  the  ministers  ;  but  through  the  interest  of 
their  friends,  —  particularly  Huntly,  who  was  on  the  eve  of 
his  marriage  with  Lennox's  daughter,  —  upon  their  represen- 
tations to  the  king,  and  their  promise  to  leave  the  country 
as  soon  as  they  could  find  a  convenient  opportunity,  they 
were  permitted  to  remain  and  disseminate  their  doctrines 
till  the  beginning  of  the  year,  James  contenting  himself,  du- 
ring the  winter,  with  writing  a  commentary  on  the  Apoca- 
lypse, and  proving  the  pope  to  be  antichrist;  by  which, 
probably,  he  expected  to  effect  their  conversion,  an  issue 
more  desirable  to  him  as  an  author,  than  their  banishment. 
xi.  The  ministers,  although  equally  zealous  with  his  ma- 
jesty, in  endeavouring  to  counteract  by  argument  the  efforts 
of  the  enemy,  who  were  preparing  a  party  to  join  the  inva- 
ders, if  they  should  effect  a  landing,  deemed  it  expedient  to 
resort  to  some  more  efficacious  and  prompt  measures.  An 
extraordinary  meeting  of  the  general  assembly  was  called, 
to  take  into  consideration  the  dangers  hanging  over  the 
church  and  commonwealth,  through  the  machinations  of  the 
Jesuits.  The  meeting  was  unusually  crowded,  and  all  were 
equally  impressed  with  the  alarming  state  of  public  affairs. 
Proceed-  In  order  that  their  deliberations  might  be  conducted  without 

ings  of  the  C0nfusjon,  and  that  the  several  opinions  and  advice  of  the 
assembly  . 

members  might  be  more  easily  collected,  the  ministers,  no- 

bles, and  lesser  barons  and  commissioners,  met  each  apart. 
The  result  of  their  separate  conferences  were  next  day  de- 
livered to  the  assembly,  when  it  was  proposed  to  proceed 
in  a  body  to  the  king,  to  require  that  the  laws  against 
Jesuits,  seminary  priests,  and  their  accomplices,  should  be 
put  in  execution  ;  and  offering  their  lives,  lands  and  for- 
tunes, to  be  employed  in  the  service  of  their  country.  The 
king,  when  informed  of  their  intention,  considering  this  as  a 
reproof  of  his  own  carelessness,  got  petted  and  angry,  and 
asked  if  they  meant  to  threaten  him  with  their  power,  and 
dictate  to  him  ?  and  refused  to  receive  the  assembly  ;  but 


JAMES  V/.  163 

sent  for  a  few,  to  whom  he  expressed  his  dislike  at  the  man-  BOOK 
ner  of  their  proceedings,  which  he  did  not  think  sufficiently 
respectful.  Yet,  as  the  subject  was  important,  and  as  it  was  1588. 
necessary  to  take  immediate  steps,  he  desired  them  to  tell 
the  assembly,  that  he  would  appoint  some  members  of  his 
privy  council  to  meet  with  any  deputation  they  would  ap- 
point, and  concert  measures  for  the  common  safety.*  The 
joint  committee  proceeded  cordially ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  king  wished  to  temporize  with  Huntly,  Errol,  and  Craw- 
ford, who  were  at  the  head  of  a  faction  that  openly  espous- 
ed the  cause  of  Spain,  the  grand  objects  were  in  some  mea- 
sure attained ;  by  shaming  him  into  more  active  measures, 
and  originating  a  bondf  among  themselves,  under  his  sanc- 
tion, for  the  mutual  defence  of  king,  church,  and  state, 
which  was  recommended  by  the  ministers,  and  eagerly  en-  Bond  for 
tered  into  by  persons  of  every  rank.  In  this  solemn  obli-  defence  of 
gation,  they  consider  the  Reformed  religion  and  the  king's  state. 
estate,  to  have  the  same  friends  and  enemies,  and  both  to 
be  equally  threatened  by  foreign  preparations  for  prosecut- 
ing that  detestable  conspiracy,  named  the  holy  league,  and 
by  the  emissaries  of  the  foreign  powers,  and  their  accom- 
plices within  the  realm ;  and  they  engage  before  God,  to 
defend  and  maintain  both,  against  every  attempt,  foreign  or 
domestic,  particularly  the  threatened  invasion;  and  bind 
and  oblige  themselves,  to  assemble  with  their  friends  in  arms, 
at  such  time  and  place  as  his  majesty  should  appoint,  and 
hazard  their  lives,  lands  and  goods,  in  defence  of  the  true  re- 
ligion, and  his  majesty's  person  ;  and  also  engage  upon  their 
truth  and  honour,  that  they  would  do  their  utmost  to  disco- 
ver Jesuits  and  vassals  of  Rome ;  that  every  private  interest 
should  yield  to  the  public  welfare,  and  that  every  private 


*  Spots  wood,  305-6. 

f  Dr.  Robertson,  Hist,  of  Scot.  Book  vii.  confounds  this  Bond  with  the 
National  Covenant,  which  was  entered  into,  1580,  vide  p.  39.  This  was 
especially  a  bond  against  the  Spanish  invasion,  which,  however,  the  Doctor  very 
properly  characterizes,  "  as  a  prudent  and  laudable  device  for  the  defence 
and  liberties  of  the  nation.  Nor  were  the  terms  other  than  might  have  been 
expected  from  men,  alarmed  with  the  impending  danger  of  popery,  and  threat- 
ened with  an  invasion  by  one  of  the  most  bigoted,  and  most  powerful  princes 
in  Europe." 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    quarrel   or  feud,  should  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of 
1IL      persons  to  be  appointed  by  his  majesty.* 
1588>          xn.  Immediately  after  the  assembly  rose,  James  took  ac- 
tive measures  to  disperse  an  insurrection  which  happened  in 
the  south.     Lord  Maxwell,  who  had  received  liberty  to  go 
abroad,   had  resided  some  months  in  Spain ;  where,  having 
Lord  Max- seen  the  preparations  for  invading  England,   he    returned 
pates^Tas-  nome'  and  landed  at  Kirkcudbright,  about  the  end  of  April ; 
sist  the       as  it  was  then  expected  that  the  Spanish  fleet  would  steer  for 
Spaniards.  the  wegt  of  gcotlant|}  wnere  they  might  land  more  safely, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  the  disaffected  in  that  quarter,  en- 
ter England  by  the  borders.     A  number  of  the  unruly  and 
necessitous  borderers  flocked  to  him  on  his  landing,  and  his 
partisans  were  increasing  so  rapidly,  that  lord  Herries,  the 
warden,  finding  himself  unable  to  put  them  down,  gave  in- 
Summoned  formation  to  the  king,  who  immediately  charged  Maxwell  to 
befor^h    aPPear  before  the  council.     Maxwell,  instead  of  obeying  the 
king.          summons,  began  to  fortify  the  castles  of  which  he  had  pos- 
session, which  so  provoked  his  majesty,  that,  collecting  what 
troops  he  could,  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment,  he  set  out  for 
Dumfries,  with  such  unexpected  despatch,  that  he  had  near- 
ly surprised  Maxwell  in  that  town  ;  but  some  short  resistance 
having  been  made,  he  had  time  to  escape.     Next  day,  the 
castles  of  Lochmaben,  Langholm,  Treve,  and  Carlaverock, 
were  summoned,  and  all  of  them  surrendered  except  Lochma- 
ben, the  governor  of  which,  trusting  to  the  royal  army's  want 
of  artillery,  refused ;  but  the  king  having  borrowed  a  few  pieces 
from  the  English  warden,  after  a  shot  or  two  had  been  fired, 
the  garrison  surrendered  to  sir  William  Stuart,  brother  to 
captain  James,  upon  condition    that  their  lives   should   be 
spared.      The  captain,   having  refused  to  surrender  when 
summoned  by  the  king  in  person,  was  hanged ;  the  rest  were 
dismissed.      Next  day,    the   king   despatched  Stuart   after 
lord  Maxwell,  who  was  endeavouring  to  escape  by  sea ;  and 
Madepri-   he  having  overtaken  him,   brought  him  prisoner  to  Edin- 
burgh, to  the  king.    Soon  after,  captain  James  was  killed  in  a 
casual  rencounter,  by  the  earl  of  Bothwell,  in  the  High  Street 
of  Edinburgh. 

*  Calderwood,  pp.  323-5. 


JAMES  VI.  165 

xin.  Scarcely  had  the  king  returned  to  his  capital,  when   BOOK 

intelligence  arrived  of  the  sailing  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  _ 

on  which  he  immediately  summoned  a  meeting  of  the  estates ;      1588. 
and,  in  an  opening  speech,  pointed  out  to  them  the  close  uni- 
on that  existed  between  the  interest  of  Scotland  and  Eng- 
and,  and  that  an  invasion  of  England,  as  it  was  an  invasion  Prepara- 
of  his  right,  would  be  but  a  prelude  to  the  invasion  of  Scot- 
and ;  the  pretext  for  invading  England  was  religion,  but  in 
his  view  both  kingdoms  were  the  same.       "  For  myself, >-1 
continued  the  king,  "  I  have  ever  thought  mine  own  safety, 
and  the  safety  of  religion,  to  be  so  conjoined,  as  that  they 
cannot  well  be  separated  ;  neither  desire  I  to  live,  or  to  reign 
[longer,  than  while  I  am  able  to  maintain  the  same.     I  know 
that  the  opinion  of  some  is,  I  have  now  a  fair  opportunity 
For  revenging  the  wrong    and  unkindness  done  me,  by  the 
(Jeath  of  my  mother ;  but,  whatever  I  think  of  the  excuses 
Uhich  the  queen  has  made  me,  I  will  not  be  so  foolish,  as  to 
pke  the  help  of  one  stronger  than  myself,  nor  will  I  seek  to 
gratify  my  own  passions  at  the  expense  of  religion,  and  the 
*isk  of  putting  in  hazard,  not  only  this  kingdom,  but  those 
:hat  belong  to  me  after  her  decease."     Maitland,   the  chan- 
:ellor,  seconded  the  sentiments   of  the  king,  and  suggested 
,he  most  proper  plan  of  defence  to  be  adopted.     As  Eliza- 
jeth  had  not  required  any  assistance,  he  recommended  that 
heir  principal  attention  should  be  directed   to   secure  their 
jwn  country  from  invasion ;  that  a  general  enrolment  should 
oe  made  of  the  whole  population  fit  to  bear  arms,  and  noble- 
men  appointed   in  every  district,   to  take  the  command ; 
watches  to  be  appointed  at  all  the  sea-ports,  and  beacons 
erected  upon  the  most  conspicuous  eminences,  to  alarm  the 
country  on  the  appearance  of  any  fleet ;  and  that   the  king 
fnd  council  should  remain    at   Edinburgh,   to   direct  and 
(superintend  the  whole.     The  estates  unanimously  approv- 
i;d  of  the  measures  proposed,  with  the  exception  of  Both- 
well,  who  wished  to  take  advantage  of  the  present  circum- 
stances, for  attacking  England ;  but  the  king  desired  him 
|o  attend  to  his  own  duty  as  admiral,  and  look  to  the  ships, 
xiv.  While  the  country  exhibited  a  general  appearance 
>f  vigorous  exertion, — all  the  protestant  population,  as  if 
Animated  with  one  soul,  actively  seconding  the  measures  of 


166  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    government, — James  wrote  a  letter  to  Elizabeth,  offering  u 

.    IIL aid  her  with  the  whole  of  his  forces.     The  queen  of  Eng 

He  offer's  land>  wno  was  nighlv  gratified  with  these  demonstrations  o 
assistance  cordial  co-operation,  despatched  sir  Robert  Sidney,  to  thanl 
the  Scottish  king,  and  to  offer  in  return,  her  assistance 
if  the  Spaniards  should  land  in  Scotland.  In  conversa- 
tion with  this  ambassador,  on  the  probable  subjection  o 
Scotland  in  case  England  were  overcome,  James  told  hinr 
the  only  favour  he  expected  from  the  Spanish  king,  was 
similar  to  that  promised  by  Polyphemus  to  Ulysses,  to  b< 
devoured  last. 

xv.  At  this  most  important  juncture,  the  king  was  influen- 
ced by  Maitland, — almost  the  only  able  statesman  that  evei 
enjoyed  any  thing  of  his  confidence, — and  he  perceived  th 
necessity  of  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  ministers,  who  pos 
sessed  so  much  influence  with  the  people;  the  consequeno 
was,  that  the  public  measures,  which  were  directed  by  tin 
council,  were  wise,  and  well  adapted  to  the  exigencies  o 
the  time ;  while  those  in  which  the  king  was  personally  ea 
gaged,  betrayed  a  woful  degree  of  indecision  and  imbecility 
A  little  after  the  convention  dissolved,  colonel  Semple,  a; 
agent  of  the  prince  of  Parma,  arrived  at  Leith,  on  a  pretend- 
ed mission  to  the  king ;  but  his  communication  was  of  so 
trifling  a  nature,  that  it  raised  suspicions  of  its  being  merely 
a  covert  for  some  darker  purpose.  He  was  accordingly  order- 
ed to  be  watched,  and  was  taken  in  the  very  act  of  unsealing 
despatches  from  abroad.  When  detected,  he  readily  offer- 
ed to  go  before  the  council,  but  contrived  to  inform  Hunt- 
ly, who  was  allowed  by  the  king  to  reside  with  his  new 
married  lady  in  the  precincts  of  Holyroodhouse,  of  his  pro- 
cedure; and  was  in  consequence,  forcibly  rescued  on  his  road 
to  the  palace.  Information  of  this  being  carried  to  the  chan- 
cellor, who  was  attending  the  evening  service  of  St.  Giles — 
it  was  a  public  fast — he  instantly  collected  a  number  of  peo- 
ple, and  went  in  pursuit  of  Huntly,  who  must  have  been 
taken ;  but  the  king,  who  was  returning  from  Falkland,  met 
him  in  the  street,  and  would  not  allow  him  to  proceed. 
Huntly,  however,  was  sent  for  to  the  chancellor's,  and  hav- 
ing made  some  frivolous  excuse,  was  permitted  to  depart, 
on  promising  to  produce  Semple  next  day ;  but  during  th< 


JAMES  VI.  167 

night,  Semple  made  his  escape,  and  was  never  more  heard    BOOK 
>f,  and  the  only  punishment  inflicted  on  Huntly  for  this  dar-  _ 
ng  and  treasonable  outrage,  was  being  forbid  the  king's  pre-      1588. 
ence  for  a  few  days.* 

xvi.  At  length  the  long  threatened  expedition  arrived  in  Armada 
he  English  channel.       The  instructions  of  the  Spanish  mo-  t^e  gng? 
narch  were,  first  to  scour  the  straits  of  all  the  enemy's  vessels, lish 

TIB! 

hen  join  an  armament  under  the  duke  of  Parma,  and  sail- 
ng  directly  up  the  Thames,  by  one  decisive  blow,  seal  the  fate 
of  England ;  and  so  certain  were  they  of  success,  that  no 
>recautionary  measures  were  taken  to  lessen  the  disasters  of 
a  defeat,  by  securing  some  friendly  port,  where  they  might 
lave  found  shelter  from  enemies  or  storms,  or  repaired  their 
damages.  The  admiral  of  the  fleet  disobeyed  his  orders, 
and  sailed  direct  for  Plymouth,  where  he  understood  the 
English  fleet,  dispersed  by  some  late  gales,  had  gone  to  re- 
it  ;  but  the  English,  who  had  been  informed  by  a  Flemish 
or  Scottish  pirate  of  their  approach,  were  prepared  to  meet 
them,  and  had  put  to  sea,  with  the  intention  of  taking  ad- 
vantage of  any  favourable  circumstance  which  might  arise ; 
and  the  activity  of  sir  Francis  Drake  was  successful  in  cut- 
ting off  two  of  the  largest  ships.  As  the  Armada  proceeded, 
it  continued  to  be  harassed  by  the  smaller,  but  more  manag- 
able  vessels  of  their  enemies ;  and  when  they  reached  Calais, 
3efore  which  they  anchored,  a  successful  stratagem  was 
practised  against  them,  by  sending  a  number  of  small  ves- 
sels, filled  with  combustibles,  into  the  midst  of  the  fleet. 
Alarmed  at  their  appearance,  the  Spaniards  cut  their  cables, 
and  endeavoured  to  escape,  without  order,  and  in  the  great- 
est  trepidation.  The  English  attacked  them  in  their  con- 
fusion, and  did  considerable  damage;  while  the  elements  con- 
spiring with  the  enemy,  spread  terror  and  ruin  throughout 
this  immense  armament,  a  few  weeks  ago,  presumptuously 
designated  invincible. 

xvii.  The  duke  of  Parma,  blockaded  by  the  Dutch,  had 
only  a  fleet  of  transports  ;  and  the  floating  bulwarks  to  which 
he  had  trusted,  scarcely  able  to  defend  themselves,  could 
neither  relieve  the  blockade,  nor  protect  him  on  his  passage. 

•  Spotswood,  p.  370. 


168 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


1588. 


And  des- 
truction. 


BOOK    He  therefore  gave  up  all  idea  of  attempting  it,  and  the  Spa- 
IIL       nish  admiral,  who  saw  his  fleet  daily  diminishing,  prepared 
to  return  home ;  but  the  wind  proving  contrary  for  sailing 
through  the  channel,  he  resolved  to  stretch  northward,  and, 
making  a  sweep  round  the  island,  return  by  the  western 
ocean.     A  violent  tempest  overtook  them  after  they  had 
passed  Orkney,  and  the  sailors,  unable  to  contend,  yielded 
to  its  fury,  and  the  scattered  Armada  perished  miserably 
nmono-  the  Hebrides,  and  on  the  coasts  of  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land.    A  few  only  returned  to  Spain,  to  carry  thither  the 
melancholy  tidings,  which  filled  almost  every  family  of  note 
with  mourning;  for  such  had  been  the  anxiety  of  the  gran- 
dees to  share  in  the  glory  of  conquering  England,  that  there 
was  hardly  one  house,  who  had  not  furnished  a  father,  bro- 
ther, or  son,  as  a  soldier  or  volunteer,  on  this  holy  expedition, 
xvni.  The  rejoicings  in  both  kingdoms,  on  account  of  this 
most  propitious  event,  were,  among  the  protestants,  ardent 
and  sincere.     In  Scotland  they  were  expressed  in  the  most 
lively  manner ;    yet,    notwithstanding   the  zeal    manifested 
against  the  errors  of  popery,  and  the  determined  resistance 
to  its  tyranny,  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  it  did  not  operate 
in  extinguishing  the  feelings  of  humanity  to  the  most  bigoted 
of  the   Romish   persuasion,  when  shipwrecked  upon  their 
coasts,  and  thrown  helpless  among  a  people  they  had  em- 
barked to  destroy.     Hundreds  of  the  sufferers,  who  were 
forced  ashore,  were  kindly  treated,  supplied  with  necessaries, 
and  sent  back  in  safety  to  their  own  country.*     The  Roman 

*  Robertson's  Hist,  of  Scot.  Book  vii.  The  following  is  too  remarkable  to 
be  omitted.  James  Melville,  minister  of  Anstruther,  a  seaport  on  the  south- 
east coast  of  Fife,  was  early  one  morning,  before  the  overthrow  of  the  Armada 
was  known  in  Scotland,  informed  by  one  of  the  bailies  of  the  town  that  a  ship 
filled  with  Spaniards,  had  entered  their  harbour,  but  that  the  strangers  wert- 
come  to  ask  mercy,  not  to  give  it,  and  the  magistrates  requested  his  advice  how 
to  act.  The  principal  inhabitants  having  convened,  it  was  agreed,  after  con- 
sultation, to  give  audience  to  the  commander,  and  that  their  minister,  who  had 
some  acquaintance  with  the  Spanish  language,  should  convey  to  him  the  senti- 
ments of  the  town.  Intimation  of  this  having  been  sent  to  the  vessel,  a  vene- 
rable old  man,  of  large  stature,  and  martial  countenance,  entered  the  town-hall, 
and  making  a  profound  bow,  and  touching  the  minister's  shoe  with  his  hand, 
addressed  him  in  Spanish.  "  His  name  was  Jan  Gomez  de  Medina.  He 
was  commander  of  twenty  hulks,  being  part  of  the  grand  fleet,  his  master  Phi- 
lip king;  of  Spain,  had  fitted  out,  to  revenge  the  insufferable  insults  which  ht 


JAMES  VI.  169 

catholics,  however,  who  had  anticipated  the  triumph  of  their     BOOK 
religion  in  the  ruin  of  their  country,  disappointed  by  the       '*'• 
unexpected  failure  of  the  Spanish  Arniada,  became  dispirited  ~TJIT"~ 

had  received  from  the  English  nation ,  but  God,  on  account  of  their  sins,  had 
fought  against  them,  and  dispersed  them  by  a  storm,  the  vessels  under  his  com- 
mand, had  been  separated  from  the  main  fleet,  driven  on  the  north  coast  of 
Scotland,  and  shipwrecked  on  the  Fair  Isle ;  and  after  escaping  the  merciless 
waves  and  rocks,  and  enduring  great  hardships  from  hunger  and  cold,  he,  and 
such  of  his  men  as  were  preserved,  had  made  their  way  in  their  only  remain- 
ing bark  to  this  place,  intending  to  seek  assistance  from  their  good  friends  and 
confederates,  the  Scots,  and  to  kiss  his  majesty's  hand,  (making  another  pro- 
found bow,)  from  whom  he  expected  relief  and  comfort  to  himself,  his  officers, 
and  poor  men,  whose  case  was  most  pitiable."  When  James  Melville  was 
about  to  reply  in  Latin,  a  young  man,  who  acted  as  interpreter,  repeated  his 
master's  speech  in  English.  The  minister  then  addressed  the  admiral.  "  On 
the  score  of  friendship,  or  of  the  cause  in  which  they  were  embarked,  the 
Spaniards,  he  said,  had  no  claims  on  them ;  the  king  of  Spain  was  a  sworn 
vassal  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  on  that  ground,  they  and  their  king  defied 
him  ;  and  with  respect  to  England,  the  Scots  were  indissolubly  leagued  with 
that  kingdom,  and  regarded  an  attack  upon  it  as  the  same  with  an  attack  upon 
themselves.  But  although  this  was  the  case,  they  looked  upon  them  in  their 
present  situation,  as  men,  and  fellow-creatures,  labouring  under  privations  and 
sufferings,  to  which  they  themselves  were  liable  ;  and  they  rejoiced  at  an  op- 
portunity of  testifying  how  superior  their  religion  was  to  that  of  their  enemies. 
Many  Scotsmen,  who  had  resorted  to  Spain  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and  com- 
merce, had  been  thrown  into  prison  as  heretics,  their  property  confiscated,  and 
their  bodies  committed  to  the  flames.  But  so  far  from  retaliating  such  cruel- 
ties on  them,  they  would  give  them  every  kind  of  relief  and  comfort  which  was 
in  their  power,  leaving  it  to  God  to  work  such  a  change  in  their  hearts  as  he 
pleased."  This  answer  being  reported  by  the  interpreter  to  the  Spanish  ad- 
miral, he  returned  most  humble  thanks,  adding,  that  he  could  not  answer 
for  the  laws  and  practices  of  his  church,  but  as  for  himself,  there  were 
j  many  in  Scotland,  and  perhaps  some  in  that  very  town,  who  could  attest 
i  that  he  had  treated  them  with  favour  and  courtesy.  After  this,  the  admiral 
and  his  officers  were  conveyed  to  lodgings  which  had  been  provided  for  them, 
!  and  were  hospitably  entertained  by  the  magistrates  and  neighbouring  gentle- 
I  men,  until  they  obtained  a  license  and  protection  from  his  majesty  to  return 
!  home.  "  The  privates,  to  the  number  of  threttin  score,  for  the  maist  part 
j  young  berdles  men,  sillie,  trauchled  and  hungered,  were  supplied  with  keall, 
!  pottage,  and  fish." 

The  sequel  of  the  story  is  gratifying.    Some  time  after  this,  a  vessel  belong- 

I   ing  to  Anstruther,  was  arrested  in  a  Spanish  port.     Don  Jan  Gomez,  was  no 

sooner  informed  of  this,  than  he  posted  to  court,  and  obtained  her  release 

i   from  the  king,  to  whom  he  spoke  in  the  highest  terms,  of  the  humanity  and 

j   hospitality  of  the  Scots,  he  invited  the  ship's  company  to  his  house,  inquired 

kindly  after  his  acquaintances  in  the  good  town  of  Anstruther,  and  sent  his 

warmest  commendations  to  their  minister,  and  other  individuals,  to  whom  he 

considered  himself  as  most  particularly  indebted.     Melville's  Diary,  quoted  by 

Dr.  M'Crie. 

VOL.  in.  Z 


170  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   and  enraged,  in  proportion  as  they  had  been  sanguine  anc 

confident,  and  began  immediately  to  engage  in  new  intrigues 

15S8.     The  duke  of  Parma   endeavoured    to  revive  their  hopes 

Intrigues    by  representing  the  loss  in  the  late  expedition,  as  greatly  ex 

of  the  Pop.  acrcrerated,  and  encouraging  them  with  the  hope  of  a 

:sh  lords.        ots  o  r 

armament  being  despatched  m  the  spring,  before  the  tem- 
pestuous weather  should  set  in ;  and  in  the  meantime,  re 
mitted  a  large  sum  of  money  to  Bruce,  a  seminary  priest  ir 
Scotland,  to  be  applied  as  he  saw  proper,  in  securing  th 
nobles  already  gained,  and  in  endeavouring  to  make  ne 
proselytes. 

xix.  At  the  head  of  the  party,  stood  the  earls  of  Huntly, 
Crawford,  Errol,  and  lord  Maxwell,  who  styled  himself  earl 
of  Morton.  All  these  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
the  prince  of  Parma,  and  offered  their  services  to  the  king 
of  Spain,  advising  him  to  make  an  attempt  upon  England 
through  Scotland,  which  they  lamented  had  not  been  done 
by  the  Armada ;  for  if  it  had,  it  could  scarcely  have  failed  of 
success.  Huntly,  who  had  basely  reconciled  himself  to  the 
church,  excused  himself  for  his  compromise,  by  pleading  ne- 
cessity ;  and  promising  to  atone  for  his  hollow  compliance, 
by  some  good  service,  tending  to  the  advancement  of  the 
cause  of  God,  who,  he  said,  had  given  him  such  favour  with 
his  majesty,  as  to  enable  him  to  remove  the  former  guard, 
and  replace  them  by  persons  wholly  at  his  devotion ;  who, 
so  soon  as  the  promised  aid  should  arrive,  should  ensure  the 
downfall  of  the  heretics'  power,  and  the  triumph  of  the  catho- 
lics. Errol,  who  had  been  newly  converted  to  the  Roman 
catholic  faith,  said,  that  ever  since  his  conversion,  he  thought 
himself  bound  to  promote  his  catholic  majesty's  enterprises, 

Their  pro-  and  as  the  promotion  of  that  religion,  which  was  the  great- 
posals  to  •  ,  °  . 

Philip.  est»  anc*  most  important  cause  in  the  world,  was  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  them,  he  was  now  become  altogether 
his;  and  the  united  desire  of  the  whole  was,  that  Philip 
would  send  six  thousand  veteran  troops,  and  as  much  mo- 
ney as  would  support  six  thousand  more,  with  which  they 
engaged,  within  six  hours  after  their  arrival,  to  advance  in- 
to England,  to  assist  the  forces  he  might  be  able  to  land 
there.  They  besides,  advised  him,  that  the  most  likely  plan 
to  ensure  success,  would  be  to  divide  his  forces;  and  in- 


JAMES  VI.  171 

stead  of  attacking  England  with  his  whole  army  at  one   BOOK 
point,  to  make  a  simultaneous  attack  upon  it,  from  Ireland 


and    Scotland,  which    would  distract  the  attention  of  the     1589- 
government;  and  while  they  made  their  greatest  efforts  on 
the  side  of  Scotland,  believing  the  main  force  to  be  in  that 
quarter,   a  descent  might  be  made  directly  upon  the  coasts 
of  England,  which  would  be  left  naked  and  defenceless. 

O  * 

xx.  The  foreign  emissaries,  who  foresaw  that  a  number 
of  difficulties  or  hindrances  might  retard  any  attempt  from 
abroad,  urged  the  popish  lords,  in  the  meantime,  to  do  some- 
thing at  home,  which  might  induce  the  Spanish  monarch  to 
hasten  his  operations,  and  make  him  more  anxious  to  send  his 
promised  aid.  A  plan  was  formed  at  their  instigation,  to  get  They  con. 
possession  of  the  king's  person,  and  remove  from  his  presence  SJ 
the  chancellor  and  treasurer ;  for  they  despaired  of  effecting  king, 
their  purpose  while  they  directed  his  councils.  In  this 
scheme  to  overturn  the  cabinet,  they  calculated  upon  the  as- 
sistance of  other  noblemen,  who,  although  not  Roman  ca- 
tholics, were  discontented.  Bothwell,  a  grandson  of  James 
V.* — whose  restless  disposition  would  never  allow  him  to 
remain  long  quiet, — and  the  earl  of  Montrose,  proposed  to 
assemble  a  force  at  Quarrel- holes,  between  Leith  and  Edin- 
burgh, and  thence  proceed  directly  to  Holyroodhouse,  and 
take  possession  of  the  royal  person.  Maitland  and  Glam- 
mis  were  to  be  excluded,  or,  if  found  in  attendance,  were 
to  be  killed.  This  plan  was,  however,  disconcerted,  by  his 
majesty's  remaining  with  the  chancellor,  in  whose  house  he 
had  lodged  during  the  greater  part  of  the  preceding  winter. 
The  conspirators,  when  they  learned  that  the  king  had  fix- 
ed his  residence  within  the  walls,  halted  at  different  places, 
a  considerable  way  from  the  city.  Huntly  alone,  presum- 
ing on  James'  affection,  proceeded,  and  on  the  evening  on 
which  they  had  appointed  to  meet,  with  the  most  daring  au- 
dacity, entered  the  presence  chamber,  where  the  king  was 
conversing  with  the  chancellor,  attended  by  Kinfauns,  the 
earl  of  Crawford's  brother,  and  some  of  Errol's  most  deter- 
mined followers.  The  unexpected  appearance  of  the  men, 
and  their  threatening  look,  excited  suspicion  in  some  of  the 

•  A  son  of  John  Stuart,  prior  of  Coldinghani. 


172  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK     chancellor's  friends,    who,   anxious  for  his  safety,   pressed 
*"•        round  him;  and  on  the  king's  retiring — which  he  did  after  he 
1589.      had  conversed  a  little  with  Huntly — guarded  him  to  his  own 
Their  plan  apartments,  immediately  above   those  of  his   majesty.     As 
e  eated.     soon  as  },e   withdrew,  he  sent  a  message  to  the  king,  to 
intimate  respectfully  the  insult  that  had  been  offered,  and 
point  out  the  impropriety  and  danger  of  suffering  so  many 
armed  men  to  remain  in  the  house ;  whereupon  the  earl  and 
his  followers  were  ordered  to  depart,  and  the  rooms  were  shut. 
Next  morning  the  king  sent  for  him,  and  straitly  interro- 
gated him  as  to  his  errand  in  town,  and  why  he  came  with 

Huntly       armed  attendants?    his  answers  being  vague  and  unsatisfac- 
sent  to  the 

castle.         tory,  he  was  forthwith  committed  to  the  castle.     Informa- 
tion being  also  received  that  day  of  the  advance  of  some  of  the 
others  with  bodies  of  men,  the  whole  plot  was  discovered. 
Errol  and    On  this  Errol  and  Bothwell  were  summoned  to  appear  be- 
declared  re-  ^ore  *-ne  council,  which  refusing  to  do,  they  were  denounced 
bels.  rebels.    Huntly,  after  a  very  short  confinement,  was,  upon  a 

promise  of  better  behaviour  in  future,  set  at  liberty  by  the 
king,  and  allowed  to  go  north.  In  his  progress  thither  he 
had  an  interview  with  the  earl  of  Crawford  at  Perth,  which 
they  intended  to  fortify  as  convenient  head  quarters  for  as- 
sembling their  forces  ;  but  hearing  that  the  treasurer  had  ar- 
rived in  that  quarter,  and  had  appointed  a  meeting  of  his  vas- 
sals at  Meigle,  they  gave  up  their  intention,  and  proceeding 
against  him,  pursued  him  to  the  house  of  Kirkhill,  which,  on 
his  attempting  to  defend,  they  set  fire  to,  and  forced  him  to 
surrender.  After  this  they  marched  north. 

xxi.  Prosperity  had  not  lulled  the  vigilance  of  Elizabeth  ; 
and  as  she  was  well  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Scotland, 
she  watched  with  jealousy  the  proceedings  of  the  disaffected, 
then  rendered  more  dangerous  and  daring  by  the  impunity 
which  they  hoped  from  the  facile  disposition  of  the  king,  or 
the  incomprehensible  refinement  of  his  ingenious  king-craft. 
Elizabeth  All  the  treasonable  correspondence  of  the  popish  lords  was 
their  plots,  intercepted  in  England  by  her  agents,  and  the  extensive  con- 
spiracy discovered.  Alarmed  at  the  danger  with  which  she 
was  threatened,  she  wrote  a  very  sharp  letter  to  James;  and 
reproaching  him  with  his  remissness  and  lenity  in  former 
cases,  exhorted  him  to  take  some  strong  measures  now,  and 


JAMES  VI.  173 

to  punish  with  severity  those  concerned  in  the  present  wide   BOOK 
spread  treasonable  project.     In  compliance  with  her  injunc- 


tions, a  proclamation  was  issued,  ordering  the  Jesuits,  semi-     1539. 
nary  priests,  and  their  abettors,  particularly  Hay,  Crichton,  Urges  their 
and  Bruce,  to  quit  the  country  under  pain  of  death ;  but  in-  j^™1*  " 
stead  of  obeying  the  mandate,  they  resorted  to  Huntly,  Craw- 
ford, and  Errol,  and  instigated  them  to  repay  the  clemency 
of  their  sovereign,  by  breaking  out  in  open  insurrection. 

xxn.  The  three  combined  lords  accordingly  collected  They  rebel 
their  forces,  and  in  the  beginning  of  April  entered  Aber- 
deen, where  they  issued  a  proclamation  in  the  king's  name, 
declaring  that  he  was  held  captive ;  and  calling  upon  all  his 
loyal  subjects  to  aid  those  who  had  taken  arms  to  procure 
his  liberation.  They  were  the  more  readily  induced  to  take 
this  step,  by  the  hope  that  Bothwell  and  his  friends  in  the 
south  would  be  able  to  create  such  a  diversion  as  would 
prevent  the  king,  for  some  time,  for  bringing  any  force 
against  them.  But  the  king  having  proclaimed  Both-  The  king 
well  and  the  chief  of  his  followers,  rebels,  resolved  to  march  Pro?eeds 

against 

against  the  more  formidable  party  in  the  north,  and  crush  them, 
them  before  they  had  time  to  consolidate  their  strength. 
Having  hastily  assembled  a  small  army,  he  advanced  rapidly 
to  Currie,  a  small  village  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  distant 
from  Aberdeen,  where  he  learned  that  the  confederates, 
three  thousand  strong,  were  in  full  march  to  meet  him. 
They  did  not,  however,  dare  to  trust  their  forces ;  many  of 
whom  had  joined  them  in  the  belief  that  they  had  the  king's 
commission,  and  the  leaders  disagreeing  among  themselves, 
they  dispersed  at  the  bridge  of  Dee.  On  hearing  of  their 
dispersion,  the  king  went  to  Aberdeen,  where  he  received 
the  submission  of  several  who  had  joined  the  rebels,  and 
offers  of  service  from  numbers  of  the  noblemen  and  barons. 
'  From  Aberdeen  he  proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  was 
joined  by  the  treasurer;  who  had  obtained  his  liberty,  and 
i  was  commissioned  by  Crawford  and  Huntly  to  carry  their  They  sub- 
i  offers  of  submission  to  the  king,  as  was  the  chancellor  that mu* 
|  of  Bothwell.  The  parties  were  desired  to  enter  ward,  and 
submit  to  trial ;  but  the  king  would  consent  to  no  conditions. 
With  this  the  earls  found  it  advisable  to  comply,  and  on  the 
4th  of  May  were  indicted  in  eight  distinct  charges  of  treason: 


174 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1.589. 

Are  indict 
ed  for  trea- 


Found 
guilty, 


Pardoned. 


The  king's 
matrimo- 
nial nego- 
tiations, 


— for  practising  with  Jesuits,  priests,  and  foreigners,  against 
religion ;  receiving  Spanish  gold,  and  hiring  soldiers  to  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  the  realm  ;  for  entering  into  a  treasonable 
bond  to  surprise  and  fortify  Perth  ;  for  conspiring  to  take  the 
king  prisoner,  and  kill  his  counsellors ;  for  having  set  fire  to 
the  house  of  Kirkhill,  and  taken  the  treasurer,  Glammis, 
prisoner;  for  having  convoked  the  lieges  by  proclamation, 
under  pretence  that  the  king  was  detained  prisoner  against 
his  will ;  for  coming  with  displayed  banners  against  the  king 
at  the  bridge  of  Dee ;  for  having  maltreated  the  king's  he- 
rald, and  prevented  him  from  proclaiming  the  king's  letters  ; 
and  for  having  hired  strangers,  soldiers  and  others,  to  in- 
vade the  town  of  Leith  during  the  king's  absence.  This 
last  particularly  applied  to  Bothwell.  Huntly  pleaded  guilty, 
and  threw  himself  on  the  king's  mercy ;  the  others  were 
found  so,  partly  by  their  own  confession,  and  partly  proved 
upon  them  ;  but  sentence  was  suspended  by  the  king's  war- 
rant, and  they  were  committed  to  prison  during  his  majes- 
ty's pleasure — Bothwell  to  Tantallon,  Crawford  to  Black- 
ness, and  Huntly  to  Edinburgh  castle.  After  a  few  months' 
confinement,  they  and  all  the  rebels  were  pardoned,  amid 
the  rejoicings  in  prospect  of  the  king's  marriage. 

xxirr.  Ever  since  the  embassy  from  Denmark,  James  had 
directed  his  thoughts  thither  for  a  suitable  consort.  Mr. 
Peter  Young,  who  had  been  one  of  his  tutors,  was  sent,  soon 
after  the  ambassador's  return,  to  visit  that  court,  and  inform 
him  of  the  appearance,  manners,  and  qualifications  of  the 
princesses ;  upon  which,  if  favourable,  he  determined  early 
to  send  a  more  honourable  embassage.  Soon  after,  colonel 
Stewart,  who  had  a  pension  from  the  king  of  Denmark,  un- 
der cover  of  his  own  business,  went  also  thither,  and  carried 
with  him  some  written  instructions,  to  enter  into  a  negotia- 
tion with  the  king  about  a  marriage ;  and  both  these  en- 
voys returned  home  highly  pleased  with  the  manner  in 
which  they  had  been  treated,  and  full  of  the  praises  of  the 
young  princesses. 

xxiv.  Elizabeth,  from  the  moment  she  had  heard  of  the 
Danish  embassy,  was  jealous  lest  it  would  end  in  a  marriage, 
and  began  to  practise  all  her  arts  to  prevent  it ;  but  James, 
resolved  upon  matrimony,  despatched  another  embassy  to 


JAMES  vr.  175 

forward  the  match.  Scarcely,  however,  had  they  sailed,  BOOK 
when  Guilaume  de  Saluste,  Sieur  du  Bartas,  the  celebrated 
French  poet,  who  had  been  invited  by  the  Scottish  king  to  1.589. 
pay  him  a  visit,  arrived  in  Scotland.  Henry  IV.,  then  king  Frustrated 
of  Navarre,  who  was  at  that  time  anxious  to  secure  the  al- 
liance of  all  the  protestant  princes,  took  advantage  of  this 
visit,  to  propose  a  treaty  with  the  king  of  Scots,  and  to  offer 
him  in  marriage  his  sister,  the  princess  of  Navarre.  James, 
gratified  by  the  attention  of  Henry,  and  flattered  by  the 
poet,  acceded  to  the  proposals,  and  sent  lord  Tungland, 
along  with  Du  Bartas,  to  France,  to  bring  him  a  report  of 
the  princess  of  Navarre.  The  princess  rejected  the  match, 
in  consequence  of  her  attachment  to  the  Compte  de  Sois- 
sons  ;  and  the  king  of  Denmark,  who  had  been  informed  of 
the  mission  by  the  English  agents,  and  was  already  disgust- 
ed with  the  delays,  and  tired  with  the  repetition  of  embassies 
which  came  to  nothing,  gave  his  eldest  daughter  in  marriage 
to  the  duke  of  Brunswick. 

xxv.  Disappointed  in  his  hopes  from  both,  James,  who 
was  now  arrived  at  full  manhood,  and  stood,  as  he  himself 
expressed  it,  aldne,  without  father,  mother,  brother,  or  sis- 
ter, imagining  that  the  failure  had  proceeded  from  his  own  Renews 
'  ministers,   made  his  addresses  to  the  princess  Anne,  Fre-  ^emnarL 
derick's  second  daughter.     Thwarted  once  more  by  a  vote 
of  his  council,  who,  gained  by  England,  pronounced  against 
his  marriage  with  Denmark,   and   Elizabeth,   at  the  same 
time,  sending  him  a  message  to  dissuade  him  from  the  match, 
i.  the  king  became  irritated,  and   his  love  rendered  more  ar- 
dent by  opposition,  prompted  him  to  a  measure  which  no- 
thing but  the  violence  of  his  passion  could  excuse.     He  in- 
cited, by  some  of  his  confidential  servants,  the  deacons  and 
craftsmen  of  Edinburgh  to  mob  the  chancellor,  and  threaten 
his  life  if  any  more  obstacles  were  thrown  in  the  way  of  his 
gratification.     The  rough  arguments  of  the  trades  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  the  earl  Marischall  was  despatched  to 
Denmark,  with  full  powers  and  instructions  under  the  king's  Marries 
own  hand.     The  marriage  articles  were  easily  settled,  and  Ann^y 
the  young  queen,  who  was  married  by  proxy,  set  sail  for  proxy. 
Scotland. 


176  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND, 

BOOK       xxvi.  James,  whose  expectation  was  now  upon  the  stretch, 
HI-      was  yet  doomed  to  feel  other  disappointments.     A  violent 
1589.      storm  drove  the  fleet  into  Norway  in  so  shattered  a  condi- 
tion, that  they  could  not  proceed  upon  the  voyage,  and  it 
was  determined  that  the  queen  should  winter  in  Norway. 
The  king's  belief  in  witchcraft  was  solid  and  sincere,  yet 
notwithstanding  the  general  suspicion,  that  the  witches,  both 
of  Norway  and  Scotland,  were  leagued  against  him,  his  ama- 
tory impatience  got  the  better  of  his  fears,  and  he  determin- 
ed to  proceed  himself  to  the  north,  and  bring  home  his  bride. 
Proceeds  to  Without  communicating  his  design  to  any  of  the  council,  he 
conduct"  her  set  sa^>  accompanied  by  the  chancellor,  a  number  of  noble  - 
to  Scotland;  nien,  and  a  splendid  train,  and  after  a  rough  voyage  of  five 
days,  arrived  at  a  small  port  near  Upsal,  where  the  queen 
was.     On  the  Sunday  following,  the  marriage  was  solemnize 
ed  by  the  king,  Lindsay,  the  minister  of  Leith,   who  acted 
as  his  chaplain,  performing  the  ceremony  in  the  French  lan-j 
guage.     On  an  invitation  from  the   court  of  Denmark,  h 
To  Copen-  rePaire(3  to  Copenhagen,  and  spent  the  winter  in  feasting  an 
bagen.        entertainments,  which  were  augmented  by  the  solemnizatio 
of  the  queen's  sister's  marriage,  early  in  the  spring ;  nor  w 
it  till  the  latter  end  of  April  that  he  thought  of  returning  to 
his  own  dominions.* 

xxvii.  Previously  to  his  departure,  the  king  had  arranged 
a  kind  of  regency  to  manage  in  his  absence,   at  the  head  of 
which  he  placed  the  duke  of  Lennox,  assisted  by  Bothwell 
and  sir  Robert  Melville,  and  the  other  officers  of  state  resi- 
dent constantly  in  Edinburgh.     He  appointed  also  various 
nobkmen  to  attend  to  the  peace  of  the  borders,  and  the  in- 
ternal state  of  the  country;  and  the  church,  through  the 
Tranquilli.  w*se  measures  of  the  chancellor,  being  now  on  good  terms 
ty  during    with  the  court,  Mr.  Robert  Bruce,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
'  Edinburgh,  was  nominated  an  extraordinary  member  of  the 
privy  council.     During  the  whole  of  the  king's  absence,  the 
country  remained  in  a  state   of  tranquillity,   such  as  it  had 
not  known  for  many  years — a  tranquillity  which   the  king 
attributed  chiefly  to  the  zealous  exertions  of  the  clergy,  of 
which,  although  he  afterward  requited  them  so  ungratefully, 

e  Sir  James  Melville's  Memoirs,  p.  353,  359.    Spotswood.  p.  377.    Calder- 
wood,  p.  224.     M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  p.  369,  Note. 


JAMES  VI.  177 

he  appeared  at  the  time  to  be  fully  sensible.    In  some  of  his    BOOK 
letters  to  Bruce,  which  are  still  preserved,  he  tells  him,  that       ***• 
he  was  worth  the  quarter  of  his  kingdom,  and  that  he  would       1590 
reckon  himself  beholden  to  him  while  he  lived  for  the  ser- 
vices he  had  done  him,  and  would  never  forget  the  same-* 

xxvin.  In  the  beginning  of  May  the  royal  party  arrived  He  arrives 
at  Leith,   and  were  received  with  the  greatest  demonstra-  at  Leith- 
tions  of  joy,   by  the  immense  crowds  who  had  assembled  to 
welcome  them  on  their  landing.     On  the  17th,  the  ceremony 
of  the  queen's  coronation  was  performed  with  great  solemn- 
ity in  the  chapel  of  Holyroodhouse,  at  which  all  the  foreign 
ambassadors  were  present,  and  an  immense  concourse  of  the 
nobility  and  gentry.     Three  sermons  were  preached  on  the 
occasion,  in  three  different  languages,   Latin,  French,  and 
English ;  after  which,  while  the  royal  party  retired  for  a 
little,  Andrew  Melville  recited  a  Latin  poem,  composed  by 
him  in  celebration  of  the  event,  which  the  king,  in  returning 
thanks,  said,  had  done  him  and  the  country  such  honour  as 
he  could  never  requite.f     Robert  Bruce,  one  of  the  mini- 
sters of  Edinburgh,  had  the  honour  of  anointing  the  queen,  'corona. 
and  David  Lindsay,  minister  of  Leith,  assisted  by  the  chan-  tionofthc 
cellor,  created  lord  Thirlstane  on  the   occasion,  placed  the  qi 
crown  on  her  head.     The  solemnity  continued  from  ten  in 
the  morning  till  five  at  night.     Next  Tuesday  she  made  her 
public  entry  into'  Edinburgh,  and  was  received  with  shows 
and  pageants,  as  customary  at  the  time.     Sunday  following, 
they  attended  divine  service  in  the  High  Church.    After  ser- 
mon, the  king  harangued  the  congregation.     He  told  them 
he  was  come  to  thank  God  for  his  safe  return,  them  for  their 
good  conduct,  and  the  ministers  for  their  great  care  in  re- 

*  After  thanking  Bruce,  he  adds  the  following  irreverent  intimation,  desir- 
ing him  to  "  see  that  he  waken  up  all  men  to  attend  his  coming,  and  prepare 
themselves  accordingly,  for  his  diet  would  be  sooner,  nor  perhaps  it  was  look- 
ed for :  and  as  our  Master  saith,  He  will  come  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  whose 
lampes  he  found  burning  provided  with  oile,  these  he  would  cunne  thanks,  and 
bring  into  the  banquet  house  with  him ;  but  these  that  lacked  their  burning 
lampes  provided  with  oile  would  be  barred  at  the  door ;  for  then  would  he  not 
accept,  their  crying,  Lord,  Lord,  at  his  coming,  that  had  forgotten  him  all  the 
time  of  his  absence." — Calderwood,  p.  248. 

f  It  was  next  day  printed  by  the  king's  orders,  who  added,  all  the  ambas- 
sadors joined  in  soliciting  its  publication.     The  title  was,  2rj£«v«r*«i/,  A 
Garland. 

VOL.  III.  2  A 


178  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    membering  him  in  their  prayers  during  his  absence.     He 
nl-       confessed  that  many  things  in  the  government  had,  through 
1590.     the  heedlessness  of  his  youth,  been  ill  attended  to;  but  now*! 
that  he  had  got  married,  he  would  settle,  and  devote  him-, 
self  entirely  to  the  high  duties  of  his  station,  administer  jus- 
tice impartially,  and  see  the  kirks  better  provided. 

xxix.  The  successful  activity  which  the  ministers  had  dis- 
played during  his  absence,  in  preserving  peace  and  good  or- 
der, tended  still  more  to  reconcile  the  king  to  the  ministers, 
and  even  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  church  government;  and' 
drew  from  him,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  general  assem-i 
bly,  his  famous  panegyric  on  the  purity  of  that  church.     In| 
His  pane-    a  rapture,  and  with  his  hands  lifted  up,  he  praised  God  that 
gyncon      ne  was  born  in  such  a  time  as  in  the  light  of  the  Gospel. 

t  rcsbvtcrv 

and  in  such  a  place  as  to  be  king  in  such  a  kirk,  the  purest 
kirk  in  the  world.  "  The  kirk  of  Geneva,"  exclaimed 
"  keepeth  Pasch  and  Yule,  what  they  have  for  them,  thej 
have  no  institution.  As  for  our  neighbour  kirk  in  England 
their  service  is  an  evil-said  mass  in  English;  they  want  no 
thing  of  the  mass  but  the  liftings.  I  charge  you  my  gooc 
people,  ministers,  doctors,  elders,  nobles,  gentlemen,  anc 
barons,  to  stand  to  your  purity  ;  and  I  forsooth,  so  long  a 
I  brook  my  life  and  crown,  shall  maintain  the  same  agains 
all  deadly."  This  speech  was  received  by  the  assembly  will 
a  transport  of  joy ;  there  was  nothing  heard  for  a  quarter  o 
an  hour,  but  praising  God,  and  praying  for  the  king.  Ye 
there  were  some  who  did  not  give  his  majesty  full  credit  foi 
his  declaration ;  Davidson,  minister  of  Prestonpans,  said  to 
those  who  were  sitting  by  him,  "  I  know  well,  for  all  these 
professions  the  king  makes,  he  will  not  prove  sincere,  bu 
will  bring  in  the  English  modes,  and  rob  us  of  our  privi 
leges." 

Bishop  XXXt  About  this  time  too,  Adamson,  bishop  of  St.  An 

Adnmson    drews,  who  had  been  esteemed  the  most  virulent,  as  he  wa 
among  the  most  able  of  the  enemies  of  presbyterianism,  hav 
ing  been  deprived  of  the  revenues  of  his  see  by  the  act  of 
annexation,  and  reduced  to  poverty  in  his  old  age,  recanted 
his  episcopal  sentiments,  and  professed  deep  sorrow  for  the 
opposition  he  had  made  to  the  discipline  and  judicatures  of 
the  church.     Deserted,  and  left  to  starve  by  the  king,  the 


recants. 


JAMES  VI.  179 

vorst  of  whose  measures  he  had  always  advocated,  he  was    BOOK 
upported  in  his  sickness  and  distress,  by  the  men  he  had 
miformly  opposed.      But  these  circumstances,  while  they     1591. 
lighly  redound  to  the  credit  of  their  benevolence,  naturally 
Create  doubts  as  to  the  sincerity  of  any  expressions  of  con- 
.rition  the  bishop  might  utter — dependance  is  seldom  unal- 
ied  to  dissimulation. 

xxxi.    Immediately  on   the  king's  return,  the   country, 
vhich  had  been  so  quiet  during  his  absence,  presented  a 
cene  of  bloodshed  and  confusion.     The  almost  certainty  of 
scaping  punishment  encouraged  crime,  and  to  such  an  ex- 
ent  was  this  false  clemency  carried,  that  the  bonds  of  so-  Disordered 
iety  were  loosened,  an  universal  anarchy  prevailed,  and  in  stateof  the 
o  period  of  history,  even  when  the  feudal  aristocracy  was 
ntire  and  unbroken,  was  Scotland  more  distracted  by  the 
[uarrels  of  the  nobles,  and  the  license  of  their  retainers. 
[The  turbulent  Huntly  kept  the  north  in  a  constant  state  of 
iquietude,  and  depending  upon  easily  obtaining  the  king's 
lardon,  not  only  committed  the  grossest  outrages,  but  acted 
s  if  he  had  been  an  independent  prince.     His  pretensions 
ccasioned  a  deadly  feud  between  him  and  the  earl  of  Mo- 
ay,*  which  long  kept  these  districts  in  a  perturbed  state, 
ind  some  time  after,  ended  fatally  to  the  latter.     It  thus 
iriginated  : — A  servant  of  one  of  the  Gordons  having  been 
jilled  in  a  private  quarrel,   by  the  tutor  of  Ballendalloch, 
ne  of  the  Grants,  Huntly,  searching  for  the  offender,  at- 
licked  and  took  by  force,   the  house  of  the   chief.     The 
irants,  who  considered  this  an  insult  to  their  clan,  applied  Feud  be- 
>  the  earl  of  Moray,  along  with  the  clan  Chattan  and  the  ^een 
'unbars,  who  all  dreaded  Huntly's  power,  in  order  to  unite  Moray. 
r  mutual  protection.     Huntly,  who  could  brook  no  oppo- 
tion  to  his  sway  in  that  quarter,  having  heard  that  Moray 
tid  his  relation  the  earl  of  Athol,  were  to  meet  these  clans 
Torres,  assembled  a  body  of  men,  and  went  thither  to 
ssolve  the  meeting ;  but  before  he  arrived,  they  had  sepa- 
ited,  and  Moray  was  returned  home.     Disappointed  in  his 

*  James  Stewart,  son  to  sir  James  Stewart  of  Doune,  who  married  Eliza- 
U),  daughter  of  the  "  Good  Regent,"  was  esteemed  the  handsomest  man  of 
s  age.  and  was  generally  known  by  the  name  of  The  bonnie  Earl  of  Mo- 
He  assumed  the  title  on  his  marriage  to  her  in  1580. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1591. 


Bothwell 
accused  of 
consulting 
witches 
against  the 
king. 


He  escapes 
from  pri- 
son. 


object,  Huntly  proceeded  to  Moray's  residence,  which  he 
surrounded  with  his  men,  and  threatening  the  earl  in  the 
most  insulting  manner,  provoked  a  discharge  of  some  mus- 
quets  from  the  house,  by  which  that  Gordon  was  shot, 
whose  servant  the  tutor  of  Ballendalloch  had  killed.  Both 
sides  assembled  their  followers  ;  and  although  occasionally 
the  king's  injunctions  to  desist  were  attended  to,  the  contest 
continued  till  Huntly  went  to  the  south.  Almost  at  the 
same  time,  Kerr  of  Ancrum,  was  assassinated  in  Edinburgh, 
by  Kerr  of  Cessford,  under  covert  of  night,  but  the  assassin, 
after  being  in  hiding  for  a  few  months,  was  pardoned. 

xxxn.  While  these  sanguinary  feuds  were  neither  repress- 
ed nor  punished,  the  king  spent  the  winter  in  attending  the 
discovery  and  examination  of  witches  and  sorcerers ;  and  al- 
though the  confessions  which  were  extorted  from  the  unfor- 
tunate creatures  were  at  variance  with  credibility  and  com- 
mon sense,  and  so  ridiculous  that  it  would  be  impossible  to] 
read  them  without  a  smile,  did  not  the  cruelty  of  their  per- 
secutors raise  other  sensations  than  those  of  mirth  ;  yet  up- 
on such  incoherent  ravings  were  many  men  and  women  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  for  a  crime,  in  their  cases,  certainly 
imaginary.  In  the  course  of  these  examinations,  some  of| 
the  sufferers  accused  Bothwell  of  having  consulted  them  with 
regard  to  the  time  of  the  king's  death,  and  he,  upon  this 
vague  charge,  was  sent  to  Edinburgh  castle.  On  being  ar- 
rested he  protested  against  his  commitment,  alleging  that 
the  devil,  who  was  a  liar  from  the  beginning,  ought  not  tol 
be  credited,  nor  yet  the  witches,  his  sworn  servants.  When 
his  cause  came  before  the  council,  it  was  proposed  to  send 
him  out  of  the  country  for  some  time,  a  report  of  which  be- 
ing carried  to  him  in  prison,  indignant  at  the  treatment  he 
had  already  received,  and  dreading  worse,  he,  after  being 
about  a  month  confined,  corrupted  his  keeper  and  made  his 
escape.  His  flight  was  construed  into  a  confession  of  guilt, 
and  the  king  caused  him  to  be  denounced  traitor  upon  a 
former  sentence ;  and  by  proclamation,  prohibited  all  his 
subjects  from  having  any  intercourse  with  him.  This  pro- 
ceeding exasperated  Bothwell,  who  imputed  the  whole  to  the 
chancellor,  against  whom  he  vowed  vengeance.  There  were 
others  about  the  king's  person  who  disliked  Maitland,  and 


JAMES  VI.  181 

were  willing  to  engage  in  any  scheme  to  remove  him  from    BOOK 

°  .  TTI 

the  royal  councils  ;  with  them  Bothwell  consulted,  and  having 
collected  a  few  followers,  a  conspiracy  was  formed  for  sur-      J591 
prising  his  majesty  and  his  whole  court  in  the  palace. 

xxxni.  It  was  proposed  to  introduce  Bothwell  and  his  fol-  Conspires 
lowers  by  a  back  passage  that  lay  through  the  duke  of  Len- 
nox's  stables,  who  was  immediately  to  seize  the  gates,  take 
the  keys  from  the  porters,  and  then  to  proceed  to  the  king's 
chamber,  and  secure  him.  As  the  king  was  totally  unpre- 
pared and  dreaming  of  no  danger,  there  did  not  seem  the 
least  risk  of  the  enterprise  failing,  when  the  accession  of 
James  Douglas  of  Spot,  an  accidental  circumstance  that 
should  have  rendered  the  issue  more  certain,  completely  de- 
feated it.  A  few  days  before  George  Hume  of  Spot,  Doug- 
las'  father-in-law,  was  killed  by  some  Mersemen  of  the  name 
of  Home;  and  sir  George  Hume,  his  nephew,  the  king's 
equerry,  suspecting  Douglas,  accused  him  of  being  author 
or  accessory  to  the  murder,  from  a  dread  lest  his  father-in- 
law  should  bestow  upon  sir  George  some  lands  which  Doug- 
las claimed  in  right  of  his  wife.  Upon  this  accusation,  some 
of  Douglas'  servants  were  taken  into  custody  and  confined 
in  the  palace  on  purpose  to  be  examined  by  torture.*  The 
chancellor  strenuously  opposed  this  infamous  and  unjust 
mode  of  procedure,  but  the  king  insisted  ;  and  when  Doug- 
las, who  also  lodged  in  the  palace,  saw  that  there  were  no 
means  of  preventing  it,  he  joined  the  conspirators.  At  the 
hour  appointed,  Bothwell  and  his  followers  were  admitted 
by  his  accomplices,  and  had  already  reached  the  inner  court 
of  the  palace  without  noise,  when  Douglas,  eager  to  release 
his  servants,  proceeded  with  a  party  to  force  the  rooms 
where  they  were  confined.  The  noise  of  the  hammers,  in 
'attempting  to  break  open  the  doors,  gave  the  first  alarm. 
'The  king,  who  was  then  in  the  queen's  apartment  at  supper, 
on  hearing  the  noise  fled  to  the  tower  as  a  place  of  safety. 
I  Bothwell,  after  directing  one  body  of  his  men  to  proceed 
to  the  chancellor's  room  and  secure  him,  went  himself  with 
jthe  rest  to  the  queen's  apartments,  where  he  expected  to  find 
the  king ;  but  the  chancellor,  with  a  few  servants,  resolutely 

*  Spotswood,  p.  386. 


182 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1592. 
Defeated 
in  the  at- 
tempt 


defended  his  chamber,  and  the  door  of  the  queen's  being 
barricaded,  while  Bothwell  called  for  fire  to  burn  them,  sir 
James  Sandilands,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  king's  bed- 
chamber, receiving  information  of  the  king's  danger,  entered 
through  the  chapel,  and  drove  the  assailants  from  the  pa- 
lace; the  chief  of  whom,  taking  advantage  of  the  darkness, 
escaped  by  the  same  way  by  which  they  had  entered.  Nine 
of  the  lower  order  were  taken  and  hanged  next  morning.  Of 
the  king's  party  only  one  person  was  killed,  Shaw,  an  equerry 
who  was  shot  by  Bothwell  as  he  attempted  to  take  him. 

xxxiv.  On  the  failure  of  this  attempt,  Bothwell  fled  to  th 
north,  and  the  king,  suspecting  that  he  had  gone  to  the  earl 
of  Moray,  his  cousin-german,  to  engage  him  in  his  cause,  de- 
spatched lord  Ochiltree  to  Moray,  to  invite  him  to  the  south, 
on  pretence  of  effecting  a  reconciliation  between  him  and 
Huntly.  But,  in  the  meantime,  a  rumour  having  been  raised, 
that  the  earl  was  seen  in  the  palace  along  with  Bothwell,  on 
the  night  when  it  was  attacked,  Huntly,  who  was  at  court, 
carried  the  story  to  the  king,  whose  timid  and  suspicious 
temper  being  alarmed,  gave  him,  although  the  known  and 
avowed  enemy  of  Moray,  a  commission  to  apprehend,  and 
bring  him  to  trial.  In  the  meantime,  this  nobleman,  unaware 
of  the  intrigues  of  his  enemy,  had  arrived  at  Dunibirsle,  a  cas- 
tle belonging  to  his  mother,  lady  Downe,  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Forth,  where  he  was  residing  in  the  utmost  security, 
without  interfering  with  the  changes  of  the  court,  or  the  ani- 
mosities of  the  nobles.  Huntly  having  heard  of  his  arrival, 
and  of  his  security,  went  with  the  sheriff  of  Moray  and  some 
of  his  own  retinue,  and  surrounding  the  house,  required  him 
to  surrender.  The  earl,  suspicious  of  his  intentions,  refused 
to  put  himself  into  the  power  of  his  enemy,  and  attempted 
a  defence;  but  the  house  being  set  on  fire,  those  within  were 
forced  to  come  out.  The  earl  remained  behind  till  night- 
fall, when  rushing  through  the  midst  of  his  enemies,  he  out- 
theTarfof  ran  them,  and  reached  some  rocks  at  a  distance,  where  he 
Moray.  would  have  been  safe,  they  supposing  he  had  escaped,  but 
unfortunately  the  lip  of  his  helmet,  which,  unknowingly  to 
him,  had  caught  fire,  discovered  the  place  of  his  retreat,  and 
he  was  inhumanly  put  to  death.  The  untimely  fate  of  this 
young  nobleman,  heir  of  the  regent  Moray,  and  endeared  to 


Huntly 
murders 


JAMES  VI.  183 

tut:  people  by  the  similarity  of  his  character,  excited  the  deep-    BOOK 
est  indignation. 

xxxv.  Next  morning  after  the  murder,  James  went  with  1592. 
the  greatest  unconcern,  to  enjoy  his  usual  pastime  of  hunting 
about  Innerleith  and  Wairdie,  opposite  Dunibirsle,  whose 
flames  were  yet  hardly  extinguished ;  but  on  his  return  to 
town,  he  was  met  by  the  general  and  loud  lamentations  of 
the  citizens,  which  so  terrified  him,  that  he  sent  for  some 
of  the  ministers,  whom  he  desired  to  clear  him  to  the  cla- 
morous multitude,  from  any  participation  in  the  deed.  On  CouJuctof 
which  the  ministers  replied,  that  the  only  way  to  clear  him-  * 
self,  was  to  inflict  exemplary  punishment  on  the  perpetra-  sion. 
tors.  As  there  appeared,  however,  no  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  court  to  prosecute  this  atrocious  crime,  the  dis- 
content increased,  and  so  openly  were  the  king  and  his  mi- 
nisters insulted,  that  he  deemed  himself  unsafe  in  the  capi- 
tal, and  removed  to  Glasgow  with  his  council,  till  Huntly 
entered  into  ward  at  Blackness  castle,  and  the  popular  feel- 
ing in  some  degree  subsided.  After  remaining  in  confine- 
ment about  three  or  four  days,  Huntly  was  allowed  to  de- 
part, upon  giving  surety  to  appear  when  called  upon,  and 
not  long  after,  without  even  undergoing  the  form  of  a  trial, 
was  permitted  again  to  return  to  court.  * 

xxxvi.  The  king's  careless  temper,  and  the  number  of 
craving,  worthless  minions  whom  he  encouraged  about  court, 
which  reduced  him  to  a  state  of  almost  absolute  povertyjf  his 

•  Dr.  Robertson  says,  "  the  power  of  the  chancellor,  with  whom  he — 
1  Huntly— was  now  closely  confederated,  not  only  protected  him  from  the  sen- 
tence which  such  an  odious  act  merited,  but  exempted  him  even  from  the 
formality  of  a  public  trial."  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  any  traces  of 
this  close  connexion,  nor  am  I  inclined  to  believe  that  it  existed.  The  duke 
of  Lennox  was  at  this  time  in  opposition  to  the  chancellor,  sir.  J.  Melville's 
Mem.  p.  396,  and  I  think  it  pretty  evfdent,  from  a  comparison  of  Spotswood, 
Melville,  and  Calderwood,  that  the  chancellor  had  been  constantly  thwarted 
in  his  measures,  by  the  perverse  partialities  of  James, — that  bane  of  his  go- 
vernment, from  the  first  moment  to  the  last — and  to  the  influence  of  Lennox, 
who  appears  to  have  been  a  favourite  with  the  queen.  To  the  liking  the  king 
himself  had  to  Huntly,  and  to  the  hatred  which  he  bore  to  the  regent  Moray's 
memory,  I  would  attribute  the  ease  with  which  he  passed  over  the  murder  of 
his  son-in-law,  who  appears  to  have  inherited  the  virtues  of  the  regent ;  and 
of  course  his  nephew's  hatred. 

f  Hudson  mentions,  "  that  « hile  he  was  at  the  Scottish  court,  both  the 
king's  and  queen's  table  had  like  to  have  been  unserved  by  want,  and  that  the 


184  HISTOICY  OF  .SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  lenity  towards  the  popish  faction,  and  his  remissness  in  pursu- 
J1L  ing  the  murderers  of  the  amiable  Moray,  which  lowered  him  in 
1592.  the  estimation  of  the  people;  the  attempts  of  Bothwell,  and 
the  number  of  adherents  who  abetted  him,  which  rendered  his 
own  palace  insecure;  the  cabals  in  his  court,  which  obstructed 
and  enfeebled  the  operations  of  his  government;  the  odium 
which  the  chancellor  incurred  from  the  faults  of  the  sove- 
Critical  re'gn  > — all  conspired  to  produce  a  crisis,  equally  alarming 
state  of  the  to  that  minister  and  to  his  master.  Surrounded  with  so 
many  difficulties,  the  only  resource  that  remained,  was  to 
cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  church,  and  thus  regain  the 
affections  of  the  people.  The  clergy,  headed  by  able  and 
persevering,  as  well  as  zealous  and  intrepid  directors,  saw 
their  opportunity,  and  resolved  to  improve  it.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  general  assembly,  held  previous  to  the  meeting 
of  parliament,  it  was  determined  to  petition  for  a  legal  esta- 
Proceed-  blishment  of  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government, 
church  th6and  f°r  a  rePeal  of  all  these  acts  which  had  proscribed  the 
liberty  of  the  church.  Inconsequence,  they  arranged  their 
demands  under  four  heads,  to  be  presented  to  the  king;  and 
directed  the  committee  appointed  to  present  them,  to  be  ac- 
companied by  some  others  of  their  brethren,  to  wait  upon 
his  majesty,  and  solemnly  admonish  him  to  take  into  his  se- 
rious consideration  the  state  of  the  church  and  of  the  realm, 
the  many  murders  and  acts  of  oppression  which  daily  multi- 
plied through  the  impunity  which  the  perpetrators  enjoyed, 
and  the  inattention  to  the  execution  of  justice  which  the 
government  displayed  ;  and  to  attend  to  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  his  kingly  office  in  both,  as  he  would  escape  the 
fearful  judgment  of  God,  and  avert  his  wrath  from  him- 
self and  the  land. 

xxxvn.  Parliament  met  on  the  5th  of  June   1592,  when 
the  articles  prepared  by  the  general  assembly  were  laid  be- 
lts de-       fore  it.    They  were  : — That  the  acts  1584,  made  against  the 
mands.       discipline  of  the  church,  liberty,  and  authority  thereof  be 
annulled,  and  the  present  discipline,  whereof  the  church  hath 
had  the  practice,   be  ratified ;  that  the  act  of  annexation 

king  had  nothing  he  accounted  certain  to  come  into  his  purse,  but  what  hi; 
had  from  the  queen  of  England."     Rymer,  vol.  xvi   p.  HO. 


JAMES  VI.  185 

should  be  rescinded,  and  the  patrimony  of  the  church  re-  BOOK 
stored  ;  that  abbots,  priors,  and  other  prelates  representing  *"• 
the  church,  and  without  power  and  commission  acting  for  it,  1592 
be  not  suffered  in  time  coming  to  vote  for  the  same,  either 
in  parliament  or  in  any  other  convention;  and  that  the 
country,  which  is  polluted  with  fearful  idolatry  and  blood, 
be  purged.  An  act  was  upon  this  passed,  ratifying  the  ge- 
neral assemblies,  provincial  synods,  presbyteries,  and  par- 
ticular sessions,  &c.  and  declaring  them,  with  the  jurisdiction 
and  discipline  belonging  to  them,  to  be  in  time  coming  most 
just,  good,  and  godly,  notwithstanding  all  acts  made  to  the 
contrary  ;  in  it  the  powers  of  the  provincial  synods  and  pres- 
byteries are  defined,  and  the  times  and  manner  of  meeting 
for  the  higher  courts  settled  ;  general  assemblies  to  be  held 
once  a  year  or  oftener,  pro  re  nata,  as  circumstances  should 
require ;  his  majesty,  or  his  commissioners,  if  present,  shall 
at  each  assembly  before  its  dissolving,  appoint  the  time  and 
place  for  the  meeting  of  the  next,  or,  if  they  be  absent,  the 
assembly  themselves  shall  appoint  it  as  they  were  wont  ; 
provincial  synods  are  to  meet  twice  a  year ;  all  the  acts  in 
favour  of  popery  which  had  not  formerly  been  rescinded  are 
repealed ;  it  declared  that  the  act  of  1584  respecting  the  king's 
supremacy  shall  be  in  no  ways  prejudicial  to  the  privilege  Presbytery 
God  hath  given  to  the  spiritual  office-bearers  in  the  church, 
concerning  heads  of  religion,  matters  of  heresy,  excommu- 
nication, appointment  or  deprivation  of  ministers,  or  any 
such  essential  censures,  having  warrant  in  the  word  of  God' 
it  also  declared  the  act  of  the  same  parliament  granting  com- 
missions to  bishops  and  other  judges,  constituted  in  ecclesias- 
tical causes,  to  receive  his  majesty's  presentations  to  bene- 
fices, and  to  give  collation,  to  be  expired  of  itself,  and  to  be 
null  and  of  no  avail  in  time  coming  ;  and  therefore  ordained 
all  presentations  to  benefices  to  be  directed  to  the  particular 
presbyteries,  with  full  power  to  give  collation,  and  to  manage 
all  ecclesiastical  causes  within  their  bounds,  provided  they 
admitted  such  qualified  ministers  as  were  presented  by  his 
majesty  or  other  patrons, 

xxxvni.  Thus  was  the  establishment  of  presbytery  at 
length  obtained  from  a  prince  who  hated  it  with  the  most 
rooted  antipathy,  by  the  unyielding  perseverance  with  which 

VOL.  in.  2  E 


186  HISTORY  OK  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  its  supporters  pursued  their  object,  amid  opposition  and  per- 
IIL  secution,  and  the  admirable  dexterity  with  which  they  seized 
159^  every  favourable  opportunity  that  occurred  for  its  advance- 
ment. At  this  period  the  supporters  of  presbytery  were  the 
assertors  of  civil  liberty.  When  the  parliaments  were  the 
mere  puppets  of  the  court,  and  the  courts  of  law, — for  they 
could  hardly  be  denominated  courts  of  justice, — were  subser- 
vient to  the  nod  of  the  kings  or  their  favourites,  the  church 
of  Scotland  maintained  the  only  spirit  of  independence  in  the 
land ;  and  to  this  more  than  to  their  religious  tenets,  was 
owing  the  implacable  animosity  of  James.  Had  the  genius 
of  presbytery  been  as  congenial  to  the  spirit  of  despotism  as 
that  of  prelacy,  Scotland  would  never  have  been  persecuted 
about  bishops. 

xxxix.  "  The  act  of  parliament,  1592,"  says  a  writer  who 
has  well  studied  the  subject,  "  which  still  continues  to  be 
the  charter  of  the  church  of  Scotland's  liberties,  has  always 
been  regarded  by  presbyterians  in  an  important  light,  and 
as  a  great  step  in  national  reformation.  It  repealed  several 
statutes  which  were  favourable  to  superstition,  and  hostile 
to  the  independence  of  the  kingdom;  it  reduced  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  crown,  which  had  lately  been  raised  to  an 
exorbitant  height,  and  by  legally  securing  the  religious 
privileges  of  the  nation  against  arbitrary  encroachments,  it 
pointed  out  the  propriety  and  practicability  of  providing 
similar  securities  in  behalf  of  political  rights ;  it  gave  the 
friends  of  the  presbyterian  constitution  the  advantage  of  oc- 
cupying legal  ground,  and  enabled  them,  during  a  series  of 
years,  to  oppose  a  successful  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  the 
court  to  obtrude  on  them  an  opposite  system,  and  as  often 
as  the  nation  felt  disposed  to  throw  off  the  imposed  yoke  of 
episcopacy,  they  availed  themselves  of  this  charter,  and  found- 
ed upon  it  a  claim  of  right  to  the  re-enjoyment  of  their  an- 
cient liberty."* 

Bothweli        XL.  When  the  parliament  rose  the  king  went  to  Falkland, 

tXzft°heand  Bothwe11  renewed  his  intrigues  to  obtain  possession  of 

king.         his  person.     Notwithstanding  the  numerous  warnings  he  had 

received,  he  still  persisted  in  retaining   at  court  the  men 

who  were  ready,  upon   every  opportunity,  to  deceive  and 

•  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  p.  403. 


JAMES  VI.  187 

betray  him.  With  them  Bothwell  concerted  to  be  admitted  BOOK 
into  the  palace;  and  he  had  also  leagued  with  the  earl  of  __ILL_- 
Angus,  the  Johnstons,  and  some  others,  to  support  him 
against  any  efforts  the  surrounding  country  might  make  to 
relieve  his  majesty.  James  had  received  notice  that  a  plot 
was  in  agitation,  and  been  advised  to  take  some  precautionary 
measures ;  but  the  party  who  were  privy  to  the  scheme,  per- 
suaded him  to  treat  this  with  contempt,  and  even  to  allow 
the  messenger  sent  to  inform  him  of  his  danger,  to  be  treated 
with  insulting  derision.  The  messenger,  irritated  by  such  a 
reception,  retired  in  disgust ;  but  meeting  the  earl  of  Both- 
well  and  his  party  on  the  Lomond  hills,  he  turned  with  them 
as  if  he  had  been  one  of  themselves,  and  afterward  taking 
advantage  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  he  advanced  with 
greater  speed  and  arrived  before  them  at  Falkland.  Enter- 
ing the  palace  he  locked  the  gates  behind  him,  and  called 
out  to  the  king  to  fly  to  the  tower.  The  conspirators  within 
finding  the  plot  discovered,  did  not  move ;  and  Bothwell,  is  defeated, 
instead  of  the  ready  admission  he  expected,  finding  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  force  an  entrance,  after  the  exchange 
of  a  few  shot,  and  having  seized  the  horses  in  the  royal 
stables,  retired,  with  his  fatigued  and  worn  out  followers, — 
who  had  marched  two  days  and  two  nights  without  either 
food  or  rest, — to  the  adjacent  hills  till  sunrise ;  when  fearing 
the  arrival  of  assistance  to  the  king,  now  that  the  country 
was  alarmed,  he  fled  by  the  way  of  Stirling  to  the  borders. 
Next  day,  upwards  of  three  thousand  men  arrived  to  protect 
the  king,  who  set  out  with  them  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy ; 
but  either  afraid  of  their  strength,  or  uncertain  of  the  road 
they  had  taken,  he  proceeded  to  Queensferry,  and  thence  to 
the  capital.  A  number  of  BothwelPs  followers,  overcome  by 
fatigue,  were  taken  asleep  on  the  hills,  but  allowed  to  es- 
cape. He  himself  took  refuge  in  England,  and  the  courtiers  Flees  to 
who  were  implicated  in  his  treason  were,  as  usual,  pardoned  En£land- 
and  received  into  favour.  Lord  Spence  had  the  form  of  a 
trial,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  post.  Wemyss,  younger 
of  Logic,  a  gentleman  of  the  king's  bed-chamber,  was  con- 
fined in  the  palace ;  but  having,  by  a  stratagem  of  one  of  the 
queen's  maids,  who  deceived  his  guard,  and  let  him  out  at 
a  window  by  a  cord,  made  his  escape,  the  whole  was  turned 


188  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

ROOK    into  a  jest ;  his  treason  was  forgotten  in  the  mirth  which  the 
IIL      young  lady's  artifice  occasioned,  and  her  ingenuity  was  re- 
,592       warded  by  the  hand  of  her  lover,  who  in  a  few  days  re- 
sumed his  situation  at  court. 

XLI.  Such  conduct  did  not  tend  to  lessen  the  number  of 
BothwelPs  friends.  There  was  something  popular  in  his  dar- 
in<y,  restless  character,  and  among  the  borderers  he  found, 
without  difficulty,  open  abettors,  both  barons  and  gentle- 
men. James,  to  suppress  the  symptoms  in  favour  of  the  fu- 
gitive, made  an  excursion  to  Jedburgh  in  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober, and  bound  the  suspected  over  to  hold  no  farther  com- 
munication with  him ;  a  futile,  but  common  method  of  ob- 
taining a  precarious  submission  from  these  unruly  chieftains. 
At  his  return  he  found  his  court,  which  had  for  some  time 
past  been  split  into  factions,  now  in  a  state  of  undisguised 
hostility,  from  the  following  cause: — The  chancellor  had  ob- 
tained from  the  king,  in  consequence  of  the  annexation  act, 
the  lordship  of  Musselburgh,  that  formerly  belonged  to  the 
The  chan-  abbacy  of  Dunfermline ;  the  rents  of  this  abbacy  had  been 
ceilor  re-  settled  upon  the  queen,  and  she,  instigated  to  ask  all  that 
had  ever  belonged  to  it,  insisted  upon  lord  Thirlstane's  sur- 
rendering the  lordship.  His  refusal  displeased  her  majesty, 
and  Lennox,  Errol,  lord  Ochiltree,  with  all  the  lords  who 
had  envied  the  influence  of  the  chancellor,  espoused  her 
quarrel ;  on  which,  Thirlstane  withdrew  from  the  court,  at 
a  time  when  his  abilities  were  most  wanted.  The  effects  of 
his  retirement  soon  appeared.  While  the  southern  districts 
were  restless,  and  the  government  disjointed  and  enfeebled, 
the  north  was  wasted  with  cruel  and  sanguinary  outrages. 
Disorders  m  The  clan  Chattan,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  the  earl  of 
Moray,  entered  the  lands  of  Strathspey  and  Glenmuck  with 
fire  and  sword.  Huntly  retaliated  upon  the  possessions  of 
the  M'Intoshes ;  and  both  parties  accidentally  encountering 
each  other  at  a  place  called  Staplegate  hill,  the  clan  Chat- 
tan  were  defeated  with  considerable  slaughter.  The  victo- 
ry was  followed  up  by  Huntly  with  shocking  barbarity.  In 
order  to  tranquillize  these  districts,  the  king  despatched  the 
earl  of  Angus  with  a  commission  of  lieutenancy,  and  he  hap- 
pily succeeded  in  restoring  peace. 


JAMES  vr.  189 

XLII.  About  this  time,  captain  James  Stuart,  leaving  his     BOOK 
skulking  place,  obtruded  himself  upon  the  king,  hoping  that, 
as  his  ablest  adversary  was  in  disgrace,  he  might  establish      1592. 
himself  at  court,  and  regain  his  office  of  chancellor.     The  ™|)^IV[* 
reception  he  met  with  clearly  indicated  that,  hated  as  he  trades  him- 
was  by  the  whole  community,  he  still  held  a  place  in  his  ^  °n  *  e 
majesty's  affections ;  and  emboldened  by  this,  he  applied  to 
the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  and  offered  to  give  them  satis- 
faction for  any  offences  he  might  formerly  have  committed  ; 
but  the  presbytery,  with  great  plainness,  told  him : — That 
they  could  have  no  opinion  of  him  but  evil,  for  ought  they 
yet  saw ;  that  it  would  not  be  words,  but  good  deeds  that 
would  change  their  minds;  and  exhorted  him,  if  he  had  any 
kind  of  piety,  or  godliness,  or  religion,  about  him,  that  he 
should  show  the  fruit  thereof  by  a  better  repentance  than 
they  had  yet  «cen ;  and  demonstrate  its  sincerity  by  his  ex- 
emplary conduct.     They  at  the  same  time,  sent  a  deputa- 
tion to  warn  the  king,  as  he  respected  the  advantage  of  the 
church,  the  weal  of  the  country,  or  his  own  honour,  to  give 
no  countenance  to  him  ;  and  to  protest,  if  he  were  again  ad- 
mitted to  his  council,  or  to  any  office  ol  trust,  the  church 
would  be  innocent  of  all  the  evil  that  might  ensue.     This 
firmness  of  the  ministers  was  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the 
king,  who  would  fain  have  retained  Stuart  about  him  ;  but 
|the  opposition  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and  he  retired 
without  being  able  to  obtain   a  footing.     Shortly  after,   he  Killed  by 
Was  killed  by  James  Douglas  of  Parkhead,  in  revenge  for  Douglas  of 
|the  death  of  his  uncle,   the  earl  of  Morton.     As  he  had 

ived,  so  he  died  universally  detested  ;  the  only  sensation  his 
murder  occasioned,  was  astonishment  that  a  wretch,  whose 

nsolence  in  power  had  created  him  so  many  enemies,  should 

mve  been  suffered  to  exist  so  long.* 
xi, in.  In  the  end  of  the  same  year,  and  in  a  good  old  age,  Death  of 

he  venerable  John  Erskine  of  Dun,  superintendent  of  Angus,  J°hn  Er- 

ied.    He  early  distinguished  himself  in  arms  by  his  success-  Dun. 

ul  defence  of  Montrose  ;f  but  his  more  lasting  claims  upon 

he  gratitude  of  his  country,  arise  from  his  early,  uniform  at- 

•  Melville's  Memoirs,  p.  399.  f  Buchanan,  book  xv 


190  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    tachment  to  the  cause  of  the  reformation.    He  was  among  the 

IIJ'       first  men  of  rank  who  openly  espoused  it,  and  through  the 

1592.     arduous  struggle  he  never  shrunk  from  danger ;    while  the 

amenity  of  his  manner  softened  down,  in  some  instances,  the 

His  cha-      unpalatable  truths  he  was  commissioned  to  deliver  to  royal 

rue  tor. 

ears.  He  was,  of  the  first  reformers,  the  only  one  who  enjoy- 
ed any  thing  like  court  favour ;  but  it  was  without  any  dere- 
liction of  integrity,  or  any  compromise  of  principle.  After 
the  establishment  of  the  reformation,  he  was  first  a  superin- 
tendent, and  afterwards  a  parochial  minister.  At  his  death, 
October  16th,  he  was  in  his  eighty-second  year. 

XLIV.  No  sooner  was  one  conspiracy  discovered,  and  tht 
conspirators  pardoned,  than  another  was  set  on  foot;  but  th< 
close  of  1592  was  distinguished  by  one  of  greater  extent  thar 
any  of  these  which  had  yet  alarmed  the  nation,  and  it  wa$ 
discovered  and  disconcerted  chiefly  by  the  exertions  of  the 
clergy.  The  constant  state  of  agitation  in  which  the  public 
mind  had  been  kept,  was  increased  by  the  activity  of  the 
seminary  priests,  and  the  various  reports  of  plots  and  inva- 
The  minis-  sions  which  rapidly  succeeded  each  other.  The  ministers 
^^participated  strongly  in  the  public  feeling,  and  about  the 
middle  of  November  an  extraordinary  meeting  was  held  in 
Edinburgh,  to  consult  on  the  state  of  the  country ;  when, 
after  communicating  to  each  other  the  intelligence  they  had 
received,  the  conviction  was  general,  that  some  plot  existed 
for  the  overturn  of  religion,  and  that  it  was  upon  the  eve  erf 
being  carried  into  execution.  On  the  17th  of  that  month,  6 
deputation  was  sent  to  the  king,  to  lay  before  him  the  result 
of  their  inquiries  and  deliberations.  He  expressed  himself 
satisfied  that  just  causes  of  alarm  existed,*  and  sanctioned 
the  measures  they  proposed  to  adopt,  which  were  : — To  en- 
join every  presbytery  to  inform  the  well  affected  gentlemen 
within  their  bounds  of  the  practices  of  their  enemies,  and 
exhort  them  to  prepare  to  resist  them ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
to  exert  themselves  to  compose  all  feuds  existing  among  the 
friends  of  the  protestant  cause ;  to  appoint  a  committee  to 
sit  in  Edinburgh  during  the  present  emergency  to  watch  over 

*  Caldenvood,  in  his  printed  history,  p.  271,  says,  "  He,"  the  king,  "  grant- 
ed that  some  missives  should  be  directed  to  some  well  affected  noblemen  and 
barons,  to  desire  them  to  repair  to  Edinburgh,  to  consult  upon  the  means  how 
lo  disappoint  the  designs  of  the  adversaries." 


a  uew 


JAMES  VI.  191 

ie  safety  of  the  church,  and  an  ordinary  agent  to  obtain  in-    BOOK 
ormation  of  the  movements  of  the  papists,  and  of  all  sus-  _  "*• 
icious  characters,  arriving  from  or  going  to  popish  coun-     1592. 
ries  ;  and  to  enjoin  the  ministers  everywhere  to  exert  them- 
elves  to  obtain  such  information  as  might  lead  to  the  detec- 
on  of  their    designs,    which  information   was  to  be  trans- 
mitted immediately  to  the  committee,  by  whom  it  was  to  be 
aid  before  the  privy  council ;  nor  was   it  long  before  the 
recautionary  steps  adopted  by  the  ministers  were  proved  to 
ave  been  not  less  wise  than  necessary. 
XLV.  Andrew  Knox,  having  learned  by  some  private  in- 
)rmation,  that  George  Kerr,  a  doctor  of  laws,  and  brother  of 
>rd  Newbattle,  was  lying  at  the  island  of  Cumbrae,  ready 
o  proceed  for  Spain,  went  from  Glasgow,  accompanied  by  a 
umber  of  students,  and  took  him  into  custody.     On  examin-  Detect  it. 
ng  his  papers,  there  were  found  among  them  letters  of  cre- 
ence  to  some  Jesuits   in  Spain,  and  blanks,  signed  by  the 
arls  of  Huntly,  Angus,  and   Errol,  with  a  commission  to 
Villiam    Crichton,    a  Jesuit,   to  fill  them  up,  and  address 
lem  to  the  persons  for  whom  they  were  intended.    Kerr  was 
mmediately  conveyed  to  Edinburgh,  under  a  strong  guard, 
ind  being  brought  before  the  council  and  a  number  of  the 
ninisters,  the  letters  found  on  him  were  opened,  and  the 
irhole  conspiracy  discovered.    The  king  of  Spain  was  to  land 
lirty  thousand  troops  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  where 
ley  were  to  be  met  by  the  catholic  lords,  with  as  many  men 
s  they  could  bring  into  the  field.     Fifteen  thousand  of  the 
Spanish  troops,  accompanied  by  the  lords,  were  to  march 
irectly  to  England,  the  remainder  were  to  remain  in  Scot- 
and,  and  on  being  joined  by  the  Scottish  catholics,  were  to 
uppress  the  protestant  religion,  or  procure  full  toleration  for 
popish  faith.     The  earl  of  Angus,  not  knowing  of  the 
pprehension  of  Kerr,  came  from  the  north  direct  to  Edin- 
urgh,  and  was,  on  his  arrival,  sent  to  the  castle  by  the  magis- 
rates.    Graham  of  Fintry,  an  associate  of  Kerr's,  was  appre- 
lended  a  few  days  after.     The  privy  council  and  ministers 
ent  letters  to  James,  who  was  enjoying  Christmas  at  Alloa, 
nth  the  earl  of  Mar,  lately  married  to  the  duke  of  Lennox's 
ister.*  to  urge  his  return  to  Edinburgh.     On  his  arrival, 

•  Sister-in-law  to  the  earl  of  Huntly. 


192  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    whether  peevish  at  having  his  amusement  interrupted,  or  vex- 
***•      etl  that  others  should  have  discovered  more  penetration  anc 


I59jj.  care  for  the  country  than  himself,  instead  of  thanking  the  zea 
and  loyalty  of  the  people,  he  expressed  his  high  displeasure 
at  the  presumption  of  the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh,  for  en- 
croaching on  his  prerogative,  in  apprehending  a  nobleman 
of  such  high  rank  as  the  earl  of  Angus,  and  but  lately  re- 
turned from  so  confidential  an  employment,  without  any  war 
rant  from  him. 

XLVI.    A  meeting  of  some  of  the  barons  and  the  ministers 
was  held   soon  after  the  king's   return,  to  deliberate  up 
on   the    proposals  to  be  laid  before    the   next   parliament, 
when  it  was  agreed  that  it  was  necessary  to  bring  the  trai- 
tors who  were  in  prison,  to  immediate   trial,  and  to  pro« 
ceed  with  the  utmost  rigour  against  those  who  were  at  large} 
to  endeavour  to  apprehend  them,  or  if  this  were  impracti- 
Proceed-     cable,   to  forfeit  them  for  non-appearance.     A    deputation 
barons  and  from  this  assemblage  was  instructed  to  lay  the  result  before  the 

ministers     king,  and  the  members  were  in  readiness  to  go  to  Holyrood- 

in  consc- 

quencc.      house,  when  some  of  the  king's  counsellors  strongly  opposed 

their  proceeding,  alleging  that  the  king  was  highly  offended 
at  the  meeting ;   and  detained  them,  arguing  the  point  for  j 
about  an  hour,  till  lord  Lindsay,   whose  patience   was  ex- 
hausted at  this  teasing  and  vexatious  interruption,  broke  up 
the  conference,  by  exclaiming,     "  I  will  go  down  with  the 
barons,  go  who  will."     On  which   they  all  set  out  for  tfc] 
palace,  accompanied   by  the  magistrates,   and  a  numerous 
train  of  the  inhabitants,  anxious  to  hear  the  king's  decision. 
When  they  arrived,  only  two  were  suffered  to  approach  the  \ 
royal  presence,   where  they  were  lectured  in  private  for  an 
hour  and  a  half.     At  last  the  great  hall   was   opened,  and  i 
the  others  were  admitted.     The  first  salutation  they  receiv- 
ed for  this  expression  of  solicitude  about  the  best  interest' 
Then-treat-     c   ,     .     ,  .  ,    „      , 

mentbythe0'  their  king  and  country,  was  a  reprimand  tor  having  me 

king.          irregularly,  and  without  waiting  his  summons ;  in  particular 
he   upbraided  the  ministers  by  saying,  that  when  he  wishe-  < 
it,  they  were  not  wont  to  obey  his  call  so  readily.  *     The 
replied  that  they  had  the  authority  of  the  privy  council  fo; 

•  M'CrieN  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  ii.  p.  28.      Calderwood,  PP    277,  27^ 


JAMES   VI,  198 

their  meeting,   arid   that  it  was  not  a  time   to  stand  upon   BOOK 
forms,  when  they  saw  his  person*  the  church,  and  common-      ^ 
wealth  in  such  extreme  jeopardy.     And  he*  upon  consider-      1593. 
ing  the  subject  a  little  more  coolly,  when  the  evidence  was 
laid  before  him,  excused  them  on  account  of  their  good  in- 
tentions, and  the  magnitude  of  the  danger.     The  crime,  he 
said,  was  such  as  he  could  not  pardon  if  he  would,  and  the 
trials  should  immediately  be  proceeded  in.     A  proclamation 
was  issued,   declaring,   that  although  the  pernicious  effects 
of  the  insidious  activity  of  Jesuits  and  seminary  priests  had 
been  made  evident,  and   their  introduction  or  residence  in 
the  country  prohibited  by  many  acts  and  proclamations,  yet 
they  continued  to  remain  in  the  kingdom,   and  had  seduced 
many  of  the  subjects  to  apostatize  from  the  religion  in  which 
they  had  been  instructed,  and  to  enter  into  a  treasonable 
conspiracy  for  introducing  strangers  into  the  realm,  to  over- 
jthrow  his  highness^  and  all  professing  true  religion;  to  con- 
quer his  ancient  kingdom,  and  ruin  the  liberty  which  this 
country  had  enjoyed  for  so  many  ages,  by  subjecting  it  to 
the  slavery  and  tyranny  of  that  proud  nation,  which  hath 
made  such  unlawful  and  cruel  conquests  irt  diverse  parts  of 
the  world,  as  well  upon  Christians  as  infidels;  which  con- 
spiracy being  discovered  by  the  providence  of  God,  his  ma- 
jesty was  determined  to  bring  to  trial  and  punish  the  guilty 
in  such  a  manner,  as  to  be  an  example  to  all  posterity ;  and 
commanded  all  faithful  subjects,  who  wished  to  live  free  in 
!  their  native  land,  nor  see  their  wives  and  children  made  slaves, 
i  in  souls  and  bodies,  to  merciless  strangers,  to  abstain  from 
i  all  intercourse,  under  whatever  pretence,  with  popish  emis- 
saries, on  pain  of  treason ;  and  to  put  themselves  in  arms, 
by  all  good  means  they  can,  remaining  in  readiness  to  pur- 
sue or  defend,  as  they  shall  be  certified  by  his  majesty,  or 
otherwise  find  the  occasion  urgent.     All  ranks  concurred  in  vigorous 
supporting  vigorous  measures  for  restoring  peace   to   themeasures 
country  ;  and  confiding  in  the  sincerity  of  the  court,  the  con- 
vened barons  and  gentlemen  offered  to  raise  a  guard  of  three 
j  thousand  horse,  and  one  hundred  foot,  to  protect  the  king's 
person,  and  to  maintain  them  as  long  as  any  necessity  exist- 
ed ;  but  under  condition  that  it  should  not  be  drawn  into  a 
precedent,  or  used  in  any  manner  prejudicial  to  the  liberty 
TOL<  in*  2  c 


194  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  of  the  realm.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  array  of  the 
III>  country  was  ordered  to  meet  the  king  at  Aberdeen,  on  the 
1593.  20th  of  February. 

XLVIT.  Before  the  king  set  out  for  the  north,  Graham  ol 
Fintry  was  brought  to  trial ;  and,  as  generally  happens  with 
the  inferior  agents  in  cases  of  abortive  treason,  was  con- 
demned to  suffer  the  sentence  of  the  law,  in  order  to  appease 
the  people,  and  executed  accordingly  on  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary. On  the  night  of  his  execution,  a  placard  was  affix- 
ed in  a  conspicuous  place  of  the  city,  asserting  that  all  the 
preparations  and  appearances  would  end  in  nothing,  for  the 
greatest  criminals  had  been  allowed  to  escape  by  connivance 
James  pro-  of  the  court.  The  king,  at  the  appointed  time  went  north, 
ceeds  to  an(j  was  met  ^y  a  number  of  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen.. 

thp  north. 

against  the  who  joined  in  a  bond  for  the  defence  of  religion,  his  majesty's 
conspira-  person  and  government,  and  the  liberty  of  the  country, 
against  thraldom  of  conscience  and  the  domination  of  stran- 
gers ;  especially  against  the  authors  of  the  late  treasonable 
conspiracy,  whom  it  enumerates,  and  also  adds,  those  who 
were  guilty  of  the  late  wilful  fire-raising  at  Dunibirsle,  and 
the  murder  of  the  earl  of  Moray.  In  the  same  bond,  his 
majesty  promises,  on  the  word  of  a  prince,  that  he  will  nei- 
ther grant  favour  nor  pardon  to  any  of  the  earls,  without 
the  special  advice  and  consent  of  the  lieutenant  and  com- 
missioner for  the  time,  and  six  of  the  principal  barons  at  ' 
least  subscribing  the  said  bond.*  Angus,  who  before  the  i 
king  left  Edinburgh,  had  contrived  to  procure  his  liberty  by 
the  connivance  of  his  keepers,  went  directly  north,  and  join- 
ed Huntly  and  Errol.  They  all,  upon  hearing  of  his  arri- 
val at  Aberdeen,  left  their  places  of  residence,  and  retired  to 
the  mountains ;  but  sent  their  ladies  to  intercede  for  them  i 
with  his  majesty,  and  present  him  with  the  keys  of  their 
castles,  which  they  had  in  charge  to  surrender.  The  king 
received  them  courteously,  and  told  them  that  if  their  hus- 
bands would  appear  and  stand  trial,  they  should  suffer  no 

*  Robertson  represents  this  bond  as  forced  upon  the  barons  by  the  king. 
Hist,  of  Scot,  book  viii.  From  its  tenor,  it  is  more  likely  that  it  originated 
with  the  former,  and  shows  distinctly  that  the  protestant  nobles  in  the  north 
entertained  the  same  low  opinion  of  his  majesty's  sincerity,  as  the  barons  ami 
ministers  -in  the  south. 


JAMES  VI.  195 

wrong;  but  If  not,  the  crime  with  which  they  were  charged,    BOOK 
nvolved  so  deeply  the  safety  of  the  state,  that  it  was  out  of       ^^ 
lis  power  to  prevent  the  law  from  taking  its  course.     Then      1.593. 
placing  garrisons  in  their  castles,  and  appointing  the  earls 
Athol  and  Marischall  his  lieutenants  in  the  north,  he  re- 
turned to  the  capital.*     But  so  little  confidence  could   his 
own  council  place  in  him,  that  they  passed  an  act,  forbid- 
ding any  one  to  solicit  his  majesty  in  favour  of  the  conspira- 
tors ;  and  authorized  his  chaplains  to  administer  an  oath  to 
ris  domestics,  that  they  would  not  intercede  with  him  for 
indulgence  or  pardon  to  any  who  had  been  connected  with 
the  plot.f 

XLVIII.  Afewdays  after  the  king's  return  from  the  north, lord  Elizabeth 

advises  the 
Burgh,  or  Borough,  arrived  from  the  queen  of  England  upon  most  rjgor. 

an  especial  embassy,  to  congratulate  him  upon  the  discovery  ous  mea- 
of  the  conspiracy,  and  to  offer  her  assistance  in  pursuing,  against 
and  punishing  those  who  were  liable  to  be  tried  capitally.  them» 
She  reproached  him  with  his  former  remissness,  and  urged 
him  to  act  with  the  decision  becoming  a  king ;  and  if  he/ 
could  not  apprehend  the  persons,  at  least  to  confiscate  the 
estates  of  the  criminals,  by  which  he  would  render  them  un- 
able to  give  him  further  disturbance,  and  would  increase  the 
revenue  of  the  crown ;  and  she  wished  particularly  to  be 
acquainted  with  his  resolutions  on  this  point,  that  she  might 
be  able  to  inform  her  allies  of  the  measures  adopted  in  the 
two  kingdoms,  for  defeating  the  projects  of  Spain, — a  sub- 
ject interesting  to  all  protestant  princes.  James  thanked  the 
ambassador  for  her  majesty's  friendly  communication,  and 
desired  him  to  assure  her,  that  he  had  made  a  beginning, 
and  was  fully  resolved  to  prosecute  the  guilty  with  the  ut- 
most rigour ;  but  at  the  same  time,  he  wished  her  to  reflect, 
upon  the  danger  of  his  having  so  many  powerful  noble- 
men in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and  the  difficulty  of  pursuing 
them  in  their  fastnesses,  and  among  the  barren  wastes 
where  they  lurked,  and  he  had  no  doubt  but  she  would 
send  him  a  supply  of  money,  to  enable  him  to  subdue  them, 
as  it  was  more  dangerous  for  her  kingdom,  that  the  Spa- 
niards should  obtain  a  footing  in  Scotland,  than  in  either 

•  Spotswood,  p.  392.  f  Calderwood,  p.  284.. 


196  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND, 

BOOK    France  or  the  low  countries,  both  of  which  she  had  liberally 

HI-       supplied.     Borough  then  represented  to  his  majesty,  that  as 

1593]      he  had  so  many  other  rebels  to  contend  with,  and  Both  well 

had  already  suffered  considerable  punishment,  it  might  tend 

But  inter-   to  iessen  njs  difficulties,  if  he  would  consent  to  accept  his  sub- 
codes for  .  ' 
Bothwell.    mission,  and  again  receive  that  nobleman  into  tavour.     But 

the  king  would  listen  to  no  proposal  in  BothwelPs  favour. 
He  said,  if  the  queen  had  any  regard  for  him,  she,  so  far 
from  interceding  in  behalf  of  one  who  had  been  guilty  of 
such  unpardonable  offences,  would  allow  him  no  refuge  in 
her  kingdom.  He  again  desired  the  ambassador  to  assure 
his  royal  mistress,  that  he  would  bring  the  popish  lords  to 
trial,  and  dismissed  him. 

XLIX.  It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  the  suspicions  en-» 
tertained  of  the  king  were  well  founded,  and  that,  notwith- 
standing all  his  promises,  professions,  and  oaths,  he  had  no 
intention  of  proceeding  to  extremities  with  the  three  earls. 
He  could  not  avoid  summoning  a  parliament ;    but  before  it 
met,  Kerr  had  escaped,  and  the  most  material  witness  being 
thus  removed,  nothing  was  done  against  them,  as  full  legal 
Nobles       evidence  could  not  be  produced.     Surrounded  with  difficul- 
combine  to  tjes    an(j  wjlnout  any  minister  in  whom  he  could  confide, 

oppose  the  .     . 

chancellor,  James,  at  this  juncture,  proposed  to  recal  lord  Thirlstane } 
and  that  minister  having  yielded  up  the  contested  lordship 
of  Musselburgh  to  the  queen,  was  about  to  resume  his  si- 
tuation at  court,  when  the  duke  of  Lennox,  the  earl  of 
Athol,  lord  Ochiltree,  and  all  of  the  name  of  Stuart,  in  oiv 
der  to  prevent  it,  combined  to  bring  back  Bothwell, — also 
a  Stuart,  and  an  enemy  of  the  chancellor — and  endeavour 
to  restore  him  to  the  king's  favour. 

And  bring       L>  ^wo  days  after  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  when  the 
back  Both-  noblemen  were  all  admitted  without  restraint  to  the  palace, 
to  take  leave  of  the  king,  Athol  invited  Bothwell  to  a  house 
which  he  occupied  near  Holyroodhouse ;  and  his  lady,  early 
in  the  morning,  taking  Bothwell  and  John  Colvil,  one  of  his  \ 
followers,  along  with  her,  entered  the  royal  apartments,  as  if  j 
to  bid  the  king  farewell.     The  king,  who  was  in  an  adjoin 
ing  closet,  came  out,  and  when  he  saw  a  number  of  airne< 
men  standing,  attempted  to  get  to  the  queen's  chamber,  bu:  >] 
the  dpor  being  locked,  he  cried  aloud,  "  treason  !  treason  f :  i 


JAMES  VI.  197 

Upon  this,  Bothwell  falling  on  his  knees,  entreated  mercy.    BOOK 
Nay,  said  the  king,   whose  spirit  was  roused  by  the  insult, 
you  have  betrayed  me;  and   sitting  down   in  a  chair,  bade      1.593 
him  strike,   and  finish  his  treason  !     Bothwell,  still  on  his 
knees,   protested  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  that  he  only 
came  there  to  beg  pardon,  and  to  submit  entirely  to  his  ma- 
jesty's pleasure.     The  king  replied,    it  was  not  the  manner  His  inter- 
of  suppliants  to  come  with  arms  in  their  hands;  but  the  earl  v'e™  w 

the  king. 

of  Mar,  and  sir  William  Keith  entering  during  this  con- 
versation, the  king,  who  perceived  himself  entirely  at  the 
mercy  of  Bothwell's  adherents,  grew  calmer;  and  when  a 
number  of  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  heard  of  the 
disturbance,  were  led  by  their  provost  to  attempt  the  king's 
relief,  he,  by  Mar's  advice,  addressed  them  from  a  window, 
and  thanking  them  for  their  promptitude  in  coming  to  his 
assistance,  desired  them  to  return  to  their  homes,  and  await 
his  orders. 

LI.  For  some  time  Bothwell  behaved  humbly,  and  endea- 
voured to  ingratiate  himself  with  his  sovereign,  offering  to 
stand  trial  for  the  accusation  of  the  witchef,  which  had  been 
the  origin  of  the  whole  troubles;  and  as  to  every  thing  else, 
he  threw  himself  upon  his  mercy,  and  would  only  plead  in 
extenuation,  the  extremities  to  which  he  and  his  friends  had 
been  driven,  and  which  led  him  to  commit  misdemeanours, 
he  would  not  now  attempt  to  defend.  But  perceiving  that 
his  submission  produced  no  effect,  he  altered  his  tone,  and 
let  fall  some  threatening  insinuations,  which  so  alarmed  the 
monarch,  that  through  the  mediation  of  the  English  ambas- 
sador, he  signed  a  capitulation,  and  promised,  on  the  word 
of  a  prince,  to  perform  it.  By  it  a  full  pardon  was  to  be  Extorts  a 
granted  to  Bothwell  and  his  friends  for  all  past  misconduct,  Pardon 

,       ,  .       ,  from  him. 

attempts  upon  the  king  3  person,  or  contempt  shown  his  au- 
thority ;  and  all  their  forfeitures  were  to  be  reversed,  a  rati- 
fication of  which  was  to  be  procured  in  parliament.  The 
chancellor,  lord  Hume,  the  master  of  Glammis,  and  sir 
George  Home,  were  to  be  dismissed  the  king's  council  and 
forbid  his  presence,  and  Bothwell  and  his  friends  to  be 
esteemed  good  subjects,  and  treated  as  if  they  had  never 
pffended. 


198  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  LII.  Extorted  agreements,  under  whatever  sanctions  they 
IIL  may  have  been  concluded,  are  never  to  be  depended  upon  ; 
and  unless  Bothwell  or  his  friends  could  have  kept  the  king 
in  a  state  of  complete  bondage,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  late  arrangement  would  be  lasting.  He  was  now  of  an 
age  that  did  not  admit  of  his  being  long  held  in  unwilling 
constraint,  and  he  had  with  difficulty,  when  really  a  prisoner, 
signed  the  articles,  evidently  from  a  desire  to  obtain  a  little 
more  liberty,  and  with  an  intention  of  never  observing  them  ; 
for  the  negotiations  had  been  protracted  nearly  three  weeks 
from  the  time  of  the  surprise,  and  the  very  next  day  after  he 
agreed  to  the  stipulations,  he  set  out  for  Falkland.  Lennox, 
and  some  others  of  the  faction,  accompanied  the  king,  on 
purpose  to  prevent  the  former  members  of  his  government 
from  obtaining  access  to  him;  and  Bothwell  in  the  interim, 
was  tried,  and  acquitted  from  the  charge  of  having  imagined 
the  king's  death,  by  consulting  with  witches. 

LIU.  But  all  their  efforts  were  in  vain ;  the  bondage 
was  too  irksome,  and  James  was  determined  to  break  it, 
although  by  a  step  yet  more  humiliating  than  the  constraint 
itself.  Under  pretence  of  settling  some  disturbances  that 
had  occurred  on  the  highland  borders,  he  called  a  con- 
vention of  the  nobles  at  Stirling;  and  by  some  want  of 
dexterity  on  the  part  of  Both  well's  friends,  not  very  easily 
accounted  for,  they  allowed  themselves  to  sink  into  a  feeble 
Conven-  minority  at  the  meeting.  Some  few  observations  having 
Stirlf*  been  made  about  the  state  of  the  highlands,  and  the  means 
of  tranquillizing  them,  at  opening,  as  the  business  for  which 
the  nobles  had  assembled,  the  king  interrupted  the  de- 
sultory conversation.  He  had  summoned  them,  he  said, 
to  lay  before  them  a  subject  that  interested  himself  person- 
ally ;  and  as  it  nearly  touched  his  honour,  he  begged  their 
advice.  Then  enumerating  all  the  indignities  he  had  suffered 
from  Bothwell,  from  the  first  to  this  last  attempt,  he  asked 
whether  they  thought  the  conditions  binding,  which  had  been 
extorted  from  him  by  those  who  undertook  to  mediate,  and 
which  he  declared  he  had  only  granted  under  the  influence 
of  fear.  The  convention  gave  as  their  opinion,  that  the  king 
was  not  bound  by  the  conditions  thus  granted  ;  that  the  deed 
of  Bothwell  was  treasonable,  and  the  pardon  depended  en- 


JAMES   VI.  199 

tirely  upon  his  good  pleasure.    Gratified  by  this  declaration,    BOOK 
the  king  replied,  that  for  the  sake  of  peace  he  would,   now  _ 
that  he  was  at  liberty,  grant  a  pardon,  if  it  were  humbly  sued      1593 
br;  but  he  wished  the  convention,  by  a  public  act,  to  de- 
clare the  whole  transaction  unlawful,  which  they  did. 

LIV.  Intimation  of  this  act  was  immediately  sent  to  Both- 
well,  and  he  was  allowed  till  the  20th  November  to  make 
his  submission,  after  which  he  should  withdraw  himself  out 
of  the  kingdom,  to  such  part  beyond  seas  as  his  majesty 
should  appoint.  At  first  Bothwell  appeared  willing  to  ac- 
quiesce in  the  conditions,  but  upon  learning  that  his  most 
inveterate  enemies  were  received  into  the  king's  most  inti- 
mate favour,  he  attempted  to  revive  his  league  with  Athol 
and  Montrose,  and  to  obtain  by  force,  an  unconditional  rati- 
fication of  his  pardon,  if  not  the  fulfilment  of  the  former  sti- 
pulations ;  but  the  king  being  on  his  guard,  Athol  retired 
quietly,  and  Montrose,  on  being  made  prisoner,  excused  Bothwell 
himself,  while  Bothwell,  frustrated  in  raising  a  new  commo-^1^^ 
tion,  fled  to  the  borders,  and  was  denounced  as  a  rebel.  bel. 

LV.  Disappointed  and  grieved  at  the  issue  of  the  king's 
northern  expedition,  the  ministers  were  still  more  incensed 
at  the  bold  and  insolent  boasting  of  the  popish  lords,  who 
vaunted  that  they  would  soon  oblige  the  heretics  to  return 
to  the  bosom  of  the  holy  church ;  and  the  synod  of  Fife 
happening  to  meet  at  the  time,  they  appointed  a  solemn  fast 
on  account  of  the  impunity  granted  to  murder  and  treason, 
and  the  consequent  audacity,  open  blasphemy,  and  increased 
activity  of  the  enemies  of  the  protestant  cause ;  and  they 
named  a  committee  to  wait  on  the  king,  and  represent  to 
him  the  danger  of  countenancing  and  favouring  papistical 
traitors  ;  they  likewise  took  measures  for  assembling  a  con- 
vention of  the  commissioners  from  the  different  counties,  in 
Edinburgh,  to  deliberate  on  the  perils  of  the  time ;  and  the 
more  to  mark  their  dissatisfaction  at  the  leniency  of  the 
court,  and  their  detestation  of  crimes  which  shook  the  whole 
frame  of  society,  and  loosened  the  bonds  of  good  order  and 
subordination  in  Scotland, — then  at  best  but  frail  and  ill!?"odof 

X1 116  6X— 

jointed, — they,    after  grave  deliberation,    excommunicated  communi. 
the  three  earls  and  their  adherents  ;  they  also  ordered  the  ^g^1"5 
excommunication  to  be  communicated  to  the  neighbouring  lords; 


200  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    provinces,  that  it  might  be  circulated  as  extensively  as  pos- 
lll-       sible  throughout  the  nation.* 
1.593.         LVI.  When  the  king  heard  of  these  proceedings,  he  was 

Which  ir-   highly  incensed,  and  sent  for  Mr.   Robert  Bruce,  wishing 
ritates  the        B   '*  .  ° 

king.          him  at  least  to  prevent  the  publication    or  the  sentence  in 

Edinburgh  ;  and  when  he  informed  him  that  that  was  be- 
yond his  power,  the  king  uttered  a  threat  against  the  disci- 
pline of  the  church,  which  showed  his  rooted  enmity,  and 
which  circumstances,  unfortunately,  afterward  enabled  him. 
to  display  more  banefully.  From  the  church  he  turned  to 
the  most  popular  barons,  whom  he  endeavoured  to  gain 
over  to  an  approval  of  his  scheme ;  but  here  too,  he  was  un- 
successful.f 

He  sets  out      Lvn.  Finding  that  his  measures  were  universally  disapprov- 
ir~  ed  of,  the  king,  before  setting  out  upon  an  expedition  to  the 


tiers. 


*  This  excommunication  has  been  considered  as  irregular,  as  none  of  the 
conspirators  resided  within  the  bounds  of  the  synod,  or  were  subject  to  its 
jurisdiction,  Robertson,  book  viii.  The  synod  rested  their  claims  of  jurisdic- 
tion on  the  following  grounds ;  that  many  of  the  conspirators  had  been  stu- 
dents at  St.  Andrews,  and  had  had  communion  with  that  kirk  ;  that  the  earls 
of  Angus,  Errol,  and  lord  Home,  were  married,  made  a  profession  of  faith,  and 
subscribed  the  articles  of  communion  within  the  province  of  Fife,  and  that, 
when  the  murder  of  the  earl  of  Moray  had  been  committed  by  the  earl  of 
Hunfly,  the  laird  of  Auchendowne  and  sir  James  Chisholm,  the  general  as- 
sembly advised  them  to  be  excommunicated  by  the  synod  of  Fife.  They, 
therefore,  considered  them  all  as  persons  who  had  either  become  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  synod,  by  frequently  communicating  with  the  churches  under 
their  charge,  or,  as  having  committed  crimes  within  their  bounds,  over  which 
the  synod  had  authority  to  take  cognizance.  Calderwood,  pp.  290,  291. 

•f-  A  curious  conversation  between  the  king  and  lord  Hamilton  on  this  sub. 
ject  has  been  preserved.     James  paid  a  visit  to  Hamilton  house,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sounding  that  nobleman's  views.     He  introduced  the  conversation  by 
saying,  that  he  was  confident  he  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  his  lordship,  not- 
withstanding  any  reports  that  had  been  circulated  to  the  contrary.     "  Ye  see, 
my  lord,"  continued  he,  "  how  I  am  used  ;  I  have  no  man  in  whom  I  may  trust 
more  than  in  Huntly  ;  if  I  receive  him  the  ministers  will  cry  out  I  am  an  apos- 
tate from  the  religion,  if  not,  I  am  left  desolate."     "  If  he  and  the  rest  be  not  i 
enemies  to  the  religion,"  said  his  lordship,  "  ye  may  receive  them,  otherwise 
not."    "  I  cannot  tell,"  replied  his  majesty,  "  what  to  make  of  that,  but  the 
ministers  hold  them  for  enemies,  always  I  would  think  it  good  they  enjoyed 
liberty  of  conscience."     Upon  this,  lord  Hamilton  exclaimed,  "then  sir,  we  ' 
are  all  gone,  we  are  all  gone.     If  there  were  no  more  to  withstand  them,  I 
will  withstand."     The  king,  perceiving  he  had  gone  too  far,  on  the  approach  | 
of  his  servants  put  an  end  to  the  conversation,  saying  with  a  smile,  "  My  lord,  I 
I  did  this  to  try  your  mind  !"     Calderwood. 


JAMES  VI.  201 


borders,  to  pursue  the  laird  of  Fernihurst  for  resetting  Both-   BOOK 
well,  and  in  which  he  was  accompanied  by  lord  Hume,  renew- 


ed his  promise  to  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  that  he  would     1593- 
show  no  favour  to  the  popish  lords ;  yet,  on  that  same  day, 
before  he  had  marched  above  a  dozen  of  miles,  did  he  receive 
them  into  his  presence,  and  make  the  most  friendly  arrange- 
ments for  hastening  on  their  trial,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  se- 
cure an  acquittal.  By  arrangements  with  some  persons  about 
his  majesty,  if  not  with  his  majesty  himself,*  the  earls,  Angus, 
Huntly,  and  Errol,  were  apprized  of  the  king's  route;  and 
judging,  from  his  open  marked  condemnation  of  the  synod  of 
Fife's  proceedings,  that  they  would  find  him  propitious,  they 
met  him  at  Fala,  threw  themselves  upon  their  knees  before  Receives 
him,  and  in  the  language  of  suppliants,  entreated  him  not  to  the  popish 
condemn  them  unheard ;  offering  to  enter  ward  whenever,  Fala. 
and  at  whatever  place,  his  majesty  should  be  pleased  to  di- 
rect.    Such  of  the  council  as  were  present  were  favourable, 
and  they  were  ordered  to  repair  to  Perth,  and  remain  there 
till  proper  arrangements  could  be  made  for  bringing  them  to 
tiial.  i 

LVIII.  The  convention  of  commissioners  assembled  in 
Edinburgh  a  few  days  after  this  interview  had  taken  place, 
and  a  deputation,  consisting  of  James  Melville,  Patrick  Gal- 
loway, Napier  of  Merchiston,  the  laird  of  Calderwood,  and 
three  burgesses,  was  immediately  despatched  to  Jedburgh  to 
lay  their  representations  before  the  king.  The  deputies  were 
instructed  to  complain  of  his  allowing  an  excommunicated 
popish  lord  to  attend  his  person,  of  having  admitted  the  rest 
to  his  presence,  and  of  such  arrangements  having  been  made 
as  were  calculated  to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice  ;  and  to  re-  xhechurch 
quest  that  the  time  and  place  of  trial  might  be  altered,  or,  ifremon- 
he  would  not  alter  the  day,  that  the  professors  of  the  truth  8 
should  be  allowed  to  guard  his  person,  and  pursue  the  lords 
to  the  uttermost,  as  they  were  determined  to  perish,  rather 
than  that  these  traitors  should  be  permitted  to  remain  in  the 
country.  James,  irritated  at  these  demands,  spoke  at  first 
in  a  high  tone,  refusing  to  acknowledge  an  assembly  that  had 

*  James  solemnly  protested  before  God,  that  he  did  not  know  of  the  approach 
of  the  three  earls ;  but  there  is  no  confidence  to  be  placed  on  his  declarations, 
and  all  presumptive  evidence  is  against  him. 
VOL.    III.  2  D 


202  IIISTOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    met  without  his  permission  ;    and  though  it  was  urged  that 
they  had  his  repeated  consent  by  proclamation,  his  majesty 


1593.  would  not  concede  the  point  of  form,  but  persisted  in  refus- 
ing to  hearken  to  them  in  their  collective  capacity,  though 
by  an  evasion  agreeably  to  his  general  policy,  he  consented 
to  answer  their  petition,  and  explain  his  conduct  to  them  as 
individual  subjects.  The  earl  of  Hume,  he  said,  would,  in  a 
few  days,  satisfy  the  church,  which,  if  he  did  not,  he  should 
be  forbid  the  royal  presence  ;  the  lords,  he  averred,  had  been 
introduced  into  his  presence  without  his  knowledge,  and  lie 
could  not  refuse  to  them  what  he  would  not  have  refused  to 
the  meanest  person  in  his  dominions  —  a  fair  and  equitable 
hearing  ;  but  the  day  of  trial  he  had  himself,  upon  considera- 
tion, perceived  to  be  too  short,  as  he  had  also  seen  that  Perth 
would  not  be  altogether  convenient.  He  had  in  consequence 
appointed  a  meeting  of  the  estates  to  be  held  at  Linlithgow 
the  last  of  the  month,  by  whose  advice  he  would  be  regulat- 
His  majes-  ed  as  to  the  future  proceedings.  He  could  not,  however,  help 
ty'sanswor  eXpressing  his  surprise  that  the  ministers,  who  had  so  often 
complained  of  his  delaying  to  bring  the  earls  to  trial,  should 
now  be  themselves  so  urgent  for  delay.  But,  however,  he 
was  resolved  to  do  his  duty,  and  see  that  the  trial  was  fairly 
conducted.  On  being  reminded  of  his  own  declaration,  that 
"  the  crime  was  above  the  reach  of  his  power  to  pardon,"  he 
answered,  he  would  take  care  of  that  ;  and  when  they  repeat- 
ed their  offer  of  guarding  his  person,  he  replied,  he  would 
choose  his  own  guard,  and  wished  none  to  come  uninvited. 
This  answer  did  not  tend  to  allay  the  anxiety  of  the  com- 
missioners, and  they  resolved  not  to  relax  in  their  exertions. 
LIX.  The  king,  on  his  return  to  Edinburgh,  fearing  that, 
by  some  decisive  step,  they  might  endanger  his  temporizing 
policy,  issued  a  proclamation,  exculpating  himself  from  any 
tardiness  in  proceeding  against  the  popish  lords,  which  he 
attributed  to  the  treasons  of  Bothwell,  and  the  state  of  the 
country,  having  prevented  him  from  proceeding  in  that  bu- 
siness as  he  had  intended  ;  but  now  that  he  was  free,  he  had 
summoned  a  convention  of  the  estates  to  consider  of  the  most 
proper  methods  to  be  taken  for  bringing  these  lords  to  trial, 
maintaining  the  true  religion,  and  preserving  the  tranquillity 
of  the  country  ;  and  therefore  prohibited  all  convocations  of 
his  subjects,  under  pain  of  being  considered  seditious,  and  if 


JAMES  VI.  203 

any  had  already  met,  commanded  them  to  return  to  their     BOOK 
houses.  HI. 

LX.  The  convention  of  estates  met  at  Linlithgow,  but  was      (593. 
very  thinly  attended ;  and  the  petitions  and  representations  Estates 
of  the  popish  lords  were  remitted  to  a  committee,  to  meet  at™ 
Holyroodhouse  next  month,  with  the  officers  of  state,  and 
their  determination  to  have  the  force  of  an  act  of  parliament. 
Six  of  the  ministers  were  allowed  to  be  present,  and  confer 
with  them  if  they  should  desire  it. 

LXI.  Previously  to  the  meeting  of  this  committee,  offers 
were  made  by  the  lords  to  give   satisfaction  to  the  church 
and  the  king's  majesty ;  and  the  king,  when  they  met,  made 
a  long  speech  on  the  danger  of  proceeding  to  extremities 
with  noblemen  of  such  influence  and  power.     After  a  show  Act  of  abo. 
of  deliberation,  an  act  termed  an  act  of  abolition,  prepared  by  lition' 
the  council,  was  brought  in  and  sanctioned.     This  act  de- 
clared, and  by  irrevocable  edict  ordained,  that  the  true  re- 
ligion established  in  the  first  year  of  his  majesty's  reign, 
should  be  the  only  religion  professed  in  the  kingdom,  and 
forbade  the  receiving  or  resetting  of  priests  or  Jesuits  under 
the  penalties  enacted  by  law ;  that  such  as  had  never  pro- 
fessed, or  had  declined  from  their  profession,  should  either 
conform  to  the  established  religion  before  the  1st  of  Febru- 
ary, or  depart  from  the  realm,   to  such  parts  beyond  sea  as 
his  majesty  should  direct,  not  to  return  till  such  time  as  they 
had  resolved  to  embrace  the  truth,  and  satisfy  the  church, 
but  to  retain  full  and  legal  possession  of  their  estates ;  that 
all  process  against  the  earls  of  Angus,   Huntly,  and  Errol, 
the  laird  of  Auchindowne,  and  sir  James  Chisholm,  on  ac- 
count  of  the   intercepted  letters  or   correspondence  with 
Spain,  be  dropped  ;  that  such  of  them  as  should  profess  the  proceed. 
reformed  religion,  and   remain  in  the  country,  should  find  ings  against 
security   to   remain    in  their   profession    and   abstain  from 
any  intercourse  with  Jesuits  ;  while  those  who  went  abroad 
were  to  find  security  that  they  would  not  engage  in  any  in- 
trigues with  foreigners  against  the  welfare  of  their  country ; 
and  the  1st  of  January  1594  was  fixed  as  the  day  on  which 
they  were  to  declare  their  resolution  respecting  which  of  the 
alternatives  they  meant  to  accept,  otherwise  they  should  lose 
the  benefit  of  the  act. 


204 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1593. 


Feud  be- 
tween the 
Maxwells 
and  John- 
stons. 


LXII.  While  the  king  was  engaged  in  manoeuvring  with 
the  popish  lords,  the  south-western  districts  were  ravaged 
by  a  civil  war  between  the  Maxwells  and  Johnstons.  John- 
ston, in  the  month  of  July,  had  committed  great  depredations 
on  the  lands  of  Sanquhar  andDrumlanrig,  and  killed  eighteen 
persons  who  had  followed  the  marauding  party  to  try  and 
recover  some  of  their  cattle.  A  commission  was  in  conse- 
quence sent  to  lord  Maxwell,  the  warden,  to  pursue  and 
punish  the  criminals.  Previously  to  this  he  had  entered  into 
a  bond  with  the  chief  of  the  Johnstons,  for  mutual  aid  and 
offence,  which  lords  Sanquhar,  Drumlanrig,  and  the  other 
proprietors  of  that  district,  fearing  would  prevent  his  faith- 
fully discharging  his  commission,  and  knowing  his  fondness 
for  power,  waited  upon  him,  and  offered  to  assist  him  with 
their  whole  forces  in  repressing  the  influence  of  the  John- 
stons. Maxwell,  thinking  this  a  good  opportunity  for  se- 
curing his  preponderance  in  Nithsdale,  embraced  the  offer, 
and  a  bond  was  signed  with  them  and  a  number  of  other 
clans  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  news  of  this  association 
reaching  Johnston,  he  entered  into  a  counter  alliance  with 
the  Scotts,  the  Elliots,  and  the  Grahams.  The  feud  being 
now  openly  avowed,  Maxwell  levied  forces,  and  placed  a 
company  of  foot  in  Lochmaben  to  await  his  arrival  in  An- 
nandale.  Johnston,  who  had  heard  of  this,  suddenly  attack- 
ed the  party,  and  dispersed  them  with  the  loss  of  their  cap- 
tain and  several  soldiers  killed.  A  number  of  those  who  fled 
took  refuge  in  a  church,  but  it  being  set  fire  to,  they  sur- 
rendered. Maxwell,  roused  at  this  intelligence,  and  eager 
to  wipe  off  the  disgrace,  hastily  assembled  about  two  thou- 
sand men,  and  entered  Annandale  with  displayed  banners  as 
the  king's  lieutenant,  with  the  intention  of  destroying  John- 
ston's castles  of  Lochwood  and  Lockerby.  Johnston,  who 
was  inferior  in  numbers,  made  use  of  a  border  stratagem  ; 
he  placed  a  strong  body  in  ambush  and  sent  out  a  few  strag- 
glers to  insult  and  provoke  Maxwell's  men.  The  ruse  took, 
and  a  number  of  lord  Maxwell's  followers  pursued  the  de- 
coys and  fell  in  with  the  concealed  party,  by  whom  they 
were  driven  back  in  disorder  on  their  main  force,  and  threw 
them  into  confusion.  Johnston,  who  stood  with  the  re- 
mainder of  his  troops  upon  a  rising  ground,  observing  the 


JAMES  VI.  205 

issue  of  the  skirmish,  as  soon  as  he  saw  his  enemies  giving    BOOK 
way,  rushed  down  upon  them  and  completed  the  rout.    Lord       H^ 
Maxwell  himself  was  slain  in  the  chase. 

LXIII.  The  act  of  abolition  pleased  no  party.  The  pro- 
testants  were  dissatisfied  with  the  lenity  shown  to  the 
lords,  and  began  to  suspect  the  king  as  cherishing  an 
affection  for  them,  on  account  of  his  partiality  for  their 
principles.  The  earls  devoted  to  the  Romish  faith,  in 
the  real  spirit  of  that  religion,  refused  to  be  contented  with 
any  thing  short  of  complete  ascendancy ;  and,  buoyed  up 
by  the  hopes  of  foreign  aid,  carried  on  their  correspondence 
with  Spain,  and  allowed  the  time  appointed  for  accepting 
the  offered  terms  to  expire  without  making  any  advance  to-  Popish 
wards  a  reconciliation.  On  the  18th  of  January  a  conven- 
tion  of  the  estates  met,  and  pronounced  them  to  have  for-  of  act  of 
feited  the  benefit  of  the  articles ;  and  the  king,  after  having  abolition< 
used  every  means  to  persuade  them  to  submit,  was  reluc- 
tantly forced  to  require  them  by  proclamation  to  surrender 
themselves  to  stand  trial,  but  none  of  them  chose  to  obey. 

LXIV.  Elizabeth,  whose  vigorous  government  exhibited 
such  a  contrast  to  the  king-craft  of  James,  was  greatlj  dis- 
pleased at  his  unaccountable  proceedings  with  the  nobles ; 
and  sent  lord  Zouche  to  represent  to  him  the  danger  to 
which  he  exposed  himself  by  his  false  clemency,  and  expos- 
tulate with  him  on  the  violation  of  the  repeated  promises  he 
had  made  to  her,  to  come  to  no  agreement  with  the  rebels 
without  her  concurrence.  James,  who  was  not  fond  of  being 
urged  upon  this  point,  behaved  at  first  rather  distantly  to  the 
English  ambassador,  nor  did  the  asperity  with  which  he  exe- 
cuted his  commission  render  him  more  agreeable ;  but  as  the 
friendship  of  the  English  queen,  in  his  present  situation,  was 
absolutely  necessary,  he  renewed  his  promises  of  prosecut- 
ing the  lords  to  the  utmost;  and  the  recent  act  of  the  es- 
tates, together  with  the  royal  proclamation,  gave  somezouche's 

weight  to  his  assurances.     Zouche,  in  consequence,   repre-  eml>assy  to 

,,.  ,          i       <-.         •  i    i  •  .  Scotland, 

sented  to  his  court  that  the  (Scottish  king  was  now  sincere- 
ly determined  to  proceed  with  vigour,  and  intimated,  at  the 
same  time,  that  a  little  supply  of  money  would  be  requisite 
to  enable  him  to  raise  a  force  sufficient  to  restore  tran- 
quillity to  the  kingdom  ;  but  Elizabeth,  not  quite  so  cred- 


206 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1594. 
His  in- 
trigues 
with  the 
discontent 
ed  nobles. 


Bothwell 
arrives  at 
Leith. 


His  en- 
counter 
with 
Hume. 


Disabled 
by  a  fall 
from  his 
horse. 


ulous  as  her  ambassador,  returned  evasive  answers  to  the  pe- 
cuniary demands. 

LXV.  Not  long  after,  the  English  ambassador,  although  he 
had  declared  himself  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  court, 
engaged  in  intrigues  with  the  discontented  nobles,  which 
could  only  serve  to  increase  the  difficulties  of  James,  and 
obstruct  his  operations  against  the  northern  lords.  Both- 
well,  whose  restless,  ill-directed  spirit,  kept  the  nation  in 
continual  turmoil,  now  professed  himself  a  defender  of  the 
cause  of  the  reformation  :  and  there  are  strong  grounds  for 
suspecting  that  he  was  instigated  in  his  rash  attempts  by 
Elizabeth,  at  least,  it  is  sufficiently  plain,  that  he  was  encour- 
aged by  Zouche.  Having  collected  about  four  hundred  horse- 
men on  the  borders,  Bothwell  came  unexpectedly  to  Leith 
on  the  2d  April,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Lord 
Hume  arrived  on  the  same  morning,  with  not  much  more 
than  half  the  number,  but  he  was  ordered  immediately  to 
march  against  the  earl.  The  king,  who  remained  at  Edin- 
burgh but  poorly  attended,  went  to  the  High  Church,  and  af- 
ter sermon  addressed  the  people.  He  promised  to  pursue 
the  excommunicated  lords,  if  they  would  at  the  present 
emergency  assist  him  against  Bothwell ;  and,  if  it  should 
please  God  to  give  him  the  victory,  he  would  never  rest  till 
he  had  inflicted  exemplary  punishment  upon  Huntly  and  the 
others.  The  citizens,  encouraged  by  their  ministers,  ran 
with  alacrity  to  arms,  and  James,  accompanied  by  them  on 
foot,  with  some  artillery  he  had  ordered  to  be  brought  from 
the  castle,  took  post  in  Burrough  moor. 

LXVI.  As  soon  as  Bothwell  learned  the  movements  of  the 
king  he  left  Leith,  and  was  proceeding  by  the  back  of  Ar- 
thur's seat  for  Dalkeith,  when  he  encountered  Hume,  and 
charging  him  briskly,  easily  put  him  to  flight  ;*  but  too  eager 
in  the  pursuit,  his  horse  fell  under  him,  and  he  was  so  much 
bruised  that,  unable  to  follow  up  his  success,  he  retired  to 
Dalkeith,  and  next  morning  dismissed  his  forces,  and  was 
conveyed  himself  to  a  place  of  safety.  Although  the  king 
had  received  such  undoubted  proof  of  the  loyalty  and  affec- 
tion of  the  ministers  upon  this  occasion,  yet  because  Both- 

*  Calderwood  affirms  that  the  king,  when  he  heard  of  the  defeat  of  lord 
Hume,  "  came  riding  into  Edinburgh  at  the  full  gallop,"  p.  299. 


JAMES  VI  207 

well  had  pretended  that  he  took  arms  in  the  popular  cause,    BOOK 
to  drive  from  his  majesty's  councils  those  who  favoured  the 
emissaries  of  Rome  and  a  rupture  with   England,  and  had      1594. 
insidiously  spread  rumours  that  he  was  secretly  aided  by  the 
ministers;  such  was  the  obliquity  of  James'  feeling  on  this 
subject,  that  he  readily  entertained  suspicions  of  their  con- 
duct,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  accuse  them  publicly  of  abet- 
ting his  enemy.     The  court  faction  propagated  a  still  more  insinua- 
base  report;  that  money,  collected  to  assist  the  suffering  jjC^g. 
church  of  Geneva,  had  been  applied  in  raising  soldiers  to  as-  ministers, 
sist  this  desperado.  * 

LXVII.  Upon  the  defeat  of  this  attempt,  James  despatched 
lord  Colville,  and  Bruce,  commendator  of  Kin  loss,  to  Eliza- 
beth. In  his  letter  he  took  occasion  to  vent  his  spleen  against 
lord  Zouche,  who,  "  although  commended  by  her  for  a  wise, 
religious,  and  honest  man,"  "  was,  in  his  opinion,  fitter  to  carry 
the  message  of  a  common  herald,  than  manage  a  friendly  cor- 
respondence between  neighbouring  princes ;"  for  "  he  had 
seen  nothing  in  him  but  pride  and  wilfulness,"  and  he  retort- 
ed the  accusation  of  breach  of  promise  against  "  his  loving 
sister,"  by  reminding  her  of  the  many  solemn  declarations  she 
had  made,  both  in  letters  written  by  her  own  hand,  and  by 
her  ambassadors,  that  she  would  give  no  protection  to  Both- 
well  ;  yet  he  had  not  only  been  suffered  to  reside  in  England, 

•  The  king  charged  the  ministers,  in  a  conference  he  had  with  them  and 
the  magistrates,  for  their  treasonable  silence  with  regard  to  Bothwell,  while 
they  were  so  urgent  against  the  popish  lords ;  and  in  particular,  named  Bruce 
as  conspiring  to  place  the  crown  on  Bothwell's  head.  Bruce  demanded  the 
names  of  his  accusers,  and  after  much  shuffling,  the  king  mentioned  the  mas- 
ter of  Gray,  and  one  Tyrie,  a  papist ;  but  Gray  denied  that  he  had  given  any 
such  information,  and  offered  combat  to  any  individual — his  majesty  excepted 
— who  should  affirm  he  had  defamed  that  minister.  Spotswood  has  recorded 
the  slander  against  James  Melville,  minister  of  Anstruther,  of  perverting  the 
use  of  the  collections,  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  he  did  not  do  so  in- 
tentionally, as  it  was  a  public  fact,  that  the  assembly  had  received  the  receipts 
for  the  monies  transmitted,  also  a  letter  of  acknowledgment  from  Beza ;  and, 
besides,  the  character  of  Melville  was  of  itself  a  guarantee  for  the  faithful  ap- 
plication of  the  cash  delivered  to  his  care.  In  his  diary,  alluding  to  the  ac- 
cusation of  being  connected  with  Bothwell,  he  says  : — "  1  never  had  ado  with 
him  directly  nor  indirectly ;  yea,  after  good  Archibald,  earl  of  Angus,  I  knew 
not  one  of  the  nobility  of  Scotland  with  whom  I  could  communicate  my 
mind,  touching  public  affairs,  let  be  to  have  any  dealing  by  action." — Cal- 
derwood,  p.  299. 


208 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1594. 


Bothwell 
denied  an 
asylum  in 
England. 


Popish 
lords  re- 
ceive mo- 
ney from 
Spain. 


Proceed- 
ings of  the 
assembly. 


The  king's 
instruc- 
tions to  it. 


but  had  received  a  considerable  sum  of  money  from  her  sub- 
jects, to  enable  him  to  carry  on  his  treacherous  attempt  in 
Scotland.  He  could  not  think  this  was  done  with  her  know- 
ledge, it  was  so  great  a  breach  of  princely  honour ;  but  how 
it  could  be  concealed  from  her,  he  could  not  imagine,  it  was 
so  unlike  the  penetration  and  prudence  that  distinguished 
her  government.  In  his  public  despatches  he  informed  the 
queen,  that  as  the  popish  lords  had  not  embraced  the  con- 
ditions he  had  offered,  he  would  show  them  no  more  indul- 
gence, and  instructed  his  ambassadors  to  repeat  his  request 
for  a  little  money  to  assist  him.  Elizabeth  felt  his  reproaches, 
and  made  a  feeble  attempt  at  apology,  but  assured  him  she 
would  no  longer  allow  Bothwell  to  find  an  asylum  in  her 
dominions,  a  promise  she  faithfully  kept.  The  application 
for  money  was,  as  formerly,  unsuccessful. 

LXVIII.  Hardly  was  Bothwell  put  down,  when  the  coun- 
try was  alarmed  with  more  serious  dangers.  A  vessel  arrived 
in  the  north  with  despatches  from  Philip,  and  a  supply  of 
money ;  and  the  assembly,  at  this  time  the  only  court  in  the 
country  that  watched  over  the  public  welfare  with  unre- 
mitting attention,  immediately  took  the  alarm,  ratified  the 
excommunication  pronounced  by  the  synod  of  Fife,  and  sent 
several  of  their  most  active  members  to  Stirling,  where  the 
king  then  was,  to  represent  the  danger  of  the  country,  and 
suggest  such  remedies  as  the  exigencies  of  the  times  requir- 
ed. The  king  replied,  that  he  would  attend  to  their  sug- 
gestions, and  in  return,  sent  sir  Robert  Melvin,  and  Hume 
of  North  Berwick,  to  the  assembly,  to  remind  them  of  their 
duty.  Tremblingly  alive  to  any  thing  that  seemed  to  trench 
on  the  shadow  of  his  prerogative,  while  he  remained  appa- 
rently insensible  at  proceedings  that  threatened  the  essence 
of  his  power,  he  protested,  by  his  commissioners,  that  the 
royal  prerogative  should  not  be  prejudged  by  the  conven- 
ing of  the  assembly ;  desired  that  they  would  enforce  their 
resolution  against  speaking  irreverently  of  his  majesty  in  the 
pulpit,  and  censure  John  Ross,  who  had  not  paid  attention ; 
that  they  would  excommunicate  Andrew  Hunter,  the  first 
open  traitor  of  their  function  who  had  joined  with  Both- 
well  ;  and  enjoin  all  their  ministers  to  dissuade  their  con- 
gregations from  concurring  with  the  treasonable  attempts  of 


JAMES  VI.  209 

the  said  Bothwell,  or  other  traitors.     With  these  demands    BOOK 
the  assembly  complied.*  HI- 

LXIX.  Parliament  met  in  the  beginning  of  June,  but  after 
waiting  for  some  days,  there  were  scarcely  as  many  attend- 
ed as  was  requisite  to  carry  on  the  public  business,  fear  or 
affection  having  detained  a  great  number  of  the  nobles  at 
home.     They  proceeded,  however,  to  pronounce  the  most 
rigorous  sentence  of  the  law  on  all  concerned  in   the  late 
conspiracies,   who  were  declared   guilty  of  treason,   their  Acts  a- 
estates  forfeited,  and  their  banners  torn  at  the  public  market  gainst  the 
place.  Several  severe  acts  were  likewise  passed  against  papists.  iords  and 
The  chief  difficulty  however,  remained;  how  to  carry  these  PaPists- 
acts  into  execution.    The  personal  influence  of  the  king  was 
at  a  very  low  ebb,  his  professions  could   obtain   no  credit, 
and   his   exchequer  was    empty.      His   first  resource   was 
Elizabeth,  and  he,  immediately  upon  the  rising  of  parlia- 
ment, despatched  sir  Richard  Cockburn  to  request  her  as- 
sistance, while  he  himself  proceeded  to  Stirling,  to  celebrate 
the  baptism  of  his   first  son,   Henry,  prince  of  Scotland, 
whose  premature  grave  was  watered  by  a  nation's  tears,  and 
the  only  one  of  his  male  descendants  who  was  universally 
and  unequivocally  mourned.f 

*  In  the  proceedings  of  this  assembly  is  mentioned  a  singular  superstition 
prevailing  in  Garioch,  of  setting  aside  a  certain  portion  of  every  farm  to  the 
devil.  "  Anent  ye  horrible  superstition  which  prevailed  in  Garioch  and  dyvers 
pairts  of  ye  cuntrie,  in  not  laboring  a  parcel  of  ground  dedicat  to  ye  devil,  un- 
der ye  name  of  ye  Guidman's  Crofte,  ye  kirk,  for  remedie  yerof,  hes  found 
meit  yat  ane  article  be  formit  to  ye  parliat.  yat  ane  act  may  proceid  from  ye 
estattes  yerof,  ordayning  all  persons,  possessors  of  ye  said  lands,  to  cause  la- 
bor ye  samen,  betwix  and  a  certain  day  to  be  appointed  yerto,  utherways,  in 
caise  of  disobedience,  ye  said  landes  to  fall  in  ye  kingis  handis,  to  be  disponit 
to  sick  personis  as  pleises  his  maj.  wha  will  labor  the  samyn." — Cook's  Hist, 
of  the  Ch.  of  Scot.  vol.  ii.  p.  41. 

f  "  The  next  month  passed  in  receiving  the  ambassadors  come  to  assist  the 
baptisme,  which,  in  the  latter  end  of  August  next,  was  performed  with  great 
solemnity.  From  England  the  earl  of  Sussex  was  sent ;  the  king  of  Denmark, 
the  duke  of  Brunswick,  Megelburgh,  with  the  estates  of  the  United  Provinces, 
had  their  ambassadors  present ;  but  from  the  French  king  there  came  not  any, 
though  they  also  were  expected  at  the  day  appointed  for  the  solemnity.  The 
prince  was  brought  from  his  own  chamber  to  the  queen's  chamber  of  presence, 
and  laid  in  a  bed  dressed  in  a  most  stately  form.  The  ambassadors  entered 
into  the  chamber.  The  countess  of  Mar,  accompanied  with  a  number  of 

VOL.  III.  2  E 


210  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        LXX.  Next  month  was  spent  by  the  court  in  festivities,  in 
111       receiving  the  foreign  ambassadors,  and  in  preparations  for 
1594.      the  ceremony,  which  was  performed  with  great  magnificence 
in  the  end  of  August,  by  the  bishop  of  Aberdeen ;  a  circum- 
stance noticed  as  marking  the  alienation  of  the  king's  mind 
from  the  presbyterians,  and  indicative  of  his  having  even 
then  formed  the  idea  of  restoring  prelacy. 

LXXI.  No  sooner  were  the  ambassadors  dismissed,  than  the 
king's  direction  was  forcibly  attracted  to  the  north.  Eliza- 
ladies  took  up  the  prince,  and  delivered  him  to  the  duke  of  Lennox,  who 
presented  him  to  the  ambassadors.  Sussex,  as  having  the  first  place,  received 
him,  and  carried  him  in  his  arms  to  the  chappell,  the  rest  marching  in  their 
ranks,  and  followed  by  the  ladies  of  honour,  the  mistresse,  nurse,  and  others 
of  inferior  note.  Before  them  went  the  lord  Hume,  carrying  the  Ducal 
crown ;  the  lord  Levingston  carried  the  towel  or  napkins ;  the  lord  Seaton 
the  bason ;  and  lord  Semple  the  laver.  Above  the  English  ambassador  there 
was  a  pale  or  canabie,  [canopy,]  borne  by  the  lairds  of  Cessfor,  Buccleugh, 
Duddope,  and  Traquier.  The  prince's  train  was  sustained  by  the  lords  Sin- 
clair and  Urquhart.  In  this  manner  they  walked  toward  the  chappell,  a 
guard  of  the  youths  of  Edinburgh,  well  arrayed,  standing  on  each  side  of  the 
way,  and  the  trumpets  sounding.  Being  entered  the  chappell,  the  king  arose 
from  his  seat,  and  received  the  ambassadors  at  the  door  of  the  quire,  and  then 
was  the  prince  delivered  to  the  duke  of  Lennox,  who  gave  him  to  the  nurse. 
After  which,  the  ambassadors  were  conveyed  to  their  places,  ordered  in  this 
manner : — Upon  the  king's  right  hand  was  a  chair  set  for  the  French  king's 
ambassador,  but  this  was  empty ;  next  to  him  the  ambassador  of  Denmark 
was  placed ;  on  the  left,  the  English  ambassador  and  Legier  did  sit,  and  after 
them,  the  ambassadors  of  Brunswick,  Megelburgh,  and  the  States.  Every 
chair  had  a  tassel  board  covered  with  fine  velvet,  and  the  ambassador  of  Eng- 
land, besides  the  others,  had  office  men  standing  by  him  to  wait.  The  service 
did  then  begin,  and  upon  the  end  thereof  the  English  ambassador  arose,  and 
presented  the  prince  to  the  bishop  who  was  appointed  to  administer  the  sa- 
crament ;  this  was  Mr.  David  Cunninghame,  bishop  of  Aberdeen.  The  action 
finished,  Mr.  David  Lindsay,  minister  at  Leith,  had  a  learned  speech  in 
French  to  the  ambassadors  j  after  which,  they  returned  to  [from]  the  chappell. 
Then  was  the  prince  laid  upon  a  bed  of  honour,  and  his  titles  in  this  sort 
proclaimed  by  the  lyon  herauld  : — Henry  Frederick,  knight  and  baron  of  Ren- 
frew, lord  of  the  Isles,  earl  of  Carrick,  duke  of  Rothsay,  prince  and  Stewart 
of  Scotland.  This  done,  certain  pieces  of  silver  and  gold  were  cast  forth  at 
a  window  among  the  people,  and  a  number  of  knights  created  at  night,  for 
it  was  in  the  afternoon  the  baptisme  was  ministered.  The  ambassadors,  with 
their  train,  and  the  noblemen  present,  were  royally  feasted,  nothing  lack- 
ing that  was  required  to  such  a  triumph.  The  rest  of  the  month  was  spent 
in  plays,  running  at  tilt,  and  such  other  exercises  as  might  give  delight  to 
strangers."  Spotswood,  pp.  406-7. 


JAMES  VI.  211 

beth  could  not  by  any  arguments  be  induced  to  trust  James    BOOK 
with  the  money  requisite  to  enable  him  to  put  his  forces  in 


motion,  and  the  forfeited  earls,  in  the  interval,  were  strength-     1594. 
ening,    by  new  alliances,   their  already  formidable  power. 
Bothwell  had  now  joined  them,  and  his  restless  spirit  pro- 
jected  a  new  plan  for  seizing  once  more  the  king's  person  BothwelPa 
and  committing  him  to  Blackness  castle,  to  be  kept  there  in  defeated- 
captivity  till  the  lords  could  come  south,  and  dictate  their 
own  terms.     By  the  apprehension  of  one  Orme,  a  servant  of 
Bothwell's,  the  whole  was  discovered,  and  he,  agreeably  to 
James'   method  of  punishing  the  minor  culprits,  together 
with  the  keeper  of  Blackness   castle,  was  executed  in  the 
High  Street  of  Edinburgh.     In  this  alarming  state  of  af-  Proceed- 

r  .  °     i        i  •         •  j  ••  7       c    A          i      mgsagainst 

fairs  the  king  issued  a  commission  to  the  earls  or  Argyle,  the  popish 
Athole,  Forbes,  and  a  number  of  barons  who  were  at  enmity lords> 
with  the  excommunicated  lords,  to  attack  their  estates  and 
take  possession  of  their  castles;  Argyle  pleaded  youth, 
and  the  rest  declined,  till  some  of  the  ministers  adding  their 
exhortations  to  the  king's  orders,  he  took  the  field  about 
the  end  of  September,  and  marching  across  the  mountains 
to  Badenoch,  laid  siege  to  the  castle  of  Ruthven  ;  but  on  the 
advance  of  the  earls  he  retreated  to  near  Drimmin,  to  wait 
the  arrival  of  lord  Forbes  and  the  M'Kenzies,  who  were 
hastening  to  join  him. 

LXXII.  Huntly  apprized  of  the  advance  of  these  reinforce- 
ments, although  inferior  in  number  and  Argyle  advantage- 
ously posted,  determined  to  attack  him  before  Forbes  should 
arrive ;  and  dividing  the  forces,  which  were  about  nine  hun- 
dred in  all,  into  two  bodies,  marched  from  Strathbogie 
to  Auchendowne,  Errol  leading  the  van.  When  Argyle 
perceived  the  enemy  approach,  he  left  his  camp,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  occupy  the  neighbouring  hills,  which  he  did 
without  molestation.  He  there  drew  up  his  army,  amount- 
ing to  nearly  ten  thousand,  in  three  divisions.  M'Lean 
of  the  Isles  commanded  the  van,  and  himself  the  rear, 
which  occupied  the  heights,  while  his  flanks  were  defended 
by  bogs  and  precipices.  M'Lean  was  ordered  to  begin  the 
attack,  but  Huntly  had  with  him  some  pieces  of  artillery, 
which  he  opened  upon  his  line  as  he  advanced  ;  and  the 
Highlanders  who  composed  it,  astonished  at  the  sound  and 


212 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
III. 

1594. 


Battle  of 
Glenlivet 

— Argyle 
defeated. 


The  king 
proceeds 
against 
them. 


effect  of  the  cannon,  with  which  they  were  totally  unac- 
quainted, fell  flat  on  their  faces,  and  could  with  difficulty  be 
persuaded  to  rise  during  the  firing  of  the  ordnance.  Errol, 
who  perceived  this,  advanced  briskly  to  attack  them  in  rear, 
but  from  the  nature  of  the  ground,  was  forced  to  make  a  cir- 
cuit, during  which  the  highlanders  got  time  to  rally  their 
spirits,  and  resuming  courage,  poured  in  a  flight  of  arrows 
upon  them,  which  did  considerable  execution, — killed  Auchin- 
downe,  and  severely  wounded  Errol, — then  surrounding 
ErroPs  band,  threatened  to  annihilate  them  ;  when  Huntly 
perceiving  their  peril,  advanced  with  his  division,  and  after 
a  hard  struggle  of  two  hours,  succeeded  in  throwing  the  first 
line  into  confusion ;  and  the  others,  struck  with  trepidation, 
fled,  notwithstanding  all  the  exertions  of  Argyle,  a  gallant 
youth,  then  only  eighteen,  who  was  borne  off  the  field,  weep- 
ing with  indignation  at  the  disgrace  of  his  clan.  M'Lean, 
with  a  few  of  the  islanders,  stood  firm  amid  the  general  con- 
fusion, and  retired  in  good  order.  Huntly  pursued  with 
keenness  over  crags,  which  would  appear  dangerous  to  a  man 
on  foot ;  nor  did  he  stop  till  the  almost  perpendicular  rocks 
forbade  the  advance  of  cavalry.  In  this  battle,  generally 
known  by  the  name  of  the  battle  of  Glenlivet,  Argyle  lost 
Campbell  of  Lochnel,  and  his  brother,  M'Niel  of  Barra,  and 
about  seven  hundred  of  his  men.  Huntly  lost  his  uncle, 
Auchindowne,  and  twelve  men  killed,  but  a  great  many  were 
wounded.* 

LXXIII.  The  king,  who  was  at  Dundee  when  the  intelli- 
gence of  Argyle's  defeat  reached  him,  pushed  forward,  and 
arrived  at  Aberdeen.  He  was  joined  on  his  march  by  the 
Irvines,  Keiths,  Leslies,  Forbeses,  and  some  of  the  other 
clans  who  were  at  variance  with  Huntly ;  while  the  earls, 
weakened  by  their  loss  at  Glenlivet,  and  the  desertion 
of  numbers  of  their  retainers,  who  would  not  bear  arms 
against  the  king  in  person,  fled  to  the  mountains.  Still  the 
whole  expedition  had  been  frustrated,  but  for  the  ministers 
who  accompanied  the  king.  His  troops  were  ready  to  dis- 
band for  want  of  pay,  and  so  little  confidence  was  placed  in 


•  Spotswood,  p.  409.     Account  of  the  battle  of  Strathaven,  or  Balrinnes, 
printed  with  Scottish  poems  of  the  16th  century. 


JAMES  VI.  213 

his  majesty's  professions,  that  he  could  not  command  the    BOOK 
funds  necessary  to  satisfy  them,  till  James  Melville  was  des- 
patched to  the  south,  to  raise  a  contribution.     Several  of  the      1594. 
chiefs  also,  were  willing  to  spare  the  castles  of  the  earls,  but 
lord  Lindsay  opposed  so  strongly  the  impolitic  forbearance, 
that  the  king  issued  orders  for  demolishing  Strathbogie,  a  seat 
of  the  earl  of  Huntly's,  Slaines  castle,  belonging  to  the  earl  of 
Errol,  and  destroyed,  or  garrisoned  the  rest  of  the  strength  of 
their  retainers.*    Reduced  now  to  the  last  extremity,  and  de- 
spairing of  being  able  to  raise  any  further  commotions,  the 

lords  implored  and  obtained  permission  to  leave  the  country:  Tiie7  are 

J     allowed  to 
and  gave  security  not  to  return  without  the  king  s  consent,  ieave  the 


nor  to  engage  in  any  designs  while  abroad,  against  the  pro- 
testant  church,  or  the  tranquillity  of  the  kingdom. 

LXXIV.  Bothwell,  who  had  so  often  disturbed  the  peace  of 
the  court,  and  kept  the  king  in  a  state  of  such  frequent  per- 
sonal alarm,  having  by  his  last  confederacy  with  the  popish 
earls,  entirely  lost  what  favour  he  ever  possessed  among  any 
of  the  people,  forced  to  abscond,  was  shortly  after  excommu- 
nicated ;  and  being  denied  the  protection  of  England,  fled 
first  to  France,  then  to  Spain,  and  afterward  to  Italy,  where, 
having  abjured  the  protestant  religion,  he  lived  many  years  g°es  to 
in  obscurity  and  indigence,  dissipating  all  the  dreams  of  his 
early  ambition,  in  low  and  contemptible  debauchery.  His 
forfeited  estate  was  divided  among  Buccleugh,  Kerr  of  Cess- 
ford,  and  lord  Hume.  Buccleugh  got  Crighton,  Kerr  the 
abbey  of  Kelso,  and  Hume  the  abbey  of  Coldingham.  Nor 
could  he  ever  obtain  any  favour  from  the  king,  even  upon  the 
most  humble  submission. 

LXXV.  On  the  3d  of  October,  lord  Thirlstane,  the  chancel-  Death 
lor,  died,  after  a  lingering  illness.  In  him  James  lost  an 
able  and  a  faithful  minister,  who,  in  a  difficult  situation,  re- 
tained the  confidence  of  a  changeable  prince,  without  for- 
feiting that  of  a  justly  supicious  people.  His  death  occa- 
sioned an  alteration  in  the  measures  of  government,  and  the 
church  soon  felt  the  consequence  of  the  change.  In  the 
commencement  of  his  career,  he  supported  the  detested  ad- 
ministration of  Arran  ;  but  he  soon  perceived  the  mischief 

•  Caldei  wood,  p.  307. 


214  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    incident  to  a  king's  professing  a  religion,  or  an  attachment 
to  forms  of  religion  different  from  what  his  people  are  at- 
tached  to,  and  he  effected  an  apparent  coalition  between  the 
king  and  the  church,  which  was  conducive  of  the  best  effects 
in  the  most  trying  times;  and  which,  had  it  been  steadily  pre- 
served,  would  have  rendered  his  majesty  happy  at  horn 
and  respected  abroad ;  but  which,  being  forcibly  torn  asun 
der,  entailed  on  him  uneasiness  and   embarrassment  to  th 
end  of  his  life,  while  it  exposed  the.  church  and  state  to  th 
most  dreadful  convulsions. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  IV. 

James  VL — Distracted  state  of  the  country. — Octavians  appointed. — Their 
powers  displease  the  people — Buccleugh  rescues  Armstrong,  a  notorious 
robber. — Proceedings  of  Elizabeth  thereupon. — Difference  between  James 
and  the  Assembly Bond  for  defence  of  church  and  state  renewed — Po- 
pish lords  return. — Proceedings  of  the  church  in  consequence. — Negotia- 
tions with  the  king. — Proceedings  against  Mr.  David  Black. — A  serious 
riot  in  Edinburgh — The  king  leaves  the  town. — The  ministers  retire. — 
Conduct  of  the  magistrates  on  the  occasion — The  riot  declared  treason. 
— Fine  laid  upon  the  town — Octavians  resign — The  king's  insidious  de- 
signs against  the  church. — Convention  of  ministers  held  by  the  king's 
command  at  Perth. — Ministers  of  Edinburgh  return — Proceedings  of  con- 
vention  at  Perth  ratified  by  the  assembly. — Popish  lords  absolved. — The 
king  interferes  with  the  court  judicatories  and  universities — Outrages  on  the 
borders — Scheme  for  introducing  Episcopacy. — Debates  on  the  subject. — 
James'  proceedings  in  regard  to  his  succession  to  the  crown  of  England. — 
Beginning  of  the  year  changed — Regulations  for  bishops  to  sit  in  parliament 
violated  by  the  king. — Gowrie  conspiracy. — Earl  of  Gowrie  killed. — Sprot 
hanged  for  his  concern  in  it. — Process  against  Logan  of  Restalrig. — 
Proceedings  of  the  ministers  on  the  occasion — Conspiracy  of  earl  of  Essex 
against  Elizabeth — Plan  for  civilizing  the  western  islands. — Death  of  queen 
Elizabeth — James  proclaimed  king  of  England — Leaves  Scotland. — Ee. 
flections.  1595 — 1603. 

i.  THE  year  1595,  was  marked  by  the  common  people  as  a  BOOK 
black  year.     The  land  was  not  only  distracted  by  the  feuds  — _ — 
of  the  Maxwells  in  the  west,  the  restlessness  of  Bothwell  in  james  Vi. 
the  south,  and  the  more  threatening  conspiracies  of  the  po- 
pish lords  in  the  north ;  but  afflicted  with  a  dearth,  owing 
to  the  failure  of  the  harvest,  and  a  general  spirit  of  licen- 
tiousness, owing  to  the  relaxation  of  the  laws.    From  among  Distracted 
other  instances,  which  demonstrate  the  state  of  misrule  in 
which  the  country  was,  I  shall  notice  one.    David  Forrester, 
a  respectable  citizen  of  Stirling,  returning  from  Edinburgh, 


216 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1595. 


BOOK  was  waylaid  and  murdered  by  assassins  employed  by  the 
*v<  lairds  of  Airth  and  Dunipace,  who  envied  him  on  account 
of  the  influence  he  had  with  his  superior,  the  earl  of  Mar. 
This  nobleman,  grieved  for  the  death  of  Forrester,  collected 
his  vassals,  and  brought  the  body  from  Linlithgow — near 
which  the  murder  had  been  committed — to  Stirling,  to  be 
interred,  marching  in  martial  array,  and  exhibiting  on  a 
white  sheet,  a  picture  of  the  deceased,  with  all  his  wounds, 
in  order  to  excite  the  public  indignation.  After  the  burial, 
the  earl  attempted  to  bring  the  perpetrators  to  justice ;  but 
the  lords  Livingston  and  Elphingston  protecting  them,  it 
was  found  impossible,  notwithstanding  the  king  issued  his 
proclamation,  commanding  the  offenders  to  stand  trial,  and 
prohibiting  the  interference  of  any  party. 

ii.  All  the  embassies,  promises,  and  even  the  late  pro- 
ceedings of  James,  could  not  procure  him  any  pecuniary  aid 
from  the  economical  Elizabeth ;  and  his  own  thoughtless 
habits,  and  those  of  the  queen,  keeping  him  in  constant  pe- 
nury, it  became  necessary  for  him  to  look  more  narrowly 
into  the  state  of  his  proper  revenue.  As  he  was  incapable 
of  doing  this  himself,  he  delegated  the  task  to  eight  gentle- 
men, from  their  number  named  Octavians.  To  them  he 
gave  the  powers  which  had  been  intrusted  to  the  collector 
and  comptroller's  offices,  to  appoint  and  discharge  all  the 
inferior  officers,  chamberlains,  secretaries,  and  clerks,  the 
whole  command  of  the  exchequer,  and  the  arrangement  of 
the  household.  He  bound  himself,  neither  to  add  any  to 
their  number,  nor  in  case  of  vacancy  by  death,  to  admit  any 
other,  except  by  the  advice  and  approbation  of  the  sur- 
vivors. No  letter  of  his,  alienating  any  of  the  property  of 
the  crown,  or  granting  pensions,  gifts,  or  licenses,  was  to  be 
held  valid,  unless  also  subscribed  by  at  least  five  of  the 
eight.  All  their  acts  and  decisions  were  to  have  the  same 
force  as  the  sentence  of  judges  in  civil  causes,  and  they  had 
also  power  of  arresting  and  destraining  upon  their  own 
authority,  without  the  interference  of  any  other  ordinary 
court.  So  full  and  extensive  were  the  powers  granted  to 
this  commission,  that  when  the  act  of  council  authorizing  it 
was  published,  it  was  remarked,  that  the  king  had  left  him- 
self nothing  but  the  name  ;  and  henceforth  his  subjects 


Octavians 
appointed. 


JAMES   VI 


could  look   to  him  neither  for  advancement   nor  reward.    BOOK 
Nor  was  it  long  before  the  Octavians  engrossed  the  whole 
of  the  executive  power  into  their  hands.     The  only  office  of      1596. 
importance  they  did  not  acquire,  was  that  of  the  chancellor,  The?  e"" 
which  they  allotted  to  the  president  ;  but  which  the  king  whole 
did  not  dare  to  confirm,  on  account  of  his  religion,  dread-  P°wer> 
ing  the  effect  that  appointing  a  papist  to  such  a  high  office 
might  have  upon  the  nation  ;  especially  as  he  knew  that  the 
ministers  would  not  suffer  it  in  silence. 

in.  This  innovation  on  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom, 
introduced  by  the  indolence  of  the  king,  and  which  amount- 
ed, in  fact,  to  the  establishment  of  a  power  superior  to  the 
sovereign,  occasioned  at  first  considerable  discontent,  and  And  cause 
was  eventually  the  cause  of  much  mischief.  The  men  to  content. 
whom  such  extensive  power  was  intrusted,  were  several  of 
rhem  known  to  be  attached  to  popery,  and  the  church  view- 
ed the  appointment  with  a  very  natural  jealousy.  The  fa- 
vourites of  the  court  too,  eyed  them  with  no  pleasure,  as  re- 
straints upon  the  bounty  of  the  king,  and  usurping  those 
pensions  or  perquisites,  which  they  thought  of  right  belong- 
ed to  them  ;  while  the  old  officers  of  the  crown,  who  had 
been  displaced  by  them,  swelled  the  ranks  of  the  discon- 
tented. 

iv.  Rumours  had  been  very  prevalent  during  the  last 
year,  of  renewed  preparations  by  Spain  for  the  invasion  of 
England;  and  towards  the  close,  it  was  ascertained  that 
Philip  had  collected  a  considerable  force,  to  attempt  either  Rumours 

that  kingdom  or  Ireland.    Upon  this  occasion,  James  issued  ?f  an?ther 

.  ,  invasion. 

a    proclamation  —  January   2d.  —  enforcing  the  necessity  of 

their  making  one  cause  with  England  ;  and  reiterating  what 
was  daily  enforced  upon  them,  that  the  conquest  of  the 
southern,  would  involve  the  subjugation  of  the  northern 
parts  of  the  island,  he  called  upon  them  to  renounce  their 
barbarous  private  enmities.  In  particular,  he  charged  the 
inhabitants  of  the  borders,  under  the  highest  penalties,  to 
desist  from  all  hostile  attempts  against  England,  required 
them  assiduously  to  cultivate  friendship  with  their  neigh- 
bours ;  and  commanded,  that  wrongs  done  the  English, 
should  be  punished  with  equal  rigour,  as  those  committed 
VOL.  in.  2  F 


218  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    against  their  fellow  subjects.     Elizabeth,  who  was  no  less 

Iv'       desirous  of  maintaining  amity,  issued  similar  orders. 
1596.          v.  An  outrage,  committed  by  one  of  the  English  under- 
wardens  shortly  after,  had  nearly  interrupted  the  harmony 
of  the  sovereigns,  if  the  different  circumstances  of  the  coun- 

O        * 

tries  had  not  prevented  such  incidents  being  regarded  now 
in  so  serious  a  light  as  formerly.    Lord  Scroope  was  warden 
of  the  west  marches  of  England,  the  laird  of  Buccleugh  had 
charge  of  Liddisdale.      Early  in  the  year,   their  deputies 
held  a  meeting  on  the  banks  of  the  Kershope,  a  small  rivulet 
that  divides   England   and  Scotland,   for  redressing   some 
trifling  disputes.     These    meetings    were    wont   to    be    an- 
nounced by  sound  of  trumpet  proclaiming  truce,  and   the 
truce  always  continued  from  the  time  of  meeting,  till  next 
day  at  sunrise,  during  which,   all   who  had  been  at  them, 
Armstrong,  were  considered  as  privileged  men.     At  this  meeting,  one 
the^E  *y     William  Armstrong,   a  notorious  reaver,   against  whom  the 
lish.  English  were  exasperated  on  account  of  his  numerous  depre- 

dations, attended  in  company  with  the  Scottish  deputy. 
This  man,  after  taking  leave,  trusting  to  the  usual  customs 
of  the  border,  was  riding  securely  home  along  the  course  of 
the  Liddel,  on  the  Scottish  side  ;  when  he  was  espied  by  the 
English  party,  who  were  also  returning  home,  pursued,  and 
after  a  chase  of  some  miles,  taken,  and  brought  to  the  Eng- 
lish deputy,  Mr.  Salkeld,  who  carried  him  prisoner  to  the 
castle  of  Carlisle.  Buccleugh  complained  of  this  breach  of 
truce  to  lord  Scroope,  and  desired  Armstrong  to  be  set  at 
liberty.  This,  Scroope  answered,  he  could  not  do  without 
an  order  from  the  queen  and  council.  Buccleugh  then  ap- 
plied to  the  resident  at  the  Scottish  court,  but  obtaining  little 
satisfaction,  he  laid  the  case  before  the  king,  who  demanded 
from  Elizabeth  the  liberation  of  the  prisoner.  No  atten- 
tion being  paid  to  the  royal  demand,  Buccleugh,  who  now 
considered  both  his  master's  honour  and  his  own  as  implt- 
Rescued  by  cated,  determined  at  all  events  to  set  Armstrong  free.  Learn- 
ing that  the  castle  of  Carlisle,  where  he  was  kept,  was  open 
to  a  surprise,  he  prepared  scaling  ladders  and  instruments 
for  forcing  an  entrance;  and  having  ordered  two  hundred 
horsemen  to  meet  him  at  Morton  tower,  about  ten  miles 
from  Carlisle,  an  hour  before  sunset,  he  proceeded  to  within 


JAMES  VI.  219 

a  short  distance  from  the  town,  where  he  halted  in  a  meadow.  BOOK 
There  causing  eighty  of  his  company  to  dismount,  he  put  him- 
self at  their  head,  and  went  forward  to  attempt  an  escalade ;  1596. 
out  the  ladders  proving  too  short,  he  effected  a  breach  in 
the  old  and  feeble  walls,  sufficient  for  one  man  to  enter, 
who  opened  the  postern,  and  admitted  the  rest.  The 
watchmen,  alarmed  by  the  noise,  made  a  little  resistance, 
but  were  soon  overpowered,  and  kept  prisoners  while  the  as- 
sailants proceeded  to  the  chamber  where  Armstrong  was 
lodged,  and  breaking  open  the  door,  brought  him  away 
in  triumph.  Lord  Scroope  and  his  deputy  were  in  the  place 
at  the  time  of  the  rescue,  and  the  prisoner  as  he  passed 
along,  insultingly  wished  them  both  good  night.  Buc- 
cleugh,  when  he  had  gained  his  object,  released  the  watch, 
and  would  not  suffer  his  attendants  to  touch  any  of  the  spoil ; 
his  object  he  said,  being  only  to  vindicate  his  king's  honour. 
The  whole  party  returned  safe,  about  two  hours  after  day- 
break. 

vi.  The  queen  of  England,  when  informed  of  this  enter-  Elizabeth 
prise,  was  highly  offended,  and  ordered  her  resident  ambas-  de™*nds 

1     »  .  satisfac- 

sador,   Bowes,   to  remonstrate  strongly  with  the    Scottish  tion, 
court,  and  demand  that  Buccleugh  should  be  delivered  up ; 
for  the  surprise  of  a  fortress,  and  the  forcible  release  of  a 
prisoner  from  her  warden,  were  affronts  which  could  not  be 
borne.     The  king  replied,  that  lie  might  with  as  much  pro- 
priety, demand  that  lord  Scroope  should  be  delivered  up  to 
him,  for  the  injury  he  had  committed;  as  it  was  as  much 
an  insult  to  seize  one  of  his  subjects  unlawfully,  as  it  was  for 
his  subjects  to  release  a  prisoner  who  had  been  unlawfully 
seized;  yet  for  the  sake  of  peace,  he  would  cheerfully  com- 
ply with  any  reasonable  arrangements.     Buccleugh  was  in 
consequence,  first  committed  to  St.  Andrews,  and  afterward  Which  U 
sent  prisoner  to  England,  but  was  not  long  detained,  the  Sranted' 
queen  being  satisfied  with  this  show  of  submission. 

vn.  No  two  means  for  procuring"  the  same  end,  could  be 
more  diametrically  opposite,  than  those  which  James  and 
the  church  proposed,  for  promoting  the  peace  and  security 
of  the  state  at  this  juncture.     When  the  general  assembly  General 
met  in  the  month  of  March,  the  king  in  person  proposed,  Assemb'y' 
that  a  general  contribution  should  be  levied  throughout  the 


220 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

IV> 
1596. 


the  mini- 


whole  kingdom,  to  meet  the  expenses  necessary  for  defend- 
ing  the  country  against  the  general  enemy.  The  ministers 
advised  the  appropriation  of  the  forfeited  estates  for  that 
purpose  ;  James  meditated  the  recall  of  the  banished  lords  ; 
the  church  insisted  upon  their  being  prosecuted  to  the  ut- 
termost. The  king  contended,  that  the  best  method  of  deal- 
ing with  them,  was  to  use  gentle  means  ;  the  ministers  con- 
sidered them  as  incorrigible,  and  that  the  only  way  to  ren- 
der them  innocuous,  was  to  render  them  incapable  of  doing 
Opposite  mischief.  With  such  views,  it  was  impossible  there  could 
^e  mucn  cordial  co-operation  ;  and  what  tended  still  farther 
to  prevent  it,  was  the  impossibility  of  accounting,  upon  any 
principle  of  common  policy,  for  the  persevering  lenity  of  the 
king,  to  men  who  had  so  often  abused  his  mercy,  and  were 
at  that  moment  plotting  against  the  realm  :  it  was  therefore 
imputed  to  a  fondness  for  the  principles  of  the  lords,  and 
excited  the  utmost  jealousy  with  regard  to  every  thing  the 
king  did.  At  this  distance  of  time,  we  may  account  for 
James'  conduct,  upon  principles  which  do  not  imply  any 
strong  predilection  for  the  church  of  Rome  ;  we  may  impute 
it  in  part  to  a  wish  to  conciliate  the  Roman  catholics,  a 
powerful  body  in  England,  and  not  a  despicable  party  in 
Scotland  ;  and  perhaps  we  do  not  err  much  in  attributing 
the  greatest  weight  to  the  facility  of  his  temper,  and  the  pe- 
culiar craft  of  his  politics.  'But  when  we  recollect  that  the 
presbyterians  required  a  correctness  of  moral  conduct  in  the 
prince,  and  a  decency  of  manners  in  the  court,  with  nei- 
ther of  which  was  the  king  disposed  to  comply  ;  that  their 
ministers,  with  honest  uprightness,  occasionally  reproved  the 
irregularities  of  both,  while  the  Roman  catholics  encourag- 
ed the  laxity  of  speech  and  behaviour  in  which  James  de- 
lighted, and  offered  no  restraint  to  the  licentiousness  of  his 
courtiers  ;  and  that  the  protestants  admonished,  while  the 
papists  flattered  ;  it  is  not  difficult  to  believe,  that  though 
his  judgment  must  have  declared  against  the  grosser  super- 
stitions of  popery,  his  kindliness  must  have  been  all  upon 
that  side;  and  that  he  felt  a  partiality  for  the  papists,  which 
he  did  not  for  the  presbyterians. 

vin.  Aware  of  the  powerful  attraction  of  a  king's  ex- 
ample, the  ministers  dreaded  the  effects  it  might  have  upon 


JAMES  VI. 


221 


the  nation  ;  but  particularly  upon  those  of  their  own  func-    BOOK 
tion   who  were  more  immediately  within  the  sphere  of  court  ' 

influence;  and  in  order   to  counteract  that  coolness  and      1590. 
carelessness  which  they  feared,  and  awaken  that  zeal  in  their 
profession  which  was  necessary  to  ensure  the  stability  of  the 
church,  a  measure  was  adopted  at  this  assembly,  which  was 
pregnant  with  the  most  important  consequences. 

ix.  At  the  approach  of  any  threatened  danger  we  have 
seen, — in  the  course  of  the  history, — bonds  entered  into  for 
the  preservation  of  the  religion  and  liberty  of  the  country  ; 
and  in  times  of  imminent  peril,  the  practice  had  been  pro- 
ductive of  the  happiest  results.  Jt  was  now  proposed  to  re- 
new these  sacred  obligations,  not  by  subscribing  as  former- 
/y,  but,  after  a  confession  of  their  own  sins  and  that  of  the 
nation,  solemnly  to  dedicate  themselves  to  the  Lord,  by 
uplifting  their  hands.  The  members  of  assembly  met  Solemn  re. 
first  in  the  Little  Church,  on  Tuesday  30th  of  March,  at  thTcove- 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  John  Davidson,  minister  of  ™mt. 
Prestonpans,  presided  on  the  occasion:  his  sermon  and 
prayer,  in  which  he  made  acknowledgment  of  sins,  with 
promise  of  amendment,  had  so  powerful  an  effect  upon  the 
congregation,  that  they  melted  into  tears;  and  before  dis- 
missal, rising  in  their  seats,  they  all  lifted  up  their  right 
hands,  and  renewed  their  covenant  with  God,  protesting  to 
walk  more  circumspectly,  and  use  greater  diligence  in  fu- 
ture. At  the  desire  of  the  assembly, — as  many  of  the  mi- 
nisters were  not  present, — this  covenant  was  renewed  in  a 
similar  manner  by  all  the  synods,  presbyteries,  and  almost 
all  the  different  congregations  in  the  country,  except  the 
sessions  of  Edinburgh  ; — such  ardour  and  unanimity  in  the 
cause  were  displayed  throughout  the  land.  A  standing 
committee  was  appointed  by  the  assembly  to  watch  the  mea- 
sures of  government  and  the  intrigues  of  their  enemies,  who 
relaxed  nothing  in  their  exertions. 

x.  What  perhaps,  gave  rise  to  this  appointment,  was  the 
avowed  intention  of  his  majesty  to  bring  back  the  popish 
lords.     A  short  time  before  the  meeting  he  had  communi-  James  de- 
cated  this  wish  to  Bruce,  and  endeavoured  to  procure  his  re^n-he'0 
concurrence  in  some  plan  by  which  it  might  be  brought  popish 
about.     Instead,  however,  of  any  approach  to  accommoda- 
tion, the  assembly  addressed  to  him  a  remonstrance,  urging 


222  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  more  rigorous  proceedings.  With  this  he  was  highly  dissa- 
IV>  tisfied,  and  in  a  subsequent  conversation  with  Bruce,  he  re- 
presented  the  advantages  which  would  result  to  him,  if  the 
exiles  were  reconciled,  and  allowed  to  come  home ;  that  the 
queen  of  England  was  now  at  an  advanced  period  of  life, 
and  if  any  rival  should  dispute  the  succession,  he  would  re- 
quire the  undivided  aid  of  all  his  subjects ;  besides,  having 
so  many  nobles  in  a  state  of  banishment,  while  it  weakened 
his  strength  at  home,  was  calculated  to  hurt  his  character 
with  strangers.  He  therefore  thought,  if  they  could  be  in- 
duced to  embrace  the  reformed  religion  and  acknowledge 
their  errors, — without  which  they  should  never  experience 
his  favour, — that  no  prudent  man,  or  any  loyal  subject, 
could  be  averse  to  their  recall ;  and  wished  his  opinion  on 
His  con-  the  subject.  Bruce  frankly  owned  that  there  was  much 
withBruce.  force  in  his  majesty's  reasons,  and  that  he  saw  no  harm  in 
his  recalling  Errol  and  Angus,  upon  their  conforming  to  the 
established  religion ;  but  Huntly  had  rendered  himself  so 
hateful  to  the  people,  that  he  did  not  think  he  could 
with  propriety  be  pardoned.  The  king,  on  the  contrary, 
could  see  no  reason  why  Huntly  should  not  be  received  as 
well  as  the  others,  if  he  would  satisfy  the  church,  and  con- 
sent to  such  conditions  as  he  should  prescribe.  He  was  the 
more  anxious  he  said  for  his  return,  as  he  was  married  to  his 
cousin,  who  he  looked  upon  as  his  own  daughter,  and  was, 
besides,  the  most  powerful,  and  the  one  who  could  be  of  the 
greatest  service ;  he  therefore  wished  Mr.  Bruce  to  re- 
consider the  subject.  At  next  meeting,  the  king  urged  all 
his  former  arguments  in  favour  of  Huntly;  to  which  Bruce 
replied,  I  see,  sir,  your  resolution  is  taken  to  bring  back 
Huntly ;  if  you  do,  I  shall  oppose  it ;  but  do  as  you  choose, 
only  when  he  comes  I  must  retire,  as  we  cannot  both  enjoy 
your  friendship.  The  king  decided  to  receive  the  traitor, 
and  to  dismiss  his  friend. 

xi.  Neglected  abroad — the  usual  fate  of  unsuccessful  re- 
bels,— Huntly  and  his  companions  were  now  anxious  to  re- 
turn ;  and  presuming  upon  the  disposition  of  the  king,  they 
Himtly  ar-  ventured  separately  to  land  in  their  native  country.  Huntly, 
who  arrived  first,  remained  for  some  time  in  the  north  ;  and 
by  means  of  his  friends  forwarded  a  supplication  to  James, 
praying  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  return,  promising 


JAMES  VI.  223 

to  reside  at  whatever  place  his  majesty  chose  to  appoint,    BOOK 
and  offering  security  for  his  good  behaviour.     In  the  month        IV> 
of  August,  a  convention  of  the  principal  nobles,  with  some     1596 
of  the  ministers  who  were  thought  the  most  moderate,  was 
held  at  Falkland,  to  consider  the  offers  made  by  Huntly  ; 
and  the  president  urging  strongly  the  policy  of  calling  home 
the   exiles, — lest   like   Coriolanus   and   Themistocles   they 
should  join  the  enemies  of  their  country, — it  was  agreed  that  Is  to  be  rc- 
Huntly  might  be  received  upon  certain  terms,  to  be  drawn  ^™j* on 
np  by  the  king  and  privy  council ;  and  this  resolution  was 
approved  and  ratified  by  a  convention  of  the  estates  held  at 
Dunfermline. 

xii.  So  soon  as  the  resolution  to  recall  the  exiled  lords 
was  confirmed,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  last  ge- 
neral assembly  met  at  Cupar  in  Fife,  and  sent  a  deputation 
to  remonstrate  with  the  king ;  who,  after  a  stormy  interview, 
dismissed  them  with  an  assurance,  that  no  proposals  should  James' 
be  hearkened  to  from  the  popish  lords,  unless  they  left  the  duPllclty- 
kingdom  ;  and  that  even  then  he  would  show  them  no  favour, 
until  they  satisfied  the  church.*  But,  notwithstanding,  the 
design  of  restoring  the  lords  was  persevered  in.  Lady  Hunt- 
ly was  invited  to  the  baptism  of  the  king's  infant  daughter, 
and  lady  Levingston,  a  Roman  catholic,  was  nominated  to 
the  charge  of  the  young  princess.  These  ominous  circum- Fears  Of 
stances  renewed  and  aggravated  the  fears  of  the  ministers  ;  the  church, 
and  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh, — as  had  been  agreed  upon 
at  Cupar, — called  together  the  commissioners  of  the  general 
assembly  ;  who,  with  deputies  from  the  different  synods,  drew 
up  a  representation,  dictated  by  the  most  lively  apprehen- 
sions of  danger,  which  they  sent  to  all  the  presbyteries,  with 
an  earnest  exhortation,  that  every  minister, — as  well  in  pub- 
lic teaching  as  in  private  conference, — should  impress  upon 
the  minds  of  his  people  the  critical  situation  of  the  country ; 
urge  a  universal  personal  reformation  upon  all  ranks,  them- 
selves setting  the  example;  intimate  anew  the  sentence  of  ex- 
communication against  the  popish  lords ;  and  proceed  sum- 
marily against  all  their  abettors  within  their  bounds.  They 
also  appointed  a  certain  number  of  ministers  from  the  four 

*  M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  vol  ii.  p.  68. 


22 1 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


Reflec- 
tions. 


BOOK    quarters  of  the  kingdom,  to  sit  permanently  in  Edinburgh, 
_[y~       along  with  the  ministers  of  the  city,  under  the  name  of  the 
1596.      standing  council  of  the  church,  who  were  to  consult  and 
counciTa     vvatcn  over  tne  safety  °f  religion ;  the  expenses  of  these  dele- 
pointed,      gates  to  be  defrayed  by  the  part  of  the  country  they  repre- 
sented.    This  council  immediately  entered  upon  its  function, 
and  summoned  Seaton,  one  of  the  Octavians,  and  president 
of  the  court  of  session,  to  appear  before  the  synod  of  Lo- 
thian, and  answer  for  his  conduct  in  advising  the  recall  of 
Huntly.     This  assumption  of  power  was  resisted  by  the  pre- 
sident, who  sent  some  members  of  the  court  to  represent  its 
Illegality,  when  a  compromise  was  entered  into.     The  sum- 
mons was  withdrawn,  and  Seaton  voluntarily  came  forward, 
and  cleared  himself  of  having  had  any  share  in  the  obnoxious 
transaction. 

xin.  We  cannot  judge  of  the  propriety  of  extraordinary 
expedients,  adopted  in  novel  and  perilous  conjunctures,  by 
common  rules,  applicable  to  ordinary  times.     Under  a  set- 
tled regular  government,  the  formation  of  such  a  committee, 
to  dictate  to  the  legislative,  and  control  the  executive,  would 
never  be  tolerated,  and  would  involve  a  charge  of  treason, 
or  at  least  sedition  ;  but  the  loose,  undefined  nature  of  the 
Scottish  constitution,  admitted  of  expedients  in  times  of  dan- 
ger, justified  only  by  necessity,  and  which  never  could  be  al- 
lowed as  precedents.     In   this   view  the  proceeding  of  the 
ministers  may  admit  of  apology,  and  to  estimate  its  full  force, 
we  must  never  loose  sight  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  council  was  instituted.     The  whole  real  power  of  the 
kingdom  had  been  devolved  upon  eight  men,  a  majority  of 
whom  were  favourable  to  the  catholic  leaders.     These  lead- 
ers had  repeatedly  been  in  arms  against  their  country ;  had 
corresponded  with  foreign  enemies,  and  invited  them  to  in- 
vade the  island  ;  they  had  been  repeatedly  pardoned,  and  al- 
ways when  pardoned  commenced  anew  their  machinations 
The  well  grounded  fears  of  invasion  had  not  subsided,  and 
the  massacres  in  the  Netherlands  passing  before  their  eyes, 
proclaimed  the  consequences  of  subjugation  by  his  most  ca- 
tholic majesty ;  while  the  king,  who  appeared  to  have  no  par- 
ticipation in  the  feelings  or  the  fears  of  his  people,  had  be- 


JAJMES  VI.  225 

stowed  his  cousin  upon  the  ringleader  of  the  rebels,  and    BOOK 
was  himself  suspected  of  favouring  their  religious  sentiments. 

xiv.  Indolent  as  he  was,  the  king  perceived  the  critical  1596. 
situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  and  endeavoured  to  escape 
from  it  by  negotiation.  Unfortunately  the  ministers,  estimat-  Negotia- 
ing  their  own  strength  too  highly,  were  inexorable  in  their  Jj^^e 
demands  ;  and  by  pushing  their  pretensions  too  far,  lost  their  king  and 
vantage  ground.  A  deputation  of  the  chief  officers  of  state  t 
was  sent  to  confer  with  a  select  number  of  the  commission- 
ers of  the  church ;  and  proposed  on  the  part  of  his  majesty, 
that  neither  the  excommunicated  earls,  nor  any  of  their  abet- 
tors, should  be  received  into  favour,  until  they  had  satisfied 
the  church ;  and  requested  to  know  whether,  upon  doing  this, 
he  might  extend  to  them  the  mercy  of  the  crown.  The  coun- 
cil, as  a  preliminary,  required  that  the  earls  be  sent  out  of 
the  country,  and  not  permitted  to  return  until  they  had  made 
their  offers  of  satisfy  ing  the  church, — a  condition  which  his  ma- 
jesty himself  had  promised — to  a  deputation  of  the  brethren 
at  Callander,  to  insist  upon ;  but  it  was  their  opinion,  that  as 
the  earls  stood  condemned  by  the  law  of  God,  and  the  high- 
est tribunal  of  the  land,  it  was  not  within  the  reach  of  the 
king's  prerogative  to  pardon  them.  The  proposition  was 
then  modified,  and  it  was  required,  whether  the  church  would 
receive  into  its  bosom  the  earls  upon  their  sincere  repentance 
and  satisfying  them  ?  Their  reply  to  this  was  equally  stern  as 
before  : — The  church  would  receive  them,  but  always  with- 
out prejudice  of  the  magistrate's  duty  !  James,  fretted  at 
what  he  considered  their  obstinacy,  openly  expressed  his 
displeasure ;  and  their  unforgiving  disposition,  and  their  dic- 
tation were  the  common  topics  of  his  invective.  Some  of 
the  more  moderate  of  the  clergy,  who  wished  to  avoid  an  open 
rupture  with  the  king,  on  hearing  of  the  strong  disapproba- 
tion he  expressed,  proposed  sending  a  deputation  to  inquire 
into  the  cause,  and  offer  an  explanation ;  but  unluckily  they 
took  the  same  opportunity  to  reiterate  their  griefs.  They 
found  his  majesty  in  no  humour  to  receive  their  remonstran- 
ces. Their  constant  railing  at  him  and  his  measures  in  their 
sermons,  he  told  them,  had  given  sufficient  ground  for  his 
discontent ;  and  there  never  would  be  any  cordial  agreement 
between  them  until  their  marches  were  rid,  and  the  limits  of 

VOL.   III.  2  G 


226 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
IV. 

1.596. 


their  jurisdictions  properly  settled.  He  required: — That 
they  should  not  introduce  public  affairs  into  the  pulpit,  or, 
if  they  did,  they  should  inform  him  previously  of  the  nature 
of  the  observations  they  meant  to  make ;  that  the  assembly 
should  at  no  time  be  convened  without  his  authority,  and 
Abortive,  none  of  their  acts  be  considered  binding  until  they  receiv- 
ed his  sanction,  in  the  same  manner  as  an  act  of  parliament; 
and  that  synods,  presbyteries,  or  sessions,  should  take  no 
cognizance  of  any  matter  within  the  reach  of  common  law. 

xv.  It  was  now  evident  that  the  court  meant  to  bring  to 
issue  the  question  of  the  liberty  of  the  pulpit ;  for  as  both 
the  king  and  the  Octavians  dreaded  the  freedom  of  minis- 
terial reprehension,  they  were  determined  to  silence  it ;  and 
as  the  ministers  viewed  this  liberty  as  the  palladium  of  the 
church  and  state,  they  were  prepared  to  defend  it  to  the  ut- 
termost. When  parties  are  strongly  excited,  both  sides  in 
common  proceed  to  unwarrantable  extremities,  and  their 
mutual  accusations, — unconsciously  sometimes, — are  ever  ex- 
aggerated. The  king  and  the  ministers  were  mutually  irri- 
tated, and  in  this  disposition  of  mind  the  question  at  issue 
was  to  be  tried.  Their  mutual  accusations  or  representa- 
tions must,  therefore,  of  course,  be  received  with  hesitation ; 
and  particularly  as  there  was  a  third  party,  the  courtiers, 
who  without  caring  much  about  either,  wished  to  promote 
the  dissension,  in  order  to  answer  their  own  purposes  of  in- 
terest or  ambition ;  and  invented  or  coloured  a  number  of 
stories  to  inflame  the  quarrel. 

XVI-  Mr'  David  Black»  of  St-  Andrews,  a  zealous  minister, 
highly  respected  by  his  brethren,  was  pitched  upon  as  the 
person  whose  case  was  to  decide  the  prerogative  of  the 
king,  and  the  rights  of  the  church.  He  had  in  some  of  his 
discourses  used  unguarded  expressions,  which  were  car- 
ried to  the  king  by  spies,  or  by  the  interested  party ;  and 
Black  was,  in  consequence,  summoned  to  appear  before  the 
council,  "  to  answer  to  such  things  as  should  be  inquired  of 
him  at  his  coming,  touching  certain  indecent  and  uncomely 
speeches  in  divers  his  sermons  made  at  St.  Andrews."  The 
ministers,  who  instantly  saw  that  the  blow  was  aimed  at  the 
whole  body,  and  went, — as  in  the  days  of  Arran,— to  stifle 
all  complaint  against  measures,  however  dangerous,  or  topre- 


before  the 
council. 


JAMES  VI. 

vent  that  publicity  which  gives   to  the  complaints  of  the    BOOK 
least  powerful  their  only  strength   to  resist  encroachment, 
advised  Black  to  decline  the  authority  of  the  king  andcoun-      15J>6 
cil,  as  the  subject  was  spiritual  ;*  and  at  the  same  time  wrote 
to  the  several  presbyteries,  to  warn  them  of  this  attack  upon 
the  liberties  of  the  church,  to  exhort  them  to  unanimity,  and 
to  study  diligently  the  points  under  dispute;  and  directed 
two  of  their  number  to  collect  all  the  acts  of  council  and 
parliament  passed  in  favour  of  the  liberty  and  discipline  of 
the  church. 

xvii.  Black,  in  obedience  to  the  summons,  appeared  No- 
vember 10th,  when  the  council,  wishing  to  obtain  simply  a 
general  recognition  of  their  power  to  judge  in  cases  of  free- 
dom of  speech  in  the  pulpit,  restricted  the  libel  to  a  charge, 
which  it  was  imagined,  would  not  come  within  the  term 
spiritual.  In  some  of  his  discourses,  it  was  alleged,  that  he 
had  styled  the  queen  of  England  an  atheist ;  this  was  told 
to  the  English  ambassador,  who  was  urged  to  make  a  com- 
plaint to  the  king.  The  ministers  were  not,  however,  to  be 
so  juggled.  The  remark  related  to  the  religious  character  Proceed- 
of  the  queen,  and  so  was  a  spiritual  matter.  Some  of  the  in£s  m  hi* 
ministers  were  then  delegated  to  wait  upon  the  king,  to  hear 
and  reason  with  him  upon  the  matters  in  dispute,  when  the 
answers  they  received  were  favourable ;  and  with  regard  to 
Black,  the  substance  of  the  charge  was  treated  so  lightly, 
that  the  king  said, — As  for  Mr.  David  Black,  he  thought  not 
much  of  that  matter,  only  let  him  compear  and  clear  him- 
self in  judgment,  and  he  shall  satisfy  the  English  ambassa- 
dor. "  But  take  care,  sir,"  added  he,  "  that  you  decline 
not  my  judicatorie,  for  if  you  do,  it  will  be  worse."  The 
English  ambassador,  who  had  been  unwillingly  dragged  into 
the  business,  expressed  himself  satisfied  with  a  private  ex- 
planation ;  but  this  was  not  what  the  king  wanted,  it  was  a 
public  acknowledgment  of  his  supreme  right  to  judge  in  ec- 
clesiastical matters ;  and  therefore,  instead  of  dropping  the 
subject,  when  the  party  said  to  be  offended,  declared  him- 

•  The  summons,  it  must  be  observed,  stated  no  treasonable  or  seditious 
speeches  to  have  been  uttered  by  Black,  consequently,  as  it  stood,  the  charges 
were  strictly  "  for  speeches  uttered  in  the  pulpit,"  which  might  have  been 
errors  in  doctrine. 


228  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   self  satisfied,  a  new  libel,  containing  new  charges  collected 
W'      since  his  former  appearance,  and  consisting  of  detached  pas- 
1596.      sages  from  his  sermons  for  three  years  back,  was  exhibited 
against  Black. 

xviii.  Meanwhile,  the  ministers,  determined  to  assert 
their  right  of  freedom  of  speech  ;  and  desirous  to  preserve  a 
memorial  of  their  proceedings,  which,  whether  successful  or 
not  in  the  struggle,  might  bear  witness  that  they  did  not 
surrender  without  an  effort,  drew  up  a  written  declinature 
of  the  king  and  council's  jurisdiction  in  matters  spiritual, 
which  they  transmitted  to  all  the  presbyteries  for  their  ap- 
proval ;  and  in  a  short  time  received  the  signature  of  four 
hundred  ministers.  Whenever  this  process  was  known,  the 
king  issued  a  proclamation,  commanding  the  commissioners 
Ministers  to  leave  Edinburgh,  declaring  the  commission  unlawful,  and 
leave  Edin-  forbidding  all  such  convocations  in  future,  under  the  pain  of 
burgh.  rebellion.  The  ministers,  immediately  suspecting  the  Oc- 
tavians  as  the  authors  of  these  harsh  but  decisive  proceed- 
ings, after  resolving  that  they  would  continue  together  as 
long  as  they  could,  sent  a  message  to  the  eight  lords.  "  The 
church,"  they  said,  "  at  their  entrance  into  office,  enjoyed 
peace  and  liberty,  now  it  was  disturbed  and  perplexed,  and 
her  enemies  spared  and  pardoned  ;  they,  therefore,  charged 
them  as  the  authors  of  the  church's  troubles."  The  presi- 
dent, in  name  of  the  counsellors,  declared  that  they  had 
never  interfered  in  ecclesiastical  business,  that  without  it 
they  had  sufficiently  exposed  themselves  to  envy  and  ill-will, 
they,  therefore,  left  them  and  the  king  to  settle  it  between 
them. 

xix.  As  the  ostensible  advisers  of  the  crown  had  disavow- 
ed any  concern  in  the  acts  of  the  court,  the  ministers  were 
Their  in-    now  placed  in  direct  hostile  attitude  to  his  majesty  himself; 

effectual     they  again  tried  the  effect  of  a  personal  interview,  but  as  he 

attempt  at   .      .  . 

reconcilia-  insisted  upon  their  allowing  the  validity  of  his  claim,  a>s  the 

condition  of  his  stopping  the  process,  and  as  they  believed 
that  such  an  acknowledgment  would  be  opening  a  door  to 
farther  encroachment,  which,  in  the  end,  would  altogether 
subvert  the  ecclesiastical  government,  or  so  confound  it  with 
the  civil,  as  to  lay  it  open  to  the  intrusion  of  any  profane 
prince,  and  each,  doubtful  of  the  other,  stood  upon  the  ut- 


tion. 


JAMES  VI.  22Q 

most  punctilio,   no  conciliatory  proposal  proved  availing.    BOOK 
The  ministers,  on  the  sabbath  before  the  trial,  one  of  the 
last  days  of  their  liberty,  sounded  the  alarm  in  all  the  pul-     1596. 
pits.     The  king,  the  same  day,  celebrated  with  great  mag- 
nificence, the  baptism  of  his  daughter, 

xx.  On  the  30th  of  November,  Black  was  brought  to  trial 

upon  the  new  charges,  which  were : — "  That  he  had  affirmed  Trial  of 

,  .  .  ,  Mr.  Black, 

that  the  popish  lords  had  returned  into  the  country  with  the 

king's  knowledge,  and  that  in  doing  this,  he  had  detected  the 
treachery  of  his  heart ;  that  he  had  called  all  kings  the  devil's 
bairnes ;  that  in  his  prayer  for  the  queen,  he  had  used  these 
expressions,  we  must  pray  for  her  for  fashion's  sake,  but  we 
have  no  cause,  for  she  will  never  do  us  any  good ;  that  he  had 
called  the  queen  of  England  an  atheist ;  that  in  discussing  a 
suspension  granted  by  the  lords  of  council  and  session,  he 
had  called  them  miscreants  and  bribers ;  that  speaking  of  the 
nobility,  he  said  they  were  degenerate,  godless,  dissemblers, 
and  enemies  to  the  church ;  that  in  speaking  of  the  coun- 
cil, he  called  them  cormorants  and  men  of  no  religion ;  and 
lastly,  that  he  had  convocated  diverse  noblemen,  barons,  and 
others  within  St.  Andrews,  in  June,  1594,  and  caused  them 
take  arms,  thereby  usurping  the  power  of  the  king  and  the 
civil  magistrate."  Mr.  Black,  in  answer  affirmed,  that  all  the 
accusations  were  false  and  calumnious,  and  produced  testi- 
monials to  the  purity  and  loyalty  of  his  doctrine,  from  the 
provost,  bailies,  and  council  of  St.  Andrews,  and  from  the 
rector,  dean  of  faculty,  professors,  and  regent  of  the  univer- 
sity, which  he  contended  ought  to  be  preferred  before  any 
report  whatever.  He  again  declined  the  authority  of  the  king 
and  council  as  to  all  the  charges  except  the  last,  on  which  he 
offered  to  stand  trial,  but  they  over-ruled  his  declinature,  and 
found  themselves  competent  to  try  the  whole  of  the  offences 
specified.  At  subsequent  diets,  the  court  would  have  been  sa- 
tisfied with  a  very  mild  punishment;  but  as  this  would  have 
implied  a  dereliction  of  the  principle,  the  ministers  would  not 
consent  to  any  adjustment  on  such  a  basis ;  the  council  then 
found  Black  guilty,  and  sentenced  him  to  be  confined  beyond  He  is  found 
the  north  water,  till  his  majesty  resolved  what  farther  pun- 
ishment  to  inflict. 


230  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        xxi.  The  ministers,   considering   Black's    sentence  as   a 
W'       declaration   on  the  part  of  the  court,   of  their  intention  to 
1596.      carry  into  full  effect  their  pretensions  to  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion, proclaimed  the  next  sabbath  to  be  kept  as  a  fast,  with 
Consequent  solemn  prayers   for  averting  impending  judgments.     The 
of  'the  king8  king,  who  conceived  this  to  be  a  personal  attack,  published  a 
and  the       declaration,  in  which  he  disclaimed  any  intention  of  violating: 
'    the  rights  of  the  church,  affirmed  his  resolution  to  maintain 
religion  and  the  ecclesiastical  discipline  established  by  law, 
and  to  suffer  nothing  to  be  done  in  prejudice  thereof.     On 
the  same  day  he  ordered  Mr.  David  Black  to  go  into  ward, 
and  repeated  his  command  to  the  commissioners,  to  remove 
themselves  from  Edinburgh ;  and  ordered  that  the  ministers, 
before  they  received  their  stipends,  should  subscribe  a  bond, 
obliging  themselves  to  obey  the  king  and  privy  council. 

xxii.  After  their  departure,  some  of  the  king's  counsellors, 
thinking  the  ministers  of  the  city  would  now  be  more  easily 
prevailed  upon  to  come  into  the  plans  of  the  court,  proposed 
to  his  majesty,  to  send  for  them,  and  attempt  some  new  ne- 
The  mini-   gotiation.     When  this  was  intimated  to  the  clergy,  they  re- 
t^commut  fused  to  enter  into  any  communing,  unless  the  commissioners 
nicate  with  were  brought  back  as  openly,  as  they  had  been  disgracefully 
img'     dismissed ;  and  the  court  had  given  hopes  that  this  might  be 
the  case,  when  an  incident  occurred,  which  afforded  a  handle 
to  the  king  to  break  off  his  correspondence ;  and  led  to 
measures,  which  for  a  time  laid  the  church  at  his  mercy,  and 
enabled  him  to  obtain  a  precarious  and  unsatisfactory  do- 
minion in  ecclesiastical  affairs. 

xxiii.  Of  whatever  delinquencies  the  Octavians  might 
have  been  guilty,  they  at  least  merited  the  praise  of  rigid 
economy  in  the  management  of  the  revenue,  and  incurred 
the  hatred  of  the  courtiers  and  hangers  on  about  the  palace, 
whose  share  in  the  plunder  of  the  public  they  curtailed ;  in 
particular,  the  gentlemen  of  the  bedchamber,  known  by  the 
name  of  Cubiculars,  who,  from  their  ready  access  to  the 
royal  ear,  were  wont  to  abuse  the  facile  temper  of  the  king. 
These  now  wished  to  get  quit  of  the  superintendence  of  the 
counsellors,  or  involve  the  public  in  confusion,  that  in  the 
scramble  they  might  pi-ocure  the  reversion  of  some  of  their 
old  perquisites.  To  accomplish  their  ends,  they  first  went 


JAMES  VJ.  231 

to  the  ministers,  and  assured  them  that  the  Octavians  were  BOOK 
the  chief  promoters  of  Mr.  David  Black's  prosecution;  that 
they  projected  other  dangerous  expedients,  and  if  not  closely  1595. 
watched,  they  would  soon  overturn  the  present  established  intrigues 
religion  ;  that  the  majority  of  them  were  papists  themselves, 
and  without  their  connivance  and  encouragement  the  popish 
lords  would  never  have  ventured  to  return.  They  then  re- 
ported to  the  Octavians,  as  the  charges  of  the  ministers 
against  them,  all  the  suspicions  they  had  carefully  instilled 
into  the  minds  of  the  ministers,  and  hinted  not  obscurely, 
that  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  enraged  by  these  insinuations, 
had  conspired  against  their  lives.  To  the  king  they  repre- 
sented the  citizens  as  under  guard  every  night  to  prevent 
any  injury  being  offered  to  their  ministers;  and  next  they 
warned  the  ministers  to  take  care  of  themselves,  as  Huntly 
had  been  admitted  to  a  private  interview  with  the  king,  and 
induced  him  to  adopt  severe  courses,  while  his  retainers 
were  waiting  in  the  neighbourhood  to  support  them.  Sus- 
picions on  both  sides  were  raised  to  the  utmost  pitch,  and 
under  their  influence  the  king  ordered  twenty- five  of  the 
principal  citizens  to  leave  town  within  twenty- four  hours. 
Having  succeeded  with  his  majesty,  the  Cubiculars  caused 
intelligence  of  this  fact  to  be  conveyed  to  Mr.  Robert  Bruce, 
who  gave  the  letter  to  Mr.  Walter  Balcanquhal,  as  he  was 
about  to  ascend  the  pulpit  to  preach  the  usual  week-day  ser- 
mon. 

xxiv.  Already  sufficiently  disposed  to  view  in  the  darkest 
light  the  measures  of  the  court,  this  information,  of  which 
the  ministers  never  doubted  the  correctness,  was  communi- 
cated to  the  congregation  in  the  application  of  the  discourse,  Its  unhap 
and  produced  a  very  powerful  sensation.  After  sermon,  the  py  effects. 
barons  and  gentlemen  were  invited  to  meet  with  the  ministers 
in  the  Little  Kirk,  to  consult  upon  the  steps  necessary  to  be 
taken  at  such  a  crisis.  The  call  was  immediately  complied 
with.  Mr.  Robert  Bruce  addressed  them,  when  they  were 
assembled,  on  the  dangers  to  which  the  church  was  exposed 
by  the  return  of  the  popish  lords,  and  the  favour  shown  to 
them,  contrasted  with  the  rigour  exercised  toward  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  reformed  religion ;  and  desired  them  to  hold 
up  their  hands  and  swear  to  defend  religion  against  all  op- 


232  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  posers.     Two  commissioners  from  each  of  the  estates  were 
IV'      then  sent  to  wait  upon  the  king,  who  was  accidentally  in  the 

1596.  tolbooth  with  the  lords  of  session  at  the  time.  On  being 
admitted,  Mr.  Robert  Bruce  informed  his  majesty  of  the 
purport  of  the  message;  "  they  were  commissioned,"  he 
said,  "  by  the  noblemen  and  barons  convened  in  the  Little 
Kirk,  to  lay  before  him  the  dangers  that  threatened  religion, 
by  the  manner  in  which  the  ministers  and  zealous  professors 
were  treated."  "  What  dangers  see  you  ?"  said  the  king. 
"  We  see,"  answered  Bruce,  "  the  most  sincere  professors 
banished  the  city,  and  lady  Huntly,  an  open  papist,  enter- 
tained at  court,  nor  is  it  thought  that  her  husband  is  far 
off."  "  What  have  you  to  do  with  that?"  asked  his  majes- 
ty, and  then  changing  the  subject,  "  How  durst  you  con- 
vene against  my  proclamation  ?"  "  We  dare  do  more  than 
that,"  replied  lord  Lindsay,  warmly,  "  and  will  not  suffe' 
religion  to  be  overthrown."  Numbers  of  people  now  rush 
ing  into  the  room,  the  king,  without  deigning  an  answer, 
retired  abruptly,  and  ordered  the  gates  to  be  shut  behind 
him. 

xxv.  During  the  absence  of  the  deputation,  Cranstoun,  a 
forward  minister,  was  reading  to  those  who  were  in  the 
church,  passages  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  had  selected 
among  the  rest  the  story  of  Haman  and  Mordecai.  The 
deputies,  on  their  return,  reported  that  they  had  been  unable 
to  obtain  a  favourable  answer  from  the  king,  and  could  ex- 
pect none  so  long  as  the  present  counsellors  remained  about 
him.  It  therefore  behoved  them  to  consider  what  course 
they  should  take.  "  Our  only  course,"  said  lord  Lindsay, 
"  is  for  us  who  are  here  to  remain  together,  pledge  our- 
selves to  each  other,  and  send  notice  to  our  friends  to  come 
to  us,"  a  proposal  which  met  with  universal  approbation  ; 
and  Bruce  exhorted  them  to  persevere,  but  with  calmness 
and  moderation.  In  the  meantime  a  report  had  been  indus- 
triously spread  in  the  town  that  the  king  had  behaved  very 
ungraciously  to  the  ministers,  and  a  rumour  was  whispered 
through  the  tolbooth  that  the  town  was  arming  before  there 
was  any  appearance  of  a  tumult.  The  incendiaries  gained 
their  end,  a  crowd  gathered,  and  some  ran  to  the  tolbooth, 
and  some  to  the  Little  Kirk,  where  the  ministers  and  nobles 


JAMES  VI.  233 

were  assembled.     At  this  moment  an  unknown  person,   but     BOOK 
generally  alleged  to  have   been  an  emissary,  came  running       '^* 
to  the  church,  crying,  "  Fly  !  save  yourselves,   the  papists      1595. 
are  coming  to  massacre  you." 

xxvi.  In  any  circumstances  almost,  an  alarm  is  easily A  tumult, 
spread  in  a  crowd,  but  if  there  have  been  any  previous  unde- 
fined apprehensions  existing  among  them,  the  shock  is  elec- 
tric. So  it  was  here,  the  cry  got  up,  To  arms  !  to  arms  ! 
Some  one  within  the  church  exclaimed,  The  sword  of  the 
Lord  and  of  Gideon.  "  These  are  not  our  weapons,"  said 
Bruce,  and  endeavoured  to  calm  the  meeting,  but  the  panic 
had  seized  them,  they  rushed  to  the  street,  and  increased  the 
confusion.  The  doors  of  the  tolbooth,  at  the  first  sound  of  a 
disturbance,  had  been  shut,  and  the  mob  who  were  collected 
before  them  bawled  out  for  president  Seaton,  and  some  other 
of  the  obnoxious  members  of  the  council  to  be  delivered  to 
them,  that  they  might  take  order  with  them;  calling  them 
abusers  of  the  king,  and  adding,  perhaps,  a  few  opprobrious 
epithets,  as  used  on  similar  occasions,  but  they  pi'oceeded  to 
no  further  violence;  for  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  crafts,  with 
a  guard  of  craftsmen  was  instantly  upon  ihe  spot,  and  sir 
Alexander  Hume,  the  provost,  who  was  on  a  sick  bed,  no 
sooner  heard  of  the  tumult,  than  he  arose,  came  into  the 
street,  and  addressing  a  few  conciliatory  speeches  to  the  riot- 
ers, persuaded  them  to  disperse  and  go  quietly  home,  which 
they  did.  In  a  short  time  tranquillity  was  completely  restored, 
nor  does  there  appear  to  have  been  a  blow  or  a  wound  given 
or  received  upon  the  occasion.*  During  the  disturbance,  the 
king  directed  the  earl  of  Mar  and  two  other  noblemen,  to 
proceed  to  the  ministers,  and  ask  the  reason  of  the  riot. 
They  found  them  walking  in  the  churchyard  behind  the 
church,  regretting  the  unfortunate  occurrence,  which  they 
could  only  account  for,  from  the  people  being  dissatisfied  at 
learning  the  rejection  of  their  petition;  and  requested  the 
noblemen  to  represent  to  his  majesty,  that  they  were  wholly 
unconnected  with  the  tumult,  which  they  had  done  their  ut- 
most to  repress.  The  earl  of  Mar  on  this,  advised  them  to 
state  their  grievances  in  a  respectful  petition,  and  present  it 

*  .Calderwood,  p.  365.     Spotswood,  pp.  487-8. 
VOL.  III.  2  H 


234 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
IV. 

1596.^ 


The  king 
leaves  Ed- 
inburgh. 


to  his  majesty,  by  whom  he  promised  it  would  be  heard  and 
answered.  They  then  returned  to  the  Little  Kirk,  and  after 
a  short  deliberation,  sent  lord  Forbes,  the  laird  of  Bargenny, 
and  principal  Rollock,  with  their  requests  to  the  king,  who 
still  remained  with  the  lords  of  session.  They  asked  that 
all  the  proceedings  against  the  church,  for  the  last  four  or 
five  weeks,  should  be  rescinded  ;  that  the  president,  comp- 
troller, and  advocate,  as  being  suspected  papists  and  avowed 
enemies  to  the  church,  should  have  no  voice  in  what  con- 
cerned it ;  and  that  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh  be  permitted 
to  stay  at  home,  en  giving  surety  to  appear  when  called  on. 
The  king  answered  them  smoothly,  he  promised  to  call  his 
council  in  the  afternoon,  and  satisfy  them  in  every  thing  they 
could  with  reason  desire,  and  if  the  lord  provost  and  bailies 
would  intercede  for  the  citizens,  their  petition  would  be 
granted.  His  majesty  then  walked  down  the  streets  peace- 
ably to  his  palace,  attended  by  the  lords. 

xxvu.  In  the  afternoon,  the  noblemen  and  barons  assem- 
bled with  the  ministers,  and  in  compliance  with  the  desire 
of  the  king,  a  petition  was  drawn  up,  and  a  deputation  sent 
to  the  palace,  to  present  it  to  the  council.  They  arrived  at 
Holyroodhouse  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  but  instead 
of  being  received,  as  his  majesty  had  promised,  they  were 
told  that  he  was  then  greatly  displeased,  and  were  advised 
to  defer  asking  admission  till  next  day;  and  lord  Ochiltree 
having  prevailed  on  the  laird  of  Bargenny  to  decline  the 
office  that  evening,  the  deputies  withdrew  without  accom- 
plishing their  errand. 

xxviu.  Next  morning  early,  before  an  opportunity  couk 
be  found  for  again  presenting  the  petition,  the  king  was  on 
his  road  to  Linlithgow ;  happy,  no  doubt,  in  having  escapee 
the  imminent  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed,  of  hearin 
the  grievances  of  his  people,  or  the  unpardonable  affront  oi 
fered  to  his  authority,  in  daring  to  censure  his  ministers 
He  left  a  proclamation,  which  was  immediately  published  a 
the  market-cross,  stigmatizing  the  late  riot,  which  it  magni 
fitd  into  a  treasonable  uproar,  excited  by  the  ministers ;  ant 
ordering  the  courts  of  law  to  leave  a  city,  unfit  for  the  minis 
tration  of  justice,  and  also  commanding  all  the  nobility  to  re- 


JAMES  VI  235 

turn  to  their  own  houses,  and  not  to  reassemble  in  any  place,    BOOK 
without  his  majesty's  permission. 

xxix.  A  measure  so  unexpected,  because  so  unpropor-  I59fi 
tionably  severe,  especially  when  contrasted  with  the  lenity 
shown  to  the  reiterated  treasons  of  the  rebel  lords,  struck 
both  the  ministers  and  the  citizens  with  the  most  lively  ap- 
prehensions ;  but  they  took  different  courses  to  avoid  the  im- 
pending storm.  The  magistrates,  afraid  of  the  consequences 
of  removing  the  royal  court  and  courts  of  justice,  resolved  to 
yield  and  implore  his  majesty's  clemency,  —  the  ministers  de- 
termined to  brave  the  tempest  ;  exhorted  the  nobles  present 
not  to  separate,  and  endeavoured  to  procure  the  adherence 
of  others  to  their  cause.  They  wrote  to  lord  Hamilton,  and  Proceed- 
to  several  noblemen,  upon  whose  co-operation  they  reckoned,  ministers* 
and  invited  them  to  come  to  Edinburgh  and  support  the  li- 
berties of  the  church  ;  and  also  attempted  to  convoke  a  ge- 
neral assembly  of  the  ministers,  whom  they  invited  to  town, 
and  recommended  to  bring  along  with  them  the  gentlemen 
they  considered  as  best  affected.  The  court,  on  the  other 
hand,  followed  up  the  first  proclamation,  by  ordering  the 
ministers  of  Edinburgh,  with  a  number  of  the  citizens,  to  en- 
ter into  ward  in  the  castle,  and  commanding  the  provost  and 
maistrates  to  enforce  the  order. 


xxx.  By  a  piece  of  meanness,  if  not  treachery,  lord  Ha-  ^^  Ha- 
milton, instead  of  answering  the  letter  addressed  to  him  by  treacherr. 
the  ministers,  sent  a  vitiated  copy  to  the  king,  in  which  they 
were  made  to  approve  of  the  tumult,  by  attributing  it  to  the 
motion  of  God's  Spirit;  expressions  which  were  not  used  by 
them.     This  was  seized  upon  by  James'  advisers,  as  a  plau- 
sible pretext  for  additional  severity,  and  they  summoned  the 
ministers  to  appear  at  Linlithgow,  to  answer  before  the  pri- 
vy council,  super  inquirendis  ;  but  the  ministers,  upon  con- 
sulting with  their  friends,  were  advised,  in  the  then  temper 
of  the  court,  to  decline  appearing;  and,  accordingly,  some  of  Minister* 
them  sought  refuge  in  England,  and  some  concealed  them-  retire. 
selves  in  Fife.     A  deputation  from  the  town  council  was  sent 
on  Monday  —  the  king  left  Edinburgh  on  Saturday  —  to  Lin- 
lithgow, to  clear  themselves  from  blame,  and  to  offer  any  re- 
paration in  their  power  to  his  majesty  and  council  for  the  in- 


236  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   clignity  offered  them  in  the  late  riot,  provided  they  were  de- 

IV-      clared  innocent  of  the  crime,  which  from  their  hearts  they 

1596.     detested.     The  king,  however,  would  receive  no  apology. 

"  Fair  words,"  he  told  them,   "  could  not  atone  for  such  a 

fault,  but  he  would  come  ere  it  was  long,  and  let  them  know 

The  tu-      |)e  was  tneir  kin£."     Next  day,  the  tumult  was  declared  by 

mult  de-  /    ..         .,          _  .     . 

clared  trea-  the  council  to  be  treason,  and  all  guilty  of  being  concerned 
son*  in  it,  traitors;  the  judicatories  were  ordered  to  be  removed 

to  Leith,  and  the  court  of  session,  after  the  1st  of  February, 
to  Perth. 

xxxi.  At  this  denunciation,  which  was  aggravated  by  re- 
ports of  the  extremities  advised  by  the  sycophants  about 
court,  who  talked  of  bringing  in  the  borderers,  of  spoiling 
and  then  burning  the  city,  of  razing  it  to  the  foundation, 
sowing  it  with  salt,  and  erecting  a  pillar  on  the  place  where 
Edinburgh  stood,  the  capital  was  in  despair ;  and  hopeless  of 

supplica-    obtaining  any  mitigation  from  their  own  application,   they 
tion  of  the  fo        J  '  ' 

town.  employed  some  gentlemen  in  favour  with  the  king  to  inter- 
cede for  them,  who  represented : — That  in  all  great  towns 
there  were  generally  some  turbulent  spirits ;  and  it  would 
indeed,  be  hard  if  a  tumult  raised  by  them,  which  the  ma- 
gistrates had  quelled,  and  the  promoters  of  which  they  were 
anxious  to  bring  to  punishment,  should  be  visited  upon  those 
who  had  faithfully  done  their  duty.  They  therefore  entreat- 
ed his  majesty  to  relent  towards  the  town.  The  king,  who 
must  have  perceived  the  force  of  this  application,  after  some 
hesitation,  replied  : — That  he  did  not  think  the  riot  could 
have  assumed  so  alarming  an  appearance,  unless  it  had  been 
encouraged  by  some  persons  of  note ;  but  at  any  rate,  the 
magistrates  were  guilty  of  culpable  negligence,  in  not  having 
prevented  it  f  His  resolution,  however,  was  to  proceed  by 
law,  and  not  to  use  any  violent  course.  He  had  appointed 
the  estates  to  meet  in  the  same  place  where  the  dishonour 
was  done  him,  and  would  regulate  his  conduct,  both  as  to 
trial  and  punishment,  by  their  advice. 
The  king  xxxn.  On  the  day  preceding  the  convention  the  king  came 

returns  to  T-L  j  i          /• 

Kdin-        to  -Leith,  and  gave  orders  for  his  entry  into  the  city  next  day 
burgh.        — new-year-day — which  was  done  with  all  the  circumstance 
of  military  pomp,  as  if  some  mighty  conqueror  had  been  en- 
tering the  capital  of  his  enemy,  after  an  obstinate  and  irritat- 


JAMES  VI.  237 

ing  siege.     The  keys  of  the  town  were  delivered  with  great  BOOK 
formality  to  one  of  the  king's  officers  ;  a  guard  of  armed  men  _ 
was  stationed  in  the  streets,  and  the  citizens  commanded  to     1597. 
remain  within  their  houses,  and  such  as  did  appear,  forbid- 
den to  carry  any  weapon.     The  earl  of  Mar,  lords  Seaton 
and  Ochiltree,  were  ordered  to  take  charge  of  the  town,  and 
superintend  the  arrangements,  the  magistrates  not  being  al- 
lowed to  officiate  on  this  solemn  occasion.     When  all  the 
preliminaries  were  adjusted,  the  king,  accompanied  by  a  great 
train  of  nobles,  entered  the  town  on  horseback,  and  march- 
ed in  procession  up  the  High  Street  to  the  tolbooth,  where 
the  estates  were  assembled.     After  some  desultory  discourse 
about  the  riot,  the  king  was  advised  to  call  the  magistrates, 
and  hear  what  they  had  to  offer  in  extenuation  of  this  en- 
ormous offence.     The  provost,   bailies,   and   town  council, 
were  then  brought  in,  who,  falling  upon  their  knees  with  a 
humiliation  not  more  contemptible  than  useless,   offered  to 
clear  themselves  upon  oath,  of  all  previous  knowledge  or 
active  participation  in  the  seditious  tumult,   to  resign  their  Abject  sub. 
office  to  such  as  his  majesty  should  appoint,  and  with 


meanness  unfortunately  not  peculiar  to  these  times,  made  a  trates. 
voluntary  surrender  of  their  religious  and  civil  liberty  into 
the  hands  of  the  king  ;  disclaiming  in  future  their  right  to 
choose  their  own  ministers,  or  elect  their  magistrates,  and 
this  under  protestation  of  their  being  innocent  of  any  crime  ! 
Yet  all  this  sufficed  not  ;  the  king  dismissed  them  in  doubt 
whether  he  would  deign  to  accept  of  their  degraded  privi- 
leges. 

xxxin.  Queen  Elizabeth,  with  her  usual  sagacity,  on  be- 
ing informed  of  these  commotions,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  king, 
"  to  dissuade  him  from  pursuing  a  rigorous  course  with  his 
best  subjects,  whose  interest  was  inseparably  connected  with 
his  own,  and  whose  only  fault  consisted  in  an  over  zeal  for 
the  welfare  of  the  church,  which  they  believed  to  be  in  dan-  Elizabeth 
ger  ;"  and  which,  although  it  might  be  rash,  and  in  the  man-  interferes* 
ner  "  such  as  no  king  ought  to  bear  with,  yet  was  not  so  in- 
excusable at  the  instant  when  the  new  banished  lords  re- 
turned, and  were  seen  to  be  winked  at,  and  allowed  full  li- 
berty ;  and  as  spring  was  advancing,  when  aid  from  abroad 
was  promised,  together  with  the  arrival  of  many  letters  from 


238  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

HOOK    Rome  and  elsewhere,  containing  the  names  of  envoys  au- 
*  *      thorized  by  the  king — as  they  gave  out,  but  she  hoped  false- 
1597.      br — to  assure  the  catholics  of  his  conformity,  and  of  his  in- 
tention, when  the  opportunity  offered,  to  establish  the  party 
of  his  enemies,   and  desert  his  own."     The  king  professed 
himself  pleased  with  this  letter,  as  he  had  no  intention  of 
dealing  rigorously,   but  only  wished  to  enforce  obedience 
upon  his  subjects,  "  and  make  his  advantage  of  their  disor- 
ders !"  * 

xxxiv.  In  the  next  meeting  of  the  estates,  which  was  held 
in  Holyroodhouse,  the  tumult  was  pronounced  treason ;  and 
The  magis- it  was  determined  to  prosecute  the  town  criminally  before 
dered  into   tne  court  °f  justiciary.     The  whole  magistrates,  as  repre- 
ward.         senting  the  town,  were  ordered  to  enter  themselves  in  ward 
within  Perth,   before  the   1st  of  February,  to  remain  there 
prisoners  till  tried.     The  day  of  trial,  after  several  adjourn- 
ments, was  at  last  fixed  for  the  5th  March,  and  instead  of 
all  the  magistrates,  two  bailies,  the  dean  of  guild,  treasurer, 
four  of  the  principal  deacons,  and  four  of  the  council,  with 
their  clerk,  in   all  thirteen,  were  ordered  to  attend  with  a 
commission  from  the  provost  and  council,  as  representatives 
of  the  city.     When  the  day  came,  they  appeared  all  except 
one  who   had  the  king's   dispensation ;  but  this  excuse  was 
not  admitted,  and  the  whole  were  found  guilty  of  not  fulfil- 
ling the  ordinance  of  the  council,  which  required  thirteen 
to  be  present.     The  town  was  denounced,  the  burgesses  de- 
clared rebels,  and  all  their  public  property  confiscated  to 
the  king.     The  report  of  this  sentence  filled  the  city  with 
consternation;  the  magistrates  threw  up  their  offices,  and 
refused  to  act;  and  for  fifteen  days,  the  capital  continued 
without  either  ministers  or  magistrates.     At  last,  by  the  in 
tercession  of  some  nobles,  the  provost,  bailies,  council,  an< 
deacons  of  crafts,   were  admitted  into  the  royal  presence  a 
Holyroodhouse,   and  falling  on  their  knees,  with  tears  in 
their   eyes,    bewailed    their   negligence   in    not   preventing 
what  they  had  repeatedly  protested  they  could  not  foresee 
and  besought  his  highness  to  take  pity  on  the  town,  throw 
ing  themselves  entirely  on  his  mercy.      The  king  sharp 

•  Spotswood,  p.  433. 


JAMES  vr.  239 

ly  reprimanded   them,   and,   in   a  long  speech,    expatiated    BOOK 

on  the  magnitude  of  their  offence  ;   then  commanded  them 

to  retire  till  he  should  deliberate  upon  their  fate.     On  be-      i597 

ing  recalled,  they  were  ordered  to  deliver  up  to  his  majesty 

the  houses  in  the  churchyard  where  the  ministers  used  to 

dwell,  who  were  henceforth  to  live  separately  ;  to  protect  the 

lords  of  session  during  their  sitting,  under  a  heavy  penalty  ; 

to  give  up  the  lower  council  house  for  exchequer  chambers  ; 

and  to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  thousand  marks.    On  these  con-  Punish- 

ditions  being  accepted,  the  king  was  most  graciously  pleased  " 


to  pardon  the  town,  and  by  proclamation,  recalled  the  courts  the  town. 
of  justice.  Such  was  the  punishment  inflicted  for  a  riot,  in 
which  ro  person  was  hurt,  no  property  damaged,  which  the 
strictest  investigation  could  trace  to  no  specific  origin,  and 
in  which,  after  the  most  minute  diligence,  no  respectable  in- 
dividual in  the  city  could  be  implicated. 

xxxv.  In  the  midst  of  these  turmoils,  the  Cubiculars  ef-  Octavians 
fected  the  overthrow  of  the  Octavians.  Harassed  by  the 
dissensions  of  which  they  were  supposed  the  instigators,  en- 
vied by  the  other  courtiers,  and  not  agreeing  among  them- 
selves, they  found  it  expedient  to  resign  their  commission  ; 
for  the  king,  says  Spotswood,  loved  peace  though  with  his 
own  loss,  and  the  revenue,  as  formerly,  was  carelessly  col- 
lected, and  extravagantly  spent.  But  James  was  so  eager 
in  pursuing  his  plans  for  reducing  the  ministers  to  subjec- 
tion, and  altering  the  constitution  of  the  church,  that  this  re- 
volution in  the  state,  important  although  it  was,  must  be 
classed  among  the  more  uninteresting  occurrences  of  the 
time. 

xxxvi.  Having  gained  so  complete  a  victory  over  the  ca- 
pital, the  king  did  not  allow  the  opportunity  to  slip  for  at- 
tempting his  innovations  in  the  church.     These  he  had  for 
some  time  meditated,  and  the  preparatory  steps  were  taken 
previously  to  the  riot  in  Edinburgh,  by  preparing  a  series 
of  questions  to  be  agitated,  the  discussion  of  which  would 
tend  to  unsettle  the  minds  of  the  people,  with  regard  to  the 
form  of  church  government  established  by  law.     The  mini-  The  king's 
sters  of  Edinburgh  were,  as  ministers  of  the  metropolis,  and  de?'£"s  a~ 
as  men  of  superior  ability,  looked  up  to  with  reverence  by  church. 
the  majority  of  their  brethren,  and  viewed  by  the  king  as 


240  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  the  chief  obstacle  to  his  design ;  and  the  miserable  riot,  by 
'^'  falsehood  and  exaggeration,  had  afforded  the  means  of  get- 
1597.  ting  rid  for  the  time  of  their  personal  opposition,  and  gave 
a  handle  to  the  court,  which  they  did  not  fail  to  improve, 
for  shaking  their  influence,  by  representing  them  as  turbu- 
lent and  seditious.  Fifty-one  questions  were  printed  and 
circulated  through  the  presbyteries,  and  a  general  assembly 
was  summoned  to  be  held  at  Perth,  to  take  these  questions 
into  consideration.*  At  the  same  time,  sir  Patrick  Mur- 
ray, one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  bedchamber,  was  despatch- 
ed on  a  mission  to  the  north,  to  induce  the  ministers  there 
to  come  into  the  measures  of  the  court.  He  was  instructed 
to  acquaint  them  with  the  late  dangerous  tumult,  and  the 
treasonable  conduct  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  whom 
they  were  to  be  directed  to  look  upon  as  wishing  to  usurp 
an  authority  to  which  they  had  no  right,  and  the  commis- 
sioners as  exercising  an  unlawful  office.  He  was  to  endea- 
vour, if  possible,  to  procure  their  subscriptions  to  the  bond, 
and  desire  them  to  send  commissioners  to  the  ensuing  gene- 
ral assembly,  to  resolve  the  proposed  questions,  and  to  act 
independently  and  for  themselves,  nor  believe  the  misrepre- 
sentations given  of  his  majesty,  as  if  he  intended  to  usurp 
any  improper  authority  in  the  church.  They  were  likewise 
He  tampers  to  be  required  to  accept  the  earl  of  Huntly's  offers  to  satisfy 
ministers  the  church,  and  absolve  him  from  the  sentence  of  excommu- 
m  the  nication.  In  their  answers,  the  presbyteries  expressed  them- 
selves unable  to  judge  of  the  question  respecting  the  tumult, 
on  account  of  their  want  of  information  ;  but  their  opinion 
in  general  was,  that  the  guilty  should  be  punished,  and  ii 

*  These  questions,  which  are  given  at  large  in  Spotswood,  were  such  as, — 
Whether  the  external  government  of  the  church  might  not  be  disputed?  Whe- 
ther it  was  lawful  for  ministers  in  the  pulpit  to  express  the  names  of  coun- 
sellors, magistrates,  or  others,  except  for  notorious  vices,  and  after  private  ad- 
monition ?  Whether  is  it  lawful  to  convocate  the  general  assembly  without  his 
majesty's  licence,  &c.  ?  All  tending  to  unsettle  the  form  of  church  govern- 
ment, which  all  had  sworn  to  uphold,  and  which  had  been  legalized  in  the 
strictest  manner  by  act  of  the  estates.  Encroachments  upon  an  established 
well  working  constitution,  however  small,  are  at  all  times  to  be  deprecated, 
especially  when,  under  the  profession  of  strengthening  it,  the  executive  is  evi- 
dently grasping  at  unnecessary  power.  Had  these  questions  been  dismissed  at 
once,  the  troubles  which  followed  might  perhaps,  have  been  prevented. 


JAMES  VI.  241 

ministers,  doubly.  The  bond,  they  in  general  declined  sub-  BOOK 
scribing,  notwithstanding  the  penalty  annexed,  as  they  al-  ^n 
ready  acknowledged  his  authority ;  and  where  it  refers  to  1397. 
the  liberty  of  speech  in  the  pulpit,  that  was  a  subject  for  the 
deliberation  of  the  next  assembly ;  and  as  for  the  earl  of 
Huntly,  his  repentance  should  be  most  acceptable  to  them, 
and  they  were  willing  to  confer  with  him,  and  use  every 
mean  for  his  conversion ;  but  they  did  not  find  him  so  will- 
ing to  conform  as  they  wished,  nor  did  he  appear  very  ear- 
nest about  his  being  absolved.  In  his  private  communica- 
tions with  the  ministers,  sir  Patrick  plied  them  with  every 
topic  most  likely  to  engage  their  interest  or  ambition,  by 
holding  out  the  favour  of  the  king,  with  whom  they  needed 
only  to  be  acquainted  to  perceive  how  much  his  character 
had  been  mistaken ;  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  quarrel 
with  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  was  still  warmly  attached 
to  the  rest  of  the  ministers  of  Scotland ;  and  they  who  had 
been  unaccustomed  to  any  attention  from  the  court,  flattered 
by  the  appeal  now  made  to  them,  assured  him  that  the  king 
would  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  their  conduct  at  the  en- 
suing assembly. 

xxxvii.  A  convention  of  the  ministers  met  at  Perth,  March  Convention 
1st,  in  obedience  to  the  royal  summons.  It  was  numerously  °[  p^ters 
attended,  but  had  an  unusual  proportion  of  the  north  country 
members ;  yet  notwithstanding  it  was  with  difficulty,  after  a 
sharp  contest  of  three  days,  that  it  was  decided,  by  a  majority 
of  voices,  to  be  a  lawful  general  assembly  extraordinarily 
convened ;  the  commissioners  from  Fife  protesting,  that 
nothing  which  might  be  done  should  be  held  valid,  or  im- 
proved to  the  prejudice  of  the  liberties  of  the  church  of 
Scotland.  The  questions  proposed  by  the  king  were  hotly 
debated ;  but  in  the  end  the  project  of  the  court  was  vir- 
tually approved,  by  the  leading  ones  being  answered  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  allow  the  king,  or  the  pastors,  to  propose, 
in  a  general  assembly,  whatever  point  they  desired  to  be  re- 
solved or  reformed  in  the  external  government  of  the 
church  ;  to  give  up  the  liberty  of  discussing  public  questions  its  pro- 
in  the  pulpit,  or  reproving  public  men  either  by  name  or  feedjngs 

,  r  J  hostile  to 

in  such  a  manner  as  the  character  might  be  recognised;  to  the  church. 
disclaim   the  right  of  meeting  to  synods,   presbyteries,  or 
VOL.  in.  2  i 


242  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   sessions,  except  in  particular  specified  cases,   without  the 
"•      authority  of  the  king ;  and  to  allow  that  no  minister  should 
1597.      be  chosen  in  any  of  the  principal  towns  without  his  majesty's 
consent.     Content  with  these  concessions,  the  king  did  not 
push  his  encroachments  farther  at  this  time ;  but  having  pro- 
Ratified  by  cure(j  a  ratification  of  these  articles  from  the  convention  of 
the  estates.  . 

estates,  which  was  sitting  at  Perth  at  the  same  time,  he  de- 
ferred the  consideration  of  the  other  questions  till  the  meet- 
ing of  the  next  general  assembly,  to  be  held  at  Dundee  on  the 
10th  of  May  following.  The  influence  which  the  court  had 
acquired  in  the  assembly,  was  still  more  evident  from  a  com- 
mission given  by  them  at  the  king's  desire  to  a  number  of  the 
northern  ministers,  to  confer  with  the  popish  lords,  and  to 
procure  their  re-introduction  into  the  bosom  of  the  church. 
This  assembly  was  the  first  in  which  the  king,  adopting  a 
new  method  of  management,  and  by  operating  upon  the  un- 
suspecting simplicity  of  some,  and  the  needy  selfishness  of 
others,  rendered  the  ministers  themselves  the  instruments 
of  their  own  enthralment. 

xxxviu.  Pleased  with  their  complaisance,  the  king  ap- 
peared willing  to  relax  in  his  prosecution  of  those  who  had 
been  harshly  treated  on  account  of  the  tumult,  and  replied 
to  their  intercessions  for  the  gentlemen  who  had  been  ordered 
to  leave  town,  "  That  he  had  no  intention  of  harassing  in- 
nocent men  ;  and  would  easily  settle  with  them  ;  but  with  the 
ministers,  whom  he  esteemed  the  most  guilty,  he  was  uncer- 
tain what  course  to  pursue."  The  members  of  assembly 
continued,  "  From  the  whole  of  the  examinations  it  appear- 
ed that  all,  but  particularly  Mr.  Robert  Bruce,  were  chiefly 
instrumental  in  allaying  the  disturbance,  and  instead  of  pu- 
nishment deserved  a  reward."  To  which  the  king  answer- 
ed, that  granting  they  did  repress  it,  they  were  the  first 
cause  of  exciting  it,  and  if  they  were  punished  for  that,  he 
had  no  objection  to  their  being  rewarded  for  the  other.  He 
Ministers  would,  nevertheless,  consent  to  their  being  released,  upon 
giving  security  to  appear  when  called  upon.*  The  four 
ministers  were,  in  consequence,  allowed  to  return,  and  on  the 
21st  of  April  were  introduced  to  the  king,  who  expressed 

•  SpoUwood,  p.  442. 


JAMES  VI.  248 

his  satisfaction   at  their  having  fled,   as,  he  said,  he  might    BOOK 
perhaps  have  done  in  his  fury  what  he  would  afterward  have 


repented.*     They  were  not,  however,  allowed  to  resume     1597. 
their  clerical  functions. 

xxxix.  One  of  the  objections  to  the  legality  of  the  assem- 
bly at  Perth  was,  that  it  was  convened  solely  by  the  warrant 
of  the  king,  and  not  opened  by  the  regular  moderator.  For 
this  reason,  some  of  the  most  strenuous  supporters  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  church,  when  the  day  on  which  the  assembly, 
according  to  the  regular  method  of  proceeding  should  have 
been  held,  met  at  St.  Andrews;  and  beingconstituted  by  Pont, 
the  moderator  of  the  last  regular  assembly,  agreed  to  dismiss, 
and  refer  all  business  to  an  assembly  to  be  held  at  Dundee,  May 
10th,  the  day  appointed  by  the  king  and  convention  at  Perth; 
by  this  form  asserting  the  right  of  the  church  to  convoke 
and  hold  her  assemblies,  a  right  which  the  king  wished  to 
usurp  entirely  to  himself. 

XL.  In  consonance  with  the  resolution  of  the  assembly  at 
Perth,  the  general  assembly  met  at  Dundee,  and  ratified 
with  some  modifications  of  no  great  importance,  the  acts  of  at  Perth 
that  session,  which  it  declared  a  lawful  meeting.  Whenever 
the  court  wished  to  gain  any  end,  or  silence  any  opposition,  bly. 
it  had  been  latterly  their  custom  to  introduce  the  subject  of 
stipends  to  the  notice  of  the  assembly  ;  and  as  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  ministers  were  but  very  meanly  supported,  and 
even  that  was  precarious,  they  were  certain  of  always  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  a  considerable  party.  Under  this 
cover,  and  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  planting  churches, 
the  king  obtained  from  this  assembly  the  nomination  of  a 
standing  council  of  fourteen  ministers,  seven  to  constitute  a 
quorum,  for  the  purpose  of  "  advising  in  all  affairs  concern- 
ing the  weal  of  the  church,  and  entertainment  of  peace  and 
obedience  to  his  majesty  within  this  realm,"  by  whose  means 
all  matters  which  were  to  come  before  the  general  assem- 
blies were  previously  arranged  at  court,  and  the  king  ena- 
bled to  introduce  whatever  innovations  he  afterward  chose  ; 
or,  as  quaintly  expressed  by  James  Melville,  it  was  "  the 
very  needle  which  drew  in  the  thread  of  Episcopacie." 

"  Calderwood,  p.  402. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  XLI.  As  soon  as  the  assembly  was  dissolved,  sir  Patrick 
rv*  Murray,  by  the  king's  command,  accompanied  the  commis- 
1597.  sioners  of  the  church  to  the  north,  to  see  the  three  earls 
perform  the  prescribed  conditions,  and  be  absolved  from  the 
sentence  of  excommunication.  But  while  the  king  was  so 
anxious  to  accomplish  this  favourite  object,  and  was  en- 
dangering the  peace  and  best  interests  of  his  kingdom,  to 
procure  for  convicted  traitors  a  reconciliation  with  the 
church,  and  a  return  to  court,  their  accomplices  were  en- 
gaged in  new  plots,  which,  it  is  no  great  violation  of  charity 
to  believe,  were  concerted  with  their  knowledge ;  for  it  was 
not  till  after  their  failure,  that  the  earls  consented  to  comply 
Another  with  the  terms  to  which  they  had  agreed.  James  Gordon, 
defeated.  a  relation  of  Huntly's,  and  a  Jesuit,  arrived  in  the  country 
to  dissuade  him  from  compliance,  and  at  the  same  time,  a 
plan  was  concerted,  to  seize  and  fortify  the  isle  of  Ailsa, 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  a  Spanish  force.  Ailsa  is  an  in- 
sulated rock,  situate  on  the  western  coast  of  Scotland,  be- 
twixt the  shore  of  Ayrshire  and  Cantyre,  about  two  miles  in 
circumference ;  it  rises  to  a  great  height,  and  is  inaccessible, 
except  by  one  narrow  footpath,  which  a  few  resolute  men 
could  defend  against  any  force.  On  the  top  stood  the  ruins 
of  an  old  castle.  This  rock  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  one  Hugh  Barclay  of  Ladyland,  who,  in  the  former  year 
had  made  his  escape  from  Glasgow  castle  where  he  was 
confined,  fled  to  Spain,  and  having  returned  as  an  agent, 
was  employed  in  victualling  this  place.  He  was  surprised 
by  Mr.  Knox,  who,  five  years  before,  had  apprehended 
Kerr  with  the  blanks,  but  rather  than  allow  himself  to  be 
taken,  rushed  into  the  sea,  and  drowned  himself.  The 
popish  earls,  when  apprized  of  his  death,  professed  their  sin- 
Popish  cere  repentance,  took  whatever  oaths  were  required,  sub- 
solved^"  scribed  the  articles  of  faith,  and  were  absolved  in  the  church 
of  Aberdeen. 

XLII.  James  was  so  completely  intent  on  his  ecclesiastical 
projects,  that  the  history  of  Scotland  at  this  period,  consists 
of  little  else  than  a  detail  of  the  meeting  of  assemblies,  com- 
missions, and  parliaments  for  remodelling  the  church,  and 
of  the  shifts  and  tergiversations  of  the  king  to  bend  the  cler- 
gy to  his  purpose.  Shortly  after  the  assembly  rose,  he  call- 


JAMES  VI.  245 

ed  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  at  Falkland,  and  pro-   BOOK 
ceeded  to  exercise  the  power  which  he  considered  the  as-  _ 
sembly  to  have  bestowed,  when  they  nominated  this  council.      1597. 
He  called  the  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  before  him,  revised  The  kin£ 

interferes 

a  sentence  of  deposition  they  had  pronounced,  and  restored  jn  the 

the  offender  to  his  office.     He  next  heard  a  complaint  of°hurchJu- 

.,    .  .    dicatories. 

Lindsay  of  Balcarras  against  Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  the  mi- 
nisters of  St.  Andrews,  for  some  injurious  speeches  which 
he  accused  him  of  having  used  in  the  pulpit.  The  com- 
plaint had  been  brought  before  the  presbytery,  but  dismissed 
because  it  could  not  be  substantiated  by  the  evidence  of  two 
witnesses,  on  which  the  secretary  preferred  it  before  the 
commission,  and  Wallace  was  summoned  to  answer.  Wal- 
lace declined  the  judicature,  as  the  case  had  been  tried  be- 
fore the  presbytery,  from  whose  decision  there  was  a  plain, 
legal  appeal  to  the  assembly  ;  and  the  moderator  of  the  pres- 
bytery protested  against  the  proceedings  of  the  commission- 
ers, as  usurping  a  greater  power  than  the  assembly  claimed, 
of  judging  in  a  case  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  presbytery, 
without  any  appeal  from  that  presbytery,  to  the  neglect  of 
the  inferior  judicatures.  "  Then  I  will  protest  too,"  said 
the  king,  "  as  one  of  the  principal  motives  which  induced 
me  to  crave,  and  the  assembly  to  grant  this  commission,  was 
to  take  cognizance  of  such  cases  and  see  justice  done."  The 
commissioners  dismissed  both  declinature  and  protest,  de- 
clared themselves  competent  to  judge  of  the  complaint,  and 
appointed  the  case  to  be  heard  at  St.  Andrews,  whither 
they  proceeded  in  a  few  days.  Here  the  secretary  appeared, 
but  Wallace  persisting  in  his  declinature,  was  removed  from 
his  charge,  as  was  also  Mr.  David  Black,  who  had  a  little 
before  resumed  his  ministry. 

XLIII.  From  the  church  the  royal  visitation  proceeded  to 
the  university,  and  the  conduct  of  Andrew  Melville,  the 
rector,  underwent  a  strict,  and  not  very  friendly  investiga- 
tion, but  nothing  culpable  could  be  brought  against  him. 
Spotswood  mentions  only  his  having  sometimes,  in  his  di- 
vinity lectures,  agitated  political  questions,  which,  consider- 
ing the  close  and  intimate  connexion  then  subsisting  between 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  government,  it  was  hardly  possible 
for  a  professor  in  his  situation  to  avoid 


246  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK       XLIV*  The  Romish  power  was  so  closely  entwined  about 
**'      the  power  of  the  state,  and  presented  such  imposing  claims 
1597.     of  right,  and  the  sovereigns,  in  virtue  of  the  example  of  the 
Christian  emperors,  aimed  at  such  authority  over  the  reli- 
gious concerns  of  their  subjects,   that  a  total  confusion  of 
jurisdictions  was  introduced.     This,  so  long  as  both  united 
to  support  tyranny  and  superstition,   occasioned  no  great 
difficulty ;  but  when  the  light  of  reason  and   of  revelation 
began  to  shine  at  the  reformation,  it  became  a  necessary 
part  of  a  divinity  professor's  prelections,  to  inquire  into  the 
respective  jurisdictions  of  magistrates  and  ministers,  and  in 
so  doing  he  was  naturally  led  to  discuss  the  abstract  ques- 
tions respecting  the  origin  of  power,  and  the  responsibility 
of  those  who  exercised  it — discussions  from  which  no  good 
Prescribes   government  need  ever  fear  any  bad  effects.     James  consi- 
jeet*  to  be  dered  tms  as  an  abuse,  and  in  order  to  correct  it,  he  pre- 
taughtin    scribed  to  every  professor  the  subjects  he  was  to  teach.* 
sides."    r"He  also  nominated  a  council  to  superintend  all  academical 
proceedings,  and  prevailed  upon  the  commissioners  to  pass 
a  resolution,  that  no  professors,   particularly  professors  of 
divinity,   should,  unless  they  were  pastors,  teach  in  any  of 
the  congregations,  or  possess  a  seat  in  any  of  the  judica- 
tures of  the  church.     These  arbitrary  regulations,   though 
professedly  for  the  benefit  of  literature,  were  directed  against 
one  man,  particularly  the  last,  which  was  intended  to  get 
rid,  in  an  oblique  manner,  of  Andrew  Melville's  appearance 
in  the  general  assembly,  whose  intrepid  conduct  and  com- 
manding eloquence  the  king  was  terrified  to  face. 

XLV.  On  the  borders,  the  outrages  still  continued.     In  no 

part  of  the  country  was  the  mischief  of  a  feeble  or  relaxed 

Outrages    government  sooner  felt.     The  English  were  ever  ready  to 

on  the  bor-  take  advantage  of  the  confusion,  and  the  unruly  marauders 

of  Tynedale  and  Redsdale,  broke  into  the  Scottish  side,  and 

*  This  charge  is  not  mentioned  in  the  acts  of  visitation,  M'Crie's  Life  of 
Melville,  vol.  ii.  p.  114,  but  \tmight  still  be  understood,  and,  as  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  the  proposal  of  another  professor  might  be  a  mere  cloak,  I  have 
retained  Spotswood's  account,  and  as  a  council  was  appointed  to  manage  the 
funds  of  the  college,  there  is  no  impossibility  but  some  charge  of  negligence 
may  have  been  circulated  against  Melville.  The  simple  absence  of  these 
charges  in  the  acts,  does  not  warrant  an  accusation  of  vitiating  the  record. 


JAMES  VI.  247 

ravaged  all  Liddisdale.  The  laird  of  Buccleugh,  keeper  of  BOOK 
these  marches,  to  be  avenged  for  the  affront,  made  an  inroad 
on  the  English  side,  and  having  taken  thirty  of  the  most  ac-  1597. 
tive  of  the  robbers,  hanged  them,  and  brought  off  consider- 
able spoil.  The  freebooters  in  sir  Robert  Kerr's  district, 
were  encouraged  to  commit  depredations  on  the  east  marches, 
where  the  disorders  were  aggravated  by  a  personal  quarrel 
between  him  and  sir  Robert  Carey,  lord  Hunsdon's  fourth 
son.  The  complaints  made  by  her  wardens,  against  the  re- 
peated excesses  of  the  Scots,  at  last  induced  Elizabeth  to  send 
sir  Robert  Bowes,  to  remonstrate  with  the  Scottish  king  on 
the  subject,  to  exhibit  to  him  an  abstract  of  the  injuries  sus- 
tained by  the  English,  and  to  assure  him,  that  the  remote- 
ness of  her  borderers  did  not  lessen  her  care  for  their  pre- 
servation ;  and  if  he  did  not  use  his  authority,  she  would  send 
such  a  force,  as  would  afford  protection  to  her  subjects,  and 
repress  the  insolence  of  the  banditti  who  annoyed  them.  A 
protracted  negotiation  was  the  consequence,  but  it  ended  in 
the  last  treaty  which  it  was  ever  necessary  to  sign  between 
the  two  nations  on  such  subjects.  By  it  mutual  pledges  Treaty  for 
were  to  be  given,  to  ratify  the  conditions  within  a  certain 
time,  or  the  wardens  were  to  enter  themselves  prisoners,  the 
party  failing  to  the  party  who  fulfilled  their  obligation.  Buc- 
cleugh, and  sir  Robert  Keny  having  failed  in  delivering  their 
pledges,  were  obliged  to  enter  themselves  prisoners  in  Ber- 
wick. Buccleugh  entered  first,  and  remained  from  October 
till  February,  when  the  pledges  of  his  district  being  deliver- 
ed, he  was  restored  to  liberty.  Sir  Robert  Kerr  was  de- 
livered up  by  lord  Hume,  and  notwithstanding  the  strife  and 
rivalry  which  had  long  existed  between  him  and  sir  Robert 
Carey,  he,  with  that  romantic  magnanimity,  not  uncommon 
among  the  chieftains  of  the  border,  put  himself  under  his 
guardianship;  nor  was  this  proof  of  confidence  misplaced, 
Carey  returned  it  with  generous  hospitality,  and  their  past 
enmity  was  succeeded  by  a  sincere  and  lasting  friendship. 
Kerr  was  not  able  to  procure  the  speedy  delivery  of  his 
pledges,  and  was  ordered  to  be  carried  to  York.  Thither 
Carey  conducted  him,  and  intrusted  his  friend  to  the  care  of 
the  archbishop.  He  was  afterwards  liberated,  and  returned 
to  his  charge,  as  warden  of  the  eastern  marches.  An  earth- 


248  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    quake,  which,  in  the  month  of  July,  shook  the  northern  dis- 
*'       tricts,  was  considered  to  portend  internal  commotions  ;  and 
1597.     the  real  calamities  of  the  country  were  aggravated  by  the 
credulity  of  the  people,  who  pictured  to  themselves  yet  more 
dreadful  evils  from  the  convulsions  of  nature,  phenomena  suf- 
ficiently alarming,  without  being  prophetical. 

XLVI.  But  this  credulity  was  more  perniciously  exempli- 
fied in  the  belief  of  witchcraft,  which  was  productive  during 
this  summer,  of  some  very  distressing  consequences.    A  great 
number  of  unfortunate  beings  were  apprehended,  and  tor- 
Prosecu-     tured  to  force  a  confession.     Among  others,  one  Margaret 

tionsfor  .  ? 

witchcraft.  Aiken  was  apprehended  upon  suspicion,  and  being  threaten- 
ed with  the  rack,  the  poor  wretch,  in  a  fit  of  terror,  con- 
fessed herself  guilty.     On  being  interrogated  respecting  her 
associates,  she  named  several  persons,  and,  in  order  to  save 
her  own  life,  promised  to  clear  the  whole  country  of  that  de- 
scription of  criminals,  as  she  knew,  from  particular  marks, 
who  held  communication  with  his  satanic  majesty.     Her  de- 
claration being  believed,  she  was  for  several  months  carried 
through  different  counties,  and  all  she  pointed  out  were  ap- 
prehended.    Numbers  on  her  testimony  were  tried,  and  par 
ticularly  in  Glasgow,  several  innocent  women  were  condemn- 
ed and  put  to  death ;   till  some  suspicions  arising,  her  pre- 
tensions were  put  to  the  test.     The  same  individuals  whom 
she  had  denounced  on  one  day,  were  brought  to  her  on  an- 
other in  different  dresses ;  and  when  they  were  not  recognis- 
ed by  her,  or  were  declared  innocent,  she  was  sent  to  Fife 
where  she  had  been  originally  brought  from.     At  her  trial 
she  confessed  that  every  thing  she  had  affirmed  of  herself  or 
others  was  false ;  and  repeated  this  declaration  at  the  stake 
to  the  horror  of  those  who  had  been  active  in  persecuting 
the  unfortunates  taken  up  on  her  accusation,   and  the  king 
recalled  the  commission  he  had  granted  to  proceed  against 
them;  all   being  ordered  to  be  liberated,  except  such  as 
emitted  voluntary  confessions,  who  were  to  be  detained  til 
the  estates  should  determine  the  form  of  procedure  against 
them. 

XLVII.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  [December  2d,]  a 
A  parlia-  parliament  was  held,  to  reverse  the  sentence  of  forfeiture 
ment  held.  passed  against  the  three  earls,  and  restore  them  to  their  es- 


JAMES  VI.  219 

tales  and  honours.  At  this  meeting,  the  commissioners  of  BOOK 
the  church  presented  a  petition,  requesting  that  the  minis- 
ters might  be  allowed  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  supreme  council  1597> 
of  the  nation,  as  the  third  estate.  It  had  been  complained 
in  former  assemblies,  that  persons  who  were  possessed  of  the 
temporalities  of  bishoprics  and  abbacies  voted  in  parliament 
in  name  of  the  church,  without  any  authority  from  them, 
and  suggested  that  commissioners  on  their  part  might  be  ad- 
vantageously intrusted  with  powers  to  assist  and  vote  on  ec- 
clesiastical business  in  parliament;  but  the  observations  had 
been  vague  and  indefinite,  nor  had  any  precise  opinion  been 
ever  expressed  by  the  church  upon  the  subject;  and  so  far 
from  receiving  any  encouragement  of  late,  the  dread  of  inno- 
vation, and  the  suspicions  entertained  of  the  king,  had  pre- 
vented its  being  mentioned  at  all  in  the  two  last  assemblies, 
nor  had  it  been  agitated  in  any  of  the  inferior  courts.  Tak- 
ing advantage,  however,  of  these  previous  surmises,  the 
king,  who  knew  any  direct  proposal  to  bring  in  episco- 
pacy, would  have  met  with  an  unanimous  and  decisive  op- 
position, chose  this  disguised  method  of  introducing  it ;  to  af- 
ford those  who  were  not  averse  either  to  the  state,  or  emolu- 
ment of  a  hierarchy,  an  excuse  for  giving  their  support  to  a  Scheme  for 
plan,  from  which,  if  it  had  been  avowed,  their  pride,  and  re-  |ntrod|lc- 
peated  professions  of  adherence  to  the  presbyterian  form  of  pacy. 
church  government,  would  have  deterred  them.  The  more 
consistent  and  discerning  part  of  the  ministers,  immediately 
took  the  alarm,  and  endeavoured  to  influence  the  nobility 
against  the  proposal,  their  well  founded  terror  of  prelacy, 
overcoming  every  allurement  of  personal  advantage  which 
was  held  out  to  bribe  their  compliance;  but  the  superior 
weight  of  the  court,  and  the  arguments  and  promises  of  the 
king  prevailed,  and  an  act  was  passed,  ordaining,  "  That 
such  pastors  as  his  majesty  should  invest  with  the  office  of 
bishop,  abbot,  or  other  prelate,  should  have  the  same  right 
to  vote  in  parliament,  as  ecclesiastics  had  in  former  time  ;  and 
that  all  vacant  bishoprics,  or  such  as  might  become  vacant, 
should  be  only  given  to  actual  preachers,  or  ministers,  or  to 
persons  who  were  fit  to  fulfil,  and  would  pledge  themselves 
to  perform  the  duties  of  the  office."  A  qualifying  clause 
was  appended,  to  render  the  act  palatable.  The  spiritual 
VOL.  in.  2  K 


250  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

• 

BOOK    power  and  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops,  was  left  to  be  consult- 
IV-       ed  and  agreed  upon  by  his  highness  and  the  general  assem- 
bly.  without  prejudice  in  the  meantime,  to  the  jurisdiction 
and  discipline  of  the  church  established  by  law. 

XLVIJI.  Still  the  commissioners  were  aware  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  reconcile  their  brethren  to  this  step ;  and  in  cir- 
cular letters  which  they  addressed  to  the  presbyteries,  by  or- 
der of  the  king,  appointing  a  meeting  of  the  general  assem- 
bly to  be  held  at  Dundee,  they  apologized  for  their  conduct, 
as  if  they  had  only  followed  out  the  views  of  the  church  ; 
took  credit  to  themselves  for  having  overcome  all  the  ob- 
stacles which  stood  in  the  way ;  represented  the  act  as  a  mean 
of  rescuing  the  ministers  from  contempt  and  poverty;  and  con- 
cluded by  informing  them,  that  steps  were  taking  to  provide 
Opposed  in  sufficient  stipends  for  the  cures.  When  the  measure  came  to 

the  inferior  |je  discussed  in  the  inferior  judicatories,  those  who  used  in 

courts,  1111  •  i 

common  to  take  the  lead  were  neither  unanimous  nor  satis- 
fied ;  in  the  synod  of  Lothian  the  opposition  prevailed,  and 
in  that  of  Fife  it  was  violent  and  powerful.  At  a  debate  in 
the  latter,  Ferguson,  the  oldest  minister,  and  the  last  of  the 
primitive  reformers,  reminded  them  of  the  efforts  the  church 
had  made  to  get  rid  of  bishops,  and  remarking  on  the  insi- 
dious manner  in  which  it  was  attempted  to  restore  what  it 
had  cost  so  much  labour  to  destroy,  he  compared  it  to  the 
craft  of  the  Greeks  at  Troy ;  who,  unable  to  enter  the  city 
by  force,  had  persuaded  the  Trojans  with  their  own  hands 
to  pull  down  their  walls,  and  receive  as  an  honour  what  was 
intended  for  their  destruction.  He  therefore  warned  them 
to  reject  the  proffered  boon,  and  advised  them,  as  the  pro- 
phetess did  her  countrymen,  Equo  ne  credite  Teucri.  Da- 
vidson, who  happened  to  be  present,  seconded  his  venerable 
friend,  and  representing  the  parliamentary  commissioner  as 
a  bishop  in  disguise,  concluded  with  this  well  known  apo- 
thegm : — "  Busk  !  busk  !  busk  him  as  bonnilie  as  ye  can, 
and  fetch  him  in  as  fairlie  as  ye  will,  we  can  see  him  well 
eneuch,  we  see  the  horns  of  his  mitre." 

XLIX.  Every  little  art  was  practised  to  ensure  a  majoiily 

aua  in  the  agreeable  to  the  king  at  the  ensuing  assembly,  and  when  it 
met,  Melville  who, — disregarding  the  regulations  of  the 
royal  visitor  at  St.  Andrews, — attended,  was  ordered  by 


JAMES  VI.  251 

the  king  to  retire,  first  from  the  meeting,  and  afterward  BOOK 
from  the  town  ;  but  although  the  leader  was  dismissed,  a  _ 
considerable  portion  of  his  spirit  remained  ;  and  it  was  not  1598- 
till  after  the  ministers  had  been  a  week  assembled,  that  the 
principal  object  of  their  meeting  was  laid  before  them.  It 
was  introduced  by  a  speech  from  his  majesty,  in  which  he 
enumerated  the  services  he  had  done  the  church,  in  remov- 
ing controversy,  establishing  discipline,  and  in  his  endea- 
vours to  restore  her  patrimony;  to  effect  which,  he  said,  it 
was  necessary  for  ministers  to  have  a  vote  in  parliament. 
"  I  mind  not,"  said  he,  "  to  bring  in  papistical  or  anglican 
bishops,  but  only  to  have  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  ministry 
appointed  by  the  general  assembly  to  have  place  in  council 
to  deliberate  on  their  own  affairs,  and  not  to  stand  always  at 
the  door  like  poor  supplicants,  despised  and  disregarded." 
When  put  to  the  vote,  it  was  carried  by  a  majority  often,  —  Voted  by 
"  That  it  was  necessary  and  expedient  for  the  weal  of  the^fas 
church  that  the  ministry,  as  the  third  estate  of  the  realm,  in 
name  of  the  church,  should  have  a  vote  in  parliament"  The 
number  to  be  admitted  was  agreed  to  be  fifty-one,  the  same 
as  that  which  had  power  to  sit  under  the  papal  hierarchy,  and 
the  choice  of  them  to  belong  partly  to  the  king  and  partly  to 
the  church  ;  but  the  name  by  which  they  were  to  be  called, 
bishop  or  commissioner,  the  manner  of  choosing,  the  duration 
of  their  commission,  for  life  or  annually,  their  revenues,  and  the 
precautions  njecessary  for  guarding  against  corruption,  were 
referred  to  be  first  discussed  in  the  inferior  judicatoriesj  then 
three  commissioners  from  each  of  the  provincial  synods  were 
to  meet  with  the  king  and  the  doctors,  or  theological  pro- 
fessors, whose  decision,  if  unanimous,  was  to  be  final,  if  not, 
to  be  reported  to  the  next  general  assembly.* 

L.  In   the  interval,   the  king  held   several  meetings  with 
the  commissioners  for  considering  the  restrictions.  The  most 
interesting  was  in  the  palace  of  Holyroodhouse,  where  thej)ebatcof 
principal  ministers  from  the  different  quarters  of  the  country  the  minis- 


convened  by  royal  mandate.     Here,   instead  of  °™ 


as  was  wished,  to  discuss  the  points  left  for  consideration,  the 
primary  question  itself,  whether  it  were  lawful  for  ministers 

•  Spotswood,  p.  451. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  to  have  a  seat  in  parliament,  was  brought  under  review. 

Those  who  supported  the  affirmative  argued  that  the  gospel 

1.598.  does  not  destroy  civil  polity,  and  the  ministry  is  a  part  of 
the  body  politic ;  they  therefore  ought  to  be  represented  in 
parliament  as  well  as  any  other  description  of  persons  in  the 
state,  to  give  their  advice  and  consent  to  the  passing  of  laws 
bv  which  they  were  to  be  governed;  that  ministers  are  not 

Argument  prohibited  from  discharging  the  relative  duties  of  life,  and  to 
exclude  them  entirely  from  secular  employments,  which  were 
no  hindrance  to  their  spiritual  functions,  was  carrying  the 
doctrine  to  a  length  as  absurd  as  the  papistical  forbidding  to 
marry ;  that  there  was  as  much  distraction,  and  as  much 
time  spent  in  commissions,  in  visiting  churches,  waiting  on 
meetings  for  fixing  stipends,  and  in  presenting  articles  and 
petitions  to  the  estates,  as  there  would  be  in  attending  upon 
parliament ;  that  it  was  allowed  ministers  might  wait  upon 
his  majesty,  to  give  him  advice  in  matters  of  state ;  that  the 
assembly  had  often  craved  that  none  should  vote  in  parlia- 
ment for  the  church  but  such  as  had  a  commission  from 
them,  and  that  protestant  bishops  had  sat  in  them  since  the 
reformation.  They  who  opposed  the  measure  contended  : — 
That  Christianity  was  distinct  from  civil  polity ;  that  it  might 

H<rarTist  mi-  exist  under  a  heathenish,  Turkish,  or  any  form  of  govern- 

nisters  sit-  .  *  .  . 

ting  in  par.  ment,  for  a  seat  in  the  high  council  of  a  land  constituted 
lament.  no  part  of  t^e  gOSpe| .  tna£  jne  ministry  was  no  civil  corpo- 
ration, nor  was  it  recognised  as  a  distinct  body  in  the  state, 
and  as  part  of  the  body  politic,  ministers,  like  the  rest  of 
their  fellow  subjects,  were  represented  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  shires  and  burghs  in  parliament ;  that  they  knew 
little  about  the  weight  or  importance  of  the  ministerial 
function,  who  thought  the  doe  discharge  of  it  compatible 
with  the  holding  of  any  civil  office,  and  quoted  a  saying  of 
queen  Elizabeth's,  when  she  bestowed  a  bishopric  : — "  Alas  ! 
we  have  marred  a  good  preacher  to-day ;"  that  occupa- 
tion in  the  necessary  duties  of  life,  was  very  different  from 
being  entangled  in  public  civil  offices,  nor  did  presenting 
an  occasional  petition  bear  any  analogy  to  a  regular  at- 
tendance in  parliament;  that  visiting  churches  was  a  mi- 
nisterial duty,  and  if  their  time  was  spent  in  looking  after 
their  stipends,  that  was  a  matter  of  necessity,  not  of 


JAMES  VI.  253 

choice.  They  allowed  that  the  question  had  been  agitated  BOOK 
in  the  assemblies,  but  it  was  never  found  how  it  could  stand  _ 
with  the  office  of  a  minister  to  be  a  lord  in  parliament.  1598. 
The  worldly  dominion,  dignity,  and  titles  which  it  imports, 
were  found  wholly  irreconcilable  to  the  injunctions  of  the 
gospel,  and  opposite  to  the  declarations  and  example  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  who  professed  that  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world,  rejected  the  offer  of  the  Jews  to  make  him  a  king, 
and  refused  to  divide  the  inheritance  among  the  brethren, 
or  to  judge  the  woman  caught  in  adultery  as  a  civil  offence. 
When  it  was  asked  : — Who  could  vote  for  the  church  if  not 
the  ministers  ?  It  was  suggested  that  deacons,  or  elders, 
commissioned  by  the  general  assembly,  and  liable  to  render 
an  account  to  them  for  their  conduct,  if  any  vote  were  ne- 
cessary— which  was  not  granted — might  be  appointed  ;  but 
no  assembly,  before  the  last  one,  ever  craved  a  seat  in  par- 
liament for  the  ministers ;  and  ever  since  the  church  had 
condemned  episcopacy,  1580,  she  had  objected  to  any  eccle- 
siastical person  being  a  member  of  the  legislature.  On  the  Whether 
discussion  as  to  the  time  for  which  a  member  should  sit,  if  01 
for  life  ?  It  was  argued  : — That  no  man  would  put  himself 
to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  going  to  parliament,  if  his 
seat  were  only  for  one  year  ;  that  he  could  not  in  that  time 
Acquire  a  knowledge  of  business,  or  experience  fit  to  ma- 
nage the  affairs  of  the  church.  To  this  it  was  replied  : — 
That  they  were  consulting  at  present  for  the  good  of  the 
church  and  the  commonwealth,  and  not  for  the  convenience 
of  individuals ;  and  that  the  general  assembly  was  better 
able  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  church  than  a  few  commis- 
sioners, who,  as  had  been  experienced,  were  more  likely  to 
attend  to  themselves ;  that  persons,  by  being  appointed  for 
life,  might  gain  more  knowledge  in  the  laws  of  men,  but 
would  know  less  of  the  law  of  God — they  might  be  made  better 
courtiers  and  politicians,  but  they  would  be  worse  ministers 
of  the  gospel ;  their  constant  attention  being  directed  to  se- 
cular matters,  they  would  become  careless  about  their  flocks, 
anxious  for  their  personal  aggrandisement,  eager  for  wealth 
and  pre-eminence,  and  in  spite  of  caveats,  would  obtain  su- 
periority over  their  brethren.  They  would  become  more 
ambitious  to  flatter  the  prince  than  to  serve  the  church ; 


251.  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  and  he,  in  reward  for  their  services,  would  protect  them 
•  even  when  acting  against  her  interest;  and  although  for 
1598.  their  misconduct  they  might  merit  deposition,  he  would 
preserve  them,  their  lordships,  and  their  livings.  The 
meeting  was  then  told  : — That  if  they  did  not  consent  to 
the  voters  being  appointed  for  life,  they  would  lose  the  be- 
nefit. "  The  loss  will  be  but  small,"  answered  Andrew  Mel- 
ville, who  was  present  as  a  doctor.  "  But  then  the  minis- 
ters would  be  left  to  contempt  and  poverty."  "  It  was  their 
Master's  lot  before  them,"  rejoined  Melville,  "  and  better 
poverty  with  sincerity,  than  promotion  with  corruption." 
The  name  of  the  voters  was  then  considered,  whether  com- 
missioners or  bishops ;  the  latter,  it  was  said,  was  the  Scrip- 
tural title,  and  as  parliament  had  restored  the  title,  it  would 
be  a  pity  to  refuse  the  privilege,  by  startling  at  a  name,  a 

Discussion  thing  indifferent  Melville  replied  : — The  name  was  Scrip- 
'  'tural,  but  as  they  were  to  get  an  addition  to  their  office,  let 
them  also  get  an  addition  to  their  name,  and  it  too  might 
be  Scriptural,  Peter  calls  such,  AXXorg/o  ET/JXOTO/,  busy  bishops. 
But  seriously  the  name  bishop  was  applied  in  the  Scriptures 
to  all  ministers  of  the  gospel;  now,  however,  in  common 
speech  it  had  become  the  designation  of  corrupt  officers  in 
the  church,  as  antichristian  and  anglican  bishops  ;  and  al- 
though the  term  in  itself  were  indifferent,  it  had  through 
abuse  become  evil,  and  was  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
ideas  of  corruption  and  worldly  pomp,  that  it  was  improper 
to  be  used.  Night  closed  the  debate,  and  next  day,  when 
it  was  renewed,  an  unlucky  observation  of  Melville's,  that 
the  Scriptures  had  been  pwofaned  rather  than  gravely  han- 
dled, was  immediately  taken  home  by  his  majesty,  who  very 
politely  gave  the  speaker  the  lie.  Melville  replied : — He 
had  included  himself  in  the  censure;  but  the  king  was 

Meeting  petted  and  broke  up  the  conference,  as  he  said  he  found 
' up'  some  men  so  wedded  to  their  own  conceits,  they  would  not 
listen  to  reason ;  he  would  therefore  refer  the  matter  to  the 
next  general  assembly,  and  if  they  refused  the  offer,  let  the 
blame  of  the  poverty  and  contempt  of  the  church  fall  upon 
themselves.  As  for  himself,  he  should  not  want  one  of  his 
estates,  and  he  would  fill  it  with  such  as  would  do  their  duty 
to  him  and  to  the  country.  During  this  year  another  prin- 


JAMES  VI.  255 

cess  was  born,  who  was  baptized  with  great  pomp  in  the    BOOK 
chapel  royal  of  Holyrood,  by  David  Lindsay,  minister  of       ^ 

Leith'*  1598. 

LI.    Two  objects  entirely  engrossed  James'  attention  at 
this  period — his  succession  to  the  throne  ^f  England,  and 
his  ascendency  in  the  Scottish  church.     1o  accomplish  the 
first,   he  sent  embassies  to  the  protestant  princes  of  Ger- 
many, to  explain  his  title  to  the  English  crown,  and  require 
assistance  if  any  competitor  should  arise.     In  the  meantime,      1599. 
he  requested   that  they  would   send   a  joint  embassage  to  James' 
Elizabeth,  to  request  her  to  inform  them  who  she  intended  measures 
for  her  successor.    The  princes  readily  enough  offered  their  the  Eng- 
assistance,  but  declined  sending  any  embassy.     He  likewise  "shtllrone 


*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  one  of  the  royal  invitation  cards  to  this  prin- 
cess's baptism  feast,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  pic  me.  "  Right  trusty  friend 
we  greet  you  well.  Having  appointed  the  baptism  of  our  dearest  daughter  to 
be  here  at  Halyrood  house,  upon  Sunday,  the  fifteenth  day  of  April  next,  in 
such  honourable  manner  as  that  action  craveth,  we  have  therefore  thought 
good  right  effectually  to  request  and  desire  you  to  send  us  such  offerings  and 
presents  against  that  day  as  is  best  then  in  season,  and  convenient  for  that  action, 
as  you  regard  our  honour,  and  will  merit  our  special  thanks.  So  not  doubting 
to  find  your  greater  willingness  to  pleasure  us  herein,  since  you  are  to  be  invit- 
ed to  take  part  of  your  own  good  cheer  ;  we  commit  you  to  God.  From  Haly- 
rood house,  this  tenth  day  of  February,  1598. 

JAMES  R." 


Right  trusty  Friend,  the  Laird  of 
Balfour,  Bethune  Elder." 


The  following  epistle  forms  no  bad  companion  to  the  abore  : — "  Letter  from 
the  earl  of  Pembroke  to  sir  Edward  Zouch,  bears  witness.  Honest  Ned  I 
know  you  love  your  master  dearly  and  his  pleasures,  which  makes  me  put  you 
in  trust  with  this  business,  myself  not  being  able  to  stay  in  the  town  so  late. 
I  pray  you,  therefore,  as  soon  as  it  grows  dark,  fail  not  to  send  the  close  cart 
to  Bassingborn  for  the  speckled  sow  ye  saw  the  king  take  such  a  liking  unto  this 
day,  and  let  her  be  privately  brought  to  the  man  of  the  wardrobe,  by  the  same 
token,  that  I  chid  him  for  letting  the  other  beasts  go  carelessly  into  the  garden 
while  it  was  day,  and  he  will  presently  receive  her  into  his  charge.  Some  may 
think  this  a  jest,  but  I  assure  you  it  is  a  matter  of  trust  and  confidence.  So 
assuring  myself  of  your  secret  and  careful  performance  of  it,  I  rest 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

PEMBROKE'4 

•  Aruot's  Hist,  of  Edinb.  book  I.  ch.  ii.  p.  6ft 
t  Lord  Hailes'  Memorials,  p.  50. 


256  HISTORY  or  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK   instructed  Bruce,  the  abbot  of  Kinloss,  his  minister  at  the 
court  of  England,  to  solicit  Elizabeth  to  acknowledge   his 


1599.      title  by  some  public  act  ;  but  he  could  obtain  from  her  no- 
thing except  evasive  or  general  answers. 

LII.  The  private  intrigues  of  this  ambassador  were  more 
successful  ;  several  of  the  nobility  gave  him  the  most  unre- 
served   assurances   of  their  determination   to   support    his 
His  diffi.     master's  claim,  in  opposition  to  whatever  pretender  might 
es  '      arise.     But  his  greatest  difficulty  was  in  managing  the  Ro- 
man catholics,  whom  nothing  less  than  a  complete  re-esta- 
blishment in  all  their  former  power  would  satisfy  ;  and  who 
could  only  be  brought  to  acquiesce  in  James'  accession  by 
the  hope  of  seeing  in  him  the  restorer  of  the  ancient  faith. 
His  anxiety  to  sooth  them  had  produced  a  general  suspicion 
of  his  being  inclined  to  embrace  their  opinions,  and  a  cir- 
cumstance  which    was  discovered  about  this  time,  tended 
Mission  to  greatly  to  confirm  this.     James  had  sent  a  secret  mission  to 
t  e  pope,    tne  court  of  Rome  ;  and  in  a  letter  to  Clement  VII.  promised 
that  the  catholics  should  be  treated  with  greater  indulgence  ; 
and,  in  order  that  his  holiness  might  not  have  his  ear  abused 
by  false  reports,  he  wished   a  resident  at  the  papal  court, 
who  could  inform  him  always  of  the  truth,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose he  recommended  Drummond,  bishop  of  Vaison,  a  Scot- 
tishman,  for  whom  he  asked  the  dignity  of  a  cardinal's  hat. 
This  letter  the  master  of  Gray,  who  then  resided  in  Italy, 
had  procured  a  copy  of,  which  he  transmitted  to  Elizabeth, 
and  she,  having  previously  heard  something  of  the  corres- 
irritates      pondence,  immediately  despatched  Bowes  into  Scotland,  to 
Lhzabeth.  jnform  James  of  the  information  she  had  received,  and  re- 
proach him  with  his  dishonourable  conduct.     James,  with 
the  utmost  confidence,  denied  all  knowledge  of  any  such  let- 
ter,  and   affirmed  the  whole  to  be  a  contrivance  of  his  ene- 
mies, to  hurt  his  character  with  the  protestants  ;  and  his  se- 
cretary, Elphingston,  with  equal  vehemence,  perhaps  with 
equal  veracity,  asserted  the  same   story.     Afterward,  how- 
ever,  the  fact  became  too  patent  to  be  denied,  and  the  se 
cretary  was  under  the  necessity  of  saving  his  master's  hon- 
our by  compromising  his  own.     Archbishop  Beaton  also  was 
sent  to  France  as  ambassador  from  Scotland,  and   likewise 


JAMES  VI.  257 

restored  to  the  temporalities  of  the  see  of  Glasgow ;  another    BOOK 
secret  transaction  which  did  not  escape  detection,  by  the  vi-  _ 
gilance  of  the  ministers.  1599. 

LIII.  His  publications  too,  were  not  calculated  to  inspire 
his  subjects  with  confidence  in  the  steadiness  of  his  princi- 
ples. In  his  Basilicon  Doron,  or  instructions  to  prince  Hen-  View  of  hk 
ry,  he  openly  avows  his  hatred  toward  the  instructions  and  from  ^;8 
writings  of  his  venerable  preceptor,  and  his  enmity  to  the  w«rks. 
memory  of  our  great  reformer.  He  not  only  warns  his  son 
against  such  "  infamous  invectives  as  Buchanan's  or  Knox's 
chronicles,"  but  exhorts  him,  if  any  of  these  infamous  libels 
remain  until  his  day,  to  use  the  law  upon  the  keepers  there- 
of. "  For  in  that  point,"  says  he,  "  I  would  have  you  a  Py- 
thagorist,  to  think  that  the  very  spirits  of  these  archi-bellowses 
of  rebellion  have  made  a  transition  in  them  that  hoards  their 
books,  or  maintains  their  opinions,  punishing  them  even  as 
if  it  were  their  authors  risen  again."*  And  he  endeavours 
to  excite  the  passions  of  the  prince  against  the  more  zealous 
of  the  ministry,  whom  he  stigmatizes  as  puritans.  "  Take 
heed,  therefore,  my  son,  to  such  puritans,  very  pests  in  the 
church  and  commonweal,  whom  no  deserts  can  oblige,  nei- 
ther oaths  or  promises  bind  ;  breathing  nothing  but  sedition 
or  calumnies,  aspiring  without  measure,  railing  without  rea- 
son, and  making  their  own  imaginations,  without  any  warrant 
of  the  word,  the  square  of  their  conscience."  "  I  protest  be- 
fore the  great  God,  and  since  I  am  here  upon  my  testament, 
it  is  no  place  for  me  to  lie,  that  ye  shall  never  find,  with  any 
highland  or  border  thieves,  greater  ingratitude,  and  more 
lies  and  perjuries,  than  with  these  phanatick  spirits."f  In  his 
Trew  Law  of  a  Free  Monarchy,  which  is  evidently  intended 
as  an  antidote  to  Buchanan's  De  Jure  Regni ;  he,  without 
circumlocution,  inculcates  the  principles  of  the  purest  despo- 
tism, and  enforces  on  his  people  the  most  unlimited  obedi- 
ence. "  Even  when  a  king,  as  described  by  Samuel,  takes 
their  sonnes  for  his  horsemen,  and  some  to  run  before  his 
charet,  to  ear  his  ground,  and  to  reape  his  haruest,  and  to 
make  instruments  of  warre,  and  their  daughters  to  make 
them  apothecaries,  and  cooks,  and  bakers-  nor  though  he 

"  King  James1  Works,  p.  176.  f  Ib.  p.  160. 

VOL.  III.  2  L 


258 


UISTOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 


1.599. 


should  take  their  fields  and  their  vineyards,  and  their  best 
olive  trees,  and  give  them  to  his  servants,  and  take  the  tenth 
of  their  seed,  and  of  their  vineyards,  and  of  their  flocks,  and 
give  it  to  his  servants,  had  they  a  right  to  murmur ;  the 
king  was  only  accountable  to  God,  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
people  had  the  example  of  Elias  pointed  out  for  their  imi- 
tation, who,  under  the  monstrous  persecution  and  tyranny 
of  Ahab,  raised  no  rebellion,  but  did  only  'flie  to  the  wil- 
derness ;  where  for  fault  of  sustentation  he  was  fed  by  the 
corbies.'  "* 

LIV.  It  has  been  questioned  whether  theatrical  represen- 
tations be  calculated  to  promote  the  cause  of  virtue  and  good 
morals,  and  the  arguments  of  their  most  strenuous  support- 
ers have  not  yet  been  able  to  establish  an  affirmative.  With 
the  fathers  of  presbytery  there  was  no  question  upon  the 
subject.  Common  play-actors  were  esteemed  a  nuisance,  and 
their  habits  and  manners  did  not  then  tend  to  do  away  the 
stigma.  Yet  while  straining  every  nerve  to  establish,  as  he 
professed,  purity  in  the  church,  James  procured  a  company 
He  intro.  of  comedians  from  England,  and  licensed  them  to  play  with- 
The  ministers,  as  guardians  of  public  morals, 
could  not  pass  over  in  silence  their  unruly  and  immodest  be- 
haviour ;  and  as  they  did  not  think  their  performances  likely 
to  advance  the  religious  improvement  of  the  people, — an  ob- 
ject with  them  of  the  most  supereminent  importance, — the 
sessions,  by  their  advice,  prohibited  attendance  at  such 
places,  under  pain  of  church  censures.  The  king,  who  con- 
ceived his  dear  prerogative  in  danger,  and  considered  this 
order — which  was  in  fact  but  such  a  regulation  as  every  so- 
ciety had  a  right  to  impose  upon  its  members — as  destruc- 
tive of  his  license,  called  the  session  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil, and  ordered  them  to  annul  their  act,  nor  restrain  the 
people  from  their  innocent  amusements.  The  ministers 
were  inclined  to  resist,  but  the  other  members  of  the  session, 
afraid  of  a  new  contest  with  the  king,  yielded ;  and  next  day 
proclamation  was  made  for  all  the  lieges  who  chose  to  attend 
the  play. 

LV.  Busied  as  the  king  was  with  his  future  prospects  and 


duces  co-     •      .1 
medians  to  ln  the  burgh' 
Edin- 
burgh 


*  King  Jnmes'  Works,  p.  198. 


JAMES  VJ.  259 

his  church  business,  his  exchequer  began  to  put  him  in  mind    BOOK 
that  he  had  other  concerns.     His  foreign  embassies  and  ex-       ^- 
traordinaries  forced  him  to  look  to  the  administration   of     1599. 
his  revenues  ;   but  such  was  the  mismanagement  since  the  Embarras- 
retreat  of  the  Octavians,  that  the  earl  of  Cassillis,  who  pur-  yg  «_ 


chased  the  office  of  treasurer,  was  so  much  annoyed  with 
the  multitude  of  precepts,  and  the  demands  for  money,  that 
he  was  glad  to  get  rid  of  the  post,  after  having  expended 
forty  thousand  merks,  all  of  which  he  lost.  Lord  Elphing- 
ston  succeeded  ;  but  the  same  system  of  heedless  extrava- 
gance and  consequent  embarrassment  continued  till  the  king 
left  Scotland. 

i.vi.  The  borders  still  continued  turbulent,  but  sir  Robert  Proceed- 
Carey,  who  with  his  friend  sir  Robert  Kerr,  were  now  war- 
dens,  both  cordially  uniting,  and  neither  affording  protec- 
tion to  the  robbers  of  either  kingdom,  no  very  serious  dis- 
turbance took  place.  The  only  incidents  worth  recording, 
were  the  destruction  of  a  tribe  of  outlaws,  and  a  polite  in- 
terruption which  Carey  gave  to  the  Scottish  hunters,  who  he 
thought  were  using  too  much  freedom  in  his  district.  The 
outlaws  were  a  banditti  of  the  name  of  Armstrong,  who  had 
taken  possession  of  the  wildest  tracks  on  the  western  border, 
and  committed  grievous  outrages,  particularly  on  the  adja- 
cent English  district.  Disowned  by  both  kingdoms,  the 
English  warden,  with  permission  of  the  king  of  Scots,  de- 
termined to  punish  them.  Learning  that  they  had  retired 
at  his  approach  to  an  impervious  forest  to  take  shelter,  he 
surrounded  it  with  his  horse,  and  entering  with  his  foot  sol- 
diers, took  their  chiefs  prisoners,  whom  he  carried  to  Eng- 
land, and  exacted  such  conditions  on  the  rest  as  secured 
tranquillity  for  some  time.  The  Scottish  gentlemen,  who 
were  pursuing  the  deer  on  his  borders  without  permission, 
were  by  Carey's  orders  taken  prisoners  and  brought  to  Wid- 
drington  castle,  where  he  then  resided  ;  but  after  being  hos- 
pitably entertained,  were  dismissed,  on  giving  their  word  not 
to  renew  their  sport  without  leave.  Afterward  they  always 
obtained  liberty  of  hunting  when  they  asked,  and  Carey 
himself  often  joined  the  chase.  The  circumstance  deserves 
notice  merely  as  showing  the  milder  spirit  which  the  expect- 
ed union  of  the  two  kingdoms  was  beginning  to  spread  among 


260  H1STOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  border  chieftains,  with  whom  in  former  times  such  an 
IV*      occurrence  would  have  been  the  signal  for  rapine  and  blood- 
shed. 

1600.          LVII   »phe  year  igoO  commenced  in  Scotland  by  act  of  the 
Commence-  f  _   _  . 

ment  of  the  estates,  on  the  1st  day  or  January,  previously  to  which  the 

year  chan-  new  year  was  reckOned  from  the  25th  of  March.  The  ge- 
neral assembly  which  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  presbytery, 
was  announced  by  sound  of  trumpet  at  the  cross  of  Edin- 
burgh. It  met  at  Montrose  as  the  most  convenient  place  for 

o  • 

the  ministers  of  the  north,  who  were  considered  by  the  king 
Proceed-     ^s  the  most  manageable.     The  attendance  of  members  was 
ings  of  ge-  fu\\^  ancj  each  side  promised  themselves  the  victory.     The 
sembly.       friends  of  the  establishment  reckoned  upon  the  unanswerable 
force  of  their  arguments,  their  opponents  trusted  to  the  more 
cogent  influence  of  the  crown.     Both  parties  had  used  their 
utmost  exertions,  and  as  their  numbers  were  nearly  equal, 
the  contest  was  looked  forward  to  with  all  that  keenness  and 
anxiety  which  naturally  arise  when  interests  are  nearly  ba- 
lanced.    Had  the  general  question  been  put  to  the  vote,  it  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  even  the  personal  authority  of  the 
king,   together  with  his  previous  management,  would  have 
been  adequate  to  have  carried  the  point ;  but  all  intimation 
was  stopped  by  a  royal  intimation  that  this  had  been  already 
decided.     On  the  vote,   whether  the  parliamentary  repre- 
sentatives should  be  elected  annually  or  for  life,  it  was  carried 
for  annual  election  by  a  majority  of  three,  but  this  was  after- 
wards altered  so  as  to  render  the  annual  election  a  mere  form. 
Regula-      The  final  resolutions  of  this  meeting  were,  that  the  general 
bishopsrsit.  assembly  should  nominate  six  for  every  vacant  benefice,  out 
ting  in  par- of  which  number  the  king  was  to  choose   one,  who  was  to 

liament.        ,    ,  .  ,.  .         ,  ,,  .     . 

take  a  seat  in  parliament  under  the  name  or  commissioner  ; 
but  he  who  was  thus  chosen  was  to  have  no  power  to  pro- 
pose in  parliament,  council,  or  convention,  any  thing  in  name 
of  the  church  without  their  special  instructions ;  and  was 
bound  at  every  general  assembly  to  give  an  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  executed  his  trust,  submit  to  their 
censure,  and  abide  by  their  decision  without  appeal.  He 
was  to  attend  faithfully  upon  his  own  particular  congregation 
in  every  point  as  a  pastor,  and  submit  to  the  trial  or  cen- 
sure of  his  own  presbytery,  as  any  other  minister.  In  the 


JAMES  VI.  261 

administration  of  discipline,  collation  of  benefices,  visitation,    UOOK 
and  other  points  of  ecclesiastical  government,  he  was  neither 
to  usurp  or  claim  any  power  or  jurisdiction  above  any  of  his      1600. 
brethren,  under  pain  of  deprivation  ;  and  if  deposed  by  the 
general  assembly,    synod,  or  presbytery,    from  his  office  in 
the  ministry,  he  was  to  lose  his  vote  in  parliament,  ipso  facto. 
Under  such  restrictions  were  the  first  representatives  of  the 
Scottish  church  in  parliament  to  be  chosen;  but  as  they  were 
agreed  to  on  the  part  of  the  king  with  no  intention  that 
they  should  ever  stand  in  force,  and  merely  to  have  matters 
peaceably  ended,  and  the  innovations  introduced  without 
noise,  so  they  were  broken  the  very  first  opportunity  that 
presented  itself;  and  the  bishoprics  of  Ross,  Caithness,  and  Violated 
Aberdeen  were  clandestinely  filled  by  the  king,  and  a  select  jj  *  ° 
number  of  such  ministers  as  would  agree  to  whatever  he 
chose  to  propose,  without  any  attention  to  the  caveats.* 

LVIII.  James,  during  the  whole  time  this  question  respect- 
ing the  bishops  was  in  agitation,  toiled  incessantly ;  every 
other  royal  care  was  dismissed,  as  of  inferior  moment ;  his 
cabinet  and  court  were  filled  with  ministers,  his  days  were 
consumed  in  public  disputation,  and  his  nights  in  private  His  deter- 
conferences ;  he  was  closeted  with  clergymen  from  sunset  mination  to 
till  the  gray  dawn,  and  scarcely  could  his  privy  counsellors  episcopacy. 
obtain  an  audience.  This  anxiety  of  James  to  procure  the 
introduction  of  prelacy,  did  not  proceed  from  any  regard  to 
it  as  a  religious  institution — and  this  the  reader  of  Scottish 
history  during  his  reign,  and  that  of  his  son  and  grandson, 
must  never  forget — but  from  a  pious  love  for  despotism. 
He  saw  the  ease  with  which  the  English  clergy  was  manag- 
ed, from  the  dependance  which  that  body  had  upon  the 
king,  as  the  head  of  the  church  ;  that  all  hopes  of  prefer- 
ment lay  in  royal  favour ;  that  advancement  in  the  hier- 
archy must  be  sought  by  subserviency  to  the  prince,  and  as 
there  could  be  no  bishop  without  the  king,  he  concluded 
there  could  be  no  king  without  a  bishop ;  and  he  succeeded 
in  fatally  inculcating  the  lesson  on  his  son,  till  he  forced  the 
English  nation  to  try  whether  their  affairs  might  not  go  on 
without  either.  It  is  a  truth  never  to  be  lost  sight  of  by  a 

*  Spotswood,  p.  4a3. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    Scottishman,  in  reading  the  history  of  the  Stuarts,  that  it 
IV-      was  the  struggle  for  unlimited  tyranny  on  the  part  of  the 

~77Z  prince,  and  for  freedom  of  conscience  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  which  originated  all  the  troubles ;  and  that  civil  li- 
berty in  this  country,  is  the  child  of  religious  freedom. 

LIX.  The  king,  having  now  obtained  some  respite  from 
his  ecclesiastical  labours,  retired  to  Falkland,  to  spend  the 
vacation.  While  here  enjoying  himself  in  the  amusement 
of  hunting,  his  royal  person  became  the  object  of  a  new 
conspiracy.  At  this  distance  of  time,  and  without  any  ad- 
ditional information,  it  would  be  improper  to  endeavour 
rendering  this  inexplicable  transaction  more  plain  by  con- 
jecture ;  we  must  therefore  transmit  it  as  we  have  received 
it,  only  with  this  caution,  that  as  our  information  is  entirely 

Cowrie       derived  from  one  side, — and  that  the  side  whose  interest  it 

conspiracy.  was  to  blacken  the  characters  of  the  sufferers,  we  may  be  par- 
doned for  not  seeing  clearly,  either  that  the  escape  of  the  king 
was  so  miraculous,  or  the  guilt  of  his  host  so  transcend- 
ent as  his  majesty  would  have  wished  posterity  to  believe. 

LX.  The  authors  of  this  attempt,  were  John,  earl  of 
Gowrie,  and  Alexander  Ruthven,  his  brother,  the  sons  of 
that  earl  who  was  concerned  in  the  Raid  of  Ruthven,  and 
who  was  judicially  murdered  under  the  administration  of 

Narrative.  Arran.  They  had  been  restored  to  their  honours  and  estates 
by  James,  and  although  they  had  not  figured  much  in  pub- 
lic life,  at  one  time  appear  to  have  engaged  the  personal  re- 
gard of  the  king ;  but  they  unfortunately  enjoyed — what  un- 
der weak  princes  is  always  a  crime — the  universal  affection 
of  the  people.  Their  father's  misfortunes  had  created  an 
interest  in  their  favour,  which  their  courteous  and  liberal 
manners  confirmed  ;  they  were  exemplary  in  their  conduct, 
and  esteemed  religious  by  men  themselves  sincere ;  they 
were  adorned  by  all  the  accomplishments  possessed  by  the 
nobility  in  that  age,  and  had  received  a  superior  education, 
which  was  improved  by  travelling ;  open,  generous,  and 
brave,  they  might  have  been  objects  of  envy,  but  were  not 
persons  who  would  have  been  suspected  as  conspirators. 
Yet,  that  they  did  engage  in  a  conspiracy  is  certain  ;  the 
following  are  the  particulars.  Early  one  morning,  as  the 
king  was  about  to  follow  his  sport  in  the  park,  Alexander 


JAMES  VI.  263 

Ruthven  accosted  him,  and  informed  him  of  his  brother's  BOOK 
having  intercepted  a  person  with  a  great  quantity  of  foreign  IV> 
gold,  whom  he  suspected  to  be  a  Jesuit,  and  prayed  the 
king  to  come  with  him,  as  he  did  not  doubt  but  he  would 
learn  something  of  importance  from  his  examination.  James, 
unwilling  to  lose  the  chase,  wished  at  first  to  send  a  com- 
mission to  the  magistrates  of  Perth,  to  examine  the  man  ; 
but  Ruthven  strongly  urging  that  he  should  go  thither  him- 
self, he  promised  to  proceed  as  soon  as  the  sport  was  over. 
After  the  death  of  the  buck,  the  king,  accompanied  by  the 
duke  of  Lennox,  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  a  few  attendants  in 
their  hunting  dresses,  set  out  for  the  earl's  house.  At  a 
little  distance  from  the  town,  Ruthven,  whose  behaviour 
during  the  whole  time  had  been  restless  and  perturbed,  rode 
forward  to  inform  his  brother  of  the  king's  approach.  The 
earl  soon  after,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  the  citizens  of 
Perth,  met  the  king,  and  in  a  pensive  and  melancholy  mood, 
conducted  his  majesty  to  his  residence,  apologizing  for  the 
want  of  preparation  suitable  to  his  dignity,  by  the  honour 
being  unexpected.*  After  the  king  had  taken  a  slight  re- 
past, and  while  his  attendants  were  at  dinner  in  another 
room,  Alexander  whispered  in  his  ear,  that  it  would  now  be 
a  proper  time  to  go  and  examine  the  stranger.  On  which 
he  arose,  and  desiring  sir  Thomas  Erskine  to  follow,  went 
with  him.  He  was  led  to  the  foot  of  a  staircase,  which  when 
he  had  ascended,  Ruthven  turned,  and  told  sir  Thomas,  his 
majesty  did  not  wish  his  further  attendance;  then  shutting 
the  door,  he  led  the  king  through  a  suite  of  rooms,  the 
doors  of  which  also  he  locked  behind  him,  and  at  last 
brought  him  to  a  small  apartment,  where  a  man  stood  cased 
in  armour,  with  a  sword  and  dagger  by  his  side.  At  sight 
of  him  the  king,  startled,  asked  if  that  was  the  person: 
"  We  have  another  business  in  hand,"  said  Ruthven,  seiz- 
ing the  dagger  from  the  man  in  armour,  and  pointing  it  to 
the  king's  breast,  "  remember  how  my  father  was  treated, 
now  you  must  answer  for  it,  submit  without  resistance  or 
noise,  else  this  shall  avenge  him."  The  king  expostulated 
with  Ruthven ;  "  the  deed,"  he  said,  "  was  done  in  my  mi- 

*  Spotswood,  p.  458. 


264  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  nority,  I  never  approved  of  it,  and  if  my  blood  is  now  shed, 
IV-  you  cannot  expect  to  escape."  The  man  in  armour  stood 
1600  all  the  while  trembling,  and  Ruthven,  whose  mind  had  not 
been  thoroughly  made  up  to  use  force,  or  suddenly  struck 
with  the  difficulty  and  danger  of  the  attempt,  hesitated,  and 
after  swearing  the  king  to  keep  silence,  he  withdrew  by  a 
back  passage,  to  consult  with  his  brother.  The  attendants, 
who  were  impatient  at  the  absence  of  the  king,  were  told  by 
one  of  Gowrie's  servants  that  he  had  set  out  for  Falkland, 
and  they  ran  to  take  horse,  the  earl  urging  his  servants  to 
hasten  their  departure.  While  this  bustle  was  going  forward 
in  the  street,  Alexander  Ruthven  returned  to  James,  and, 
telling  him  there  was  now  no  remedy  but  he  must  die,  made 
an  effort  to  bind  his  hands.  The  king  resisted,  and  in  the 
struggle,  dragged  Ruthven  toward  a  window,  which  looked 
into  the  street,  and  which  he  had  persuaded  the  person  who 
was  with  him  to  open  while  they  were  left  alone  together 
during  Ruthven's  absence,  from  which,  perceiving  the  earl 
of  Mar,  he  cried  out  with  a  wild  and  affrighted  voice,  Help ! 
earl  of  Mar,  help  !  Treason  !  I  am  murdered  !  Mar  and 
Lennox,  on  this  ran,  with  the  greatest  number  of  attendants, 
to  the  main  entry,  but  found  the  doors  fastened,  and  it  was 
some  time  before  they  could  force  an  entrance ;  but  sir  John 
Ramsay,  ascending  the  back  passage,  which  led  to  the  cham- 
ber where  the  king  was,  was  in  the  room  in  an  instant.  The 
king  and  Ruthven  were  struggling  when  he  entered,  and 
James  called  out  to  him  as  soon  as  he  saw  him,  to  strike  the 
traitor,  which  he  did  twice,  and  thrust  him  out  of  the  room. 

Alexander  As  he  was  descending  the  staircase,  he  was  met  by  sir  Thomas 

T?       V. 

putt™*1  Erskine,  and  sir  Hugh  Herries,  who  asked  him  where  the 
death.  king  was,  and  on  receiving  an  ambiguous  answer,  killed  him 
on  the  spot.  During  the  scuffle,  the  man  in  armour  had  es- 
caped unobserved.  Sir  Thomas  Erskine  and  Herries,  were 
followed  by  one  Wilson,  a  footman,  who  had  only  time  to 
shut  up  the  king  in  a  closet,  when  the  earl  of  Gowrie  burst 
in  with  two  swords,  one  in  each  hand,  followed  by  seven  well 
armed  attendants,  and  threatened  all  with  instant  death; 
when  some  of  them  exclaiming,  You  have  murdered  the 
king,  do  you  wish  also  to  kill  us  ?  Gowrie,  struck  with 
amazement,  pointed  his  swords  to  the  floor,  and  remained 


JAMES  VI.  265 

stupified.      Ramsay  perceived  his  consternation,   and  before    BOOK 
he  could  recover,  pierced  him  through  the  heart.     The  ser-       ^~ 
vants,  seeing  their  master  fall,  ran,  only  Thomas  Cranstoun,       igoo. 
who  was  severely  wounded,  was  detained  prisoner.     Erskine  *;arl  ?f 
and  Herries  received  slight  hurts  in  the  scuffle.     The  noise  killed, 
still   continuing  at  the  main  door,  when   it  was  ascertained 
that  it  proceeded  from  Lennox,    Mar,  and  their  party,  the 
king — who  had  ventured  out  of  the  closet,   on  hearing  the 
danger  was  over — desired  it  to  be  opened ;  and  after  receiv- 
ing their  congratulations,   he  kneeled  down  in  the  middle, 
commanding  them  to    kneel    around,    and    "  conceiving  a 
prayer,  gave  thanks  to   God  for  his  deliverance,  and  that 
the  device  of  these  wicked  brothers  was  turned  upon  their 
own  heads." 

LXI.  The  rage  of  the  people,  who  were  ardently  attached 
to  the  earl,  their  provost,  on  hearing  the  fate  of  the  two 
brothers,  was  unbounded.  They  flew  to  arms,  and  sur- 
rounding the  house,  called  for  the  earl,  threatening  to  destroy 
it,  and  all  within  it,  if  he  were  not  delivered  up  to  them.  Affects  Of 
The  king  himself  addressed  them  from  the  window,  admit-  this  on  the 
ted  their  magistrates,  with  a  number  of  the  citizens,  and  ex- 
plained  to  them  all  that  had  happened,  and  with  no  little 
difficulty,  succeeded  in  pacifying  the  infuriated  assemblage. 
Although  the  earl  was  killed,  having  been  run  through  the 
body,  no  blood  appeared.  This  circumstance,  however, 
which  might  perhaps  have  ranked  among  the  other  inex- 
plicables  in  which  the  conspiracy  is  still  involved,  was  ex- 
plained in  the  account  published  by  the  king : — a  small 
parchment  bag,  full  of  magical  characters,  and  words  of  en- 
chantment, was  found  in  his  pocket,  and  "  while  these  were 
about  him,  the  wound  of  which  he  died,  bled  not;  but  as  soon 
as  they  were  taken  away,  the  blood  gushed  out  in  great  abun- 
dance."* In  the  evening,  the  king  returned  to  Falkland,  hav- 
ing left  the  two  dead  bodies  in  charge  of  the  magistrates  of 

•  This  constituted  part  of  the  narrative,  which  Robert  Bruce  was  banished 
for  not  believing !  Amot  more  naturally  accounts  for  the  circumstance.  Lord 
Gowrie  had  received  the  deep  and  mortal  wound,  by  the  thrust  of  a  small  sword, 
and  he  had  not  immediately  bled  externally,  but  on  his  clothes  and  his  belt  be- 
ing taken  off,  and  the  body  being  turned  into  different  postures  in  the  stripping, 
the  blood  had  gushed  out.  Crim.  Trials,  p.  32. 
VOL.  III.  2  M 


£66  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  Perth.  Diligent  search  was  made  among  the  earl's  papers, 
lv>  for  any  thing  that  might  throw  light  on  the  conspiracy,  or 
1600.  the  number  of  the  conspirators,  but  nothing  could  be  found. 
Three  of  the  earl's  servants  were  executed  for  taking  arms 
against  the  king,  and  aiding  the  conspiracy,  but  they  all  per- 
sisted in  affirming,  that  they  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of 
any  plot,  and  had  they  known  that  the  king's  life  was  to  be 
attacked,  they  would  rather  have  shed  their  blood  in  defend- 
ing him,  than  have  been  guilty  of  the  smallest  disrespect  to- 
wards him.  The  important  personage  who  had  been  con- 
cealed in  the  chamber,  who,  it  was  imagined,  could  make 
great  discoveries,  was  in  vain  sought  for ;  the  agitation  of 
the  king  had  been  so  extreme,  that  he  gave  a  wrong  descrip- 
tion of  his  appearance,  and  Younger,  the  earl's  secretary, 
coming  from  Dundee  to  clear  himself  from  the  imputation, 
was  unluckily  killed  by  mistake.  At  last  Andrew  Hender- 
son, the  chamberlain,  upon  a  promise  of  his  life,  confessed 
that  he  was  the  man,  but  for  what  purpose  he  had  been 
placed  there  he  did  not  know.  No  clue  could  be  obtained 
to  unriddle  the  object  of  the  conspiracy,  nor  was  it  known 
whether  any  other  than  Gowrie  and  his  brother  were  ac- 
quainted with  or  concerned  in  the  plot. 

LXH.  No  reason  could  be  assigned  for  this  dark  and  des- 
perate treason  on  the  part  of  Gowrie ;  the  king  had  restored 
him  the  estates  of  his  father,  and  as  if  to  atone  for  the  in- 
justice done  the  family,  had  made  Alexander  a  gentleman  of 
his  bedchamber,  and  procured  the  marriage  of  their  sister  to 
the  duke  of  Lennox  ;  and  besides  being  unimpeachable  in 
his  conduct,  he  had  no  suspicious  connexion  with  any  party 
in  the  state;  he  had  declared  in  warm  terms  his  gratitude  to 
the  king  for  his  kindness,  nor  was  there  any  reason  to  sus- 
pect him  of  hypocrisy.  His  abilities  and  his  profession  made 
him  be  looked  upon  as  a  young  nobleman  from  whom  his 
country  might  expect  much  ;  and  in  these  troublous  times,  so 
big  with  portent  to  religion  and  liberty,  he  was  fondly  con- 
sidered as  one  peculiarly  fitted  to  be  her  hope  and  stay  in 
the  hour  of  danger.  Whether  it  was  most  natural  for  such 
a  nobleman  to  attempt  the  assassination  of  the  king,  or  whe- 
ther it  was  more  likely  for  the  king  to  wish  to  get  rid  of 
such  a  nobleman  ?  were  queries  to  which  so  mysterious  an 


JAMES  VI.  267 

affair  could  not  fail  to  give  rise ;  and  as  the  king's  character     BOOK 
did  not  stand  very  high  for  truth  or  honour,  the  nation  was  _ 
apt  to  draw  the  most  unfavourable  conclusions  ;  and  to  this       160°- 
day  the  fact  of  a  conspiracy  had  remained  doubtful,  but  for 
an  incident   which  occurred  nine  years  after,  and   which  I 
shall   here  relate,  in  order  to  give   a  complete  view  of  the 
whole  business. 

LXIII.  A  notary  in  Eyemouth,  whose  name  was  Sprot, 
had  mentioned  some  particulars  that  implied  a  personal 

knowledge  of  the  crime.     These  rumours,  getting  into  cir-  Disclosure 

3    .  respecting 

culation,  reached  the  privy  council,  ana  they,  deeming  the  the  conspi- 

matter  worthy  of  their  attention,  ordered  Sprot  to  be  ap-  "^ 
prehended  in  the  month  of  April  1608.  When  examined 
before  the  council  and  by  torture,  he  persisted  for  about 
two  months  in  denying  the  fact,  or  in  contradictory  state- 
ments, to  which  no  credit  was  given.  At  last  he  confessed 
that  Logan  of  Restalrig,  a  gentleman  of  large  fortune,  but 
dissolute  morals,  was  concerned  in  the  conspiracy  with  Gow- 
rie,  and  a  correspondence  had  been  carried  on  between 
them  by  means  of  Bour,  a  confidential  servant  of  Logan's, 
who  inadvertently  communicated  the  secret  to  him,  and  had 
shown  him  some  of  the  letters  from  the  conspirators,  two  of 
which  he  had  purloined,  one  from  Gowrie,  and  another 
from  Logan,  which  the  earl  had  returned  after  having  read. 
Sprot  was  tried,  and  convicted  upon  his  own  confession,  and  Sprot 
hanged  the  same  day  he  was  convicted,  lest  he  should  re-  ange 
tract.  He,  however,  persevered,  and  having  promised  to 
give  the  spectators  a  sign  of  the  truth  of  his  deposition,  he 
thrice  clapped  his  hands  after  the  executioner  had  thrown 
him  over. 

LXIV.  Logan  and  his  son  were  both  dead ;  the  two  noble 
brothers,  Ruthven,  had  suffered  all  that  the  law  could  in- 
flict, and  there  remained  only  the  innocent  offspring  of  Lo- 
gan who  could  suffer — The  act  which  authorized  the  trial 
of  a  deceased  traitor's  memory,  or  the  forfeiture  of  his 
estate,  limited  the  time  to  five  years  after  his  death,  and 
expressly  declared  that  his  treason  should  have  been  no- 
torious during  his  life;  neither  of  these  requisitions  were  ob- 
served in  the  trial  of  Logan  ;  the  strict  form,  indeed,  was 
kept  in  the  most  odious  and  disgustin*1  part  of  the  letter,  by 


268  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    digging  up  the  mouldering  bones  of  the  accused,  and  pro- 
IV>       ducing  them  at  the  bar;  but  both  the  laws  of  humanity,  and 


tunate  notary  in  a  hurry,  because  they  did  not  believe  he  was 
to  the  truth 


of  8  rot's    conspiracy  for  which  the  king's  credit  was  pledged.     Spots- 
statement,    wood,  who  sat  upon  his  trial  as  one  of  the  assessors  to  the 
justice-general,  was  uncertain  whether  or  not  he  should  men- 
tion in  his  history  the  arraignment  and  execution  of  Sprot. 
"  His  confession,  though  voluntary  and  constant,  carrying 
small  probability,   it  seemed  a  very  fiction  and  a  mere  in- 
vention of  the  man's  own  brain  ;  for  neither  did  he  show  the 
letter,  nor  could  any  wise  man  think  that  Gowrie,  who  went 
about  that  treason  so   secretly,  would  have  communicated 
the  matter  with  such  a  man  as  this  Restalrig  was  known  to 
be ;"  but  the  letters,  which  were  five  in  number,  were  after- 
ward discovered  among  Sprot's  papers,  and  produced  before 
the  privy  council,  where  two  were  compared  with  papers  of 
Logan's  handwriting,  and  from  their  similarity,  sworn  to  as 
Logan's,  by  persons  well  qualified  to  judge  of  their  authen- 
ticity.    The  letters,  however,  although  conclusive  as  to  the 
fact  of  the  conspiracy,  afford  no  certainty  as  to  its  nature, 
but  they  plainly  enough  show  that  the  death  of  the  king  was 
Specula-      not  tne  ODJectj  and  the  supposition  of  our  latest  historians  is 
tions  re-      perhaps  the  most  accurate  : — That  the  scheme  was  limited 
the  coivspi-   entirely  to  obtain  possession  of  the  king's  person,  and  gain  the 
racy.  whole  direction  of  the  government;  and  that  had  it  succeeded, 

it  would  have  been  a  counterpart  to  the  Raid  of  Ruthven.  Yet 
even  this  solution  is  liable  to  objection,  from  the  circumstance 
of  none  of  the  nobility  in  Scotland  being  party  to  the  plot;  and 
the  impossibility  of  Gowrie,  without  some  very  effectual  as- 


1600.      the  law  of  the  land,  were  outraged  by  the  sentence,  which  de- 
"oceed6      clared  his  posterity  infamous,  and  escheated  his  estate ;  nor 
ingsagainst  was   the  sentence  unanimous,   till   the   urgent  entreaties  of 
Rettalrig.    Dunbar  induced  the  lords  of  the  articles  to  signify  their  as- 
sent with  "  tears  of  joy,"  to  a  verdict  which  was  to  wipe 
away  every  imputation  from  the  character  of  the  king,  but 
which  still  left  the  subject  of  the  treason  involved  in  obscurity. 
The  letters  which  Sprot  had  mentioned  in  his  confession  were 
not  produced  upon  his  trial ;  the  judges  appear  to  have  doubt- 
ed the  truth  of  his  tale,  and  seem  to  have  hanged  the  unfor- 


Doubts  as    guilty,  and  were  afraid  of  losing  his  evidence  in  support  of  a 


JAMES  VI.  269 

sistance,  being  able   to   retain   possession  of  the  king  long   BOOK 
against  his  inclination. 

LXV.  Accounts  of  this  transaction  were  speedily  transmitted  1600. 
to  Edinburgh,  and  the  council,  without  waiting  for  particu- 
lars, summoned  the  ministers,  and  commanded  them  instant- 
ly to  assemble  the  people,  and  return  God  public  thanks  for 
the  king's  preservation  from  this  vile  and  horrible  treason. 
When  the  deliberate  and  matured  accounts  of  this  conspiracy 
contain  a  number  of  extravagant  and  improbable  circum- 
stances, the  first  rumours  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been 
very  consistent  ;  and  when  the  king  and  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal evidence  did  not  agree  in  their  details,  after  they  had 
time  for  reflection,  it  may  easily  be  imagined  that  an  express 
sent  off  under  the  agitation  of  the  moment,  might  neither  be 
remarkably  clear  nor  convincing,  either  as  to  the  magnitude 
or  the  reality  of  the  danger.  The  ministers  viewed  the  whole  Ministers 
story  with  a  very  doubting  and  suspicious  eye,  and  refusing  refuse  to 
to  be  made  the  vehicles  of  conveying  to  the  people,  under  thanks  for 


semblance  of  a  solemn  address  to  God,  the  impression  of  a 

delivery* 

deliverance  in  the  truth  of  which  they  did  not  believe  ,  they 
offered  to  give  thanks  for  the  king's  safety,  but  declined  do- 
ing more.  "  For  nothing,"  they  said,  "  ought  to  be  deli- 
iivered  from  the  pulpit  but  what  was  known  and  believed  by 
the  minister  to  be  truth."  As  nothing  could  move  them  from 
this  determination,  the  council  proceeded  to  the  Cross  in  a 
body,  and  the  bishop  of  Ross,  who  was  found  more  compli- 
ant, addressed  a  narrative  of  the  king's  danger  and  deliver- 
ance to  the  crowd,  and  offered  up  public  thanksgiving. 

LXVI.  Next  Monday  the  king  came  to  Edinburgh,  and, 
accompanied  by  a  considerable  train  of  noblemen  and  gentry, 
went  to  the  Cross,  where  Patrick  Galloway,  the  minister  ofjj;sown 
his  own  chapel,  delivered  a  sermon,  in  the  course  of  which  account  of 
he  gave  a  full  account  of  the  conspiracy.     The  day  after  his  SpjraCy. 
majesty,  in  a  council  held  in  the  palace,  set  apart  one  thou- 
sand pounds  of  the  yearly  rent  of  Scoone,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  poor  annually,  as  a  memorial  for  ever  of  his  gra- 
titude for  this  special  interposition  of  providence  ;  an  order 
was  at  the  same  time  issued  for  public  and  solemn  thanks- 
giving, to  be  offered  up  in  all  the  churches  in  the  kingdom 
on  the  last  Tuesday  of  September,  and  the  Sabbath  follow- 


270  HISTOUV  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   ing.     Yet  still    the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,   and  many  of 
W'       their  brethren,  continued  incredulous ;  and  the  more  anxious 
1600.      the  king  was  to  enforce  belief,  the  more  extensively  did  he 
Not  gene-   increase  suspicion.     Stronger  arguments  were  then  resorted 
d7ted.Cr       to-     All  who  would  not  give  their  assent  to  the  royal  state- 
ment, were  commanded  to  remove  from  Edinburgh  within 
forty-eight  hours,  and  prohibited  from  preaching  within  his 
Measures     majesty's  dominions  under  pain  of  death.     Against  this  mode 
for  enforc-  Qp  reasoning  it  is   difficult  to   contend,  it  sometimes  biases 

HifiT  the  D6~ 

lief  of  it.  very  strong  minds  ;  and  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  all  but 
Robert  Bruce,  were  induced  to  declare  themselves  satisfied 
of  the  reality  of  a  treasonable  attempt  having  been  made 
upon  the  king ;  but  their  unbelief  was  only  forgiven  upon 
condition  of  their  declaring  in  certain  churches  their  persua- 
sion of  the  truth  of  the  treason,  begging  pardon  publicly  of 
God  and  of  the  king  for  having  ever  doubted,  and  seriously 
rebuking  all  such  as  still  hesitated  to  believe.  Bruce,  with 
a  firm  unbending  courage  worthy  of  the  name,  refused  to 
compromise  his  integrity.  All  that  the  threatenings,  argu- 
ments, or  promises  of  the  court  could  induce  him  to  say, 
was  that,  "  He  would  reverence  the  king's  account  of  the 
accident,  but  could  not  say  he  was  persuaded  of  its  truth." 
Instead  of  producing  evidence  which  would  have  silenced 
every  objection,  or  yielding  in  the  least  to  conscientious 

Bruce  ba-   scruples,  James  was  determined  that  Bruce,  whether  he  be- 

nished  for  \\Qve^  jt  or  not   should  declare  that  he  did.     "  Will  cannot 

not  behev- 

ing  it.         be  restrained,"  replied   Bruce  in  one  of  his  conversations 

with  the  king,  "  I  might  lie  unto  you  with  my  mouth,  but  I 
cannot  trust  without  evidence."  "  Then  I  see  you  will  not 
believe  me,"  said  James.  Bruce,  who  could  not  say  that  he 
would,  was  banished  to  France. 

LXVII.  Parliament,  less  scrupulous  than  the  ministers,  pro- 
ceeded immediately  to  forfeit  the  inheritance  of  Gowrie,  and 
inflict  on  the  inanimate  bodies  all  the  contumely  awarded 
traitors.  The  carcasses  of  the  two  brothers  were  produced 
in  court,  an  indictment  preferred  against  them,  witnesses 
Bodies  of  examined,  and  all  the  routine  of  a  legal  trial  gone  through: 

Gowne  and    , 

his  brother  tney  were  sentenced,  carried  to  the  cross,  hung  upon  a  gib- 
hanged,      Det>  quartered,  and   the  ghastly  heads  affixed   on  the  tol- 
booth  ;    the  very  name  itself  was  abolished  ;  and  to  hand 


JAMES  VI.  271 

down  to  all  future  ages  the   memory  of  the  most  wonderful  BOOK 

escape,  it  was  ordained  that  the  fifth  day  of  August  should '_ 

ke  kept  yearly  in  all  times  and  ages  to  come,  by  all  subjects  160°* 
of  the  realm  of  Scotland,  as  a  perpetual  monument  of  their 
most  humble,  hearty,  and  unfeigned  thanks  to  God,  for 
this  miraculous  and  extraordinary  deliverance  from  the  hor- 
rible and  detestable  parricide,  attempted  against  his  majes- 
ty's most  noble  person.*  In  this  parliament  four  ministers 
voted  as  bishops. 

LXVIII.  As  the  prospect  of  James'  mounting  the  English 
throne  drew  nearer,  his  connexion   with  the   courtiers  of 
Elizabeth  grew  closer,  and  he  became  deeply  interested  in 
the  intrigues  of  her  cabinet.     But  in  his  intercouse  with  the 
parties  into  which  her  ministers  and  favourites  split,  James' 
timid,  temporizing  policy,  was  perhaps  of  some  service,  as  it 
led  him  to  flatter  the  hopes  of  each,  while  he  committed 
himself  to  none.    For  some  time  two  rivals,  of  very  different 
character,  had  aimed  at  superiority — the  earl  of  Essex,  and 
sir  Robert  Cecil,   son  of  lord  treasurer  Burleigh ;  the   one 
an  open,  brave,  high  spirited  nobleman ;  the  other  an  assi- 
duous, able,  and  insinuating  courtier.    In  their  struggles  for     1601. 
power,  Essex  attached  himself  to  the  king  of  Scots,  Cecil 
cultivated  the  favour  of  his  mistress;  and  while  the  first 
sought  to  attain  his  end  by  his  impetuosity,  the  latter  gained 
his  object  by  his  patient  prudence.     The  means  by  which 
the  crafty  secretary  obtained  the  advantage  over  the  more 
unguarded  soldier,  belongs  to  English  history;  but  when  Essex 
driven  to  despair,  the  latter  attempted  to  regain  by  violence  ^"[^es 
an  ascendancy  in  the  government,  he  endeavoured  to  link  Elizabeth, 
his  fortune  with  that  of  the  Scottish  monarch.     Previously 
to  his  breaking  out  into  open  insurrection  against  his  sove- 
reign, he  had  written  to  James,  informing  him  of  some  sur- 
mises, respecting  an  attempt  to  be  made  in  favour  of  the 
Spanish  infanta's  claims  to  the  crown  of  England,  and  urg- 
ing him  to  take  arms  and  assert  his  right;  but  James  wisely 
refused  to  hazard  a  certain  succession  by  a  premature  at- 
tempt, and  although  he  encouraged  the  correspondence  of 
the  earl,  he  did  not  approve  of  any  of  his  rash  proposals. 

Calderwood,  p  446.     Robertson.     Lairig.     Spotswood. 


212  HISTOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    Disappointed  in  obtaining  the  concurrence  of  the  Scottish 

1V'      king,  he,  with  a  few  followers,  attempted  to  force  his  way 

1601.      into  the  presence  of  his  sovereign,  and  dictate  to  her  the 

choice  of  her  advisers ;  but  he  had  miscalculated  upon  his 

He  is  exe-  strength,  and  failing  in  his  enterprise,  atoned  for  his  rash- 

cuted.         negs  on  tne  scaffold. 

LXIX.  James,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  apprehension  of 
Essex,  sent  off  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  Bruce,  abbot  of  Kin- 
loss,  as  ambassadors  extraordinary  to  England,  with  instruc- 
tions to  intercede  in  behalf  of  Essex ;  but  before  they  reach- 
ed London,  that  unfortunate  nobleman  had  perished  by 
the  hands  of  the  executioner,  and  the  Scottish  ambassadors, 
finding  they  came  too  late  to  save  the  earl,  congratulated 
the  queen  on  her  happy  escape  from  such  an  audacious 
conspiracy.  Elizabeth,  although  she  was  not  unacquainted 
with  the  king's  correspondence  with  Essex,  received  the 
congratulations  of  the  legation  with  great  apparent  cordiali- 
ty, and  added  two  thousand  per  annum  to  the  pension  she 
allowed  James,  as  a  mark  of  her  increasing  esteem.  The 
ambassadors  remained  for  some  time  in  England,  and  in 
Th  E  private  confirmed  the  inclinations  of  the  English  nobility, 
lish  nobi.  who,  now,  as  Elizabeth's  days  began  to  draw  towards  a 
vate James' c^ose»  turnec^  their  eyes  towards  the  rising  sun,  and  offered 
favour.  him  assurances  of  their  attachment  and  support.  Cecil  too, 
about  this  time,  made  advances  towards  them,  and  opened 
a  cautious  correspondence  with  the  king  of  Scots,  who  had 
now  the  pleasure  of  seeing  all  the  obstacles  which  had  threat- 
ened to  interrupt  his  ascent  to  the  British  throne  daily  van- 
ishing, and  a  general  feeling  in  his  favour,  smoothing  his 
way  to  the  long  and  ardently  wished  for  succession. 

Lxx.  Amid  this  exhilarating  prospect,  the  only  dark  spots 
arose  from  the  Roman  catholics,  whom  James  had  so  un- 
wisely courted.  The  pope,  who  was  also  anxiously  looking 
for  the  decease  of  Elizabeth,  sent  briefs  to  England,  warn- 
ing all  who  professed  the  Romish  faith,  to  acknowledge  no 
man  as  king  after  the  queen's  death,  whatever  his  right  by 
blood,  unless  he  should  swear  to  promote  the  catholic,  Ro- 
man religion,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power ;  and  Hamilton 
and  Hay,  two  active  intriguing  Jesuits,  arrived  about  the 
same  time  in  Scotland,  to  disseminate  similar  sentiments, 


JAMES  VI.  273 

and  continued  for  years  to  find  countenance  and  protection    BOOK 
in  the  north.     A  temporary  chagrin  at  this  conduct,  and  a       IV> 
sense  of  the  dissatisfaction  which  his  Scottish  subjects  felt        '°2* 
at  the  treatment  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  on  account 
of  the  Gowrie  case, — many  of  whom  sympathized  both  with 
their  incredulity  and  sufferings, — appear  to  have  awakened 
in  the  king's  bosom  a  glow  of  affection  towards  the  simpler, 
but  more  friendly  and  honest  institutions  of  his  native  land. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  which  was  held  at  He  avows 
Burntisland,  after  the  ministers  had   been  deliberating  on  ductTtoThe 
the  causes  which  had  produced  a  defection  from  the  purity,  general  as- 
zeal,  and  practice  of  the  true  religion  in  all  the  states  of  the  se 
country,  and  on  the   remedies  for  these  evils,  the  king  rose, 
and  with  tears  confessed  his  offences  and  mismanagement  in 
the  government  of  the  kingdom ;  and  lifting  up  his  hand,  he 
vowed  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  assembly,  that 
he  would,  by  the  grace  of  God,  live  and  die  in  the  religion 
presently  professed    in  the  realm  of  Scotland ;   defend  it 
against  its  adversaries,  minister  justice  faithfully  to  his  sub- 
jects, discountenance  those  who  attempted   to  hinder  him 
in  this  good  work,   reform   whatever  was  amiss  in  his  per- 
son or  family,   and  perform  all  the  duties  of  a  good  and 
Christian  king  better  than  he  had  hitherto  performed  them. 
The  members,  at  his  request,  pledged   themselves  for  the 
discharge  of  their  duty  ;  and  this  mutual  vow  was  next  Sab- 
bath published  from  the  pulpits  as  a  proof  of  the  sincere 
harmony  subsisting  between  the  king  and  the  church.* 

LXXI.  About  the  same  time  a  plan  was  projected  for  civiliz-  plan  for 
ing  the  Western  Islands.    These  islands  remained  in  a  state  cmlizmg 

the  Hi!- 

little  removed  from  barbarism,  under  a  merely  nominal  brides, 
subjection  to  the  crown  of  Scotland.  The  conflicts  of  the 
clans  were  carried  on  there  with  circumstances  of  horrid 
cruelty,  without  regard  to  the  mandates  of  a  power  whose 
feeble  arm  could  not  reach  them;  and  the  king,  who 
"  thought  no  other  of  them  all  than  as  wolves  and  wild 

O 

boares,"  considering  them  a  race  incapable  of  culture  in 
their  native  soil,  and  whom  it  would  be  necessary  to  trans- 
plant to  a  more  favourable  situation  to  learn  civilization, 

*  Calderwood,  p.  456.     M'Crie's  Life  of  Melville,  vol  ii.  pp.  174--5. 
vol..  ill.  2  N 


27 'i 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1602. 


BOOK  concurred  in  the  measures  for  this  purpose.  A  number  of 
IV-  gentlemen,  chiefly  belonging  to  Fife,  either  suggested  or 
seconded  the  plan  of  removing  the  inhabitants  to  the  con- 
tinent, and  supplying  their  place  with  more  industrious 
lowlanders  ;  and  having  obtained  a  charter  from  his  ma- 
jesty, confirmed  by  parliament,  they  undertook  to  plant 
colonies  in  Lewis.  They  were  induced  to  do  this  from  the 
account  they  had  received  of  the  fertility  of  the  island,  and 
the  distracted  state  of  the  inhabitants,  owing  to  a  dispute 
about  the  succession  of  the  chieftain.  Rory  M'Leod,  the 
old  chief,  had  married  a  daughter  of  M'Kenzie's  of  Kin- 
tail,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  named  Connal  ;  but  divorcing 
her,  he  declared  her  son  illegitimate,  and  married  a  sister 
of  the  chief  M'Lean,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  Torquil 
Dhu  and  Norman;  besides  these  he  had  three  children, 
Niel,  Rory,  and  Murdo,  by  other  women.  On  his  death, 
Torquil  Dhu  seized  the  island,  and  was  acknowledged  by 
the  inhabitants  as  lawful  heir;  and  Connal  retiring  to  his 
mother's  kindred,  besought  their  assistance  to  conquer  his 
rightful  inheritance.  But  as  Torquil  was  the  favourite  of 
the  clan,  it  would  have  been  dangerous,  if  not  desperate,  to 
attempt  attacking  him  openly.  He  was  therefore  enticed  on 
board  a  Dutch  vessel,  which  some  of  Connal's  friends  had 
piratically  seized  ;  and  while  waiting,  as  he  supposed,  for  a 
banquet,  was  made  prisoner  along  with  all  his  attendants, 
carried  to  the  peninsula  of  Kiutail  and  treacherously  put  to 
death.  On  this  the  bastard  brothers,  Niel  and  Murdo,  de- 
clared for  Norman,  and  took  possession  of  the  island  in  his 
name;  and  Connal  seeing  no  hopes  of  establishing  himself, 
surrendered  his  right  to  M'Kenzie,  lord  Kintail.  At  this 
juncture  the  colonists  arrived  in  Loch  Stornoway.  On  their 
landing  they  were  opposed  by  the  M'Leods,  but  soon  dis- 
persed them,  and  commenced  building  a  village  near  where 
the  town  of  Stornoway  now  stands.  Learmont  of  Balcolmy 
having  seen  the  operations  commenced,  embarked  on  board 
one  of  the  largest  vessels  to  return  to  Scotland  for  stores  ; 
but  while  his  vessel  lay  becalmed,  and  suspecting  nothing, 
he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  fleet  of  Birlings  *  under 


*  Small  boat?  peculiar  to  these  islnnds. 


JAMES  VI.  275 

Murdo,  boarded,  and  all  in  the  ship  killed  except  himself,    BOOK 
who  was  taken  prisoner,  and  detained  till  ransomed  by  his 


friends.     The  remaining  settlers  had  detached  Niel,  who,     1602. 
enraged  at  receiving  none  of  the  plunder  from  Murdo,  was 
induced  to  betray  his  brother.   Having  taken  him  with  twelve 
of  his  retainers,  he  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  the  colo- 
nists, and  beheaded  the  others  upon  the  spot.     Murdo  was 
sent  to  St.  Andrews,  where  he  was  tried  and  hanged.     The 
colonists  now  thinking  themselves  secure,  made  a  partition 
of  the  lands,   and   forced  the  natives  to  swear  allegiance ;  The  nolo- 
but  while  they  were  proceeding  quietly  with   their  settle-  nis£s  **• 
ment,  they  were  unexpectedly  attacked  by  Norman  M'Leod,  the  natives 
their  buildings  plundered   and   set  on  fire,  and  themselves 
forced  to  make  a  formal  resignation  to  him  of  all  their  pre- 
tended right  to  the  island  ;  to  engage  to  procure  for  him  a 
free  pardon  from  the  king  for  all  their  past  conduct;  and  to 
leave  as  hostages  sir  James  Spence  and  Thomas  Monypeny 
of  Kinkell,  till  the  conditions  were  faithfully  fulfilled.     Sir 
James    Anstruther    was   then   allowed    to  depart  with   the 
wretched   survivors,   and  obtaining  from    the  king  the  pro-  The  nan 
mised  pardon,  the  hostages   were  delivered   up.     Thus  the  ™lm>lul8"- 
whole  attempt  was  rendered  abortive. 

LXXII.  What  might  have  been  the  success  of  this  plan 
had  the  colony  been  established,  it  is  needless  to  conjecture ; 
but  it  must  have  been  expensive  and  slow,  and  attended  with 
much  bloodshed.*  On  this  account,  perhaps,  the  failure  is 
scarcely  to  be  regretted*;  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  lament 
that  the  attention  of  the  church  of  Scotland  should  have  been 
diverted  by  vexatious  disputes,  from  the  more  peaceful  plans  Observa- 
which  they  had  formed  for  civilizing  the  natives,  by  again  tlon8' 
enlightening  them  by  the  introduction  of  knowledge  into 
these  isles,  whence  the  first  rays  of  Christianity  had  beamed 
on  the  regions  of  the  north.  In  the  year  1597,  the  general 
assembly  had  under  their  consideration  the  condition  of  the 
highlands  and  islands  of  Scotland ;  and  if  any  judgment  may 
be  formed  from  the  report  of  those  of  their  number  who 
visited  the  north,  or  if  any  similar  disposition  existed  in  the 
Hebrides,  they  might  have  been  brought  within  the  pale  of 


Spotswood,  p.  463.     Conflicts  of  the  clans. 


?70  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    the  community,  and  rendered  quiet  and  useful  subjects,  with 
IV-       little  expense  to  the  state.     The  chief  of  the  clan  M'Intosh, 


ness. 


1602.     offered  to  support  what  ministers  might  be  sent  to  instruct 
his  vassals.     "  Get  me  men,"  said  he,   "  and  I  will  give  you 
surety,  both  for  the  safety  of  their  persons,  and  the  payment 
of  their  stipends ;"  and  a  general  desire  for  instruction  was 
represented  as  pervading  all  the  population.*     If  James  sug- 
gested the  project  for  civilizing  the  Hebrides,  he  seems  to 
have  given  up  both  the  highlands  and  borders  in  despair,  re- 
serving their  amelioration  till  armed  with  the  power  of  Eng- 
land ;  a  period  which  was  now  fast  approaching. 
Elizabeth's      Lxxni.  Elizabeth,  who,  during  her  long  reign  had  enjoy- 
ed an  almost  uninterrupted  state  of  good  health,  began,  dur- 
ing the  winter,  to  exhibit  symptoms  of  approaching  dissolu- 
tion.    Her  appetite  failed,  she  could  not  sleep,  and  a  settled 
dejection  took  possession  of  her  mind ;  she  courted  solitude, 
and  shunned  company,   sat  constantly  in  the  dark,  and  was 
often  in  tears.     Various  reasons  were  assigned  for  her  me- 
lancholy ;   but  what  now  has  obtained  most  credit  is,  that 
some  incidents  occurred  which  discovered  the  malice  of  Es- 
sex's enemies,  and  the  arts  by  which  she  had  been  induced  to 
sign  the  death  warrant  of  a  man  she  tenderly  loved.     When 
Essex  stood  highest  in  her  favour,  he  hinted,  in  one  of  their 
fond  interviews,  the  possibility  of  losing  her  affection  through 
the  insidious  arts  of  rivals  in  his  absence ;  when  she,  pulling 
a  ring  from  her  finger,  gave  it  him  as  a  pledge  of  her  con- 
stancy, and  assured  him,  into  whatever  misconduct  he  might 
be  betrayed,  or  however  misrepresentation  might  prejudice 
her  against  him,  that  ring  would  procure  him  a  favourable 
hearing,  and  recall  her  kindness  whenever  it  was  presented. 
After  his  condemnation  he  resolved  to  try  the  efficacy  of  this 
gift ;  but  by  mistake   it  was   intrusted  to    the   countess  of 
Southampton  to  deliver,  and  her  husband,  who  was  one  of 
Essex's  most  implacable  enemies,  prevailed  on  her  to  keep 
back  the  important  message.     She  did  so,  and  Elizabeth, 
disappointed  in  this  last  appeal, — which  she  attributed  to  his 
obstinacy, — in  a  moment  of  irritated  pride,  was  persuaded 
to  consent  to  the  death  of  a  person,  who,  she  thought,  dis- 

*  James  Melville's  Diary,  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie,  Life  of  Melville,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 77 


JAMES  VI. 


277 


dained  to  ask  for  mercy.      Struck  with  remorse,  the  countess    BOOK 
on   her  deathbed  begged  an  interview  with  the  queen,  and,       ^' 
entreating  her  forgiveness,  discovered  the  fatal  secret.     Eliza-     1603. 
beth,  in  an  agony  shook  the  dying  countess  in  her  bed,  ex- 
claiming,   "  God    might   pardon  her,  but  she  never  could." 
From  this  date,  she  resigned  herself  entirely  to  the  melan- 
choly suggestions  of  hopeless  regret.     She  refused  food  and 
sustenance,  nor  could  she  be  persuaded  either  to  go  to  bed, 
or  take  medicine.     Her  deep  sighs  and  groans  declared  the 
pangs  of  an  incurable  sorrow  which  she  could  not  conceal, 
but  was  unwilling  to  communicate.     The   anguish   of  her 
mind  soon  preyed  upon  her  body,  and  the  issue  of  this  in- 
ward torture  appeared  neither  distant  nor  doubtful.     Her 
council  having  assembled,  sent  a  deputation  to  know  her  in- 
tention as  to  her  successor,  to  whom  she  answered,  that  her 
throne  had  been  the  throne  of  kings,  and  she  would  have  no 
mean  person  to  sit  upon  it;  and  on  Cecil  requesting  her  to 
be  more  explicit,  she  asked,  who  could  she  mean  but  her 
nearest  relative,  the  king  of  Scots  ?     Being  then  admonished 
by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  fix  her  thoughts  upon 
Sod,  she  replied  that  she  did  so,  nor  did  her  mind  wander 
in  the  least  from  him.     Soon  after,  she  sunk  into  a  kind  of 
dumber,  from  which   she  never  awoke.     She  died  in   the  Her  death, 
seventieth  year  of  her  age,  and  in  the  forty-fifth  of  her  reign,  james  pro. 
on  the  24th  day  of  March,  1603;  and  on  the  same  day,  thecl.aimed 
king  of  Scots  was  proclaimed  at  Whitehall,  and  at  the  cross  England. 
in  Cheapside,  king  of  England. 

LXXIV.  As  a  queen,  Elizabeth's  long  and  successful  reign, 
justifies  the  encomiums  which  historians  have  paid  to  her 
prudence  and  wisdom.  The  vigour  of  her  administration, 
and  the  propriety  with  which  she  chose  her  counsellors,  her 
dignified  deportment,  and  independent  frugality,  the  respect 
which  England  commanded  abroad,  and  the  increasing  pro- 
sperity enjoyed  at  home,  claim,  and  have  received  their  just 
meed  of  praise.  Her  policy  towards  Scotland  was  of  a  more  Her  char, 
doubtful  character;  nor  can  her  attention  to  preserve  a  ba-acten 
lance  between  the  rival  factions  in  that  unhappy  country, 
and  the  consequent  bloodshed  of  which  this  equipoise  was 
the  occasion,  be  mentioned  without  censure.  Her  treatment 
of  Mary  was  inhospitable,  unjust,  ungenerous,  and  inhuman. 


278  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        LXXV.   Sir  Robert  Carey,  lord   Hunsdon's  youngest  son, 
W'       brought  the  first  intelligence  of  the  queen  of  England's 
1603.      death   to  James.      After  being  five  years  warden  of  the 
middle  march,  he  paid  a  visit  to  court  in  the  last  winter  of 
the  queen's  life,  and  perceiving  her  declining  health,  form- 
ed the  resolution  of  being  the  first  messenger  of  the  tidings. 
He  set  out  from  London  on  the  day  she  died,  and  travelling 
Hisbeha-    without  intermission,    arrived  in   Edinburgh   on    Saturday 
viourpn        t  njghf    iust  as  the  king  had  gone  to  bed.     He  was  imme- 

rcceiving  o      '  J  . 

the  intelli-  diately  admitted  to  his  majesty ;  and  kneeling  by  his  bed- 
gence.  s^e^  jnforme(j  njm  of  Elizabeth's  death,  and  was  the  first 
person  in  his  dominions,  who  had  the  honour  of  saluting 
him  king  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland.  He 
confirmed  his  despatches,  by  presenting  his  new  sovereign 
with  a  ring,  that  his  sister,  lady  Scroop,  had  taken  from 
the  finger  of  the  deceased  queen.  James  received  the 
news  of  his  elevation  with  a  composure,  which  his  prepara- 
tory expectation  enabled  him,  without  much  exertion,  to 
preserve;  but  as  Carey  was  only  a  private  messenger,  he 
did  not  make  it  public,  till  the  arrival  of  a  regular  notifica- 
tion. 

LXXVI.  All  England  was  prepared  for  the  accession  of  the 
Scottish  king  ;  and  their  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  their  queen 
was  swallowed  up  in  the  high  expectations  they  formed  of 
their  new  monarch.  The  privy  council,  as  soon  as  they 
possibly  could,  despatched  sir  Charles  Percy,  brother  to  the 
earl  of  Northumberland,  and  Thomas  Somerset,  earl  of 
Worcester's  son,  with  a  letter  to  the  Scottish  king,  signed 
by  all  the  peers  and  privy  counsellors  then  in  London,  con- 
taining an  official  account  of  the  queen's  death,  and  of  the 
joy  which  the  proclamation  of  his  accession  had  occasioned 
in  London.  They  arrived  three  days  after  Carey,  and  the 
He  pre,  king's  titles  were  then  solemnly  proclaimed.  James  imme- 
fe^veScot-  diately  prepared  to  take  possession  of  his  new  kingdom;  he 
land.  intrusted  the  government  of  Scotland  to  the  privy  council, 
and  the  care  of  his  children  to  several  noblemen;  the  prince 
to  the  earl  of  Mar,  Charles,  duke  of  Albany,  to  the  presi- 
dent of  the  session,  and  Elizabeth  to  the  earl  of  Linlithgow, 
and  appointed  the  queen  to  follow  in  about  a  month.  On 
the  Sabbath  following,  he  attended  in  the  church  of  St. 


JAMES  VI.  279 

Giles,  where  a  sermon  was  delivered  by  Mr.  John  Hall,  in    BOOK 

•  TV 

which  he  recounted  the  numerous  mercies  his  majesty  had 
received  ;  and  as  none  of  the  smallest,  he  noticed  his  peace-     16034 
able  succession  to  the  crown  of  England,  evidently  the  work 
of  God's  own  hand,  who  had  directed  the  hearts  of  so  nu- 
merous a  people  to  exhibit  such  unanimity  in  his  righteous 
cause;  and  therefore  exhorted  him  to  thankfulness,  and  a 
steadfast  adherence  to  maintain  God's  truth.    After  sermon,  His  vale- 
the  king  rose,  and  addressed  the  congregation  in  a  long  va-  dietary ow* 
ledictory  oration,  made  many  professions  of  unalterable  af- 
fection for  his  people,   and  promised   frequently  to  revisit 
them, — once  in  the  three  years  at  least, — to  take  an  account 
personally  of  the  proper  execution  of  justice  among  them, 
to  gratify  them   with  a  sight  of  his  royal  person,  and  af- 
ford them  an  opportunity,  from  the  meanest  to  the  highest, 
of  pouring  their  complaints  into  his  paternal  bosom  ;  and 
even  when  absent,  he  would  never  forget  he  was  their  na- 
tive prince ;  assured  them  he  would  not  change  their  eccle- 
siastical polity,  and  promised,  as  God  had  promoted  him  to 
greater  power,  so  he  would  use  it,  in  endeavouring  to  re- 
move corruption. 

LXXVII.  At  such  a  time,  amid  the  exultation  of  all  ranks 
on  his  great  fortune,  it  was  expected  that  the  king  would 
have  passed  a  general  act  of  oblivion,  and  forgotten  for  ever 
the  offences  which  had  occurred  during  his  encroachments 
on  the  church  ;  but  he  carried  his  animosities  with  him,  and 
left  not  one  token  of  forgiveness  behind  him.  Robert 
Bruce,  after  the  Scottish  parliament  had  found  Gowrie 
guilty  of  the  treason,  declared  his  willingness  to  acquiesce  in 
their  sentence,  and  had  been  allowed  to  return  to  his  native 
country,  but  not  restored  to  his  office.  By  the  advice  of 
his  friends,  he  now  came  to  Edinburgh,  and  by  the  king's 
own  invitation,  had  an  interview  with  him,  yet  he  obtain- 
ed no  mitigation  of  his  sentence.  Andrew  Melville  was 
left  in  ward  at  St.  Andrews,  and  John  Davidson  in  Edin- 
burgh. 

LXXVII i.  On  Tuesday,  the  5th  of  April,  he  set  out  on  his  Sets^out  on 
journey,  accompanied  by  the  duke  of  Lennox,  the  earls  of  ney.J°U 
Mar,  Moray,    Argyle,   and   a  number  of  other  noblemen, 
the  bishops  of  Ross,  Dunkeld,  and  several  of  the  ministers. 


280  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  besides  many  barons,  and  gentlemen  of  inferior  rank.  At 
*v'  Haddington  he  was  met  by  a  deputation  from  the  synod  of 
160?.  Lothian,  to  whom  he  renewed  his  assertions,  that  he  did  not 
intend  to  make  any  further  innovations  in  the  church,  and 
desired  them  to  tell  their  brethren,  that  it  was  his  anxious 
desire  to  promote  peace,  and  he  hoped  they  would  live  toge- 
ther in  unity.  On  the  first  day  he  lodged  at  Dunglas,  the 
house  of  lord  Hume,  and  next  day,  his  train  swelling  as  he 
went  along,  proceeded  towards  Berwick.  On  the  boundary 
His  recep-  ne  wag  recejveci  by  the  marshal,  sir  John  Carey,  accompanied 
wick.  by  the  garrison,  who  saluted  him  with  several  vollies  of  mus- 
quetry,  which  were  answered  by  the  cannon  on  the  walls, 
while  the  shouts  of  an  immense  multitude,  mingled  with,  and 
almost  equalled  the  thundering  welcome.  As  the  king  en- 
tered the  gates,  the  keys  of  the  town  were  delivered  to  him 
by  William  Selby,  the  gentleman  porter,  whom  he  knighted 
on  the  occasion.  He  was  received  at  the  market-place  by 
the  mayor,  who  presented  him  with  the  town's  charter,  and 
a  purse  of  gold.  From  the  market-place  he  went  to  the 
church,  to  give  God  thanks  for  granting  him  a  peaceable  en- 
trance into  his  new  kingdom.  Next  day  he  visited  the  for- 
tifications, port,  and  magazines,  and  reviewed  the  military. 
While  here  he  was  called  upon  to  exercise  his  authority,  in- 
teU'gence  being  brought  of  some  serious  disturbances,  creat- 
outrageson  ed  by  a  formidable  banditti,  about  three  hundred  strong,  in 
tne  western  marches,  who  extended  their  ravages  as  far  as 
Penrith.  To  repress  these  outrages,  he  despatched  sir  Wil- 
liam Selby,  with  two  hundred  foot,  and  fifty  horse  of  the  gar- 
rison, empowering  him  to  require  assistance  from  all  the 
troops  on  his  line  of  march,  English  and  Scottish  ;  by  which 
means,  Selby  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  formidable 
force,  at  whose  approach  the  plunderers  fled,  and  the  chiefs 
being  taken,  were  sent  to  Carlisle,  and  executed. 

LXXIX.  During  the  rest  of  the  king's  progress,  all  ranks 
vied  in  their  demonstrations  of  joy,  and  the  nobility  of  the 
counties  through  which  he  passed,  entertained  him  with  the 
most  splendid  magnificence.  From  Berwick  to  London  occu- 
pied a  month  ;  and  on  his  arrival  in  the  capital,  so  delighted 
had  he  been  with  the  reception  on  the  road,  that  he  compared 
it  to  a  continued  hunting  excursion.  On  the  7th  of  May  he 


JAMES  VT.  281 

entered  the  metropolis  amid  the  acclamations  of  immense  mul-  BOOK 
titudes.  Thus  were  the  two  rival  nations,  whose  deadly 
quarrels  had  so  long  deluged  the  island  with  blood,  united  1603. 
under  one  monarch.  Yet  was  not  the  union  accompanied 
immediately  by  those  advantages,  which  at  first  sight,  and  to 
a  superficial  view,  it  seemed  so  well  adapted  to  promote.  It 
had  been  confidently  anticipated  that  the  subjects  of  one 
monarch  would  forget  all  mutual  animosity ;  and  the  king 
himself  was  highly  charmed  with  a  quibble  he  delighted  to 
repeat,  that  his  accession  had  turned  the  borders  of  hostile 
nations,  into  the  heart  of  one  loving  people. 

LXXX.  Inhabiting  the  same  island,  sprung  from  a  kindred 
root,  and  speaking  a  similar  language,  it  did  not  appear  be- 
ing too  sanguine,  to  reckon  upon  a  speedy  and  cordial  coa- 
lescence between  the  English  and  Scots ;  especially  as  dur-  Reflections, 
ing  the  whole  reign  of  Elizabeth,  there  had  been  constant 
peace  between  the  two  countries,  and  both,  during  the  last 
years  of  her  life,  had  looked  forward  to  the  event  with  ex- 
pectation ;  while  a  concurrence  of  fortunate  circumstances 
had  smoothed  the  way  to  its  accomplishment,  without  any  of 
those  irritating  incidents  which  frequently  attend  less  im- 
portant transfers  of  property  or  power.  Yet,  by  a  little  at- 
tention to  the  relative  situation  of  the  countries,  it  will  be 
easily  perceived,  that  there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  op- 
posing points,  to  render  it  a  matter  of  no  surprise,  that  a 
century  should  elapse,  ere  the  component  parts  of  this  ho- 
mogeneous mass  should  amalgamate  into  one  solid  indestruc- 
tible body. 

LXXXI.  Inured  to  rapine  and  licentiousness,  the  spirit  of 
the  borderers  could  not  at  once  be  suppressed,  or  their  habits 
altered ;  and  having  been  more  accustomed  to  observe  the 
movements  of  their  neighbours  than  consult  the  regulations 
of  their  rulers,  they  were  inclined  in  general  to  disturbance, 
by  rapacity  of  disposition  or  mutual  provocation,  without  re- 
ference to  the  friendship  or  hostility  of  the  two  governments. 
Time,  therefore,  was  requisite  to  introduce  a  sense  of  com- 
mon honesty  among  men  who  were  wont  to  consider  force 
as  right ;  to  habituate  them  to  a  regular  distribution  of 
justice,  and  reconcile  them  to  the  pursuits  of  honest  in- 
dustry. Nor  are  the  antipathies  which  spring  up  among 

VOL.  in.  2  o 


282  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  nations,  who  for  centuries  have  been  in  use  to  consider 
IV-  themselves  as  natural  enemies,  which  are  incorporated  with 
1603.  the  education,  and  handed  down  in  the  sports  of  the  child- 
ren, easily  eradicated  from  the  minds  even  of  the  well  in- 
formed part  of  the  community,  nor  are  they  at  once  to  be 
rooted  out  by  the  mere  accident  of  being  united  under  one 
prince.  The  English  had  been  taught  to  look  upon  the 
Scots  as  their  vassals,  over  whom  they  had  a  right  of  supe- 
riority ;  and  the  pride  of  national  independence  which  the 
Scots  had  so  long  struggled  for,  induced  them  to  eye  all 
the  advances  of  the  English  with  suspicion.  The  nobles 
partaking  of  these  feelings,  became  more  envious,  and  their 
rivalry  more  rancorous,  than  is  common  among  the  polished 
hypocrites,  who  alternately  flatter  and  betray  each  other  in 
the  courts  of  their  native  princes.  The  English,  who  had 
hitherto  solely  filled  the  highest  offices  in  the  state,  looked 
with  jealousy  upon  the  Scots,  who  were  admitted  to  places 
of  honour  and  trust ;  and  the  Scots  who,  in  the  exaltation 
of  their  king  to  the  throne  of  England,  had  considered  that 
kingdom  as  an  acquisition  which  would  enable  him  to  gra- 
tify their  ambition,  imagined  themselves  to  have  tne  first 
claim  on  the  royal  munificence,  and  viewed  with  chagrin 
every  drop  of  the  current  that  flowed  past  them.  The  En- 
glish were  accustomed  to  despise  the  Scots  as  a  poor,  and 
the  Scots  to  envy  the  English  as  a  rich  people ;  and  the  in- 
tercourse between  the  middling  and  lower  ranks  of  both 
countries  had  been  so  circumscribed,  that  an  interchange  of 
good  offices,  or  a  knowledge  of  each  other,  had  not  weaken- 
ed the  mutual  prejudices  of  either.  At  that  time,  trade  and 
commerce  too,  were  becoming  of  importance ;  and  as  in  their 
infancy,  the  advantages  are  always  attempted  to  be  secured 
to  one  party  by  restrictions,  so  the  free  interchange  of  com- 
modities between  nations  for  their  mutual  advantage,  which, 
even  in  this  self-styled  enlightened  age,  is  but  partially  prac- 
tised, was  not  then  understood.  The  narrow  views  and 
selfish  policy  of  the  merchants  and  legislatures,  loaded  with 
restrictions  the  imports  and  exports  of  the  two  nations ;  and 
Scotland  and  England,  standing  then  in  the  position  of  stran- 
gers, lately  enemies,  the  mistaken  jealousies  of  trade  were 
added  to  the  other  causes  of  distrust  and  suspicion. 


JAMES  VI. 


283 


LXXXII.  These  considerations  might  have  checked  the 
ardent  expectations  of  speculators  upon  the  immediate  prac- 
ticability of  incorporating  the  two  nations ;  but  in  nothing 
are  men  so  apt  to  be  deceived  as  in  political  theories.  Un- 
fortunately such  is  the  intractability  of  the  material,  that,  how- 
ever beautiful  the  elevation,  and  well  arranged  the  plan  may 
be  in  the  drawing,  scarcely  one  of  the  superstructures  which 
political  architects  have  attempted  to  rear,  at  once,  and  by 
previously  laid  down  rules,  have  either  been  convenient  or 
durable.  We  are  indebted  to  the  arrangement  of  circum- 
stances, and  the  adaptation  of  means  to  the  end,  by  that 
over-ruling  rt  providence  which  ever  shapes  our  ends,  rough 
hew  them  as  we  may,"  for  almost  all  that  is  valuable  in  the 
constitution  of  society,  or  the  formation  of  governments.  It 
is  humbling  to  reflect  how  little  either  of  national  prosperity 
or  happiness  has  been  the  result  of  human  foresight;  or  how 
little  rulers  and  people  are  taught  wisdom  by  experience. 


BOOK 
IV. 

1603. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  V. 


James  VI. — State  of  the  country  at  his  accession  to  the  throne  of  England. — Its 
effects. — A  conspiracy  in  England  detected — Sir  Walter  Raleigh  executed. — 
King  and  Queen  crowned. — State  of  the  English  church. — Rise  and  history 
of  the  Puritans — Their  conference  with  the  bishops  in  the  king's  presence 
— His  decision  against  them. — Proceedings  of  the  ministers  in  Scotland — 
Jesuits  ordered  to  leave  the  kingdom. — Puritans  to  conform  to  the  Esta- 
blished church. — King's  first  speech  to  parliament. — Proposals  for  a  union  re- 
jected.— Assumes  the  title  of  king  of  Great  Britain — Proceedings  of  gene- 
ral  assembly  at  Aberdeen. — The  ministers  attending  it  prosecuted. — Trial 
of  Forbes,  Welsh,  &c.  at  Linlithgow. — Mr.  Forbes'  speech. — They  are  found 
guilty. — Banished. — James  determines  to  introduce  Episcopacy. — Declared 
head  of  church  and  state. — Bishops  restored  to  seats  in  parliament — Minis- 
ters summoned  to  London. — Conference  at  Hampton  Court. — Undaunted 
conduct  of  Andrew  and  James  Melville. — They  are  forced  to  attend  divine 
service  in  the  Chapel  Royal. — A.  Melville's  epigram  on  the  occasion. — His 
trial  and  sentence. — Death. — Convention  of  ministers  at  Linlithgow — 
Constant  moderators  appointed. — Disturbed  state  of  the  country — Un- 
successful attempt  to  civilize  the  Hebrides. — Another  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt at  a  union. — J  Murray  of  Leith  punished  for  his  civility  to  the 
banished  ministers. — Roman  Catholics  forbid  by  the  pope  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance. — The  king's  dispute  with  Bellarmine — Balmerino's 
trial. — Bishops  restored  to  full  authority — Courts  of  high  commission  in. 
stituted — Assembly  at  Glasgow  packed  by  the  king. — Powers  granted  by 
it  to  the  bishops. — The  king's  intention  to  abolish  presbytery  delayed — 
Bishops  made  independent  of  the  general  assembly. — Scottish  bishops  con- 
secrated at  London. — Kerr,  earl  of  Somerset,  favourite. — Lord  Maxwell 
executed.  — Proceedings  against  earl  of  Orkney ;  the  clans  Macgregor  and 
Macdonald. — Lord  Sanquhar  executed  for  murder — Treatment  of  Lady 
Arabella  Stuart. — Death  of  prince  Henry — Marriage  of  princess  Elizabeth. 
State  of  Trade — Ogilvy,  a  Jesuit,  hanged. — Huntly  absolved — General  as- 
sembly order  a  liturgy — 1603-]616. 

BOOK  *'  SCOTLAND,  at  the  accession  of  James  to  the  English  throne, 
V.       presented  an  extremely  wretched  picture  of  a  factious,  poor, 
ill-governed  kingdom,  hastening  to  anarchy,  and  surrounded 
barbarism.     The  borders    were  inhabited  by  lawless 


1603. 
Jamei  VI.  With 


JAMES  VI.  285 

banditti,  who  lived  by  rapine  and  plunder.     The  highlands    BOOK 
were  possessed  by  a  different  race,  of  a  strange  language,  but 
'equally  unacquainted  with  the  restraints  of  government  or      1603. 
the  manners  of  civilized  life — their  kindness  was  limited  to  State  of  the 
their  clan,  and  their  loyalty  to  their  chief;  and  the  gloomy  co 
indolence  of  the  mountains  was  only  interrupted  by  conflicts 
among  the  ferocious  chieftains,  or  plundering  incursions  on 
their  wealthier  neighbours.     The  islands  were  the  haunts  of, 
perhaps,  more  unreclaimed  savages  than  either,  whose  pira- 
cies infested  the  western  coasts,  and  who  were  often  trouble- 
some, but  seldom  advantageous  to  the  Scottish  crown.   The 
lowlands,  harassed  by  the  licentiousness  which  a  weak  go- 
vernment, and  the  partial  administration  of  justice,  never  fail 
to  produce,  were,  besides,  distracted  by  religious  dissension, 
which  the  mischievous,  intermeddling  policy  of  their  polemi- 
cal king  increased  and  prolonged. 

ji.  Nor  was  the  accession  of  James  productive  of  any  of  Effects  of 
the  expected  advantages.    Its  first  effects  were  hurtful.  The  Jj1*^6^ 
loss  of  the  pageantries,  trappings,  and  immediate  retainers  English 
of  the  prince,  was  severely  felt  in  a  metropolis  which  had  l  rone» 
no  commerce,  and   hardly  any  other  source  from  which  to 
supply  the  deficiency  thus  occasioned  in  the  circulation  of 
money  ;  and  the  consequent  want  of  employment  among  the  TO  the  peo- 
lower  ranks,  many  of  whom  depended  for  subsistence  upon  Ple» 
the  expenditure  of  the  royal  retinue.     The  removal  of  the 
king  to  a  more  wealthy  country  increased  the  splendour  of 
the  court ;  and  the  nobles  of  his  poorer  state,  attracted  round 
him  by  the  hope  of  advantage,  were  induced  to  imitate  the 
manners,  and  rival  the  expense  of  their  richer  competitors 
for  royal  favour.     They  thus  exhausted  their  fortunes  at  a 
distance,  and  impoverished  their  tenants,  by  drawing  from 
them  the  supplies  necessary  to  support  their  rank  in  their  TO  the 
visits  to  England  ;  and  the  intercourse  between  the  two  na-  nobillty» 
tions  being  so  slender,  the  money  expended  never  returned 
to  Scotland,  whose  exports,  limited  to  a  few  raw  materials, 
were  insufficient  to  replace  the  continual  drain.     The  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities  between   the  two  nations,  and  the  pacific 
maxims  of  the  monarch,  diminished  the  importance  of  mili- 
tary followers  among  the  nobles ;  and  the  produce  of  their 
estates,  heretofore  consumed  in  rude  and  plentiful  hospitality 


286  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  on  the  spot,  was  now  converted  into  money,  and  expended 
V'  on  foreign  luxuries  and  artificial  grandeur,  in  a  distant 
capital,  where  it  did  not  produce  half  the  influence  or  the 
power ;  but,  while  it  was  doubly  exhausting  to  the  vassal 
and  his  lord,  ruptured  the  ties  that  held  them  together ;  and 
in  depressing  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  at  the  same  time  re- 
duced the  noble  from  the  proud  station  of  a  chief,  to  the 
mean  and  beggarly  rank  of  a  courtier ;  constraining  him  to 
act  the  tyrant  to  his  dependents,  and  in  turn  bow  the  knee 
to  a  master. 

in.  James  was  fully  aware  of  the  difference  in  his  situa- 
tion which  the  possession  of  the  wealth  and  power  of  Eng- 
land had  produced  ;  and  he  was  not  a  prince  to  forego  any 
opportunity  of  exerting  or  extending  his  prerogative.  He 
accordingly  employed  the  means  which  his  personal  aggran- 
dizement afforded  him,  to  support  the  despotic  claims  he  had 
advanced  while  in  Scotland,  but  which  his  circumscribed 
finances  had  hitherto  prevented  his  being  able  to  sustain ; 
and  the  Scottish  nobles,  who  had  alternately  resisted  and 
obeyed  his  mandates  in  his  native  kingdom,  now,  either 
dreading  the  effects  of  his  vengeance,  or  courting  the  favour 
of  his  good  fortune,  received  his  commands  without  a  re- 
mark, and  obeyed  them  without  a  murmur. — To  the  church 
And  to  the  ,  .  .,  .J  TIT 

Church.      tne  union  or  the  two  crowns  was  peculiarly  disastrous ;  as  it 

enabled  the  king  to  allure  and  reward  deserters  from  the 
ranks  of  presbytery,  and  facilitated  the  introduction  of  the 
episcopal  form,  whose  dignitaries,  being  his  own  creatures 
he  found  at  all  times  supple  and  subservient  to  his  purpose 

of  encroachment. 
The  queen 

arrives  at        iv.  A  few  weeks  after  his  arrival  in  London,  the  king 
London.      was  jome(]  by  his  queen  in  no  pleasant  mood.     On  his  jour 
ney, — which  had  been  prolonged  beyond  his  expectation, — 
he  despatched  John  Spotswood,  created  archbishop  of  Glas 
gow  in  room  of  Beaton  who  had  died  at  Paris,  to  attem 
her  on  her  journey ;  but  the  family  of  Mar,  to  whom  the  car« 
of  her  eldest  son,  prince  Henry,  had  been  intrusted,  refusec 
to  allow  him  to  accompany  his  mother  to  England,  and  th« 
queen,  incensed  at  the  treatment,  fevered  and  miscarried 
nor  was  it  till  about  the  end  of  the  month  of  June  that  she 
could  with  great  difficulty  be  prevailed  on  to  see  the  earl 


JAMES  VI.  287 

previously  to  the  coronation.  When  his  majesty  advised  BOOK 
her  to  thank  God  for  the  peaceable  possession  they  had  ob- 
tained of  the  kingdom  of  England,  which,  he  said,  was  1603 
chiefly  owing  to  the  earl's  good  offices  in  his  last  embassy ; 
in  wrath  she  replied — for  she  seems  to  have  been  a  woman 
of  high  spirit — "  She  would  rather  never  have  seen  Eng- 
land, than  have  been  beholden  to  him  for  it."  This  affair 
was  brought  before  the  council,  and  an  act  passed,  on  the 
humble  submission  of  Mar,  declaring: — That  he  had  done 
nothing  in  that  business  derogatory  to  the  honour  of  the 
queen :  as  the  refusal,  on  the  part  of  his  family  to  restore 
the  prince  to  his  mother,  was  without  his  knowledge. 

v.  This  domestic  incident  was  not  the  only  untoward  cir- 
cumstance that  occurred  previously  to  the  coronation.     A 
conspiracy, — still   unexplained, — was    detected ;    for    which 
two  catholic  priests,  lord  Gray  a  puritan,  lord  Cobham,  and  A  co(jistpirt~ 
sir  Walter  Raleigh,  men  of  very  opposite  principles,  were  ed. 
brought  to  trial.     The  two  priests  were  executed,  lords  Gray 
and  Cobham  pardoned  after  they  were  upon  the  scaffold,  and 
sir  Walter  Raleigh  reprieved  and  confined  to  the  tower;  but 
after  an  interval  of  fifteen  years,  to  the  everlasting  infamy  of 

James,  he  was  beheaded,  upon  this  sentence  :  although  the 

c  ,  .  .   .        .   r  .  -  °  Sir  Waltffl 

evidence  or  his  participation,  or  even  accession  to  the  con-  Raieigh 

spiracy,  was  more  than  doubtful.*  executed. 

vi.  At  last,  on  the  27th  of  July,  St.  James' — his  saint's 
day — amid  the  desolation  and  melancholy  occasioned  by  a 
terrible  pestilence,  the  king  and  the  queen  were  solemnly  in- 
augurated at  Westminster;  but  the  splendid  pageants  erect- 
ed in  honour  of  their  majesties,  through  which  the  proces-  Coronation 
sion  passed,  were  left  without  spectators ;  and  the  terrific  an- 
nunciations of  death  were  heard  in  the  solitudes  of  one  part 
of  the  city,  while  the  royal  cavalcade  was  hurrying  through 
the  streets  of  the  other.  Immediately  after  the  coronation, 
the  king  issued  a  mandate  forbidding  the  nobility  to  repair 
to  London  before  winter,  and  the  court  left  the  capital. 

vn.  Long  ere  he  left  Scotland,  James  had  meditated  a 
union  between  the  two  kingdoms  ;  but  he  considered  unifor- 

•  Prince  Henry  is  reported  to  have  said,  when  once  speaking  of  sir  Walter 
Raleigh  :  "  I  wonder  at  my  father.  Oh  !  were  I  a  king,  I  would  not  keep  so 
noble  a  bird  in  so  vile  a  cage." 


288 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
V. 

1603. 
State  of 
the  Eng- 
lish 
church. 

Puritans. 


mity  in  religious  worship  as  a  prerequisite  to  accomplish,  or 
at  least  what  was  necessary  to  consolidate  his  scheme.  In 
England,  as  in  Scotland,  there  were  two  parties  in  the  church 
— the  one  entirely  subservient  to  the  court,  the  other  differ- 
ed from  them  in  several  points  of  polity  and  worship;  and 
from  the  greater  strictness  of  their  lives,  doctrine,  and  disci- 
pline, were  denominated  puritans.*  These  last,  considering 
that  James  had  been  educated  among  the  presbyterians,  with 
whose  tenets  they  in  general  coincided,  had  hailed  his  acces- 
sion to  the  English  throne,  as  friendly  to  their  freedom. 
He,  although  he  had  condescended  to  flatter  them  before  he 
got  into  power,  viewed  them  both  with  jealousy  and  distaste, 
as  hostile  to  his  high  monarchical  principles.  As  the  puritans 
occupy  so  prominent  a  place  in  the  succeeding  part  of  this, 
and  in  the  following  reigns,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  give 
a  short  sketch  of  their  history  and  opinions,  contrasted  with 
those  of  their  opponents,  the  high  church  party. 

vin.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  the  English  reformers 
divided  into  two  parties ;  the  one  wished  entirely  to  root  out 
popery,  the  other  merely  to  lop  off  a  few  of  the  most  ob- 
noxious branches.  While  Edward  lived,  the  former  had 
the  ascendant ;  at  his  death,  on  the  accession  of  Mary  to  the 


•  The  scrupulousness  of  the  puritans  has  been  ridiculed  as  if  they  contended 
merely  for  trifles ;  and  philosophers  now  smile  at  the  pertinacity  with  which 
they  refused  to  conform  to  the  cut  of  a  robe,  or  the  use  of  a  ceremony  which 
may  be  considered  as  unimportant.  The  defenders  of  high  church  principles, 
who  attempt  to  extenuate  the  conduct  of  the  king  and  bishops,  by  represent- 
ing the  subjects  of  dispute  as  trifles,  unintentionally  pronounce  the  severest 
censure  upon  those  who  so  rigorously  enforced  them  ;  nothing  but  the  most 
downright  despotism,  the  veriest  wantonness  of  tyranny,  would  persist  in 
forcing  another  to  obey  in  a  trifle  of  no  importance,  merely  for  the  pleasure 
of  extorting  obedience,  when  the  other  accounted  that  trifle  a  matter  of  con- 
science. But  the  puritans  had  studied  human  nature  too  deeply,  and  were 
too  well  acquainted  with  the  influence  that  show  and  form  have  upon  the 
multitude  to  account  either  trifles  ;  nor  do  they  deserve  the  name  of  philoso- 
phers who  affect  to  despise  them.  In  politics  in  our  day,  we  have  seen  what 
fearful  energy  they  can  be  made  to  possess.  A  cockade,  or  short  hair,  are 
certainly  in  themselves  as  unimportant  matters  as  a  cope  or  surplice  ;  yet  who 
would  have  said  that  that  person  was  contending  for  a  trifle,  who  should  have 
insisted  that  official  men  in  Ireland  were  to  appear  in  a  tri-coloured  cockade, 
or  cropped ;  and  these  were  not  deemed  surer  marks  of  affection  to  French 
principles  and  anarchy,  than  copes  and  garments  were  esteemed  badges  of  dis- 
tinction among  the  adherents  of  Rome. 


JAMES  VI.  289 

crown,  those  of  both  parties  who  could  escape,  fled  to  the   BOOK 
continent,  and  at  Frankfort,  where  they  found  refuge,  their 
disputes  were  revived,  and  carried  to  a  hurtful  and  disgrace-      1603. 
ful  height.     When  Elizabeth  succeeded  her  sister,  the  exiles  ^ir  hl5~ 
returned,   but  their  dissensions  returned  with  them.     The 
queen,  who  as  Knox  describes  her,  was  neither  true  protes- 
tant,  nor  resolute  papist,  was  fond  of  the  pomp  of  the  Ro- 
mish ritual ; — though,   from  political  motives,  an  enemy  to 
the  adherents  of  the  pope, — she,  therefore,   retained  in  the 
church  service,  the  copes  and   other  garments  which  had 
been  laid  aside  in  the  last  years  of  her  brother's  reign ;  and 
kneeling  at  the  sacrament,  which  had  been  left  as  a  matter 
of  indifference,  was,  by  an  act  "  of  the  uniformity  of  common 
prayer  and  service  in  the  church,  and  administration  of  the 
sacraments,"  authorized  as  the  only  proper  posture  for  receiv- 
ing the  holy  communion.     Those  who  wished  for  a  simpler 
and  purer  mode  of  worship,  began  now  in  derision  to  be 
styled  puritans.     The  difference  between  the  court  reform-  Origin  of 
ers  and  the  puritans  was  such  as  subjected  the  latter  to  se- tlle  name- 
vere  persecution ;  till  carried  to  an  extreme,   it  roused  a 
spirit  of  resistance,   and  the  throne  was  overturned  in  the 
struggle, 

ix.  The  court  reformers  asserted,  that  every  prince  had 
authority  to  correct  all  abuses  of  doctrine  and  worship  with- 
in his  own  territories  :— the  puritans  would  not  admit  such 
extensive  power  to  belong  to  the  crown,  or  that  the  religion 
of  the  whole  nation  should  be  at  the  disposal  of  one  single 
lay  person.  The  court  reformers  allowed  the  church  of 
Rome  to  be  a  true  church,  though  corrupt  in  some  points  of  Their  te- 
doctrine  and  government,  and  the  pope  to  be  the  true  bishop 
of  Rome,  though  not  of  the  universal  church  : — the  puritans 
affirmed  the  pope  to  be  antichrist,  the  church  of  Rome  to 
be  no  true  church,  and  all  her  ministrations  to  be  supersti- 
tious and  idolatrous.  Both  allowed  that  the  scriptures  were 
a  perfect  rule  of  faith,  but  the  bishops  and  court  reformers 
denied  that  they  contained  the  standard  of  discipline,  or 
church  government ;  affirming,  that  our  Saviour  and  his 
apostles,  left  it  to  the  discretion  of  the  civil  magistrate  in 
Christian  nations,  to  accommodate  the  government  of  the 
church  to  the  policy  of  the  state  ; — the  puritans  considered 

VOL.  III.  2  P 


290  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  scriptures  to  be  a  standard  of  church  discipline,  as  well 

v>       as  doctrine ;  at  least,  that  nothing  should  be  imposed  as  ne- 

1603.      cessary,  but  what  was  expressly  contained  in,  or  derived 

from  them,  by  necessary  consequence ;  but  if  there  were  any 

discretionary  power  left  any  where,   it  rested  not  with  the 

civil  magistrate,  but  was  vested   in  the  spiritual  officers  of 

the  court  t}ie  church.  The  court  reformers  maintained,  that  the  prac- 
tice of  the  primitive  church,  for  the  four  or  five  first  centu- 
ries, was  a  proper  standard  for  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline, better  in  some  respects  than  that  of  the  apostles ; 
being  more  fitted  to  the  splendour  of  a  national  establish- 
ment, and  therefore  retained  the  titles  of  archbishops,  me- 
tropolitans, archdeacons,  suffragans,  rural  deans,  &c.  &c. ; — 
the  puritans  were  for  keeping  close  to  the  scriptures;  they 
considered  the  example  of  the  apostles  as  what  they  were 
bound  to  follow,  who,  they  apprehended,  had  ordered  the 
form  of  church  government  to  be  aristocratical,  and  formed 
after  the  model  of  the  Jewish.  Court  reformers  maintain- 
ed, that  things  indifferent  in  their  own  nature,  such  as  rites, 
ceremonies,  or  habits,  might  be  settled,  and  made  neces- 
sary by  the  command  of  the  civil  magistrate; — the  puritans 
insisted  that  the  things  left  indifferent  in  the  scriptures 
ought  not  to  be  made  necessary  by  any  human  law,  but 
that  such  rites  and  ceremonies  as  had  been  abused  to  ido- 
latry were  not  to  be  considered  as  indifferent.* 

x.  Such  were  the  opinions  of  the  two  parties  at  the  acces- 
sion ;  and  these  James  wished  to  reconcile  before  he  made  any 
attempt  to  produce  a  conformity  between  the  Scottish  and  the 

Puritans  English  churches.  The  puritans,  presuming  upon  the  king's 
n-CI  y  professions,  urged  their  petitions  for  liberty  of  conscience 
and  reformation  of  abuses,  with  a  freedom  and  a  frequency, 
which  displeased  his  majesty.  The  episcopalians,  who  dread- 
ed the  effects  of  his  Scottish  education,  though  they  might 
well  have  known  from  his  publications,  the  bent  of  his  affec- 
tions, took  a  safer  method  to  ensure  the  royal  favour.  On 
every  occasion  they  flattered  all  his  prejudices,  maintained 
that  monarchical  government  should  be  absolute,  listened  to 
his  declamations  with  wonder  and  admiration,  and  carried 

*  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  i.  pp.  134-137. 


JAMES  VI.  291 

their  servility  so  far,  that  in  addressing  him  they  frequently    BOOK 
fell  upon  their  knees  and  used  language  which,    if  not  pro- 
fane,  bordered  on  the  very  verge  of  profanity,  and  is  such  as      ._-„ 
it  is  not  possible  to  read  without  a  blush.* 

xi.  The  king,  who,  during  his  progress,  had  promised  to 
attend  to  the  petitions  of  the  puritans  ;f  either  in  order, 
apparently  to  fulfil  this  promise,  or  to  display  his  own  theo- 
logical knowledge,  and  overwhelm  all  opposition  by  the 
strength  of  his  arguments,  or  the  power  of  his  majesty,  ap- 
pointed a  conference  to  be  held  at  Hampton  court,  between 
the  chief  leaders  among  them,  and  his  principal  bishops. 

xii.  At  this  conference,  which  took  place  14th  January, 


1604,  James  exhibited  himself  in  the  double  capacity  of  um-  Their  con<p 

fprciicc 

pire  and  advocate.     The  whole  had  been  previously  arrang-  with  the 

ed  with  the  bishops,  and  the  king's  declaration  at  the  open-  Bishops  at 
f    ,  .  .         .  .  Hampton 

ing  oi  the  meeting,  clearly  evinced  that  the  puritans  were  court. 

not  called  upon  to  reason,  but  to  submit.  He  told  them, 
"  that  following  the  example  of  all  Christian  princes,  who 
usually  began  their  reigns  with  the  establishment  of  the 
church,  he  had  now,  at  entering  upon  the  throne,  assembled 
them  for  settling  a  uniform  order  in  the  same  ;  for  planting 
unity,  removing  dissensions,  and  reforming  abuses,  which 
were  natural  to  all  politic  bodies  ;  and  that  he  might  not  be 

•  It  would  perhaps  be  going  too  far  to  assert,  that  there  is  any  necessary 
connexion  between  episcopacy  and  despotism,  but  it  is  impossible  to  read  this 
portion  of  our  history,  or  indeed  any  part  of  our  history  under  the  Stuart  dy- 
nasty, after  the  accession,  without  perceiving  an  intimate  and  close  connexion 
between  prelacy  in  the  church  and  tyranny  in  the  state.  The  doctrine  of  the 
bishops  was  passive  obedience,  their  practice  servility.  Ye  are  the  light  of 
our  eyes  !  Ye  are  the  breath  of  our  nostrils,  was  the  prelatic  flattery  in  Eng- 
land ;  to  which  James  most  graciously  replied,  that  he  never  had  met  with  such 
a  set  of  sensible  grave  men  in  his  life  ;  he  was  now  in  the  land  of  promise  ;  in 
his  native  country,  he  had  absolutely  been  contradicted  by  beardless  boys  ! 
When  prelacy  was  introduced  into  Scotland,  the  same  spirit  came  along  with 
it.  Archbishop  Gladstanes,  in  a  letter  to  James,  styles  him,  "  His  earthly 
creator,"  and  he  frankly  acknowledges,  that  the  members  of  that  hierarchy  were 
constrained  to  support  every  measure  of  the  king,  because  "  no  estate  may  say 
that  they  are  your  maj.  creatures  as  we  may  say,  so  there  is  none  whose  stand- 
ing is  so  slippery  when  your  maj.  shall  frown  as  we  ;  for  at  your  maj.  nod  we 
must  stand  or  fall."  Calderwood,  p.  645. 

•j-  When  James  was  on  his  way  to  London,  the  puritans  presented  him  a 
petition,  commonly  called,  from  the  number  of  names  affixed  to  it,  the  millenary 
petition,  stating  their  grievances.  He  received  it  favourably. 


292 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


V. 
1604. 


BOOK  misapprehended,  and  his  designs  in  assembling  them  mis- 
construed, he  assured  them  that  his  meaning  was  not  to 
make  any  innovation  of  the  government  established  in  the 
church,  which  he  knew  was  approved  of  God,  but  to  hear 
and  examine  the  complaints  that  were  made,  and  remove  the 
occasion  of  them,  therefore,  he  desired  them  to  begin,  and 
show  what  were  their  grievances." 

xiu.  The  puritan  leaders,  who  plainly  perceived  that  the 
king  was  entirely  set  against  them,  urged  their  petitions  un- 
der the  greatest  disadvantages  ;  for  although  men  of  learning 
and  ability,  they  did  not  possess  that  firmness  and  fortitude, 
which  could  have  enabled  them  to  outbrave  the  frowns  of  the 
monarch,  and  to  state  with  energy,  the  grievances  which 
pressed  heavy  on  their  consciences.  Dr.  Reynolds,  who  was 
their  principal  speaker,  stated  their  objections  to  the  doc- 
trines, and  to  the  discipline  of  the  church  of  England.  The 
doctrine  as  contained  in  the  articles,  he  complained  of  as  be- 
ing in  some  places  obscure,  and  in  others  defective ;  and  in 
the  discipline  he  regretted  the  little  care  shown  in  providing 
the  people  with  pious  and  learned  pastors  ;  objected  to  their 
forced  subscription  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  which 
contained  many  things  they  could  not  conscientiously  admit, 
and  they  required  the  laying  aside  the  sign  of  the  cross  in 
baptism,  and  the  vestments,  which  they  considered  relics  of 
Rome.  In  the  discussions  which  followed,  the  king  himself 
personally  replied,  sometimes  by  arguments,  and  sometimes 
by  threats,  till  browbeaten  and  insulted  by  the  head  of  the 
episcopalian  church,  and  his  supple  bishops,  the  poor  puri- 
tans, unequal  to  the  contest,  were  forced  to  be  silent.  In 
the  course  of  the  discussion,  James  evinced  his  detestation 
of  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government,  that  which 
he  had  declared  to  be  the  purest  kirk  upon  earth  ;  and  his 
affection  for  the  church  of  England,  whose  service  he  had 
deprecated  as  so  nearly  allied  to  that  of  Rome.  When  Dr. 
Reynolds  was  stating  the  propriety  of  ministers  having  oc- 
casional meetings,  the  king,  forgetting  both  the  dignity  of 
his  rank,  and  his  situation  as  judge,  rudely  interrupted  him 
corous  con-  witn»  "  You  aim  at  a  Scottish  presbytery,  which  agrees  as 
duct.  well  with  monarchy,  as  God  and  the  devil.  Then  Jack,  and 


The  king 
interferes- 


JAMES  VI.  293 

Tom,  and  Will,  and  Dick  shall  meet,  and  at  their  pleasure   BOOK 
censure  me,  my  council,  and  all  my  proceedings.     Stay,    I 
pray  you,  one  seven  years,  before  you  demand  this  of  me."        1C04, 

xiv.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  debate,  the  king,  who  would 
not  allow  the  ministers  to  speak,  chose  to  consider  their 
forced  silence  as  acquiescence,  and  condescendingly  observ- 
ed, "  obedience  and  humility  are  the  marks  of  good  and 
honest  men,  such  as  I  believe  you  to  be ;  but  I  fear  many  of 
your  sort  are  humorous  and  too  busy  in  perverting  others. 
The  exceptions  against  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  are  mat-  His  deci- 
ters  of  mere  weakness;  they  who  are  discreet  will  be  gain-  8l 
ed  by  time,  and  gentle  persuasions ;  and  if  they  be  indis- 
creet, it  is  better  to  remove  them,  than  the  church  should  suffer 
by  their  contentions.  For  the  bishops,  I  will  answer,  that  it  is 
not  their  design  immediately  to  enforce  obedience,  but  by 
fatherly  admonitions  and  conferences,  to  gain  those  that  are 
disaffected ;  but  if  any  be  of  an  obstinate  and  turbulent  spirit, 
I  will  have  them  enforced  to  a  conformity." 

xv.    The  episcopalian  party  were  highly  delighted  with 
his  majesty's  conduct  in  managing  the  conference,  so  much 
so,  that  the  lord  chancellor  [Egerton,]  said   aloud,  he  had  Delights 
often  heard  of  the  offices  of  priest  and  king  being  united  in  jj^     s" 
one  person,  but  never  saw  it  verified  till  now ;  and    Whit- 
gift,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  exclaimed,  "  he  verily  be- 
lieved the  king  spoke  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  of 
God." 

xvi.  The  Scottish  church  viewed  these  proceedings  with 
very  different  feelings.  Mr.  Patrick  Galloway,  one  of  their 
accredited  ministers,  sent  down  to  the  presbytery  of  Edin- 
burgh a  full  statement  of  the  conference,  and  its  result. 
When  read  in  the  presbytery,  it  was  heard  with  profound  procee(j. 
silence,  and  no  one  ventured  to  hazard  an  observation,  till  ings  of  the 
James  Melville  arose,  and  moved  two  resolutions  : — "  First, 
that  they  should  express  their  brotherly  compassion,  and 
their  sincere  participation  in  the  sorrow  of  their  many  godly 
and  learned  brethren  in  a  neighbouring  country,  who,  hav- 
ing expected  a  reformation,  are  disappointed  and  heavily 
grieved,  and  if  no  other  way  could  be  found  for  help,  that 
they  would  at  least  help  by  prayer  to  God  for  their  comfort 
and  relief;  and  next,  that  as  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh 


294  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    had  ever  been  the  Zion  and  watchtower  of  the  church,  the 

V-       ministers  should  take  care,  that  no  peril  or  contagion  come 

1604.     from  the  neighbouring  church,  and  give  warning,  if  need  be, 

to  the  presbyteries  throughout  the  realm;  especially,   that 

they  should  observe  and  watch  over  the  proceedings  of  the 

next  parliament,   summoned  to  consult  respecting  the  union 

of  the  two  kingdoms." — And  this  was  no  idle  or  useless 

jealousy. 

xvn.  Soon  after,  the  king  issued  a  proclamation,  ordering 

Jesuits  or-  a]l  Jesuits  and  foreign  priests,  to  quit  the  kingdom  ;  but  the 

leave  the     effect  of  this  proclamation,   which  was  in  unison  with  the 

kingdom,    feelings  of  his  people,  was  destroyed  by  the  manner  in  which 

it  was  expressed.     In  explaining  his  motives,  he  was  anxious 

to  show  that  it  was  not  dislike  to  the  general  principles  of  the 

Roman   catholic  religion  that  induced  him   to  banish   the 

Jesuits,  but  only  his  aversion  to  that  peculiar  tenet  which 

inculcated  the  pope's  unlimited  power  over  crowned  heads. 

xvni.  James'  reign  in  England,  was  distinguished  as  a 
reign  of  proclamations.  Immediately  after  the  one  against 
the  Jesuits,  he  issued  another  against  the  puritans,  enjoining 
Puritans  them  to  conform  with  the  established  church,  which  was  re- 
rm>  ceived  with  almost  universal  dissatisfaction,  as  it  was  in  op- 
position to  the  rising  spirit  of  the  people,  and  manifested  the 
most  determined  hatred  against  a  large  portion  of  his  pro- 
testant  subjects ;  and  which,  when  contrasted  with  the  ten- 
derness he  had  expressed  for  the  consciences  of  the  Roman 
catholics,  gave  rise  to  suspicions  and  discontents  that  con- 
tinued to  increase  during  his  whole  reign. 

xix.  The  king,  who  possessed  considerable  speculative 
talents,  but  whose  practical  powers  were  of  the  lowest  order, 
in  spite  of  the  obvious  obstacles  to  any  union  at  that  time 
between  the  two  kingdoms,  had  fondly  entertained  the  idea 
of  its  easy  accomplishment ;  and  he  imagined,  as  the  benefits 
appeared  according  to  his  theory  so  plain,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible any  objection  could  arise.*  He,  accordingly,  as  soon 

*  For  myself  I  protest  vnto  you  all,  when  1  first  propounded  the  union,  I 
then  thought  there  could  have  been  no  more  question  of  it,  than  of  your  de- 
claration and  acknowledgement  of  my  right  vnto  this  crowne,  and  that  as  two 
twinnes,  they  would  haue  growne  vp  together.  The  error  was  my  mistaking ; 
1  knew  mine  owne  ende,  but  not  others  feares.  K.  James'  Works,  p.  510. 


JAMES  VI.  293 

as  the  plague  had  subsided  in  London,  assembled  a  parlia-    BOOK 
ment,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to  consider  of  the  eligi-       ^* 


bility  of  his  scheme,  or  rather,  according  to  his  politics,  of  1604u 
the  means  to  carry  it  into  immediate  execution.  His  over- 
weening vanity,  however,  and  the  extravagant  length  to  which 
he  pushed  the  pretensions  of  his  royal  prerogative,  created, 
ere  the  session  had  well  begun,  a  distrust  and  jealousy  be- 
tween the  commons  house  and  him,  which  led  them  to  re- 
ceive with  coldness,  if  not  with  dislike,  any  proposition  in 
which  they  saw  him  keenly  interested.*  His  opening  speech  James' 
was  of  tedious  length,  and  although  characterized  by  Hume  j^n^3' 
as  "  a  performance,  which  few  productions  of  the  age  sur- 
pass, either  in  style  or  matter,"  is  wholly  unintelligible  when 
he  deals  in  generals  ;  and  when  he  descends  to  particulars, 
is  reprehensible,  as  avowing  doctrines  totally  inconsistent 
with  the  increasing  knowledge  of  the  times,  with  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  people,  and  with  every  principle  of  common 
prudence,  f  In  it  he  avowed  undisguisedly,  his  despotic 

*  In  his  writs  summoning  parliament,  and  in  his  proclamation  for  its  assem- 
bling, he  assumed  the  right  of  dictating  what  kind  of  members  ought  to  be 
chosen  for  the  commons  house.  Hume  attempts  to  gloss  this  over,  but,  thanks 
to  the  sturdy  resistance  of  the  commons  of  that  day,  and  their  clearer  views  of 
the  danger  of  kingly  influence  in  elections,  the  fountain  of  English  liberty  was 
not  sealed.  His  other  attempt  was  to  render  all  contested  elections  subject 
to  the  decision  of  the  crown.  Here  too,  the  manly  good  sense,  and  firmness 
of  the  commons  defeated  him,  and  to  these  two  independent  acts  of  the 
English  house  of  commons,  may  be  traced  all  the  privileges  a  British  lower 
house  now  enjoys.  The  principles  of  rational  liberty,  which  Buchanan  had 
in  vain  endeavoured  to  impress  on  the  mind  of  James,  had  taken  deep  root 
in  the  nation,  and  these  arbitrary,  though  abortive  attempts  to  shackle  the 
English  parliament,  had  a  strong  and  lasting  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Scot- 
land. 

t  To  exemplify  his  intelligibility,  I  quote  the  following.  After  mentioning 
that  he  had  assembled  the  parliament  to  express  to  them  his  thanks  for  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  received  as  king,  and  his  inadequacy  to  do  so 
with  such  eloquence  as  the  occasion  required,  he  says,  he  ever  misliked  lip 
payment,  and  adds,  "  Therefore,  for  expressing  my  thankfulness,  I  must  resort 
unto  other  two  reasons  of  my  convening  of  this  parliament,  by  them,  in  action, 
to  utter  my  thankfulness  ;  both  the  said  reasons  having  but  one  ground,  which 
is  the  deeds  whereby  all  the  days  of  my  life,  I  am,  by  God's  grace,  to  express 
my  said  thankfulness  to  you,  but  divided  in  this,  that  in  the  first  of  these  two, 
mine  actions  of  thanks  are  so  inseparably  conjoined  with  my  person,  as  they 
are  in  a  manner  become  individually  annexed  in  the  same,"  &c.  &c.  For  the 
rest  I  refer  to  the  speech  itself.  K.  James'  Works,  p.  486 


296 


HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 


1604. 


BOOK    principles  of  government,  his  leaning  to  the  popish  creed, 
v-       and  his  antipathy  to  the  puritans.     "  He  acknowledged  the 
Roman  church  to  be  our  mother  church,  although  defiled 
with  some  infirmities  and  corruptions ;"  and  after  objecting 
strongly  to  the  temporal  supremacy  claimed  by  the  pope, 
and  the  doctrine  which  authorized  the  assassination  of  here- 
tic princes,  added,  "  I  could  wish  from  my  heart,  it  would 
please  God  to  make  me  one  of  the  members  of  such  a  gene- 
ral Christian  union  in  religion,  as,  laying  wilfulness  aside  on 
both  hands,  we  might  meet  in  the  midst,  which  is  the  centre 
and  perfection  of  all  things.     For  if  they  would  leave,  and 
be  ashamed  of  such  new  and  gross  corruptions  of  theirs,  as 
themselves  cannot  maintain,  nor  deny  to  be  worthy  of  refor- 
mation, I  would  on  my  part  be  content  to  meet  them  in  the 
midway,  so  that  all  novelty  might  be  renounced  on  either 
side ;  for  as  my  faith  is  the  true  ancient  catholic  and  apos- 
tolic faith,  grounded  upon  the  scriptures,  and  the  express 
word  of  God — so  will  I  ever  yield  all  reverence  to  antiquity 
in  the  points  of  ecclesiastical  polity ;  and  by  that  means  shall 
I  ever,  with  God's  grace,  keep  myself  from  being  either  an 
heretic  in  faith,  or  schismatic  in  matters  of  polity."     He  wa 
less  measured   with   respect  to  the  puritans  :   "  This  sec 
which,"  said  he,  "  I  call  a  sect,  rather  than  a  religion,  do  not 
so  far  differ  from  us  in  points  of  religion,  as  in  their  confuse* 
form  of  policy  and  purity,  being  ever  discontented  with  th 
present  government,  and  impatient  to  suffer  any  superiority 
which  makes  this  sect  insufferable  in  any  well  governed  com 
monwealth.     As  to  my  course  respecting  them,  I  refer  to  nr 
proclamations." 

xx.  A  majority  of  the  house  of  commons  were  semi-puri 
tans,  or  at  least,  men  who  had  a  rooted  abhorrence  of  po 
pery ;  to  them  such  sentiments  gave  universal  disgust,  anc 
led  them  to  view  every  proceeding  of  the  king's  with  suspi- 
cion.    They  besides,  had  national  antipathies  to  overcome 
they  perceived  the  number  of  Scots  who  had  already  flockec 
ap.to  England,  and  they  feared  a  further  influx.     In  a  confer- 
ence between  the  two  houses,  however,  lord  Ellesmere,  the 
lish  to  treat  chancellor,  procured  their  consent  to  the  nomination  of  for- 
of  a  union,  ty-four  commissioners,  to  treat  with  the  Scots  respecting  a 
union. 


sioners 


En 


JAMES  vi.  297 

xxi.  When  the  Scottish  parliament,  which  met  at  Perth,  BOOK 
on  account  of  the  plague  then  raging  in  Edinburgh,*  assem- 
bled, their  aversion  to  a  union  was  not  less  than  that  of  the  1604. 
English.  Private  consultations  were  frequently  held  among  Parliament 
the  nobles,  and  their  fears  for  national  independence  wereaveri 
stimulated  and  strengthened  by  the  ministers,  who  trembled 
for  the  safety  of  the  church.  At  the  first  mention  of  a  pro- 
posed union,  the  ministers  had  taken  an  alarm,  and  the  com- 
missioners of  the  general  assembly  petitioned  that  a  meet- 
ing might  be  held  before  parliament  met,  to  consider  the 
proper  steps  for  securing  the  order  and  discipline  of  the 
church  of  Scotland  from  danger;  but  the  king  refused  this, 
as  he  said  the  union  was  entirely  a  political  measure,  in 
which  the  church  had  no  interest,  and  where  their  rights 
would  not  at  all  be  compromised.  It  was  alleged  on  the 
part  of  the  church,  that  it  was  evident  from  the  whole  of  the 
king's  procedure,  that  a  uniformity  in  the  church  govern- 
ment of  the  two  realms  was  intended  ;  and  as  this  could  not 
take  place,  without  the  one  yielding  to  the  other,  it  was  to 
be  feared  this  submission  would  be  required  of  the  Scots. And  the 
The  synod  of  Fife,  took  a  wider  and  sounder  view  of  the 
subject  than  their  sovereign ;  they  rejoiced  in  "  the  purpose 
of  the  union,  as  most  loveable  and  good,"  at  the  same  time 
they  perceived  its  practicability,  without  a  uniformity  between 
the  ecclesiastical  establishments  ;  and  instructed  the  commis- 
sioners to  oppose  any  innovation  in  the  doctrine  or  dis- 
cipline of  the  church,  or  any  assimilation  of  statuary  laws.f 
This  fact,  of  political  union  without  ecclesiastical  uniformi- 
ty, or  the  surrender  of  the  ancient  laws  of  either  nation  to 
the  other,  which  has  now  been  demonstrated  to  be  beneficial 
by  the  experience  of  more  than  a  century,  was  one  which 
the  royal  theologian  could  not  comprehend,  and  which 

*  I  have  attempted  in  vain  to  get  some  data  to  estimate  the  ravages  of  the 
plague  in  Scotland.  At  this  period  I  can  only  ascertain  that  in  several  years 
it  was  dreadful,  and  I  can  account  for  it  from  the  nauseous  food  on  which  the 
poor  vassals  were  forced  to  subsist  on  account  of  the  scarcity ;  they  lived  up- 
on garbage  and  carrion,  and  the  fluids  which  should  have  carried  life  and  vi- 
gour to  the  body,  carried  disease  and  death. 

f  Calderwood,  p.  480. 
VOI.  III.  2  Q 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  among  the  court  party,  the  enlightened  Bacon  alone  seems  to 
V'       have  understood. 
1604.         xxn.  After  some  difficulty,*  thirty-six  commissioners  were 

Commis-  .  ..  ,     . 

*ioners  ap-  chosen  by  the  Scottish  parliament,  but  their  powers  were  re- 
pointed  by  sti-jcted ;  and  they  were  not  intrusted  with  any  discretionary 
latitude  of  action,  which  would  allow  them  to  trench  on  the 
independence,  rights,  or  liberties  of  their  country.  The 
whole  proceedings  of  this  parliament  were  adverse  to  the  uni- 
on ;  and  the  only  attempts  which  they  made  at  any  approxi- 
mation to  a  closer  alliance,  were  recommending  the  removal  of 
such  statutes,  or  local  usages,  as  might  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  past,  or  occasion  the  renewal  of  fresh  hostilities  be- 
tween the  two  kingdoms. 

xxm.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Scottish    parliament 
James' idea  ever  meditated  more  than  a  federal  union;  but  we  gather 
of  the  um-  from  James*  own  works  that  he  understood,  by  an  incorpo- 
rating union,  prescribing  the  English  law  to  the  Scottish  na- 
tion.f     He  had   felt  the   effects  of  the  rough,  tumultuary 
freedom  of  his  native  subjects ;  he  had  seen  the  submission 

of  the  English  to  Elizabeth  ;  but  he  had  not  perceived  that 

' 

*  I  differ  with  diffidence,  which  1  must  always  do  when  I  venture  to  dissent 
on  political  subjects,  from  Mr.  Laing;  but  it  does  not  appear  to  me,  that 
the  Scottish  nobles  were  so  easily  intimidated  into  the  measures  of  James  as 
he  asserts,  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  10.  nor  can  I  find  those  marks  of  haste  which  he 
mentions.  He  quotes  the  State  Papers,  MSS.  Advocates'  Library.  Ambas- 
sadors have  been  always  allowed  to  be  legalized  spies.  State  papers  in  gen- 
eral may  be  compared  to  special  pleadings,  which,  in  a  majority  of  cases  are 
special  falsehoods,  and  we  know  how  grossly  the  aflairs  of  Scotland  were  mis- 
represented to  James,  as  he  confessed  when  he  visited  it.  I  cannot,  there- 
fore, trust  them  with  the  same  frankness  that  I  do  cotemporary  historians  or 
memoir  writers.  Now  from  both  Calderwood  and  Spotswood  it  appears  to 
be  clear,  that  the  Scottish  nobles  were  by  no  means  very  quick  in  their  mo- 
tions, nor,  even  after  being  admonished,  did  they  readily  accede  to  the  pro- 
posals  of  the  king,  or  send  commissioners  till  they  had  provided  instructions, 
which  were  in  diametrical  opposition  to  the  views  of  the  court ;  and  this  is 
evident  from  the  last  clause  of  these  instructions,  in  which  they  are  ordered 
not  to  derogate  from  any  "  fundamental  laws,  ancient  privileges,  and  rights,  of- 
fices, dignities,  or  liberties  of  the  kingdom." 

t  "  It  was  not  his  [James']  desire  to  deprive  England  of  its  laws,  but  to  lay 
Scotland  subject  to  the  same  laws.  He  did  desire  that  they  should  be  sub- 
jected both  to  one  rule,  and  to  one  law."  "  I  mean  such  a  general  union  of 
laws  as  may  reduce  the  whole  island,  that  as  they  live  already  under  one  mo- 
narch, so  they  may  be  governed  by  one  law." — K.  James' Works,  p.  512. 


JAMES  VI.  299 

it  was  the  superior  prudence  of  her  government,  more  than    BOOK 
any  superiority  of  the  law,  that  had  ensured  obedience;  and 
he  imao-ined  that,  by  introducing  the  English  laws,  he  would      1604. 
introduce  the  English  habits  of  submission.     The  Scots,  al- 
though not  possessed  of  personal,*  were  proud  and  tenacious 
of  national  independence ;  and  this  feeling,  which   from  the 
days  of  Bruce  had  been  enforced  and  inculcated  upon  the 
public  mind,  was  associated  with  a  jealousy  and   hatred  of 
England,  which  it  was  difficult  either  to  eradicate  or  subdue, 
They  had  little  or  no  commerce;  their  exports  were  chiefly 
raw  material,  and  their  imports,  the  luxuries,  the  wines  and 
brandies  of  France,  or  the  absolute  necessaries  of  life,   the 
products  of  Flemish  industry.     Among  the  latter,   it  is  cu- 
rious   to    observe,    that    even    cart    wheels    were   brought 
from    Flanders,    so   low   was    Scottish    art.       The   advan- 
tages, therefore,  of  any  liberal  intercourse  with  England, 
were    despised,  while    the    whole  of  Europe    lay  open  to 
the    speculations  of  their  itinerant   pedlars ;  f  and  France 
offered  them  peculiar  advantages   and   immunities.     Their 
value  of  the    English    market  may   be  judged    of  by  the 
clause  inserted  in  their  preliminary  arrangements : — That 
sheep,  black  cattle,  wool,  hides,  leather,  and  yarn,   should 
be  prohibited  from  exportation,  and  reserved  by  both  nations 
for  internal  consumption.     The  reverse  has  since  been  proved 
to  be  for  the  benefit  of  both.     The  English  commissioners 
were  equally  inimical  to  any  treaty  which  would  admit  the 
Scots  to  a  participation  of  their  rights,  and  proposed  terms 
to  which  they  knew  the  Scottish  commissioners  would  not 
consent.     They  proposed,  as  the  basis  of  a  union,  a  unifor-  Basis  pro- 
mity  of  laws,  and  when  the  Scots  indignantly  refused  to  sub-  jji^En- 
mit  to  any  statutes  but  their  own,  and  the  English  would  lis-  Hsh  re- 
ten  to  no  accommodation,  the  consultations  were  continued, 
but  without  any  hope  of  adjustment. 

*  It  is  a  strange,  but  a  true  fact,  that  personal  security,  in  which  the  es- 
sence of  personal  liberty  consists,  was  not  known  in  Scotland  till  after  the  re- 
volution. 

f  The  Scots  and  Jews  monopolized  the  trade  of  Poland,  and  many  of  the 
former  returned  with  fortunes  to  their  native  country.  They  were  generally 
pedlars  or  vagrant  merchants  ;  but  the  Scottish  emigrants  were  not  all  of  this 
description ;  the  majority  consisted  of  military  adventurers,  who  lent  their 
mercenary  swords  to  the  highest  bidder. 


300  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK         xxiv.  After  a  protracted  conference,  which,  in  obedience 
v-        to  the  king's  mandate,  had  been    held  at  Westminster,  the 
1604.      commissioners  from  both  kingdoms,  although  they  could  not 
condescend  on  the  basis  of  a  union,  agreed  upon  several  con- 
Result  of   dilatory  measures.     All  hostile  ordinances,  in  both  coun- 
the  deJibe-  trjeSj  aga|nst  each  other,  were  declared  to  be  for  ever  an- 
nulled ;  the  name  of  the  borders  to  be  disused,  and  all  the 
Jaws,  customs,  treaties,  or  whatever  tended  to  keep  alive  the 
remembrance  of  the  former  feuds,  to  be  abolished.     The 
Post  nati,  all  persons  born  after  the  decease  of  the  late  queen, 
and  since  the  accession  of  the  Scottish  king  to  the  English 
crown,  were  declared  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  native  born 
subjects  in  each  kingdom  j  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  island 
were  rendered  capable  of  inheriting  lands,  honours,  digni- 
ties, and  offices  in  any  of  the  divisions,  but  were  excluded 
from  holding  situations  under  the  crown,  or  a  place  in  the 
legislature,  except  in  their  respective  native  countries,  till  a 
union.     Several  regulations  were  adopted  relative  to  foreign 
trade,  and  the  admission  of  the  natives  of  the  two  kingdoms 
into  the  trading  companies  established  in  either ;   but  the 
main  object,  the  incorporaling  union,  was  postponed  for  fur- 
ther consideration  by  mutual  consent.     Such  seem  to  have 
been  the  mutual  feelings  of  the  English  and  Scottish  people 
toward  each  other  at  this  period,  and  even  a  century  of  re- 
James        pose  was  not  sufficient  to  dissipate  them.     The  king  had, 
takes  the     however,  previously  assumed,  by  virtue  of  his  prerogative, 
of  Great"8  tne  l'^e  °^  king  °^  Great  Britain,  commanding  this  to  be 
Britain,      used  in  all  proclamations,  and  the  names  of  England  and 
Scotland  to  be  discontinued.     He  likewise  ordered  all  the 
places  of  strength  upon  the  borders  to  be  dismantled,  and 
their  iron  gates  to  be  turned  into  ploughshares ;  the  garri- 
sons of  Berwick  and  Carlisle  were  dismissed  ;  and  in  memo- 
ry of  the  union,  which  he  calculated  upon  as  being  already 
etiected,  he  caused  several  gold  and  silver  medals  to  be  struck, 
on  which  were  engraved  various  inscriptions,  Quce  Deus  con* 
junxit  nemo  seperat  ;*  and,  Faciam  eos  in  gentem  unam.\ 

xxv.  Time  often  effects,  what  reason  in  vain  attempts  to 
accomplish — Yet  a  proud  and  an  independent,  but  a  poor 

•  Whom  God  hath  joined,  let  no  man  separate, 
f  I  will  make  of  them  one  nation, 


JAMES  VI.  301 

nation,  which  has  received  injuries  from  a  more  powerful  BOOK 
and  richer  neighbour,  may  well  be  excused  for  listening  with  _  _!  _ 


cautious  reluctance  to  any  proposals  for  a  union;  and  a 
wealthy  nation,  which  has  accepted  a  sovereign  from  one  in- 
ferior, cannot  be  blamed  for  being  jealous,  lest  her  patrimony 
should  be  devoured  by  a  crowd  of  needy  dependants  on  the 
bounty  of  a  native  king. 

xxvi.  Notwithstanding  his  repeated  and  earnest  profes- 
sions, frequently  accompanied  by  tears,  James,  before  he 
left  Scotland,  had  violated  his  promises,  and,  in  several  in- 
stances, interfered  with  the  independence  of  the  Scottish  His  designs 


church;  but  now,  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  he  began  1 


to  aim  at  its  total  subversion.  The  assembly  which  had 
legally  the  right  of  meeting  once  a-year,  and  which,  in  case 
neither  the  king  nor  his  commissioner  were  present,  could 
[hem  selves  nominate  the  day,  had  been  first  prorogued  on 
account  of  the  accession,  and  again  discontinued  in  the  suc- 
ceeding years,  till  the  union  should  be  adjusted.  On  this, 
the  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews,  considering  the  rights  and 
iberties  of  the  church  as  invaded,  by  the  interruption  of  the 
meeting  of  her  highest  court,  resolved  to  send  commissioners 
to  keep  the  diet,  because  it  had  been  only  adjourned  in  an  K05. 
unofficial  manner  by  sir  David  Murray  ;  while  the  law  ofir)r°sc^  J|fl 
the  country,  the  practice  of  the  church,  and  the  consent  of  ministers. 
the  king  formerly  given,  warranted  their  sitting.  The  com- 
missioners accordingly  repaired  to  the  place  of  meeting  at 
Aberdeen,  and  in  presence  of  several  other  clergymen,  and 
three  public  notaries,  presented  their  commission,  protest- 
ed* that  no  detriment  should  result  to  the  church  of  Christ, 

*  Mr.   Laing  strangely  misrepresents  this  occurrence  ;  he  says  :   "  Three 
fealots,  who  assembled,  protested  that  no  detriment  should  result  from  this 
measure  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ,   and  their  apprehensions   were   diffused 
through  the  \vhole  church  ;"  and  he  quotes  Caldenvood.     No\v  Caldervvood 
elates  expressly  that  it  was  the  presbytery  of  St.  Andrews  which  took  the 
alarm,  "  and  constituted  and  appointed  three  of  their  brethren,  Mr.  James 
Melville,"  —  designated  by  Mr.  Laing  himself,  "a  mild  and  amiable  character," 
Hist,  of  Scot.  vol.  iii.  p.  41.  —  "Mr.  William  Erskine,  and  William  Murray, 
as  their  commissioners  to  the  general  assembly,  and  give  them  full  and  express 
commission  to  pass   to  Aberdeen,  and  there,  and  for  the  said  presbytery,  to 
vote,  reason,  and  conclude,"  &c.     From  which  it  is  e\-ident  they  were  not 
"  three  zealots,"  but  three  regularly.  constituted  commissioners,  deputed  bj 
one  of  the  leading  presbyteries,  and  who  met  in  obedience  to  their  direction. 


302 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1605. 


meets  at 
Aberdeen 


BOOK  and  lamented  that,  from  the  failure  of  their  brethren  to  ap- 
V-  pear,  no  regular  assembly  could  be  constituted,  for  ow- 
ing to  some  mistake  in  the  intimation,  and  the  severity  of 
the  weather,  by  which  the  rivers  were  swollen,  several  other 
ministers  did  not  arrive  till  after  the  assembly  was  dissolved, 
and  among  them  Welsh,  afterward  so  severely  persecuted. 
Their  fears  were  diffused  through  the  whole  church,  who, 
as  formerly  mentioned,  dreaded,  and  justly,  some  attempts 
to  assimilate  their  order  and  discipline  to  that  of  the 
church  of  England,  on  purpose  to  facilitate  a  union.  Sus- 
picious, therefore,  of  a  third  prorogation,  a  number  of  pres- 
byteries and  synods,  who  saw  that,  in  submitting  to  such 
arbitrary  interdicts,  they  would  be  deprived  of  their  legal 
privileges,  and  that  their  times  of  meeting,  which  would  thus 
depend  solely  upon  the  will  of  the  sovereign,  would  first 
be  delayed,  then  wholly  discontinued,  determined  to  keep 
the  time  appointed  in  the  last  prorogation.  Accordingly,  on 
Assembly  the  2d  July,  1605,  nineteen  ministers,  the  deputies  from  nine 
presbyteries,  met  at  Aberdeen,  and  proceeded  to  constitute 
the  assembly,  when  Straiten  of  Laurieston,  the  king's  com- 
missioner, presented  a  letter  from  the  lords  of  privy  council, 
addressed: — "To  our  trusty  friends  and  brethren  of  the 
general  assembly,  convened  at  Aberdeen  ;"  a  style  recognis- 
ing the  lawfulness  of  their  meeting,  and  acknowledging  their 
public  collective  character.  It  was  determined,  before  they 
could  receive  his  communication,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
constitute  the  assembly  by  choosing  a  moderator  and  clerk  ; 
and  on  the  suggestion  of  Straiton — who,  however,  declined 
being  present  at  the  election — chose  John  Forbes,  minister 
of  Alford,  as  their  moderator,  and  proceeded  to  read  the  let- 
ter, which  enjoined  them  immediately  to  dissolve  the  meet- 
Ordered  to  ing,  without  naming  another  day  for  again  assembling. 
While  the  letter  was  reading,  a  messenger  at  arms  entered, 
and  in  the  king's  name  commanded  them  to  dissolve  on  pain 
of  rebellion.  As  the  assembly  could  not  agree  to  this,  with- 
out breaking  down  the  constitution  of  the  church,  they  ex- 
pressed their  willingness  to  comply  with  the  order  for  their 
dissolution;  but  requested  it  might  be  done  in  a  regular 
manner,  by  his  majesty's  commissioner  naming  a  day  and 
place  for  next  meeting.  This  he  refused  to  do,  and,  in  con- 


dissolve. 


JAMES  VI 

sequence,  the  moderator  appointed  the  assembly  to  meet  at  BOOK 
he  same  place,  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  September,  and  dis- 
olved  the  assembly.  Laurieston  afterward  asserted  that  he  1605. 
lad,  on  the  day  previously  to  the  meeting  discharged  it  by  ^" 
)roclamation  at  the  cross  of  Aberdeen  ;  but  of  this  he  could  city. 
>ring  no  proof;  and  as  he  was  himself  at  the  meeting,  and 
never  gave  any  intimation  of  the  charge,  it  was  generally  be- 
ieved  that  he  violated  the  truth, — not  less  with  regard  to  the 
Jate  than  to  the  publication  of  the  charge, — in  order  to  soften 
he  indignation  of  the  king  and  of  the  prelates,  who  were  of- 
ended  at  the  countenance  he  had  given  to  the  assembly. 
The  conduct  of  this  assembly,  at  once  firm  and  moderate, 
jxhibited  a  rare  example  of  temperate,  legal  resistance  to 
despotic  power ;  for  in  every  view  of  the  question,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  all  law  was  on  their  side,  and  only  the  mandates  of 
,he  king  against  them.  But  with  the  oppressor  there  was 
Dower ;  and  these  men,  who  in  fact  had  only  asserted  the  su- 
premacy of  the  law  in  opposition  to  the  unwarranted  claims 
absolute  tyranny,  were  afterward  doomed  to  be  martyrs, 
lot  more  to  the  religious  than  to  the  civil  rights  of  the  com- 
munity, by  a  cruel  perversion  of  that  law  they  had  so  stre- 
nuously supported. 

xxvu.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  privy  council  would 
nave  been  inclined  to  prosecute  the  members  of  the  Aber- 
ieen  assembly,  but  the  king  was  irreconcilable  to  any  ap-  The  mini> 
oearance  of  encroachment  on  his  divine  right;  and  instantly,  ^^"roV" 
m  receiving  information  of  the  proceedings  of  that  assem-  scouted. 
>ly,  transmitted  orders  to  the  law  officers,  to  proceed  with 
;he  utmost  rigour  against  the  ministers  who  had  presumed 
to  act  in  opposition  to    his  command.*      Mr.   John   For- 
s,  the  moderator  of  the  late  assembly,  who  had  arrived  in 
inburgh,  in  order  to  represent  to  the  privy  council  the 
al  state  of  the  case,  and  to  deprecate  any  alleged  disobe- 
ience  or  disrespect  for  the  king's  authority,  was  apprehend- 
d  on  the  24th  July,  and  brought  before  the  council,  which 
met  at  an  unusual  time, — between  six  and  seven  o'clock  in  the 

•The  king's  letter  to  secretary  Balmerino,  is  dated  19th  July,  IGOo,  in  the 
laddington  collection,  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Crie.  Forbes,  the  moderator,  was 
xmnmitted  prisoner  on  the  24th,  and  Welsh  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month, 
areyiously  to  which  they  had  remained  unmolested. 


304  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    morning,— and  was  composed  of  a  more  than  ordinary  pro- 
v-       portion  of  bishops.     Refusing  to  condemn  the  assembly,  and  ] 
~~~"7 referring  the  legality  of  its  meeting  and  its  proceedings,  to 
the  decision  of  the  first  regularly  appointed  meeting  of  that 
body,  he  was  ordered  to  enter  ward  in  the  castle  of  Edin-' 
burgh.     John  Welsh,  who  happened  to  be  in  the  city  at  the 
Forbes  and  same  time,  was  also  summoned  before  the  c.Hincil;  who,  de- 
prisoned™    clining  to  answer  upon  oath   to  what  he  considered  ensnar- 
ing and  insidious  questions,  was  first  committed  to  the  tol- 
booth,  and  then  he  and  Forbes  were  sent  to  the  damp  cells 
of  Blackness  castle,  which  might,  in  these  times,  have  been 
considered  the  bastile  of  Scotland.     Several  other  ministers 
were  distributed  through  different  prisons.* 

xxvni.  It  is  necessary  here  to  recollect,  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  church  of  Scotland  was  essentially  a  part  of 
the  constitution  of  the  country ;  and  that  her  rights  and 
privileges  were  guarded  by  the  most  sacred  compact  that 
Discon-  can  exist  between  a  king  and  a  people.f  An  open  attack 
upon  the  church  was,  therefore,  considered  as  a  stretch  01 
prerogative  not  to  be  borne  in  silence,  and  the  imprecations 
against  it  were  neither  low  nor  inaudible.  The  king,  in  or- 
der to  quiet  them,  issued,  according  to  his  practice,  a  long 
proclamation,  couched  in  almost  as  equivocal  language  as 
Attempt  to  any  other  of  his  royal  productions.  In  it  he  expresses  his 
them?6  desire  to  maintain  the  good  and  laudable  customs  of  each 
of  the  realms,  and  his  intention  to  make  no  encroachments 
upon  either;  and  in  a  passage,  which  from  any  other  pen 
would  have  been  deemed  keenly  ironical,  adds:  "  This 
charge  [of  encroachment]  none  of  our  subjects  will  be  so 
credulous  as  to  believe,  knowing  how  careful  we  have  been 
to  maintain  both  religion  and  justice,  and  to  reform  the  evils 
that  did  in  any  sort  prejudice  the  integrity  of  either  of  the 
two,  whereby  justice  hath  attained,  under  our  government, 
to  a  greater  perfection  and  splendour  than  in  any  of  our 
predecessors'  times,  and  many  abuses  and  corruptions  in  the 

*  Caldenvood,  p.  494.  et  seq. 

f  At  the  assembly  in  May,  1597,  his  majesty  declared  the  act  of  parliament, 
respecting  the  meeting  of  church  courts,  to  be  "  the  most  anthentick  form  of 
consent  that  any  king  can  give." — Buik  of  the  Universal  Kirk. 


JAMES  VI.  305 

discipline  oFthe  church  amended,  that  otherwise  might  have  BOOK 
brought  the  purity  of  religion  in  extreme  danger ;  neither 
of  which  was  done  by  our  sovereign  and  absolute  authority  1605. 
— although  we  enjoy  the  same  as  freely  as  any  king  or  mon- 
arch in  the  world — but  as  the  disease  of  the  civil  body  ever 
was  cured  by  the  advice  of  our  three  estates,  so  were  the 
defects  of  the  church  by  the  help  and  counsel  of  those  that 
had  the  greatest  interest  therein."  Copies  of  the  proclama- 
tion were  sent  to  the  imprisoned  ministers,  but  produced  no 
effect ;  they  were  too  well  acquainted  with  the  court  to  put 
any  confidence  in  promises  so  often  broken,  or  be  influenc- 
ed by  a  paper,  the  leading  assertions  of  which  they  knew 
were  not  founded  on  fact.  They  were  in  consequence  again 
brought  before  the  privy  council,  and  ordered  to  stand  on 
their  defence ;  when  they,  in  respectful  terms,  declined 
its  jurisdiction  as  incompetent  to  take  cognizance  of  a 
matter  purely  ecclesiastical.  For  this  offence  solely,  were  Ministers 
they,  by  the  king's  direction,  indicted  for  high  treason,  high^rea" 
under  an  act  made  during  the  infamous  administration  ofson. 
Arran,  but  which  had  subsequently  been  repealed.  Six 
were  selected  as  peculiar  objects  of  prosecution — John 
Forbes,  minister  at  Alford,  John  Welsh  at  Ayr,  Robert 
Drury  at  Anstruther,  Andrew  Duncan  at  Crail,  John  Sharp 
at  Kilmany,  and  Alexander  Strachan  at  Creigh.  The  trial 
was  attended  with  every  circumstance  which  could  tend  to 
aggravate  the  suffering  of  the  prisoners,  or  exhibit  the  de- 
termined disregard  for  justice  which  actuated  the  court. 

xxix.  The  ministers,  who  had  been  warded  in  Blackness 
castle,  when  the  pestilence  reached  its  gates,  requested  to  be 
removed  to  some  place  distant  from  the  contagion.  This 
was  a  request  too  equitable  to  be  granted ;  and  they  were 
detained  there  till  the  10th  of  January,  1606,  when,  between  1606« 
the  hours  of  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they 
were  awakened  by  sound  of  trumpet,  and  summoned  to  their 
trial.  At  that  time,  the  roads  in  Scotland  were  almost  im- 
passable, and  in  the  depth  of  a  northern  winter,  in  a  half 
cultivated  land,  must  have  been  wretched  indeed.  The  pri- 
soners, however,  set  out  cheerfully  on  their  journey,  and  ar- 
rived at  Linlithgow  palace,  as  the  sun  was  rising.  They 
were  here  met  by  a  number  of  ministers  from  various  parts 

VOL.  in.  2  R 


306 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  of  the  country,  among  whom  were  most  conspicuous,  An- 

v-      drew  and  James  Melville.     Every  art  was  tried  to  endea- 

1606.     vour  to  induce  them  to  pass  from  their  declinature,  previous 

to  any  trial;  but  threats  and   promises  were   held  out  in 

vain;  and  they  proceeded  to  the  court,  which  sat  in  the 

Tolbooth,  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  accompanied  by  the 

whole  of  the  ministers  who  had  attended  to  support  them. 

In  this  extremity,  two  of  their  advocates  deserted  them,  and 

Their  trial,  refused  to  plead.  Mr.  Thomas  Hope,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Gray,  stood  forward  as  their  defenders.  The  justiciary 
court  had  as  assessors,  a  number  of  the  highest  officers  of 
state,  whose  presence  on  the  bench  was  intended,  and  calcu- 
lated to  overawe  the  jury.  Sir  William  Hart  presided  as  jus- 
tice depute.  A  number  of  most  unanswerable  objections 
were  stated,  to  what  in  Scottish  law,  is  termed  the  relevancy 
of  the  indictment,  or  in  other  words,  to  the  propriety,  accura- 
cy, or  justice  of  the  charges  brought  against  the  prisoners. 

Their  ob-  It  was  urged,  that  they  did  not  decline  his  majesty's  civil 
N  aut^or'ty  I  tnat  tney  did  not  even  decline  his  ecclesiastical 
authority,  if  exercised  according  to  the  rules  of  the  church, 
and  the  acts  of  parliament  ;  that  even  upon  the  obnoxious 
one  of  1584,  their  conduct  was  unimpeachable  and  unattack- 
able;  but  although  it  were  not,  that  act  was  repealed,  in  as 
far  as  it  affected  the  rights  of  the  church,  by  the  act  1592. 
The  opinion  of  the  court  was  then  asked,  in  a  new  and  un- 
usual manner.  The  judges  on  the  right  and  left  hand  of 
the  chancellor  requested  those  seated  on  their  respective 
sides,  to  deliver  their  votes,  not  viva  YOCC,  but  by  whisper- 
ing, or  what  Calderwood  expressively  styles,  "  rounding  in 
the  ear."  Suspicions  have  been  expressed,  that  the  votes 
thus  collected  were  not  fairly  put  down  ;  it  may  be  so  ;  some 
ma\  have  through  timidity,  allowed  their  names  to  go  to  the 
wrong  side  ;  though,  from  the  complexion  of  the  court,  it  is 

Overruled,  not  probable  but  that  there  was  a  sufficiently  pliable  majo- 
rity to  secure  the  sentence  of  relevant,  which  was  pronoun- 
ced upon  the  libel. 

xxx.  The  prisoner's  defence  was  ably  conducted,  and  the 
arguments  similar  to  what  had  been  used  against  the  legali- 
ty of  the  indictment  ;  but  in  the  speeches  of  the  accused 
themselves,  there  was  an  impressive  solemnity,  which  it  re- 


JAMES  VI.  307 

quired  all  the  threats  and  promises  of  an  overbearing  court  BOOK 
to  overcome  ;  and  to  the  credit  of  the  jury,  they  could  se-      ^' 
cure  after  all,  only  a  small  majority.     Forbes'  concluding     1606. 
speech,  was  powerful  and  eloquent,  the  finale  might  almost 
be  deemed   prophetical.     Addressing  Dunbar,  "  My  lord,"  Forbes* 
said  he,  "  I  adjure  you  before  the  living  God,  that  you  re-  ** 
port  to  his  majesty  in  our  names,  this  history  out  of  the 
book  of  Joshua."     He  then  narrates  the  league  obtained 
from   Israel  through  deceit,  by  the  Gibeonites ;  and  after- 
wards notices  the  plague  which  fell  upon  Saul  and  his  pos- 
terity,  for  violating   the  oath  of  God  which  was  made  be- 
tween the  Gibeonites  and  the  princes  of  the  people ;  adding, 
"  Now  my  lord,  warn  the  king,  that  if  such  a  high  judg- 
ment fell  upon  Saul  and  his  house,  for  destroying  them  who 
deceived  Israel ;  and  only  because  of  the  oath  of  God  which 
passed  among  them ;  what  judgment  will  fall  upon  his  ma- 
jesty, his  posterity,  and  the  whole  land,  if  he  and  ye  violate 
the  great  oath  that  ye  have  all  made  to  God,  to  stand  to  his 
truth,  and  to  maintain  the  discipline  of  his  kirk,  according 
to  your  powers."* 

xxxi.  When  the  jury  retired,  although  they  had  been 
packed,  yet  such  was  the  commanding  effect  of  truth  and  of 
genius,  that  in  the  presence  of  those  from  whom  they  ex- 
pected every  advancement,  they  hesitated ;  and  it  was  not 
till  after  several  visitations  from  the  crown  officers,  and  a 
promise  that  no  harm  should  be  done  to  the  prisoners,  that 
a  verdict  was  at  last,  by  a  majority  of  THREE,  obtained 
against  them.  The  names  of  the  minority  deserve  to  be 
perpetuated  : — sir  John  Levingston  of  Dunipace,  sir  Archi- 
bald Stirling  of  Kier,  Gavin  Home  of  Johnscleugh,  Robert 
Levingston  of  Westquarter,  Thomas  Levingston  of  Panton, 
and  James  Shaw  of  Sauchie,  who  withstood  every  tempta- 
tion, and  declared  their  pannels  innocent  simpliciter.  But 
the  verdict  was  still  illegal;  as  the  act,  91  James  VI.  ex- 
pressly declares,  that  if  any  stranger  enter  where  an  assize 
is  enclosed,  after  they  be  enclosed,  that  verdict  is  null  and 
void  in  law,  and  the  pannel,  though  guilty,  shall  have  the 
advantage  of  the  circumstance ;  yet  in  this  case,  the  justice, 

•Calderwood,  p.  515. 


308 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
V. 

1606. 


Found 
guilty. 


Report  of 
the  trial  to 
the  king. 


the  assessors,  all  had  access  and  all  tampered  with  them. 
The  crown  officers  went  alternately  between  the  prisoners 
and  the  jury,  and  sensible  of  their  own  infamous  proceed- 
ings, they  wished  the  process  to  be  stayed ;  and  promised, 
that  if  the  prisoners,  even  after  their  verdict  was  pronounced, 
would  withdraw  their  declinature,  that  mercy  would  be  ex- 
tended ;  but  fortunately  for  their  own  fair  fame,  and  for  the 
liberties  of  their  country,  they  preferred  preserving  their  in- 
tegrity. The  verdict  was  delivered  at  midnight,  and  the 
pannels  on  hearing  it,  embraced  each  other,  and  gave  God 
thanks  for  having  supported  them  during  their  trial.  The 
sentence  was  delayed  till  his  majesty's  pleasure  should  be 
known ;  and  the  day  following,  they  were  remanded  to  Black- 
ness castle.  Andrew  and  James  Melville,  with  some  other 
ministers,  accompanied  them,  and  parted  with  tears,  at  the 
gates  of  that  inhospitable  jail,  more  confirmed  than  ever,  in 
the  cause  in  which  they  had  engaged.  While  the  accom- 
plices of  crime  fly  each  other  in  the  hour  of  danger,  it  is  de- 
lightful to  observe  adversity  binding  the  virtuous  more  strong- 
ly together.  The  letter  from  the  king's  advocate,  announc- 
ing the  conviction  to  the  king,  I  subjoin  in  a  note,  with  lord 
Hailes'  remarks.*  It  is  an  important  document  respecting 

*  Sir  Thomas  Hamilton,  King's  Advocate,  to  King  James.f 
Most  Sacred  Sovereign, 

My  conceived  fears,  that  my  silence  could  not  find  out  any  lawful  excuse, 
if  i  should  not  advertise  your  Majesty  of  the  progress  and  event  of  the  crim- 
inal persuit  off  Mess.  John  Forbes,  Welch,  and  others  their  complices,  before 
your  Majesty's  justice,  for  their  treasonable  declining  your  Majesty,  and  your 
secret  Council's  judgement,  makes  me  bold  to  write  in  that  matter ;  which, 
as  well  in  respect  of  a  most  high  point,  and  large  part  of  your  Majesty's  au- 
thority royal,  brought  in  question  by  the  ignorant  and  inflexible  obstinacy  of 
these  defenders,  as  in  regard  of  the  most  careful  expectation  of  a  great  part 
of  your  highness's  subjects,  in  this  your  kingdom,  over  doubtsomly  distracted. 
During  the  uncertain  event  thereof,  partly  by  superstitious,  and  partly  by 
feigned  zeal  to  their  profession,  and  affection  to  their  persons  for  their  pro- 
fession's sake  ;  being  of  so  high  and  dangerous  consequence,  as  the  miscarrying 
thereof  might  have  exemed  a  great  part  of  your  Majesty's  Subjects  from  your 
Majesty's  Jurisdiction  and  obedience  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  and 
all  things  which  they  should  have  pleased  to  affirm  to  be  of  that  nature,  and 
therewith  have  given  them  occasion,  and  as  it  were  lawful  liberty,  or  liberty 


*  The  Scottish  phrases  in  this  letter  aie  retained,  Ihe  most  remarkable  are,  langsum,  for  tedious. 
tul,  tor  without,  and  panntl,  for  persons  arraigned, 


JAMES  VI.  309 

the  state  of  justice  in  this  country  at  that  period;  and  places   BOOK 
the  unfairness,  and  the  illegality  of  the  trial,  and  the  despo-  ______ 

tic  tyranny  of  the  court,  in  a  stronger  light,  than  any  other     1606- 
commentary  on  the  subject  could  do. 

by  your  Majesty's  own  laws  and  sentences,  to  have  maintained  that  liberty 
once  purchased,  and  daily  to  have  increased  the  same,  to  the  manifest  peril, 
not  only  of  further  impairing,  but  with  time,  of  utter  subversion  of  your  royal 
power  within  this  kingdom.  God  having  now  brought  it  to  that  good  end, 
that  after  langsum,  difficil,  and  most  contentious  travels,  they  are  convicted 
by  assize  of  that  treasonable  declinator,  I  should  omit  as  necessary  a  point  of 
my  duty,  as  if  i  had  not  replied  to  their  most  probable  alledgeances,  if  I  should 
conceal  from  your  Majesty,  that  the  first  and  greatest  praise  of  this  good  suc- 
cess should  be  given  to  your  Majesty's  self,  for  foreseeing  this  matter  to  be  of 
such  difficulty  and  danger,  as  it  required  the  particular  direction  of  your 
Majesty's  own  most  excellent  wisdom,  by  the  report  and  prosecution  of  my 
lord  of  Dunbar,  who,  I  am  assured,  in  all  his  life  was  never  so  solicitous  for 
the  event  of  the  trial  of  other  men's  lives ;  for  at  his  here  coming,  finding 
that  matter  full  not  only  of  foreseen,  but  also  of  unexpected  difficulties,  his 
eare  and  diligence  therein  has  been  so  assidious,  wise,  and  provident,  that 
having  made  secret  choice  of  this  time  and  place — which  by  effect  has  proved 
most  proper — and  so  vively  expressed  to  your  Majesty's  Justice.  Justice  clerk 
and  other  members  of  that  court,  your  Majesty's  care  of  the  maintainance  of 
your  royal  power  brought  in  question  by  that  process,  with  the  undoubted 
favours  which  they  might  expect  by  doing  their  duty,  and  most  certain  disgrace 
and  punishment,  if  in  their  defaults  any  thing  should  miscarry.  He  proceed- 
ed thereafter  to  the  preparation  of  sufficient  forces,  able  to  execute  all  the 
lawful  commandments  of  your  Majesty's  council  in  your  service  ;  and  for  that 
purpose  having  brought  with  him  to  this  town,  a  very  great  number  of  hon- 
ourable barons  and  gentlemen,  of  good  rank  and  worth  of  his  kindred  and 
friendship  ;  finding  beside  our  other  great  impediments,  the  chief  peril  to  consist 
in  the  want  of  an  honest  assize,  who  without  respect  of  popular  favours,  re- 
port, threatnings,  or  imprecations,  would  serve  God  and  your  Majesty  in  a 
Good  Conscience  :  and  for  known  default  of  constancy,  and  good  affection  in 
others,  he  was  compelled  to  cause  his  own  particular  and  private  kinsmen  and 
friends  make  the  most  part  of  the  assize,  who  being  admitted  upon  the  same,  if 
he  had  not  dealt  in  that  point  but  [without]  scrupulosity  or  ceremonies  to  resolve 
them  of  the  wonderful  doubt,  wherein  by  many  means,  chiefly  by  the  thunder- 
ing imprecations  of  the  pannel,  and  contentious  resistance  of  their  own  associ- 
ate assizers,  they  were  casten,  that  whole  purpose  had  failed,  to  our  infinite 
grief,  and  your  Majesty's  over  great  prejudice,  for  the  good  success  whereof  1 
shall  ever  thank  God,  and  ever  pray  him  and  your  Majesty,  to  put  us  to  as 
few  essays  in  the  like  causes  as  may  possibly  stand  with  the  weal  of  your  Ma- 
jesty's service,  in  respect  of  the  scarcity  of  skilled  and  well  affected  assizers  in 
these  causes  ;  for  if  my  lord  of  Dunbar  had  wanted  your  Majesty's  most  provi- 
dent directions,  or  if  we  had  been  destitute  of  his  wise  and  infinitely  sollicitous 
diligence  and  action  in  this  purpose,  in  all  men's  Judgments  it  had  losed, 
wherein  our  misluck  could  never  have  found  any  excuse,  which  might  either 
have  given  satisfaction  to  your  Majesty,  or  contentment  to  our  own  minds, 


310  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        xxxn.  The  king,  for  a  considerable  time,  would  not  de- 
V'       clare  his  determination  as  to  the  punishment  of  the  condemn- 
1606.     ed  ministers,  and  in  the  meanwhile,  he  ordered  the  trial  of 
the  others  to  be  proceeded  in,   notwithstanding  the  request 
contained  in  the  letter  of  the  lord  advocate ;  but,   induced 
by  the  strong  remonstrances  of  his  privy  counsellors,  who 
represented  the  impossibility  of  finding  an  assize  who  would 
convict  them,  and  the  disgrace  that  it  would  occasion  to  the 
government,  James  reluctantly  yielded ;  and  they  were  with- 
out trial,  banished  to   the  most  barbarous   quarters  of  the 
The  minis-  kingdom,  to  the  western  islands,  to  Orkney,  Shetland,  and 
nlshe'd        tne  highlands.     The  six  convicted  ministers  were  banished 
to  France.     These  proceedings,  so  manifestly  iniquitous,  in- 
creased the  national  dislike  to  the  bishops— universally  con- 
sidered the  authors  of  this  injustice — and  their  hatred  to 
episcopacy,  of  which  they  were  the  first-fruits. 

xxxni.  During  the  time  the  fate  of  the  oppressed  patriots 
Orders  was  depending,  proclamations  were  issued,  forbidding  the 
not  to  pray  ministers,  under  pain  of  death,  to  pray  for  their  persecuted 

for  them  r  .  ..  .  .  ,  J  ,  .  r 

disregard,   brethren ;  and  prohibiting,  under  severe  penalties,  any  ex- 
ed*  pression  of  approbation  respecting  the  northern  conventicle, 

or  any  disapprobation  of  the  proceedings  of  government. 
But  the  ministers  boldly  made  supplication  for  the  conscien- 
tious sufferers,  and  the  nation  openly  avowed  their  discon- 
tent. The  discovery  of  the  gunpowder  plot  occurring  about 
the  same  time,  it  was  thought  that  the  king's  heart  would 


albeit  our  consciences  and  actions  did  bear  us  record,  that  we  served  with 
most  faithful  affection  and  careful  diligence.  But  now  we  have  to  thank  God 
that  is  well  ended,  and  I  must  humbly  crave  your  Majesty's  pardon  for  my 
boldness  and  overlong  letter,  which  shall  be  always  short  in  comparison  of 
my  long  and  endless  prayers  to  God  for  your  Majesty's  health,  content,  anfl 
long  happy  life.  At  Lithgow,  the  llth  January,  1606. 
Your  Sacred  Majesty's 

Most  humble  and  faithful  Servitor, 
Th.  Hamilton.* 


•  This  letter  gives  a  more  lively  idea  of  those  times  than  an  hundred  Chronicles  can  do.  We  se» 
here  the  prime  minister,  in  order  to  obtain  a  sentence  agreeable  to  the  king,  address  the  judge* 
with  promises,  and  threats,  pack  the  jury,  and  then  deal  with  them  without  scruple  or  ceremony, 
Jt  is  also  evident,  that  the  king's  advocate  disliked  the  proceedings  as  impolitic  and  odious,  but 
that  he  had  not  resolution  to  oppose  them.  The  detail  of  this  trial  and  of  its  consequences,  may 
be  found  in  Spotswood  and  Calderwood.  Lord  Hailes'  Memorials  and  Letters  on  the  Affaire  of 
Great  Britain,  during  the  reign  of  James  VI. 


JAMES  VI.  311 

have  been  mollified  towards  the  imprisoned  ministers,  but 
he  would  listen  to  no  intercession  in  their  favour ;  and  while 
he  appeared  anxious  to  show  that  he  did  not  consider  all  the  1606. 
papists  as  implicated  in  the  treason — many  of  whom,  he  said, 
were  "  honest  men," — he  ungratefully,  wantonly,  and  fool- 
ishly, in  addressing  the  English  parliament  on  the  occasion, 
stigmatized  his  most  faithful  subjects, — the  puritans, — whose 
cruelty  he  declared  worthy  of  fire,  because  they  would  ad- 
mit no  salvation  to  any  papist.* 

xxxiv.  The  king  resolved  to  follow  up  this  blow,  ere  the 
terror  which  he  supposed  it  must  have  struck  had  subsided, 
by  a  more  decisive  measure  in  favour  of  episcopacy,  than  any 
he  had  yet  attempted.     He  ordered  a  parliament  to  be  as-  Measures 
sembled,  and  dispatched  his  favourite  minister,   sir   George  ^Vin^e! 
Hume,  now  created  earl  of  Dunbar,  to  secure  the  votes  of  piscopacy. 
the  nobles,  or  in  modern  phrase,  to  manage  the  house.     He 
executed  his  commission  with  dexterity,  and  by  his  intrigues, 
obtained  a  complete  ascendency  for  the  crown.     The  nobles 
of  the  first  rank  were  now  anxious  to  preserve  the  royal  fa- 
vour ;  and   although  decidedly  averse  to  episcopacy,  were 
afraid  to  offend  the  king,  lest  the  grants  of  the  church  lands 
should  be  revoked.     These  Dunbar  gained  by  the  promise 
of  a  full  confirmation,  the  prospect  of  immediate  advantage 
rendering  them  averse  to  believe, — what  they  considered  as 
gloomy  forebodings, — that  their  compliance  now,  was  only 
laying  the  foundation  for  future  tyranny.     A  number  of  new 
temporal  lords  were   created,  from  the  monastic  benefices 
secularized,  termed  lords  of  erections ;  they  durst  not  oppose 
the  crown,  who  could  easily  have  stripped  them  of  their  pos- 
sessions ;  and  the  few  indigent  bishops,  who,  in  opposition  to 
the  caveats,   had   consented  to  this  illegal  alienation  of  the 
church   lands,  were  entirely  at  the  king's  devotion.     The 
commons  were  more  intractable,  but  the  earl's  art  succeeded 
in  overcoming  even  their  scruples.     The  parliament  met  at 
Perth,  August,  1606,  and  was  the  first  that  set  an  example 
of  national  servility.     The  royal  prerogative  was  confirmed  James  de- 
without    limitation,    and    the    king   acknowledged   absolute  clared  h<;ad 

of  church 

prince,  judge,  and  governor,  over  all  persons,  estates,  and  and  state. 
•  K.  James'  Works,  p.  503. 


312  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    causes,  both  spiritual  and  temporal ;  and  by  a  flattery  more 
like  the   degraded   senate  of  Rome  than  a  Scottish  parlia- 
1606.      ment,  all  acts  which  might  derogate  from  the  royal  authori- 
ty, if  any  such  should  in  future  be  enacted,  were  previously 
declared  null  and  void. 

xxxv.  Empty  titles  are,  perhaps,  the  vainest  of  all  human 
distinctions ;  and  the  bishops  had  hitherto,  although  called 
to  parliament,  merely  possessed  the  name,  the  church  lands 
having  been  dilapidated  by  the  nobles  during  the  king's  mi- 
nority ;  and  what  remained,  appropriated  to  the  support  of 
Act  for  re- the  crown  by  the  act  of  annexation.  An  act  therefore  was 
bishop^  introduced  to  restore  the  state  of  bishops  to  their  ancient  and 
lands,  &c.  accustomed  honours,  dignities,  prerogatives,  livings,  lands, 
tithes,  rents  and  estates,  and  to  repeal  the  act  of  annexation. 
The  chapters,  which  the  general  assembly  had  abolished, 
were  at  the  same  time  revived.  Though  it  is  not  easy  some- 
times to  account  for  the  contradiction  which  appears  in  the 
conduct  of  individuals,  that  which  is  displayed  in  the  acts 
of  public  bodies,  has  long  been  proverbial.  It  is  not  there- 
fore, surprising  to  find  this  parliament,  by  one  vote  alien- 
ating the  royal  domains,  and  by  another,  granting  the 
king  a  subsidy  of  four  hundred  thousand  merks,  *  more 
than  double  any  former  taxation,  to  be  raised  in  four  years. 
The  bishops,  as  might  have  been  expected,  were  among 
the  foremost  to  support  this,  to  the  Scots,  unusually  heavy 
burden. 

xxxvi.  As  the  business  which  was  to  come  before  parlia- 
ment had  been  generally  understood,  the  ministers  repaired 
to  Perth  in  considerable  numbers,  to  endeavour,  by  every 
Opposition  means  in  their  power,  to  oppose  it.  They  were  sanguine  in 
ml~  their  expectations  of  being  supported  by  the  chancellor, — the 
earl  of  Dunfermline, — on  account  of  a  quarrel  he  had  with 
Dunbar ;  but  Spotswood,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  having 
represented  him  to  the  king  as  having  had  some  dealings 
with  the  ministers,  and  that  he  had  commended  the  assem- 
bly at  Aberdeen,  and  their  exertions  in  the  cause  of  liberty, 
he,  with  considerable  difficulty,  escaped  being  brought  to 
trial ;  in  consequence,  to  wipe  away  all  suspicion,  and  re- 

"  Little  more  than  22,000  pounds  sterling. 


JAMKS  VI.  313 

cover  the  favour  of  his  majesty,  he  now  entered  warmly  in-    BOOK 
to  his  schemes*     The  representatives  of  the  burghs  likewise,        ^* 
from  whom  they  expected  assistance,  and  who  at  first  pro-     IQQQ, 
mised  to   stand  by  them,  deserted   to  the  royal  standard. 
Left  alone,  they  remained  steady  to  the  cause  of  the  church 
and  of  the  country. 

xxxvu.  No  sooner  did  the  ministers  learn  that  the  lords 
of  the  articles  had  under  their  consideration,  the  erection 
and  endowment  of  bishoprics,  than  they  desired  to  be  heard, 
but  were  refused.  They  then  gave  in  to  them  a  protesta- They  pre- 
tion,  which  was  contumeliously  rejected  by  the  chancellor  ^"t'to^he 
in  their  name,  who,  at  the  same  time  told  them,  that  the  Lords  of 
bishops  should  be  restored  to  the  same  state  they  were  in  sixty  *lees .  ' 
years  ago.  They,  therefore,  presented  a  copy  to  each  of  the 
estates,  and  to  several  noblemen.  In  it  they  reminded  them 
of  their  sacred  oath,  and  that  even  the  king  himself  had 
solemnly  sworn  and  subscribed  repeatedly,  together  with 
the  whole  subjects  of  the  realm,  that  confession  of  faith,  in 
which  was  an  engagement  to  prevent  setting  up  the  domi- 
nion of  bishops,  whom  they  denominated  the  first  steps  of  the 
antichristian  hierarchy,  an  ordinance  of  man,  which  the  ex- 
perience of  past  ages  had  testified  to  be  the  ground  of  great 
idleness,  palpable  ignorance,  unsufferable  pride,  pitiless  ty- 
ranny, and  shameless  ambition  ;  they  recalled  to  their  re- 
membrance, the  zeal  they  had  formerly  shown  in  the  cause, 
and  earnestly  exhorted  them  not  now  to  fall  off.  They  then 
stated,  that  the  bishops,  when  restored  to  a  place  in  parlia- 
ment, were  restored  under  especial  provision,  that  nothing 
derogatory  or  prejudicial  to  the  established  church,  her  dis- 
cipline, or  her  jurisdiction  should  follow ;  that  the  general 
assembly,  fearing  the  corruption  of  the  office,  had  circum- 
scribed and  bound  them  by  a  number  of  caveats,  and  had  not 
agreed  even  to  the  name,  lest  it  should  be  supposed  to  im- 
port the  pomp  and  tyranny  of  papal  bishops,  but  ordered 
them  to  be  styled  commissioners  for  the  church,  to  vote  in 
parliament;  and  concluded,  by  solemnly  protesting  against 
the  erection  of  bishoprics,  or  the  establishment  of  bishops. 

xxxvin.  The  ministers  had  now  done  every  thing  in  their  To  the 

,  ,.  ,       ,         ,          .parliament 

power,  except  entering  a  public  protest  on  the  last  day  of 

the  parliament, — the  day  on  which  all  the  acts  were  finally 
VOL.  in.  2  * 


314 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  ratified, — and  for  this  purpose  they  made  choice  of  Andrew 
v'  Melville,  who  with  considerable  difficulty  obtained  admis- 
]606.  sion ;  but  when  he  stood  up  to  speak,  he  was  ordered  to  be 
removed,  and  the  petition  was  not  allowed  to  be  heard.  He 
did  not  depart,  however,  until  he  had  made  the  object  of  his 
mission  known.  Shortly  after,  they  published  what  was 
called  "  a  verification  of  the  protestation ;"  this  paper  is  re- 
markable for  the  clear  perception  which  is  displayed  in  it, 
of  the  dangers  that  the  re-establishment  of  a  hierarchy  in 
Scotland  threatened ;  and  in  a  few  years  after  it  might,  with 
little  variation,  have  formed  a  historical  record  instead  of  a 
faithful  warning.  "  Set  me  up  these  bishops  once,"  say 
they,  "  called  long  since,  the  prince's  led-horse,  things,  if 
they  were  never  so  unlawful,  unjust,  ungodly,  and  pernicious 
to  kirk  and  realm,  if  they  shall  be  borne  forth  by  the  coun- 
tenance, authoritie,  care,  and  endeavour  of  the  king, — sup- 
posing such  a  one,  as  God  forbid,  come  in  the  roome  of  our 
most  renowned  sovereign,  for  to  the  best  hath  oft  times  suc- 
Verifica-  cecded  the  worst — they  shall  be  carried  through  by  his 
tion  of  the  bishops,  set  up  and  entertained  by  him  for  that  effect,  and 
the  rest  of  the  estates  not  onely  be  indeed  as  ciphers,  but 
also  beare  the  blame  thereof,  to  their  great  evil  and  dis- 
honour. If  one  will  ask,  how  shall  these  bishops  be  more 
subject  to  be  carried  after  the  appetite  of  an  evil  prince  than 
the  rest  of  the  estates  ?  the  answer  and  reason  is,  because 
they  have  their  lordship  and  living,  their  honour,  estima- 
tion, profit,  and  commoditie  of  the  king;  the  king  may 
set  them  up  and  cast  them  downe,  give  them,  and  take  from 
them,  put  them  in  and  out  at  his  pleasure ;  therefore  they 
must  bee  at  his  direction,  to  do  what  liketh  him;  and  in  a  word, 
he  may  do  with  them  by  law,  [i.  e.  deal  with  them  without 
regard  to  law,]  because  they  were  set  up  against  law.  But 
with  other  estates  he  cannot  do  so,  they  having  either  herit- 
able standing  in  their  roomes  by  the  fundamental  lawes,  or 
a  commission  from  the  estates  that  send  them,  as  from  the 
burgesses  or  barons.  Deprave  me  once  the  ecclesiastical 
estate,  which  have  the  gift  of  knowledge  and  learning  beyond 
others,  and  are  supposed — because  they  should  bee — of  best 
conscience,  and  the  rest  will  be  easily  miscarried;  and  that  so 
much  the  more,  that  the  officers  of  state,  lords  of  session, 


JAMES  VI.  315 

judges,  lawyers,  that  have  their  offices  of  the  king,  are  com-  BOOK 
monly  framed  after  the  court's  affection.  Yea,  let  chancellor,  ^' 
secratrie,  treasurer,  president,  comptroller,  and  others  that  1606. 
now  are,  take  heed  to  themselves  that  these  new  prelates  of 
the  kirk — as  covetous  and  ambitious  as  ever  they  were  of  old 
— insinuating  themselves  by  flatterie  and  obsequence  into  the 
prince's  favour,  attaine  not  to  the  bearing  of  all  these  offices 
of  estate  and  crowne,  and  to  the  exercising  thereof  as  craftily, 
avariciously,  proudly,  and  cruelly,  as  ever  the  papistical  pre- 
lates did ;  for,  as  the  holiest,  best,  and  wisest  angels  of  light 
being  depraved,  became  the  most  wicked,  craftie,  and  cruell 
divells,  so  the  learnedest  and  best  pastor,  perverted  and  poy- 
soned  by  that  old  serpent  with  avarice  and  ambition,  becomes 
the  falsest,  worst,  and  most  cruel  man,  as  experience  in  all  ages 
hath  proved.  If  any  succeeding  prince  please  to  play  the  ty- 
rant and  governe  all,  not  by  lawes,  but  by  his  will  and  plea- 
sure, signified  by  missives,  articles,  and  directions,  these  bishops 
shall  never  admonish  him  as  faithful  pastors  and  messengers 
of  God,  but  as  they  are  made  up  by  man,  they  must,  and  will 
flatter,  pleasure  and  obey  man  ;  and  as  they  stand  by  affection 
of  the  prince,  so  will  they  by  no  means  jeopard  their  standing, 
but  be  the  readiest  of  all  to  put  the  king's  will  into  execution, 
though  it  were  to  take  and  apprehend  the  bodies  of  the  best, 
and  such,  namely,  as  would  stand  for  the  lawes  and  freedome 
of  the  realme,  to  cast  them  into  dark  and  stinking  prisons,  or 
put  them  in  exile  from  their  native  land.  The  pitiful  exper- 
ience in  times  past,  makes  us  bold  to  give  warning  for  the 
time  to  come,  for  it  hath  been  seen  and  felt,  and  yet  dayly  is 
in  this  island ;  and  finally,  if  the  prince  be  prodigal,  or  would 
enrich  his  courtiers  by  taxations,  imposts,  subsidies,  and  ex- 
actions layd  upon  the  subjects  of  the  realme,  who  have  been, 
or  shall  be  so  ready  to  conclude  and  impose  that  by  parlia- 
ment as  these,  who  are  made  and  set  up  for  that  and  the  like 
service  7' 

xxxix.  The  prelates  were  not  long  in  displaying  to  the 
nobles,  that  the  predictions  of  the  protesters  were  not  alto- 
gether chimerical.     On  the  first  day  of  the  parliament,  ten 
bishops  rode,  two  and  two,  between  the  earls  and  the  lords ;  Conduct 
but  on  the  last,  after  the  bill  restoring  them  to  their  honours,  of  the 
had  passed  the  estates,  they  would  not  ride  unless  they  got 
their  own  place  next  the  marquises,  but  went  on  foot  to  the 


BOOK 
V. 

1606. 


Ministers 
called  to 

London. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

parliament  house.  They  were  now  restored  to  their  hon- 
ours, titles,  and  in  some  measure  to  their  incomes,  yet  still 
they  had  obtained  no  spiritual  power  in  the  church ;  and  as 
this  could  not  be  accomplished  by  a  mere  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, it  was  necessary  to  effect  it  through  the  medium  of  the 
church  itself;  but  there  were  several  members  whose  talents 
and  influence  were  dreaded,  whose  integrity  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  corrupt,  and  whose  firmness  neither  threats  nor 
persecution  could  bend ;  these  it  was  requisite  to  get  remov- 
ed before  any,  even  of  the  preliminary,  steps  could  be  pro- 
posed. They  were,  therefore,  called  up  to  London,  by  an 
especial  letter  from  the  king,  under  the  pretence  of  holding 
a  conference  "  to  treat  of  matters  concerning  the  peace  of 
the  church  of  Scotland ;  and  that  his  majesty  might  make 
the  constant  and  unchangeable  favour  he  had  ever  borne  to 
all  the  dutiful  members  of  that  body  manifestly  known  to 
them,  by  which  means  they  might  be  bound  in  duty  and  in 
conscience  to  conform  themselves  to  his  godly  intentions ; 
and  if  otherwise,  after  this  more  than  princely  condescen- 
any  turbulent  spirits  should  persist  maliciously  in  un- 


sion, 


dutiful  contempt  of  the  royal  authority,  it  would  then  be 
made  manifest  that  the  severity  which  he  might  be  forced  to 
use,  was  extorted  from  him  against  his  nature  by  their  obsti- 
nacy." These  letters  were  addressed  to  Andrew  Melville, 
James,  his  nephew,  William  Scott,  minister  of  Cupar,  John 
Carmichaelof  Kilconquhar,  William  Watson  of  Burntisland, 
James  Balfour  of  Edinburgh,  Adam  Coult  of  Musselburgh, 
and  Robert  Wallace  of  Tranent.  On  the  part  of  the  pre^ 
lates,  were  invited  the  two  archbishops,  and  the  bishops  of 
Galloway,  Dunkeld,  and  Orkney. 

Conference  XL.  The  meeting  took  place  at  Hampton  court,  and  the 
subjects  proposed  by  his  majesty  were  : — The  illegal  assent 
bly  held  at  Aberdeen,  and  the  best  means  for  obtaining  a 
peaceable  meeting  of  that  judicatory,  to  establish  good  order 
and  tranquillity  in  the  church.  The  presence-chamber  was 
crowded  with  nobility,  and  several  English  bishops  and  deans 
stood  behind  the  tapestry,  and  at  the  doors  of  the  apartment. 
The  king  was  seated  with  the  prince  on  his  one  hand,  and 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  on  the  other.  The  bishops 
first  gave  their  opinion,  which  was  merely  an  echo  of  the 
king's ;  they  condemned  the  meeting  as  turbulent,  factious, 


JAMES  VI.  317 

and  unlawful.     The  king  then  asked  the  ministers  to  give  BOOK 
their  opinions,  beginning  with  Andrew  Melville,  and  put  the       ^. 
question  in  a  general  form ; — Whether  eight  or  nine  minis-      Ifio6> 
ters,  meeting  without  warrant,  and  without  either  moderator 
or  scribe,  and  informally  without  sermon,  being  also  discharg- 
ed by  open  proclamation,  could  make  an  assembly  ?  Melville  A.  Melville 
replied  : — That  an  ordinary  meeting  of  a  court,  established  Aberdeen* 
by  law,  could  not  be  declared  unlawful  on  account  of  its  thin-  Assembly, 
ness;  and  the  members  at  Aberdeen  were  sufficiently  numer- 
ous to  prorogue  the  assembly  to  a  future  day,  which  was  all 
they  did,  and  all  they  had  proposed  to  do.     As  to  their  war- 
rant, it  was  founded  on  the  scripture,  his  majesty's  laws,  and 
the  commissions  they  received  from  their  presbyteries.     The 
presence  of  a  former  moderator  or  clerk  was  not  necessary  to 
the  validity  of  an  assembly,  for,  in  case  of  their  absence,  they 
might,  according  to  reason  and  the  practice  of  the  church, 
choose  others  in  their  room.    The  charge  of  wanting  sermon 
was  false — one  was  preached  by  a  minister  of  Aberdeen  at 
the  opening;  and  with  regard  to  the  alleged  forbidding  of  the 
assembly  on  the  day  before  it  met — turning  to  Laurieston, 
who  was  the  king's  commissioner,   he  said,  in  a  tone  of  the 
most  impressive  solemnity; — "  I  charge  you,   in  the  name  His  appeal 
of  the  church  of  Scotland,   as  you  will  answer  before  the  to  Laurie- 
great  God,  at  the  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ,   to  judge  the 
quick  and  the  dead,  to  testify  the  truth,  and  tell  whether 
there  was  any  such  discharge  given."     He  paused  for  a  re- 
ply, but  Laurieston  made  no  answer.    The  king  relieved  his 
convicted  commissioner  from  penance,  by  desiring  Melville 
to  state  the  reasons   why  he  would  not  condemn  the  minis- 
ters ?    He  answered, — That  he  would  not  prejudge  the  ques- 
tion.    The  rest  of  his  colleagues  also  refused  to  pronounce, 
or  to  anticipate  the  sentence  of  their  brethren,  as  the  king, 
by  proclamation,  had  remitted  their  trial  to  a  general  assem- 
bly.    They  were  then  asked, — What  advice  they  would  give 
for  pacifying  the  dissensions  raised  in  the  church  ?  To  which 
they  unanimously  replied, — A  free  general  assembly.     Be-  Ministers 
fore  they  reached  home,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  messen-  ordered  to 
ger,  with  a  charge,  commanding  them  not  to  return  to  Scot-  London, 
land,  nor  to  approach  the  courts  of  the  king,  queen,  or  prince, 
without  special  licence. 

XLI.  Unable  to  intimidate  these  intrepid   men  by  public 


318  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK     exhibitions,  it  was  next  endeavoured  to  ensnare  them  by  pri- 
• '        vate  examinations.     They  were  brought  before  the  Scottish 
1606       council,  and  asked  whether  they  prayed  for  the  imprisoned 
Their  con.  ministers,  acknowledged  their  assembly,  or  approved  their 
thfscot-*6  Reasonable  declinature ;  James  Melville  spiritedly  replied,  "I 
tish council,  am  a  free  subject  of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  that  has  laws 
and  privileges  of  its  own,  as  free  as  any  kingdom  in  the  world, 
to  which  I  will  stand;  there  hath  been  no  summons  lawfully 
execute  against  me  ;  the  noblemen  here  and  I  are  not  in  our 
own  country;  the  charge,  super  inquirendis,  was  declared 
long  since  to  be  unjust;  I  am  bound  by  no  law  to  criminate 
or  furnish  an  accusation  against  myself.     My  lords,  remem- 
ber what  you  are ;  though  I  be  but  a  mean  man,  I  am  a  true 
born  Scottishman,  and  deal  with  me  as  you  would  be  dealt 
with  yourselves,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Scottish  realme." 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  uncle  Andrew,  who,  in  a  still 
bolder  strain,  told  the  members   of   the  council  : — "  That 
they  did  not  know  what  they  were  doing  ;  and  that  they  had 
degenerated  from  the  ancient  nobility  of  Scotland,  who  were 
wont  to  hazard  their  lives  and  lands  for  the  freedom  of  their 
country   and   the  gospel,  which  they   were  betraying  and 
overturning." 

Forced  to  xui.  While  thus  forcibly  detained  in  England,  they  were 
ship^the"  obliged  to  attend  at  the  chapel  royal,  where  a  series  of  dis- 
chapel  courses  were  preached — with  more  warmth  than  argument 
— against  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government,  and 
in  defence  of  episcopacy.  To  these  they  listened  with  at- 
tention, but  they  were  not  allowed  to  answer,  neither  when 
the  sermons  were  delivered,  viva  voce,  nor  when  they  after- 
wards appeared  in  print;  yet  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
ever  been  provoked  to  use  any  angry  expression,  although 
one  of  the  episcopalian  champions,  in  the  height  of  his  zeal 
addressed  his  majesty,  and  alluding  to  the  order  of  his  fet- 
tered opponents,  repeatedly  exclaimed  ; — Down  with  them 
Down  with  them  ! 

XLIII.  When   a  person  in  power  wishes  to  get  rid  of  a 
troublesome  inferior,  it  is  easy  to  make  or  find  an  occasion 
for  a  quarrel.     Never  was  this  better  exemplified  than  in  the 
Festival  of  case  of  Andrew  Melville.     On  the  festival  of  St.  Michael 
ehaei,  "       which  was  celebrated  with  much  pomp,  Andrew  Melvilh 
and  his  nephew  were  ordered  to  be  present.     The  musi 


JAMES  VI.  319 

and  the  entertainments  of  the  day  were  not  much  to  the    BOOK 
taste  of  the  Scottishmen ;  but  the  elder  Melville  viewed  with  _    V* 
peculiar   abhorrence  the  decorating  of  the  chapel,  particu-      1607. 
tarty  the  altar,  on  which   stood  two  shut  books,  two  empty 
cups,  and  two  unlighted  candles.*     After  leaving  the  cha- 
pel they  were  conducted  into  the  royal  closet,  where  they 
saw  the  king  touch  several  for  the  cure  of  the  scrofula,  thence 
called  the  king's  evil. 

XLIV.  On  returning  to  his  lodgings,  Andrew  Melville  gave  4*  ^Iel-. 
vent  to  his  indignation  in  the  following  epigram  :  gram  <>„  " 

the  occa- 

Cur  stant  clausi  Anglis  libri  duo  regio  in  ara,  8Ion' 

Lumina  caeca  duo,  pollubra  sicca  duo  ? 

Num  sensum  cultumque  Dei  tenet  Anglia  clausum, 

Lumina  caeca  suo,  sorda  sepulta  sua  ? 

Romano  an  ritu  dam  regalem  instruit  arain 

Purpuream  pingit  religiosa  lupam  ?f 

A  copy  of  which  having  been  surreptitiously  obtained  by  the  Called  be- 
king,  he  was  summoned  before  the  English  privy  council, 
where  he  frankly  avowed  being  the  author  of  the  lines,  but  de- 
nied having  published  them,  or  given  a  copy.    Bancroft,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  then  pronounced  the  verses  a  libel  on 
the  church,  and  even  thought  they  contained  treason.     Mel- 
ville, whose  patience  had  been  exhausted,  vehemently  broke 
in  upon  the  archbishop's  harangue.    "  My  lords,"  exclaimed  His  de- 
he,    "  Andrew  Melville  was  never  a  traitor ;   but,  my  lords,  e 
there  was  one  Richard  Bancroft — let  him  be  sought  for — 
who,  during  the  life  of  the  late  queen,  wrote  a  treatise  against 
his  majesty's  title  to  the  crown   of  England,  and  here" — 
pulling  it  from  his  pocket — "  here  is  the  book."     Then  ris- 

*  The  prince  de  Vendome,  who  was  present,  said,  he  did  not  see  what 
should  hinder  the  churches  of  Rome  and  England  to  unite ;  and  one  of  his 
attendants  said,  almost  in  the  very  same  words  which  king  James  had  used  in 
his  famous  eulogium  on  the  kirk  of  Scotland : — "  There  is  nothing  of  the 
mass  wanting  here  but  the  adoration  of  the  Host." 

•f-  The  following  old  translation  of  them  is  given  in  Dr.  M'Crie's  Life  of 
Melville. 

Why  stand  there  on  the  royal  altar  hie, 

Two  closed  books,  blind  lights,  two  basins  drie  ? 

Doth  England  hold  God's  mind  and  worship  closs, 

Blind  of  her  sight  and  buried  in  her  dross  ? 

Doth  she,  with  chapel  put  in  Romish  dress, 

The  purple  whore  religiously  express  ? 


320 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    ing  in  warmth,  and  advancing  as  he  spoke,  he  shook  the 
primate's  lawn  sleeves,  calling  them  "  Romish  rags,"  and  la- 
1607.      mented  that  such  a  man  should  have  the  ear  of  his  majesty. 
In  a  similar  strain  of  impassioned  invective  he   attacked  bi- 
shop Barlow,  who  came  to  the  assistance  of  Bancroft ;  and 
when  a  Scottish   nobleman  desired  him  to  remember  where 
he  was,  and  to  whom  he  was  speaking,  he  replied : — "  I  re- 
member it  very  well,  my  lord,  and  am  sorry  that  your  lord- 
ship, by  sitting  here  and  countenancing  such  proceedings 
against  me,  should  furnish  a  precedent  which  may  yet  be 
used  against  yourself  or  your  posterity."     He  was  then  re- 
moved, and  after  the  council  had  deliberated  a  little,  recalled, 
Pronounc-   when  he  was  admonished  by  the  chancellor,  to  add  modesty 
cd  guilty.    an(j  discretion  to  his  learning  and  years,  and  told  that  he  had 
been  found  guilty  of  scandalum  magnatum. 

XLV.  For  this  trifling  offence,  if  it  can  be  called  an  offence, 
neither  the  genius,  learning,  services,  piety,  nor  age,  of  the  ve- 
nerable Melville,  could  procure  a  pardon.     He  was  first  com- 
mitted to  the  custody  of  Dr.  Overall,  dean  of  St.  Paul's,  and 
Sent  to  the  afterward  sent  prisoner  to  the  Tower,  where  he  was  confined 
lower.       for  four  years<    jjjs  release  was  obtained  through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  duke  of  Bouillon,  who  wished  to  place  him  at  the 
Goes  to       head  of  the  protestant  university  at  Sedan ;  but  not  without 
Sedan.        considerable  opposition  from  the  queen  regent  of  France,  who 
was  anxious  to  prevent  such  a  man  from  settling  in  that  coun- 
try.    He  was  himself  extremely  desirous  to  return  to  his  na- 
tive land,  but  all  the  interest  that  was  used  on  his  behalf  was 
fruitless;   and  in  the  month  of  April,    1611,  he  embarked 
from  the  Tower  of  London  for  the  place  of  his  exile.    Of  his 
His  death,  late  years  not  much  is  known.     He  died  at  Sedan,  1622,  ai 
ter  a  laborious  life  spent  in  the   service  of  literature,  hi 
country,  and  the  church.     His  nephew,  James,  a  man  of 
more  mild  and  amiable  disposition,   was  confined  first  t 
Disposal  of  Newcastle,  and  afterward  in  Berwick,  within  sight  of  his  na 
iers'  live  country,  which  he  was  never  permitted  to  visit.     Th 
others  were  sent  to  Scotland,   but  restricted  to  separate  an 
remote  districts. 

XLVI.  This  open  breach  of  faith,  and  notorious  act  of  op 
pression,  it  is  impossible  to  stigmatize  in  language  too  strong 
The  ministers  were  invited  to  an  amicable  conference,  and  t 
give  their  advice  upon  the  state  of  the  church,  which  whe 


JAMES   VI»  321 

they  had  obeyed,   they  were   insulted,  imprisoned,  and  ba-    BOOK 
nished,  without  a  trial,  and  without  even  the  imputation  of 
a  crime.     Throughout  the  whole  transaction  there  is  a  mean,      1607. 
pitiful  vindictiveness,  that,  while  it  marks  strongly  a  spirit 
of  implacable  animosity  and  personal  revenge,  places  James 
and  his  counsellors  in  the  most  despicable  point  of  view.     At 
the  same  time,  the  noble,  independent  spirit  of  the  plain, 
persecuted  ministers,  throws  a  lustre  around  their  character, 
which  shines  with  peculiar  brilliance  when  contrasted  with 
the  low,  sycophantish  behaviour  of  their  mitred  opponents.* 
XLVII.  The  men,  whose  talents  were  most  formidable,  and 
whose  influence  was  most  dreaded,  being  thus  disposed  of, 
the  bishops  returned  to  be  present  at  a  convention  of  the  Convention 
ministers  of  the  church.     This  convention  was  summoned  to  ^J^™^™ 
consult  with  certain  members  of  the  privy  council,  upon  the  the  king, 
remedies  for  bypast  distractions,  the  best  method  for  pre- 
venting the  dangers  arising  from  the  great  increase  of  pa- 
pists, for  settling  peace  and  good  order  in  the  kirk,  and  en- 
suring obedience  to  the  royal  authority.     The  members  were 
nominated  by  the  king,  who,  in  letters  addressed  to  the  dif- 
ferent presbyteries,  directed  them  to  choose  such  persons 
as  he  knew  would  prove  subservient  to  his  will.     The  num- 
bers  varied  in  the  different   presbyteries ;   from  some  six, 
and  from  others  only  half  that  number  were  selected ;  and, 
calculating  upon  the  opposition  of  some  of  the  presbyteries 
to  this  mandate,  those  named  were,  by  private  letters,  com- 
manded to  attend,  whether  they  received  commissions  from 
their  presbyteries  or  not.     By  this  means  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  ministers  were  collected,  several  of  whom 
had  no  commission  from   their  presbyteries  to   vote,    and 
some   were  even  interdicted ;  they,    nevertheless,  assumed 
the  name  and  title  of  a  legal  assembly.     It  would  still,  per- 
haps, have  been  too  rash  a  step  to  propose,  even  in  a  meet- 
ing constituted   as  this  was,  the  complete  establishment  of 
episcopal  jurisdiction.     An  overture  was  therefore  laid  be- 
fore them  from  the  king,  in  which  his  majesty  expressed  his 

*  In  this  statement  I  have  chiefly  followed  Dr.  M'Crie,  whose  long  account 
cf  the  conferences  and  treatment  of  the  ministers  in  their  London  expedition, 
is  not  one  of  the  least  interesting  passages  in  his  able  Life  of  Andrew  Melville. 
VOL.   III.  2  T 


322  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  opinion,  that  the  greatest  cause  of  the  misgoverntnent  of 
V'  church  affairs  was  their  being  committed  into  the  hands  of 
1607.  ignorant  and  inexperienced  men ;  and  declared  it  to  be  his 
"advice  and  pleasure,  that  one  of  the  most  godly  and  grave, 
and  meetest  for  government,  should  presently  be  nominated 
as  moderator  of  each  presbytery,  to  continue  in  that  office 
until  the  jars  among  the  ministers  were  removed,  and  the  no- 
blemen, professing  papistry  within  the  kingdom,  either  re- 
duced to  a  profession  of  the  truth,  or  repressed  by  a  due  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws ;  that  the  moderators  should  have  an 
additional  stipend  of  one  hundred  pounds,*  and  the  bishops 
to  be  the  moderators  of  the  presbyteries  within  whose  bounds 
they  resided."  Such  was  the  overture,  as  originally  propos- 
ed and  carried ;  but  when  published  as  an  act  of  assembly, 
after  it  had  been  revised  at  court,  it  was  found  that  the  bi- 
shops were  not  only  appointed  moderators  of  the  presby- 
teries within  whose  bounds  they  resided,  but  also  perpetual 
Constant  moderators  of  the  provincial  synods.  The  moderators,  and 

moderators  tjje  clerks  of  presbyteries, — also  rendered  permanent,  and  en- 
appointed.     .  r        •        ,     .  .  . 

tirely  dependent  upon  the  bishops, — were  declared  to  be  of- 
ficial members  of  the  general  assembly.  At  the  close  of  the 
assembly,  an  admonition  was  given  to  the  brethren,  to  be- 
ware of  speaking  any  thing  unadvisedly  against  his  majesty. 
It  was  afterward  discovered,  that  a  large  sum  of  money  had 
been  distributed  by  Dunbar,  in  addition  to  all  his  other  ar- 
guments, in  order  to  attain  his  object. 

XLVIII.  When  the  assembly  rose,  the  synods  and  presby- 
teries were  charged  to  receive  their  constant  moderators. 
A  number  of  the  presbyteries  complied,  but  all  the  synods, 
Confusion  except  Angus,  refused.  They  protested  against  the  assem- 
ensues.  bly  as  illegal,  not  having  been  duly  elected,  and  demanded, 
at  least,  to  see  the  act  they  were  called  upon  to  obey ;  but 
not  a  copy  of  it,  no  not  even  an  extract,  could  be  produced, 
and  they  were  required  to  take  the  mere  word  of  the  king's 
commissioner  in  its  room.  As  this  did  not  satisfy  them, 
the  ministers  were  sent  to  prison,  or  declared  rebels,  and 
forced  to  abscond  for  disobedience.  The  synods  were  in- 
terrupted, dispersed,  and  prohibited,  and  the  whole  land 

•  Scottish  money. 


JAMES  VI.  323 

was   thrown   into   confusion    by   the   intemperate    violence    BOOK 
with  which  the  agents  of  government  endeavoured  to  carry        V> 
into  effect  an  act  they  had  not  to  produce,  and  which  se-       1607. 
veral  of  the  members  of  the  Linlithgow  convention   con- 
tended was  essentially  different  from  their  imperious  man- 
dates.* 


•  As  a  specimen  of  the  manner  these  men,  who  were  constantly  professing 
to  seek  the  peace  of  the  church,  endeavoured  to  obtain  that  object,  I  subjoin 
an  abstract  of  their  proceedings  at  Perth,  when  they  attempted  to  carry  into 
effect  the  choosing  of  a  constant  moderator — a  project,  the  sole  end  of  which 
was  to  prevent  confusion.  Upon  the  first  Tuesday  of  April  the  synod  of 
Perth  met.  The  comptroller,  sir  David  Murray,  lord  Scoone,  was  present  as 
commissioner,  and  his  orders  were,  to  pull  the  last  moderator  out  of  the  pul- 
pit, if,  in  his  opening  sermon,  he  touched  upon  any  of  the  late  proceedings, 
particularly  those  of  the  convention  held  at  Linlithgow.  He  chose  for  his 
text,  Amos,  chap.  vii.  ver.  12,  13.  "  Also  Amaziah  saith  unto  Amos,  O  thou 
seer,  go,  flee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there  eat  bread,  and  pro- 
phesy there  :  but  prophesy  not  again  any  more  at  Bethel ;  for  it  Is  the  king's 
chapel,  and  it  is  the  king's  court,"  and  it  was  with  difficulty  the  commis- 
sioner was  prevented  from  laying  violent  hands  upon  him.  In  the  afternoon 
they  met,  and  were  proceeding  quietly  to  choose  their  moderator,  when 
Scoone  entered,  and  stopped  them,  because  they  had  not  waited  till  he  pro- 
duced his  commission.  They  told  him : — If  he  had  a  commission  from  the 
king  or  council,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  new  moderator  to  receive  it.  The 
commissions  were  then  read,  desiring  them  to  choose  a  constant  moderator 
from  a  list  of  four,  sent  according  to  the  act  of  the  assembly  at  Linlithgow. 
The  synod  requested  a  sight  of  the  act,  but  no  act  could  he  produced, 
and  several  of  the  members  who  had  been  at  Linlithgow,  asserted : — That 
they  heard  nothing  mentioned  in  the  convention  about  the  moderators  of 
synods.  Scoone  threatened  to  dissolve  the  meeting  if  one  of  the  four  were 
not  chosen  ;  often  repeating : — Ye  shall  not  make  a  Laurieston  of  me  !  This 
they  told  him  they  could  not  do,  for  one  of  them  was  dead,  another  unfit  by 
disease,  the  third  refused  to  accept,  and  the  fourth  had  entered  by  violence 
against  the  protestation  of  the  presbytery.  The  commissioner  still  insisting, 
the  synod  said  it  was  hard  to  be  desired  to  obey  an  act  which  could  not  be 
produced  ;  which  fourteen  of  their  number,  who  had  been  at  Linlithgovv,  de- 
clared upon  their  consciences  was  never  proposed,  either  in  private  confer- 
ence or  public  meeting,  especially  as  it  was  against  the  acts  of  assembly,  and 
the  discipline  which  the  king  and  the  whole  estates  had  sworn  and  subscribed. 
They  therefore  proceeded,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  commission- 
er, who  raged  violently,  and  chose  a  moderator  according  to  their  usual  legal 
method.  Mr.  Henry  Levingston,  who  was  chosen,  was  then  desired  to  take 
his  place  ;  Scoone  threatened  him,  if  he  dared,  and  rose  to  resist  him  by 
force.  The  moderator  gave  way,  and  going  to  the  middle  of  the  table,  said 
meekly  :  "  Let  us  begin  at  God,  and  be  humbled  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ."  The  commissioner,  on  seeing  his  threatenings  disregarded,  struck 
bis  breast,  and  roared  out  in  an  infuriated  tone .  "  The  devil  a  Jesus  is  here," 


324  HisroiiY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  xxix.  Had  James,  instead  of  endeavouring  to  enforce  a 
uniformity  in  religion,  and  establish  his  power  on  the  wreck 
1607.  of  the  church,  turned  his  attention  seriously,  now  that  he 
had  the  means,  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  laws;  had  he 
dropped  his  favourite  apothegm, — "  No  bishop,  no  king," 
and  adopted  in  its  place, — "  No  law,  no  king ;"  his  name 
might  have  still  been  fondly  cherished  in  his  native  country, 
and  the  crown  of  Britain  have  descended  in  peace  to  his  pos- 
terity ;  but  he  continued  to  pursue  his  mischievous  plans, 
and  to  create  fresh  dissensions  in  a  country  the  prey  of  he- 
reditary feuds,  which  nothing  but  a  strict,  unrelaxed  ad- 
ministration of  justice  could  have  repressed.  The  privy 
State  of  the  council  had  successfully  interposed  in  procuring  a  temporary 
country,  accommodation  among  some  of  the  principal  families,  but 
still  they  were  unable  to  prevent  the  terrible  effects  of  pri- 
vate revenge.  The  earl  of  Crawford  had  assassinated  sir 
Walter  Lindsay,  his  own  relation,  and  afterward  continued 
to  reside  in  Edinburgh  openly,  and  in  defiance  of  the  law ; 
till  David,  sir  Walter's  nephew,  collected  an  armed  force  to 
avenge  his  death,  and  lord  Spynie,  their  mutual  uncle,  a 
nobleman  of  great  promise,  interposing,  was  unfortunately 
slain.  The  earl  of  Morton,  and  lord  Maxwell,  having  both 
pretensions  to  hold  courts  in  Eskdale,  when  neither  would 
submit,  they  prepared  to  appeal  to  arms,  on  hearing  which 
the  council  charged  both  to  disband  their  forces.  Morton 

upset  the  table,  and  covered  those  who  were  kneeling  near  it  with  the  green 
cloth  ;  but  the  immoveable  moderator  proceeded  with  his  prayer,  and  be- 
sought  the  Lord  to  be  avenged  on  the  blasphemy  of  his  name,  and  contempt  of 
his  glory,  trampled  under  foot  by  profane  men.  The  commissioner  then  with- 
drew, and  sent  an  order  to  the  bailies  to  dismiss  these  rebels.  The  bailies 
replied : — They  could  not  do  so  on  their  own  authority,  without  a  meeting  of 
the  town  council.  Their  next  meeting,  however,  was  prevented  from  being 
held  in  the  church,  as  the  doors  were  locked.  The  people,  who  had  assembled 
in  great  numbers  weeping,  cursed  the  instruments  of  that  disturbance,  and 
Would  have  proceeded  by  violence  to  break  open  the  doors,  but  the  ministers 
restrained  them,  and  the  meeting  was  held  in  the  open  air,  the  zeal  of  the  citi- 
zens quickly  furnishing  every  accommodation  in  their  power.  This,  said  the  mo- 
derator, is  the  fruit  of  the  convention  at  Linlithgow.  After  the  commissioner 
was  gone,  the  business  was  finished  quietly  ;  but  the  moderator  of  the  former 
synod  was  put  to  the  horn,  and  forced  to  abscond,  because  a  minion  of  the 
crown  had  raised  this  disturbance — Caldervvood,  p.  56 — 7. 


JAMES  VI.  325 

obeyed,  but  Maxwell  still  persisting,  he  was  by  some  means     BOOK 
apprehended  and  lodged   in  Edinburgh  castle.     After  two 
months'  confinement  he   contrived  to  make  his  escape.     In      1607. 
consequence,  he  was   proclaimed  an  outlaw,  and  owed  his 
safety  to  the  fidelity  of  his  domestics  and  friends.    Rendered 
desperate  by  his  situation,  and  being  unable  to  procure  sa- 
tisfaction  for  his  personal  injuries  in  a  court  of  justice,  he  ders  John 
determined  to  avenge  his  own  quarrel.     Having  invited  the  Eton- 
chief  of  the  Johnstons,  who  had  killed  his  father,  to  a  friend- 
ly interview,  under  pretence  of  employing  his  interest  to 
procure  the  king's  pardon,  he  treacherously  murdered  him, 
by  sending  a  brace  of  bullets  through  his  back. 

L.  In  the  summer  of  1605,  the  scheme  of  colonising  Lewis 
was  resumed,  and  Lumsden  of  Airdrie,  and  sir  George  Hay 
of  Netherliff,  to  whom  some  of  the  original  projectors  had 
made  over  their  right,  went  thither  in  the  autumn  to  put  it 
into  execution.  With  the  assistance  of  M'Kay  and  M'Ken- 
zie  they  obliged  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  to  remove  from 
the  island,  and  give  hostages  not  to  return.*  Having  ac- 
complished this,  and  thinking  they  had  secured  possession, 
the  leaders  left  a  force,  such  as  they  conceived  sufficient  to 
maintain  it,  and  returned  south.  The  colonists,  although  Last  at. 
occasionally  assaulted  by  the  islanders,  kept  their  position  Co^nigel°iie 
all  winter.  In  the  spring  Airdrie  returned  to  them  with  Hebrides, 
supplies,  and  they  immediately  began  to  build,  manure  the 
lands,  and  prepare  for  a  permanent  establishment ;  but 
the  funds  beginning  to  fail,  the  soldiers  deserted,  and  the 
exiled  natives,  assisted  by  a  number  of  the  neighbouring 
islanders,  made  an  invasion  about  the  end  of  harvest,  and  by 
continual  skirmishing,  so  wearied  out  the  new  possessors, 
that  they  were  glad,  for  a  small  sum  of  money,  to  make  over 
their  rights  to  the  chief  of  the  clan  M'Kenzie.  During  this 
year  the  project  was  again  revived,  and  the  islands  were  now 
offered  to  the  marquis  of  Huntly,  Lewis  and  Sky  except- 
ed,  for  ten  thousand  pounds  Scots ;  but  he  refused  to  give 
more  than  four  hundred,  for  liberty  to  subdue  what  he  was 
uncertain  whether  he  might  be  able  to  retain.  The  negoti- 

*  Gi'dervvood,  p.  537.     Spotsvvood,  p.  496. 


326  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ation  was  broken  off,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  James'  at- 

'       tempts  at  reducing  the  Hebrides.* 

1607.  LI.  More  severe  and  effectual  measures  were  taken  with 
the  borderers  ;  the  most  desperate,  and  those  who  were  most 
Extirpa-  dreaded  were  carried  to  the  continent  by  Buccleugh,  where 
borderers.  tne  greater  part  fell  in  the  Belgic  wars.  The  remainder, 
unable  to  resist,  and  unwilling  to  rest,  were  extirpated  by 
the  cruel  policy  of  the  earl  of  Dunbar;  and  the  debatable 
lands,  which  had  hitherto  afforded  the  freebooters  an 
asylum,  were  divided  and  appropriated  to  each  kingdom. 
Yet  many  years  elapsed  ere  they  were  brought  under  a  pro- 
per subjection  to  the  laws,  and  the  thieves  of  Annandale,  till 
the  labours  of  the  persecuted  ministers,  after  the  restoration, 
introduced  among  them  a  knowledge  of  religion  and  mora- 
lity, continued  to  harass  and  rob  the  western  borders. 

LII.  A  meeting  of  the  estates  was  this  year  held,  to  for- 
ward the  political  union  with  England,  and  they  appear  to 
have  been  sufficiently  obsequious  ;  but  the  English  parlia- 
ment not  proving  quite  so  manageable,  the  project  was  at 
that  time  laid  wholly  aside  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  and 
Another  it  ought  to  endear  to  every  Briton,  the  invaluable  rights  and 
privilege  of  a  free  parliament;  that  while  the  political  union 


fails.  of  the  two  kingdoms  was  discussed,  —  and  that  with  a  consi- 
derable degree  of  jealousy  and  asperity  on  both  sides,  —  in  the 
high  councils  of  England  and  Scotland,  even  as  then  consti- 
tuted, no  proscriptions,  imprisonments,  or  exile,  was  the 
consequence  ;  while  the  uniformity  in  church  discipline, 
which  was  urged  by  prerogative  alone,  was  carried  on  with 
a  relentless  cruelty,  which  eventually  and  justly  proved  fatal 
to  the  race  of  the  Stuarts. 

LIII.  About  this  time  the  hopes  of  the  nation  and  the  court 
were  raised  high,  by  the  discovery  of  a  silver  mine  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Linlithgow.  Some  specimens  were  of  the 
richest  kind,  yielding,  from  one  hundred  ounces  of  ore,  about 
sixty  ounces  of  silver.  But  James  disgusted  the  Scots,  by 
ordering  the  produce  of  the  mine  to  be  conveyed  to  Londo 

*  It  was  a  strange  idea  to  employ  the  savages  of  Badenoch  to  civilize  the 
barbarians  of  the  Western  Isles,  and  at  a  time  when  the  government  was  pic 
fessing  a  strong  hatred  at  popery,  to  sell  them  to  a  papist, 


JAMES  VI.  327 

to  be  refined  in  the  Tower,  and  was  himself  soon  disappoint-  BOOK 
ed,  the  vein  being  speedily  wrought  out  or  lost.     The  gold  _ 
mines  of  Crawford  muir  were  also  resumed  with  similarly      1607. 
extravagant  expectations,  and  similarly  insignificant  results. 
They  repaid  an  expense  of  three  thousand  pounds,  by  a  pro- 
duce of  not  quite  three  ounces  of  gold. 

LIV.  It  would  be  as  tiresome  as  useless  to  repeat  all  the 
protestations  and  promises  of  the  king  and  the  bishops,  re- 
specting their  desires  for  peace,  and  their  aversion  to  en- 
croach on  the  liberties  of  the  church,  or  overthrow  her  dis- 
cipline ;  in  every  instance  they  were  broken  ;  and  the  low 
cunning,   the  falsehood,  the  dissimulation,  the  cruelty,   and 
the  injustice  of  their  proceedings,  might  have  remained  an 
unparalleled  stain  upon   our  history,  had  not  the  atrocious 
reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  his  brother  outdone  them  in  iniqui- 
ty.    The  appointment  of  the  constant  moderators  had  upon  James  re- 
trial been  proved  to  be  obnoxious  to  the  people  and  the  mi-  ^esTabiish 
nisters,  when  uninfluenced.     The  king,  who  foresaw  this  op-  constant 
position,  and  pronounced  that  in  many  places  it  would  be^fg™^0" 
conscientious,  desired  force  to  be  used.*     But  the  bishops 
employed   a  more  powerful  and  less  invidious  instrument. 
A  number  of  the  ministers  were  in  extreme  poverty,  and  the 
bishops  had  obtained  the  power  of  regulating  their  stipends  ; The  bi- 
nor  could  they  even  procure  what  was  allotted  to  them  until  policy, 
they,  and  the  constant  moderators,  gave  a  warrant  to  that  ef- 
fect ;  and  Calderwood  laments  the  sad,  but  natural  influence 
which  this  had  upon  many  of  the  weaker  brethren. f     The 

*  "  As  touching  the  conclusion  taken  for  the  constant  moderators,  his  ma- 
jesty did  thank  them  for  their  travels ;  but  whereas  they  were  of  opinion  that 
the  act  should  be  universally  received— for  so  much  the  assembly  had  written 
— he  said  that  he  knew  them  too  well  to  expect  any  such  thing  at  their  hands. 
Their  consciencious  zeal  to  maintain  parity,  and  a  desire  to  keep  all  things  in 
a  continual!,  constant  volubility,  he  said,  was  such  as  they  would  never  agree 
to  a  settled  form  of  government  Besides,  he  knew  that  divers  of  those  who 
were  nominated  to  the  places  of  moderation  would  refuse  to  accept  the  same, 
lest  they  should  be  thought  to  affect  superiority  above  their  brethren :  that 
therefore  he  would  have  the  council  to  look  to  that  business,  and  direct  charges 
as  well  for  those  that  were  nominated  to  accept  the  moderation,  as  to  the  mi- 
nisters  of  every  presbytery  to  acknowledge  them  that  were  nominated." — Spots- 
wood,  p.  503.  What  a  tribute  to  the  disinterestedness  of  the  "  sincerer  sort 
of  the  ministrie,"  extorted  from  an  enemy ! 

f  Calderwood,  p.  575. 


328  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  bishops,  besides,  in  their  private  interviews,  urged  the  folly 
of  contending  with  the  king,  whose  intentions  they  affirmed 
had  been  greatly  misrepresented ;  and  from  the  circumstances 
of  dependence  in  which  the  ministers  were  now  placed,  their 
arguments  were  heard  with  a  less  scrupulous  ear,  than  in 
other  situations  they  would  probably  have  been. 

LV.  Whenever  any  new  aggression  was  to  be  made  upon 
the  church,  the  attention  of  the  ministers  was  always  directed 
to  the  prevalence  and  danger  of  popery ;  and  the  marquis  of 
Huntly  was  made  use  of  by  the  court  to  keep  them  in  alarm 
or  employment,  while  the  measures  were  in  preparation 
Ttcir  fin-  which  it  wished  to  forward.  As  it  was  an  object  of  import- 

esse  to  pro-  1-1  •  r  111-1111 

cure  an  as- ance  to  obtain  the  sanction  or  an  assembly,  which   had   the 

sombly.  show  of  legality,  to  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  at  Lin- 
lithgow,  the  bishops  raised  the  usual  cry  ;  and  availing  them- 
selves of  the  feelings  it  gave  rise  to,  represented  the  neces- 
sity of  harmony  among  the  professors  of  the  protestant  faith 
in  the  time  of  danger,  and  of  a  meeting  of  the  general  assem- 
bly, to  devise  the  most  effectual  means  for  resisting  popish 
intrigue.  Previously  to  which,  however,  a  conference  was 
held  at  Falkland,  where  it  was  agreed  to  leave  the  ques- 
tions relative  to  church  government  untouched  till  the  next 
general  assembly,  and  that  then  nothing  should  be  introduc- 
ed which  might  engender  strife ;  but  that  all  matters  of  con- 
troversy should  be  left  to  a  select  committee  for  their  private 
discussion. 
1608.  LVI-  The  assembly  met  at  Linlithgow,  July  26th.  It  was 

It  meets,  composed  chiefly  of  such  as  had  been  influenced  by  the  bi- 
shops, besides  about  forty  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  whom 
the  king  had  ordered  to  be  there,  and  who,  although  not 

Huntly  ex-  members,  claimed  a  right  to  vote.  A  sentence  of  excommu- 
nicati°n  was  pronounced  against  Huntly ;  but  the  main  ob- 
ject was  to  obtain  an  insidious  truce,  under  the  fascinating 
names  of  peace  and  accommodation,  that  during  its  continu- 
ance, the  prelates  might  pave  the  way  for  their  complete  es- 
tablishment. They  knew  that  the  men  who  were  opposed 
to  them  feared  an  oath,  and  would  keep  it  sacred,  while  they 
were  under  no  such  scrupulous  restraint.  After  many  pro- 
fessions of  mutual  regard,  it  was  agreed,  for  want  of  time — • 
as  was  alleged — to  leave  what  related  to  discipline  and  po- 


JAMES  VI.  329 

lity  to  be  settled  by  a  select  number  of  individuals,  and  the    BOOK 
whole  members  promised  upon  oath  to  lay  down  all  rancour 
and  distraction  of  heart  and  affections,  which  either  of  them      1608. 
had  borne  against  other  in  any  time  by-past,  and  be  reunited    ^in"8  r€ 
and  reconciled  in  hearty  affection  ;  and  to  abstain  in  the  mean  discipline, 
time  in  public  and  private  from  reviving  the  dissensions  by  toVcxHn^' 
their  disputes,  or,  as  Calderwood  phrases  it,  by  "  word,  deed,  mittee 
or  countenance."     On  their  return  home,  they  were  to  re- 
commend the  same  to  their  presbyteries,  and  all  the  contra- 
veners  of  this  amicable  arrangement  were  to  be  liable  to  the 
censure  of  the  synods.     A  commission  was  also  appointed  to 
correspond  with  the  king,  and  in  it  was  included  all  the  bi- 
shops.    At  the  conclusion  of  the  assembly,   a  motion  was  intercede 

made  to  request  the  commissioner,  and  those  who  were  to  forthepro- 
,  ii-  >  c    i  secuted  mi- 

go  to  court,  to  implore  the  king,   in  name  of  the  assembly,  nisters. 

to  grant  the  banished  and  confined  ministers  their  liberty. 

LVII.  Men  without  guile  themselves,  are  the  most  liable 
to  be  imposed  upon  by  low  craft  and  self-interested  cun- 
ning, especially  when  it  is  veiled  under  professions  of  kind- 
ness and  of  fair  dealing.     The  ministers  allowed  themselves 
to  be  completely  duped.     The  bishops,  at  the  very  moment  Deceit  of 
when  they  were  chanting:  "  Behold  how  good  a  thing  it  is  tneblsh°P5 
for  brethren  to  dwell  in  unity,"*  were  preparing  memorials 
to  the  king,  to  urge  him  to  the  prosecution  of  the  refractory 
ministers,  and  complaints  against  the  leniency  of  the  council. 

LVIII.  Previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  Linlithgow  con- 
vention, 1606,  Mr.  Welsh  and  his  companions  were  carried 
from  Blackness  to  Leith,  in  the  month  of  November,  in  the 
evening,  to  embark  for  the  place  of  their  banishment ;  but 
on  their  arrival,  owing  to  some  delay,  accidental  or  intend- 
ed, the  master  of  the  vessel  was  not  ready  at  the  time,  and 
Mr.  John  Murray,  minister  at  Leith,  received  them  into  his 
house,  and  hospitably  entertained  them  till  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  when  they  were  called  upon  to  go  on  board,-  and 
he  accompanied  them  to  the  beach,  where  numbers  were 
waiting  to  take  a  farewell  of  their  revered  preachers.  Hav- 
ing prayed,  and  sung  the  xxiii.  Psalm,  they  went  into  the  boat 
that  was  waiting,  and  left  that  land  which  some  of  them  were 

•  The  general  assembly  closed  by  singing  the  cxxxiii.   Psalm. 
VOL.  in.  2  u 


330  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK     destined  never  more  to  revisit,  attended  by  the  blessings  of  the 
V'        assembled  multitude.    Murray's  Christian  charity  was  a  crime 
1609.      which  these  pleaders  for  brotherly  love  could  never  forgive. 
Proceed-      For  this,  and  some  other  frivolous  causes,  he  was  summoned 
before  the  privy  council,  and  strictly  examined,  but  dismiss- 
ed.    The  prelates,  not  satisfied,  represented  the  case  to  the 
king,  and  Murray  was  imprisoned  in  Edinburgh  castle ;  but 
because  this  was  too  near  his  old  parish,  and  too  comforta- 
ble, they  now  requested  his  majesty  that  he  might  be  sent 
to  some  more  distant  province.     They,  at  the  same  time,  in- 
structed their  agent,  Gavin  Hamilton,  bishop  of  Galloway, 
to  apologize  for  their  agreeing  to  supplicate  for  the  confined 
ministers,  from  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed  ; 
and  to  show  that  they  were  sincere  in  their  enmity,  enjoined 
him  to  urge  his  majesty  to  send  orders  to  the  council,  to  re- 
mit nothing  of  the  rigour  of  their  confinement,  unless  they 
humbly  acknowledged  their  faults,  which   Hamilton  was  to 
Bishops'      dwell  upon  as  chiefly  committed  against  his  majesty's  prero- 
the  king,     gative.     They  also  insinuated  that  the  temporalities  granted 
to  the  lords  of  erections  should  be  reclaimed ;  that  all  pre- 
sentations to  vacant  churches  should  revert  to  his  majesty ; 
that  they  should  be  admitted  to  seats  in  the  court  of  ses- 
sion ;"*  and  they  conclude,  by  recommending  a  general  or- 
der to  be  sent  for  the  disarming  of  the  country — a  proposal 
which  ought  to  have  opened  the  eyes  of  government  to  their 
critical  situation,  and  convinced  them  of  the  misrule  which 
could  render  such  a  proceeding  necessary.     A  well  governed 
people  may  at  all  times  be  trusted  with  weapons ;  it  is  only 
when  maladministration  has  spread  misery  and  discontent 
that  rulers  need  resort  to  so  ungracious  a  measure. 
Oath  of  al-       Llx-  Immediately  after  the   discovery  of  the  gunpowder 
legiaiicere-  treason,  an  oath  of  allegiance  was  demanded  from  all  Eng- 

fllllTPn. 

lish  subjects,  particularly  papists,  in  which  they  were  re- 
quired to  abjure  the  power  claimed  by  the  pope  of  deposing 
kings,  and  disposing  of  their  kingdoms ;  and,  what  seems 
constantly  to  have  haunted  James :  "  That  damnable  doc- 
trine, that  princes  which  be  excommunicated  may  be  law- 

*  Memorial  by  the  bishop?,  to  be  proposed  to  his  most  excellent  majesty. 
Calderwood,  p.  602 


JAMES  VI.  331 

fully  murdered  by  their  subjects,  or  any  olher  whatsoever.11   BOOK 
The  pope,  in  two  breves,  strictly  forbade  any  of  the  Roman 
catholics  to  take  the  oath,  and  cardinal  Bellarmine  wrote  a      160g 
letter  to  the  Romish  archpriest,  Blackwell,  who  had  taken  it,  Roman  ca- 
exhorting  him  to  repentance,  and  steadfast  adherence  to  his  bid  uptake 
spiritual  allegiance,  even  although  he  should  suffer  the  crown  it. 
of  martyrdom.     To  counteract  the  effect  of  these  dangerous 
publications,  James   wrote   a    reply,  entitled,  Triplici  nodo 
Triplex  cuneus,  or  an  Apologie  for  the  Oath  of  Allegiance, 
as  an  Answer  to  the  Breves,  &c.     In   about  half  a  year, 
Bellarmine  answered  the  royal  disputant  under  the  name  Of  fames'con* 

J  "  ™  troversy 

Matthoeus  Tortus.  In  it  he  accused  James  of  deceiving  the  with  Bel- 
Roman  catholics,  and  of  having  departed  from  these  prin- 
ciples of  toleration  which  he  had  professed ;  asserted  that 
some  of  his  officers  of  state  had  given  the  pope  and  car- 
dinals reason  to  hope  that  he  would  profess  himself  a  ca- 
tholic when  he  came  to  the  throne  of  England  ;  that  he  had 
himself  written  letters  full  of  courtesy  to  cardinals  Aldo, 
Brandino,  and  Bellarmine ;  and  what  was  the  most  serious 
of  all,  he  had  written  a  letter  with  his  own  hand  to  pope 
Clement  VIII.  soliciting  a  cardinal's  hat  for  the  bishop  of 
Vaison.  This  letter,  which  both  James  and  his  secretary 
had  solemnly  denied  any  knowledge  of  f_vide  page  2563  when 
questioned  by  Elizabeth,  and  which,  from  that  time,  had  re- 
mained unnoticed,  being  thus  brought  forward  in  the  face 
of  Europe,  could  not  now  be  answered  by  the  royal  nega- 
tion. Lord  Balmerino,  who  was  then  at  court,  was  asked 
by  the  king : — If  any  such  letter  had  been  written  at  any  Balmerino 
time  ?  He  reminded  his  majesty  that  such  a  letter  had  been  je(]^s  thc 

written  by  his  majesty's  own  knowledge;  but  perceiving  that  letter  to 
i  •  i  •  i      i  •  •      i-       i          c  i         i         the  pope, 

this  was  a  subject  the  king  was  inclined  to  forget,  he  chose 

rather  to  throw  himself  upon  the  king's  mercy  than  stand 
upon  his  defence  ;  and  humbly  entreated  his  pardon,  as 
what  he  had  done  was  with  the  best  intentions,  to  purchase 
the  pope's  favour,  and  forward  his  claims  upon  England. 
He  was  afterward  examined  before  the  privy  council,  where 
it  is  said  he  confessed  that  he  had  written  the  letter  without 
the  king's  knowledge,  and  presented  it,  among  other  papers, 
for  signature  to  his  majesty,  who  subscribed  it  without  a  per- 


332  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  usal.*  Balmerino  himself,  however,  in  his  narrative  asserts, 
^'  that  the  king  was  not  ignorant  of  the  correspondence  with 
1609.  Clement,  nor  was  he  averse  to  it,  only  he  hesitated  about 
conceding  to  the  pope  his  apostolical  titles ;  but  when  he — 
the  secretary — had  affixed  them,  and  presented  the  letter 
along  with  other  despatches  to  different  cardinals,  he  signed 
it  without  hesitation ;  and  this  narrative,  which  bears  an  air 
of  truth,  coincides  with  the  answer  he  gave  James  when  first 
questioned  on  the  subject.  But  it  was  necessary  that  the 
character  of  a  protestant  king,  notwithstanding  he  gloried  in 
a  popish  title,  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  should  be  free 
from  any  imputation  of  holding  a  correspondence  with  the 
pope ;  and  Dunbar  and  Spotswood  were  bent  upon  the  se- 
cretary's ruin.  After  much  art  and  intrigue  he  was  induc- 
ed, upon  a  promise  of  his  life  being  spared,  and  his  estate 
secured,  to  acknowledge  that  the  letter  had  been  surrepti- 
tiously obtained,  after  the  king  had  refused  to  have  any  in- 
tercourse with  the  Roman  pontiff. 

LX.  He  was  early  next  year  sent  to  Scotland  to  stand  trial, 
and  after  being  exhibited  in  Edinburgh  as  a  spectacle,  in  a 
public  procession  to  his  place  of  confinement,  he  was  deliv- 
ered to  lord   Scoone,   who  conveyed  him  with  a  guard  of 
horse  to  Falkland  prison ;  whence,  after  a   month's  confine- 
ment, he  was  carried  to  St.  Andrews,  to  appear  before  the 
Tried.—      court  of  justiciary.     He  was  accused  of  having  acted  trea- 
found  guil.  sonabiy  an(j  undutifully,   to   the  disparagement  of  his  ma- 
jesty's  honour,  life,  crown,  and  estate.     In   answer,   he  re- 
peated his  former  declaration,   and  was   found  guilty  upon 
his  own  confession ;  but  no  sentence  was  pronounced  till  the 
king's  pleasure  should  be  known.     After  trial  he  was  car- 
ried back  to  Edinburgh,   where  he  received,   by   the  king's 
orders,  the  doom  of  a  traitor ;  but  the  previous  promise  was 
Pardoned,  kept ;  he  received  a  pardon,  and  after  being  imprisoned  for 
some  months  in  Falkland,  he  was  permitted  to  retire   to  his 
His  death   estate.     He  died  in  about  two  years  after.     He  was  a  man 
— charac-    possessed  of  excellent    talents  for  public  business,  and  at 


ter. 


*  Spotswood,  p.  508.     The  archbishop  was  his  decided  enemy,  of  course 
his  testimony  is  liable  to  suspicion. 


JAMES  VI.  333 

first  favoured  the  schemes  of  the  king;  but  when  he  per-   BOOK 
I  ceived  the  encroaching  spirit  of  the  prelates,  he  silently  en-       ^< 
deavoured   to   counteract   their   influence.      He   prevented      1609. 
their  obtaining  seats  in  the  court  of  session,  of  which  he  was 
president ;  and,  perhaps,   it   was  to  that,   and  his   opposing 
the  restitution  of  the  church  lands,  that  he  owed  the  enmity 
of  the  clergy,  and  that  his  character  has  been  handed  down 
to  us  as  stained  by  insatiable  avarice ;  as  his  integrity  on  the 
bench,  in  opposition  to  the  secret  influence  ofDunbar,  in  all 
probability  hastened  his  disgrace. 

LXI.  The  parliament,  which  had  been   repeatedly  proro-  A  parlia- 
gued,  at  last  met  in  the  end  of  June,  and  the  bishops,  who™ 
had  received  a  "  new  light"  during  the  pernicious   truce, 
now  fully  convinced  of  the  scriptural  authority  of  prelacy, 
vode  in  great  pomp  to  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  arch- 
bishops before  the  earls,  and  the  rest  of  the  bishops  before 
the  lords.     At  this  meeting,  the  commissary,  or  consistorial 
courts,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  clergy  at  the  refor- 
mation, as  inconsistent  with  the  ministerial  office,  were  re- 
stored to  the   bishops,   and  all  spiritual  and   ecclesiastical  Bishops 

causes  which  occurred  within  their  dioceses,  were  ordered  fully  re~ 

11  •       -i  i        i  i     •  •     •  stored. 

to  be  determined  by  them  or  their  commissioners.     An  act 

also  was  passed,  respecting  the  dresses  of  the  judges,  magis- 
trates, and  churchmen,  the  regulating  of  which  was  referred  to 
his  majesty,  that  he  might  display  his  royal  taste  in  the  cut  and 
colour  of  the  official  garments.     Patterns  accordingly  were 
sent  from  London  not  long  after,  for  the  apparel  of  the  lords  Act  regn- 
of  session,  the  justices,  and   other  inferior  judges,  for  advo-'atin£  *he 
cates,  lawyers,  and  all  that  lived  by  that  profession,  and  judges, 
command  was  given  to  every  one  whom  the  statutes  con-cler£y'  &<x 
cerned,  to  provide  themselves  in  the  habits  prescribed,  un- 
der pain  of  rebellion  !     But  the  greatest  anxiety  appears  in 
providing  proper  raiment  for  the  dignified  clergy ;  I  quote 
the   act.     "  Considering  what  slander  and    contempt  have 
arisen  to  the  ecclesiastical  estate  of  this  kingdom,  by  the  oc- 
casion of  the  light  and  indecent  apparel  used  by  some  of 
that  profession,  and  chiefly  these  having  vote  in  parliament, 
it  is  therefore  statuted,  that  every  preacher  of  God's  word, 
shall  hereafter  wear  black,  grave,  and  comely  apparel,  be- 
seeming men  of  their  estate  and  profession ;  likewise,  that 


334  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  all  priors,  abbots,  and  prelates,  having  vote  in  parliament. 
_  and  especially  bishops,  shall  wear  grave,  and  decent  appa- 
1C09.  rgl»  agreeable  to  their  function,  and  as  appertains  to  mei 
of  their  rank,  dignity,  and  place."  The  conclusion  is  ex- 
quisitely ludicrous.  "  And  because  the  whole  estates  hum- 
bly and  thankfully  acknowledge,  that  God  of  his  great: 
goodness,  has  made  the  people  and  subjects  of  this  coun 
try  so  happy  as  to  have  a  king  reign  over  us,  who  is  most 
godly,  wise,  and  religious,  hating  all  erroneous  and  vain 
superstition,  just  in  government,  and  of  long  experience 
therein,  knowing  better  than  any  king  living,  what  apper- 
tains, and  is  convenient  for  every  estate  in  their  behavioui 
and  duty,  therefore,  it  is  agreed  and  assented  to  by  the  saic 
estates,  that  what  order  so  ever  his  majesty,  in  his  great 
wisdom  shall  think  meet  to  prescribe  for  the  apparel  o 
churchmen,  the  same  being  sent  in  writ  by  his  majesty  to  his 
clerk  of  register,  shall  be  a  sufficient  warrant  to  him  for  in- 
serting thereof  in  the  books  of  parliament,  to  have  the  strength 
and  effect  of  an  act." 

LXII.  Soon  after  the  parliament  rose,  Spotswood  was  creat- 
ed an  extraordinary  lord  of  session  ;  which  was  the  more  ob- 
noxious, as  his  father,  the  venerable  superintendant  of  Lo- 
thian, had  procured  a  declaration  from  the  general  assem- 
bly, that  the  ministerial  function  was  incompatible  with  the 
discharge  of  any  civil  office.     But  the  design  of  re-intro- 
ducing ecclesiastics  to  the  court  of  session,  was  laid  aside  on 
the  institution  of  a  new  tribunal,  which  conferred  on  them 
power  almost  equal  to  what  the  Spanish  inquisition  possess- 
1610.     ed.     The  king,  in  virtue  of  his  prerogative  alone,  issued  a 
high  com-   commission  under  the  great  seal,  to  the  two  archbishops  o 
mission  in-  St.   Andrews  and    Glasgow,   authorizing   them   to  hold  it 
their  respective  cities,  courts  of  high  commission,  to  call  be- 
fore them,  at  such  place  as  they  should  think  meet,  any  per- 
sons within  the  bounds  of  their  provinces,  and  take  cogni- 
zance of  their  lives,  conversation,   and   religious  opinions 
and  if  found  guilty  or  contumacious,  to  punish  them  by  fine 
imprisonment,  or  excommunication,  which   they  were  em- 
powered to  command  the  preacher  of  the  parish  where  tin 
offender  resided  to  pronounce ;  and  in  case  of  his  refusal  o 
delay,  they  were  to  call  him  before  them,  and  punish  his 


JAMES  VI.  335 

disobedience  by  suspension,  deprivation,  or  imprisonment.    BOOK 
In  these  commissions,  a  number  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen        V. 
were  conjoined  with  the  archbishop   and  bishops,   but  this      ieio. 
was  a  feeble  protection  against  the  illegal  institution,  as  the 
archbishop  with  four,  made  a  quorum,  and  he  could  at  any 
time  summon  four  devoted  to  his  will,  while  the  nobles,  or  Their  de- 
such  as  might  have  opposed  his  proceedings,  were  engaged  sP°tlc 
in  other  avocations ;   but  they  could  form  no  court  without 
the  presence  of  the  archbishop.     The  jurisdiction  of  these 
courts  was  as  extensive,   as   their  power  was  despotic,    it 
reached   to  every  rank,  and  from  their  decisions  there  was 
no  appeal.     Schools  and  colleges  were  subjected  to  their  vi- 
sitations. 

LXIII.  Possessed  of  such  extensive  powers,  as  lords  of  the 
high  commission,  lords  of  parliament,   council,   exchequer, 
session,  and  regality,  constant  moderators   of  presbyteries, 
latrons  of  benefices,  and  commissioners  of  the  general  assem- 
ily,  the  authority  of  bishops  in  the  church  became  irresistible; 
md  they  thought  they  might  now  venture  to  call  a  meeting  Bishops  de 
f  her  once  formidable  high  judicatory,  and  submit  the  ques- 
ion  of  episcopacy  to  their  determination.     In  a  common  let- 
er  sent  to  the  king,  requesting  him  to  call  an  assembly,  they 
Dromised  to  be  answerable  to  his  majesty  for  the  perform- 
ance of  what  they  undertook;   and  assured  him  the  minis- 
ers,  even  the  most  refractory,  would  suffer  things  to  pro- 
seed,   and  be  quiet,   because  they  could  no  longer  strive. 
The  assembly  was,  in  compliance  with  their  wishes,  appoint- 
sd  to  be  held  in  Glasgow,  in  the  month  of  June,  1610;  but  Itisap- 
rtill,  although  the  most  able  of  their  opponents  were  banish-  be'held  at 
ed,  imprisoned,  or  confined  within  their  respective  parishes,  Glasgow 
hey  durst  not  trust  the  remainder  with  a  free  election.     His 
majesty,  in  missives  sent  the  different  presbyteries,  nominat- 
ed the  persons  they  should  appoint  as  members ;  and  the  James  se. 
archbishops  sent  circulars  along  with  them,  exhorting  them  lect3  the 

,.  ,     .  iii-  members. 

to  obedience,  and  "not  to  provoke  the  kings  majesty  to 
wrath,  without  any  necessary  occasion."  The  earl  of  Dun- 
Dar  was  sent  down  as  king's  commissioner,  and  with  him 
three  English  doctors,  to  consult  and  arrange  the  business 
that  was  to  be  brought  before  the  assembly.  With  these 
injunctions,  the  greater  part  of  the  presbyteries  complied, 


386  HISTORY     OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    and  an  assembly,  composed  of  the  bishops,  the  constant  mo  • 
derators,  and  the  representatives  of  presbyteries,  met  at  tin: 
1610      appointed  time. 

LXIV.  From  a  body  so  composed,  no  opposition  to  tht 
measures  of  the  court  was  either  expected  or  received.  The 
convocation  of  general  assemblies  was  declared  to  be  i 
branch  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and  the  assembly  held  at 

The  Aber-  Aberdeen,  1605,  pronounced  unlawful.     The  constant  mo- 

deen  as-  .  . 

scmbly  de-  deration  ot  the  provincial  synods  was  confirmed  to  the  bi- 

clared llle'  shops,  and  no  sentence  of  excommunication  or  absolution 
could  be  pronounced  without  their  permission.  All  presen- 
tations were  to  be  directed  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocess,  by 

Powers       whom  the  presentee  was  to  be  tried ;  and  in  cases  of  deposi- 

conferred        .  . 

onthebi-    tion,  he  was  to  sit  in  judgment,  and  pronounce  sentence  01 
shops.         tjje  delinquent.     Every  minister  at  his  admission,  was  or- 
dered to  swear  obedience  to  his  majesty  and  his  ordinary  j" 
the  visitation  of  the  clergy  within  their  diocess,  was  likewise 


*  The  following  was  the  form  of  the  oath,  which  is  in  essence  an  oath  o 
supremacy,  and  was  made  explicitly  so  in  the  ratification  by  act  of  parliament 
I,  A.  B.  nominated  and  admitted  to  the  church  of  D.  utterly  testify,  and  de 
clare  in  my  conscience,  that  the  right  excellent,  right  high,  and  mighty  prince 
James  the  sixth,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  Scots,  is  the  only  lawful  s 
preme  governor  of  this  realm,  as  well  in  things  temporal,  as  in  the  consen 
tion  and  purgation  of  the  religion ;  and  that  no  foreign  prince,  prelate,  state, 
potentate  has,  or  ought  to  have  any  jurisdiction,  power,  superiority,  pre-em- 
inence,  or  authority,  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual,  within  this  realm ;  and  there 
fore  I  utterly  renounce  and  forsake  all  foreign  jurisdictions,  powers,  superior- 
ities, and  authorities,  and  promise,  that  from  this  time  forth,  I  shall  and  wil 
bear  faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  highness,  his  heirs,  and  lawful  successors, 
and  to  my  power,  shall  assist  and  defend  all  jurisdictions,  privileges,  pre-em- 
inences, and  authorities,  granted  and  belonging  to  his  highness,  his  heirs,  anc 
lawful  successors,  or  united  and  annexed  to  his  royal  crown.  And  farther,  ] 
acknowledge  and  confess  to  have,  and  hold  the  said  church,  and  possessions  o 
the  same,  under  God  only,  of  his  majesty  and  crown  royal  of  this  realm,  and 
for  the  said  possessions,  I  do  homage  presently  unto  his  highness  in  your  pre- 
sence, and  to  his  majesty,  his  heirs,  shall  be  lawful  and  true.  So  help  me  God. 
Calderwood,  p.  632.  He  remarks,  p.  638,  that  the  words,  "  to  his  ordinary,' 
appear  an  interpolation  in  the  register.  In  the  ratification,  the  terms,  conser- 
vation and  purgation  of  religion,  were  exchanged  for,  "  in  matters  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical,  as  in  things  temporal." 

Subjoined  to  the  oath  of  submission  to  the  king,  a  clause  promising  obedience 
to  the  ordinaries  was  likewise  interpolated  by  the  parliament.  I,  A-  B.  admit- 
ted to  the  church  of  D.  promise  and  swear  to  D-  bishop  of  that  diocess,  obedi- 
ence, and  to  his  successor  in  all  lawful  things.  So  help  me  God- 


JAMES  VI.  337 

conceded  to  the  bishops.  By  way  of  salvo  it  was  added,  HOOK 
that  in  the  exercise  of  discipline,  the  bishops  were  to  be  as- 
sisted by  the  ministers  within  the  bounds, — all  mention  of  1610. 
the  hated  word  presbytery,  being  carefully  avoided,— and 
that  they  were  to  be  subject  in  all  things,  life,  conversation, 
office,  and  benefice,  to  the  censures  of  the  general  assembly  5 
and  if  found  culpable,  they  might  be  deprived,  with  his  ma- 
jesty's advice  and  consent.  But,  as  if  convinced  of  the  frail- 
ty of  their  cause,  and  knowing  the  aversion  of  the  people  to 
their  order,  it  was  forbid  to  any  minister,  either  in  the  pul- 
pit, or  in  public  exercise,  to  argue  against,  or  disobey  the 
acts  of  this  present  assembly,  under  the  penalty  of  depriva- 
tion ;  and  particularly,  that  the  question  of  equality  or  ine- 
quality in  the  ministry,  should  not  be  discussed  in  the  pul- 
pit under  the  same  forfeiture.  The  assembly  had  consented 
to  use  the  terms,  ministers  within  the  bounds,  in  the  full  un- 
derstanding that  presbyteries  were  meant,  but  the  earl  of  The  king'6 
Dunbar  announced  that  he  had  his  majesty's  orders  to  abo-  ^  abolish 
lish  presbytery  by  proclamation.  At  this,  the  members,  who  presbytery, 
had  allowed  themselves  to  be  cozened  out  of  the  most  import- 
ant rights  of  presbyterianism,  when  the  intention  was  openly 
avowed  without  circumlocution  to  take  away  the  lesser, 
evinced  by  their  unusual  alarm  and  grief,  that  their  affec- 
tions were  still  placed  on  that  mode  of  church  government ; 
the  whole  assembly  therefore  entreated  the  commissioner  to 
desist  from  making  that  proclamation,  for  some  time  at  least, 
till  his  majesty  should  be  informed  of  the  proceedings  of 
that  assembly.  To  this  he  consented,  at  the  request  of  some  Delayed. 
noblemen,  who  promised  to  intercede  with  his  majesty,  that 
he  should  be  blameless  for  the  delay,  and  who  had  probably 
been  instructed  before  the  meeting,  in  the  part  they  were  to 
perform.  When  the  assembly  broke  up,  the  bishops  were 
loud  in  their  praises  of  unity ;  but  besides  the  artifice  and 
falsehood  which  had  been  used,  it  cost  his  majesty  not  less 
than  forty  thousand  merks,  as  arrears  of  stipends  to  the  mo- 
derators, and  as  travelling  expenses  to  the  others,  particular- 
ly the  north  country  ministers,  to  accomplish  this  desirable 
end.  The  powers  now  granted  to  the  bishops  were  after- 
ward  confirmed  by  act  of  parliament,  but  all  the  restraining  pendent  of 
clauses  were  abolished — they  were  freed  from  the  jurisdiction 
VOL.  in.  2  x 


S38  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    of  the  general  assembly,  and  rendered  accountable  only  to 
*        the  king. 

1610<  LXV.  The  assembly  and  parliament  had  conferred  upou 
the  Scottish  bishops,  all  the  honour  and  power  they  had  to 
bestow,  but  to  imprint  that  indefinable,  indelible  sanctity  of 
character,  which  is  communicated  by  the  imposition  of  a  true 
bishop's  hands,  was  beyond  the  reach  of  humble  presbyters ; 
they  had  not  themselves  received  it,  the  fathers  of  their 
church  despised  it,  and  as  it  could  only  be  obtained  through 
the  polluted  channel  of  Rome,  thought  they  were  fully  as 
well  without  it.  The  English  bishops  were  more  highly  fa- 
voured. Although  they  had  withdrawn  their  allegiance  from 
the  papal  see,  they  could  boast  of  having  derived  their  conse- 
cration from  that  only  ancient,  true,  though  corrupted  church ; 
and  through  her  could  trace  their  spiritual  pedigree  up  to  the 

Clerical  apostles,  to  whom  the  sacred  trust  was  originally  committed. 
cra"  As  the  legitimate,  though  disowned  heirs  of  this  succession, 
they  assumed  the  exclusive  right  of  dispensing  the  divine  in- 
stitution of  ordination  to  the  inferior  clergy,  and  consecrating 
and  setting  apart  their  brethren  to  the  higher  offices.  James 
had  adopted  the  views  of  the  English  bishops  upon  this  sub-, 
ject,  and  soon  after  the  assembly  at  Glasgow  was  dissolved, 
called  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and  the  bishops  of  Bre- 
chin  and  Galloway,  to  court,  as  they  were  still  deficient  in 
this  great  requisite.  At  their  first  audience,  his  majesty  told 
them  that  he  had,  at  great  expense,  recovered  the  bishop- 
rics,* but  could  not  make  bishops,  nor  were  there  any  per- 
sons in  Scotland  who  could.  He  had,  therefore,  sent  for 
them  to  England,  that  being  consecrated  themselves,  they 
might  at  their  return,  give  ordination  to  their  brethren.  The 
archbishop  stated  some  scruples,  lest  his  church  might  per- 
haps suppose  this  a  mark  of  subjection  to  the  English,  as 
the  archbishops  of  York  and  Canterbury  had  formerly  laid 
claim  to  clerical  superiority  ;  but  his  majesty  was  prepared 
for  this,  and  had  provided  against  it,  by  appointing  the  bi- 
shops of  London,  Ely,  and  Bath,  to  officiate,  none  of  whom 
had  ever  made  any  such  pretensions.  But  the  bishop  of  Ely 


*  The  king  bought  back  the  alienated  lands  and  revenues  for  a  sum,  calcu- 
lated at  above  300,000  pounds  sterling. 


JAMES  VI. 


339 


started  a  more  formidable  objection,  the  Scottish  bishops  had    BOOK 
never  received  any  ordination  from  a  bishop,  and  therefore, 
must  first  be  ordained  presbyters.     The  archbishop  of  Can-      1610. 
terbury  resolved  this  doubt,  by  remarking,  that  when  there 
were  no  bishops,  ordination  by  presbyters  must  be  held  va- 
lid,  otherwise  it  might  be  doubted,  if  there  were  any  law- 
ful vocation  in  a  number  of  the  protestant  churches.     The 
bishop  of  Ely    acquiescing   in    the    observation,   the   three 
Scottish  bishops  were  regularly  invested  with  the  apostoli- 
cal character,  and  despatched  to  their  own  country,  to  com- 
municate  a  similar  sanctity   to  their  unconsecrated   priest-  Scottish 
hood.     Episcopacy  was  now  triumphant,  but  the  lowest  pres-  c0nh^ated 
byter  who  had  preserved  his  integrity,  had  no  reason  to  envy  at  London, 
the  triumph. 

LXVI.  In  reviewing  the  means  by  which  this  was  accom- 
plished:— the  perjuries  of  the  king  and  of  the  prelates,  the 
persecutions — prelacy,  both  in  England  and  Scotland,  as  a 
creature  of  the  state,  was  introduced  by  force,  and  secured 
by  persecution — the  dissimulation  and  the  bribery,  the 
utter  contempt  for  every  principle  of  civil  liberty,  and  the 
open  avowed  support  of  the  most  tyrannical  measures ;  or 
the  consequences  : — the  complete  subversion  of  all  that  was  Reflec- 
free  in  the  Scottish  constitution,  and  the  establishment  ofu 
unlimited  despotism  in  the  hands  of  the  king  and  the  priests, 
it  is  obvious,  that  the  determined  opposition  the  hierarchy 
encountered  from  our  forefathers,  so  far  from  springing  from 
a  dark  and  gloomy  fanaticism,  arose  from  a  hatred  to  that 
tyranny  which  oppressed  them ;  and  a  rational  predilection 
to  that  form  of  ecclesiastical  government,  which  was  en- 
deared to  them  by  the  friendly  assiduities  of  their  ministers, 
from  whose  affectionate  labours  and  kindly  intercourse  they 
received  instruction  in  health,  and  consolation  in  times  of 
sickness  or  distress.  The  presbyterian  minister  forms  a 
connecting  link  in  society  between  the  lowest  and  the  high- 
est, he  is  the  almoner  of  the  rich,  and  the  advocate  of  the 
poor;  while  the  prelate's  rank,  state,  and  income,  which  place 
him  on  a  level  with  the  peers  of  the  realm,  preclude  that  in- 
tercourse between  him  and  his  flock  which  the  apostles  cul- 
tivated, and  which,  more  than  ordination,  conveyed  in  unin- 


340  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   terrupted  succession,  is  calculated  to  confer  the  apostolical 

character. 

1611.         LXVII.  Andrew  Melville,  when  he  heard  of  the  overthrow 
of  presbytery,  and  the  erection  of  a  hierarchy  on  its  ruins, 
in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart,  expressed,  either  as  a  wish  or 
a  prophecy,  his  desire  that  the  main  instrument  in  that  most 
unpropitious  revolution,  might  never  again  set  his  foot  in 
Death  of     Scotland  ;  and  he  never  did.     Upon  the  accomplishment  of 
Dunbar.     tnig  grand  object,  Dunbar  went  to  London,  and  soon  after 
died  at  Whitehall.     He  was  unlamented  in  Scotland,  except 
by  the  bishops  ;  but  James  had  to  regret  the  loss  of  a  servant 
obedient  to  his  most  arbitrary  mandates,  which  he  carried 
into  effect  with  a  zeal  and  success  that  entitled  him  to  no 
gratitude  from  his  country.     A  feeble  effort  was  made  by  the 
officers  of  state,  who,  under  the  sway  of  the  favourite  had 
dwindled  into  mere  puppets,  to  regain  their  proper  influence, 
by  re-establishing  the  Octavians,  but  a  worthless  minion  suc^- 
ceeded,  who,  without  the  abilities,  attained  the  power  of  the 
earl,  and  engrossed  by  himself  or  his  friends,  all  the  high 
Kerr,  earl   offices  of  trust  and  emolument.    -*Kerr,   of  the  family  of 
iet,  favour-  Fernihurst,  created  earl  of"  Somerset,  first  the  page,  after- 
ite-  ward  the  pupil,  and  now  the  favourite  of  James,  was  appoint- 

ed treasurer,  collector,  and  comptroller  of  the  revenue  by 
his  master,  who  delighted  in  the  idea  of  having  a  statesman 
of  his  own  training  at  the  head  of  affairs.  His  relations 
were  promoted  to  the  chief  places  in  the  administration  ;  sir 
William  Kerr  of  Ancrum,  his  cousin-german,  received  the 
command  upon  the  borders,  which  sir  William  Cranston  had 
held ;  sir  Gideon  Murray,  his  maternal  uncle,  was  made  de- 
puty treasurer,  and  sir  Thomas  Hamilton,  the  king's  advo- 
cate, his  brother-in-law,  was  first  made  register,  and  after- 
ward secretary.  Sir  John  Skeene,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers, 
and  best  antiquaries  in  Scotland,  who  had  long  held  the  si- 
tuation, had  sent  his  son  to  court  with  his  resignation,  which 
was  not  to  be  produced,  unless  he  himself  got  the  appoint- 
ment ;  but  the  intrigues  of  Somerset  prevailed,  the  younger 
Skeene  was  induced  to  present  the  resignation  without  pro- 

*  Commonly  called  Carre  by  the  English  writers,  and  by  some  of  our  owq. 


JAMES  VI.  341 

curing  the  reversion,  and  the  office  was  bestowed  upon  Ha-    BOOK 
milton.  


LXVIII.  But  the  rapacity  of  Kerr's  kinsmen   was  as  crav-      1611. 
ing  as  their  ambition. — Lord  Maxwell,  on  his  return  to  the 
country,  after  skulking  some  time  in  disguise,  was  appre- 
hended in  Caithness,  brought  to  Edinburgh,  and  executed  ;  Lord  Max. 
but    the  crime  for  which  he  suffered  was  not  the  one  he  cutcd<x 
had  committed.     In  his  absence,  he  had  been  found  guilty 
of  wilful  fire-raising,  and  as  this  implied  a  species  of  trea- 
!  son,  by  which  his  estates  were  forfeited,  he  was  executed  on 
this  verdict.     The  attainder  of  so  ancient  a  family  alarmed 
the  nobles,  nor  were  their  fears  allayed  by  the  heartless  and 
cruel  persecution  which  James  authorized,  or  allowed  to  fol- 
low his  own  cousin-german  to  his  ruin.    Mary  had  conferred 
on  Robert   Stuart,  her    illegitimate  brother,  the  islands  of 
Orkney,  and  the  title  of  earl.     His  son,  impoverished  by  ex-  Proceed- 
pensive  buildings,  and  attendance  at  court,  sought  to  replen-  ^f*8*"earl 
isb  his  finances,  by  measures  which  his  enemies  represented  as  of  Orkney 
oppressive,  and  which  if  so,  were  visited  with  a  retaliation  not 
less  illegal  or  despotic ;  but  the  real  crime  of  the  unfortun- 
ate earl,  was  most  probably  his  extensive  possessions,  the 
secular  portion  having  attracted  the  avidity  of  the  favourite, 
while  the  episcopal  revenues, — of  which  he  had  received 
a  grant  from  the  crown, — were  as  keenly  eyed  by  the  pre- 
lates.    Among  his    other  ecclesiastical  expenses,  the  king 
purchased  a  large  mortgage,  with   which  his  estates  were 
attached,  and  when,  after  a  three  years'  imprisonment,  the 
earl  would  not  consent  to  resign  his  right  of  redemption, 
his  lands  were  seized,    and   himself  reduced    to    a   pitiful 
allowance,  scarcely  fit  to  meet  his  necessities.     Reduced  to 
despair,  he  instructed  his  natural  son,  the  Bastard  of  Ork- 
ney, to  take  arms,  and  regain  the  castle  of  Kirkwall,  but  he 
himself  had  been  removed  to  Dunbarton  rock,  and  was  pre- 
vented from  joining  him.     The  castle  was  reduced  by  the 
earl  of  Caithness,  and  the  Bastard   surrendered,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  not  be  questioned  respecting  his  father's  Convic^-d 

•i        i         i  •     /•!•   i      •          TI  -i        rr»      f    i  and  his  es- 

guilt ;  but  his  filial  piety  did  not  avail.     The  father  was  con-  tates  given 

victed  on  the  son's  confession,  the  claims  of  kindred,  and  the  toKerrand 

the  pre- 

descent  from  one  common  parent  were  pled   in  vain,  every  late*. 


342  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    avenue  to  royal  mercy  was  closed,  and  the  favourite  and  tha 

: —  prelates  divided  the  plunder. 

LXIX.  About  the  same  time,  terrible  vengeance  was  in- 
flicted upon  the  clan  Macgregor.  A  feud  had  existed  be- 
tween them  and  the  Colquhouns,  whom  they  defeated  in  se- 
veral engagements,  and  slaughtered  with  the  common  unre- 
lenting barbarity  of  savages.  Having  repeatedly  ravaged 
the  district  of  Lennox,  a  commission  was  given  to  the  earl 
of  Argyle,  who  joining  his  forces  with  the  marquis  of  Huntly, 
Treatment  advanced  against  them.  On  their  approach,  the  Macgre- 
Macgreffor.  Sors  ^e(^  to  tne  widest;  parts  of  the  highlands,  and  endea- 
voured to  find  refuge  in  the  caves  and  forests,  but  their  pur- 
suers were  indefatigable ;  till  at  last,  further  resistance  being 
hopeless,  their  chief,  reduced  to  despair,  surrendered  to  Ar- 
gyle, upon  condition  of  being  transported  out  of  the  king- 
dom. The  engagement  was  perfidiously  fulfilled  by  the 
privy  council,  who  ordered  him  to  be  carried  to  Berwick, 
and  then  brought  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  suffered  the  death 
of  a  rebel,  along  with  seven  innocent  hostages.  Rendered 
desperate  by  their  situation,  the  wretched  remnant  spread 
their  spoliations  over  the  surrounding  country,  and  in  re- 
turn, they  were  pursued  and  slaughtered  as  outlaws  by  Ar- 
gyle, till  a  few  houseless  orphans  were  almost  the  sole  sur- 
vivors of  the  race.  Nurtured  on  the  wilds,  and  hardened 
by  the  endurance  of  every  inclemency  of  weather,  the  chil- 
dren grew  up  a  set  of  banditti,  whose  depredations  caused 
the  clan  to  be  abolished,  and  the  name  suppressed  by  act  of 
parliament,  1633.  This  act  was  repealed  at  the  restoration, 
revived  in  1693,  and  only  finally  abrogated  in  the  reign  of 
George  III. 

Of  tjie  LXX.  The  fate  of  the  Macdonalds  forms  a  striking   con- 

Macdo.  trast  to  the  inexorable  cruelty  with  which  the  Macgregors 
were  treated,  and  exhibits  a  melancholy  picture  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  justice  and  mercy  is  distributed,  when  left  to 
the  caprice,  or  the  passions  of  individuals,  unrestrained  by 
any  fixed  rule.  This  clan  revolted  in  Cantyre,  and  seized  t\ 
castle  in  Islay,  but  they  were  reduced  by  Argyle,  who  ob- 
tained quiet  possession  of  their  lands,  and  no  further  pun- 
ishment followed.  Their  chief,  guilty  of  the  most  flagrant 


JAMES  VI.  343 

crimes,   and   stained  with  the  most  atrocious  murders,  who  BOOK 
had  repeatedly  resisted  and  defied  the  government,  fled  ;  but 


in  a  few  years  was  recalled,  and  not  only  pardoned,  but  had      1611. 
a  liberal  pension  bestowed  upon  him  ! 

LXXI.  The  ill  judged  favouritism  of  James,  joined  with 
the  insolence  and  rapacity  of  the  Scots,  produced  frequent 
quarrels  between  them  and  the  English,  which  invaded  even  1612. 
the  court  and  the  king's  presence,  and  had  almost  produc- 
ed an  universal  conspiracy  against  the  Scottish  residents  in 
London  ;  when  the  ferment  was  in  some  measure  allayed, 
by  an  act  of  exemplary  justice,  the  more  remarkable,  as  it 
is  almost  a  solitary  instance.  Lord  Sanquhar,  in  playing 
with  an  English  fencing  master,  of  the  name  of  Turner,  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  an  eye,  by  an  unlucky  thrust  of  his 
opponent's  foil.  When  at  the  French  court,  some  time  af- 
ter, the  king  asked  how  he  came  by  the  accident,  and  on  be- 
ing informed,  sarcastically  asked,  Does  the  fellow  live? 
Sanquhar,  imagining  this  a  reproach,  immediately  returned 
to  England,  and  employed  one  Carlisle,  to  assassinate  Turner, 
which  he  did,  just  as  he  was  entering  his  lodgings.  The 
meanness,  as  well  as  atrocity  of  the  crime,  excited  universal  Lord  San. 
detestation,  and  Sanquhar,  who  surrendered  himself,  was  ?uliard  { 
put  upon  his  trial,  convicted,  and,  notwithstanding  every  solici-  murder. 
tation  in  his  favour,  was  publicly  hanged  at  the  Palace-gate 
of  Westminster.  But  this  act  of  justice  was  counterba- 
lanced by  one  of  wanton,  unmanly  oppression.  Lady  Ara- 
bella Stuart,  the  king's  cousin-german,*  was  secretly  married 
to  the  grandson  of  the  earl  of  Hertford  ;  but  James  having 
discovered  the  transaction,  saw  treason  in  it,  committed  Sey- 
mour, her  husband,  to  the  Tower,  and  confined  the  lady  at 
Lambeth,  whence  she  was  afterward  ordered  to  repair  to 
Durham.  She  escaped,  however,  from  her  keepers,  dis- 
guised in  male  apparel,  and  embarked  on  board  a  French 
ship,  that  had  been  prepared  for  her  reception.  Seymour  Lady  Ara- 
at  the  same  time  escaped  from  the  Tower,  but  being  prevent-  beUa  Stu" 
ed  from  joining  his  lady,  got  a  passage  in  a  vessel  belonging 
to  Newcastle,  and  was  landed  on  the  coast  of  Flanders.  A 
squadron  was  instantly  despatched  after  the  fugitives,  which 

•  She  was  the  daughter  of  his  father's  youngest  brother. 


Dies  in- 
sane. 


3-14  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    unfortunately  overtook  the  vessel  that  carried  the  lady  Ara* 
v<        bella,  and  she  was  sent  to  close  confinement  in  the  Tower, 
1612.      where,  either  the  rigour  of  her  treatment,  or  the  weight  of 
her  sufferings  and  the  poignancy  of  her  disappointment,  de- 
I'anged  her  intellects,  and  the  daughter  of  a  Darnly  sunk  in- 
sane into  a  premature  grave. 

LXXII.  About  this  time,  two  events  took  place,  which  were 
to  have  a  material  effect  upon  the  future  fortunes  of  Britain 
— the  marriage  of  James'  only  daughter  with  the  prince  Pa- 
latine, and  the  death  of  his  eldest  and  most  accomplished 
Prince        son,  prince  Henry,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  a  youth  of  the 
Henry.       greatest  promise,  and  upon  whom  the  eyes  of  all  the  protes- 
tants  in  Europe  were  already  turned.     With  the  nation  he 
was  an  universal  favourite,  as  his  sentiments  were  liberal, 
his  conduct  exemplary,  and  his  recreations  those  manly  ex- 
ercises which  receive  the  approbation  of  the  wise,  and  excel- 
lency in  which  engages  the  admiration  of  the  multitude.  Such 
was  the  commanding  tone  of  his  mind  and  manners,  that  he 
Hischarac-  attracted  the  esteem  of  foreign  sovereigns,  was  a  check  upon 
ter*  the  licentiousness  of  the  royal  favourites,  and  an  object  of 

jealousy  to  his  father.  The  king,  who  could  not  suffer  the 
heir  of  his  diadem  to  match  with  less  than  princely  rank, 
was  desirous  that  he  should  marry  an  arch-duchess  of  the 
house  of  Austria,  or  a  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Savoy,  but 
the  prince  was  averse  to  enter  into  so  close  an  alliance  with 
a  papist,  and  in  the  last  letter  he  ever  wrote,  entreated  his 
father,  if  he  must  marry  any  of  these  princesses,  it  might  be 
the  youngest,  of  whose  conversion  he  could  have  some  hope. 
He  openly  reprobated  the  influence  Somerset  had  over  his 
father,  and  lamented  the  facility  with  which  he  allowed  him 
self  to  be  governed  by  the  most  profligate  sycophants,  an 
the  waste  which  these  occasioned  of  the  public  money. 

LXXIH.  While  the  preparations  were  going  forward  for 
his  sister's  marriage,  and  the  court  was  a  scene  of  joyous 
Death.  festivity,  Henry  was  seized  with  a  fever,  accompanied  with 
the  most  violent  symptoms,  which,  in  a  few  days  terminated 
fatally,  threw  a  temporary  gloom  over  the  court,  and  spread 
throughout  the  nation — with  the  exception  of  the  Roman 
catholics, — a  grief,  deep,  sincere,  and  universal.  The  ge- 
neral opinion  at  the  time  was,  that  he  was  poisoned  eithe; 


13 

•> 


JAMES  VI.  345 

tli rough  the  arts  of  the  papists,  or  the  envy  of  his  father.    BOOK 
Of  this  crime  the  Roman  catholics  appear  to  have   been 
falsely  accused;  and,  for  the  honour  of  human  nature,  we      J612; 
would  willingly  believe  in  the  innocence  of  the  father ;  but 
the  proofs  that  the  favourite  was  not  guiltless  are  too  strong 
to  be  disregarded,  and  I  am  inclined  to  suspect   with  Mr. 
Fox,*  that  the  premature  death  of  this  prince  was  not  by  the 
visitation  of  God.     Burnet  tells  us,  that  "  colonel  Titus  as- 
sured him  he  had  it  from  king  Charles  I.  himself,  that  he 

knew  his  brother  was  poisoned  by  Somerset ;"  and  a  letter  Somerset 
f  11.  i  ••  i  •        •  11-111       strongly 

from  that  king,   when   prince,   to  his  sister,  published  by  suspected 

Hearn,  seems  to  corroborate  it.     He  says :  "  I  know  you  of  P°ison- 

r        ing  him. 
have  understood,  by  our  father's  secretary's  letters,   what 

great  changes  the  poisoning  of  Overbury  has  made.     I  sus- 
pect other  matters  shall  be  found  out,  by  the  which  it  will 
appear,  that  more  treacherous  purposes  were  perchance  in- 
tended against  some,  and  practised  against  others ;  but  of 
this  you  will  hear  more  within  a  short  time."     The  court 
mourning  was  laid  aside  as  soon  as  etiquette  would  allow, 
and  the  marriage  of  the  princess  celebrated  with  a  pomp,  Marriage 
splendour,  and  gaiety,  calculated  to  dissipate  any  feelings  E^"^8 
of  regret  the  sudden  death  of  the  heir  apparent  might  have  to  the 
occasioned.  {*;»• 

LXXIV.  The  union  of  the  two  crowns,  which  had  proved 
ruinous  to  the  liberties  of  Scotland,  promised  now  to  prove 
equally  so  to  her  trade,  poor  as  it  already  was.  Hitherto 
the  Scottish  merchants  had  been  treated  as  the  most  favour- 
ed nation  by  the  French,  and  the  duties  upon  their  imports 
and  exports  were  comparatively  trifling ;  but  being  consid- 
ered no  longer  as  an  independent  state,  the  same  duties  were 
ordered  to  be  levied  from  them  as  from  the  English.  In  the 
Low  Countries  they  were  similarly  treated,  and  in  the  Bal-  State  of 
tic  a  prohibitory  system  was  adopted.  The  convention  of trade< 
burghs  petitioned  James  to  interfere.  In  consequence,  the 
staple  was  removed  from  Middleburgh  to  Campvere,  and  the 
port  of  Stralsund  was  re-opened  to  their  trade ;  but  they  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  replaced  upon  their  former  footing. 
Among  the  plans  which  his  majesty  had  recommended  for 

•  History,  4th  Edition,  p.  9* 
VOL.   III.  2  Y 


346  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  advancing  the  prosperity  of  his  ancient  kingdom,  the  improve 
ment  of  the  fisheries  was  particularly  pointed  out;  but  this 
1613.  year  he  imposed,  by  virtue  of  his  own  prerogative,  an  excise 
upon  herrings,  which  was  so  rigorously  exacted  by  one  cap- 
tain Mason,  an  Englishman,  that  the  people,  particularly  or 
the  coast  of  Fife,  threatened  to  leave  off  the  trade  rather  than 
pay  it.  At  their  complaints  the  privy  council  interfered,  anc 
the  collecting  was  stopped.* 

LXXV.  The  laws  against  the  Jesuits  and  seminary  priests 
were  severe,  but  those  which  enacted  the  penalty  of  death 
had  remained  a  dead  letter  in  the  statute  book,  nor  coulc 
they  with  decency  have  been  executed,  when  the  popish 
lords  were  treated  with  so  much  lenity  by  the   king.     The 
general  aversion  of  the  people,  however,  to  the  bishops,  and 
the  persuasion  every  where  openly  expressed,  that  they  were 
favourable  to,  and  intended  introducing  popery,  demanded 
some  signal  display  of  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  prelates  to 
Apprehen-  counteract  these  untoward  feelings   and    remarks.      They 
ilvy^ie-^'  therefore  apprehended  Ogilvy,  a  Jesuit,  at  Glasgow,  and  in- 
suit.  formed  the  king  of  the  circumstance,  requesting  directions 

how  to  proceed.  He  sent  down  a  commission  to  the  secre- 
tary, deputy-treasurer,  and  advocate,  to  proceed  to  the  ex- 
amination and  trial  of  the  accused.  When  interrogated  :— 
When  he  came  into  Scotland  ?  upon  what  errand  ?  and  with 
whom  he  associated  ?  he  frankly  answered  the  two  first  ques- 
tions, that  he  had  arrived  in  June,  and  came  to  save  souls  j 
His  exam,  but  he  honourably  declined  the  last,  declaring  he  would  ut- 
mation.  ter  notnmg  tnat  mjght  implicate  another ;  nor  could  pro- 
mises nor  threatenings  shake  his  resolution.  The  commis- 
sioners, enraged  at  his  steadfast  fidelity,  endeavoured  to  ex- 
tort a  confession  by  depriving  him  of  his  natural  rest  for 
several  nights,  and  in  the  delirium  thus  occasioned,  he  made 
some  incoherent  discoveries ;  but  as  soon  as  allowed  a  little 
sleep,  and  tired  nature  was  restored,  he  retracted  what  he 
had  said  in  a  state  of  mental  confusion,  and  firmly  persisted 
in  refusing  to  name  any  person  with  whom  he  had  associat- 
ed, or  any  place  whither  he  had  resorted. 

LXXVI.  The  king,  on  being  informed  that  nothing  satisfac- 

"  Balfour  MSS.  quoted  by  Guthrie,  vol.  ix.  p.  20. 


JAMES  VI.  347 

tory  could  be  obtained  from  him  without  torture,  prohibited     BOOK 
it  from  being  used  with  a  man  of  his  profession,  who,  if  he  _ 
were  only  a  Jesuit,  and  had  said  mass,  they  should  banish      1613. 
the  country,  and  prohibit  his  return  under  pain  of  death ; 
but  along  with  this  humane  declaration  he  transmitted  a  se- 
ries of  questions,  which  were  dangerous  to  a  Jesuit  if  he  an- 
s  \\ered  with  sincerity,  but  useless  if  he  had  recourse  to  the 
evasions  or  mental  reservations  familiar  to  his  order.     He 
replied  with  sincerity.     He  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  His  stead- 

,1  .  .   ..       i  if*  fastness  to 

the  pope  in  spirituals,  and    his   power  to   excommunicate  his  princi. 
Christian   princes ;  and  he  pronounced  the  oath  imposed  on  pie*. 
Roman  catholics  in  England,   treason  against  God.      He 
would  not,  however,  answer  any  of  the  interrogatories  re- 
specting the  power  of  the  pope  to  depose  kings,  or  absolve 
the  subjects  of  an  excommunicated  monarch  from  their  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  declined  the  question  of: — Whether  it 
was  lawful  to  murder  a  king  who  was  put  without  the  pale 
of  the  Romish  communion  ?  as  one  which  the  church  had  not 
yet  decided.     His  refusal  to  answer  questions  criminating 
himself  was  most  iniquitously  construed,  as  a  declining  of 
the  authority  of  the  king  and  council,  and  he  was  convict- 
ed of  high  treason,  and  executed  that  same  afternoon.    Mof-  Conviction 
fat,  another  member  of  the  society,  was  apprehended  near-  ^n  e> 
ly  about  the  same  time,  but  he  took  a  wiser  course,  or  at 
least  a  safer  one ;  he  condemned  without  hesitation  all  the 
positions  about  which   Ogilvy  had   scrupled,   and  was  al- 
lowed quietly  to  leave  the  country,  James,  with  affected  hu- 
manity, declaring,  that  he  would  never  hang  a  priest  for  his 
religion.* 

LXXVII.  Next  year,  1614,  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews     1614. 
dying,  Spotswood,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  was  advanced  to 
the  primacy,  and  Law,  bishop  of  Orkney,  succeeded  him  as 
archbishop  of  Glasgow.     Considerable  inconvenience  having 
arisen,  as  was  alleged  from  the  high  commission  being  di-      1615> 
vided  into  two  courts,  with  separate  and  distinct  jurisdictions,  high  com- 
they  were  both  united,  and,  by  a  new  mandate  from  the  king,  misl' ?"/*" 
any  of  the  archbishops,  with  four  of  the  other  members,  were 
authorized  to  hold  a  court  in  any  of  the  districts  of  Scotland. 

*  Spotswood,  p.  523.     Arnot's  Criminal  Trials. 


348 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
V. 

IfiU. 

Huntly  ap- 
pears be- 
fore it- 
imprison- 
ed. 


Liberated 
by  the 
chancellor. 


Represen- 
tations by 
both  parties 
to  the  king. 


The  turbulent,  restless,  and  irreclaimable  marquis  of  Hunt- 
ly, was  among  the  first  who  appeared  before  this  tribunal, 
after  its  being  remodelled.  Notwithstanding  his  numerous 
professions,  he  still  remained  devoted  to  the  popish  religion, 
and  desired  his  officers  to  prevent  his  tenantry  from  attend- 
ing upon  the  sermons  of  some  protestant  clergymen,  who  had 
been  sent  to  labour  for  their  conversion.  For  this  offence 
he  was  called  before  the  high  commission,  and  by  them  cqm- 
mitted  to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh.  He  had  not  remained 
there  three  days,  when  the  chancellor  granted  a  warrant  to 
set  him  at  liberty.  The  bishops  who  were  in  town,  highly 
offended  at  this  proceeding,  waited  upon  his  lordship,  and 
complained  of  his  conduct ;  but  he  asserted  the  dignity  of 
his  office,  and  his  constitutional  power  to  liberate  any  person 
committed  to  prison  by  authority  of  the  high  commission. 
To  intimidate  him,  he  was  threatened  with  the  displeasure  of 
the  church;  but  he  replied: — He  cared  not  whether  the 
church  were  pleased  or  not. 

LXXVIII.  A  change  of  circumstances  often  produces  a 
strange  revolution  in  men's  sentiments.  The  prelatical 
clergy  were  vehement  in  their  outcries  against  the  presby- 
terian  ministers  for  using  freedoms  with  public  men  in  the 
pulpit ;  but  no  sooner  was  their  own  illegal  powers  called 
in  question,  than  they  themselves  made  the  pulpits  resound 
with  exclamations  against  the  highest  officer  of  state,  because 
he  dared  to  exercise  his  undoubted  right.*  Representa- 
tions were  instantly  transmitted  to  the  king  by  both  par- 
ties. The  prelates  complained  of  the  chancellor  for  interfer- 
ing with  the  prerogatives  of  the  high  commission,  and  sent 
the  bishop  of  Caithness  to  lay  their  grievances  at  the  foot 
of  the  throne.  The  chancellor  accused  the  bishops  of  tur- 
bulence, presumption,  and  insolence,  and  complained  of  the 
liberty  they  took  in  censuring  the  public  actions  of  states- 
men in  their  sermons.  The  marquis,  the  cause  of  the  distur- 
bance, having  previously  to  his  imprisonment  obtained 
leave  from  the  king  to  proceed  to  London,  had  already  com- 
menced his  journey.  James,  reduced  to  a  perplexing  alter- 
native, the  highest  officer  of  the  crown  being  placed  in  op- 


•  Spotswqpd,  p.  525. 


JAMES  VI.  5*4-9 

position  to  the  highest  court  in  the  church,  was  under  the    BOOK 

necessity  of  declaring  which  should  have  the  chief  prepon- Y: — 

derance  in  the  state.     He  decided  for  the  child  of  his  own  He  decidcg 
creation:  approved  what  the  high  commission  had  done,  in  favour  of 

f     i  •  i    TT        t     f  I.  •        tne  court  oi 

and   sent  a  messenger  to  forbid  Huntly  trom  approaching  high  com. 
the  court,  and  ordering  him  to  return  to  his  confinement  in  mission. 
the  castle.     The  marquis  earnestly  entreated  the  messen- 
ger to  carry  to  his  majesty  his  humble  supplication ;  and  in- 
form him  that  his  intention  in  coming  to  London  was  to 
give  him  complete  satisfaction,  and  to  comply  with  whatever 
his  majesty  should   require.       The  king,  pleased  with  his 
promises  and  submission,  and  desirous  of  seeing  him  recon- 
!  ciled  to  the  protestant  church,  permitted  him  to  proceed,  and 
recommended  him  to  the  instructions  of  the  archbishop  of 
Canterbury.     Huntly  was  not  difficult  to  convert,  nor  was'  Huntly 
his  probation  long;  and  the  only  obstacle  which  prevented  su 
his  being  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  English  church,  was 
his  being  under  the  excommunication  of  her  Scottish  sister ; 
but  the  prelates  themselves,  by  sending  the  bishop  of  Caith- 
ness to  London,  had  provided  a  remedy.     His  lordship,  as 
the  representative  of  the  Scottish  church,  at  the  desire  of 
the  king,  revoked  the  sentence ;   after  which  the  archbishop  Absolved 
of  Canterbury  pronounced  the  absolution,  and  administer-  bilho^of 
ed  the  sacrament  to  the  hopeful  proselyte  in  the  chapel  at  Canter- 
Lambeth. 

LXXIX.  The  Scottish  bishops,  devoted  as  they  were  to 
ithe  crown,  did  not  receive  this  intelligence  of  the  royal  in- 
terference   with    that   submissive  meekness   which    became 
them  ;*  but  their  murmurs  were  silenced  by  an  explanation 

*  The  king's  conduct  toward  Huntly  occasioned  rather  a  ludicrous  con- 
fusion  in  the  statements  of  the  bishops.     Cowper,  bishop  of  Galloway,  who 
i  preached  in  the  High  Church  of  Edinburgh,  on  the  7th  of  July,  extolled  his 
!  majesty's  fatherly  care,  and  gracious  behaviour  toward  the  kirk,  who  would 
not  suffer  the  marquis  to  come  into  his  presence,  but  had  ordered  him  to  re- 
turn to  ward ;  and  he  inveighed  against  the  chancellor  for  the  favour  he  had 
shown  that  nobleman.     Next  day — the  8th — letters  were  received  from  court, 
announcing  that  Huntly  was  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
|  land  !     And  on  the  14th,  Spotswood,  from  the  same  pulpit  whence  the  chan- 
1  cellor  had  been  denounced,  apologized  for  the  king,  promised  that  he  would 
be  a  good  boy  in  future,  and  never  would  do  the  like  again  ! — Calderwood, 
p.  655. 


350  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    from  his  majesty,  and  an  apologetical  letter  from  the  arch- 
V-       bishop  of  Canterbury,  accompanied  by  a  supplication  from 

1615.  the  marquis  to  the  general  assembly,  acknowledging  his  of- 
fence, promising  to  continue  steadfast  himself,  and  to  educate 
his  children  in  the  protestant  religion,  and  praying  for  a  full 
absolution  from  the  church  of  Scotland.     The  prayer  of  his 
petition  was  granted,  and  he  was  formally  absolved  at  a 
meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  convoked  at  Aberdeen  os 
tensibly  for  this  purpose,  and  for  checking  the  growth  o 

1616.  popery  in  the  north  ;  but  there  were  other  objects  of  mor 
Ry  the  ge-  {mportance  brought  before  this  assembly,  the  pertinacious  a 
sembly.       tachment  to  which  was  the  cause  of  all  the  disasters  of  th 

following  reigns. 

LXXX.  James  had  now  brought  the  church  of  Scotland,  in 
its  outward  form,  to  a  similarity  with  that  of  England 
but  he  was  desirous  also  to  assimilate  it  in  its  worship  to 
the  Anglican  rites  and  ceremonies.  At  the  Aberdeen  assem 
bly  the  subjects  were  first  introduced,  and  after  the  south 
country  ministers  had  been  worn  out  by  long  conference, 
upon  the  hackneyed  topic  of  popery,  and  compelled,  by  the 
exhausted  state  of  their  finances,  to  return  home,  it  was  or 
Who  sane-  dained : — That  a  uniform  order  of  liturgy  be  set  down,  tc 
tionahtur-  ^e  rea(j  m  aj}  churcnes  on  the  ordinary  days  of  prayer,  am 
every  Sabbath  day  before  sermon ;  and  that  a  book  of  ca- 
nons be  made  and  published.*  Regulations  were  also  adopt 
ed  respecting  the  episcopal  catechising  of  children,  who  were 
to  be  recommended  in  prayer  by  the  bishop,  an  interim  ce 
remony,  till  confirmation  could  be  introduced.  When  the 
assembly  rose,  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and  the  bishop  o 
Ross,  were  sent  with  the  acts  to  his  majesty  to  procure  his 
royal  assent.  He  declared  himself  well  satisfied  with  the 
whole,  except  the  act  substituting  catechising  and  prayer, 
for  confirmation,  which  he  denominated  "  mere  hotch- 
potch." Along  with  his  approval,  he  sent  down  several  ar- 
ticles to  be  inserted  among  the  canons  of  the  church.  These, 
better  known  afterward  as  the  articles  of  Perth,  startled  eve 
the  bishops,  who  represented  the  danger  of  introducing  them 

*  At  this  assembly  it  nppears  first  to  have  been  enacted,  that  ministers  should 
keep  regular  registers  of  births,  deaths,  and  baptisms. 


11 


JAMES  VI.  351 

and  the  irregularity  of  inserting  among  the  canons  what  had  BOOK 
not  received  the  sanction  of  the  church.     James  acquiesced          ' 
for  the  time,  but  unfortunately  did  not  relinquish  a  design     1616. 
which  those  most  attached  to  prelacy,  and  interested  in  its 
success,  were  compelled  to  acknowledge  was  both  premature 
and  impolitic 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  VL 

James  VI — Visits  Scotland. — His  reception  at  Edinburgh — Disputation  at 
Stirling. — Object  of  bis  visit. — Act  placing  the  government  of  the  church 
in  his  hands  withdrawn. — The  ministers  who  protest  against  it  prosecuted. 
— Case  of  Calderwood — Proposals  for  conformity  to  the  church  of  England. 
—An  assembly  called. — King  leaves  Scotland — Proceedings  of  the  assem- 
bly.— His  orders  for  the  celebration  of  Christmas. — The  observance  of  the 
festivals  enforced  by  proclamation— Articles  proposed  to  the  assembly  a 
Perth  for  their  sanction. — Adopted,  and  ratified  by  the  council. — Death  o 
the  Queen. — Troubles  in  Germany — Hamilton  appointed  Commissioner.— 
His  intrigues  with  the  Nobility,  &c. — Ministers  ordered  to  leave  Edinburgh 
— Proceedings  of  Parliament — A  Tax  on  Income  refused — Articles  o: 
Perth  ratified.— Black  Saturday — Ministers  protest  against  the  Articles  o 
Perth.— Arbitrary  Proceedings  of  the  Bishops. — Perth  Inundated. — Bridge 
over  Tweed  swept  away. — Treatment  of  John  Welsh  and  Robert  Bruce. 
Proposals  for  a  Marriage  between  Prince  Charles  and  a  Princess  of  Spain 
— The  King  becomes  Arminian. — Favourable  to  the  Catholics. — Proceed, 
ings  against  Bailie  Rigg. — Death  of  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton. — Death  o: 
the  King. — His  character. — CHARLES  I.  proclaimed  at  Edinburgh — He  de- 
termines to  maintain  Episcopacy  in  Scotland. — Dictates  the  choice  of  the 
Magistrates  of  Edinburgh. — Conduct  of  the  Nobles  respecting  Church  pro- 
perty— State  of  the  Scottish  Church. — Quarrel  between  Frendraught  and 
Rothmay — Death  of  the  Marquis  of  Huntly. — Marquis  Hamilton's  expe- 
dition  to  Germany. — The   King  comes  to  Scotland. — His  Coronation  at 
Holyroodhouse. — Proceedings  of  Parliament. — Complaints  of  the  Ministers 
disregarded — His  treatment  of  Earl  Rothes  and  Lord  Lindsay. — Erects 
Edinburgh  into  a  Bishopric: — Orders  the  English  Liturgy  to  be  used  in  the 
Chapel  Royal,    Holyroodhouse. — Reprimands  the  Judges  for  suppressing 
revels  on  Sundays — Trial  of  Lord  Balmerino  for  leasing-making — Intem- 
perate conduct  of  the  younger  Bishops. — Book  of  Canons  and  Common 
Prayer  enforced — Tumult  in  St.  Giles'  on  the  first  reading  of  the  Liturgy. — 
Use  of  it  suspended  by  the  Council — Ordered  to  be  persevered  in — Sup- 
plication of  the  Nobles,  &c.  against  it — Proceedings  of  the  Inhabitants  of 
Edinburgh — 1617-1637. 

AT  his  departure  from  Edinburgh,  the  king  had  promised  to 

visit  his  native  country  every  third  year.     His  poverty  oc- 

1617.     casioned  by  senseless  profusion,  had  hitherto  prevented  him 
James  VI.  from  fulfilling  his  prOmise.     But  the  money,  [L.250,000,]  < 


BOOK 
VI. 


JAMES  VI.  353 

which  he  received  from  the  Dutch,  on  delivering  up  the  can-     BOOK 
lionary  towns,  enabled  him  to  redeem  his  pledge.     In  a  let-        v*- 
ter  to  the  council,  informing  them  of  his  resolution,  he  as-     16|7 
cribed  the  longing  he  had  to  see  the  place  of  his  breeding.  Itesolvesto 
to  "a  salmon-like  instinct;"  and  with  his  usual  disregard  of^^ 
truth,  commanded  a  proclamation  to  be  issued,   declaring 
that  he  intended  to  make  no  alteration  in  the  civil  or  eccle- 
siastical state  of  his  native  kingdom ;  adding,  however,  what 
he  might  imagine  a  saving  clause,  that  he  would  endeavour 
to  do  some  good  at  his  coming,  and  to  discharge  some  points 
of  his  kingly  office  in  reforming  abuses,  both  in  the  church 
and  commonwealth. 

ii.  Previously  to  his  setting  out,  he  sent  directions  for  the 
royal  chapel  of  Holyroodhouse  to  be  repaired.  An  organ 
was  ordered  to  be  erected,  and  a  loft  for  the  choir,  and  Eng- 
lish carpenters  were  sent  down,  to  superintend  and  assist  in 
the  alterations.  They  brought  with  them  wooden  statues  of 
the  twelve  apostles,  finely  gilt,  to  be  placed  in  stalls ;  but  the  The  prepa- 
populace,  impressed  with  the  idea,  that  these  were  forerun-  the  paiace 

ners  of  the  restoration  of  idolatry,  began  to  exhibit  symptoms  displease 

f  .  i  •    i    •          ..  ,,  c  ,        .        the  people. 

ot  aversion,  which  it  might  not  have  been  sate  to  despise. 

"  The  organ  came  first,"  said  they,  "  now  the  images,  and  ere 
long,  we  shall  have  the  mass."  Cowper,  bishop  of  Galloway, 
who  resided  in  Edinburgh,  as  dean  of  the  chapel  royal,  per- 
ceived the  brooding  discontent,  and  wrote  an  epistle  to  his 
majesty,  to  which  he  procured  the  signatures  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  the  bishops  of  Aberdeen  and  Bre- 
chin,  and  numbers  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  entreating 
him  to  countermand  his  order  for  erecting  the  statues,  on 
account  of  the  offence  that  was  taken  at  them.  The  king  They  are 
deemed  it  prudent  to  comply:  but  in  an  angry  answer,  ac_count*'r- 

*    J  ...  raandod. 

cused  the  objectors  of  ignorance,  who  could  not  distinguish 
between  pictures  intended  for  ornament,  and  images  erected 
as  objects  of  worship  ;  sarcastically  observing,  that  they  could 
allow  the  figures  of  lions,  dragons,  or  devils  to  be  represent- 
ed in  their  churches,  but  would  not  allow  that  honour  to  the 
prophets  and  apostles.  Jealous  of  his  prerogative,  he  took 
care  in  the  close  to  inform  them,  that  he  had  stopped  the 
setting  up  of  the  figures,  "not  to  ease  their  hearts,  or  con- 
VOL.  in.  2  z 


354  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    firm  them  in  their  errors,  but  because  the  work  could  not  be 
VI'       properly  finished  within  the  time  intended." 


1617.  in.  The  king  arrived  at  Berwick  in  the  month  of  May 
and  the  parliament,  which  stood  summoned  for  the  17th  o 
that  month,  was  prorogued  to  the  13th  of  June.  From  Ber- 
a/Edin^  s  wick,  he  was  conducted  by  slow  journies  to  his  ancient  ca 
burgh.  pital,  which,  after  an  absence  of  fourteen  years,  was  agair 
favoured  with  a  sight  of  the  sovereign.  He  was  accompani 
ed  by  a  splendid  train  of  English  nobility.  The  citizens  o 
Edinburgh,  either  wishing  to  display  their  wealth  before  th 
strangers,  who  so  often  reproached  their  poverty,  or  impress 
the  king  with  a  favourable  idea  of  their  loyalty,  prepared  to 
receive  him  with  the  utmost  pomp  and  magnificence.  He 
was  met  without  the  West  Port  by  the  magistrates  and  coun- 
cil in  their  robes,  and  the  principal  burghers  dressed  in  black 
velvet.  The  deputy  town  clerk,  Mr.  John  Hay,  compliment- 
ed the  monarch  in  a  strain  which  must  have  been  truly  gra- 
His  reoep-  tifying  to  his  royal  ears.  "  This  is  that  happy  day  of  our 
new  birth,"  exclaimed  the  enraptured  deputy,  "  ever  to  be  re- 
tained in  fresh  memorie,  wherein  our  eyes  behold  the  great- 
est human  felicity  our  hearts  could  wish,  which  is  to  feed  up- 
on the  royal  countenance  of  our  true  phoenix,  the  bright  star 
of  our  northern  firmament,  the  ornament  of  our  age,  where- 
in we  are  refreshed)  yea  revived,  with  the  heat  and  beames 
of  our  sun — the  powerful  adamant  of  our  wealth — by  whose 
removal  from  our  hemisphere,  we  were  darkened,  deep  fear 
and  sorrow  had  possessed  our  hearts.  The  very  hills  and 
groves,  accustomed  before  to  be  refreshed  with  the  dew  of 
your  majesty's  presence,  not  putting  on  their  wonted  apparel, 
but  with  pale  looks  representing  their  misery  for  the  depart- 
ure of  their  king  !"  "  Receive  then,  dread  sovereign,  from 
your  majesty's  faithful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  magistrates 
and  citizens  of  your  highnesses  good  town  of  Edinburgh, 
such  welcome  as  is  due  from  those,  who  with  thankful  hearts. 
do  acknowledge  the  infinite  blessings  plenteously  flowing  tc 
them,  from  the  paradise  of  your  majesty's  unspotted  good- 
ness and  virtue.  Wishing  your  majesties  eyes  might  pierce 
into  their  very  hearts,  there  to  behold  the  excessive  joy  in- 
wardly conceived  of  the  first  messenger  of  your  majesty's 


JAMES  VI.  355 

>rincely  resolution  to  visit  this  your  majesty's  good  town."    BOOK 
ji  a  similar,  or  even  more  bombastic  stylei,  did  the  orator 
ontinue   for  nearly  an  hour;   but  the  citizens  of  the  good      1617. 
own  gave  more  substantial  proof  of  their  loyalty,  they  invited 
he  king  to  a  sumptuous  banquet,  and  presented  him  with 
en  thousand  merks  Scots,   in  double  golden  angels,  and  in 

gilt  silver  bason. 

iv.  After  resting  a  few  days  in  Edinburgh,  he  resumed 
iis  progress  through  the  principal  counties,  and  was  receiv- 
d  wherevei  he  went,  with  the  most  lively  demonstrations  of 
oy,  with  splendid  pageants,  and  royal  entertainments,  and 
ic  was  welcomed  in  classic  strains  in  every  university,  city, 
.nd  nobleman's  mansion  that  he  visited.  Happily  the  Scot- 
ish  muse  was  silent ;  no  Caledonian  bard  hailed  his  ap- 
roach,  and  the  native  poetry  of  the  country  was  for  a  while 
pared  the  degradation  of  being  prostituted  to  flatter  the 
ar  of  a  despot  and  a  pedant.  But  his  chief  delight  was  in 

cholastic   disputations.     He   ordered   all  the  professors  of  Disputa- 
tion at  Stir- 

Sdinburgh  college  to  attend  at  Stirling,  where   he  presided  ling. 

is  judge,  yet  mingling  in  the  debates  ;  and  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  his  admiring  courtiers,  displayed  his  erudition  and 
ingenuity,  by  occasionally  defending  and  opposing  the  same 
thesis.  His  approbation  was  conveyed  in  quibbles  on  the 
professors'  names,  with  which  he  was  himself  so  highly 
charmed,  that  he  directed  them  to  be  turned  into  English 
and  Latin  verse.* 


*  The  names  of  the  professors  were  John  Adamson,  James  Fairlie,  Patrick 
Sands,  Andrew  Young,  James  Reid.  His  majesty's  witty  remarks  were : — 
"  Adam  was  the  father  of  all,  and  Adam's  son  had  the  first  part  of  this  act, 
The  defender  is  justly  called  Fairlie,  [wonder,]  his  thesis  had  somefairlies  in 
it,  and  he  sustained  them  very  fairly,  and  with  many  fair  lies  given  to  his  op- 
pugners.  And  why  should  not  Mr.  Sands  be  the  first  to  enter  the  sands  ? 
But  now  I  see  clearly  that  all  sands  are  not  barren,  for  certainly  he  hath 
shown  a  fertile  wit.  Mr.  Young  is  very  old  in  Aristotle-  Mr.  Reid  need  not 
be  red  with  blushing  for  his  acting  this  day.  Mr.  King  disputed  very  kingly, 
and  of  a  kingly  purpose,  concerning  the  royal  supremacy  of  reason  above  anger 
and  all  passions.  Charters,  the  principal,  (he  did  not  dispute,)  his  name  agrees 
with  his  nature,  for  charters  contain  much  matter,  yet  say  nothing,  yet  put 
great  matters  in  men's  mouths."  Some  apology  might,  perhaps,  be  requisite 
for  copying  such  contemptible  stuff;  but  as  James'  literature  has  been  so 
highly  praised  even  by  excellent  judges,  Bacon,  Drummond,  Hume,  &c.  1 
thought  the  reader  would  not  be  displeased  to  see  a  specimen  of  his  taste- 


356  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        v.  The  principal  object  of  James'  journey    to    Scotland 

was  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  which 

.1617.      he  had,  at  the  request  of  the  bishops,  withdrawn;  as,  from 

his'vLit.  ^le  facility  with  which  he  had  changed  the  form  of  church 
government,  he  never  doubted  but  that  he  would,  when  pre- 
sent, be  easily  able  to  alter  the  mode  of  worship ;  and  for 
this  purpose  he  had  prepared  an  act,  vesting  almost  unlimit- 
ed power  in  his  own  hands,  and  that  of  the  bishops.  The 
nobles,  who  at  this  time  appear  to  have  been  wholly  unin- 
terested about  the  fate  of  the  church,  felt  a  nearer  concern 
in  the  fate  of  the  church  lands.  They  had  already  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  rapacity,  insolence,  and  ambition  of  the  pre- 
lates; of  their  subservience  to  every  measure  of  the  king, 
and  of  the  king's  unbounded  partiality  for  them ;  they  there- 
fore, and  not  without  reason,  began  to  entertain  fears  for  the 
preservation  of  the  rich  estates  which  had  been  granted  them 
from  the  spoils  of  the  ecclesiastics  at  the  reformation.  When 

UP  holds  a  the  parliament  met,  their  suspicions  of  the  king  appeared  in 
'  their  rejecting  several  of  the  nobility  whom  he  had  recom- 
mended to  be  chosen  lords  of  the  articles,  and  electing  some 
who  were  known  not  to  be  warmly  attached  to  the  court,  in 
their  room.  A  violent  opposition  was  made  to  the  admission 
of  any  officers  of  state,  except  the  chancellor,  treasurer,  and 
master  of  rolls;  and  the  contention  arose  so  high,  that 
the  estates  were  nearly  dispersing,  and  the  king  had  at  one 
time  determined  to  dissolve  the  parliament ;  but  a  compro- 
mise was  effected,  although  not  till  an  unusually  late  hour 
at  night,  when  the  meeting  broke  up  in  bad  temper,  and  the 
king  and  the  estates  went  down  to  the  palace  in  great  coiv- 
fusion ;  some  riding  in  their  robes,  and  some  on  foot,  and 
without  the  regalia  being  borne  before  them. 

vr.  Having  carried  their  main  point,  and  secured  the  pos- 
session of  their  estates,  the  nobles  did  not  appear  unwilling 
to  gratify  the  king  by  legalizing  his  assumed  spiritual  su- 
premacy ;  and  an  act  secretly  passed  the  lords  of  the  articles, 

Act  of  su-   declaring : — That  whatsoever  his  majesty  should  determine  in 

icy<     the  external  government  of  the  church,  with  the  advice  of  the 

archbishops,  bishops,  and  a  competent  number  of  the  ministry, 

should  have  the  force  of  a  law;   which,  as  the  bishops  were 

completely  at  his  nod,  and  he  was  left  judge  of  what  was  a 


JAMES  VI.  357 

competent  number  of  the  ministry,  was  committing  unlimited  BOOK 
power,  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  into  his  hands.  The  ministers  ^I- 
attached  to  presbytery  obtained,  through  some  of  their  1617. 
friends,  intelligence  of  the  design,  and  prepared  a  protesta- 
tion against  any  innovation.  They  expressed  their  astonish- 
ment that  a  proposition  of  this  kind  should  have  been  listened 
to,  after  the  bishops  had  assured  them,  that  they  would  con- 
sent to  nothing  in  the  parliament,  respecting  the  discipline 
and  order  of  the  church,  without  their  special  knowledge 
and  advice.  They  pled  the  establishment  of  the  church  by  The  minis. 
aw,  and  the  power  granted  and  confirmed  to  the  assemblies 
jy  several  acts  of  parliament,  to  make  canons  and  constitu- 
tions for  their  regulation ;  the  king's  repeated  promises  that 
le  would  make  no  innovation ;  and  what  ought  to  have 
Drought  a  blush  over  the  royal  cheek,  if  it  had  been  capable 
of  blushing,  his  majesty's  own  letter,  only  a  few  months  old, 
which  at  his  own  command  had  been  read  in  all  the  pulpits 
of  the  kingdom,  affirming  that  he  intended  no  alteration  dur- 
ing his  journey.  This  protestation  was  delivered  to  the  ab- 
bot of  Crosraguel  to  be  presented  to  the  king,  but  while  he 
was  waiting  in  an  anti-chamber  in  the  palace,  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews  requested  to  hear  its  purport.  Scarcely, 
however,  had  Hewit  commenced,  when  his  grace  endeavour- 
ed to  take  it  forcibly  from  him,  and  in  the  struggle  the  paper 
was  torn.  Another  copy  was  prepared  to  be  presented  to 
'the  estates,  when  the  bill  was  about  to  be  ratified ;  but  the 
king,  who  understood  its  nature,  and,  callous  as  he  was, 
could  not  be  altogether  insensible  to  the  shame  of  being  so 
openly  convicted  of  frequent  and  deliberate  falsehoods,  di-  With- 
reeled  the  article  to  be  withdrawn  as  unnecessary;  the  pre-drawn< 
rogative  of  the  crown  conveying  more  extensive  powers  than 
this  act  was  intended  to  confer.  Chapters,  however,  were 
constituted,  and  the  form  prescribed  in  which  they  should 
elect  to  the  vacant  sees  such  bishops  as  his  majesty  might  be 
ipleased  to  name. 

vu.  Although  the  obnoxious  act  was  relinquished,  and  the 
iprotest  was  never  read,  those  who  had  been  active  in  the  op-  Proceed. 
Sposition  were  followed  with  vindictive  persecution.     Imme- inffs  a" 

..  i        i«        i      •  r          i-  gainst  thfl 

'diately  on  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  Simpson,  who  had  protesters. 


358  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  signed  the  protestation,*  was  summoned  before  the  high 
commission,  and  required  to  deliver  up  the  names  of  all  the 
1617.  original  subscribers  to  that  deed;  and  because  he  could  not 
produce  the  list, — it  having  been  previously  given  to  Calder- 
wood,  the  laborious  and  faithful  historian  of  the  church, — he 
was  committed  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  Cal- 
derwood  summoned  to  appear  before  the  high  commission  at 
St.  Andrews,  to  answer  for  being  present  at  a  "  mutinous  as- 
sembly of  certain  of  the  ministry,  and  promoting  subscrip- 
tions to  a  seditious  protestation,  in  contempt  of  Almighty 
God,  and  the  reverence  he  owed  to  his  majesty,  his  sove- 
seign  lord  !"  Simpson,  and  Hewit,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Edinburgh,  were  both  likewise  ordered  to  attend.  The  king 
was  present  to  superintend  the  proceedings  of  the  high  com- 
mission. Before  the  accused  were  called,  in  a  speech  to  the 
court,  he  pointed  out  the  mode  of  procedure  they  ought  to 
adopt.  "  We  took  this  order  with  the  puritans  of  England  ;" 
said  he,  "  they  stood  as  long  as  they  were  deprived  only  of 
their  benefices,  because  they  preached  still  on,  and  lived 
upon  the  benevolence  of  the  people  friendly  to  their  cause ; 
but  when  we  deprived  them  of  their  office,  many  yielded  to 
us,  and  are  become  the  best  men  we  have.  Let  us  take  the 
like  course  with  the  puritans  here." 

Hewit  and  V1II.  Hewit  and  Simpson,  on  adhering  to  the  protestation 
deprived,  were  deprived  and  confined,  the  one  to  Dundee,  and  the 
other  to  Aberdeen ;  but  Calderwood,  as  the  more  eminent, 
was  persecuted  with  greater  rigour.  In  the  court,  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  king,  while  harassed  with  vexatious  and 
ensnaring  questions,  he  was  not  only  reviled  and  threatened 
by  the  parasites  who  surrounded  him,  but  jostled,  tugged, 
shaken  by  the  shoulders,  and  subjected  to  every  method  of 
teasing  which  could  tend  to  disorder  or  confuse  him  ;  but 
he  defended  himself  with  calm,  collected  intrepidity,  and, 
notwithstanding  his  treatment,  maintained  a  respect  toward 

*  The  protestation  was  only  signed  by  Simpson,  in  name  of  the  protesters, 
whose  names  were  on  a  separate  paper,  pledging  themselves  to  adhere ;  but 
this  paper  was  not  intended  to  be  produced,  unless  absolutely  necessary,  either 
to  the  king  or  the  parliament,  until  the  subscription  of  those  who  were  absent, 
but  friendly  to  the  cause,  had  been  obtained Calderwood,  p.  676. 


JAMES  VI.  359 

James  as  his  sovereign,  which  raises  our  admiration  of  his    BOOK 
principles,  while  it  excites  our  wonder  at  his  patience.     He  _ 
was  asked  by  the  king,  who  most  preposterously  appears  to       1617> 
have  presided  in  a  court  in  which  he  declared  he  had  no 
rightful   seat: — Why   he  dared  to  assist  at  that  mutinous 
meeting  ?     "  When  that  meeting  is  pronounced  mutinous,"  Calder- 
replied  he,    "  then  it  will  be  time  enough   for  me  to  answer  wood  Pro" 

scented. 

that  question."  "  Acknowledge  your  rashness,  Mr.  David," 
said  the  secretary,  while  numbers  of  those  who  were  stand- 
ing near  were  whispering  to  him  : — Come  in  the  king's  will ; 
it  is  your  best  way;  he'll  pardon  you."  "  What  was  done," 
answered  Calderwood  firmly,  "  was  done  with  deliberation." 
"  But  what  moved  you  to  protest  ?"  said  the  king.  **  A 
proposition  passed  the  lords  of  the  articles  for  cutting  off 
our  general  assemblies."  "Hear  me,  Mr.  David,"  con- 
tinued his  majesty,  after  having  asked  him  how  long  he  had 
been  a  minister,  "  I  have  been  an  older  keeper  of  general 
assemblies  than  you  :  their  office  is  to  preserve  doctrine  pure, 
prevent  schisms,  draw  up  confessions  of  faith,  and  present 
petitions  to  the  king  in  parliament ;  but  as  for  rites,  cere- 
monies, and  things  indifferent,  these  may  be  concluded  by 
the  king,  with  advice  of  bishops,  and  a  competent  number  of 
ministers."  Calderwood  asserted,  that  the  general  assembly 
had  exercised  all  these  powers  for  fifty-six  years,  and  that 
they  had  already  decided  upon  what  was  a  competent. num- 
ber of  ministers  in  his  majesty's  presence,  and  with  his 
majesty's  own  consent ;  it  consisted  of  the  commissioners 
from  the  presbyteries  to  that  judicatory.  The  royal  dis- 
putant, who  at  every  turn  was  met  by  his  own  declarations, 
interrupted  the  speaker,  by  asking  him  to  explain  what  was 
meant  by  the  last  clause  of  the  protestation — a  clause  in  which 
they  said  that  they  would  rather  incur  his  majesty's  censure, 
than  obey  an  ordinance  that  did  not  regularly  proceed  from 
the  church  orderly  convened — James  having  construed  this 
into  a  threat  of  disobedience  to  his  measures.  Calderwood 
in  explanation  remarked,  that  whatever  the  phrase  might  ap- 
pear to  convey,  the  meaning  of  the  protesters  was,  that  they 
would  give  passive  obedience  to  his  majesty,  but  could  not 
give  active  obedience  to  any  unlawful  regulations  which  should 
flow  from  the  article  in  question.  "  Active  and  passive  obe- 


360  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    dience,"  repeated   the  king;  "that  is,"  continued   Calder 
•_*•       wood,   "  we  will   rather  suffer  than   act."     "  I'll  tell  thee 
1617.      man,"  said   the   king,    "what  is  obedience;  the  centurion 
when  he  said  to  his  servants,  to  this  man  go,  and  he  goeth 
to  that  man  come,  and  he  cometh  ;  that's  obedience."   When 
Calderwood  was  replying  to  this  truly  royal  definition  o 
obedience,   "  Mr.  David  let  alone,"  cried  the  secretary,  irri 
tated  at  the  presumption  that  dared  to  question  the  dictate 
of  his  majesty,  "  confess  your  error/'     "  Convince  me  first 
my  lord,  that  I  am  in  one ;"  and  turning  to  the  king, 
have  now,  sir,  answered  my  libel,  I  ought  to  be  urged  no 
farther."     "  True,  man  !   ye  have  answered  to  your  libel,' 
replied  the  king,   "but  consider  I  am  here,  I  may  demam 
His  exami-  of  you  when,   and  what  I  will."     "  But  surely,  sir,  I  get 
nation.       great  wrong   if  I    be   compelled    to   answer  here  in  judg- 
ment to  more  than  is  in  my  libel."     "  Answer,  sir,"  said  the 
king,  "  I  am  informed  you  are  refractory,  you  attend  nei- 
ther synod  nor  presbytery,  nor  in  any  way  conform."     "  J 
have  been  confined  these  nine  years,  [to  my  own  parish,]  so 
my  conformity,  or  non-conformity,  in  that  point,   could  not 
very  well  be  known."    "  Good  faith  !  thou  art  a  very  knave  !" 
was  his  majesty's  princely  retort,  "  see  these  false  puritans, 
they  are  ever  playing  with  equivocations!"   and  then*  after 
some  ensnaring  questions  by  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  th< 
king  interposed : — "  If  ye   were   relaxed,  would  you  obev 
now?"     Mr.  Calderwood  repeated  his  objection  to  the  fair- 
ness of  being  forced  to  answer  questions  relative  to  othei 
subjects  than  those  for  which  he  had  been  summoned  befort 
that  court ;  but  added  : — "  Since   I  must  answer,   I   shal 
either  obey,  or  give  a  reason  for  my  disobedience."     He  wa 
on  this  removed,  and  after  a  little  called  in  to  hear  his  sen 
tence  of  suspension.     Calderwood,  addressing  the  king,  tol( 
him: — "I  heard  your  majesty,  in  the  public  disputations 
disclaim  the  power  of  deprivation  ;  suspension  is  a  degre 
of  deprivation,  and  both  are  ecclesiastical   censures."     "J 
was  not  I,"  said   the  king,    '  playing    with   equivocations 
"  it  was  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.     I  would  have  rt 
moved,  but  they  would  not  let  me  !"      "  Then,"   said  Ca 
derwood,  turning  to  the  archbishop  and  bishops,  neither  ca 
ye  suspend  or  deprive  me,  for  ye  have  no  farther  power  i 


JAMES  VI.  361 

this  court  than  by  commission  from  his  majesty,  and  his  ma-    BOOK 
jesty  cannot  communicate  that  power  to  you  which  he  claim-        *^ 
eth  not  for  himself."     At  length  the  king,  irritated,  perhaps,      1617 
more  at  his  poignant  and  unanswerable  replies  than  even  at 
the  firmness  of  the  accused,  ordered  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews  to  intimate,  that  unless  he  quietly  submitted  to  be 
suspended  spiritually,   he  should  be  suspended  corporally. 
"  My  body,"  replied  the  intrepid  minister,  "  is  in  your  ma- 
jesty's hands,  do  with  it  as  pleaseth  your  majesty ;  but  as 
long  as  my  body  is  free  I  will  teach,  notwithstanding  of  their 
sentence."      He  was  now,  as  contumacious,  deprived,  and 
ordered  into  close  confinement,  the  bishop  of  St.    Andrews 
observing,  he  deserved  to  be  hanged  like  Ogilvy,  the  Jesuit, 
for  declining  the  king's  authority.     He  was  afterward  ba-  He  is  ba- 
nished for  life,*  but  found  an  asylum  in  the  United  Pro-  nis  ed* 
vinces,    whence  his  numerous  publications  were  circulated 
over  his  native  country,  with  an  effect  which,  had  he  been 
allowed  quietly  to  remain  minister  of  Crailing,  they  might 
never  have  produced.     I   have  detailed    his  case  at  some 
length,  as  it  shows,  in  a  striking  point  of  view,  the  nature 
of  those  royal  and  prelatical  pretensions  which  our  fathers 
have  been  stigmatized  for  resisting,  f — When  a  remonstrance 
to  parliament,  as  a  late  historian  remarks,  was  punished  as 
seditious  by  the  high  commission,  ecclesiastical,  or  rather  re- 
gal tyranny  was  carried  to  the  extreme;  and  he  might  have 

*  When  the  king  was  petitioned  by  lord  Cranston,  that  Calderwood's  voy- 
age might  be  deferred — it  was  now  winter — till  spring,  "  As  for  the  season  of 
the  year,"  replied  the  humane  monarch,  "  if  he  be  drowned  in  the  seas,  he 
will  have  to  thank  God  that  he  hath  escaped  a  worse  death  !" — Calderwood, 
p.  686. 

f  In  the  conduct  of  the  supporters  of  episcopacy  and  tyranny  during  the 
reigns  of  the  Stuarts — and  in  the  Scottish  history  of  that  period,  the  terms  are 
synonymous — there  is  a  marked  disregard  to  truth,  and  their  detected  lies 
were  reiterated  with  as  unblushing  confidence  as  if  they  never  had  been  re- 
futed. Their  practice  was  : — They  first  asserted  a  falsehood  j  when  convicted, 
they  re-asserted  it ;  when  challenged  to  proof,  they  repeated  their  assertion, 
and  by  dint  of  barefaced,  shameless  repetition  of  what  they  knew  to  be  mali- 
cious calumny,  they  affixed  a  stain  upon  the  principles,  profession,  and  con- 
duct of  men,  whose  sense  of  moral  integrity  forbade  their  retaliating  with  such 
weapons,  arid  whose  liability  to  be  convicted  of  a  libel,  if  they  dared  to  speak 
the  truth,  often  obliged  them  to  keep  an  involuntary  silence. 

VOL.   in.  3  A. 


362  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK     added: — A  remonstrance,  the  justice  of  which  was  acknow- 
^L        ledged  by  the  obnoxious  act  being  withdrawn. 
16|7  ix.  The  protesters  being  thus  disposed  of,  in  order  to  strike 

terror  into  the  minds  of  the  other  ministers  who  were  as- 
sembled at  St.  Andrews,  and  ensure  their  compliance,  his 
majesty  laid  before  them  the  articles  which  he  wished  them 
to  adopt ;  these  were,  kneeling  at  the  sacrament  of  the  holy 
Proposals  supper ;  the  administration  of  this  sacrament,  and  of  bap- 
mltv°to  the  t'sm'  m  cases  °f  sickness,  in  private ;  the  institution  of  fes- 
church  of  tivals ;  and  the  rite  of  confirmation  by  the  bishops.  He  de- 
ng  an  '  sired  them  to  state  what  scruples  they  had  regarding  them, 
and  their  reasons,  if  they  had  any,  why  they  ought  not  to  be 
admitted ;  telling  them,  however,  with  the  same  breath,  that 
it  was  of  no  consequence  whether  they  approved  them  or 
not,  he  would  enforce  them  ;  for  it  was  "  a  power  innated, 
and  a  special  prerogative,  that  we  Christian  kings  have  to 
order  and  dispose  of  external  things  in  the  polity  of  the 
church,  as  we  by  the  advice  of  our  bishops,  shall  find  most 
fitting ;  and  as  for  your  approving  or  disapproving,  deceive 
not  yourselves,  I  will  never  regard  it,  unless  you  bring  me  a 
reason  which  I  cannot  answer."  The  communion  had  al- 
ready been  repeatedly  administered  in  the  chapel  of  Holy- 
roodhouse,  and  was  received  in  a  kneeling  posture  by  the 
bishops,  officers  of  state,  and  several  of  the  nobility,  without 
remonstrance,  or  any  apparent  reluctance ;  even  the  minis- 
ters of  Edinburgh  were  silent,  and  neither  in  public  or  pri- 
vate made  the  smallest  opposition  to  the  innovation.  The 
king,  deceived  by  this  apparent  submission,  and  by  the  re- 
presentations of  the  bishops,*  was  astonished  and  irritated 
when  the  assembled  ministers,  instead  of  receiving  his  speech 
with  acclamations,  and  overwhelmed  by  his  wisdom  and  con- 
descension, acknowledging  with  gratitude  this  proof  of  his 
fatherly  kindness,  came  forward,  and  respectfully  requested 
to  be  allowed  to  withdraw  for  a  little,  that  they  might  con- 
sult among  themselves,  and  return  a  uniform  answer.  The 

*  The  king  called  the  bishops  dolts  and  deceivers,  because  they  had  made 
him  believe  they  had  dressed  matters  so,  that  he  had  no  more  ado,  when  he 
came  in  the  country,  but  to  give  his  presence. — Calderwood,  p.  685. 


JAMES  VI.  363 

request  was  granted,  and  they  retired  to  the  parish  church  ;    BOOK 
in  about  two  hours  they  returned,  with  an  unanimous  request        VI- 
for  a  general  assembly,  that  the  ceremonies  he  enjoined  might 


receive  the  sanction  of  the  church.     James,  who  was  extreme-  Ministers 

1-11  i          ii         i     ><<    i      desire  an 

Iy  averse  to  that  court,  hesitated,  because  he  alleged,  if  the  assembly. 

assembly  should  refuse  them,  his  difficulties  would  be  great- 
er than  they  then  were,  and  when  he  enforced  them  by  his 
authority,  which  he  was  determined  to  do,  he  would  be  re- 
proached as  a  tyrant  and  a  persecutor;  nor  was  it  till  Mr. 
Patrick  Galloway  had  pledged  himself  for  their  compliance, 
that  the  royal  consent  was  given,  and  a  meeting  was  ordered  It  is  order- 
to  be  held  in  St.  Andrews,  on  the  25th  November,  to  ratify  ed' 
and  confirm  the  obnoxious  articles. 

x.  The  king,  whose  journey,  instead  of  promoting  peace, 
had  scattered  everywhere  new  causes  of  discord,  soon  after 
took  a  sullen  and  ungracious  departure,  from  a  disappointed  The  king 
and  dissatisfied  people  ;  no  benefits  had  accompanied  his  pro-  je»vesScot. 
gress,  and  no  blessing  attended  his  return.     While  passing 
through  Lancashire,  mortified  and  soured  at  the  resistance  he 
had  experienced  in  his  native  country,  he  received  a  petition 
from  some  labourers  and  mechanics,  complaining  that  they 
were  debarred  from  all  recreations  on  a  Sunday,  after  divine 
service.     He  exercised  his  power  as  supreme  head  of  the 
church,   in  a  manner  not  greatly  calculated  to  recommend 
that  branch  of  the  prerogative  to  presbyterians.     Consider- 
ing the  judaical  observance   of  the  Sabbath  as  one  of  the 
strong  bulwarks  of  puritanism,  against  which  his  hatred  was 
now  more  than  ever  excited,  he  took  advantage  of  the  peti- 
tion, and  issued  a  proclamation  to  allow  and  encourage  all 
lawful  games  and  pastimes,  and  commanded  that  his  sub- 
jects should   not  be  prevented   from  dancing,   leaping,   or 
vaulting,  exercising  archery,  having  May  games,  Whitson 
ales,  or  Morrice-dances,  after  divine  service  on  the  Sundays  ;  Sanctions 
which  term  he  ostentatiously  used,  in  opposition  to  the  ap-  games  and 
propriate  name  Sabbath,  or  "  the  day  of  rest,"  which  had  c^Sua"8 
been  early  adopted  in  the  reformed  churches,  and  was  the  dav8- 
common  appellation  of  the  Lord's  Day  in  Scotland.* 

*  This  proclamation,  equally  pernicious  with  the  decree  of  the  French  con- 
vention  abolishing  the  Sabbath,  had  not  even  the  praise  of  daring  impiety.  It 
was  hypocritically  pretended  to  be  for  the  advancement  of  religion,  and  to  at- 


364  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 


POOR      xi.  When  the  assembly  met  at  St.    Andrews,  notwith- 
standing every  precaution  had  been  taken  to  procure  such 


1617.      only  to  be  returned  members,  as  were  considered  favourable 
Assembly    to  ^e  measures  of  the  king,  or  who,  it  was  thought,  could 
be  intimidated  or  flattered  into  any  thing,  the  articles  could 
neither  pass  in  private  conference,  nor  in  the  public  assem- 
bly.    In  vain  did  the  bishops  urge  them  not  to  provoke  his 
majesty  to  just  anger,  but  to  prefer  his  favour  to  the  applause 
Its  decision  of  the  factious.     All  that  could  be  obtained,  was  a  partial 
vate  admi-  acquiescence  in  the  private  administration  of  the  sacrament 
nistration   of  the  supper,  but  with  such  restrictions  as  perfectly  nullifi- 
sup"  ed  the  virtue  of  the  consent.     The  intending  communicant 

per, 

was  to  declare  upon  his  conscience,  that  he  believed  his  dis- 
ease to  be  deadly,  and  give  the  minister  twenty-four  hours 
warning;  that  there  should  be  at  least  six  persons,  of  good 
religion  and  conversation,  present,  to  receive  the  commu- 
nion at  the  same  time.  A  convenient  place  in  the  house, 
and  all  things  necessary  for  the  minister's  reverent  admini- 
stration of  the  sacrament,  were  also  to  be  provided.  But 
along  with  this  an  act  was  passed,  which  went  at  least 
obliquely  to  censure  the  practice  of  kneeling.  The  mi- 
nisters were  ordained  to  distribute  with  their  own  hands, 
the  elements  to  every  communicant,  and  "  to  the  end  the 
minister  may  give  the  same  more  commodiously,  he  is,  by 
advice  of  the  magistrates  and  honest  men  of  the  session,  to 
prepare  a  table,  at  the  which  the  same  may  be  conveniently 
ministered."  The  other  articles  were  referred  to  the  deci- 
sion of  another  assembly,  on  account,  as  was  alleged,  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  season,  and  the  shortness  of  the  intima- 
tion having  prevented  many  of  the  representatives  of  presby 

tract  the  people  to  places  of  worship  !  For  none  were  to  be  allowed  to  profam 
the  afternoon  of  the  day,  who  had  not  been  at  their  parish  church  at  the  morn 
ing  service.  It  was  disapproved  of  highly,  however,  by  the  English  episcopa- 
lians, and  in  particular,  by  the  mayor  of  London,  who  ordered  the  king's  own 
carriages  to  be  stopped,  as  they  were  passing  through  the  city  on  the  Sabbath. 
The  court  being  next  day  to  remove,  the  king,  when  he  heard  of  the  intemip- 
tion,  started  up  in  a  great  rage,  swearing  that  he  thought  there  had  been  no 
more  kings  in  England  but  himself,  and  sent  a  warrant  to  the  lord  mayor,  or- 
dering him  to  let  them  pass.  He  did  so,  but  returned  this  answer,  "  While  it 
was  in  my  power,  I  did  my  duty,  but  that  being  taken  away,  it  is  my  duty  to 
obey." 


JAMES  VI.  365 

teries  from  attending  this.     The  two  acts  were  forwarded  to    BOOK 
the  king,  with  an  apologetical  letter.     His  majesty,  how- 
ever, so  far  from  being  pleased  with  the  concessions,  was      16 1 7. 
hio-hlv  enraged  at  what  he  considered  as  an  insult,  and  in  a  Displeases 

o     J  the  king. 

passionate  epistle  to  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  taunt- 
ingly asks,  what  is  meant  by  a  convenient  room  for  admini- 
stering the  sacrament  in  to  a  dying  man ;  for  "  what  it  im- 
porteth  we  cannot  guess,  seeing  no  place  can  be  so  conve- 
nient for  a  sick  man,  sworn  to  die,  as  his  bed  ?"  Then  no- 
ticing the  order  to  the  magistrates  and  honest  men  of  the 
session,  to  prepare  a  table,  at  which  the  sacrament  may  be 
commodiously  ministered,  he  sarcastically  remarks,  "  True- 
ly,  in  this  we  must  say,  that  the  minister's  ease,  and  com- 
modious sitting  on  his  taile,  hath  been  more  looked  to,  than 
that  kneeling,  which  for  reverence,  we  directly  required  to 
be  enjoyned  to  the  receivers  of  so  divine  a  sacrament." 
He  accompanied  his  reproof  with  a  strict  injunction  to  ob-  Orders 
serve  the  festival  of  Christmas,  and  an  order  to  the  council,  Cll"stmas 

.  .  '  .    .  tobestncc. 

prohibiting  them  to  pay  stipend  to  any  minister  who  had  op-  lykept. 
posed  the  passing  of  the  articles.     In  a  postscript  written 
with  his  own  hand,  he  added,  "  Since  your  Scottish  church 
hath  so  far   contemned   my  clemency,  they  shall  now  find 
what  it  is  to  draw  the  anger  of  a  king  upon  them." 

xii.  These  letters,  which  were  intended  to  operate  upon 
the  fears,  the  necessities,  and  expectations  of  the  poorer 
i  clergy,  were  shown  to  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  and  a 
number  of  others  who  had  come  thither  from  the  country,  to 
solicit  an  augmentation  of  their  stipends.  The  effect  was 
as  anticipated ;  it  requires  not  only  uncommon  strength  of 
principle,  but  of  nerve,  for  a  man  to  resist  in  the  hour  of 
temptation,  when  threatened  with  poverty  on  the  one  hand, 
and  flattered  with  offers  of  competence  on  the  other.  It  is 
no  wonder  then  that  some  of  the  Scottish  ministers  yielded  Several  of 

to  the  solicitations  of  their  superiors,  even  against  their  own  thc  mini- 
.     .  mL  ,       .      .  i  r         •>    n         sters  com- 

conviction.      Ine  wonder  is,  that  so  many  were  found  firm  piy. 

in  the  day  of  trial. 

xin.  Unauthorized  by  the  church,  on  the  arbitrary  man-  Celebrated 
date  of  the  king  alone,  the  bishops  proceeded  to  celebrate  h,y  the  l)i" 
the  festival  of  Christmas,  December  25th,  1617,  in  their  re- 
spective cathedrals,  but  the  bishop  of  Galloway  officiated  as 


366 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1C1T. 

The  peo- 
ple disre- 
gard it. 


1618. 


tivals  en- 
forced by 
proclama- 
tion. 


dean  in  the  royal  chapel  of  Holyroodhouse,  and  the  roofs  of 
that  venerable  pile  once  more  re-echoed  to  the  sound  of  cho- 
risters, and  of  instrumental  music.  The  retainers  of  the 
court,  with  the  servants  of  the  bishops  alone  attended,  the 
people  in  general  pursued  their  usual  occupations,  with  more 
than  ordinary  industry,  and  the  empty  churches  impressive- 
ly pointed  out  the  deep  and  universal  detestation  in  which 
this  illegal  attempt  to  introduce  holydays,  denounced  by  both 
the  assembly  and  parliament  as  superstitious,  was  held.  But 
the  king,  who  wished  to  establish  in  Scotland,  what  he  found 
it  impossible  to  effect  in  England,  that  his  proclamations 
should  have  the  force  of  a  law,  ordered  the  observance  of 

Observance  the  festivals  to  be  proclaimed  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh,  and 
of  the  fes-      .  .  1-1  i          i 

the   magistrates  to  take  strict  charge,  that  these  days  were 

not  profaned  by  the  exercise  of  any  ordinary  occupation. 
By  his  royal  edict,  he  also  commanded,  that  all  the  servants 
of  the  crown  should  communicate  kneeling,  at  Easter  and 
Pentecost,  with  which  they  complied,  and  they  received  the 
sacrament  in  this  posture,  administered  by  the  bishop  of  Gal- 
loway, who  before  his  acceptance  of  the  mitre,  Calder- 
wood  informs  us,  was  displeased  if  invited  to  partake  of  a 
Christmas  pie. 

xiv.  The  bishops,  sensible  of  the  reverence  entertained 
for  the  decrees  of  the  high  judicatory  of  the  church,  not- 
withstanding their  obedience  to  the  king,  did  not  seem  alto- 
gether satisfied  without  the  sanction  of  a  general  assembly,  and 
therefore,  strenuously  urged  the  king  to  allow  one  to  be  call- 
ed. His  consent  was  reluctantly  given,  and  on  the  25th  of 
August,  1618,  the  last  which  met  in  his  reign,  was  held  at 
Perth.  In  a  letter  to  this  assembly — his  farewell  one  to  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  Scottish  church — he  exhibits,  in  genuine 
unpalliated  deformity,  the  pernicious  effects  of  adulation  and 
power  on  a  weak  mind,  in  increasing  his  arrogance,  and  nou- 
rishing his  revenge.  Because  the  meeting  at  St.  Andrews 
had  not,  without  hesitation,  passed  his  illegal  articles,  "  He 
had  once  determined  to  set  himself  above  all  law,  and  never 
again  to  call  an  assembly,  but,  by  the  innate  power  given 
The  king's  him  of  God,  to  make  his  will  the  rule  of  their  obedience ; 
lt-  and  he  would  not  now,  he  declared,  be  satisfied  by  mitiga- 
tions, delays,  or  shifts,  he  would  only  be  content  with  a 


General 
assembly 
held  at 
Perth. 


JAMES  VI-  367 

simple  and  direct  acceptation  of  the  articles  in  the  form  he   BOOK 
had  sent ;   and  the  rancour  he  had  long  indulged   against      v*' 
the  ministers  of  Scotland,   and  so  frequently  displayed,  he      1618. 
unambiguously  avows.     "  What  and  how  many  abuses  were 
offered  us  by  divers  of  the  ministry  there,  before  our  happy 
coming  to  the  crown  of  England,  we  can  hardly  forget,  and 
yet  like  not  much  to  remember.     Neither  think  we  that  any 
prince  living,  could  have  keeped  himself  from  falling  in  utter 
dislike  with  the  profession  itself,  considering  the  many  pro- 
vocations that  were  given  us ;"  but  he  desired,  that  on  this 
occasion,  they  would  let  the  world  see  by  their  proceedings, 
what  a  dutiful  respect  and  obedience  they  owed  to  their  so- 
vereign prince,  and  natural  king  and  lord.     This  letter  was 
transmitted  by  the  dean  of  Winchester,   sent  expressly  to 
iibring  a  particular   account  of  the   meeting.     The  articles  The  arti- 
which  the  assembly  were  required  to  adopt  and  authorize  inf0rS  their 
ijthe  form  sent,  I  insert  at  full  length,  both  on  account  of  their  sanction, 
important  consequences,  and  that  the  reader  may  have  a  full 
view  of  the  subject. 

I.  KNEELING  AT  THE  SACRAMENT.     Seeing  we  are  com-  Kneeling 

manded  by  God  himself,  that  when  we  come  to  worship  him,  at       sa" 
J  '  crament. 

we  fall  down  and  kneel  before  the  Lord  our  Maker,  and 
considering  withal,  that  there  is  no  part  of  divine  worship 
more  heavenly  and  spiritual,  than  is  the  holy  receiving  of 
the  blessed  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ ;  like  as  the  most  humble  and  reverent  gesture  of  our 
body  in  our  meditation,  and  the  lifting  up  of  our  hearts  best 
becotneth  so  divine  and  sacred  an  action : — Therefore,  not- 
withstanding that  our  church  hath  used  since  the  Reforma- 
tion of  religion  to  celebrate  the  holy  communion  to  the  peo- 
ple sitting,  by  reason  of  the  great  abuse  of  kneeling,  used  in 
the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  sacrament  by  the  papists;  yet, 
seeing  all  memory  of  bypast  superstitions  is  past,  in  rever- 
ence of  God,  and  in  due  regard  of  so  divine  a  mystery,  and 
in  remembrance  of  so  mystical  a  union  as  we  are  made  par- 
takers of,  the  assembly  thinketh  good,  that  the  blessed  sa- 
crament be  celebrated  hereafter,  meekly  and  reverently  upon 
their  knees. 

II.  PRIVATE  COMMUNION.     If  any  good  Christian,  visited  Private 
with  long  sickness,  and  known  to  the  pastor,  by  reason  of  }, 


368 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 


Private 
baptism. 


BOOK  present  infirmity,  be  unable  to  resort  to  the  church  for  re- 
ceiving  the  holy  communion,  on  being  sick,  shall  declare  to 
1618.  the  pastor  upon  his  conscience,  that  he  thinks  his  sickness  to 
be  deadly,  and  shall  earnestly  desire  to  receive  the  same  in 
his  house,  the  minister  shall  not  deny  him  so  great  a  comfort, 
lawful  warning  being  given  to  him  the  night  before;  anc 
that  there  be  three  or  four  of  good  religion  and  conversation, 
free  of  all  lawful  impediments,  present  with  the  sick  person, 
to  communicate  with  him,  who  must  also  provide  a  conveni- 
ent place  in  his  house,  and  all  things  necessary  for  the  ad- 
ministration thereof,  according  to  the  order  prescribed  in  the 
church. 

III.  PRIVATE  BAPTISM.     The  ministers  shall  often   ad- 
monish the  people,  that  they  defer  not  the  baptism  of  infants 
any  longer  than  the  next  Lord's  day  after  the  child  be  born, 
unless  upon   a  great  and  reasonable  cause,   declared  to  the 
minister,  and  by  him  approved,  the  same  be  postponed.     As 
also,   they   shall  warn  them  that  without  great  cause,  they 
procure  not  their  children  to  be  baptized  at  home  in  their 
houses,   but  when  great  need  shall  compel  them  to  baptize 
in  private  houses — in  which  case  the  minister  shall  not  refuse 
to  do  it,  upon  the  knowledge  of  the  great  need,  and  being 
timely  required  thereto — then  baptism  shall  be  administered 
after  the  same  form  as  it  should  have  been  in  the  congrega- 
tion— and  the  minister  shall  the  next  Lord's  day  after  any 
such  private  baptism,  declare  in  the  church,  that  the  infant 
was  so  baptized,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  received  as  oneol 
the  true  flock  of  Christ's  fold. 

IV.  CONFIRMATION  OF  CHILDREN.     Forasmuch  as  one 
of  the  special  means  for  staying  the  increase  of  popery,  and 
settling  of  true  religion  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  is,  that  ;i 
special  care  be  taken  of  young  children,  their  education,  andi 
how  they  are  catechised,   which  in   time  of  the   primitive! 
church  most  carefully  was  attended,  as  being  most  profitabl 
to  cause  young  children  in  their  tender  years,  drink  in  th 
knowledge  of  God  and  his  religion,  but  is  now  altogether 
neglected,  in  respect  of  the   great  abuse  and  errors  whic 
crept  into  the  popish  church,  by  making  thereof  a  sacramen 
of  confirmation ;  therefore,  that  all  superstitions  built  there 
upon  may  be  rescinded,  and  that  the  matter  itself  being  mos 


Confirma- 
tion. 


JAMES  VI.  369 

necessary  for  the  education  of  youth,  may  be  reduced  to  the    BOOK 
primitive  integrity,   it  is  thought  good  that  the  minister  in       ^' 
every  parish,  should  catechise  all  young  children  of  eight      I61g> 
years  of  age,  and  see  that  they  have  the  knowledge,  and  be 
able  to  make  rehearsal  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  Belief,  and  Ten 
Commandments,  with  answers  to  the  questions  of  the  small 
catechism,  used  in  our  church,  and  that  every  bishop  in  his 
visitation,  shall  censure  the  minister  who  shall  be  found  re- 
miss therein  ;  and  the  said  bishops  shall  cause  the  said  chil- 
dren to  be  presented   before    them,   and   bless    them  with 
prayer  for  the  increase  of  their  knowledge,  and  the  continu- 
ance of  God's  heavenly  graces  with  every  one  of  them. 

V.  OBSERVATION  OF  FESTIVALS.  As  we  abhor  the  su-  Festivals, 
perstitious  observation  of  festival  days  by  the  papists,  and 
detest  all  licentious  and  profane  abuse  thereof  by  the  com- 
mon sort  of  professors,  so  we  think  that  the  inestimable  be- 
nefits received  from  God  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his 
birth,  passion,  resurrection,  ascension,  sending  down  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  was  commendably  and  godlily  remembered  at 
certain  particular  days  and  times  by  the  whole  church  of  the 
world,  and  may  also  be  now ;  therefore,  the  assembly  ad- 
mitteth,  that  every  minister  shall  upon  these  days,  have  the 
commemoration  of  the  foresaid  inestimable  benefits,  and 
make  choice  of  several  and  pertinent  texts  of  Scripture,  and 
frame  their  doctrine  and  exhortation  thereto,  and  rebuke  all 
superstitious  observation,  and  licentious  profanation  thereof. 

xv.  The  general  objections  to  these  articles  were  strong 
and  unanswerable,  Viewed  as  matters  not  of  vital  import-  General 
ance  to  religion,  enforcing  them  upon  scrupulous  minds  or  obJeoti°ns» 
tender  consciences,  was  directly  in  opposition  to  the  aposto- 
lic injunctions,  to  take  heed,  lest  by  any  means  this  power 
of  yours,  be  an  occasion  of  falling  to  them  that  are  weak ; 
and  "  to  give  no  offence,  neither  to  the  Jew,  nor  to  the  Gre- 
cian, nor  to  the  church  of  God."  They  were  likewise  cal- 
culated to  create  divisions,  and  give  rise  to  disputations, 
from  which  the  Scottish  church  had  hitherto  been  remark- 
ably free  ;  to  excite  a  zeal  for  things  of  comparatively  little 
moment,  while  the  more  essential  duties  of  Christianity  were 
overlooked  ;  and  by  their  admission,  to  open  a  door  for  other 
more  serious  inroads  upon  the  established  religion.  But 

VOL.  in.  SB 


370 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1618. 


Specific 
reasons 
against 
them. 


there  was  one  obstacle  which  ought  to  have  been  insurmount- 
able even  to  their  introduction,  and  which  should  have  pre- 
vented any  man  of  sound  moral  feeling,  from  ever  listening 
for  a  moment  to  any  proposal  on  the  subject — the  sacred 
obligation  of  the  oaths  by  which  they  were  pledged,  under 
the  most  awful  responsibilities,  to  resist  all  innovation  in  the 
church  discipline,  not  authorized  by  the  word  of  God,  espe- 
cially the  introduction  of  any  rites  and  ceremonies  of  man's 
invention,  which  had  formed  part  of  the  sacred  service  in  the 
church  of  Rome. 

xvi.  Besides  these  objections  to  the  articles  in  toto,  there 
were  specific  reasons  for  their  individual  rejection.  The 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  so  strenuously  inculcated  in  the 
Romish  church,  had  entirely  altered  the  institution  of  the 
HOLY  SUPPER.  Instead  of  a  sacrament,  it  was  transformed 
into  a  sacrifice,  which  the  priests  offered  up  anew  for  the 
sins  of  the  people,  every  time  they  consecrated  the  wafer  ; 
and  when  the  host  was  elevated,  the  devotee  knelt  and  wor- 
shipped the  bodily  presence  of  his  Lord.  This  absurd  and 
idolatrous  reverence,  the  Scottish  reformers  viewed  with 
abhorrence.  They  considered  the  sacrament  instituted  as 
a  memorial  for  ever,  of  their  dying  Saviour's  love,  in  par- 
taking of  which,  they  held  spiritual  commuiHon  with  him  as 
the  head,  and  with  the  brethren  as  the  members  of  that  mysti- 
cal body,  the  church.  The  disciples  received  the  bread  and 
wine  from  the  hands  of  the  Saviour  himself,  in  a  reclining 
posture ;  with  what  propriety  then  could  his  ministers  require, 
that  when  they  distributed  the  elements,  they  should  be  re- 
ceived kneeling,  unless  the  ordinance  were  viewed  as  some- 
thing different  from  what  Christ  had  instituted ;  and  as  re-' 
ceiving  from  them  a  holiness  and  a  character,  which  the  im- 
mediate visible  presence  of  the  Lord  could  not  bestow  ? 
This  argument,  of  which  it  is  not  easy  to  elude  the  force,  in- 
duced the  Scottish  church  to  adopt  the  sitting  posture  in 
communicating,  which  was  indubitably  the  most  consistent 
with  their  view  of  the  subject.  In  accordance  with  their  own 
opinions,  the  papists,  who  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  the  sa- 
crifice of  the  mass  for  tile  salvation  of  the  soul,  ordered  it 
to  be  administered  to  the  sick  and  dying,  in  private,  in  or- 
der to  prepare  them  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  the 


JAMES  VI.  371 

Scottish  church  objected  to  this,  as  leading  men  to  a  super-    BOOK 
stitious  reliance  upon  an  ordinance  for  safety,  instead  of  resting       VI> 
upon  the  one  sacrifice,  which  the  Saviour  himself  had  offer-      1618. 
ed  up  for  his  people. 

BAPTISM  was  considered  by  the  Romanists,  as  a  sacra- 
ment which  effectually  purified  its  subjects  from  the  guilt 
and  stain  of  original  sin,  and  enabled  the  infant  soul  to 
appear  pure  in  presence  of  the  Creator ;  and  therefore,  if 
a  child  were  sickly,  or  apparently  in  danger,  this  essential 
rite  was  administered  in  private : — the  Scottish  ministers, 
who  considered  it  as  a  sign  or  seal  of  the  admission  of  a 
member  within  the  pale  of  the  visible  church,  allowed  it 
only  to  be  administered  in  presence  of  the  church,  and  for- 
bade it  in  private,  on  account  of  the  abuse  to  which  it  was 
liable.  The  imposition  of  hands  after  baptism,  seems  to  have 
been  an  early,  if  not  a  primitive  practice,  but  the  bishops  Same  sub. 
of  succeeding  ages  raised  it  to  the  rank  of  a  sacrament, 
under  the  name  of  CONFIRMATION  : — the  Scottish  church, 
who  only  saw  in  it  the  unauthorized  addition  of  a  new  sacra- 
ment, rejected  as  useless,  a  ceremony,  the  necessity  of  which 
it  requires  some  consideration  to  perceive,  and  they  objected 
to  the  bishop's  prayer  and  blessing,  as  the  introduction  of 
the  supernumerary  in  disguise. 

THE  FESTIVALS  of  the  church  of  Rome,  commemorative  of 
the  varied  events  of  the  life  of  Christ,  or  instituted  in  honour 
of  the  apostles  and  saints,  had  been  solemnly  abjured  by  the 
Scottish  nation  ;  but  a  number  of  them  had  been  retained  in 
the  English  service-book,  and  James  wished  at  first  to  try 
how  the  Scots  would  relish  the  adoption  of  a  few  of  the  most 
important.  Christmas,  Good  Friday,  Easter,  Ascension,  and 
Pentecost  were  selected.  The  assembly  objected,  that  the 
day  of  Christ's  birth  was  uncertain ;  that  Christmas  was  a 
revival  of  the  Roman  Saturnalia  ;  that  Easter  had  been  dis- 
puted in  the  earlier  ages,  and  that  the  king  himself  had  de- 
clared, "  that  for  Pasch  and  Yule  there  was  no  institution.'* 
But  the  articles  were  not  allowed  to  be  openly  discussed, 
they  were  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  a  private  com- 
mittee, composed  so  as  to  ensure  a  decided  majority  for 
the  court.  When  their  report  was  brought  before  the 
assembly,  all  opposition  was  quashed  by  the  insidious  man- 
ner in  which  the  question  was  put.  Without  reference  to 


372  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   the  merits  of  the  case,   the  members  were  asked,  Whether 

V*'      will  you  consent  to  the  articles,  or  disobey  the  king?     Nor 

1618.     were  they   allowed  any   discriminating   power  ;   they  were 

explicitly  told,  whoever  opposed    any    one  of  the  articles, 

would  be  held  as  opposing  the  whole ;  and  before  the  vote 

was  taken,    Spolswood,  to  intimidate  them,  mentioned,  that 

the  name  of  every  one  who  opposed,  should  be  presented  to 

Carried  in  his  majesty.     The  articles  were  carried  by  a  considerable 

the  as     i-  majorjty}  but  a  minority  of  forty-five,  whom  no  promises  could 

allure,  and  no  threatening  could   terrify,  saved  the  Scottish 

church  from  absolute  degradation. 

xvii.  When  the  assembly  rose,    the  bishops  prepared  to 
enforce  the  observance  of  the  obnoxious  rites.*     In  a  few 
weeks  they  were  ratified  by  the  privy  council,  and  proclaim- 
Ratified  byed  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh.     Respect  for  the  festivals  was 
council"7    inculcatec*  under  the  severest  penalties,  and  the  same  wise 
and  religious  monarch,  who  recommended  pastimes  and  re- 
velry on  the  Lord's  day,  commanded  a  cessation  and  abstin- 
ence from   all  kinds  of  labour  and  handy  work  on  the  five 
arbitrary  holydays ;  and  denounced  "  all  who  should  do  in 
the  contrair,"  "  as  seditious,  factious,  disturbers  of  the  peace, 
liable  to  be  punished  in  their  persons  and   goods  with  all 
rigour  and  extremity."     But  acts  and  proclamations  become 
futile  when  opposed  to  the  universal  sense  of  a  people,  and 
the  articles  of  Perth  had  no  greater  recommendation.     By 
the  zealous  and   the  sincere  they  were  viewed  with  abhor- 
rence, and   moderate  men  were  disgusted  with  the  manner 
in  which  the  bishops  forced  upon  the  nation,  things  which 
Create  uni- they   themselves   contended    for  as  indifferent,    and  which 
content.18"  some  °f  tne  most  fc>rward   m  now  pressing  had,  not  many 
months  before,  been  the  loudest  to  condemn.     The  minori- 

*  Furious  zealots,  either  in  religion  or  politics,  are  commonly  among  the 
first  apostates  when  motives  of  interest  are  held  out ;  and  it  is  notorious  that 
such  renegadoes  are  always  the  most  violent  persecutors.  A  ludicrous  in- 
stance is  related  by  Calderwood  of  William  Struthers,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Edinburgh.  "  At  a  certain  time  being  in  Glasgow,  when  he  saw  Spotswood, 
then  [arch]bishop  of  Glasgow,  afar  off,  he  went  into  a  booth,  and  fell  in  a 
swerf.  [swoon.]  After  they  had  given  him  aquavitae,  and  he  had  recovered, 
they  asked  what  accident  had  befallen  him  ?  He  answered,  saw  ye  not  the 
character  of  the  beast  coming  ?"  On  the  promulgation  of  the  articles  of  Perth, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  strenuous  in  imposing  them,  and  one  of  the  most  fawn 
Ing  on  those  in  power,  and  was  himself  made  a  bishop .' 


JAMES  VI.  373 

ty,  who  had  supported  the  honour  of  the  church  in  the  as-  BOOK 
sembly,  did  not  quietly  submit  to  what  they  considered  an  — XL- 
illegal  stretch  of  power ;  they  disclaimed  the  authority  of 
I  that  court,  as  unlawfully  constituted,  and  its  proceedings 
ias  irregular;  where  freedom  of  debate  had  not  been  al- 
lowed, and  in  which  the  sentiments  of  the  majority  had  not 
been  fairly  expressed.  The  articles  were  keenly  scrutinized, 
and  while  the  ministers  declaimed  against  them  from  the  pul- 
pit and  the  press,  as  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  the 
reformation,  and  inconsistent  with  the  scriptures,  the  laity 
viewed  them  with  disgust,  as  a  servile  imitation  of  the  Eng- 
lish ritual,  humiliating  to  the  national  dignity. 

xvm.  In  the  month   of  November,  an  unusually   bright 
comet  made  its  appearance  for  several  nights  together,  which 
•  amazed  the  nation,  as  the  forerunner  of  some  terrible  cala- 
Imity;  but  the  historians  of  the  day  are  uncertain  whether  it  Death  of 
j; portended  the  death  of  James'  queen,  Anne,  or  the  troubles  Her  ch&. 
in  Germany,  both  of  which  events  followed  soon  after.    Theracter- 
character  of  the  queen  is  described  as  amorous,  bold,  intri- 
guing, immmersed  in  politics,  and  possessed  of  little  reve- 
•>  rence  for  her  husband's  spirit,  or  talents  for  government  ;* 
but  her  influence  over  the  king  was  inferior  to  that  of  Buck- 
ingham, with  whom  she  was  under  the  necessity  of  coales- 
cing to  dupe  James,  and  her  court  was  debased  by  that  low, 
coarse  buffoonery  which  she  had  adopted  to  please  his  taste, 
i  and  gain  her  ends.     Yet  her  letters  show  her  to  have  been 
a  woman  of  discernment,  and  warrant  the  conclusion,  that 
her  faults  were  rather  the  effects  of  her  situation  than  of  her 
unatural  disposition. 

xix.  The  marriage  of  the  elector  Palatine  with  the  prin-     1620. 
cess  Elizabeth  occasioned  the  ruin  of  the  prince.     The  states 
:  of  Bohemia  had  revolted  from  the  house  of  Austria,   and 
taken  arms   in  defence  of  their  liberty  and  religion ;  and  Troubles  in 
claimed  from   the  emperor  Ferdinand,   that  all  the  edicts     nnany' 
enacted  in  favour  of  the  protestant  religion  should  be  ob- 
served, and  that  the  ancient  laws  and  free  constitutions  of 
the  country  should  be  restored.     Ferdinand  armed  for  the 
recovery  of  his  authority,   and,  besides  his  own   subjects, 

*  Laing,  vol.  iii.  p.  87. 


374  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK   formed  a  powerful  alliance  with  all  the  catholic  princes  of 
the  empire,  with  the  king  of  Poland  ;  and  particularly  with 


1620.     his  own  relation,  the  king  of  Spain,  who  furnished  large  sup- 

plies of  veterans  from  Italy  and  the  Netherlands,  together 

with  vast  sums  of  money,  to  stifle  the  spirit  of  freedom,  ere 

its  breath  should  infect  the  neighbouring  states.     The  Bo- 

hemians, alarmed  at  the  powerful  combination,  sought  the 

assistance  of  the  evangelical  union  in  Germany  —  all  of  whom, 

except  the  duke  of  Saxony,  acceded  to  the  league  —  and  in- 

Prjnce  Pa-  vited  Frederick,  son-in-law  to  the  king  of  Britain,  and  ne« 

of  Bohe'ng  Pnew  °f  Maurice,  who  ruled  Holland,  to  accept  their  crown, 

mia.  which  they  considered  as  elective.     Without  consulting  either 

of  his  relations,  Frederick  accepted  the  offer,  and  marched 

his  forces   to  assert  his  right.     He  was  supported  by  two 

thousand,  four  hundred  English  volunteers,  who  were  rather 

not  forbidden  than  frankly  permitted  to  embark  for  the  con- 

tinent 

xx.  James,  whose  ideas  of  the  divine  rights  of  kings  were 
so  exalted,  that  he  concluded  subjects  must  ever  be  in  the 
wrong  when  they  stood  in  opposition  to  those  who  inhe- 
rited or  acquired  this  high  title,*  —  from  the  very  first  re- 
garded the  proceedings  of  the  Bohemians  as  a  revolt  against 
their  legitimate  sovereign  ;  and  not  only  refused  assistance, 
but  forbade  the  object  of  their  choice,  his  own  son-in-law,  to 
English  be  prayed  for  under  the  title  of  king.  The  English  entered 
at'the  keenly  into  the  dispute,  and  considering  their  honour  as  ira- 
king's  neu-  plicated  in  the  fate  of  the  daughter  of  their  monarch,  and 
their  religion  in  that  of  Bohemia,  would,  at  the  first  rumour, 
have  flown  to  the  assistance  of  their  protestant  brethren  ; 
but  when  accounts  were  received  of  the  unfortunate  battle 
of  Prague,  which  blasted  all  the  hopes  of  the  Palatine,  and 
laid  his  country  at  the  feet  of  the  conqueror,  their  murmurs 
and  complaints  were  vehement  and  loud  against  what  their 
generous  feelings  viewed  as  a  cold-hearted,  pusillanimous 
neutrality. 

xxi.  James,  who  had  allowed  the  time,  when  he  mig 
interposed  with  effect,  to  pass  away,  after  his  only  daughtei 
and  her  family  were  fugitives  and  exiles,  had  recourse  to  ne- 


*  Hume,  vol.  vi.  p.  101. 


JAMES  VI.  375 

gotiations   and   arguments  to  procure  the  restoration  of  her    BOOK 
husband's   dominions,  and   exhausted   his  funds  in  fruitless       ^Jt 
embassies,  as  expensive  as  military  expeditions.     His  neces-      1621 
sities  urged  him  to  apply  to  his  English  parliament;  but  their 
subsidies,   though  liberal,    were  not  adequate  to  supply  his 
profusion,  and  he  was  advised  to  summon  the  estates  of  Scot- 
land.    James  had  found  the  last  so  troublesome,  that  he  was 
extremely  averse  to  this  project;  and  it  was  not  till  after  re- 
peated attempts   to  introduce  benevolences,  or  the  raising 
money  by  voluntary  loans,  had  failed,  that  he  despatched  the 
marquis  of  Hamilton  as  his  commissioner  to  hold  a  parliament. 

Hamilton  was  well  qualified  for  the  task  allotted,  and  he  Hamilton 
entered  upon  it  with  alacrity.    Before  he  reached  Edinburgh  ?p?01,",te 

tf  O         tO  ilOJQ    II 

he  began  to  tamper  with  the  lords  who  came  to  meet  him  by  parliament. 
ithe   way,  and   taking  them   unawares   and    unprepared    for 
business,  gained  their  promise  to  support  the  king,  ere  ever 
they  understood  the  extent  of  the  measures  he  meant  to  pro- 
pose.    He  then  arranged  his  mode  of  proceeding  with   the 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  the  dean  of  Winchester,  and 
the  principal  officers  of  state  ;  and  when  the  plan  was  fixed,  His  in- 
•made  a  show  of  consulting  the  nobility.     During  the  inter-  ^'^1 
mediate  days,  he  continued  "  his  dealing  with  particular  men  nobility, 
iof  every  estate,  and  specially  the  noblemen  whose  favour  he    °* 
pressed  to  conciliate,  by  hearty  conversation  and  feasting.'1* 
With   the  ministers  he  pursued  another  course.     A  number 
had  assembled   in    Edinburgh   to  watch  the  proceedings  of 
parliament,  and  petition  against  the  articles  of  Perth ;  the 
petition  was  suppressed,  and  the  petitioners  imprisoned.    But 
some  having  assembled  with  the  commissioners  for  the  shires 
and  burghs  in  unofficial  meetings,  where  the  questions  to 
come  before  parliament  were  the  subjects  of  conversation,  the 
council,  afraid  of  their  influence  and  arguments,  issued  an 
arbitrary  order  for  the  whole  instantly   to  quit   Edinburgh  Ministers 
under  pain  of  horning.     They  did  so,  leaving  a  protestation,  ]cave  Edin- 
which  was  afterward  affixed  to  tjie  cross.  burgh. 

xxu.  The  parliament  sat  down,   or,  in  Scottish  phrase,  1'arlJament 
"  the  riding,"    took  place   on  the  25th   July.      The  busi- 
ness  was    opened  by   the  marquis  of  Hamilton  in  a  long 

•  Earl  of  Melrose  to  K.  James,   Hailes'  Mem.  p.  28,  102. 


meets. 


376  HISTORY  OF  SCOnAND. 

BOOK    speech,  filled  with  ridiculous  praises  of  the  piety,   wisdom, 

and  love  of  the  king  for  his  subjects,  and   fulsome  asser- 

1621.      tions  respecting   his   motives  and  conduct.     His  pecuniary 

Hamilton »  ernDarrassments,  which  notoriously  arose  from  his  waste  and 

opening  ? 

speech.  mismanagement,  were  represented  as  the  effects  of  his  con- 
stant disbursements  to  support  his  son-in-law,  and  prevent 
his  utter  overthrow,  till  he,  by  mediation  and  treaty,  should 
procure  restitution  of  his  patrimony,  "  in  which  the  expense 
of  his  ambassadors,  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  was  such 
as  were  not  communicable  to  the  vulgar  sort ;"  and  he  as- 
serted, that  his  majesty,  influenced  solely  by  his  care  for  the 
protestant  religion,  had  married  his  daughter  to  the  elec- 
tor Palatine,  in  preference  to  accepting  the  offers  of  power- 
ful catholic  princes,  who  would  have  bribed  him  with  infi- 
nite treasures  to  have  granted  them  the  honour  of  his  roy- 
al alliance.  He  therefore  exhorted  them  to  increase  the 
quantity  of  their  wonted  contributions,  assuring  them,  in 
his  majesty's  name,  if  they  should  behave  themselves  wor- 
thily, his  majesty  would  not  hereafter  trouble  them  with 
any  more  demands  for  monies.  In  enforcing  their  ratifica- 
tion of  the  articles  of  Perth,  he  declared,  if  they  would  obey 
and  confirm  the  acts  already  made,  the  king  would  never 
propose  any  future  alteration.  The  chancellor  followed  in 
a  similar  strain ;  after  which  the  lords  of  the  articles  were 
chosen,  "  with  such  dexterity,"  says  secretary  Melrose  ir 
a  letter  to  the  king,  "  that  no  man  was  elected — one  onl) 
excepted* — but  those  who,  by  a  private  roll,  were  selectee 
Mode  of  as  best  affected  for  your  majesty's  service."f  This  dex- 
the  liordf  of  ter'lty  consisted  in  a  flagrant  invasion  of  the  rights  of  parlia 
the  articles  ment  by  the  king's  commissioner,  who  introduced  a  new  me 
thod  of  choosing  this  body,  which  gave  the  king  a  com 

*  Sir  John  Hamilton,  baron  of  Preston,  seems  the  obnoxious  person  her 
pointed  out.  He  made  a  firm  stand  against  the  articles  of  Perth,  in  the  pii 
vate  meeting  of  the  lords  of  the  articles,  and  resisted  every  solicitation  of  li 
chief,  the  marquis,  and  secretary  Hamilton,  to  vote  for  them  in  public.  Wtie: 
reminded  of  his  duty  to  his  majesty,  he  replied  : — "  He  would  not  offein 
God  willingly,  nor  make  to  himself  a  hell  in  his  own  conscience,  for  the  plea 
sure  of  any  man."  He  was  then  requested  to  absent  himself,  if  he  would  nc 
vote  as  desired  ;  but  he  persisted  in  his  resolution  to  defend  and  support  th 
cause  of  truth. 

f  Hailes'  Memorials,  p.  94- 


JAMES  VI.  377 

plete  command  of  their  election.     Formerly  the  temporal    BOOK 

lords  nominated  eight  of  the  spiritual,  the  spiritual  eight  of 

the  temporal,  and  the  commons,  from  their  own  numbers,      1521. 

eight  commissioners  for  the  shires,  and  eight  for  the  burghs. 

On  this  occasion  the  prelates  chose  eight  noblemen,  who, 

in  return,  chose  eight  prelates,  and  these  sixteen  selected 

the  requisite  number  of  barons  and  burgesses  from  the  third 

estate. 

xxur.  A  subsidy,  equal  to  the  largest  ever  granted,  was 
voted,  but  not  without  very  considerable  opposition  to  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  to  be  raised.  To  a  general  land 
tax  there  was  little  objection ;  but  an  imposition  of  five  per 
cent,  on  annual  income  was  vigorously  opposed  by  the  third  Tax  on  in" 

OOniC  T6- 

estate, — the  lesser  barons  and  the  burgesses, — who  ob-  sisted. 
jected  to  the  inquisitorial  nature  of  the  tax,  and  the  mis- 
chief which  would  arise  to  many,  a  disclosure  of  whose  cir- 
cumstances might  shake  their  credit,  and  occasion  their 
ruin  ;*  and  so  averse  were  numbers  of  the  noblemen  and  ba- 
rons to  this  plan,  that  the  commissioner  resorted  to  what 
would  now  be  considered  the  extreme  of  despotism  ;  he  for- 
bade their  assembling  together  to  consult,  or  reason  upon 
the  business  before  parliament  previously  to  giving  their  vote, 
!  and  with  the  assistance  of  his  friends,  laboured  night  and 

' 

i  day  to  sow  discord,  and  prevent  them  from  acting  in  unison,  the  mem- 
To  effect  this  he  used  still  more  infamous  means.  He  em- 
ployed  spies  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the  company  of  the 
noblemen  and  commissioners  for  the  shires  and  burghs,  who 
pretended  a  dislike  to  the  proceedings  of  the  bishops,  and 
approved  of  all  they  heard  from  those  who  were  sincere  in 
their  aversion  to  the  innovations ;  and  at  night  they  returned 
with  their  report  to  their  employer,  who  thus  knew  the  dis- 
positions of  his  opponents,  and  was  prepared  to  meet  them.f 
He  intended  to  have  had  recourse  to  severity,  but  the  dis- 
satisfaction was  so  general,  that  it  was  necessary  to  employ 
more  mild  means,  which  in  the  end  proved  successful.  The 
amount  of  the  supply,  which  was  understood  to  be  fourhun-  Supply 
dred  thousand  pounds  Scots,  equivalent  to  about  thirty-three  £ranted- 

*  Melrose's  Letter  to  K.  James.     Hailes'  Mem.  p.  99-100. 

f  Caldenvood,  p.  776. 
VOL.  in.  3  c 


378 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1621. 


Articles  of 
Perth  rati- 
fied. 


Black  Sa- 
turday. 


The  arti- 
cles pro- 
claimed— 
ministers 
protest. 


thousand  pounds  sterling,  was  not  specified,  in  order  to 
spare  the  pride  of  the  country,  whose  poverty  it  would  have 
exposed 

xxiv.  The  articles  of  Perth  were  brought  forward  last. 
They  had  not  passed  the  lords  of  the  articles  unanimously, 
and  they  encountered  considerable  resistance  in  the  estates ; 
all  the  efforts  of  the  officers  of  the  crown  having  been  only 
able  to  procure  a  majority  of  twenty-seven  in  their  favour. 
On  the  last  day  of  the  parliament,  the  inhabitants  of  Edin- 
burgh testified  their  disapprobation  by  remaining  within 
their  houses,  and  allowing  the  procession  to  ride  from  the 
palace  to  the  tolbooth  in  sullen  state,  amid  the  silence  of  a 
very  few  spectators.  At  the  very  instant  when  the  king's 
commissioner,  rising  from  the  throne,  had  stretched  forth 
the  sceptre  to  ratify  the  acts,  a  black  thunder  cloud  burst 
over  the  house;  the  lightnings  shed  a  momentary  gleam 
through  the  darkness  in  which  the  apartment  was  involv- 
ed, and  three  tremendous  peals  almost  instantly  followed. 
The  thunder  was  succeeded  by  a  shower  of  rain,  mingled 
with  hail,  which  swelled  the  rivulets  to  brooks,  and  kept 
the  members  confined  for  upwards  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  and 
prevented  the  rising  of  the  parliament  from  being  announced, 
by  the  carrying  of  the  honours,  or  the  riding  of  the  estates. 
This  storm  some  of  the  more  zealous  represented  as  expres- 
sive of  God's  displeasure  at  the  perjury  of  those  who  ratified 
the  articles  of  Perth.  The  prelatic  party  likened  it  to  the 
thundering  at  Mount  Sinai,  at  the  promulgation  of  the  law. 
The  common  people  called  it  the  black  Saturday.  The 
same  omen  accompanied  the  proclamation  of  the  acts  on 
Monday  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh;  but  a  protestation 
against  all  the  encroachments  made  upon  the  liberty  and 
privileges  of  the  church  since  the  reformation,  which  was  af- 
fixed, with  the  usual  solemnities,  by  doctor  Barclay,  in  name 
of  his  brethren,  upon  the  Cross,  the  kirk  door,  and  the  pa- 
lace gate,  was  a  portent  of  less  doubtful  interpretation,  and 
to  which  it  had  been  well  that  the  men  in  power  had  attend- 
ed, knowing — as  they  must  have  done — the  state  of  the  pub- 
lic mind. 

xxv.  The  bishops,  who  seemed  now  to  think  they  had 
obtained  every  thing  when  they  got  an  act  of  parliament  in 


JAMES  VI.  379 

favour  of  their  rites,  determined  to  exert  the  power  confer-     BOOK 
red  on  them  by  the  high  commission,  and  enforce  uniformity.  _ 
A  violent  persecution  was  immediately  commenced.     While       1621- 
the  articles  of  Perth  remained  unratified,  their  proceedings 
had  been  both  vexatious  and  harsh ;  but  now,  armed  with 
legal  weapons,  they  suspended  and  imprisoned,  or  banished  Arbitrary 
to  the  most  rugged  and  distant  parts  of  the  country,  the  f^0,e*f  "th 
ministers  who    did    not   immediately    and   readily  comply,  bishops, 
The  king,  to  whom  these  laws  were  peculiarly  agreeable, 
wrote  to  the  prelates  in  high  spirits  on  the  occasion.     "  The 
greatest  matter,"  said  he  exultingly,  "  the  puritans  had  to  ob- 
ject against  the  church  government  was,  that  your  proceed- 
ings were  warranted  by  no  law,  which  now,   by  this  parlia- 
ment, is  cutted  short.     So  that,  hereafter,  that  rebellious,  dis- 
obedient,  and  seditious  crew,   must  either   obey,  or  resist 
God,  their  natural  king,  and  the  law  of  the  country.     It 
resteth,  therefore,  to  you  to  be  encouraged  and  comforted  by  encourag- 
this  happy  occasion,  and  to  lose  no  more  time  in  procuring  £•    ^  *' 
a  settled  obedience  to  God,  and  to  us,  by  the  good  endea- 
vours of  our  commissioner,  and  our  other  true  hearted  sub- 
jects and  servants.     The  sword  is  put  into  your  hands,  go 
on,  therefore,  to  use  it,  and  let  it  rest  no  longer."     "  Papis- 
try," he  said,  "  he  had  given  orders  to  suppress ;  but  it  was 
only  a  disease  of  the  mind,  puritanisme  was  the  more  dan- 
gerous one  of  the  brain."     In  conclusion,  he  urges  his  not 
unwilling  satellites  to  go  forward  in  the  action  with  all  speed, 
wishing  them  stout  hearts  and  happy  success.*     This  letter  The  council 
was  followed  by  one  to  the  council,  commanding  all  the  offi-  enf0r^e 
cers  of  state  to  conform,   under  pain  of  being  deprived  of  conformity, 
their  offices.     Any  advocate  or  clerk  refusing  was   to  be 
suspended  from  the  exercise  of  his  office,  and  no  person  was 
to  be  appointed  sheriff  of  a  county,  or  chosen  magistrate 
of  a  burgh,  who  had  not  given  obedience.     Necessity,  or  in- 
terest, insured  compliance  with  the  royal  will  from  the  coun- 
cil, the  lawyers,  and  hangers  on  about  court.    The  burgesses  T  e  bur~ 
•  were  more  unbending ;  they  deserted  the  churches  where  Edinburgh 
kneeling  was  practised,  and  flocked  to  others  where  the  old  refuse> 
form  of  sitting  was  still  retained ;  and  it  was  not  till  almost 

«  Calderwood,  p.  785. 


380 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1621. 


all  the  magistrates  of  the  burghs  had  been  changed,  accord- 
ing to  the  court  lists,  that  the  semblance  of  uniformity 
could  be  obtained. 

xxvi.  The  ecclesiastical  persecutions  were  unrelentingly 
continued,  notwithstanding  the  land  was  suffering  under  the 
severe  calamities  occasioned  by  an  inclement  season.     Inces- 
sant rains  prevented  the  corn  from  ripening ;  the  harvest 
was  late,  and  when  even  at  this  day,  with  our  improved 
mode  of  agriculture,  a  late   harvest  is  ruinous  in  the  hill 
country,  we  may  judge  of  the   misery  such   an  occurrence 
then  would  occasion.     The  late  harvest  was  succeeded   by 
winter  floods,  which,   in  many  places  of  the  country,  swept 
away  the  farm  houses,  with  their  owners,   cattle,  and  corn. 
Perth  in-    The  town  of  Perth  was  surrounded  with  water,  by  the  swell- 
ing of  the  Tay  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Almond  on  the  other, 
and  for  seven  days  the  only  communication,  even  between 
house  and  house,  was  by  water ;  and  on  the  4th  of  October, 
ten  of  the  arches  of  a  fine  bridge,  only  newly  finished,  were 
carried    away.     The    Tweed,    too,    rose    to  an   uncommon 
Bridge  over  height.     A  new  union  bridge  was  destroyed  by  the  violence 
sweptaway.  of  the  stream.     The  king,  who  liked  any  thing  that  had  the 
appearance  of  joining  the  two  kingdoms  more  closely  to- 
gether, had  sent  down  a  posie  to  be  inscribed  on  the  key- 
stone : — Hoc  uno  ponte  duo  regna  conjunxi ;  Dens  diu  con- 
juncta  servet.  "  I  have  joined  two  kingdoms  by  the  one  bridge 
may  God  long  preserve  them  united  !"    The  magistrates,  wh( 
wished  to  do  all  reverence  to  his  majesty's  inscription,  delayec 
putting  in  the  key-stone  till  the  king's  skole*  were  drunk  a 
that  part  of  the  bridge,  and  the  Lord's  'day  was  appointee 
for  the  grand  fete ;  but  the  speated  Tweed  came  down  heav; 
two  days  before,  and  the  bridge  being  insecure,  part  of  it 
shattered  pillars  only  was  left  to  mark  where  the  junctioi 
was  intended.     The  storms  were  succeeded  by  a  threatene< 
famine,   by  which  numbers  of  respectable  individuals  wen 
reduced  to  a  state  of  the  utmost  indigence,  and  wanderinj 
beggars  increased  to  an  intolerable  degree. 

xxvn.  While  the  king  was  urging  the  bishops  to  rigour 

*  A  drinking  bout  on  receiving  a  gift,  or  in  honour  of  any  person,  or  on  the 
completion  of  any  great  undertaking. 


A  great 
scarcity. 


JAMES  VI.  381 

be  displayed  his  own  merciless  disposition  in  the  end  of   BOOK 
this  year,   in  his  treatment  of  two  distinguished  sufferers, 
John  Welsh  and    Robert  Bruce.      Welsh,   after   fourteen      t62i. 
years'  banishment  in  France,   had  lost  his  health,  and  his  ^^^j1' 
native  air  was  recommended  as  the  only  means  left,  which  and  Bruce. 

ve  any  chance  of  recovery.*  By  great  interest,  he  was 
permitted  to  come  to  London,  but  no  intreaty  would  induce 
James  to  allow  him  to  visit  Scotland,  unless  he  complied 
with  what  in  his  conscience  he  believed  to  be  wrong.  He 
languished  a  short  time,  and  expired  in  the  English  capital. 
Bruce  had  been  long  confined  to  Inverness.  He  had  peti- 
tioned repeatedly  for  leave  to  come  to  Edinburgh,  to  settle 
some  private  business  of  great  importance,  and  when  he 
could  not  obtain  it,  he  came  secretly.  On  being  discovered, 
ic  was  first  warded  in  Edinburgh  castle,  but  afterward,  as  a 
avour,  was  confined  to  his  own  house  of  Kinnaird,  for  some 
months,  whither  immense  numbers  resorted ;  when  the  bi- 
shops, who  felt  that  they  were  despised,  chagrined  at  seeing 
another  honoured,  wrote  to  the  king,  who  immediately  sent 
Mr.  Bruce  an  order  to  return  to  Inverness.  Considerable 
ntercession  was  made  to  obtain  leave  for  him  to  remain 
only  till  the  weather  should  become  milder,  but  this  small 
ndulgence  could  not  be  given.  The  refusal  was  conveyed 
in  a  taunt,  "  We  will  have  no  more  popish  pilgrimages  to 

*  Mrs.  Welsh,  by  means  of  some  of  her  mother's  relations  at  court,  obtain- 
ed access  to  James,  and  petitioned  him  to  grant  this  liberty  to  her  husband. 
The  following  singular  conversation  took  place  on  that  occasion.  His  majes- 
ty asked  her  who  was  her  father,  she  replied,  "  Mr.  Knox."  "  Knox  and 
Welsh,"  exclaimed  he,  "  the  devil  never  made  such  a  match  as  that."  "  It's 
right  like,  sir,"  said  she,  "  for  we  never  spiered  [asked]  his  advice."  He  ask- 
ed her  how  many  children  her  father  had  left,  and  if  they  were  lads  or  lasses. 
She  said  three,  and  they  were  all  lasses.  "  God  be  thanked  !"  cried  the  king, 
lifting  up  both  his  hands,  "  for  an  they  had  been  three  lads,  I  had  never  brnik- 
ed,  [possessed]  my  three  kingdoms  in  peace."  She  again  urged  her  request, 
that  he  would  give  her  husband  his  native  air.  "  Give  him  his  native  air !  Give 
him  the  devil,"  replied  the  king.  "  Give  that  to  your  hungry  courtiers,"  said 
she,  offended  at  his  profaneness.  He  told  her  at  last,  that  if  she  would  per- 
suade her  husband  to  submit  to  the  bishops,  he  would  allow  him  to  return  to 
Scotland.  Mrs.  Welsh,  lifting  up  her  apron,  and  holding  it  towards  the  king, 
i  replied,  in  the  true  spirit  of  her  father,  "  Please  your  majesty,  I'd  rather  kep 
;  his  head  there."0  M'Crie's  Life  of  Knox,  vol.  ii.  p.  274. 

•  I  would  rather  receive  his  head  there,  when  severed  from  his  body  by  the  executioner. 


382  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  Kinnaird :"  and  the  man  to  whom  James  acknowledged  he 

**•      owed  more  than  he  could  ever  pay,  was,  without  a  crimej 

162K      sent  in  his  old  age,  during  the  depth  of  winter,  to  a  distant 

imprisonment  in  a  barbarous  district. 

1622.         xxvin.  James,  who  averred  that  he  had  rejected  the  al 
protected8*  M'ance  °^  many  powerful  popish  princes  for  his  daughter 
between      from   attachment  to   the  protestant  cause,   discovered  ver) 
Charles  and  different   sentiments    respecting  the    marriage   of  his    son 
a  princess    Dazzled  by   the  splendour  and  wealth  of  the   Spanish  mo 
narchy,  he  eagerly  courted  an  alliance,  and  solicited  the  hanc 
of  one  of  the  royal  family,  for  the  heir  apparent  of  the  Bri 
tish  crown.     This  match,  so  hateful  to  both  nations,  was  re- 
tarded by  the  difficulties  which  arose  from  the  difference  o 
religion  between  the  parties,  and  the  necessity  of  obtaining 
a  dispensation  from  the  pope,  before  it  could  be  celebrated. 
During   the   protracted    negotiations,    James,    in  order    tcf 
smooth  the  way  as  much  as  possible,  directed,  that  all  the 
The  popish  popish  priests  and  recusants  who  were  imprisoned,  should 
released    °  ^e  set  at  1'berty ;  and   the  lord  keeper,  in  his  letter  to  the 
judges,   informed  them,   that  it  was  his  majesty's  pleasure, 
that  they,  upon  receipt  of  his  writ,    "  make  no  niceness  or 
difficulty  in  extending  his  princely  favour  to  all  such  papists 
as  they  should  find  imprisoned  in  the  jails  of  their  circuits, 
for  any  recusancie  whatsoever ;  or  for  having  or  dispersing 
popish  books,  or  hearing  mass,  or  for  any  misdemeanour 
which  concerned  religion  only,   and  no   matter  of  state.* 
The  Scots    The  whole  Scottish  nation  were  filled  with  apprehension 
at  this  proceeding  of  the  king,  and  their  forebodings  were 
rendered  still  more  distressing,  by  his  having  apostatized  from 
some  doctrinal  points  held  by  the  reformed  churches  both 
James  be-  of  England  and  Scotland,  and  embraced  the  opinions  of  Ar- 
minian.    "  niinius,  which  the  synod  of  Dort  had  condemned. 

xxix.  The  doctrines  of  predestination  and  free  will  are 
irreconcilable  by  any  process  of  human  reasoning ;  yet  we 
know  that  we  are  free  agents,  and  dare  not  deny  that  God 
foresaw  all  the  consequences  of  man's  creation,  and  that  he 
has  complete  control  over  them,  without  denying  his  attri- 
butes of  omniscience  and  omnipotence ;  but  in  pursuing 
these  subjects,  we  find  that  they  involve  an  inquiry  into  the 
origin  of  moral  evil,  and  its  introduction  into  the  fair  crea 


JAMES  VI.  383 

tion  of  God,  an  object  of  investigation  to  which  our  limited    BOOK 
powers   are  not  adequate.       The   reformers,    therefore,  in 
whose  creed  the  depravity  of  human  nature  formed  an  essen-     1622. 
tial  article,   feeling  that  they  were  free  agents,  even  when  ^e  d°?" 
complying  with  this  original  bias  ;  but  believing  at  the  same  reformers, 
time,  that  no  one  event  in  their  lives  happened  without  the 
foreknowledge  of  him  who  is  acquainted  with  all  our  thoughts, 
while  yet  afar  off;  or  in  opposition  to  his  power,  without 
whose   permission,  a  sparrow  cannot  fall   to   the   ground, 
preached  the  doctrines  of  distinguishing  grace,  and  particu- 
lar election ;  but  some,  by  the  inaccurate  manner  in  which 
they  enunciated  their  propositions,  taught  the  doctrine  of 
reprobation,  or  the  fore-choosing  of  the  majority  of  mankind 
to  eternal  destruction.     Arminius,  startled  at  a  conclusion  Of  the  Ar. 
which  he  thought  made  God  delight  in  the  destruction  of m 
his  creatures,  denied  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination, 
and  maintained,  that  a  state  of  reward  or  punishment  was 
pre-ordained  for  those  whose  voluntary  conduct  merited  the 
one,  or  deserved  the  other ;  but  whose  actions,  although  fore- 
seen and  permitted,  had  not  been  pre-determined  by  any  ab- 
solute decree.     The  guilt  of  original  sin  was  either  palliated 
or  denied,  and  the  eternal  duration  of  punishment  was  repre- 
sented as  inconsistent  with  the  universal  benevolence  of  the 
Deity. 

xxx.  These  opinions,  considered  by  both  the  churches  of 
the  two  kingdoms  as  heretical,  were  imbibed  by  the  king :  and 
as  he  considered  the  royal  creed  the  standard  of  belief  for 
the  nation,  forgetting  that  by  himself  they  had  once  been 
strenuously  opposed,    forbade   them   now   to   be  preached 
against;  and  in  a  letter  to  the  bishops  of  England,  com- 
manded the  preachers  and  lecturers  on  Sundays  and  holy- 
days,  in  the  afternoons  to  teach  only  the  catechism,  or  take 
some  text  out  of  the  Creed,  the  Ten  Commandments,  or  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  to  abstain  in  their  sermons,  from  treat- 
ing of  the  deep  points  of  predestination,  election,  reproba- 
i  tion,  the  universality,  resistibility,  or  irresistibility  of  grace.  Divisions 
[  It  was  in  vain  that  the  king  and  the  bishops  mocked  thein  the 
people,  by  asserting  that  this  mandate  was  intended  to  pre-  these 
vent  divisions,  while  its  evident  tendency  was  to  stir  up  newP°ints- 
and  unnecessary  dissensions  in  churches,  already  too  much 


384  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    distracted.    The  prelates,  whose  teaching  was  moulded  after 
the  fashion  of  the  court,  adopting  without  hesitation  the  te- 

1622.  nets  of  Arminius,  and  the  ministers,  who  viewed  with  sus- 
picion whatever  passed  through  the  royal  crucible,  adher- 
ing to  their  old  confession  of  faith,   the  new  opposition  in 
doctrine  between  the  two  parties,  became  no  less  irreconcil- 
able than  the  still  unsettled  dispute  respecting  rites  and  ce- 
remonies. 

James'  ex-  xxxi.  The  pretext  for  releasing  the  papists,  was  like  all 
ieasin^the"  l^e  SUDternjges  °f  James,  both  futile  and  false.  It  was  pre- 
papists.  tended  that  he  was  treating  with  the  French  king  for  peace 
to  the  protestants  in  France,  and  with  the  king  of  Spain, 
about  withdrawing  his  troops  from  the  Palatinate;  and  that 
his  tenderness  for  brethren  of  the  same  faith  abroad,  and  his 
desire  to  procure  an  alleviation  of  their  sufferings,  prevented 
him  from  dealing  harshly  with  the  Roman  catholics  in  Bri- 
tain. But  his  charity  for  the  protestants  was  of  that  ques- 
tionable kind,  which  is  so  very  benevolent  to  aliens  and  fo- 
reigners, that  there  remains  nothing  for  home  distribution 
The  nonconforming  ministers  in  Scotland,  shared  in  none  of 
the  indulgences  granted  to  the  papists ;  they  continued  to  be 

Persecu-     imprisoned,  fined,  and  in  some  instances  persecuted,  to  all 
tion  of  the  i       r  i  r  r\ 

presbyteri-  appearance,  merely  trom  a  love  ol  persecution.      George 

&na"  Johnston,  minister  of  Ancrum,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of 

his  age,  upwards  of  fifty  of  which  he  had  spent  in  the  minis- 
try, was  summoned  before  the  high  commission  court  at 
Edinburgh,  for  not  complying  with  the  articles  of  Perth,  and 
threatened  with  horning,  in  case  of  non-appearance.  The 

Johnston  of  excuse  he  sent  in  was  simple  and  pathetic.  "  If  my  age  of 
seventy-three  years,  and  my  infirmities,  a  swelling  in  both 
my  legs,  a  constant  fever  after  travelling  in  the  open  air, 
with  the  other  miseries  attendant  on  old  age,  which  I  sub- 
mit to  you  lordships'  consideration — having,  moreover,  pass- 
ed a  jubilee  of  years  in  the  ministry,  without  deprivation  or 
suspension — may  not  hold  me  excused  from  coming  to  Edin- 
burgh, with  manifest,  hazard  of  my  health  and  life ;  if  these 
reasons,  I  say,  cannot  serve  your  lordships,  I  take  me  tc 
God's  mercy,  not  being  sensible  of  any  crime."  He  was 

Deprived,    notwithstanding,  deprived,  and  banished  to  Annandale. 

1623.  xxxn.  Such  contradictory  proceedings  naturally  gave  ris< 


JAMES  VJ.  385 

to  murmurs  among  the  people,  which  became  at  length  suf-    BOOK 
ficiently  strong  to  reach  the  royal  ear.     James,  in  an  impe-       ^' 
rious   style,  directed  the  privy  council  of  Scotland,  to  put  ~~ 
upon    their   trial,    any   person   who  had    the    presumption 
to  call  his  conduct  in  question,  and  punish  them  with  the 
utmost  severity.     But  scarcely  had  they  received  this  injunc-  Journey  of 
tion,  when  the  news  of  the  prince's  journey,  [to  Spain,]  says  Spain" 
Spotswood,  "  made  all  good  men  amazed,"  and  silenced  for  causes  an 
a  while   the  stroaig  assertions  which  .had  been  so  unblushing- 
ly  repeated,  respecting  the  pious  aversion  his  majesty  enter- 
tained for  any  connexion  with  the  papists.     The  king  him- 
self seems  to  have  been  aware  of  the  effect  the  intelligence 
would  produce  in  Scotland,  for  he  instantly  ordered  a  letter 
to  be  despatched  by  post,  endorsed  u  For  life,"  commanding 
the  chancellor  to  suppress,  with  the  utmost  diligence,  every 
report  that  might  reach  Scotland;  but  the  post  was  detain- 
ed by  some  accident  on  the  road,  and  the  news  arriving  by 
sea  before  the  instructions  came  to  hand,  were  spread  over 
the  whole  country,  before  any  steps  could  be  taken  to  stop 
it.     The  return  of  prince  Charles  however,  and  the  break-  Joy  at  his 
ing  up  of  the  matrimonial  treaty,  gave  great  joy  to  the  na-  r< 
tion ;  but  it  appeared  to  give  fresh  vigour  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  prelates,  against  the  refractory  lieges  who  would  not 
yield  to  them  implicit  obedience. 

xxxiir.  The  Edinburgh  churches  had  a  practice  of  per-       1624. 
,  haps  doubtful  utility.     Some  days  before  the  communion,  ^mb/irg1' 
I  the  council,  session,  and  citizens  met  in  the  church,  and  the  meeting 
ministers  withdrawing,  the  congregation  were  asked  thrice, 
I  if  they  had  any  thing  to  object  to  their  doctrine  or  conversa- 
,  lion.     If  any  objections  were  made,  the  accused  minister 
was  then  called  in,  and  being  informed  of  the  charges,  was 
desired  to  offer  what  he  had  to  say  in  vindication  ;  and  if  no- 
thing was  stated,  his  exemplary  conduct,  and  edifying  teach- 
ing were  gratefully  acknowledged.     In  the  month  of  March, 
1624,  at  a  meeting  of  this  kind,  Mr.  Forbes,  one  of  the  mi- 
nisters, was  accused  of  saying  that  a  .coalition  might  be  easi-  accuse 
ly  affected  with  the  papists  on  many   of  the  controverted  of  being1"  6 
points,  particularly  that  of  justification,  which  some  of  his  favourable 
hearers  affirmed  was  in  opposition  to  what  they  had  ever  pists>  ] 
been  taught;  for  their  former  preachers  had  ever  affirmed 
VOL.  ni.  3  D 


386  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   that  there  could  be  no  agreement,  more  than  between  ligh( 
VI-      and  darkness ;  but  when  called  upon  to  explain  or  vindicate 
his  assertions,  he  said   he  would  not  deign  to  come  among 
The  other   them,  and  retired   home   in   a  passion.     The  citizens  then 
support"    requested  the  advice  of  the  other  ministers  how  to  proceed, 
him-  but  they  made  common  cause  with  Forbes,  and  told  them 

they  had  no  power  to  judge  of  their  doctrine.  The  Bereans 
tried  Paul's  doctrine,  cried  some  one  in  the  meeting,  but  no 
answer  was  returned.  Kneeling  at  the  sacrament  was  then 
introduced,  and  the  ministers  were  entreated  to  restore  the 
old  fashion ;  but  they  objecting  to  the  regularity  of  the  meet- 
ing, it  was  broken  up,  and  never  again  was  any  similar  one 
convened. 

Complain  xxxiv.  Had  the  affair  rested  thus,  there  might  have,  per- 
iin^'  haps,  been  little  to  condemn  in  the  conduct  of  the  ministers ; 
but,  determined  upon  vengeance,  they  incensed  the  king  by 
their  representations,  and  procured  instructions  to  be  sent 
to  the  privy  council,  for  a  select  few  of  their  body  to  exa- 
mine and  bring  to  trial  six  of  the  principal  citizens,  for  their 
Proceed,  behaviour  upon  that  occasion.  William  Rigg,  one  of  the 
jrafnst'bai-  bailies,  was  among  the  number  of  those  summoned.  At  his 
lie  Rigg.  appearance,  he  defended  the  meeting,  as  convened  accord- 
ing to  a  laudable  custom,  which  had  boen  observed  by  the 
church  in  Edinburgh  ever  since  the  Reformation ;  which 
was  thought  needful,  and  found  profitable,  in  removing,  be- 
fore they  partook  of  the  holy  communion,  any  misunder- 
standing which  might  have  arisen  among  the  ministers,  or 
His  de-  among  the  people,  or  between  the  ministers  and  the  people; 
for  this  cause  they  were  publicly  invited  by  the  ministers 
themselves,  to  resort  to  the  east  kirk;  he  justified  their  con- 
duct from  the  command  of  the  apostle,  not  to  believe  every 
spirit,  but  to  try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of  God ;  and 
contended  for  its  necessity,  on  account  of  the  strange  doc- 
trines lately  delivered  from  the  pulpit,  so  unlike  what  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  hear.  The  others  returned  similar 
answers,  and  as  there  was  no  existing  law  against  an  autho- 
rized custom,  the  council  would  willingly  have  allowed  the 
citizens  to  depart  without  farther  trouble,  but  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews  suggested  to  the  chancellor,  some  interroga- 
tories respecting  their  having  desired  the  ministers  to  re- 


JAMES  VI.  387 

store  to  them  the  old  mode  of  administering  the  sacrament.    BOOK 
They  all  confessed  they  had  ;  only  Rigg,  who  really  had  not 
said  any  thing  upon  the  subject  at  the  meeting,  confused  by      1624. 
the  teasing  examination,  acknowledged  that  it  was  his  senti- 
ment, and  he  believed  he  did  say  so  to  the   minister ;  after- 
wards, however,  upon  better  recollection,  he  desired  to  amend 
his  answers,  and  be  allowed  to  prove  that  he  had  not  spoken 
about  the  communion,  but  this  was  refused,  and  the  minutes 
of  the  proceedings  sent  to  the  king  for  his  inspection.     The 
king,   without  delay,   ordered  the  counsellors  who  had  pre-  Punish- 
sided  at  the  examination,  to  deprive  William  Rigg  of  his  of-  m 
fice,  fine  him  in   fifty   thousand  pounds,  imprison   him  in 
Blackness  castle  till  the  fine  was  paid,  and  afterward  banish 
him  to  Caithness.     Three  of  the  others  were  ordered  to  be 
sent  to  Edinburgh  jail,  during  the  royal  pleasure,  and  the 
remaining  two  to  be  confined  in  Elgin  and  Aberdeen.     The 
committee  of  the  privy  council,  averse  to  this  severity,  re-  Mlt!i>ated 
ferred  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  whole,  who  mitigated  the  council, 
sentence  against  Mr.  Rigg,  and  only  ordered  him  to  remain 
at  home,  till  they  should  hear  again  from  his  majesty.     His 
majesty  was  inexorable,  and  they  were  sent  into  ward ;  only 
it  would  appear  that  the  privy  council,  who  began  to  be  jea- 
lous of  the  usurpations  the  prelates  were  making  upon  their 
jurisdiction,  evaded  levying  the   fine  on  Rigg,  the  greater 
part  of  which  would  have  found  its  way  into  the  pockets  of  the 
bishops.*     The  two,  ordered  to  distant  imprisonment,  found 
the  council  willing  to  hear  their  pleas  for  delay,  till  the  death 
of  the  king  freed  them  from  farther  trouble. 

xxxv.  The  severities  inflicted  by  the  bishops,  not  only 
disgusted  the  people  with  their  order,  their  ceremonies  and 
their  communion,  but  endeared  to  them  the  cause  for  which 
they  were  suffering,  and  their  pastors,  who  they  believed, 
were  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake.  The  ministers  who 
were  deprived,  refused  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  the  high 
commission  for  silencing  them,  as  they  considered  the  court 
illegal,  and  its  proceedings  unjust,  continued  to  exercise  their 
calling,  and  preached  in  private  houses  to  numerous  con- 

*  Calderwood,  p.  806-10.  Spotswood,  545.  Hailes'  Memorials,  p.  147- 
151. 


388  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    gregations ;  while  the  conforming  clergy  thundered  out  their 
anathemas  against  schism  and  rebellion,  or  poured  forth  the 

1624.  praises  of  peace  and  passive  obedience,  to  the  men  in  office, 
tionClama~   tne  PauPers  °f tne  parish,  or  empty  benches.     This  was  not 
gainst  pri- to  be  borne ;  but  the  proclamation  which  forbade  meeting 
hTs  for"™  *n  Pr'vate  houses,  for  preaching,  exhortation,  or  such  reli- 
ligious  ex-  gious  exercises,  discovered  at  once  the  enmity  of  the  pre- 

ses'  lates,  and  the  extent  of  the  practice.  "  We  have  of  late 
known,"  says  his  majesty,  "  to  our  unspeakable  grief,  that  a 
number  of  our  subjects,  misled  by  the  turbulent  persuasions 
of  restless  ministers,  either  deprived  of  their  functions,  or 
confined  for  just  causes,  or  affecting  hypocritically  the  glory 
of  purity  and  zeal  above  others,  have  casten  off  the  obedience 
they  owe  to  our  royal  authority,  and  to  their  pastors,  ab- 
stained to  hear  the  word  preached,  or  the  sacraments  mini- 
stered in  their  own  parishes;  and  in  the  end,  numbers  of 
them  have  assembled  in  private  houses  in  Edinburgh  and 
other  places,  to  hear  from  intruding  ministers,  preachings, 
exhortations,  prayers,  and  all  sorts  of  exercises  at  the  very 
ordinary  hours,"  "  when  their  own  pastors  were  preaching 
in  their  parish  kirks."  Immediately  after,  another  was  is- 
sued, commanding  all  the  inhabitants  who  were  of  age,  to 
be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  on  Christmas,  and  to  communicate  kneeling,  threat- 
Forthe  ce-  ening  the  removal  of  the  courts  of  justice,  in  case  of  non- 
ChrTstams.f  compl'ance-  The  king  expected  by  this  menace,  to  produce 
conformity  in  the  capital,  and  if  Edinburgh  once  yielded, 
the  rest  of  the  country  would  follow  the  example.  Such, 
however,  was  the  spirit  of  the  people,  that  a  majority  of 
the  burgesses  declared,  that  rather  than  comply,  they  would 
see  the  town  in  ashes ;  but  while  the  preparations  were 
making  for  carrying  this  purpose  into  effect,  the  plague 
broke  out,  and  the  principal  inhabitants  flying  from  the 
Suspended  town,  their  resolution  was  not  put  to  the  test.  The  obser- 
o"theC°Unt  vance  was  suspended  till  Easter,  but  before  Easter  arrived, 
plague.  James  was  in  that  land  where  "  the  wicked  cease  from  trou- 
bling," 

1625.  xxxvi.  The  marquis  of  Hamilton  died  early  in  the  year 
thTmar-      1625.     When  his  death  was  reported  to  James  he  was  ex- 
quis  of  HJI-  ceedingly  affected  ;  and  feeling,  perhaps,  some  symptoms  of 

milton. 


JAMES  vr.  389 

decay,  he  is  reported  to  have  said: — "If  the  branches  be    BOOK 
thus  cut  down,  the  stock  cannot  continue  long."     His  say- 

1  />o  r 

ing  proved  prophetical.  In  his  latter  years  he  had  become 
attached  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  and  indulged  too  free- 
iy  in  potent  libations  of  sweet  and  spiced  wines.  He  be- 
eame,  in  consequence,  gross  in  his  habit;  but  the  disease  that 
carried  him  off  was  a  tertian  ague,  which  seized  him  in  the 
month  of  March.  During  his  illness  he  was  miserably  at- 
tended by  the  wretches  who  had  flattered  him  so  profusely 
while  in  health ;  even  medical  assistance  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  regularly  afforded,  and  some  empirical  prescrip- 
tions, which  in  his  impatience  of  confinement  he  had  caused 
to  be  administered  to  him,  operating  unfavourably,  acceler- 
ated his  end.  His  death  was  attributed  to  poison,  rather, 
perhaps,  because  Buckingham  was  believed  capable  of  any 
atrocity,  than  that  there  were  any  real  grounds  for  the  sus- 
picion.* He  expired  on  the  23d,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  Death  of 
his  age,  having  reigned  twenty-two  years  and  some  days  over 
England,  and  been  the  crowned  king  of  Scotland  almost 
from  his  cradle. 

xxxvii.  His  reign  was  disturbed  by  no  foreign  warfare ; 
but  almost  the  \yhole  of  it,  after  he  assumed  the  direction, 
was  employed  in  sowing  the  seeds  of  internal  commotion.  Un- 
fortunately the  factions  of  his  native  kingdom  raised  him  pre- 
maturely to  the  throne,  and  his  first  favourites,  who  were 
dissolute  and  unprincipled, flattered  his  failings,  which  it  would 
have  required  the  most  rigid  discipline  to  correct.  From 
them  he  most  probably  derived  that  complete  and  unblushing 
disregard  for  common  truth  and  common  honesty,  which 
characterized  almostall  his  measures  whether  public  orprivate. 
It  is  certain  with  them  he  learned  the  absurd  and  abominable 
accomplishments  of  profane  swearing  and  lascivious  conver- 
sation, which  banished  decent  manners  from  his  court.  His 
first  acts  displayed  his  ingratitude  to  his  best  friends;  and  His charac- 
his  fond  attachment  to  a  handsome  person  and  polished  ex-ter- 
tenor  was  more  ardent  and  lasting  than  was  seemly  for  man- 

*  Egelsham,  one  of  the  king's  physicians,  wrote  a  pamphlet  to  show  that  the 
king  was  actually  poisoned — Guthrie,  vol.  ix.  p.  137.  And  Buckingham  was 
afterward  questioned  in  the  house  of  commons,  not  directly  about  poisoning  the 
king,  but  for  applying  remedies  without  the  advice  of  the  physicians. 


390  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  hood  to  show  to  boys.  He  was  profuse,  but  not  liberal} 
**•  crafty,  but  not  wise ;  mean,  selfish,  and  vindictive.  Though 
1625.  facile  in  granting  pardons  to  traitors  who  endangered  the 
state,  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  one  instance  of  his 
having  forgiven  a  personal  offence ;  and  though  lavish  of  his 
honours,  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find  many  virtuous  men  on 
whom  they  were  bestowed.  He  could  speak  of  the  advan- 
tages of  trade,  and  of  the  civilizing  of  his  barbarous  sub- 
jects ;  but  he  did  nothing  for  his  native  country  ;  and  let  not 
the  spirit  of  the  English,  and  their  growing  prosperity,  be 
imputed  as  virtues  to  him,  who  neither  liked  the  one,  or 
promoted  the  other.  He  was  intolerant,  dissembling,  vain, 
and  accessible  to  the  grossest  flattery.  His  learning  was  pe- 
dantic, and  his  religion,  but  for  the  mischief  his  polemics  oc- 
casioned, might  have  been  safely  pronounced  a  farce.  His  • 
manners  were  coarse ;  his  familiarity  low  and  undignified.* 
In  his  person  "  he  was  of  a  middling  stature,  more  corpulent 
through  his  clothes  than  in  his  body,  yet  fat  enough  ;  his 
clothes  ever  being  made  large  and  easy,  the  doublets  quilted 
for  stiletto  proof  ;f  his  breeches  in  great  plaits,  and  full  stuff- 
ed. He  was  naturally  of  a  timorous  disposition,  which  was 
the  greatest  reason  of  his  quilted  dc-ublets.  His  eyes  large, 
ever  rolling  after  any  stranger  who  came  in  his  presence,  in- 
somuch as  many  for  shame  have  left  the  room,  as  being  out 
of  countenance.  His  beard  was  very  thin.  His  tongue  too 
large  for  his  mouth,  which  ever  made  him  speak  full  in  the 
mouth,  and  made  him  drink  very  uncomely,  as  if  eating  his 
drink,  which  came  out  into  the  cup  on  each  side  of  his  mouth. 
His  skin  was  as  soft  as  tafFata  sarsnet,  which  felt  so  because 
he  never  washed  his  hands,  only  rubbed  his  finger  ends  with 

*  Buckingham  begins  all  his  letters  to  his  sovereign,  "  Dear  Dad  and  Gos- 
sip," and  proceeds  in  such  strains  as  follow,  after  apologizing  for  four  unan- 
swered letters: — "  For  so  great  a  king  to  descend  so  low  as  to  his  humblest 
slave  and  servant,  to  communicate  himself  in  a  style  of  such  good  fellowship, 
with  expressions  of  more  care  than  servants  have  of  masters,  than  physicians 
have  of  their  patients — which  hath  largely  appeared  to  me  in  sickness  and  in 
health — of  more  tenderness  than  fathers  have  of  children,  of  more  friendship 
than  between  equals,  of  more  affection  than  between  lovers  of  the  best  kind, 
man  and  wife,  what  can  I  return !" — Hailes'  Mem.  p.  129. 

f  He  was  terrified  for  the  catholics,  who,  he  used  to  say,  were  expert  king- 
killers.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  he  favoured  them  from  the  same  principle1 
that  Indians  worship  the  devil. 


CHARLES  I.  391 

the  wet  end  of  a  napkin  slightly.     His  legs  were  very  weak,    BOOK 
having  had,  as  was  thought,  some  foul  play  in  his  youth,  or  _ 
rather  before  he  was  born  ;  that  he  was  not  able  to  stand  at     1625. 
seven  years  of  age  ;  that  weakness  made  him  ever  leaning 
on  other  men's   shoulders.     His  walk  was  ever  circular."* 
Few  kings  have  lived  less  respected,  or  died  more  generally 
unlamented. 

.   CHARLES  I. 

xxxvin.  IMMEDIATELY  on  the  death  of  his  father,  Charles  Charles  I. 
despatched  a  messenger  to  the  privy  council  in  Scotland,  in- 

!  timating  to  them  that  all  the  officers  of  state  and  magistrates 
were   to  retain  their  situations  till  his  will   should  be  farther 

t  known.     A   general  mourning  for  the  late  king  was  at  the 

I  same  time  ordered,  and  the  chapel  and  palace  of  Holyrood- 
house  were  hung  with  black.     On  the  last  day  of  March  he  Proclaimed 

I  was  proclaimed  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh  with  the  usual  so-at  *-din- 
lemnities,  and  next  day  the  chief  ministers  of  the  crown  set  off' 
for  London,  to  assist  at  the  funeral  of  the  late,  and  offer  their 
congratulations  on  his  accession,  to  the  new  king.     During 
their  absence  a  number  of  depredations  were  committed  in 
the  western  seas  by  the  restless,  piratical  islanders;  but  Ar-Djsturl) 
chibald,  lord  Lorn,  having  raised  two  thousand  men  to  guard  ances  quell 
the  country,  while  two  ships  of  war,  under  the  baron  of  Kil-^*"1 
syth,    scoured   the  seas,  they  appear  to  have  been  speedily 

i  and  effectually  suppressed. 

xxxix.  The  first  twelve  years  after  Charles  came  to  the. 
crown,  so  important  in  England,  were  distinguished  by  few 
remarkable  events  in  the  internal  state  of  Scotland  ;  but  un- 
fortunately these  few  were  not  such  as  to  allay  the  ferment, 
or  sooth  the  discontents  of  the  late  reign.  The  first  acts  of 
a  young  monarch  generally  stamp  a  character  upon  his  go- 
vernment, which  it  is  apt  to  retain,  and  if  not  absolutely  nox- 
ious, are  always  viewed  in  the  most  advantageous  light ;  but  Causes  of 

I  (Charles  was  unhappy  in  having  excited  the  suspicions  of  the  ^jj^L0* 
people  before   he  came   to  the  throne,  by  his  romantic  ex- 
pedition to  Spain  j  and  he  corroborated  them  by  his  mar- 

•  Balfour's  Hist.  Works,  vol.  ii  p  109.  Sir  James  adds  some  very  ludi- 
crous but  indelicate  particulars. 


392 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1625. 


He  deter, 
mines  to 
support  e- 
piscopacy 
in  Scot- 
land. 


Dictates 
the  choice 
of  Magis- 
trates. 


Com. 
menoe- 
ment  of 
his  trou- 
bles. 


riage  with  a  princess  of  France, — the  lovely  and  accomplish- 
ed Henrietta  Maria — whose  religion  was  in  part  the  cause  of 
her  husband's  misfortunes,  and  those  of  their  posterity ;  nor 
was  he  discreet  in  at  once  avowing  the  extent  to  which  he 
carried  the  obnoxious  doctrines  of  his  father  respecting  ec- 
clesiastical conformity,  and  the  king's  supremacy  in  the 
church. 

XL.  In  England  he  was  unpopular  from  the  first ;  but 
some  indistinct  accounts  of  his  piety  and  moderation 
had  reached  Scotland,  which  induced  the  dissenters  from 
the  articles  of  Perth  to  imagine  that  they  would  find 
him  more  propitious  than  his  father ;  and  they  deputed  Mr. 
Robert  Scott,  minister  at  Glasgow,  to  present  their  suppli- 
cations for  redress.  The  answer  was  unfavourable ;  they 
found  the  king  resolved  to  maintain  the  church  government 
his  father  had  established.  Instead  of  affording  relief, 
Charles  wrote  to  the  primate  to  proceed  in  the  good  cause 
in  which  his  father  had  put  him,  and  take  care  that  all  the 
bishops  did  the  same ;  and  lest  any  doubt  might  remain 
upon  the  subject,  a  proclamation  was  published,  ordering  all 
persons  to  be  punished  according  to  law  who  dared  to  dis- 
turb his  majesty's  government  by  circulating  false  reports, 
and  endeavouring  to  persuade  the  lieges  that  he  intended 
to  make  some  alterations  in  the  government  of  the  church, 
of  which  he  had  not  the  most  distant  thought.  This  was 
followed  by  a  peremptory  order  to  the  town  council  of  Ed- 
inburgh, to  elect  only  such  magistrates  as  paid  obedience  to 
the  articles  of  Perth. 

XLI.  When  Charles  avowed  the  same  principles,  all  the 
accumulated  grievances  of  his  predecessor's  misgovernment, 
which  in  any  case  would  have  pressed  heavy  on  him,  became 
identified  with  his  own  mistakes  ;  and  the  stubborn  spirit 
of  rising  independence  and  jealous  watchfulness,  in  the  Eng- 
lish house  of  commons,  which  had  disturbed  the  last  years 
of  the  father,  very  soon  interrupted  the  tranquillity  of  the 
son.  He  became  involved  in  disputes  with  them  in  the  very 
first  session  of  his  first  parliament,  and  their  protracted  con- 
tentions prevented  him  for  a  time  from  urging  his  affairs  in 
Scotland  to  an  extremity ;  but  the  revocation  of  unappropri- 
ated tithes  and  benefices  was  one  of  those  impolitic  acts! 


CHAKLKS   J.  393 

which   fanned  the  embers  of  discontent,   and  extended  the    BOOK 
flame  beyond  the  limits  to  which  repugnance  to  ecclesiastical       VI. 
uniformity  alone  would,  perhaps,  have  carried  it.  iGfe] 

XLII.  All  transactions  which  took  place  in  Scotland  dur- 
ing a  minority  were  liable  to  review  when  the  king  came  of 
age;  and  all  grants  of  the  crown  lands  might  be  legally  re- 
sumed by  the  prerogative,  even  although  they  had  been  af- 
terward sanctioned  by  parliament;  as  the  royal  domains 
were  entailed  upon  the  crown,  and  were  unalienable  by  any 
king  without  the  previous  consent  of  parliament.  James, 
from  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  was 
constrained  to  make  a  very  sparing  use  of  this  prerogative; 
but  he  had  encouraged  the  prelates  to  hope  that  he  would 
exert  it  in  their  favour.  The  commencement  of  a  new  reign 
was  considered  as  a  proper  season  for  carrying  the  pious  de-  4  conven- 
sign  of  the  deceased  monarch  into  effect;  and  the  earl 


Nithsdale  was  sent  down  to  hold  a  convention  of  the  estates, 

and  procure  their  consent  to  the  resumption  of  all  the  tithes 

and  church  property  which  had  reverted  to  the  crown  at  the 

reformation,  or  which  had  been  shared  among  the  leading 

nobles  during  the  two  last  reigns.     But  though  the  nobles 

in  general  had  made  little  resistance  to  the  re-introduction 

of  ceremonies,  they  were  not  equally  complying  with  regard 

to  the  resumption  of  church  property  ;  to  which,    from  the 

length  of  time  they  had  possessed  it,  they  considered   they 

had  an  indisputable  right.      Every  proposal  was   rejected,  N0ijies  re_ 

and  a  combination  formed  among  the  nobles  to  resort  to  the  sist  the  re- 

,  ,   f,         •  i  i       i      />  ...  ,  ..  sumption 

old  fecottish  method  or  opposition,  in  case  the  commissioner  Of  church 
had  pushed  the  question.  Lord  Belhaven,  then  aged  and  property. 
blind,  promised  to  make  sure  of  one,  and  was,  by  his  own 

:  desire,  placed  next  to  the  earl  of  Dumfries.  With  one 
hand  he  had  hold  on  the  earl,  as  if  to  support  himself,  in  the 
other  he  grasped  a  dirk,  ready  to  plunge  into  his  heart  upon 
the  least  commotion.  Nithsdale,  having  either  heard  of  their 
meetings,  or  overawed  by  their  appearance,  and  the  temper 
they  displayed,  did  not  lay  before  the  convention  the  most 
violent  part  of  his  instructions,  and,  without  being  able  to 
obtain  any  satisfactory  arrangement,  returned  to  court  ;  but 

j  the  intended  act  was  published,  and  the  nobles,  warned  of 
the  insecure  tenure  by  which  they  held  their  acquisitions 

VOL.    Hi.  3  & 


394 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

1626. 


ministers 
apply  for 
regular 
provision. 


Tithes. 


from  the  church,  were  thrown  into  a  state  of  irritation,  which 
prepared  them  to  make  one  cause  with  the  people  in  their 
opposition  to  the  prelates,  for  whose  aggrandizement  they 
were  called  upon  to  make  this  sacrifice,  and  whose  ambition 
already  intruded  them  both  into  the  council  and  courts  of 
justice.  An  ecclesiastical  convention  followed,  which  drew 
up  an  application  to  the  king  for  a  legal  and  established  pro- 
vision to  the  ministers,  and  they  anticipated  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  desire  in  the  recovery  of  the  tithes. 

XLIII.  Tithes,  unknown  in  the  New  Testament,  where  no 
determinate  establishment  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry 
is  inculcated,  and  where  the  support  of  the  pastor  is  declaimed 
to  depend  on  the  gratuitous  offerings  of  his  flock ;  were  early 
introduced,  after  primitive  simplicity  had  given  place  to  pon- 
tifical splendour.  The  practice  was  founded  upon  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Jews,  and  the  funds  derived  from  them  constituted 
a  peculiar  property  in  law,  distinct  from  the  lands  out  of 
which  they  were  exacted.  At  the  Reformation,  instead  of 
being  restored — as  in  justice  they  ought  to  have  been — to  the 
proprietors  of  the  estates,  when  regular  stipends  formed,  or 
were  proposed  to  form,  the  provision  for  the  ministers,  they 
were  seized  upon  by  the  crown,  and  bestowed  upon  the  no- 
bles, who  levied  them  with  the  greatest  rigour;  and  often 
with  circumstances  of  wanton  oppression.  By  the  law  of 
Scotland  the  proprietors  of  the  soil  were  prevented  from 
removing  the  crop  from  the  fields  till  the  tenth  part  had 
been  carried  away  by  the  titular  ;*  and  this  was  frequently 
vexatiously  delayed  till  the  corn,  which  might  have  been  safe- 
ly housed,  was  damaged  or  destroyed.  The  lairds  or  land- 
holders, who  suffered  by  this  oppression,  were  inclined  to 
coincide  in  any  measure  from  which  they  expected  relief;  and 
joined  the  clergy  in  their  applications  to  the  king  for  the  re- 
sumption, or  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  tithes.  It  is 
not  probable  that  the  landholders  would  have  found  the 
prelates  less  rigorous  exacters  than  the  nobles ;  but,  when 
writhing  under  present  oppression,  men  are  often  induced 
to  seek  a  change  without  very  closely  examining  the  conse- 
quences. As  it  was,  the  coalition  of  these  two  parties  con- 


So  the  proprietor  of  the  teinds  was  called. 


CHARLES  1.  395 

tributed  additional  strength  to  the  crown,  and  a  commission     BOOK 

VT 

was  issued  for  a  number  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen  to  re- 
ceive the  surrender  of  impropriated  tithes  and   benefices,      1620. 
with  powers  to  regulate  any  dubious  points  connected  with 
this   important  business.      At  the  same  lime  prosecutions 
were  commenced  against  those  who  refused  to  accede  to  the 
proposals  of  the  king.     The  nobles,  after  the  result  of  a  few      1629. 
trials  had  convinced  them  that  individually  they  were  unable  ^"^th!:61'" 
to  contend  with  the  crown,  reluctantly  submitted  to  his  die-  crown, 
tation,  and  surrendered  the  teinds  at  a  valuation  affixed  by 
the  commission ;    they  to  draw  the  annual  rents  till  they 
were  redeemed  by  the  crown.     The  landholders,  however, 
also  obtained  the  right  of  suing  for  a  valuation  or  modus, 
and  to  purchase  the  tithes  of  their  own  estates,  unless  when 
they  were  appropriated  to  churchmen;  but  the  right  was 
rendered  of  little  avail  by  their  poverty,  and  they  became 
dissatisfied  by  the  tantalizing  view  of  a  privilege  advantage- 
ous only  in  appearance.* 

XLIV.  During  the  agitation  of  this  delicate   subject,  it  was 
naturally  to  have  been  expected  that  the  bishops  would  have 
anxiously  avoided  stirring  any  new  question,  or  increasing 
the  general  unfriendly  feelings  of  the  country,  by  any  unne-  State  of  the 
i  cessary  show  of  episcopal  superiority  ;  but  Laud,  archbishop 
'  of  Canterbury,  who  now  governed  the  church,  and  disposed 
of  all  preferments,  had  espoused  the  tenets  of  Arminius,  and 
i  the  young  Scottish   clergy,  who  looked  up  to  him  as  their 
!  patron,  adopted  his  creed,  and  inculcated  doctrines  which, 
by  the  whole   orthodox  part  of  the  nation,  were  deemed 
:  noxious,  and  which  the  elder  bishops  considered  it  impru- 
dent to  agitate.     Their  zeal  for  doctrinal,  was  equalled  by 
their  ardour  for  introducing  ceremonial,   innovation ;    and 
they  found  their  reward  in   being  promoted  to  the  vacant 
benefices,  a  majority  of  which   were  soon   filled   by  rash, 
headstrong  novices,  unacquainted  with  the  real  state  of  the 
country,  and  without  the  recommendations  of  either  piety 
or  learning.     Disdaining  to  mingle  with  the  poor  of  their 

"  Large  Declaration,  pp.  9,  10.     Burnet's  Hist.  vol.  i.  pp.  23,  24-.     Me- 
;  moirs  of  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton,  p.  30.     Laing's   Hist.  vol.  iii.  pp.  102-5. 
Guthrie's  Scot.  vol.  ix.  pp.  14.9,  181.     Cooke's  Hist,  of  the  Ch.  of  Scot.  roi. 
it.  p.  385. 


396  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  flocks,  they  aped  a  close  association  with  the  higher  classes; 

**•       but  even  with  them,  elated  by  the  dignity  of  their  episcopal 

1629.     office,  and  by  the  partiality  with  which  they  were  regarded 

by  their  sovereign,  they  assumed   a  loftiness   of  demeanour 

which  filled  with   indignation   men   whose  hereditary  rank 

had  been  wont  to  command  a  superior  degree  of  respect, 

and  whose  claims  had  been  allowed  by  the  first  reformers, 

and  their  successors,  who  conscientiously  paid  to  their  civil 

stations  that  honour  which  was  due. 

1631.         XLV.  In  the  north  of  Scotland,  the  feuds  of  the  chieftains 
were  accompanied  with  circumstances  of  atrocious  reTenge, 
and  in  open  defiance  of  all  law.     One  instance  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  state  of  anarchy  in  which  the  extremity  of  the 
kingdom  was  involved.     An  accidental  quarrel  occuned  be- 
tween the  barons  of  Frendraught  [Crichton]  and   Rothmay 
[Gordon],  in  which  unfortunately  Rothmay,  an  accomplished 
gentlemrn,  fell,  and  several  of  the  attendants  on  each  side, 
were  killed  or  wounded.     No  legal  investigation  took  place, 
but  the  marquis  of  Huntly  and  some  mutual  friends  interfer- 
ing,  the  widow  consented   to  accept  fifty  thousand  merks 
Feud  be-     as   a   composition    for   the   slaughter,   which   the  chieftain 
P^en"         caused  to  be  duly  paid.     Some  time  after,  Frendraught,  in 
draught      One  of  his  excursions,  was  accompanied  by  a  Robert  Crich- 
may.       "  ton  °f  Candlan,  and  James  Lesly,  son  of  Lesly  of  Pitcaple, 
when  Lesly  was  shot  by  Crichton  in  the  arm.     This  Lesly's 
father  resented  so  highly,  that  hearing  Frendraught  was  on 
a  visit  to  the  marquis,  he  came,  attended   by   thirty   horse 
well  armed,   on  purpose  to  wreak  his  vengeance  on  him. 
The  marquis  prudently    desired  Frendraught  to  retire  to 
his    lady's  apartment,  while   he    endeavoured    to    appease 
Lesly  ;  but  the  latter  departed  unsatisfied,  and  the  marquis 
detained    his  friend  till  next  morning,  when  he  sent  him 
home,  accompanied   by  his  son,  viscount  Aboyne,    and  a 
guard,  lest  Lesly  might  be  lying  in  ambush  on  the  road. 
In  Aboyne's  train,  was  John  Gordon,  eldest  son  of  the  late 
Gordon  of  Rothmay.     They  arrived  at  Frendraught  place 
in  safety,  and  Aboyne  would  immediately  have  returned,  but 
the  baron  would  not  hear  of  his  departure,  till  he  had  re- 
compensed his  father's  hospitality  and  his  convoy,  by  a  feast. 
At  night  they  had  a  magnificent  supper,  and  parted  for  their 


CHARLES  I.  397 

beds  in  high  spirits.     The  strangers  were  conducted  to  an    BOOK 
old  tower,  where  the  viscount  Aboyne,   with  his  valet  and 


page,  had  the  first  or  ground  chamber,  immediately  over  the      163|- 
vault,  with  which  there  was  a  communication  by  a  circular  Death  of 
aperture,  directly  under  Aboyne'  s  bed.     The  heir  of  Roth-  and  yOUI1g 


may,  with  his  body  servant,  occupied  the  one  above.  About 
midnight,  the  tower,  set  on  fire,  was  instantly  enveloped  in 
flames,  in  which  Aboyne,  Rothmay  and  other  four,  perish- 
ed ;  while  Frendraught  and  his  lady  looked  on  unconcern- 
edly, from  a  detached  part  of  the  castle,  without  offering 
to  render  the  smallest  assistance,  although  with  very  little 
exertion,  the  whole  might  have  been  rescued.  Aboyne  could 
have  saved  himself,  but  his  humanity  would  not  suffer  him 
to  escape  alone  ;  he  flew  to  Rothmay's  room  to  awake  him, 
and  while  in  the  act,  the  timber  passage  fell  in,  and  preclud- 
ed all  retreat  by  the  stair.  The  two  youths  then  ran  both 
to  the  window,  half  naked,  crying  out  in  agony,  Help  ! 
Help  !  for  Godsake  !  till  perceiving  that  they  made  no  im- 
pression on  their  hardhearted  host  and  hostess,  they  prayed 
aloud  that  God  would  pa  don  their  sins,  then  clasping  them- 
selves in  each  other's  arms,  submitted  with  resignation  to 
their  dreadful  fate. 

XLVI.  Strong  suspicions  arising,  that  the  fire  had  not  hap- 
ipened  accidentally,   Huntly  prepared  to  take  a  terrible  re-  Trials  re- 
Avenge  for  his  son's  death,  when  Frendraught  seized  one  Mel-  specting  it. 
drum,  a  relation  of  Lesly's  —  who  had  been  in  his   service, 
but  quarrelled  with  him  because  he  could  obtain  no  wages 
»  —  carried  him  prisoner  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  tried, 
and  executed  as  an  incendiary,  although  the  crime  was  not 
proved  against  him,  and  he  died  declaring  his  innocence. 
A  young  woman,  daughter  of  the  laird   of  Colpnay,  and 
some  other  persons,  were  tortured,  but  confessed  nothing  ; 
and  the  privy  council  issued  a  commission  to  some  of  the 
noblemen  and  gentlemen  of  the  county  to  examine  into  the 
-ircumstances  of  the  case,  who,  after  a  minute  investigation, 
reported,  that  the  fire  must  have  been  kindled  by  design, 
xnd  not  accidentally.     This  report  having  confirmed  all  pre- 
(vious  supicions  respecting  Frendraught,  the  vassals  of  Hunt-  Huntly'a 
y  and  Rothmay  uniting,  ravaged  his  estates,  hanged  one  of  reven§0- 
ris  tenants,   and   carried  off*  and  sold  publicly,  what  they 


398  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  could  not  destroy.  Frendraught  was  forced  to  flee  to  Edin- 
burgh,  where  he  laid  his  complaints  before  the  privy  coun- 
1631.  cil,  who  then  issued  an  order  for  Huntly's  appearance,  witn 
twelve  barons,  twelve  gentlemen,  and  twelve  ministers,  to 
give  evidence  respecting  the  outrages.  The  marquis  excus- 
ed himself  on  account  of  his  age,  but  the  council  refused  to 
listen  to  this  plea,  outlawed  him  for  non-appearance,  and 
Proceed-  imprisoned  such  of  his  friends  as  did  appear.  He,  how- 
!"^s  at.^d"  ever,  afterward  attended,  when  the  sentence  of  outlawry  was 
reversed,  and  he  was  obliged  to  enter  into  a  bond  to  keep 
the  peace  himself,  and  use  his  utmost  diligence  to  bring  the 
offenders  to  justice.  Before  he  left  Edinburgh,  however, 
he  was  accused  by  captain  Adam  Gordon,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal offenders,  in  order  to  screen  himself,  as  the  instigator 
and  promoter  of  all  the  disorders.  On  this  charge  he  was 
committed,  along  with  two  of  the  principal  gentlemen  of  his 
name,  close  prisoners  to  the  castle.  His  confinement  was 
short,  an  order  soon  came  from  the  court  for  his  release,  but 
he  did  not  long  survive  his  ill  treatment.  He  died  at  Dundee, 
on  his  journey  home,  in  the  seventy- fourth  year  of  his  age. 
His  death  He  was  turbulent  in  his  youth,  and  prodigal  in  his  expendi* 
^?ia  "  ture,  but  in  his  old  age  he  became  more  sober,  and  rather 
penurious  in  his  habits  ;  and  for  several  years,  till  involved 
with  Frendraught,  was  desirous  to  enjoy  a  little  tranquillity, 
as  best  suited  his  years.  He  had  repeatedly  changed  his 
profession,  but  died  a  firm  adherent  to  the  Roman  catholic 
religion. 

XLVII.  While  affairs  were  hastening  fast  to  confusion  at 
home,  the  enterprising  warlike  spirit  of  the  natives,  was  ac- 
quiring honour  to  their  country  abroad ;  and  a  number  of 
experienced  officers  were  forming  in  foreign  service,  whose 
practical  knowledge  was  afterward  employed  in  the  civil 
wars  of  their  own  country.  Lord  Reay  had  levied  in  the 
Lord  north  a  regiment — Mackay's — for  the  king  of  Denmark, 
R.eay's  Re- which,  after  three  years1  service  against  the  emperor,  re- 
ceived an  honourable  discharge,  and  enlisted  under  the  ban- 
ners of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  who  had  al- 
ready a  number  of  Scottish  officers  in  his  army.  Crowds 
of  their  countrymen  followed,  and  were  formed  into  a  na- 
tional brigade.  Their  numbers  were  computed  at  not  less 


, 


CHARLES  I.  399 

than  ten  thousand  men,  whose  valour  materially  contributed    BOOK 
to  the  splendid  success  of  the  Swedish  monarch.* 

XLVIII.  Gustavus,  when  about  to  invade  Germany,f  was      1631> 
desirous  of  obtaining  the  aid  of  the  British  monarch,  and 
Charles,  who  was  anxious  for  the  restoration  of  the  Palatinate, 
engaged  to  support  him  with  six  thousand  men,  on  condition 
that  this  object  were  attempted ;  but  embarrassed  by  a  ne- 
gotiation with  the  emperor,  who  promised  to  procure  for  the 
elector  his  patrimony  peaceably,  he  could  not  honourably  as- 
sist Gustavus  in  an  open   manner.     To  relieve  himself  from 
this  dilemma,  he  suffered  the  marquis  of  Hamilton, — as  if  ani-  Marquis 
mated  by  a  wish  to  promote  the   cause  of  freedom,  and  a 
high  minded  desire  for  honourable  fame, — to  conclude  in  his  king  of 
own  name,  a  treaty  with   Gustavus,  for  furnishing  the  sti- 
pulated number  of  auxiliaries.     When  the  expedition  was 
about  to  embark,  it  was   detained  by  an  accusation  being 
brought   against   the    marquis,    by   lord    Ochiltree,J — who 
inherited   his  father's  hatred  against  the  house  of  Hamil- 
ton.     He  asserted,   that  colonel    Ramsay,  who    had   been  Lord  Och 
employed  in  the  negotiations  with  Gustavus,  had  told  lord 
Reay,  that  the  levies  were  intended  to  be  employed  not  in 
Germany,  but  in  raising  himself  to  the  crown  of  Scotland. 
This  ridiculous  story  was   carried  immediately  to  the  king. 
He  mentioned  it  to  Hamilton  the  first  time  he  appeared  at 
court,  who,  indignant  at  the  malicious  slander,  demanded  to 
be  put  upon  trial ;  but  the  king,  with  the  strongest  expres- 
sions of  affection,  would  not  allow  it,  lest  it  should  seem  to 
imply  that  he  thought  any  vindication  necessary.     The  mar- 
quis, however,  to  clear  himself  from  the  imputation,  insisted, 
that   Ochiltree  should  be  called  upon    to  substantiate  his 
.  charge.      When    questioned,  all   he  could  allege,   was  the  Proved 
hearsay,  which  Ramsay  denied.     Having  charged  the  mar-  false* 
quis  with  treason,  and  having  failed  to  prove  it,  he  was  sent 
down  to  Scotland,  and  tried  for  leasing-making.     The  con- 
viction involved  a  capital  punishment;  but  death  was  com- 
muted into  the  scarcely  less  severe  sentence  of  perpetual  im- 

*  Monro's  Expedition,     f  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  the  dukes  of  Hamilton,  p.  6. 

*  He  was  the  son  of  captain  James  Stuart,  the  infamous  temporary  earl  of 

Arran. 


400  HISTOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  prisonment  in  Blackness  castle,  where  he  lay  twenty  years, 
till  Cromwell  relieved  him.  Reay  and  Ramsay,  who  mutu- 
1631.  ally  accused  each  other,  were  allowed  the  absurd  award  of  a 
judicial  combat,  and  had  mounted  a  stage  in  Tothill-fields, 
Westminster,  richly  dressed,  to  decide  it,  when  the  king  for- 
bade the  encounter. 

XLIX.  Every  obstruction  being  now  removed,  on  the  16th 
He  sails  for  of  July  the  expedition  set  sail  from  Yarmouth  roads,  and  on 
Germany.  tne  4^  Qf  August,  the  troops  were  disembarked  on  the  banks 
of  the  Oder.  They  mustered  above  six  thousand  able  men, 
but  report  swelled  their  numbers  to  twenty  thousand,  a  foi> 
tunate  incident,  that  decided  the  wavering  politics  of  the 
elector  of  Saxony,  who  immediately  joined  the  Swedes,  en» 
couraged  the  other  protestant  princes,  and  constrained  Tilly, 
the  imperial  general,  to  weaken  his  army,  by  reinforcing 
his  garrisons.  These  circumstances  greatly  contributed  tf. 
the  decisive  victory  the  Swedes  obtained  at  Leipsic,  nor  wat 
the  original  Scottish  brigade  without  their  share  in  the  hon- 
ours of  the  field,  their  regiments  having  on  this  occasion  firs! 
introduced  platoon  firing,  to  the  terror  and  astonishment  01 
the  Austrians.  A  few  days  before  this  important  engage- 
ment, which  laid  the  whole  German  empire  open  to  the  vic- 
tor, Gustavus  had  an  interview  with  the  marquis  of  Hamil- 
ton, at  Werben  on  the  Elbe,  where  a  plan  of  co-operation 
was  agreed  upon,  by  which  the  British  forces  were  placed  ai 
Custrin,  Frankfort,  and  Lansberg,  to  secure  a  retreat  in  casej 
of  a  reverse. 

L.  After  the  battle  of  Leipsic,  the  marquis  advanced 
towards  Silesia,  and  took  Guben,  a  frontier  town,  by  sur- 
prise, but  while  marching  upon  Glogau,  with  every  prospect 
of  reducing  it,  he  was  recalled  by  Gustavus,  to  Custrin, 
where  he  received  orders  to  reduce  Magdeburgh,  which  had 
His  opera-  been  taken  by  Tilly  some  months  before,  when  upwards  of 
thirty-five  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  were  massacred.  The 
marquis  left  with  reluctance  a  plentiful  country,  to  march  in- 
to a  district  exhausted  by  two  armies,  and  wasted  with  th< 
plague ;  here  his  chagrin  was  still  more  increased,  when, 
upon  the  advance  of  a  force  to  relieve  Magdeburgh,  and 
desired  to  engage  them,  Bannier  produced  a  commission 
from  the  king  of  Sweden,  to  command  all  the  Dutch  am 


CHARLES  I.  401 

German  forces,  and  not  hazard  a  battle.  In  compliance,  he  BOOK 
retreated  to  Saltsa,  where  he  took  up  a  strong  position,  and  VI- 
refused  to  retreat  farther.  Pappenheim,  who  commanded  163^ 
the  enemy,  succeeded  in  getting  into  Magdeburgh,  but  find- 
ing it  untenable,  he  drew  off  the  garrison,  with  the  most 
valuable  effects,  in  the  face  of  a  superior  force.*  After  his 
departure,  Hamilton,  with  the  remains  of  this  expedition, 
took  possession  of  the  fortress,  but  his  little  army  was  now 
reduced  by  disease,  to  two  regiments,  which  were  incorpor- 
ated into  the  duke  of  Weimar's,  and  he  remained  as  a  volun- 
teer with  the  Swedish  army,  waiting  the  instructions  of  the 
king.  Charles  now  solicited  the  restoration  of  the  elector 
palatine,  but  Gustavus,  elated  with  success,  began  to  enter- 
tain the  idea  of  forming  an  independent  kingdom  in  Ger- 
many, and  declined  giving  up  his  rightful  inheritance  to  the  Recalled, 
elector,  except  upon  such  conditions  as  would  have  rendered 
it  a  subordinate  province;  on  which  the  marquis  of  Hamil- 
ton was  recalled  in  disgust,  and  the  treaty  with  Sweden 
broken  off.  The  Swedish  king  soon  after  fell  in  the  arms  of 
victory,  but  the  veteran  Scots  remained  in  the  service,  till 
recalled  by  the  voice  of  their  country,  on  the  rupture  with 
her  king. 

LI.  Charles,  who  had  now  reigned  nearly  ten  years,  had 
!  often  expressed  a  desire  to  see  the  kingdom  of  his  fathers. 
1  He  had  delayed  it  first  at  the  request  of  his  Scottish  coun- 
I  sellors,  who,  perhaps,  recollecting  the  expense  of  the  former 
I  lour,  were  afraid  of  a  second  royal  visitation  ;  and  afterward, 
the  perturbed  state  of  England  had  so  completely  engaged 
i  his  attention,  that  Scotland  in  some  measure  enjoyed  the  ad- 
vantage,  which  their  neighbours  appreciated   and  envied  ; 
Procul  a  numine,  procul  a  fulmine,  "  far  from  a  court,  safe 
from  its  proclamations."     This  comparative  tranquillity  was 
now  to  be  disturbed.     The  king  had  obtained  a  deceitful 
calm,  by.  checking  the  expression,  but  not  removing  the 
cause  of  popular  dissatisfaction  in  the  south.     In  the  north, 
the  faithlessness,  treachery,  venality,  injustice,  and  tyranny 
of  the  court  party,  had  rendered  the  whole  country  suspici- 
ous and  irritable,  but  they  were  calm ;  and  the  political  and 

*  Burnefs  Memoirs,  p.  20- 
VOL.  Ill  3  F 


402  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ecclesiastical  aspirants  told  the  king,  that  the  sullen  breath- 
VI*      less  gloom  that  portended  the  hurricane,  was  the  tranquil 
1633.      face  of  loyal  approbation.     How  often  are  such  deceits  re- 
peated, and  how  often  believed  ?    On   the   17th  of  May  he 
left  his  capital.     His  journey  through  England  was  magni- 
ficent, his  train  splendid.*     He  remained  at  Berwick  four 
Charles  vi-  days,  and  his  march  to  Edinburgh  was  not  less  pompous 
land  than  his  previous  progress.     At  Seton  he  was  received  by 

the  earl  of  Winton,  and  at  Dalkeith  by  the  earl  of  Morton, 
who  entertained  him  with  a  sumptuous  splendour,  that  em- 
ulated the  banquets  of  the  richest  nobles  of  the  sister  king- 
dom. On  Saturday  the  15th  of  June,  he  set  out  from  Dal- 
keith for  Edinburgh,  and  made  his  solemn  entry  by  the  West 
Enters  Ed~  Port.  The  show  and  pageantry  exceeded  whatever  had  been 
)urg  '  previously  displayed  in  the  Scottish  capital,  and  such  was 
the  fame  of  the  preparations,  that  the  town  was  crowded  with 
strangers  from  the  continent,  who  came  to  be  spectators  of 
the  splendid  spectacle.f  Next  day,  he  heard  sermon  from  the 


*  According  to  Balfour's  MSS.  quoted  by  Guthrie,  vol.  ix.  p.  206.  it  con- 
sisted of  "  thirteen  noblemen,  Mr.  vice  chamberlain,  secretary  of  state,  master 
of  the  prince's  purse,  two  bishops,  a  clerk  of  the  closet,  two  gentlemen  ushers 
of  the  prince's  chamber,  three  gentlemen  ushers,  quarter  waiters,  six  grooms 
of  his  bedchamber,  two  cupbearers,  two  carvers,  two  sewers,  two  esquires  of 
the  body,  three  grooms  of  the  privy  chamber,  two  sergeants  at  arms,  two  sewers 
of  the  chamber,  one  master  of  requests,  six  chaplains,  two  physicians,  two  sur- 
geons, one  apothecary,  one  barber,  one  groom  porter,  three  for  his  robes,  four 
for  the  wardrobe,  seven  pages  of  the  bedchamber,  three  pages  of  the  presence, 
sixty- one  yeomen  of  the  guard,  two  cross  bows,  two  grooms  of  the  chamber, 
nine  messengers,  six  trumpeters,  eight  cooks,  forty-two  skewerers  and  turn- 
broaches,  seventeen  musicians,  subdean  of  his  majesty's  chapel,  four  vestrymen, 
the  knight  harbinger,  and  master  comptroller."  His  English  attendants  were 
calculated  at  above  five  hundred,  a  number  the  Scottish  nobles  viewed  with  dis- 
may, but  the  most  ominous  visitant  was  Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 
was  to  regulate  the  ceremonial  devotions  of  the  Scottish  church. 

f  Previously  to  his  entering  the  city,  a  long  congratulatory  speech  was  made 
to  him  by  Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  who  seems  to  have  been  master  of 
ceremonies  on  the  occasion,  and  who  degraded  the  dignity  of  genius,  by  pros- 
tituting his  talents  to  the  purposes  of  adulation.  The  triumph  has  gone  by 
with  the  shadowy  dream  that  it  decorated,  but  the  stain  remains,  to  deterior- 
ate from  the  moral  grandeur  of  one  of  our  sweetest  early  poets.  As  the  king 
approached  the  West  Port  on  the  south  side,  there  was  a  beautifully  painted 
view  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  and  on  withdrawing  a  veil,  the  nymph  Edina, 
attended  by  lovely  maidens,  appeared,  and  presented  the  keys  of  the  city  to 
his  majesty.  On  entering  the  gates,  he  was  received  l>y  the  magistrates,  in 


404  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  silver  coronation  medals  among  the  spectators  in  the  chapel 
_  '  An  object  of  particular,  and  not  pleasant  remark,  was  th 
1633.  introduction  of  an  altar,  on  which  were  placed  two  books 
"at  least  something  resembling  clasped  books,  called  blin 
books,"*  with  two  chandeliers,  and  two  unlighted  wax  ta 
pers,  and  an  empty  silver  bason.  At  the  back  of  the  altar 
which  was  covered  with  tapestry,  there  was  a  rich  tapestry 
on  which  a  crucifix  was  embroidered,  and  the  officiatin] 
bishops,  as  they  passed  it,  were  observed  to  "  bow  the  kne< 
and  beck"  [make  obeisance]  to  the  symbol  of  idolatry .f  Th 
coronation  sermon,  which  was  preached  by  Laud,  consistet 
of  a  furious  declamation  in  favour  of  a  farther  eonformit 
between  the  churches  of  Scotland  and  England  in  their  rite 
and  discipline. 

Beholds  a      ITII    Parliament  met  on   the  day  after  the  coronation, 
parliament. 

*  Spalding's  Troubles  in  Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  25.  t  Ib. 

|  "  On  the  20th  of  June  the  haill  estates  came  down  to  him  who  cam 
frae  the  abbey  in  order,  and  was  the  first  day  of  the  riding  of  the  parliament. 
In  the  first  rank  rode  the  commissioners  of  burghs,  ilk  ane  in  their  own 
places,  well  clad  in  cloaks,  having  on  their  horses  black  velvet  foot  mantles ; 
secondly,  the  commissioners  for  barons  followed  them ;  thirdly,  the  lords  of 
the  spirituality  [lords  of  erections]  followed  them ;  fourthly,  the  bishops,  who 
rode  altogether,  except  the  bishop  of  Aberdeen,  who  was  lying  sick  at  Aber- 
deen, and  the  bishop  of  Murray,  who,  as  Elymosinar,  rode  beside  the  bishop 
of  London,  somewhat  nearer  the  king ;  fifthly,  followed  the  temporal  lords ; 
sixthly,  followed  the  viscounts ;  seventhly,  the  earls  followed  them  ;  eighthly, 
the  earl  of  Buchan  carrying  the  sword,  and  the  earl  of  Rothes  the  sceptre; 
ninthly,  the  marquis  of  Douglas  carrying  the  crown,  having  on  his  right  the 
duke  of  Lennox,  and  on  his  left  the  marquis  of  Hamilton ;  following  them 
came  his  majesty,  immediately  after  the  marquis  of  Douglas,  riding  upon  a 
chesnut  coloured  horse,  having  on  his  head  a  fair  bunch  of  feathers,  with  a 
foot  mantle  of  purple  velvet,  as  his  robe  royal  was,  and  none  rode  without 
their  foot-mantles,  and  the  nobles  all  in  red  scarlet  furred  robes,  as  their  use 
to  ride  in  parliament  is ;  but  his  majesty  made  choice  to  ride  in  king  James 
the  fourth's  robe-royal  whilk  was  of  purple  velvet,  richly  furred,  and  laced 
with  gold  hanging  over  the  horse  tail  a  great  deal,  whilk  was  carried  up 
from  the  earth  by  five  grooms  of  honour,  ilk  ane  after  ither  all  the  way  as  he 
rode  to  his  highness  lighting ;  he  had  also  on  his  head  a  hat,  and  ane  rod  in 
his  hand.  The  heraulds,  pursuivants,  macers,  and  trumpeters,  followed  his 
majesty  in  silence.  In  this  order  his  majesty  came  up  frae  the  abbey,  up  the 
High  Street,  and  at  the  Netherbow  the  provost  of  Edinburgh  came  and  salut- 
ed the  king,  and  still  attended  him  while  [until]  he  lighted.  The  causey  was 
railed  frae  the  Netherbow  to  the  stinking  style  with  stakes  of  timber,  dung  in 
the  end  on  both  sides,  yet  so  that  people  standing  without  the  samen  might 
see  well  enough,  and  that  none  might  hinder  the  king's  passage.  There  was 


CHARLES  I.  405 

and  to  render  it  still  more  obsequious  than  ever,  a  new  ma-    BOOK 
noeuvre  was  practised  in  electing  the  lords  of  the  articles.  — — — - 

1  fi^l^_ 

The  chancellor  named  the  prelates,  and  they  chose  the  no-  Lords  of 
bles,  and  both  concurred  in  selecting  the  members  from  the  the  articles 

,  .    ,  T       i     •  iii  again  new 

third  estate.  In  their  money  vote  they  granted  the  largest  m0deiied. 
supply  ever  given  to  any  Scottish  monarch — a  land  tax,  con- 
sisting of  thirty  shillings,  amounting  to  about  four  hundred 
thousand  pounds  Scottish,  and  the  sixteenth  penny  of  all 
annual  rents  or  interest  of  money.  The  rate  of  interest  was 
also  reduced  from  ten  to  eight  per  cent.,  and  the  two  per 
cent,  deducted  from  the  creditor  was  given  to  the  erown. 
This  act  passed  without  opposition  ;  not  so  the  next.  Soon 
after  James  had  ascended  the  English  throne,  in  1606,  an 
act  was  passed  declaratory  of  the  extent  of  the  royal  prero- 
gative, and  three  years  after,  as  a  personal  favour  to  that 
king,  but  never  intended  as  a  precedent,  another,  in  which 
was  conceded  to  him  the  power  of  prescribing  the  robes  of 
judges  and  the  habits  of  churchmen.  These  two  acts  the 
lords  of  the  articles  embodied  in  one,  together  with  a  gene- 
ral ratification  and  confirmation  of  all  the  statutes  in  favour 
of  the  liberty  and  freedom  of  the  true  kirk  of  God,  and  re- 
ligion as  it  was  then  presently  professed.  The  parliament, 
who  would  not  have  hesitated  in  confirming  the  royal  pre- 
rogative in  its  utmost  extent,  startled  at  the  idea  of  confer- 


:vithir>  the  rails  a  strong  guard  of  trainsmen  with  pikes,  partizans,  and  musk- 
:ts,  and  withal  the  king's  own  English  foot  guard  was  still  about  his  person, 
j  Now  his  majesty  with  the  rest  lighted  at  the  said  stinking  style,  where  the 
;arl  of  Errol,  as  constable  of  Scotland,  with  all  humility  received  him,  and 
|  :onveyed  him  through  his  guard  to  the  outer  door  of  the  high  tolbooth,  and 
he  earl  of  Marishall  as  marischall  of  Scotland,  likewise  received  him,  and  con- 
veyed him  to  his  tribunal  through  the  guard  standing  within  the  door,  and  set 
he  king  down.     After  his  majesty  all  the  rest  in  order  followed  ;  the  mares- 
•hall,  the  prelates  and  nobles,  ranked  after  their  own  degree  ;  then  the  earl  of 
Enrol  sat  down  in  a  chair,  and  he  in  another,  side  for  side,  at  a  four  nooked  taf- 
11,  set  about  the  foreface  of  the  parliament,  and   covered  with  green   cloth. 
The  parliament  about  eleven  was  fenced  ;  thereafter  the  lords  of  the  articles 
>egan  to  be  choose."     "  How  soon   they  were  chosen  the  parliament  rose. 
\bout  two  in  the  afternoon  his  majesty  went  to  horse,  rode  to  the  abbey,  hav- 
ng  the  earl  of  Errol,  as  constable  of  Scotland,  on  his  right  hand,  and  the  earl 
jif  Mareschitll  as  mareschall  thereof,  on  his  left  hand,  and  carrying  a  golden  rod 
n  his  own  hand ;  and  so  the  haill  estates  in  good  order  rode  to  the  abbey."— 
Balding,  vol.  i.  pp.  23,  24. 


406  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ring  on  his  majesty  the  power  of  regulating  the  ecclesiastical 
^         vestments ;  dreading,  from  the  specimen  they  had  seen  at 


1633.     the  coronation,   that  the   embroidered  trappings   of  Rome 
wetf8*       would  soon  be  introduced.     When  the  act  was  read,  lord 
clerical  ha-  Melville,  an  aged  nobleman,  exclaimed: — "I  have  sworn  with 
bits  oppos-  yOnr  fatherj   antl  the  whole  kingdom,  to  the  confession  of 
faith,  in   which  the  innovations  intended  by  these  articles 
were  abjured."*     Charles   felt  the  irresistible  force  of  the 
appeal,  but  he  had  not  the  virtue  to  recede ;  he  paused  for 
a  moment  and  retired,  and  on  his  return,  to  avoid  any  simi- 
lar interruption,  ordered  the  members  to  vote  and  not  to 
reason.     The  earl  of  Rothes  was  the  leader  of  the  opposi- 
tion ;  he  proposed,   as   there  were  so  many   who   scrupled 
about  the  clerical  habits,  that  the  two  acts  should  be  disjoin- 
ed ;  but  the  king  would  listen  to  no  proposition,  and  insist- 
ed that  both  or  neither  should   be  rejected ;  and  pulling  n 
Charles      list  from  his  pocket,  he  exclaimed: — "I  have  your  names 

threatens  ,   _     :     _.  .  ,  ...  ,       ' ,  .,• 

parliament,  here,  and  1  shall  know  to-day  who  will,  and  who  will  not, 
do  me  service."  This  tyrannical  declaration  was  succeeded 
by  an  action  more  criminal  and  base.  The  articles  were  re- 
jected by  a  majority,  fifteen  peers,  and  forty-four  commis- 
sioners, voting  against  them;  and  in  the  minority,  it  was  al- 
leged, there  were  several  noblemen  who  had  voted  twice, 
first  as  officers  of  state,  and  then  as  peers  of  parliament.-)- 
Sir  John  Hay  of  Landes,  the  clerk  register,  however,  re- 
ported that  it  was  carried  in  the  affirmative.  Rothes  imme- 

The  act      diately  rose  and  contradicted  this,  asserting,  that  the  nega- 

frauiiulent-    .  ,  ,,-,,        ,  .  ,       ,     .  ,     ,       ,.  ,  . 

ly  passed.  tlves  were  the  majority.  The  king,  who  held  the  list  in  his 
hand,  marked  by  himself,  and  who  must  have  been  conscious 
of  the  state  of  the  vote,  was  afraid  of  a  scrutiny, — which 
any  honest  man  in  his  situation  would  have  courted  if  the 
question  had  carried,  and  not  shunned  even  although  it  had 
been  doubtful — interposed ;  and  declared  that  the  report  of 
the  clerk  register  must  be  decisive,  unless  Rothes  chose 
appear  at  the  bar  of  that  house,  and  accuse  him  of  vitiating 
the  parliamentary  record,  which  was  a  criminal  offence 
and  which,  if  he  failed  to  prove,  he  was  liable  himself  tc 

Ratified.     a  capital  punishment.     Rothes  declined  the  perilous  office, 

*  Laing,  vol.  iii.  p.  111.     Row,  p.  218.  f  Crawford,  sect.  ix.  p.  24. 


CHAKLES  I.  407 

and  the  articles  were  ratified  by  the  king,  as  the  deed  of  par-    BOOK 
liament. 


LIV.  The  gratulations  with  which  the  king  had  been  re-  1633. 
ceived  at  his  arrival,  were  now  changed  into  low  deep  ex- 
pressions of  disgust;  and  the  appearance  of  the  public  was 
so  much  altered,  that  it  attracted  his  attention,  and  drew  from 
Leslie,  bishop  of  the  isles,  the  unintended,  well  known  pre- 
diction, that  "  the  behaviour  of  the  Scots  was  like  that  of 
the  Jews,  who  one  day  saluted  the  Lord's  Anointed  with 
hosannahs,  and  the  next  cried  out,  crucify  him."  The  mi- 
nisters, who  adhered  to  the  presbyterian  form,  and  who  la- 
mented the  desolation  of  the  church,  and  the  total  disuse 
)f  her  high  courts,  had,  previously  to  the  king's  coming  to 
Scotland,  resolved  to  present  their  petitions  to  parliament, 
ind  had  drawn  up  a  paper,  entitled,  "  Grievances  and  Peti- 
ions  concerning  the  disordered  state  of  the  Reformed  Church 
.vithin  the  realm  of  Scotland."  These  consisted  in  a  disre-  Com. 


jard  and  violation  of  every  agreement  which  had  been  entered  P^aint^  °.f 
J  the  rnmis- 

nto  between  the  sovereign  and  the  church,  and  of  every  act  ters. 
>f  parliament  which  had  been  made  in  her  favour.  Minis- 
ers  had  been  admitted  to  vote  absolutely  in  parliament,  al- 
hough  his  late  majesty  in  person  was  present  at  an  assem- 
bly, which  enacted  they  should  only  vote  in  parliament  in 
:onsonance  with  their  instructions,  and  be  accountable  for 
heir  conduct.  The  resolutions  of  the  general  assembly  held 
it  Glasgow,  1610,  had  been  vitiated  under  the  name  of  ex- 
)lanation  by  the  act  of  parliament,  1612,  which  removed  the 
)ishops'  conduct  and  conversation  from  the  inspection  of  the 
general  assembly  ;  and  gave  them  the  collation  of  benefices, 
ind  the  power  of  disponing  of  those  falling  into  their  hands, 
i  ure  devoluto.  The  holding  of  general  assemblies,  which  by 
I  aw  ought  to  have  been  called  at  least  once  a  3Tear,  had  been 
otally  discontinued.  Since  the  reformation,  the  observation 
•  )f  festivals  days,  private  baptism,  private  communion,  epis- 
:opal  confirmation,  and  kneeling  at  the  sacrament,  had  been 
ejected,  but  were  now  arbitrarily  imposed  ;  although  the 
enor  of  the  act  of  the  Perth  assembly  not  only  contained  no 
njunction  to  that  effect,  but  professed  that  none  should  be 
>ressed  with  obedience  to  that  act.  Oaths  were  adminis- 


4-08  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  tered  to  ministers  at  their  admission  or  ordination,  which 
the  church  had  not  warranted,  and  that  notwithstanding 
1633  there  be  constitutions  of  the  kirk,  and  laws  of  the  country, 
for  censuring  ministers  before  the  ordinary  ecclesiastical 
judicatories;  yet,  contrary  to  that  order,  ministers  are  si- 
lenced, suspended,  and  deprived, — and  that  for  matters 
merely  ecclesiastical, — before  other  judicatories  which  are 
not  established  by  the  authority  or  order  of  the  country 
and  kirk. 

LV.  The  method  prescribed  by  proclamation  for  present- 
ing all  such  papers  was,  to  address  them  to  the  clerk  regis- 
ter, whose  duty  it  was  to  lay  them  before  the  king  and  the 
estates.  Thomas  Hogg,  who  had  been  lately  deposed  by  the 
high  commission  from  his  ministry  at  Dysart,  was  pitched 
upon  to  carry  the  instrument  to  the  clerk  register.  This 
officer — sir  John  Hay — is  characterized,  by  sir  James  Bal- 
four,  as  a  sworn  enemy  to  religion,  and  a  slave  to  the  bi- 
shops, and  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  agreed  with  his  char- 
acter, He  was  mightily  offended  with  the  presumption  ol 
the  ministers,  and  violently  urged  Mr.  Hogg  to  withdraw 
the  paper;  and  when  he  would  not  comply,  threatened  the 
notary,  who  had  dared  to  exercise  his  office,  in  putting  tht, 
grievances  into  legal  shape.  Thus  rebutted  by  sir  John,  h*. 
applied  to  several  of  the  nobility  in  Edinburgh ;  but,  to  en- 
sure its  being  presented,  went  to  Dalkeith,  the  night  before 
Disregard-  t|ie  kjng  entered  his  ancient  capital,  and  delivered  it  to  his 
king.  majesty.  Charles  received  it  coldly,  read  it  with  an  unmovec 
countenance,  and  took  no  further  notice  of  it.  The  earl  o 
Morton,  however,  came  to  Mr.  Hogg  some  short  time  after 
and  told  him  he  wished  the  petitioners  had  chosen  some 
other  part  than  his  house  for  presenting  their  supplicatior 
Grieved  and  hurt  at  the  manner  in  which  their  complaints 
had  been  treated,  they  sedulously  waited  upon  the  member; 
of  parliament,  carried  to  them  all  the  information  they  couU 
collect  respecting  the  intended  innovations,  and  they  found, 
in  a  great  number  of  them,  very  ready  auditors.  "For,  be- 
sides that  the  generality  of  the  nobility,"  says  bishop  Gutb- 
rie,  "were  malecontented,  there  were  observed  to  be  avow 
ed  owners  of  their  interest;  in  Fyfe,  the  earl  of  Rothes,  am 


CHARLES  I.  409 


lord  Lindsay  ;  in  Lothian,  the  earl  of  Lothian,  and  lord  Bal-    BOOK 
merino;  and  in  the  west,  the  earls  of  Cassillis  and  Eglinton,       Vi- 


and lord  London."  1633. 

LVI.  After  the  rising  of  parliament,  the  king's  conduct  be- 
gan to  be  discussed  ^  and  very  general  feelings  of  indigna- 
tion were  excited  by  the  manner  in  which  he  had  overawed 
its  proceedings.  Even  the  nobles  who  had  voted  in  the  ma- 
jority  felt  that  their  independence  was  at  stake ;  while  those  gust, 
whose  opposition  the  king  had  publicly  marked,  were  ap- 
prehensive of  the  effects  of  the  royal  displeasure.  The  pre- 
lates represented  them  as  the  authors  of  sedition  in  the  state, 
and  schism  in  the  church,  and  they  were  studiously  exclud- 
ed from  any  mark  of  his  majesty's  favour.  They  were  not 
honoured  with  any  of  the  titles  he  so  profusely  bestowed* 
while  in  Scotland  ;  and  in  his  short  tour  through  part  of  the 
country,  he  affronted  them  by  his  disdainful  treatment,  in  a 
manner  which  they  were  not  likely  to  forget,  and  which  he 
probably  afterwards  remembered.  He  had  gone  to  Lirilith- 
gow,  Stirling,  &c.  and  was  proceeding  to  visit  the  abbey  of 
Dunfermline,  where  he  was  born,  when  the  earl  of  Rothes, 
as  sheriff  of  Fife,  and  lord  Lindsay,  as  bailie  of  regality  of 
St.  Andrews,  collected  their  friends,  and  a  number  of  the 
gentlemen  of  Fife,  to  the  number  of  about  two  thousand  He  insults 
horsemen,  in  their  best  equipage,  and  drew  up  on  the  border  ^  ford 
of  the  shire,  in  the  way  where  his  majesty  was  to  have  pass-  Lindsay, 
ed,  in  order  to  have  welcomed  him  to  their  county ;  but  al- 
though he  had  graciously  accepted  of  similar  compliments 
from  other  counties,  he  allowed  these  two  lords,  with  their 
followers,  to  remain  waiting  for  hours,  but  avoided  them 
by  contemptuously  taking  a  bye  road.  On  his  return  he 
very  narrowly  escaped  being  lost  in  the  Frith  of  Forth;  a 
sudden  squall  overtook  the  party  when  about  mid  passage, 
upset  the  boat  which  carried  his  plate,  and  he  with  difficulty 
reached  a  ship  of  war  lying  in  the  roads,  that  brought  him 
safely  to  Leith. 


*  When  the  king  was  in  Scotland  he  dubbed  fifty-four  knights  on  various 
occasions,  and  to  honour  his  coronation,  created  one  marquis,  ten  earls,  two 
viscounts,  and  eight  lords. 

VOL.   MI.  3  G 


410  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK       LVII.  These  actions  of  the  king  excited  hatred ;  the  fol- 
^'       lowing  was  viewed  by  presbyterians  with  contempt.     On  the 
1633.      24th  of  June,   St.  John  the  Baptist's  day,  he  went  in  great 
state  to  the  chapel  royal,  and  after  making  a  solemn  offering 
at  the  altar,  a  hundred  persons  were  presented  to  him,  all  of 
whom  he  touched  for  the  king's  evil,  putting  about  each  of 
their  necks  a  piece  of  gold  coined  for  the  purpose,  hung  by 
a  white  silk  ribbon.     At  length,  after  a  visit  which  had  sa- 
tisfied no  party  but  the  prelates,  the  king  and  the  Scots  part- 
Leaves        ed,  mutually  displeased  with  each  other.     On  the   18th  of 
July  he  set  out  for  Berwick  with  his  retinue,  which   he  left 
there  while  he  posted   forward  to  Greenwich,  accompanied 
only  by  forty  attendants,  to  visit  the  queen. 

Erects  Ed-  Lviu.  The  king,  after  his  departure,  erected  Edinburgh, 
toabishop-  w^'cn  nad  previously  formed  part  of  the  see  of  St.  Andrews, 
ric.  into  a  separate  bishopric,  and  nominated  Mr.  William  For- 

bes, one  of  the  ministers  of  Aberdeen,  as  bishop.  He  was 
accordingly  elected,  pro  forma,  by  a  chapter,  and  upon  the 
28th  January  was  solemnly  consecrated  in  the  chapel  royal, 
in  presence  of  two  archbishops,  and  five  other  bishops.  St. 
Giles  upon  this  occasion  was  restored  anew  to  its  cathedral 
amplitude,  the  wall  which  divided  the  Little  from  the  High 
Church  being  removed.  He  enjoyed  his  dignity  only  about 
two  months  and  a  half,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  David 
Lindsay,  bishop  of  Buchan. 

LIX.  About  the  time  of  Charles  leaving  Scotland,  Ab- 
bot, archbishop  of  Canterbury,  died,  and  Laud,  for  his  zeal, 
Conduct  of  was  immediately  installed  primate  of  England.  He  had  be- 
Laud>  haved,  while  in  Scotland,  with  a  forward  haughtiness,  which 
had  given  great  offence ;  and  his  zeal  for  the  introduction 
of  the  ceremonies  and  the  doctrine  of  arminianism,  was  con- 
sidered as  a  strong  symptom  of  his  attachment  to  popery. 
Two  anecdotes  were  currently  reported  of  him,  which  were 
supposed  to  support  this  unfavourable  view  of  his  character. 
When  he  was  at  Perth  with  his  majesty,  the  magistrates,  as 
a  mark  of  respect,  presented  him  with  the  freedom  of  the 
burgh,  and,  as  was  customary,  tendered  him  the  oath  of  ad- 
herence to  the  protestant  religion.  "  It  is  my  part,"  said 
he,  "  to  exact  an  oath  for  religion  from  you,  rather  than 


CHARLES  I.  411 

yours  to  exact  any  such  from  me ;"  and  refused  to  take  it.    BOOK 
The  other  occurred  at  Dumblane.     Visiting  the  cathedral, 
which  was  not  in  the  best  state  of  repair,  one  of  the  bystand-      1633. 
ers  observed,  that  it  was  more  beautiful  before  the  Refor- 
mation.    "  Reformation,  fellow  !  you  should  say  Deforma- 
tion," was  the  bishop's  reply.     To  this  zealot  was  now  com- 
mitted the  regulation  of  all  church  matters  in  both  kingdoms, 
and  he  hastened  to  carry  into  execution  his  most  obnoxious 
plans,  with  the  most  impolitic  precipitation.     Intending  that 
the  service  of  the  chapel  royal  should  be  the  model  of  all  the  Orders  the 
rest  throughout  the  kingdom,  orders  were  sent  down  from  tu"g  t^  b'~ 
London  for  prayers  to  be  said  twice  a  day,  with  the  choir,  used  in  the 
according  to  the  English  liturgy;  and  the  dean  was  requir-  ^ape  roy" 
ed  to  look  carefully  that  the  communion  were  administered 
once  a  month,  and  received  by  the  communicants  kneeling, 
to  observe   all  the  holydays,   and   use   the  surplice   when- 
ever he  preached.     The  lords  of  privy  council,  the  lords  of 
session,  the  advocates,  clerks,  writers  to  the  signet,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  college  of  justice,  were  commanded  to  communi- 
cate,  at  least  once  a  year,  in  the  chapel  royal  kneeling ;  the 
dean  to  report  yearly  how  this  mandate  was  obeyed,    and 
note  the  dissenters.     Yet,   according  to    Row,   few  of  the 
privy  council,  or  of  the  college  of  justice,  complied.     What 
confirmed  the  suspicions  of  the  people  that  popery  was  lurk- 
ing under  all  these  innovations  was,   that  while  so  much 
zeal  was  displayed  about  outward  show  in  worship,  the  Sab- 
bath was  profaned  in  England  by  royal  authority;  and  the 
highest  judicial  characters  in  the  land  were  reprimanded  be- 
fore the  council,  because  they  had  ordered  wakes  and  revels 
upon  Sundays  to  be  suppressed.* 

"  Complaints  having  been  made  of  the  outrages  which  frequently  occurred 
at  ales  and  revels  upon  the  Lord's  day  in  Somerset,  the  lord  chief  justice, 
and  baron  Denham,  in  their  circuit,  ordered  all  revels,  church  ales,  clerk 
ales,  and  all  other  public  ales,  to  be  suppressed,  and  that  the  minister  of 
every  parish  should  publish  the  notice  yearly  from  the  pulpit.  Whenever 
Laud  heard  of  this  order,  which  he  conceived  an  encroachment  upon  his 
clerical  rights,  the  archbishop  complained  to  the  king,  and  the  chief  justice 
was  commanded  to  attend  the  privy  council,  and  answer  to  the  complaint. 
In  exculpation,  the  chief  justice  said  the  order  was  issued  at  the  request  of 
the  justices  of  peace  in  the  county,  with  the  general  consent  of  the  whole 
bench,  and  in  conformity  with  several  ancient  precedents.  He  was,  notwith- 


412 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 


1633. 


Petition  of 
th?  pf;"  a" 
acts  1606, 
.     c'onf 
joined. 


LX.  The  minds  of  the  people  were  kept  in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual  irritation  and  feverish  excitement,  by  the  constant  suc- 
cession  of  changes  which  were  promulgated  by  almost  every 
new  arrival  from  court  ;  but  the  affections  of  the  nobility  were 
estranged,  and  their  fears  for  their  own  safety  excited  by  the 
trial  of  lord  Balmerino  —  an  act  of  political  injustice,  which, 
under  the  colour  of  law,  struck  at  the  root  of  all  security. 
The  peers  who  were  in  opposition  at  the  meeting  of  parlia- 
ment, in  order  to  clear  themselves  from  the  imputations  which 
were  thrown  out  against  them  as  enemies  to  the  government, 
prepared  an  humble  supplication  to  his  majesty,  respectfully 
requesting  him  to  consider  r  —  "  that  in  deliberations  about 
matters  of  importance,  either  in  council  or  parliament,  opi- 
nions  often  differ  ;  but  that  they  who  have  been  of  a  contrary 
mind  to  the  majority,  have  never  been  censured  by  good  and 
equitable  princes.*  They  acknowledged  the  prerogative  in 
its  most  ample  form  ;  and  after  modestly  noticing  the  general 
fears  entertained  of  some  important  innovation  intended  in 
the  essential  points  of  religion  —  especially  as  diverse  papists 
were  admitted  into  parliament,  and  upon  the  articles,  who, 
by  the  laws  of  the  realm,  could  be  member  of  no  judicatory 


standing,  commanded  to  revoke  his  order.  At  next  assizes,  the  lord  chief  justice 
informed  the  justices,  grand  jury,  and  country,  that  those  good  orders  made 
by  him  and  his  brother  Denham,  for  suppressing  unruly  wakes  and  revels, 
wherein  he  thought  he  had  done  God,  the  king,  and  the  country,  good  ser- 
vice, were  revoked  by  his  majesty's  order,  and  that  all  persons  may  use  freely 
their  recreations  at  such  meetings.  The  justices  of  peace,  grieved  at  the  re- 
vocation, drew  up  a  petition  to  the  king,  expressing  the  many  mischievous 
consequences  which  attended  those  meetings,  which  were  condemned  by  law  ; 
but  before  they  could  get  it  presented,  the  king's  declaration  concerning  re- 
creations on  the  Lord's  day  after  evening  prayer  was  published,  announcing 
the  royal  pleasure,  "  that  after  divine  service,  his  good  people  be  not  disturbed, 
letted,  or  discouraged  from  any  lawful  recreation  ;  such  as  dancing,  either  men 
or  women,  leaping,  vaulting,  or  any  harmless  recreation  ;  nor  from  having  of 
May  games,  Whitson  ales,  or  Morrice  dances,  or  setting  up  May  poles,  and 
other  sports  therewith  used,  so  as  the  same  be  had  in  due  and  convenient  time, 
without  impediment  or  neglect  of  divine  service."  One  of  the  curious  reasons 
assigned  for  authorizing  this  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  is,  to  promote  the  con- 
version of  the  papists  !  who  would,  if  no  such  innocent  amusements  were  per. 
mitted,  be  persuaded  by  their  priests  that  no  honest  mirth  or  recreation  is  law- 
ful in  the  religion  which  the  king  professeth  !  !  —  Rush  worth,  vol.  ii.  pp.  19.3, 
194. 

*  The  supplication  is  preserved  complete  in  Crawford. 


CHARLES  I.  413 

within  it — they  state  that  their  minds  being  thus  perplexed,     BOOK 
they  had  reason  to  suspect  a  snare  in  the  subtle  conjunction        ^*y 
of  the  act,    1609,  respecting  apparel,  with  that  made   1606,       1633 
respecting  the  royal  prerogative ;  which,  by  a  sophistical  ar- 
tifice,  should  oblige  them  either  to  vote  undutifully  on  the 
sacred   point   of  prerogative,    or  against  their  consciences 
on  the  point  of  church  innovations.     They   then  implored 
the  king  to  reconsider  the  points  from  which  they  dissent- 
ed, and  the  operation  of  which,  they  were  persuaded,  would 
be  pernicious ;  and,  in  conclusion,  enumerated,  in  very  mea- 
sured terms,  a  number  of  grievances  of  which  they  had  not 
complained,   and  noticed   the   facility  with  which  they  had 
consented  to  the  supplies  as  proofs  of  their  loyalty,  which, 
they  asserted,  was  more  disinterested  than  that  of  those  who, 
regardless  of  his  honour,  had  hazarded   the  enactments  to 
contradiction,  or  tampered  with  the  members  of  the  estates 
to  procure  their  votes."     This  petition,  as  dutiful  and  mo- 
derate as  any  that  could  be  presented  to  a  prince,  was  drawn 
up  by  Haig,  an  advocate,  and  the  scroll,  as  a  necessary  pre- 
caution,  to  avoid  offence,  was   carried  by  lord   Rothes  to  Displeases 
Charles,  who,  upon  perusing  it,  signified  his  displeasure,  and  *  ie   mg' 
in  returning  it,  said  haughtily  to  Rothes : — "  No  more  of  this, 
my  lord  !  I  command  you."     Several  lords  had  concurred  in 
the  petition,  but,  upon  this  peremptory  veto  being  told  them, 
it  was  laid  aside. 

LXI.  Balmerino,  who,  in  consequence  of  his  father's  mis- 
fortunes, had  never  approached  the  court,  and  intermeddled 
hut  little  with  public  affairs,  was  one  of  the  dissenting  lords, 
and  a  party  to  the  petition,  a  copy  of  which  he  retained.  Af- 
ter Charles  had  returned  to  England,  and  the  discontents  of  Balmeri- 

1.1.  ./•  ,1  ...  no's  case. 

the  country  were  increasing,  thinking,  ir  the  petition  were 
modified  and  rendered  more  agreeable  to  the  king,  it  might 
i  ae  productive  of  some  advantage,  he  communicated  the  scroll 
|  ;o  one  Dunmoor,  a  notary,  in  confidence,  for  his  advice,  and 
|  illowed  him  to  carry  it  home;  but  under  the  strictest  injunc- 
tions, that  he  should  show  it  to  nobody,  nor  suffer  any  copy 
[to  be  taken.  Under  a  promise  of  great  secrecy,  however, 
I  jhe  notary  showed  it  to  Hay  of  Naughton,  Balmerino's  pri- 
Ipte  enemy,  who  surreptitiously  obtained  a  copy,  and,  re- 
Irardless  of  his  promise,  betrayed  the  secret  to  the  archbi- 


414 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VI. 

•-  •  •  • 

1634. 


Trial. 


shop  of  St.  Andrews.  The  primate  immediately  repaired  to 
court,  and  laid  it  before  the  king,  as  a  paper  of  the  most 
mischievous  tendency,  which  was  circulated  through  Scot- 
land to  obtain  subscriptions  ;  and  urged  the  necessity  of 
some  striking  example  to  intimidate  the  nobles,  whose  oppo- 
sition encouraged  the  refractory  spirit  of  the  ministers. 

LXII.  There  were  laws  in  Scotland  against  leasings  loosely 
expressed,  and  capable  of  being  tyrannically  extended,  which 
made  it  a  capital  crime  to  disseminate  lies  against  the  king  or 
his  government,  or  reports  tending  to  excite  sedition,  and 
alienate  the  affections  of  the  subjects  from  the  sovereign ;  and 
all  who  heard  these  reports  and  did  not  reveal  them,  nor  cause 
the  author  or  propagator  to  be  apprehended,  were  deemed 
equally  guilty,  and  liable  to  the  same  punishment.  By  a  most 
unwarrantable  stretch  of  interpretation,  the  petition  was 
considered  as  coming  within  this  act,  and  a  commission  issu- 
ed to  examine  into  the  offence.  Balmerino  himself  was  com- 
mitted  prisoner  to  Edinburgh  castle  to  stand  trial;  Haig, 
the  real  author,  had  escaped  to  Holland.  It  would  have 
been  difficult  to  find  out  the  crime  of  showing  a  respectful 
and  loyal  petition  to  a  confidential  friend,  had  we  not  also 
been  informed  that  the  greater  part  of  Balmerino's  estates 
consisted  of  grants  of  church  lands,  and  that  the  chief  in- 
stigator of  the  prosecution  was  the  archbishop  of  St.  An- 
drews.  The  prelates  themselves  were  not  certain  of  the  jus- 
tice of  the  cause,  and  could  not  reckon  on  a  verdict  agree- 
able to  their  wishes  without  using  influence.  The  earl  of 
Traquair,  lord  treasurer,  then  supposed  one  of  the  ablest 
men,  and  most  eloquent  speaker  in  Scotland,  was  therefore 
intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  trial,  and  to  procure 
a  jury  fitted  for  the  purpose ;  and  as  juries  in  Scotland  were 
then  nominated  by  the  judge,  and  no  peremptory  challenges 
allowed,  the  power  of  the  crown  officers,  in  cases  of  se- 
dition or  treason,  was  irresistible.  The  assessors  to  the 
justice-general,  who  were  to  decide  upon  the  law,  were  all 
inimical  to  the  accused — I^earmont,  one  of  the  lords  of  ses- 
Spotswood,  the  president,  second  son  of  the  archbi- 


sion 


shop :  and  Hay,  lord  register.  Balmerino  was  indicted  for 
leasing-making,  and  charged  as  the  author  and  abettor  of  a 
seditious  libel,  because  the  copy  of  the  petition,  found  in  his 


CHARLES  I.  415 

possession,  was  interlined  with  his  own  hand,  and  he  had  not     BOOK 
discovered  the  author.     He  pleaded  for  himself.    The  act  re-        ^'- 
specting  discovering  an  author,  he  remarked,  had  never  been 
put  in  execution,  and  never  could  be  meant  to  apply  to  any 
thing  that  was  not  notoriously  seditious ;  and  that  till  the 
court  had  so  decided,  he  never  considered  the  petition  in  Defence, 
any  other  light  than  as  a  dutiful  representation,  intended  to 
exculpate  himself  and  his  friends  from  charges  of  disaffec- 
tion, and  to  enable  the  king  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of 
their  conduct.     When  he  first  saw  it,  although  he  approved 
of  it  in  general,  he  objected  to  some  expressions;  besides, 
he  communicated  the  business  to  lord  Rothes,  who  inform- 
ed the  king,  and  upon  hearing  of  his  majesty's  displeasure, 
all  idea  of  presenting  it  had  been  laid  aside.     The  earl  of 
Rothes   corroborated   this  statement :  but,  notwithstanding 

7  '  o 

the  court  decided  that  it  should  go  to  an  assize.  Of  the 
fifteen  jurymen  nine  were  challenged,  either  as  private  ene- 
mies, or  as  having  prejudged  the  question ;  but  one  only  was 
sustained — the  earl  of  Dumfries,  who  had  said,  if  the  pan- 
nel  were  as  innocent  as  St.  Paul,  he  would  find  him  guilty ; 
and  even  he  would  have  been  admitted  by  the  judges,  had 
not  the  lord  advocate  objected.  This  deficiency  was  sup- 
plied, however,  by  the  admission  of  Traquair,  and  the  jury 
seemed  complete  for  the  purpose  of  the  court.  But  one 
'.  had  found  admission  whose  resistance  had  not  been  calculated 
an — Gordon  of  Buckie,  now  near  the  verge  of  life,  who,  Gordon  of 
ibout  half  a  century  before,  had  assisted  in  the  murder  of 
;  .he  earl  of  Moray,  and  was  chosen  on  this  occasion  as  a  sure 
[hian.  As  soon  as  the  jury  were  enclosed  he  rose,  and,  apo- 
i  ogizing  for  his  presumption  in  first  addressing  them,  en- 
treated them  to  consider  well  what  they  did ;  it  was  a  mat- 
er of  blood  ;  and  that  would  lie  heavy  on  them  as  long  as 
hey  lived.  He  had  in  his  youth  been  drawn  in  to  shed  in- 
Iflocent  blood,  for  which  he  had  obtained  the  king's  pardon  ; 
|j>ut  many  a  sorrowful  hour,  both  night  and  day,  had  it  cost 
Ijiim  ere  he  obtained  forgiveness  from  God;  and  while  he 
I  pake,  the  tears  ran  down  his  furrowed  cheeks.  An  appeal 
Ib  unexpected  was  powerful;  but  Traquair,  their  foreman, 
•kid,  they  had  not  before  them  any  question  about  the  se- 
I  erity  of  the  law,  nor  about  the  nature  of  the  paper,  which 


416  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  court  had  determined  to  be  leasing-making ;  they  had 
only  to  decide  whether  the  prisoner  had  discovered  the  au- 


1634.      thor  of  the  paper  or  not.     The  earl  of  Lauderdale  contend-! 
ed  that  they  were  called  upon  to  judge  both  of  the   law  and! 
the  fact;  for  severe  laws  never  executed,  must  be  held  tol 
be  annulled;   and  though,  after  the  court  had  judged  thol 
paper  to  be  seditious,  it  would  be  capital  to  conceal  the  au-l 
thor,  yet,  before  this  judgment,  it  was  not  so  clear  that  the! 
prisoner   was  bound    to   make   any  discovery.       The   two! 
parties  argued  the  subject  for  several   hours,   and  at  last] 
Balmerino   divided  equally  ;  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  only  obtained  by 
found  gull-  tne  casting  vote  of  Traquair.     Sentence  of  death  was  imme- 
diately pronounced  upon  Balmerino ;   but  the  execution  was 
delayed  during  the  pleasure  of  the  king.     The  interest  ex- 
cited by  this  trial  was  inconceivable ;  and  the  public  rage, 
when  the  result  was  known,  threatened  to  produce  a  very 
Irritation    dangerous  explosion.     Many  meetings  were  secretly  held, 
of  thepeo-  antj  jt  was  resoiveci  either  to  force  the  prison  and  set  him  at 
liberty,  or,  if  that  failed,  to  revenge  his  death  on  the  judges 
and  jury  by  whom  he  had  been  convicted;  some  undertak- 
ing to  put  them  to  death,  and  others  to  set  fire  to  their 
houses.     Traquair,  when  he  learned  his  danger,  instantly  re- 
paired to  court,  and  represented  to  the  king,  that  although 
Balmerino's  life  had  been  justly  forfeited,  his  execution,  in 
the  present  state  of  Scotland,  would  not  be  advisable.     Af- 
He  is  par-   ter  a  tedious  imprisonment,  a  pardon  was  most  ungraciously 
doned.         bestowed. 

Conse-  LXIII.  The  consequences  of  this  trial  were  fatal  to  the  i 

quences  of  terests  of  Charles  in  Scotland.     It  united  in  one  comm 

this  prose- 
cution fatal  cause,  the  nobles  and  the  people ;  long  had  the  latter  groan- 

kim^fintc-  ec^  unt^er  tne  oppression  of  perverted  justice,  and  sighed  af- 
rest.  ter  deliverance,  but  the  complaints  of  the  public  are  ever 

unavailing,  unless  some  point  of  concentration  be  afforded. 
This  was  now  supplied  by  government.  The  nobility  dis- 
covered that  there  was  no  protection  for  themselves  from  the 
resentment  of  the  prelates  and  the  vengeance  or  caprice  of 
the  crown,  except  by  gathering  around  them  the  neglected 
strength  of  plebeian  power.  They  saw  that  patriotism  was 
a  crime,  and  innocence  no  defence.  Whenever  they  dared 
to  remonstrate  against  usurpations,  however  flagrant,  either 


CHARLES  I.  417 

in  church  or  state,  whether  by  opposition  in  parliament,  or  BOOK 
petition  without  it,  they  were  liable  to  be  indicted  ;  a  word      ^_ 
uttered  by  themselves  in  a  moment  of  irritation,   or  heard      1635. 
and  not  repeated,  might  occasion  their  ruin.     Balmerino's 
pardon,  which  had  been  extorted  by  the  decided  expression 
I  of  public  indignation,  while  it  was  considered  by  himself  as 
\  no  favour  from  his  prince,  pointed  out  to  his.  party   the  only 
method  of  counteracting  the  designs  of  a  despotic  monarch 
I  and  an  ambitious  hierarchy.     A  confederacy  among  the  no- 
i  bles  had  frequently  before  delivered  the  kingdom  from  the 
dominion  of  favourites :  a  general  union  between  nobles  and 
jeople,  had  accomplished  all  the  grand  ends  of  the  reforma- 
ion,  and  humbled  a  more  powerful,  though  not  a  more  in- 
tolerant or  aspiring  priesthood,   than   that  with  which  the 
country  was  at  present  borne  down.     To  some  similar  asso- 
ciation their  minds  were  naturally  turned,  and  an  opportuni- 
ty only  was  wanted  to  demonstrate  the  strength  and  univer- 
sality of  the  latent  confederacy.     But,  as  if  all  the  existing 
causes  of  discontent  had  not  been  sufficient  to  inflame  the 
resentment  of  men  already  ripe  for  revolt,  not  a  public  of- 
5ce  of  any  importance  fell  vacant,  or  was  thought  attainable, 
a  ut  it  was  grasped  at  by  the  prelates.     On  the  death  ofThepre- 
Kinnoul,   the  chancellor,    Spotswood,  who  was  desirous  to  a*  aiuho*' 
unite  the  first  office  in  the  state  with  the  primacy  in  the  offices  of 
church,   solicited,  and  obtained  the  succession.     The  lord 
treasurer's  office,  held  by  Traquair,  was  next  applied  for  by 
Maxwell,  bishop  of  Ross,  and  nine  out  of  fourteen  prelates, 
were  members  of  the  privy  council. 

LXIV.  Still  unsatisfied,  the  bishops  proposed  that  the  order 
of  mitred  abbots  should  be  revived,  and  substituted  in  par- 
liament in  place  of  the  lords  of  erections,  whose  impropriat- 
ed  livings  and  tithes  should  goto  their  endowment ;  they  ob- 
tained a  warrant  from  the  king  to  erect  in  each  diocess,  in- 
quisitorial courts,  subordinate  to  the  high  commission,  where 
equal  injustice  and  oppression  were  practised  ;*  and  consi- 

•  The  following  instances  will  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  these  courts. 
Alexander  Gordon  of  Earlston,  having  made  some  opposition  to  the  settle- 
ment of  a  minister  who  was  not  acceptable  to  the  parish,  was  summoned  by 
the  bishop  of  Galloway  before  his  diocesan  commission,  and  because  he  failed 
to  appear,  was  fined  in  absence,  and  banished  to  Montrose ;  and  although  he 

VOL.   III.  3  H 


418 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

1635. 


of  the 
bishop" 


nons 


dering  their  powei  fixed  on  too  firm  a  basis  to  be  shaken. 
and  because  the  nation  I'emained  in  a  state  of  gloomy  tran- 
quillity,  and  had  hitherto  submitted  with  sullen  discontent. 
tne  younger»  ant*  more  ambitious  prelates,  aping  the  high 
ecclesiastical  pretensions  of  Laud,  treated  every  dissentient 
of  whatever  rank,  with  haughty  superciliousness,  and  the  mi- 
nisters in  particular,  with  an  overbearing  domination,  which 
they  who  had  been  accustomed  to  presbyterian  parity  among 
the  brethren,  could  ill  brook.  Headstrong  and  inexperienc- 
ed, they  sought,  by  their  furious  zeal  in  promoting  the  pro- 
jects of  Laud,  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  archbishop, 
who  acted  not  only  as  primate  of  England,  but  as  high 
priest  of  the  hierarchy  of  Scotland,  and  strongly  urged  the  in- 
troduction of  the  liturgy.  The  older  bishops  were  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  dispositions  of  the  people  ;  were  less  as- 
suming in  their  manners  ;  and  the  difficulties  they  had  already 
encountered  in  introducing  prelacy,  had  rendered  them  de- 
sirous of  resting  with  the  advantages  they  had  gained,  and 
unwilling  to  risk  the  danger  that  might  arise,  from  disturb- 
ing the  peace  of  the  church  by  further  innovation.*  The 
solicitations  of  the  fiery  overcame  the  objections  of  the  more 
prudent  ecclesiastics  ;  and  Traquair,  who  perceived  himself 
standing  but  upon  ticklish  ground,  sacrificing  his  principles, 
and  even  his  better  judgment,  to  retain  his  situation,  joined 
the  prevailing  party  ;  and  confirmed  both  the  king  and  his 
ghostly  adviser  in  their  opinion,  that  nothing  would  be  more 
easy  than  to  introduce  the  service  book  into  Scotland,  and 
that  the  fears  of  tumult  or  disturbance  were  groundless. 
Preparatory  to  the  liturgy,  the  book  of  canons  was  first  is- 


was  intrusted  with  the  charge  of  lord  Kenmuir's  estates,  and  lord  Lorn,  one 
of  the  tutors,  on  this  account  requested  the  sentence  of  banishment  might  be 
remitted,  the  bishop  refused  to  relax  the  execution  of  his  sentence. 

The  same  bishop,  in  the  same  oppressive  court,  deprived  Robert  Glendin- 
ning,  minister  of  Kirkcudbright,  an  old  man,  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  be- 
cause  he  would  not  conform,  nor  admit  an  innovator  into  his  pulpit  ;  and  be- 
cause the  magistrates  of  Kirkcudbright  would  still  hear  their  minister  preach, 
and  his  own  son,  one  of  the  bailies,  refused  to  incarcerate  his  aged  father,  the 
bishop  ordered  him  and  the  rest  of  the  magistrates,  to  be  imprisoned  in 
Wigton. 

*  Guthrie's  Memoirs,  p.  18.  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  the  dukes  of  Hamilton, 
p.  30. 


CHARLES  I.  419 

sued.  It  was  compiled  by  the  bishops  of  Ross,  Galloway,  BOOK 
Dunblane,  and  Aberdeen,  who  transmitted  it  to  London,  to  VI- 
be  revised  by  Laud  and  two  other  English  bishops ;  after 
which  the  king,  by  his  prerogative  royal,  issued  an  order, 
under  the  great  seal,  enjoining  their  strict  observance  upon 
all  the  dignitaries  and  presbyters  of  the  church  of  Scotland. 
They  were  printed  at  Aberdeen,  and  circulated  by  the  Scot- 
tish bishops  in  their  diocesses,  for  the  information  and  di- 
rection of  their  clergy.  There  was  an  air  of  distrust,  as  to 
their  success,  thrown  over  the  whole,  by  the  place  where  the 
canons  were  printed — not  in  the  capital — but  their  mode  of 
imposition  was  universally  disapproved  of. 

LXV.  Ever  since  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  no  form 
of  cnurch  polity  had  been  introduced  without  the  sanction 
of  a  general  assembly ;  and  James  himself,  when  overturn- 
ing the  power,  preserved  the  form  of  these  courts ;  but  in 
this  case,  not  even  the  shadow  of  deference  was  paid  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  that  body — the  canons  were  confirmed  by  the 
royal  supremacy  alone.  The  intent  of  the  canons  was  equal- 
ly repugnant  to  the  principles  of  the  presbyterians,  as  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  promulgated.  They  affirmed 
the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  to  be  the  Repugnant 
same  as  that  exercised  by  the  godly  kings  of  Judah,  or  the 
Christian  emperors,  and  to  impugn  any  part  of  which,  was  to 
incur  the  censure  of  excommunication,  a  penalty  that  involv- 
ed in  its  civil  consequences,  confiscation  and  outlawry.  The 
authority,  and  the  scriptural  propriety  of  the  office  of  the 
bishops,  was  secured  from  challenge  by  a  similar  penalty ; 
which  was  extended,  by  a  most  absurd  enactment,  to  all 
who  should  affirm  that  the  worship  contained  in  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  and  Administration  of  the  Sacraments, 
was  repugnant  to  the  scriptures,  or  superstitious,  or  corrupt, 
although  they  had  not  any  opportunity  of  examining  them 
previous  to  publication.  With  the  same  attention  to  pro- 
priety, every  presbyter  was  enjoined  to  adhere  to  the  forms 
laid  down  in  a  book  which  he  had  never  seen ;  and  under 
pain  of  deprivation,  was  forbidden,  on  any  occasion  in  pub- 
lic, to  pour  out  the  fulness  of  his  heart  to  God  in  extem- 
porary prayer.  .The  behaviour  to  be  observed  by  the  con- 
gregation at  the  sacrament,  and  during  divine  worship,  was 


420 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1635. 


Its  enact- 
ment. 


BOOK   minutely  described.     No  private  meetings  were  to  be  held 
^      by  the  ministers  for  expounding  the  scriptures,  and  no  ec- 
clesiastical business  was  to  be  discussed,  except  in  bishops' 
courts. 

LXVI.  The  whole  structure  of  the  presbyterian  church  be- 
ing thus  swept  away,  the  furniture,  which  she  had  desecrated 
nearly  a  century  before,  were  reinstated  in  all  their  sacred 
honours  in  the  renovated  cathedrals;  the  font  resumed  its 
position  near  the  door,  and  the  altar  in  the  chancel,  or  east 
end  of  the  church,  that  the  worshipper  might  direct  at 
least  his  face,  if  not  his  thoughts,  to  Palestine.  During 
divine  service,  the  holy  table  was  to  be  covered  with  a 
rich  carpet,  but  when  the  eucharist  was  dispensed,  with  a 
white  linen  cloth.  The  communicants  were  to  kneel  around 
it,  and  if  any  of  the  consecrated  elements  should  remain, 
they  were  to  be  distributed  among  the  poorer  sort  who  had 
communicated,  and  to  prevent  their  profanation,  be  con- 
sumed on  the  spot.  To  assimilate  ordination  to  a  real  sa- 
crament, it  was  ordered  that  it  should  be  bestowed  only  at 
four  seasons,  the  equinoxial  and  solstitial,  in  the  first  weeks 
of  March,  June,  September,  and  December,  and  a  very 
near  approach  was  made  to  auricular  confession,  in  or- 
dering, that  no  presbyter  should  discover  any  thing  told 
him  by  a  penitent,  to  any  person  whatever,  excepting  the 
crime  was  such  as,  by  the  law  of  the  land,  his  life  would 
be  endangered  if  he  concealed  it.  The  powers  granted 
the  bishops  were  exorbitant,  and  provision  was  made  for  its 
consolidation,  by  securing  to  the  clerical  order,  an  indefinite 
increase  of  wealth.  No  person  was  allowed  to  teach  pri- 
vately, or  in  public  schools,  without  the  license  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  the  district,  or  bishop  of  the  diocess,  nor  was  a 
book  permitted  to  be  printed,  till  perused  and  approved  by 
visitors  appointed  for  that  purpose,  under  a  penalty  left  to 
their  discretion.  To  secure  funds,  it  was  enacted,  that  no 
presbyter  should  endanger  his  property  by  being  surety  for 
any  person  in  civil  bonds,  under  the  penalty  of  suspension  ; 
and  it  was  required,  that  both  they  and  the  bishops  should, 
if  they  died  without  issue,  leave  it  in  whole,  or  in  part,  to 
pious  uses,  or  if  they  had  children,  that  some  legacies  ought 
to  mark  their  affection  for  the  church.  The  apology  for 


CHARLES  1.  421 

publishing  these  canons,  was  perhaps  as  impolitic  as  the  pub-    BOOK 
lication  itself.     The  design,  it  was  said,  was  to  give  a  com- 
pendium of  the  regulations  which   had  received  the  appro-      J635. 
bation  of  the  general  assembly,  but  which  scattered  through 
a  number  of  volumes,  were  not  always  within  the  reach  of 
the  people,  or  even  of  the  ministers ;  an  assertion  so  palpa- 
bly at  variance  with  the  fact,  and  so  easily  detected,  that  it 
was  received  as  an  insult,  and  created  new  suspicions,  while 
it  rivetted  the  old. 

LXVII.  When  the  subject  of  a  liturgy  was  agitated  during 
the  king's  visit  to  Scotland,  the  adoption  of  the  English 
prayer  book  was  proposed,  to  make  the  conformity  between 
he  two  nations  complete ;  but  as  this  would  have  been  ac- 
cnowledging  the  ecclesiastical  superiority  of  the  English  arch- 
>ishop,  the  Scottish  prelates,  so  accommodating  in  every 
other  point,  would  not  concede  this ;  and  the  king  or  Laud 
consented  to  their  desire  of  having  a  national  prayer  book.  The  P^ye 
The  task  of  composing  it  was  committed  to  the  bishops  of 
Dunblane  and  Ross.  But  the  difference  consisted  almost 
entirely  in  the  title,  in  substance  it  was  a  transcript  from 
the  English,  with  some  variations,  additions,  and  omissions. 
The  quotations  from  the  Apocrypha  were  not  so  frequent, 
and  instead  of  the  bishops'  translation  from  the  Vulgate  in- 
serted in  the  English,  the  version  now  in  use  was  substituted  ; 
)ut  in  other  respects  where  it  differed,  it  was  by  approach- 
ng  nearer  to  the  mass-book.  It  was  afterwards  sent  to  Lon- 
don for  revisal,  and  some  corrections  were  made  by  Laud, 
which  brought  it  still  closer  to  the  popish  ritual.  The  wa- 
ter which  was  poured  into  the  font,  was  to  be  consecrated 
prayer,  and  when  the  sacred  element  was  ad  ministered  in 
saptism,  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  to  be  employed  in  its  ap- 
ilication.  The  ring  was  enjoined  in  marriage.  In  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  communion,  or  as  it  was  styled,  the  ser- 
vice of  the  altar,  the  minister  who  officiated  was  to  stand  at 
the  north  side,  while  the  words  of  the  institution  were  read, 
aut  afterwards  to  remove,  and  stand  with  his  back  to  the  con- 
gregation, while  consecrating  the  elements.  The  form  of  disliked 
srayer  prescribed  to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  "  Hear  us,  ** 
merciful  Father,  and  out  of  thy  omnipotent  goodness,  grant 
lhat  thou  mayest  so  bless  and  sanctify,  by  thy  word  and  Ho- 


422  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  ly  Spirit,  these  thy  gifts,  these  thy  creatures  of  bread  and 
VL  wine,  that  they  may  be  to  us  the  body  and  blood  of  thy  be- 
1636.  loved  Son,"  seemed  to  imply  a  sanction  of  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation,  while  the  marginal  directions,  that  "  The  | 
minister  officiating,  shall  take  or  lift  up  the  plate  in  his  hands,  ] 
while  these  words,  *  this  is  my  body,'  are  repeating,  and  the 
cup  when  he  pronounces  '  this  is  the  blood  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament,' "  were  construed  as  not  very  indistinct  imitations  of 
the  elevation  of  the  host.  The  deacon  was  to  offer  a  me- 
morial, or  prayer  of  oblation,  when  presenting  the  collections 
of  the  people  to  be  placed  upon  the  altar ;  and  thanks  were 
afterward  to  be  given  for  departed  saints — a  number  of  whom, 
who  had  blessed  Scotland  by  their  presence,  were  added  to 
the  kalendar. 

LXVIII.  A  liturgy  so  strongly  opposed  in  many  material 
points,  to  the  opinions  and  predilections  of  a  nation  who 
abhorred  a  liturgy  in  any  shape,  would  have  required  great 
caution  in  bringing  it  forward ;  but  the  resolution  of  intro- 

Introduced.  ducing  it  was  adopted  in  the  worst  possible  manner.  With 
out  any  previous  preparation,  without  consulting  eithe 
presbytery,  synod,  or  general  assembly,  in  opposition  t 
the  advice  of  the  oldest  prelates,  the  objections  of  Spots- 
wood, — whose  general  compliance  ought  to  have  give 
weight  to  this  solitary  example  of  remonstrance, — and  th 
representations  of  the  privy  council,  it  was  determined  t 
impose  it  by  royal  mandate  and  episcopal  authority ;  am 
both  the  privy  council  and  Spotswood  were  forced  to  concur 
LXIX.  A  proclamation  was  brought  from  court  by  the  bi 
shop  of  Ross,  in  December  1636,  announcing  the  comple- 
tion of  the  work,  and  commanding  all  faithful  subjects,  clergy 
and  others,  to  receive  it  with  reverence,  and  conform  them 
selves  to  the  public  form  of  service  therein  contained ;  alsOj 
ordering  all  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  presbyters  ant 
churchmen,  to  enforce  its  observance,  and  bring  the  con 

Byprocla-  traveners  to  condign  punishment,  who   were    likewise  en- 

mation.  jome(3  to  have  special  care,  that  every  parish,  betwixt  and 
Easter,  have  two  copies  of  the  liturgy.  This  proclamation 
was  published  by  an  act  of  council,  obtained  at  a  meeting 
composed  of  the  chancellor  and  eight  other  bishops,  while 
only  two  lay  members  were  present,  who  refused  to  vote, 


CHARLES  I.  423 

as  they  had  never  seen  the  book  ;  and  although  it  gave  rise    BOOK 
to  no  open  tumult,    occasioned    much   private   altercation.       ^' 
The  two  parties  became  daily  more  embittered  against  each  ~"  . 
other.      The  presbyterians,   who  had   long  and   anxiously  Views  of 

watched  the  inroads  which  had  been  made  upon  the  church,  the.Presby- 

'  terians, 

till  they  had  seen  the  subversion  of  all  that  they  esteemed  beau- 
tiful in  order,  and  pure  in  the  form  of  her  worship,  branded,  as 
idolatrous  and  superstitious,  things,  perhaps,  innocent  in  them- 
selves, and  were  apt  to  impute  motives,  and  judge  of  the  ac- 
tions of  their  adversaries,  with  an  indiscriminate  acrimony, 
"he  prelatic  zealots  exasperated  their  opponents,  by  press-  andepisco. 
ng  upon  them  an  implicit  obedience  to  the  new  forms  of  Palians- 
aptism,  the  communion,  marriage,  burial,  prayers,  psalms, 
rdination,  and  preaching,  under  the  pains  of  confiscation 
nd  outlawry  ;*  while  the  moderate,  who  could  not  go  the 
ength  of  either  party,  lamented  their  violence,  and  progno- 
ticated  a  schism ;  but  they  were  few  in  number,  and  those 
mong  them  whose  voice   might  have  had   any   influence, 
Cinnoul,  Marischal,  Mar,  Errol,  and  Melville,  were  unfor- 
unately  cut  off  at  a  critical  period,  by  an  epidemic  disease. 

LXX.  When  the  book  itself  was  obtained,  it  was  criticised  1637. 
rith  the  keenest  jealousy,  was  made  the  constant  theme  of 
iscourse  in  the  pulpit  and  in  private,  and  a  report  soon  be- 
ame  generally  current,  that  it  was  a  translation  of  the  mass, 
'hich  the  prelates  had  conspired  with  Laud  to  introduce, 
lepresentations,  exaggerated  as  usual  in  cases  of  indistinct 
larm  were  widely  spread,  and  publications  suited  to  rouse 
nd  keep  alive  a  spirit  of  watchfulness,  and  a  preparation 
or  resistance  were  everywhere  diffused.  In  the  meantime, 
lie  conduct  of  government  appeared  wavering.  The  day  Delayed. 
,-hich  had  been  intimated  for  the  commencement  of  the  new 
node  of  worship,  was  allowed  to  elapse,  either  through  the 
neans  of  Hope,  the  king's  advocate,  who  was  friendly  to 
lie  presbyterians,  or  the  anxiety  of  the  bishop  of  Edinburgh, 
ivho  wished  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  the  liturgy,  and 
id  all  in  his  power  to  obstruct  its  publication,  or  by  the 
ears  or  mismanagement  on  the  part  of  those  to  whom  it  was 
ntrusted.  But  whatever  were  the  reasons  for  delay,  the  time 

•  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  2. 


424 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    was  sedulously  improved  by  the  presbyterians.     They  im- 

_J pressed  upon  the  public,  an  idea  of  the  weakness  of  govern- 

1C37.  ment  being  the  cause  why  the  king's  mandate  had  been  sus- 
pended, and  they  urged  on  the  nobles,  the  necessity  of  stre- 
nuous and  united  exertion.  Some  of  their  leaders  came  to 
Edinburgh  as  early  as  April,  to  concert  measures,  and  ar- 
range those  plans  of  procedure,  which  enabled  them  to 
seize  and  wield  with  so  much  efficacy,  all  the  power  of  the 
state. 

LXXI.  The  crisis  was  hastened  by  private  interest  and  re- 
venge.    Spotswood,  anxious  to  obtain  the  whole  tithes  of  the 
abbey  of  St.  Andrews,  was  preparing  to  fix  the  salaries  of 
the  clergy  in  the  diocess,  and  to  render  them  each  payable 
in  his  respective  parish,  independent  of  the  general  amount 
of  the  tithes  in  the  diocess,  which  had  hitherto  been  available 
to  make  up  the  deficiencies  of  particular  districts,  where  the 
tithes  had  been  rented  at  a  low  rate,  or  alienated.     By  this 
allocation  of  stipends,  the  primate  would  have  greatly  aug- 
mented his  own  income,  and  lessened    that  of  those  who 
held  the  teinds  in  tack,  and  of  the  titular  who  had  let  them. 
The  duke  of  Lennox,  who  was  deeply  interested  in   this 
scheme, — for  he  had  received  money  from  the  tacksmen  in 
advance, — perceiving  that  the  credit  of  his  house  would  be 
affected  by  it,  applied  to  Traquair,  the  treasurer ;  and  he, 
still  irritated  at  the  prelates  for  their  attempt  to  drive  him 
from  office,  procured  a  warrant  to  suppress  the  commission 
of  tithes.     The  chancellor,  enraged  at  his  loss,  and  the  fail 
ure  of  his  scheme,  determined  to  go  to  court  to  represent  his 
wrongs  to  the  king;  and  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  wh 
had  experienced  a  similar  disappointment,  sympathizing  in 
his  chagrin,  resolved  to  accompany  him.     But,  in  order  to 
render  their  visit  agreeable  to  his  majesty  and  Laud,  thej 
wished  to  carry  along  with  them  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
introduction  of  the  liturgy;    and  thus  they  who  had  hitherto 
been  most  averse,  became  suddenly  most  anxious  to  make 
Enforced,    the  attempt.     An  order  for  its  immediate  observance  was 
therefore  procured  from  court,  and  the  bishops  and  ministers 
of  Edinburgh,  were  commanded  to  intimate  on  the  Sabbath 
preceding,  [July  16th,]  the  king's  will,  that  the  Scottish  li- 
turgy  be  read  in  all  the  churches  next  Lord's  day.     The 


CHARLES  I.  425 

mandate  was  published  by  all  the  ministers,  except  Mr.  An-    BOOK 
drew  Ramsay,  who  steadily  refused.  VI- 


LXXII.  During  the  week,  the  town  was  kept  in  a  state  of     1637. 
constant  agitation  by  discussions  and  pamphlets,  condemning  Agitates 
the  proceedings  of  the  prelates,  to  whom  the  proclamation  l 
was  imputed  ;  while  they  haughtily  refused,  from  an  ill  placed 
confidence  in  their  own  strength,  to  use  any  means  for  sooth- 
ing the  discontent,  or  silencing  the  murmurs  of  the  people 
by  explanations  or  arguments  ;  nor  did  they  make  any  pre- 
parations to  prevent  a  disturbance,  or  quell  it  if  any  should 
occur,  by  applying  in  time  for  the  aid  of  the  civil  power 
On  Sabbath,  the  23d  of  July  1637,  the  memorable  experi- 
ment was  made.     The  bishop  of  Argyle  officiated   in  the 
Greyfriar's  church  in  the  forenoon,  where  the  service  met  Read  in 
with  no  other  interruption  than  groans  and  lamentations,  friar's 


I  The  dean  of  Edinburgh  was  not  so  fortunate  ;  he  performed 
i  in  St  Giles',  the  cathedral,  where  the  lord  chancellor,  lords 
i  of  the  privy  council,  lords  of  session,  magistrates  of  the  city, 
and  an  immense  crowd  attracted  by  curiosity,  assembled. 
The  congregation,  however,  remained  quiet,  till  he  appeared 
in  his  surplice,  and  began  to  read  the  service  ;  when  an  old 
woman,  JANET  GEDDES,  moved  by  a  sudden  burst  of  pious  Tumult  in 
indignation,  exclaimed,  "  Villain,  dost  thou  say  mass  at  my 
lug  !"  and  made  the  stool  on  which  she  had  been  sitting,  fly 
at  his  head.  This  signal  had  been  no  sooner  given,  than 
those  who  sat  next  her  followed  the  example,  and  in  an  in- 
stant, the  confusion  was  universal  ;  the  service  was  inter- 
rupted, and  the  women,  whose  zeal  was  the  most  conspicuous 
on  this  occasion,  rushed  to  the  desk  in  wild  and  furious  dis- 
order. The  dean  left  his  surplice  and  fled,  glad  to  escape 
in  safety  out  of  their  hands.  Lindsay,  bishop  of  Edinburgh, 
then  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  endeavoured  in  vain  to  allay 
the  ferment.  He  entreated  the  people  to  reflect  upon  the 
sacredness  of  the  place,  and  the  duty  they  owed  to  God  and 
their  king,  but  his  address  only  inflamed  them  the  more. 
He  was  answered  by  a  volley  of  sticks,  stones,  and  whatever 
missile  came  readiest;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  in- 
terference of  the  magistrates,  the  bishop  might  have  fallen  a 
martyr  to  the  new  ritual.  With  difficulty  the  most  outra- 
geous of  the  rioters  were  excluded,  and  the  doors  barred, 
VOL.  in.  3  r 


426  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  after  which  the  dean  ventured  to  resume,  but  the  violence  of 
VI-  the  multitude  without,  who  assaulted  the  doors,  and  broke 
1637.  the  windows,  crying  out,  "  A  pope  !  a  pope  !  Antichrist ! 
Pull  him  down  !  Stone  him  !"  drowned  the  voice  of  the 
reader,  and  the  service  terminated  in  dumb  show.  It  was 
dangerous  for  any  of  the  bishops  to  appear  in  the  streets, 
especially  the  metropolitan,  who  was  a  particular  object  of 
popular  hatred.  When  he  left  the  church,  he  took  re- 
fuge in  a  staircase,  whence  he  had  been  rudely  dragged, 
but  for  the  interference  of  the  servants  of  the  earl  of 
Wemyss,  who  rescued  him  from  his  perilous  situation.  The 
privy  council  met  with  the  magistrates  between  sermons,  and 
such  precautionary  steps  were  taken,  as  ensured  the  peace- 
able performance  of  divine  service  in  the  afternoon,  in  the 
several  churches.  But  the  tumult  had  not  subsided  in  the 
streets,  and  an  armed  guard  was  necessary  to  protect  the  bi- 
shop, who  was  conveyed  from  St.  Giles'  by  the  earl  of  Rox- 
burgh in  his  coach.  This  tumult,  unparalleled  since  the  Re- 
formation,* was  the  natural  consequence  of  a  sudden  and  un- 
expected impulse  being  given  to  long  suppressed  feelings, 
like  a  spark  communicated  to  a  well  prepared  train,  and  was 
entirely  confined  to  the  lowest  of  the  people.  No  citizen  of 
respectability  was  implicated  in  it,  nor  did  it  appear  from  the 
strictest  examination  of  those  who  were  apprehended,  that  it 
had  been  the  result  of  any  preconcerted  plan,  f 

LXXIII.  Next  day,  the  city  continued  in  a  state  of  commo- 
tion, to  put  down  which,  the  privy  council  issued  a  procla- 
mation, prohibiting  all  tumultuous  meetings  in  Edinburgh 
under  pain  of  death  ;  and  enjoined  the  magistrates  of  the  city 
to  use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  apprehend  the  rioters  of 
the  former  day,  when  some  six  or  seven  servant  girls  were 
put  in  prison.  The  town,  in  consequence  of  the  disturbance, 

Publicwor-  was  laid  under  an  episcopal  interdict ;  no  preachings  nor 
prayers  were  allowed  upon  week  days,  because  the  ministers 
would  not  comply  with  the  liturgy ;  and  as  the  form  of  reli- 
gious service  appeared  to  these  high  ecclesiastics  of  more 
consequence  than  the  service  itself,  all  public  worship  was 
suspended  during  the  Sabbath.  The  chancellor,  who  had 

*  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  5          f  Burnet's  Mem.  p.  32.     Maitland's  Hist.  p.  71. 


CHARLES  I.  427 

proceeded  in  this  affair  without  consulting  the  council,  ira-    BOOK 
mediately  sent  off  by  express  to  court,  an  exaggerated  repre-       VI' 
sentation  of  the  disturbance,  in  which  he  laid  the  chief  blame      1637. 
of  his  own  precipitancy  on  their  shoulders,  especially  on  the  ^.°£3 
treasurer,  for  his  absence  from  church.     The  council,  who  court, 
were   displeased  at  his  separate  despatches,  extenuated  the 
affair,  represented  it  as  an  inconsiderable  tumult,  and  accused 
the  bishops  themselves  as  being,  by  their  rashness,  the  au- 
thors of  all  the  unpleasant  circumstances  that  had  occurred. 
The  magistrates  of  Edinburgh — all  of  whom  except  the 
lord  provost,  were  suspected  of  favouring  the  popular  cause 
— as  they  were  responsible  for  the  peace  of  the  city,  wrote  a 
humble  letter  to  Laud,  to  deprecate  his  displeasure,  and  en- 
treat his  good  offices  with  the  king;  expressing  their  deepest 
regret  for  the  unhappy  disturbance,  reminding  him  of  their 
former  loyalty  and  good  behaviour,  and  promising  unreserv- 
ed obedience  in  future. 

LXXIV.  In  the  midst  of  the  ferment,  the  prelates  proceed- 
ed to  other  unadvised  attempts.  They  proceeded  to  enforce 
the  former  mandate  that  every  parish  should  be  provided 
with  two  copies  of  the  liturgy.  The  charge  was  executed 
by  the  chancellor,  against  Alexander  Henderson,  the  minis-  Charge  a- 
ter  of  Leuchars,  James  Bruce,  minister  at  King's  Barns,  and 
George  Hamilton,  minister  at  Newburn  ;  and  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  against  all  the  presbyters  of  his  diocess. 
Henderson,  who  was  possessed  of  very  superior  talents,  ac- 
companied by  that  firmness  which  enables  a  man  to  rise  in 
times  of  public  commotion,  had  originally  been  attached  to 
the  episcopalians,  but  was  proselyted  to  the  cause  of  presby- 
tery by  a  sermon  of  Bruce's,  and  ever  remained  steadily  at- 
tached to  his  adopted  profession,  but  with  a  moderation  un- 
happily not  then  common  to  either  party.  When  the  time 
allowed  in  the  charge  had  nearly  expired,  he  presented  a 
supplication  to  the  privy  council,  in  name  of  himself  and 
brethren,  praying  for  a  suspension  of  the  charge : — "  Be- 
cause, the  new  service  was  neither  warranted  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  general  assembly,  nor  by  any  act  of  parliament ; 
while  the  liberty  of  the  church,  and  her  form  and  worship, 
had  been  settled  and  secured  by  several  statutes  : — because 
as  an  independent  church,  her  own  ministers  were  the  fittest 


428  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    judges  of  what  was  necessary  to  be  corrected;  and  in  thiel 
'        book,  some  of  the  main  ceremonies  had  originated  disputa- 
1637.      tion,  division,  and  trouble,  from  their  near  approach  to  those 
of  Rome ;  besides,  the  people,  who  had  ever  since  the  Re- 
formation been  taught  otherwise,  would  not  consent  to  re- 
ceive the  new  service,  even  although  their  pastors  were  will- 

ing."* 

Petitions  Lxxv.  Petitions  of  similar  import,  but  entering  more  into 
lUurey. *  "argument  and  detail,  were  presented  from  members  of  the 
three  presbyteries,  Irvine,  Glasgow,  and  Ayr,  recommended 
by  letters  from  several  of  the  noblemen,  and  supported  by 
the  personal  application  of  a  number  of  gentlemen,  to  the 
individual  members  of  the  council.  The  bishops  expectet 
that  the  supplications  would  have  been  rejected,  and  some 
exemplary  punishment  inflicted  on  these  concerned  in  the 
late  tumults ;  but  were  exceedingly  disappointed,  when  th< 
council  appeared  favourable  to  the  petitioners,  and  declaret 
that  the  charge  required  only  the  purchase,  but  not  the  use 
of  the  service  book.  In  order  to  reimburse  the  king's  print- 
er, the  books  were  ordered  to  be  bought,  but,  to  satisfy  the 
The  use  of  supplicants,  the  order  for  reading  the  liturgy  was  suspended, 
tm  new  instructjons  Were  received  from  the  king.  In  their 
representation  to  the  king,  the  council  informed  him  of  the 
increasing  aversion  to  the  liturgy,  which  now  began  to  be 
shown  by  numbers  who  had  not  hitherto  exhibited  any  symp- 
toms of  dislike ;  that  it  had  spread  so  widely,  and  the  mur- 
muring was  so  general  among  all  ranks,  beyond  whatever 
had  been  heard  in  the  kingdom,  that  they  durst  no  longer 
conceal  it ;  and  conceiving  it  a  matter  of  such  high  conse- 
quence, the  end  whereof  it  was  impossible  to  foresee,  they 
neither  durst  investigate  the  causes  farther,  nor  attempt  to 
prescribe  any  remedy,  till  his  majesty,  after  being  fully  in- 
formed upon  the  subject,  should  be  pleased  to  direct  them  ; 
and  they  suggested,  that  some  of  the  privy  council  should 
be  called  to  London,  to  give  this  information. 

LXXVI.  The  vacation  of  the  courts,  and  the  approaching 
harvest,  emptied  the  metropolis,  and  for  some  weeks  a  calm 
succeeded.  The  parties  were  not,  however,  idle;  the  oppo- 

*  Rushworth,  vol.  ii.  p.  395. 


CHARLES  I.  429 

nents  of  the  liturgy,  acquiring  more  boldness  from  their  ra-    BOOK 
pidly  accumulating  numbers,  became  active  in  proportion  as 


the  hopes  of  success  increased.  The  bishops,  roused  at  1637. 
length  by  the  note  of  preparation,  which  resounded  on  every 
side,  made  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  counteract  the  ex- 
ertions of  the  popular  declaimers.  They  now  began  to  de- 
fend and  explain  the  service  book  in  their  discourses — but  it 
was  too  late ;  their  discourses  were  interrupted  by  clamour, 
and  their  persons  exposed  to  insult.  Mr.  William  Annan, 
minister  of  Ayr,  by  desire  of  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow, 
preached  at  the  opening  of  the  synod.  His  sermon  was  a 
plausible  and  ingenious  apology  for  the  use  of  forms  of 
prayer  and  a  liturgy.  The  majority  of  the  synod  were  dis-  Disorders, 
pleased  and  silent ;  but  at  the  dismission,  Mr.  Annan  was 
followed  by  hootings  and  opprobrious  language,  and  the 
presence  of  the  magistrates  scarcely  preserved  him  from 
the  manual  vengeance  of  a  number  of  women,*  who  were 
foremost  in  the  fray.  During  the  day,  whenever  he  ap- 
peared, he  was  followed  by  threats ;  but  at  night,  about 
nine  o'clock,  having  ventured  out  in  the  dark,  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  archbishop,  he  was  again  beset  by  the  ladies, 
now  amounting  to  some  hundreds,  who  attacked  him  with 
their  fists,  switches,  and  peats,  but  no  stones ;  tore  his  coat, 
ruff,  and  hat  to  pieces ;  and  after  thrashing  him  soundly, 
dispersed.  No  inquiry  was  made  into  this  riot,  as  several 
I  of  the  heroines  were  understood  to  belong  to  the  first  fami- 
lies in  the  town. 

LXXVII.  The  king,  who  had  had  an  opportunity  presented 
him  of  retracing,   without  dishonour,   his  arbitrary  and  ill 
judged  steps,  allowed  it  to  pass,  and  lost  it  for  ever.     He 
returned  a  severe  and  reproachful  answer  to  the  representa- 
tions of  the  council,  accused  them  of  cowardice,  and  blamed 
their  lenity,  and  the  inactivity  of  the  magistrates  of  Edin- 
burgh, as  the  cause  of  the  whole  ;  disapproved  of  the  inter-  The  king 
mission  of  the  new  service,  and  ordered  it  to  be  immediately  service  to* 
resumed,  while  he  rejected  their  reasonable  request  to  send  be  resum- 
for  some  of  their  number,  that  he  might  obtain  an  accurate  ec 
account  of  the  state  of  the  country.     The  city  of  Edinburgh 

Baillie  snys,  ahout  forty  of  our  honestest  women,  vol.  i.  p.  3. 


430  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  had,  in  a  former  letter  from  his  majesty,  been  ordered  to 
choose  sir  John  Hay,  clerk  register,  as  their  provost,  with 
1637.  which  mandate  they  had  complied.  He  anew  set  aside  the 
chartered  rights  of  all  the  other  burghs,  and  commanded 
them  to  choose  no  person  as  their  magistrates,  except  such 
as  would  conform  to  the  new  service. 

LXXVIII.  Before  the  receipt  of  this  injudicious  letter,  six- 
ty-eight new  supplications  had  been  laid  before  the  council ; 
and  twenty  noblemen,  a  large  proportion  of  gentry,  and 
eighty  commissioners  from  towns  and  parishes,  were  wait- 
ing its  arrival.  When  the  contents  of  the  letter  was  publish- 
ed, the  supplicants  were  far  from  being  inclined  to  obey  its 
injunctions.  They  replied,  by  embodying  their  numerous 
petitions  into  one  joint  supplication,  praying  that  they  might 
have  liberty  to  state  their  complaints,  and  assign  their  rea- 
sons before  the  obnoxious  service  was  finally  enforced. 
General  This  was  presented  to  the  council  by  the  earls  of  Sutherland 
tiorfaT"  an^  Wemyss,  in  name  of  the  nobility,  barons,  ministers, 
gainst  it.  and  representatives  of  burghs  ;  and  the  duke  of  Lennox,  who 
had  brought  down  the  letter,  and  had  been  a  witness  to  the 
extraordinary  scene,  expressed  his  astonishment,  and  assured 
the  petitioners  that  his  majesty  must  have  been  misinformed. 
The  general  supplication,  with  a  selection  of  the  petitions 
from  those  places  which  had  been  represented  as  most  fa- 
vourable to  the  innovations,  were  transmitted  by  Lennox, 
who  was  requested  to  explain  to  his  majesty  the  difficulties 
with  which  the  privy  council  were  surrounded ;  to  assure  him 
of  their  zeal  in  his  service,  and  request  precise  instructions 
for  their  government. 

LXXIX.  The  magistrates  of  Edinburgh,  influenced  by 
their  new  provost,  were  forced  to  give  their  reluctant  sup- 
port to  the  measures  of  the  prelates,  and  seem  at  least  to  pro- 
Town  mote  the  introduction  of  the  liturgy.  By  his  command,  a 
council.  meeting  of  the  town  council  was  held  in  the  tolbooth,  [22d 
September,]  which  the  people  being  apprized  of,  and  dread- 
ing that  they  were  concerting  means  for  re-introducing  the 
obnoxious  service,  assembled  in  great  numbers,  and  rushing 
into  the  chamber  where  the  council  was  assembled,  obtain- 
ed a  promise  that  they  would  join  the  supplicants,  and  tha 
the  city  would  be  among  the  last  places  troubled  with  th 


CHARLES  I.  431 

book.     In  compliance  with  their  promise,  a  petition  was  pre-    BOOK 

sented  to  the  privy  council,  by  the  bailies  and  council  of  the ^ 

city,  expressing  their  willingness,  according  to  their  powers,      !?37- 
to  contribute  their  best  endeavours  to  promote  his  majesty's  tion. 
service,  and  the  peace  of  the  city  ;  but  stating,  that  the  great 
resort  of  nobility,  gentry,  and  divers  ministers,  had  so  alie- 
nated the  minds  of  the  people  from  the  "  said  buik,"  that 
they  could  not  promise  for  the  conduct  of  the  citizens  in  fu- 
ture ;  and  therefore  besought  the  council  to  urge  nothing  up- 
on them,  more  than  was  practised  by  the  rest  of  the  country, 
nor  make  them  "  anie  oprobrie  to  the  rest  of  the  kingdom." 
Yet  such  was  their  terror  for  Laud,  that  they  deemed  it  ne- 
cessary to  explain  to  him  the  reasons  for  their  conduct,  and  Supplicate 
beg  his  intercession  with  his  majesty,  that  they  might  be  still 
kept  in  his  favour.     The  reasons  they  assigned  were  such 
as  should  have  made  the  archbishop  pause;  but  a  supersti- 
tious zeal  for  trifles,  when  it  assumes  the  garb  of  doing  God 
service,  is  not  only  a  furious,  but  an  obstinate  and  uncon- 
vincible  passion.     They  told  him  of  such  an  innumerable  Without 
confluence  of  people  from  every  corner  of  the  kingdom,  both  e  ect* 
clergy  and  laity  of  all  degrees,  and  such  a  complete  altera- 
tion in  the  public  mind,  that  they  were  unable  to  stand  out 
alone  against  the  sense  of  the  whole  country.     The  appalling 
facts  made  no  impression  upon  his  grace,  and  the  king  was 
never  known  to  recede  from  his  purpose  till  his  concessions 
had  lost  all  merit. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  VII. 

Charles  I. — State  of  the  Country. — Considerations  on  the  dangers  of  the  Li- 
turgy— Supplicants  assemble  at  Edinburgh — Ordered  to  leave  the  City. — 
Refuse — Draw  np  accusations  against  the  Bishops. — Riotous  conduct  of 
the  populace  quelled  by  the  Nobles. — Committees  of  TABLES  first  proposed. 
— Council  and  Court  of  Session  removed  from  Edinburgh — Montrose  joins 
the  Supplicants — The  Tables  sanctioned  by  the  Council — The  King's  an- 
swer to  the  Supplication. — Conference  at  Holyroodhouse — Supplicants  en- 
large their  demands— Refuse  to  petition  separately. — Present  their  accusa- 
tion against  the  Bishops  to  the  Privy  Council — The  King's  proclamation 
hi  answer  to  it. — Conference  between  the  Tables  and  the  Council. — Tra- 
quair  publishes  the  proclamation  at  Stirling. — The  Supplicants  enter  a  protest. 
— NATIONAI  COVENANT  renewed — Aberdeen  alone  refuses  to  accept  it. — 
Council  recommends  lenient  measures. — Traquair  and  Roxburgh's  insidious 
advice  to  the  King — Supplicants  rise  in  their  Demands — Presbyteries  re- 
sume their  privileges — Marquis  Hamilton  appointed  High  Commissioner  to 
the  Church — His  Instructions. — His  cold  reception — Covenanters  block- 
ade Edinburgh  Castle. — Refuse  to  surrender  the  Covenant — Their  ultima- 
tum.— Hamilton's  conciliating  overtures — Declaration  of  the  Covenanters. 
— Hamilton  clandestinely  publishes  the  King's  Declaration — The  Tables 
protest  against  it. — Duplicity  of  the  King — Hamilton's  recommendation  of 
temperate  measures  rejected  by  him — He  approves  of  Aberdeen  refusing 
the  Covenant. — The  Covenanters  determine  on  calling  an  Assembly — Con- 
cessions recommended  by  Traquair,  &c.  to  the  King,  who  agrees  to  them. — 
They  prove  unsatisfactory. — The  original  Covenant  proposed. — Objected  to 
by  the  Covenanters. — Hamilton  proclaims  it — The  Tables  protest  against 
it. — Aberdeen  receives  it  with  restrictions. — Magistrates  of  Glasgow  refuse 
to  sign  it — The  Assembly  meets  at  Glasgow. — Hamilton's  violent  proceed- 
ings— He  dissolves  it  and  discharges  it  by  proclamation. — They  continue  to 
sit. — Lord  Erskine  and  Earl  of  Argyle  join  them — They  annul  the  proceed- 
ings of  all  assemblies  from  1605 — Restore  Presbyteries  to  their  original 
rights. — Pass  sentence  on  the  Bishops. — Their  humble  address  to  the  King. 
—Reflections — 1637-1638. 

BOOK  i.  THE  proceedings  in  Scotland  had  hitherto  been  in  a  great 
VH-  measure  insulated ;  and  although  originating  from  similar 
1637.  causes,  and  in  some  instances  simultaneous,  had  not  been  the 

Charles  I.  result  of  concert  or  combination.     We  are  now  approaching 


CHARLES  I.  433: 

a  period  when  they  were  to  assume  a  different  appearance;  BOOK 
when  the  popular  movements  were  to  be  connected  with  wis-  ^**L 
dom  and  unity  of  plan,  and  energy  and  success  of  execution.  <>  1637: 
But  this  was  accompanied  with  a  revolution  of  habits  and  the  coun- 
manners  no  less  remarkable,  which  gave  a  stamp  to  the  na- try' 
tional  character  not  yet  entirely  eradicated.  The  fathers  of 
the  reformation  were  peculiarly  anxious  for  the  instruction 
of  youth,  and  strongly  recommended  the  planting  of  schools, 
and  the  erection  of  universities  of  learning;  and  but  for  the 
interruptions  their  patriotic  schemes  met  with,  first  from  the 
rapacity  of  the  nobles,  who  seized  upon  the  funds  which 
should  have  endowed  their  seminaries,  and  next  from  the  un- 
ceasing controversy  about  church  government,  and  their  in- 
cessant struggles  to  preserve  their  liberty,  both  civil  and  ec- 
clesiastical, instruction  would  have  been  placed  within  the 
reach  of  the  lowest  individual  in  the  kingdom.  As  it  was, 
the  assiduity  of  the  ministers,  when  suffered  quietly  to  exer- 
cise their  functions  in  their  respective  parishes,  diffused  a  de- 
gree of  knowledge  upon  scriptural  subjects,  which  gave  a  ge- 
neral tone  to  the  public  mind,  and  by  affording  it  exercise 
in  abstruse  speculations,  sharpened  its  faculties  where  it  did 
not  subdue  its  passions.  Men  then,  as  now,  were  capable 
of  perceiving  and  debating  upon  the  doctrines  of  the  scrip- 
tures, whose  knowledge  had  little  effect  upon  their  moral 
conduct.  The  natural  consequence  was,  that  when,  from 
fashion  or  political  motives,  the  people  assumed  an  outward 
garb  of  sanctity,  many  must  have  been  hypocrites;  but  it  is 
equally  plain,  many,  or  a  majority,  must  have  been  sincere ; 
and  all  having  been  taught  by  the  same  masters,  would  na- 
turally speak  the  same  language,  however  different  the  re- 
gulating principles  of  the  soul,  or  tenor  of  the  practice.  The 
ministers,  who  knew  this,  and  who,  conscientiously  attached 
to  the  presbyterian  church  government  because  they  thought 
it  most  consonant  to  the  scriptures,  were  aware  that  the 
most  fiery  zeal  for  a  form  might  exist  among  men  who  had 
no  regard  for  religion,  but  that  it  would  soon  wax  cold  in  ad- 
versity ;  they  were  therefore  anxious  to  fix  principles  in  their 
minds,  to  inculcate  the  necessity  of  private,  personal  devo-  Conduct  of 
tion,  and  the  rigid  adherence  to  individual  rectitude  of  con-  the  minii- 
duct,  as  the  only  unequivocal  marks  of  real  attachment  to 
VOL.  m.  3  K 


434"  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  public  cause  of  their  church  and  country.     They  were' 
VII>      incessant  in  their  labours  in  private,  their  exhortations  were 
1637.     frequent,  and  their  watchfulness  over  their  flocks  unremit- 
ting;  and  their  public  ministrations,  even  when  apolitical 
subject  was  the  theme  of  their  discourse,  were  remarkable 
for  pointed  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  to  the  heart,  and 
warm  exhortations  to  amendment  of  life. 

ii.  When  the  supplicants  were  in  Edinburgh, — after  the 
king's  letter  had  damped  their  first  hopes  of  relief  from  the 
court, — some  of  the  leading  ministers,  Henderson,  Dickson, 
and  several  others,  in  consulting  together  upon  the  state  of 
Considers-  the  times,  drew  up,  "  Considerations  for  such  as  lay  to  heart 
tiiTdanger  tne  danger  of  this  intruded  liturgy,"  &c.  and  as  they  exhibit 
of  theiitur-  the  manner  in  which  the  ministers  dealt  with  the  people, 
and  the  means  they  recommended  so  effectually  to  recast 
the  nation  in  the  puritanical  mould,  they  deserve  notice.  Af- 
ter a  confession  of  the  sins  of  the  people  and  the  ministers, 
they  prescribe  the  remedies — union  and  love  among  each 
other ;  "  that  every  person  should  deal  impartially  with  their 
own  personal  faults,  and  repent  and  cleave  unto  our  offend- 
ed Lord  Jesus,  with  purpose  of  employing  him  in  all  things 
in  another  sort  than  we  have  done  ;  that  every  man  deal  with 
his  charge,  friends  and  acquaintance,  to  take  religion  more 
to  heart,  and  to  bring  forth  fruits  of  it,  and  not  to  be  ashamed 
to  profess  Christ  Jesus  and  his  holiness,  and  to  bear  his  re- 
proach ;  that  the  knowledge  of  scripture,  and  the  grounds 
of  religion  and  controversies,  be  better  studied,  and  more 
mixed  with  prayer  for  sound  light,  and  accompanied  with 
more  careful  practice  of  uncontroverted  truth ;  that  every 
man  acquaint  himself  with  secret  prayer  to  God ;  masters  of 
families  to  constantly  worship  God  with  their  families,  and 
let  the  reading  of  the  scriptures  be  joined  with  morning  and 
evening  prayer."  The  people  received  with  avidity  the  ex- 
hortations of  men  who  they  saw  exemplifying  in  their  own 
practice  the  precepts  they  inculcated  ;  and  persecution, — as 
it  always  does  in  cases  of  religion, — gave  a  factitious  import- 
ance to  the  minute  observance  of  duties,  accompanied  by 
danger,  or  exposed  to  ridicule  or  contempt.  To  prevent 
their  exhortations  from  being  obliterated,  frequent  fasts  were 
enjoined,  congregational  or  universal,  when  similar  topics 


CHAULES  I.  435 

were  insisted  upon.  A  strict  observance  of  the  regulations  BOOK 
of  the  church  was  made  a  condition  of  admittance  to  the  VH' 
communion,  and  a  dread  of  being  debarred  from  that  ordi-  1637. 
nance,  operated  as  a  strong  and  powerful  guard  on  the  ge- 
neral conduct  of  a  people,  to  whom  a  refusal  would  have 
been  the  deepest  affliction,  and  the  sorest  affront.  To  all 
this  was  added,  the  mighty  effect  produced  by  the  solemn 
renewal  of  the  covenant,  with  the  contents  of  which  every 
individual  was  carefully  instructed,  and  to  which  attachment 
was  daily  inculcated ;  and  the  combined  effects  of  private 
and  public  exhortations, — enforced  besides,  by  the  piety  of 
some,  and  the  policy  of  all  the  nobility, — tended  to  form  a 
nation  fitted  to  endure  persecution,  rather  than  relinquish 
their  rights ;  and  finally  to  secure  for  their  posterity  privi- 
leges dearly  purchased— now  too  lightly  esteemed — and,  at 
the  same  time,  imprinted  a  gravity  and  sobriety  of  manners, 
which,  however  compatible  with  the  highest  mental  and  so- 
cial enjoyment,  assorted  ill  with  the  frivolous  gayety  and  li- 
centious mirth  that  flooded  the  realm  when  Charles  II.  was 
restored  ;  and  which,  but  for  the  stern  bulwarks  they  oppos- 
ed to  the  baneful  tide,  would  have  laughed  these  kingdoms 
at  once  out  of  their  morality  and  their  freedom. 

in.  No  answer  was  expected  from  court  to  the  supplica-  The  sup- 
tions  before  November ;  but  information  being  given  to  the  j^n**  p. 
city  of  Edinburgh,  that  it  would  be  returned  by  the  18th  dinburgh. 
October,  the  leaders  of  the  supplicants  who  were  in  town, 
afraid  that  some  design  was  in  agitation  to  divide  the  capital 
from  the  country,  despatched  expresses  everywhere,  recom- 
mending a  full  attendance  of  the  supplicants  in  the  city,  on 
the  day  the  privy  council  was  to  meet  to  receive  it.  As  the 
harvest  was  now  finished,  the  call  was  universally  attended 
to ;  and,  besides  a  large  increase  of  noblemen,  there  was 
hardly  a  shire  south  of  the  Grampians  that  did  not  furnish 
numerous  deputations  of  gentlemen,  ministers,  and  burghers, 
to  swell  the  crowds  who  were  attracted  to  the  capital.  In 
the  course  of  one  or  two  days,  the  clerk  of  the  council  re- 
ceived two  hundred  dollars — no  inconsiderable  sum  in  these 
times — the  fees  of  two  hundred  supplications,  presented  from 
as  many  parishes.  A  favourable  answer  might  even  at  this 


436  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    crisis  have  restored  tranquillity  to  Scotland,  and  secured  the 

**'      bishops  from  overthrow. 
,637, iv.  The  assembled  multitudes  divided  to  discuss  their  com- 
plaints— the  nobles  in  one  body,  the  ministers  in  another,  and 
the  commons  in  a  third  ;  but  the  only  question  agitated  in 
these  meetings  was  the  liturgy.     Had  it  been  withdrawn  in 
a  frank,  conciliatory   manner,   or  any  assurance  given   on 
which  they  could  rely,  the  people  would  have  been  satisfied; 
but  while  the  supplicants  were  employed  in  putting  into  shape 
their  objections  to  the  service  book,  they  were  interrupted  by 
Ordered  to  the  intelligence,  that  they  were  all  ordered  to  quit  the  city 
city.  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  the  privy  council  and  courts 

of  law  to  remove  to  Linlithgow.     To  these  two  proclama- 
tions was  added  a  third,  prohibiting  the  circulation  of  a 
pamphlet,  entitled  : — "  A  Dispute  against  English  Popish  ce- 
remonies* obtruded  on  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;"  ordering 
all  who  possessed  copies  to  bring  them  to  be  publicly  burn- 
ed, and  denouncing  punishment  against  any  who,  after  the 
intimation,  should  have  it  in  their  possession. 
They  re-         Vt  The  intention  of  the  first  proclamation  was  evidently  to 
fuse.  disperse  and  disunite  the  supplicants;  it  produced  a  more 

indissoluble  bond  of  union.     When  the  emotions  of  astonish- 
ment and  rage  to  which  it  gave  rise  had  subsided,  they  de- 
termined to  refuse  obedience,  or  to  separate  till  they  had  es- 
tablished a  rallying  point ;  which  they  accomplished  by  fram- 
Th«r  rea-  i°g  an  act  of  accusation  against  the  bishops,  as  the  authors 
b°ns-  of  the  liturgy  and  canons,  and  of  all  the  troubles  that  had 

arisen,  or  were  likely  to  arise,  from  their  introduction.  Jn 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  they  affirmed,  the  seeds  of  su- 
perstition, idolatry,  and  false  religion,  were  sown,  and  false 
doctrine,  contrary  to  the  true  religion,  established.  In  the 
canons  they  complained  that  the  constitution  of  the  church 
was  subverted,  abolished  superstition  and  error  revived,  and 
a  door  opened  for  whatever  further  innovations  of  religion 
the  prelates  pleased  to  make ;  all  which  were  imposed  con- 
trary to  order  of  law,  and  their'  acceptance  urged  by  open 
proclamations  and  charges  of  horning,  the  supplicants  being 
thereby  reduced  either  to  suffer  the  ruin  of  their  estates  i 

*  Written  by  the  celebrated  George  Gillespie,  then  minister  of  Wemyss. 


CHARLES  I  437 

they  refused,  or  fall  under  the  wrath  of  God,  for  breach  of    BOOK 
covenant,  if  they  obeyed  these  illegal  injunctions.     Where-  __XHl_ 
fore,  being  persuaded  that  these  proceedings  were  contrary      1637- 
to  the  pious  intentions  of  their  gracious  sovereign,  and  cal- 
culated to  create  dissension  between  the  king  and  his  subjects, 
and  between  subject  and  subject,  they  complained  against  the 
prelates,  "  humbly  craving,  that  this  matter  may  be  put  to 
trial,  and  they  taken  order  with,  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
realm,  and  that  they  be   not  suffered   to  sit  any   more  as 
judges,  until  this  cause  be  tried,  and  decided  according  to 
justice."     The  accusation  was  instantly  subscribed  by  twen- 
ty-four noblemen,  several  hundreds  of  gentlemen,  ministers, 
and  representatives  of  boroughs,  and  within  a  short  time  by 
all  ranks,   and  every  corporation  in  the    kingdom,    except 
Aberdeen,  where  the  power  of  Huntly  predominated. 

vi.  The  second  proclamation,  instead  of  terrifying,  exas-  Edinburgh 
perated  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh.     They  assembled  tumul-  exasperau 
tuously  in   great  numbers,  surrounded  the  place  where  the 
town  council  was  assembled,  and  demanded  that  the  provost 
and  council  would  appoint  commissioners,  to  join  with  the 
rest  of  the  country  in  their  supplication  and  complaint ;  that 
they  would  restore  their  ministers,  Rollok  and  Ramsay,  with 
Henderson,  a  reader,  who  had  been  suspended  from  their 
offices  ;*  and  plainly  intimated,  that  unless   their  demands 
were  complied  with,  the  magistrates  would  not  escape  with 
their  lives.     The  magistrates,  who  possessed  no  power  for 
resistance,  if  they  had  wished  it,  granted  all  that  was  desired,  tra&>g*~con- 
nominated  commissioners  to  concur  with  the  other  suppli-  cur  with 
cants,   and   subscribed   an  act,  recalling  the  suspended  mi- 
nisters. 

vii.  Elated  with  their  success,  the  crowd  was  dispersing  in 
triumph,  when  their  attention  was  unfortunately  attracted  by 
Sedserf,  bishop  of  Galloway,  who  was  currently  reported  to 
wear  a  crucifix  of  gold  beneath  his  coat.  He  was  immediate- 

*  On  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  on  the  forenoon  of  which  the  liturgy  was 
introduced  in  St.  Giles',  Henderson  read  the  usual  prayers — about  eight  o'clock 
— and  when  he  had  ended,  he,  by  way  of  farewell,  said  to  the  auditors,  Adieu, 
good  people,  for  I  think  this  is  the  last  time  of  my  reading  prayers  in  this 
place.  This  was  the  offence  for  which  he  was  turned  off.  Maitland's  Hist. 
P.  71. 


438  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    ly  saluted  with  loud  execrations,  and  the  women  proceeded 
_  from  abuse,  to  tug  and  draw  the  poor  bishop ;  and  were  about 


1637.  to  strip  him,  to  detect,  if  they  could,  the  concealed  image, 
when  some  gentlemen  interfering,  partly  by  entreaty,  and 
partly  by  expostulation,  effected  his  rescue,  or  rather  enabled 
him  to  extricate  himself,  and  flee  for  refuge  to  the  privy 
Mob.  council.  The  mob,  when  they  perceived  that  during  the 
parley  the  bishop  had  escaped,  grew  more  furious,  and  fairly 
blockaded  the  council  chamber,  demanding  with  violent  me- 
naces, that  he  and  the  provost  should  be  delivered  up  to 
them.  The  earls  of  Traquair  and  Wigton,  as  soon  as  they 
were  informed  of  the  situation  of  the  bishop,  hastened  with 
their  followers,  to  attempt  to  relieve  him,  but  having  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  into  the  privy  council-room,  they  found 
themselves  in  as  perilous  a  situation  as  him  they  came  to 
deliver ;  for  the  fury  of  the  mob  increasing  with  their  num- 
bers, threatened  to  break  into  the  place,  and  inflict  a  cruel 
vengeance. 

viii.  In  this  unpleasant  predicament,  they  made  applica- 
tion to  the  magistrates,  but  the  magistrates,  themselves  sur- 
rounded, could  afford  them  no  assistance.  Traquair  and  Wig- 
ton,  perceiving  that  nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  the  ma- 
gistrates, resolved  to  venture  out,  and  try  whether  by  authori- 
ty or  persuasion,  they  could  not  prevail  on  the  multitude  to 
disperse ;  but  rinding  the  multitude  quieter  in  consequence 
of  the  concessions  of  the  magistrates,  they,  after  consulting 
with  them,  agreed  to  return  to  the  privy  council,  while  the 
bailies  should  endeavour  to  pacify  the  people ;  but  no  soon- 
er had  they  set  out  upon  their  return,  than  they  were  assail- 
ed with  vehement  cries  of  **  God  defend  all  those  who  will 
defend  God's  cause,"  and  il  God  confound  the  service-book, 
and  all  maintainers  thereof."  In  vain  the  two  noblemen  em- 
ployed entreaties  and  promises ;  the  treasurer,  who  was  most 
disliked,  with  difficulty,  and  through  the  exertions  of  his 
friends, — but  with  the  loss  of  his  hat,  cloak,  and  white  staff- 
reached  the  council  room,  whither  he  was  soon  followed  by 
the  magistrates,  who  told  the  privy  council,  that  though  they 
had  done  every  thing  to  appease  the  mob,  and  secure  their 
lordships,  it  was  not  in  thei»  power  to  reduce  the  people  to 
obedience.  In  this  dangerous  conjuncture,  they  determined 


CHARLES  I.  439 

to  send  for  some  of  the  nobles  who  were  engaged  in  prepar-    BOOK 
ing  their  petition  against  the  service-book,  and  request  them       VI1- 
to  try  their  influence  with  the  people.     The  lords  instantly      1637. 
despatched  some  of  their  number  to  endeavour  to  conduct  Quelled  l>y 
the  imprisoned  council  safely  home.     At  their  appearance, 
they  were  received  with  distinguished  marks  of  respect ;  nor 
was  there  the  smallest  insult  offered  to  any  of  the  hated  in- 
dividuals, while  under  their  protection.     At  their  entreaty, 
the  populace  retired  to  their  homes,  and  the  counsellors  re- 
turned in  safety  to  Holyroodhouse. 

ix.  In  this  last  tumult,  the  leaders  were  not,  as  formerly, 
obscure  individuals,  but  the  principal  citizens  and  their  con- 
nexions ;  persons  who,  in  all  probability,  would  have  re- 
mained quiet,  or  at  least  not  encouraged  such  outrageous 
proceedings,  had  not  their  passions  been  inflamed  more  by 
the  prospect  of  their  own  personal  loss,  in  the  removal  of 
the  seat  of  government  and  the  courts  of  justice  from  the 
city,  than  even  by  their  abhorrence  of  the  liturgy ;  but  who 
seized  this  as  a  more  popular  pretext  for  wreaking  vengeance 
on  those  whom  they  considered  as  the  authors  of  the  mis- 
chief, than  if  they  had  made  the  wrongs  done  the  city  the 
watchword  of  the  rioters.  The  privy  council  met  in  the  af-  Proceed- 

,  .  ,  ,  .  ,  .,  .  .  ,,  ings  of  the 

ternoon,  and  issued  a  proclamation,  prohibiting  all  assem-  privy  couu. 
bling  of  people  in  the  streets,  and  all  private  meetings, cil- 
tending  to  faction  and  tumult ;  but  on  the  representation  of 
lord  London,  they  allowed  the  nobles  to  remain  in  Edin- 
burgh four  and  twenty  hours  longer,  and  agreed,  that  all 
who  could  show  that  their  private  business  required  a  farther 
dispensation,  should  receive  a  similar  indulgence.  They 
refused,  however,  to  receive  their  complaints,  as  they  were 
interdicted  by  the  king  from  intermeddling  with  any  eccle- 
siastical affairs.  With  this  answer,  the  lords  declared  them- 
selves satisfied.  In  the  evening,  a  numerous  meeting  of 
the  leaders  of  the  supplicants  was  held  at  lord  Balmerino's 
lodgings,  where  the  first  regular  steps  were  taken  for  con- 
solidating the  opposition  to  the  court,  and  the  project  of 
the  famous  committees,  the  TABLES,  was  first  started.*  Committo 
Lords  Balmerino  and  Loudon  made  eloquent  and  impres-  ° 

"  Baillie's  Letters,  p.  22. 


440  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

ROOK   sive  speeches,  recommending  perseverance  in  pursuing  their 
^  **•      object — "  the  banishing  of  the  liturgy,"  and  a  resolution 
1637.      was  Passed>    "  tnat  they  would  make  the  best  use  that  wis- 
dom and  diligence  could,  of  every  occasion  as  it  presented 
itself,   to  get  free  of  the  detested  books."     But  the  most 
important  resolution  was,  that  they  should  meet  again,  in 
as  great  numbers  as   possible,  on  the    15th  November,  to 
wait  on  the  answer  to  their  prior  supplications,  to  present 
their  new  ones,  and  to  do  farther,  as  circumstances  might 
require. 

Courts  re-       x.  According  to  proclamation,  the  privy  council  and  court 

from  Edin-  °f  session,  assembled  at  Linlithgow,  and  wei^e  constituted  in 

burgh.        the  palace.     It  was,  however,   so  much  out  of  repair,  and 

the  accommodations  in  the  town  were  so  miserable,  that  the 

writers  and  advocates  could  not  attend,  and  the  court  was 

adjourned  to  Stirling. 

xi.  The  proposed  meeting  of  the  15th  had  been  announ- 
ced from  all  the    pulpits,  and  the  concourse  to  Edinburgh 
was  much  greater   than   on  the  former   occasion.     It  was 
strengthened   by  a  new  accession  of  nobles,  among  whom, 
the  earl  of  Montrose,  who  had  just  returned  from  his  tra- 
vels,  and  was  esteemed  one  of  the  most  promising  young 
noblemen  in  Scotland,  shone  conspicuous.     He  was  reckon- 
SupplU       e(l  a  great  acquisition  to  the  party,  and  his  ardour  in  the 
cants  meet  cause  had  been   stimulated   by  the  cold  and  forbidding  re- 

. — joined  by  .        .       ,      ,  .,  _,. 

Montrose.  ception  he  had  experienced  at  court.  1  he  privy  council  al- 
so came  to  the  capital,  to  watch  their  motions.  Surprised 
at  the  great  increase  of  the  petitioners,  the  earls  of  Traquair 
and  Lauderdale,  with  lord  Lorn,  wrote  to  the  nobles  of  the 
popular  party,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  them,  that  their 
meeting  so  often,,  and  in  such  numbers,  was  illegal  and  dis- 
orderly. The  noblemen,  who  were  prepared  to  take  advan- 
tage of  every  circumstance,  replied,  that  the  supplicants  had 
at  this  time  so  arranged  themselves  into  separate  companies, 
and  kept  so  close  within  doors,  that  their  numbers  could  oc- 
casion little  disorder ;  that  the  contents  of  their  last  petition 
were  so  important,  that  they  were  anxious  his  majesty  should 
Confer  be  acquainted  with  them ;  and  being  of  public  moment,  as 
w,th  the  an  tne  lieges  had  an  immediate  concern,  both  in  concurring 

council. 

in  the  supplications,  and  in  waiting  for  the  answers,  their  at- 


CHARLES  I.  441 

tendance  was  justifiable  by  reason,  law,  equity,  and  custom ;    BOOK 
and,  that  the  late  king,  whose  wisdom  was  undisputed,  had      VII> 
laid  it  down  as  an  incontrovertible  axiom,  when  the  religion     1637. 
or  king  was  in  danger,  the  whole  commonwealth  should 
move  at  once,  not  as  divided  members,   but  as  an  undivided 
body.     But,  at  the  same  time,  as  the  redress  of  their  griev- 
ances was  not  likely  to  be  speedily  accomplished,  they  ex- 
pressed their  willingness,   in  order  to  avoid  giving  offence 
by  the  greatness  of  their  numbers,  to  choose  a  few  of  the 
nobles,  two  gentlemen  of  each  shire,  one  minister  for  each 
presbytery,  and  one  burgess  for  each  burgh,  as  commission- 
ers for  the  whole,  to  prosecute  the  accusation  of  the  prelates, 
and  await  the  result  of  their  applications  to  the  king. 

xii.  The  council,  afraid  of  any  new  commotion  arising 
from  the  numbers  assembled  in  the  city,  agreed  to  the  pro- 
posal, and  unwittingly  established  a  new  power  within  the 
state,  famous  in  the  sequel  of  this  reign,  under  the  name  of 

the  Tables ;  a  designation  which  originated  in  the  division  of Who  sanc* 
.     .  .  IT  .    tion  the 

the  commissioners  into  separate  bodies  or  tables.  As  it  Tables, 
would  have  been  inconvenient  for  the  whole  tables  to  attend 
constantly,  a  standing  committee  of  four  from  each  table  was 
appointed  to  reside  in  Edinburgh,  with  instructions  to  con- 
voke the  whole  upon  any  extraordinary  occurrence.  A 
council,  and  regular  subordination  thus  established,  the  pro- 
miscuous multitude  retired  peaceably  to  their  homes  to  await 
the  orders  of  their  leaders,  among  whom  the  earls  of  Rothes 
and  Montrose,  and  lords  Lindsay  and  Loudon,  were  the 
most  active,  and  the  most  confided  in. 

xni.  At  length  Roxburgh,  lord  privy  seal,  who  had  gone 
to  court  after  the  disturbances  in  October,  returned  with 
despatches  for  the  council.  Their  purport  was  announced 
in  an  ambiguous  proclamation.  "  His  majesty,  in  a  just  re-  Charles' 
sentment  of  that  foul  indignity,  [the  tumult  of  the  18th  Oc- 
tober,]  had  been  moved  to  delay  the  signification  of  his  gra-  cations 
cious  intentions,  in  giving  to  his  subjects  such  satisfactory 
answers  to  their  petitions,  [presented  in  September,]  as  in 
equity  might  be  expected  from  so  just  and  religious  a  prince." 
"  Yet  his  majesty  was  pleased,  out  of  his  goodness  to  declare, 
that  as  he  abhorreth  all  superstitions  of  popery,  so  he  will 
be  most  careful,  that  nothing  be  done  within  his  dominions, 

VOL.   III.  3  L 


442 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

VII. 

1637. 


Mutual 
suspicion. 


Conference 
at  Holy- 
rood  house. 


Demands 
of  the  sup- 
plicants. 


but  that  which  shall  tend  to  the  advancement  of  true  religion, 
as  it  is  at  present  professed  within  his  most  ancient  kingdom 
of  Scotland ;  and  that  nothing  is,  or  was  intended  to  be  done 
therein,  against  the  laudable  laws  of  his  majesty's  native 
kingdom." 

xiv.  Whenever  parties  in  any  negotiation  become  suspi- 
cious of  each  other,  the  most  explicit  declarations  are  apt  to 
be  cavilled  at ;  but  the  phrases,  "  true  religion,"  and,  "  as 
presently  professed,"  had  been  tortured  so  often  into  terms 
to  suit  the  views  of  the  dominant  side,  that  they  had  now  be- 
come justly  dreaded,  as  at  best  equivocal.  His  majesty,  it  was 
said,  considered  the  pomp  and  ceremonies  of  the  church  of 
England  as  the  true  religion,  and  the  prelacy  brought  into 
Scotland,  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  people,  as  that  pre- 
sently professed ;  and  as  to  his  intending  nothing  against 
the  laudable  laws  of  his  native  kingdom,  his  whole  reign  in 
Scotland  had  been  one  series  of  aggressions  against  the  laws. 
But  while  these  were  the  private  opinions  of  many  of  the 
presbyterians,  their  leaders,  in  public,  dexterously  chose  to 
treat  the  declaration  as  conveying  his  majesty's  real  senti- 
ments, and  as  expressive  of  his  aversion  to  the  late  innova- 
tions, the  whole  blame  of  which  was  thus  thrown  upon  the 
prelates.  Besides  his  public,  Roxburgh  brought  secret  in- 
structions, to  tamper  with  the  nobles  separately,  and  endea- 
vour to  buy  over,  or  to  divide  them. 

xv.  Traquair  and  the  privy  seal,  having  invited  a  number 
of  the  nobles  to  a  conference  in  Holyroodhouse,  they  came 
attended  by  a  deputation  from  the  commissioners.  The 
condescension  of  the  king,  and  the  gracious  assurances  that 
he  had  given  in  his  late  proclamations,  of  his  entertaining  no 
designs  against  religion,  were  expatiated  upon  by  the  trea- 
surer, who  also  represented,  that  as  the  liturgy  was  by  the 
same  deed  virtually  suppressed,  they  ought  to  rest  satisfied  ; 
but  the  demands  of  the  supplicants  were  not  now  limited  to 
the  simple  recalling  of  the  service  book,  they  began  to  feel 
their  advantages,  and  determined  to  improve  them.  The 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  might,  to  answer  a  purpose,  be 
withdrawn  for  a  time;  they  therefore  insisted,  that  it  should 
be  as  publicly  and  formally  revoked,  as  it  had  been  impos- 
ed. The  canons,  which  were  entirely  subversive  of  church 


CHARLES  I.  443 

discipline,  they  would  not  any  longer  consent  to  tolerate,    BOOK 
nor  would  they  ever  cease  to  seek  relief  from  that  iniquitous 


court,  —  the  high  commission,  —  which  endangered  their  li-  1637. 
berties,  and  was  introduced  not  only  without,  but  in  opposi- 
tion to  all  law.  The  treasurer  observed,  that  however  just 
their  request  might  be,  or  however  desirable  to  have  the 
evils  complained  of  removed,  they  ought  to  recollect,  that 
it  did  not  become  them  to  dictate  to  a  king,  the  time  and  Traquair's 
the  manner  in  which  he  should  grant  their  petitions.  At  reply< 
the  same  time,  he  warned  them  to  beware  of  taking  too 
high  ground,  lest  they,  by  aiming  at  too  much,  should  spoil 
all  ;  and  by  pushing  their  accusations  against  the  bishops 
to  an  unreasonable  pitch,  should  procure  their  firmer  estab- 
lishment, instead  of  their  fall.  To  this  the  commissioners 
replied,  they  were  certain,  that  they  would  long  ere  now 
have  obtained  redress  from  the  king,  had  he  been  truly  in- 
formed of  the  nature  of  the  books,  or  the  tendency  of  the 
other  innovations. 

xvi.  The  high  officers  then  requested,  that  to  prevent 
confusion,  or  any  appearance  of  unlawful  combination  against  They  refuse 
authority,  each  county  should  petition  separately,  and  at  dif- 
ferent  times.  The  supplicants,  who  saw  the  drift  of  this 
proposal,  resolutely  refused  to  disunite,  and  on  the  first 
meeting  of  council,  proceeded  to  Dalkeith  in  a  body,  with 
a  joint  petition.  The  council,  who  were  extremely  unwill- 
ing to  receive  them,  contrived  for  several  days,  to  put  off 
their  admission,  till  wearied  out  with  excuses,  they  beset  the 
council  house.  Several  of  their  number,  attended  by  a  no- 
tary, at  each  door,  with  protestations  prepared  against  the 
denial  of  justice,  and  the  refusal  to  receive  their  petitions  — 

against  the  archbishops  and  bishops  being  allowed  to  sit  as  Assail  the 
•  ••it  ^  ^i          i  privy  coun- 

judges,  while  they  were  under  accusation  ;  against  they  them-  c;j. 

selves,  or  any  who  joined  them,  being  liable  to  any  penal- 
ties for  not  observing  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  obeying  ju- 
dicatories  which  had  been  introduced  in  the  face  of  the  acts 
of  general  assemblies,  and  the  statutes  of  the  kingdom  ;  and 
against  any  disorders  or  disturbances  which  might  be  occa- 
sioned by  pressing  the  innovations,  or  refusing  their  suppli- 
cations, being  imputed  to  them  who  had  hitherto  behaved 
quietly,  and  only  sought  reformation  in  an  orderly  way. 


444  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 

BOOK.    The  counsellors,  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  protest, 

prevented  its  presentation,  by  appointing  a  day  on  which 

1637.      they  would  grant  them  a  hearing,  and  receive  their  repre- 
sentations. 

xvii.  On  the  21st  December,  the  deputies  appeared  be- 
fore the  privy  council,  now  composed  only  of  lay  members, 

Their  ac-    the  prelates  having  withdrawn.     Lord   Loudon  presented 
cusation  a-    ,  .  *r  .  .  ,  . 

gainst  the  tne  accusation,  and  in  a  long  and  temperate  speech,  enu- 

bishops.  merated  and  enforced  the  complaints  of  the  supplicants.  In 
conclusion,  he  declared  that  they  had  no  desire  for  the 
bishops'  blood,  nor  for  any  revenge  upon  their  persons ; 
they  only  craved,  that  the  abuses  and  wrongs  done  by  them, 
might  be  truly  represented  to  his  majesty,  the  evils  they 
had  occasioned  remedied,  their  recurrence  prevented,  and 
the  power  which  they  had  so  much  abused,  properly  re- 
strained. After  his  lordship,  some  of  the  other  deputies  spoke 
shortly,  but  warmly,  and  their  speeches  were  observed  to 
affect  some  of  the  counsellors  even  to  tears.  When  they 
were  ended,  the  officers  of  state  exhorted  the  ministers  to 
instruct  the  people  to  be  loyal  to  the  king,  and  not  to  speak 
unfavourably  of  his  religion ;  to  which  Mr.  Cunninghame, 
the  minister  of  Cumnock,  replied,  "Our  consciences  bear 
us  witness,  that  we  endeavoured  to  carry  ourselves  suitably 
in  this  respect,  neither  had  we  ever  a  thought  to  the  con- 
trary but  his  majesty  was  wronged,  after  the  manner  that 
king  Ahasuerus  was  wronged  by  Haman,  and  we  are 
looking  to  see  the  way  of  the  Lord's  righteousness  in  his 
appointed  time."  The  lords  of  the  council  assured  the  de- 
puties before  they  parted,  that  they  were  deeply  interested 

Answer  of  in  the  cause ;  but  as  they  were  expressly  prohibited  by  the 
thecouncil.  ,  .        r          .  ,  „.     '  ,  , 

king  from  intermeddling  more  in  the  controversy,  they  re- 
quested them  to  wait  till  they  received  his  majesty's  instruc- 
tions. 

xviii.  The  council,  placed  in  a  perplexing  dilemma  by  the 
threatening  aspect  of  affairs  in    Scotland  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  dread  of  his  majesty's  displeasure  on  the  other,  were 
desirous  that  some  of  their  number  should  repair  to  court, 
and  lay  before  the  king  a  plain  exhibition  of  the  real  state 
Traquair    of  the  country.     Roxburgh  and  Traquair  were  both  equal- 
court,0        b'  willing  to  undertake  the   ungracious   service.     Traquair 


CHARLES  I.  445 

was  preferred  by  Charles,  and  summoned  to  London.     Un-   BOOK 
fortunately,  the  treasurer  was  suspected  of  being  inimical  to      ^^ 
the  bishops,  and  secretly  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  sup-      i6S7. 
plicants  ;  his  representations  of  the  strength  of  the  malecon- 
tents,  and  of  the  distracted  state  of  the  country,  were  in  con- 
sequence, supposed  to  be  overcharged,  and  his  recommen- 
dation to  withdraw  the  liturgy  was  disregarded.     Spotswood  His  repre. 
too,  the  president  of  the  court  of  session,  son  of  the  arch-  disregard- 
bishop,  counteracted  his  endeavours  to  undeceive  the  king ;  ed- 
but  the  chancellor  himself  is  said  to  have  turned  the  balance 
against  the  supplicants,  by  an  ominous  example  taken  from 
the  domestic  history  of  his  grandmother,  who,  by  declaring 
the  murderers  of  Rizzio  traitors,  broke  asunder  the  bond  of 
the  confederated  nobles,  and  forced  them  to  seek  refuge  in 
exile. 

xix.  The  king,  either  persuaded  that  a  similar  procedure      1P38t 
would  in  the  present  instance,  have  a  similar  effect,  or,  what 
is  more  probable,  instigated  by  the  rash,  unyielding  bigo- 
try of  Laud,  transmitted  by  Traquair  a  proclamation,  un- 
der an  oath  of  secresy,  in  which  he  declared,  that  the  bi-  T^e  king's 
shops  were  unjustly  accused  of  being  the  authors  of  the  ser-  tjon  }n  an_ 

vice  book  and  canons,  as  whatever  was  done  by  them,  was  swer  to  the 
,,.  .         .  ,.  ,        ,  iiii     i-i-  accusation, 

by  his  majesty  s  authority  and  orders ;  that  he  had  diligent- 
ly examined  these  books,  and  after  the  most  careful  perusal, 
had  found  nothing  in  them  that  could  be  prejudicial  to  the 
ancient  laws,  or  the  religion  received  in  Scotland ;  but  on 
I  the  contrary,  was  persuaded  they  were  very  well  calculated 
for  promoting  solid  piety,  and  preventing  the  growth  of  po- 
pery, his  abhorrence  of  which  was  sufficiently  evidenced  by 
his  daily  proceedings  ;  that  he  condemned  all  the  meetings 
of  his  subjects,  that  had  been  kept  for  exhibiting  any  peti- 
tions against  these  innocent  books,  and  the  bishops  the  pro- 
moters of  them,  and  all  subscriptions  by  any  of  the 
lieges,  of  whatever  rank,  for  that  end,  as  manifest  conspir-  And  prohi. 
acies  for  disturbing  the  public  peace ;  yet  he  was  ready  to  blting 

.  .11  .  •«.    meetings 

forgive  what  was  past,  provided  such  practices  were  reli-  for  peti- 
giously  abstained  from  in  future,  and  he  forbade  all  meetings  tioning- 
of  that  kind  in  time  to  come,  under  pain  of  rebellion. 

xx.  Upon  Traquair's  arrival  in  Edinburgh,  he  was  waited 
upon  by  several  of  the  nobles,  to  hear  what  answer  the  king 


446  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    had  returned  to  their  supplications,  but  all  they  could  learn 
*""•     from  him,  after  numerous  evasions,  was,  that  there  would 
1638.      be  a  necessity  for  avoiding  such  numerous  meetings  as  had 
Traquair's  ]ately  taken  place  at  Edinburgh,  else  the  council  would  be 
ewers  to      obliged  to  prohibit  them.      Their  secret  intelligence,  how- 
the  nobles.  ever>  supplied  the  deficiency,  and  before  the  treasurer  could 
execute  his  commission,  the  alarm  had  been  given  to  the 
whole  body  of  supplicants.     A  meeting  of  the  privy  council 
was  to  be  held  in  Stirling,  to  whom  the  despatches  brought 
from    London   were    to   be   produced.       The    supplicants 
throughout  the  whole  country  were  notified  of  the  circum- 
stance, and  ordered  to  attend  for  the  preservation  of  their 

The  snppli.  Jea(jers  .  an(|  their  obedience  was  stimulated  by  a   report, 

cants  called  » 

together,     that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  privy  council  to  imprison  the 

earl  of  Rothes,  and  the  lord  Lindsay. 

xxi.  The  officers  of  state,  who  were  in  Edinburgh,  per- 
ceiving the  magnitude  of  the  preparations,  attempted  to  pre- 
vent such  an  assemblage,   by  sending  for  part  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the   tables,  who  were  in   the  city,    and    dissuad- 
ing  them  by  every    argument   in    their  power,    from  such 
a  resolution.     "  They  represented  to  them,  that  if  they  had 
followed  their  advice,  and  petitioned  each   class  and  county 
Council       by  themselves,  and  had  they  confined  their  complaints  to  the 
witlu-he      removal  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  the  Canons, 
tables.         there  could  have  been  little  doubt  of  success;  and  having 
once  obtained  this,  it  would  have  been  then  an  object  of  con- 
sideration, how  far  they  should  proceed  in  asking  redress  of 
other  grievances,  or  in  accusing  the  bishops ;  as  by  asking 
too  much,   they  put  all  to  hazard,  and  it  was  not  to  be  inv 
agined  that  his  majesty  would  ever  consent  to  put  one  of  his 
estates  under  subjection  to  them."     The  committee  answer,- 
ed,  they  could  not  rely  upon  any  unauthorized  assurances, 
till  their  complaints  against  these  particular  grievances  had 
Their  firm  been  listened  to ;  for,  if  their  accusations  against  the  bishops, 
conduct.      tjle  orjgjn  Of  a\\  their  evils,  and  a  root  naturally  productive 
of  such  pernicious  fruits,  were  afterwards  refused,  the  peo- 
ple must  continue  to  groan  under  the  worst  of  their  oppres- 
sions, and  the  supplicants  to  suffer  the  reproach  of  their  cre- 
dulity.    The  treasurer  seeing  them  immovable  in  their  pur- 
pose, asked  what  course  they  intended  to  pursue  when  they 


CHARLES  I.  447 

assembled  ?     They  ingenuously  told  him,  they  intended  to     BOOK 
give  in  a  declinature  against  the  bishops;  "  but  that  will      ^^' 


be  refused,"  said  Traquair.  "  Then,  upon  the  council's  1638. 
refusal  to  do  us  justice,  we  will  protest  for  remeid,  and 
have  immediate  recourse  to  the  king  with  our  supplications." 
"  But  I  doubt,"  added  the  treasurer,  "  if  his  majesty  will 
receive  your  supplications."  "  We  will,  however,  do  our 
duty,"  the  deputies  firmly  replied,  "  and  commit  the  event 
to  God,  who  is  wise  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  working, 
and  sufficiently  able  to  protect  his  own  cause,  and  our  just 
proceedings." 

xxn.  Secresy  on  either  side  was  now  impracticable.     Tra- 
quair saw  that  his  instructions  were  known  to  the  supplicants, 
and  they  made  no  attempt  at  concealing  their  own  intentions. 
The  council  was  to  meet  on  Tuesday,  and  a  few  of  the  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  set  out  early  on  Monday  for 
Stirling — the  rest  to  follow — in  order  to  be  upon  the  spot, 
and  act  as  they  saw  necessary ;  but  both  parties  were  now 
on  the  alert,  and  not  a  movement  was  made  by  the  one,  but 
the  other   was  immediately  acquainted  with  it.     Traquair, 
who  had  no  other  expedient  to  prevent  the  meeting,  than 
•accelerating  the  proclamation  which  forbade  it,  set  out  from  Traquair 
Edinburgh,  along  with  Roxburgh,  on  Monday  morning,  a  proceeds  to 
little  after  midnight,  on  purpose  to  have  it  published  before 
the  supplicants  could  be  collected.     They  reached  Stirling 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,   and   after  waiting  for 
about  two  hours  in  vain  for  the  arrival  of  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  the  council,  they,  anticipating  their  authority,   pro- 
ceeded to  the  cross,   and   issued  the  proclamation.     This  Publishes 
manoeuvre  was  of  little  avail ;   the  tables,  who  had  discover-  the  Pr<*'a- 
ed  the  departure  of  the  treasurer  and  privy  seal,  despatched 
lords   Hume  and  Lindsay  after  them,  who  outrode  them, 
and  as  soon  as  they  announced  the  proclamation,  the  others 
were  ready  with   a  notary  to  protest,  which  they  did  with  They  pro- 
due  solemnity ;  and  after  the  official  intimation  was  read,  af-  ?est  a£amst 
fixed  their  document  to  the  market  cross,  a  bold  proceeding, 
repeated  by  them  at  Edinburgh,  Linlithgow,   and  wherever 
the  proclamation  was  published  ;  and  in  the  public  opinion, 
this  form  was  sufficient  to  suspend  the  operation,  or  legalize 
resistance  to  the  royal  mandate. 


448  HISTOHY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        xxn  i.  The  situation  of  Charles  and  Scotland  at  this  pe 
VIi-      riod  was  peculiar.     The  king  had  been  guilty  of  the  most  flag- 
I63g      rant  acts  of  tyranny  by  his  conduct  in  parliament,  by  the  tri- 
al of  Balmerino,  by  his  contempt  for  the  constitution  of  the 
country  in  arbitrarily  enforcing  the  liturgy,  without  either 
act  of  assembly  or  parliament,  and  by  his  late  proclama- 
tion, which  thus  deprived  his  subjects  of  their  most  undeni- 
able, necessary,  but  lowest  right,  that  of  petitioning,  under 
pain  of  treason ;  yet,  he  had  prepared  no  force  to  support 
his  despotic  measures,  he  had  concerted  no  plan  for  subduing 
disaffection,  and  trusted  solely  to  the  efficacy  of  his  divine 
Peculiar  si-  right,  for  extorting  from  his  people  all  that  was  dear  to  them 
thc^n^-    upon  earth, — their  religion  and  liberty.     The  nation  enter- 
aud  of  the   tained  still  a  reverence  for  their  sovereign,  and  were  willing  to 
ltry*     attribute  his  misgovernment  to  his  advisers  ;  but  his  duplicity 
and  evasions  had  already  created  suspicions  of  his  since- 
rity ;  the  discontent  was  general,  yet  respectful,  but  it  was  or- 
ganized ;  and  the  king  had  provided  leaders,  whose  person- 
al injuries  and  affronts  were  not  likely  to  render  them  less 
attached  to  the  cause  of  the  opposition ;  these  were  Balme- 
rino, Loudon,  Rothes,  and  Montrose.     In  the  meanwhile 
the  course  of  justice  was  suspended ;  the  baser  sort  began 
to  take  advantage  of  the  anarchy,  debtors  refused  to  satisfy 
their  creditors,  and  in  the  highlands  and  the  north,  depre- 
dations and  murders  were  perpetrated  openly,  and  went  un- 
punished.* x 

xxiv.  The  object  of  government  was  to  disunite  the  sup- 
plicants, theirs  to  draw  closer  their  bonds  of  connexion  ;  and 
the  latter,  to  defeat  the  intrigues  of  the  officers  of  state  and 
the  prelates,  who  endeavoured  to  amuse  them  with  delusive 
promises,  that  they  would  intercede  with  the  king,  get  the 
liturgy  and  canons  abolished,  and  the  high  commission  mo- 
Supplicants  delled  anew,  adopted  a  judicious  and  decisive  measure — the 
to'renew6   renewal  of  the  national  covenant.     The  origin  of  this  solemn 
the  cove-    engagement  may  be  traced  to  the  earlier  days  of  the  Refor- 
mation, and  it  had  frequently  been  resorted  to  in  times  of 
public  danger,  or  when  fears  were  entertained  of  the  preva- 

*  Baillie's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  48.     Spaldmg's  History  of  the  Troubles  in 
Scotland,  vol.  i.  p.  Cl 


uant. 


CHARLES  I.  449 

lence  of  popery.  During  the  administration  of  Arran,  [vide  BOOK 
p.  39,]  it  was  sworn  by  the  king  and  his  household,  and  a  ^11- 
confession  of  faith  was  annexed,  in  which  the  national  eon-  1638. 
fession  of  faith,  as  established  by  several  acts  of  parliament, 
was  acknowledged  as  their  only  belief;  the  errors  of  the 
church  of  Rome  were  minutely  enumerated  and  solemnly 
renounced.  This  confession  was  retained  in  the  present  re- 
newal; and  in  like  form  were  abjured  all  the  tyrannous  laws 
of  the  papal  antichrist,  made  upon  indifferent  things  against 
Christian  liberty ;  his  erroneous  and  corrupted  doctrine  re- 
specting original  sin,  justification,  &c. ;  his  five  bastard  sa- 
craments, with  all  his  rites,  ceremonies,  and  false  doctrines, 
added  to  the  ministration  of  the  true  sacraments,  without 
the  word  of  God ;  his  idolatrous  opinion  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  his  devilish  mass  and  impious  priesthood;  his  cano-  Itsstipula- 
nization  of  saints  and  invocation  of  angels;  his  dedication  of  )MU)' 
churches,  altars,  and  days ;  his  consecrated  water  and  pray- 
ers for  the  dead  ;  his  use  of  the  cross  and  blasphemous  li- 
tany ;  his  numerous  orders  of  priests ;  his  worldly  monarchy 
and  wicked  hierarchy,  together  with  his  cruel  and  bloody 
decrees  made  at  Trent.  A  great  number  of  statutes  were 
then  enumerated,  which  bore  pointedly  against  the  late  in- 
novations, and  were  as  explicit  as  any  human  acts  could  be 
in  favour  of  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government, 
and  mode  of  worship.  The  enumeration  concludes  with  a 
fair  statement  of  that  kind  of  loyalty  which  freemen  are 
proud  to  acknowledge,  and  which  they  are  ever  the  first  to 
defend;  a  loyalty  not  attached  to  the  mere  name  or  trap- 
pings of  kingship,  but  steadily  devoted  to  a  constitutional 
monarch,  whose  sway  is  identified  with  that  of  the  laws,  and 
who  acknowledges  a  reciprocal  obligation  on  his  part  to  be 
faithful  to  his  trust. 

xxv.  This  celebrated  bond  of  union  has  been  represented 
as  a  bond  of  sedition,  and  is  believed  such  upon  trust,  by  many 
who  never  perused  it ;  I  shall  quote  the  passage  :  "  Like  as  Obligation 
all  lieges  are  bound  to  maintain  the  king's  royal  person  and 
authority ;  the  authority  of  parliaments,  without  which  neither  &c. 
any  laws  or  lawful  judicatories  can  be  established ;  and  the 
subjects'  liberties,  who  ought  only  to  be  governed  by  the 
king's  laws,  the  laws  of  this  realm  alenarly,  [solely]  which  if 

VOL.  in.  3  M 


450  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  innovated  or  prejudged,  such  confusion  would  ensue,  as  this 
^"'  realm  could  be  no  more  a  free  monarchy ;  because,  by  the 
1638.  fundamental  laws,  ancient  privileges,  offices,  and  liberties  of 
this  kingdom,  not  only  the  princely  authority  hath  been  these 
many  ages  maintained,  but  also  the  people's  security  of  their 
lands,  livings,  rights,  offices,  liberties,  and  dignities,  preserv- 
ed." The  whole  closes  with  a  declaration,  implying  that  the 
articles  of  Perth,  liturgy,  and  canons,  were  virtually  renoun- 
ced in  the  confession  of  faith,  and  an  obligation  acknowledged 
to  resist  these  innovations,  to  defend  each  other,  and  support 
the  sovereign  in  the  preservation  of  religion,  liberty,  and  law. 
It  runs  thus  : — "  We  noblemen,  gentlemen,  burgesses,  mini- 
The  true  sters,  and  commons,  under  subscribing,  considering  diverse 
religion,  times  before,  and  especially  at  this  time,  the  danger  of  the  true, 
reformed  religion,  of  the  king's  honour,  and  of  the  public 
peace  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  manifold  innovations  and  evils 
generally  contained,  and  particularly  mentioned  in  our  late 
supplications,  do  hereby  profess,  and  before  God,  his  angels, 
and  the  world,  do  solemnly  declare,  that  with  our  whole 
hearts  we  agree  and  resolve,  all  the  days  of  our  lives,  con- 
stantly to  adhere  unto,  and  defend  the  true  religion,  forbear- 
ing the  practice  of  all  novations  already  introduced  in  the 
matters  of  the  worship  of  God,  or  approbation  of  the  corrup- 
tions of  the  public  government  of  the  church,  or  civil  places 
or  power  of  churchmen,  till  they  be  tried  and  allowed  in  free 
assemblies,  and  in  parliaments ;  to  labour  by  all  means  lawful 
to  recover  the  purity  and  liberty  of  the  gospel,  as  it  was  es- 
tablished and  professed  before  the  said  novations ;  and  be- 
cause, after  due  examination,  we  plainly  perceive,  and  un- 
doubtedly believe,  that  the  innovations  and  evils  have  no 
warrant  in  the  word  of  God,  are  contrary  to  the  articles  of 
the  foresaid  confessions,  to  the  intention  and  meaning  of  the 
blessed  reformers  of  religion  in  this  land,  and  do  sensibly 
tend  to  the  re-establishment  of  the  popish  religion  and  ty- 
ranny, and  to  the  subversion  and  ruin  of  the  true,  reformed 
religion,  and  of  our  liberties,  laws,  and  estates ;  we  also  de- 
clare that  the  foresaid  confessions  are  to  be  interpreted,  and 
ought  to  be  understood  of  the  foresaid  novations  and  evils, 
no  less  than  if  every  one  of  them  had  been  expressed  in  the 
foresaid  confessions,  and  that  we  are  obliged  to  detest  and 


CHARLES  I.  451 

abhor  them  among  other  particular  heads  of  papistry  abjured  BOOK 
therein ;  and  therefore,  from  the  knowledge  and  conscience  VI1- 
of  our  duty  to  God,  our  king  and  country,  without  any  ~ 
worldly  respect  or  inducement,  so  far  as  human  infirmity 
will  sufter,  wishing  a  farther  measure  of  the  grace  of  God 
for  this  effect,  we  promise  and  swear,  by  the  great  name 
of  the  Lord  our  God,  to  continue  in  the  profession  and  obe- 
dience of  the  foresaid  religion ;  that  we  shall  defend  the 
same,  and  resist  all  those  contrary  errors  and  corruptions, 
according  to  our  vocation,  and  to  the  uttermost  of  that  power 
that  God  hath  put  in  our  hands  all  the  days  of  our  lives ;  and 
in  like  manner,  with  the  same  heart  we  declare  before  God 
and  men,  that  we  have  no  intention  or  desire  to  attempt  any 
thing  that  may  turn  to  the  dishonour  of  God,  or  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  king's  greatness  or  authority  ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, we  promise  and  swear,  that  we  shall,  to  the  uttermost 
of  our  power,  with  our  means  and  lives,  stand  to  the  defence 
of  our  dread  sovereign,  his  person  and  authority,  in  the  de- 
fence and  preservation  of  the  true  religion,  liberties,  and  laws 
of  the  kingdom ;  as  also  to  the  mutual  defence  and  assistance, 
every  one  of  us  of  another,  in  the  same  cause  of  maintaining  And  «»<* 
the  true  religion,  and  his  majesty's  authority,  with  our  best  ° 
counsel,  our  bodies,  means,  and  whole  power,  against  all 
sorts  of  persons  whatsoever;  so  that  whatsoever  shall  be 
done  to  the  least  of  us,  shall  be  taken  as  done  to  us  all  in 
general,  and  to  every  one  of  us  in  particular ;  and  that  we 
shall  neither  directly,  or  indirectly,  suffer  ourselves  to  be 
divided  or  withdrawn  from  this  blessed  and  loyal  conjunction, 
nor  shall  cast  in  any  let  or  impediment  that  may  stay  or  hin- 
der any  such  resolution,  as  by  common  consent  shall  be  found 
to  conduce  for  so  good  ends;  but  on  the  contrary  shall,  by  all 
lawful  means,  labour  to  further  and  promove  the  same ;  and  And  to  re- 
if  any  such  dangerous  or  divisive  motion  be  made  to  us,  by  ^*in 
word  or  writ,  we,  and  every  one  of  us,  shall  either  suppress 
it,  or,  if  need  be,  shall  incontinent  make  the  same  known, 
that  it  may  be  timeously  obviated ;  neither  do  we  fear  the 
foul  aspersions  of  rebellion,  combination,  or  what  else  our 
adversaries,  from  their  craft  and  malice,  would  put  on  us, 
seeing  what  we  do  is  so  well  warranted,  and  ariseth  from  an 
unfeigned  desire  to  maintain  the  true  worship  of  God,  the 


4-52 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


Reflec- 
tions. 


BOOK   majesty  of  our  king,  and  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  for  the 

common  happiness  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity."* 
1638.  xxvi.  This  bond,  which  was  only  reverting  to  the  princi- 
ples recognised  at  the  reformation,  and  restoring  the  con- 
stitution then  established,  was  represented  by  its  enemies  as 
an  illegal  compact  against  the  king,  as  a  bond  of  resistance 
to  his  just  authority,  and  a  treasonable  association  against 
the  state.  Were  subjects  only  fettered  by  the  ties  of  mo- 
ral honesty  ;  were  their  oaths  of  allegiance  only  binding 
while  kings  were  to  consider  their  coronation  obligations  as 
unmeaning  forms ;  were  all  usurpations  on  the  part  of  power 
to  be  patiently  endured,  and  every  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  people  to  keep  or  to  regain  their  rights  to  be  deprecat- 
ed, then  the  national  covenant  was  a  bond  of  sedition ;  but 
if,  when  every  avenue  to  the  royal  ear  is  shut  against  the 
complaints  of  a  whole  people,  if  the  right  to  petition  be 
denied,  and  the  very  act  of  assembling  to  petition  be  treated 
as  high  treason,  by  proclamation  and  the  instructions  of 
the  crown  alone ;  if,  in  these  circumstances,  it  be  the  natu- 
ral duty  of  a  people  to  pray  the  dismissal  of  obnoxious  mi- 
nisters, who  give  such  treasonable  advice,  and  when  refused 
a  hearing,  to  reiterate  their  supplications  and  to  remain  to- 
gether till  they  command  attention,  then  the  principles  of 
that  covenant  are  in  consonance  with  what  has  ever  been  re- 
cognised as  the  basis  of  rational  freedom  in  limited  monarch- 
ies. On  the  abstract  question  there  can  be  neither  doubt 
nor  hesitation.  When  a  king  wantonly  tramples  upon  all 
his  subjects  hold  sacred,  he  himself  breaks  the  bond  of  alle- 
giance, and  they  have  a  right,  if  they  have  the  power,  to 
unite  and  reclaim  what  has  been  tyrannically  torn  from 
them.  The  legality,  with  regard  to  form,  is  all  that  can  be 
urged  against  the  national  covenant ;  and  the  best  lawyers 


•  The  original  copy  of  the  covenant,  subscribed  at  Edinburgh,  was  written 
on  a  very  large  skin  of  parchment,  of  the  length  of  four  feet,  and  depth  of 
three  feet,  eight  inches,  and  is  so  crowded  with  names  on  both  sides,  that 
there  is  not  the  smallest  space  left  for  more ;  and  it  appears  that  when  there 
was  but  little  room  left  to  sign  on,  the  subscriptions  were  shortened,  by  only 
inserting  the  initial  letters  of  the  covenanters'  names,  which  the  margin  and 
other  parts  are  so  full  of,  and  the  subscriptions  so  very  close,  that  it  were  a  dif- 
ficult task  to  number  them — Maitland's  Hist,  of  Edinb.  p.  86. 


CHARLES  I.  453 

of  the  day,  and  even  Hope,  the  king's  advocate,  pronounced    BOOK 
the  proceedings  of  the  covenanters  legal.     They  had  prece- 
dents,  acts  of  parliament,  and  the  repeated  sanction  of  royal-     163g 
ty  for  such   associations;  and  their  obligations  to  obey  the 
king,  and  defend  his  person,  are  as  explicitly  stated  as  any 
other  obligation  in  the  covenant.     It  is  true  this  is  linked 
with  the  preservation  of  religion,  liberty,  and  law,  but  what 
other  obedience  would  any  upright  prince  require  ?     Should 
they  have  pledged  their  support  to  the  monarch  in  opposi- 
tion to  all  these  ? 

xxvn.  To  this  much  vilified  bond  every  Scottishman 
ought  to  look  with  as  great  reverence  as  Englishmen  do  to 
the  Magna  Charta.  It  was  what  saved  the  country  from 
absolute  despotism,  and  to  it  we  may  trace  back  the  origin 
of  all  the  successful  efforts  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  Bri- 
tain in  defence  of  their  freedom,  during  the  succeeding 
reigns  of  the  Stuarts.  There  were,  however,  some  who, 
though  friendly  to  the  purport  of  the  bond,  were  scrupulous 
about  signing  it,  as  they  had  been  forced  to  take  the  oath 
of  conformity  prescribed  by  the  prelates ;  others  were  not  Objection* 
absolutely  convinced  of  the  unlawfulness  of  the  Perth  arti-  a&amst  u 
cles ;  a  few,  whom  custom  had  reconciled  to  the  episcopal 
form,  hesitated  about  swearing  to  continue  in  the  doctrine 
and  discipline  of  the  presbyterian  church  all  the  days  of 
their  lives ;  and  among  the  nobility,  and  those  who  had  stu- 
died under  Dr.  Cameron  in  Glasgow  university,  several  had 
imbibed  the  doctrines  of  passive  obedience ;  but  as  these 
objections  arose  chiefly  from  men  who  were  friendly  to  the  removed, 
main  object,  explanations  and  concessions  were  made,  and 
their  scruples  silenced  by  the  innovations  being  left  as  a  mat- 
ter of  forbearance  till  settled  by  the  first  free  general  assem- 
bly ;  and  the  authority  of  the  king  allowed  in  the  fullest  ex- 
tent he  had  ever  by  law  enjoyed,  being  declared  the  true 
meaning  of  that  section  of  the  oath.*  After  much  discussion 

*  It  is  curious  to  observe  the  shifts  of  casuistry,  even  in  good  men,  when 
they  wish  to  get  over  a  difficulty.  To  some  who  objected  that  the  bond  limits 
the  maintenance  of  the  king's  authority,  to  the  defence  of  the  true  religion, 
laws,  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom,  it  was  replied  : — "  We  swear  to  maintain 
him  in  that  case,  '  ergo,  we  are  bound  to  maintain  him  in  no  other  case.'  It  is 
an  evident  non  seyuitur.  Professing  to  maintain  the  king's  authority  in  the 


454  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   among  the  nobility  and  principal  leaders  among  the  mini 
J_*~      sters,  the  covenant  was  universally  agreed  to.     The  authors 
1638.     of  this  memorable  deed  were  Alexander  Henderson,  the 
It  is  agreed  jea(jjng  man  among  tne  ministers,  and  Archibald  Johnston, 
afterward  lord  Warriston,  an  advocate  high  in  their  confi- 
dence.    It  was  revised  by  Balmerino,  Rothes,  and  Loudon 
submitted  to  the  correction  of  the  principal  ministers  during 
its  progress,  and  finally  approved  of  by  the  tables. 

xxvm.  The  supplicants  who  had  repaired  in  crowds  t 
Edinburgh,  to  an  extraordinary  meeting  proclaimed  by  tin 
tables,  were  prepared  by  the  exhortations  of  the  ministers 
and  the  duty  of  renewing  their  national  covenant — the  bread 
of  which  had  occasioned  such  woful  confusion — was  strenu- 
ously inculcated.  The  people,  who  had  heard  of  the  deligh 
with  which  their  fathers  had  engaged  in  this  work,  and  thei 
lamentations  for  the  national  defection  from  so  sacred  an  ob 
ligation,  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  proposal  of  their  alsi 
entering  into  a  similar  engagement.  A  solemn  fast  was  ap 
pointed,  and  on  the  1st  of  March,  1638,  the  supplicants  as 
sembled  in  the  Grey  Friars'  church.  The  covenant  was  firs 
read  in  their  hearing ;  then  the  earl  of  Loudon,  whose  man 
ner  was  peculiarly  impressive,  addressed  them,  dwelt  upor 
the  importance  of  this  bond  of  union,  and  exhorted  the  as- 
sembled multitude  to  zeal  and  perseverance  in  the  good  cause. 
Henderson,  at  the  close,  poured  forth  an  impassioned  pray- 
Subscribed  er  for  a  blessing ;  after  which,  the  nobles  stepped  forward  to 
*"  edhi°.rn  tne  table,  subscribed,  and  with  uplifted  hands,  swore  to  the 
burgh.  observance  of  the  important  duties  required  in  the  bond; 
after  them,  the  gentry,  ministers,  and  thousands  of  every 
rank,  age,  and  sex,  subscribed  and  swore ;  the  enthusiasm 
was  universal,  every  face  beamed  with  joy,  and  the  city  pre- 
sented one  scene  of  devout  congratulation  and  rapture.  "  Be- 
hold !"  says  one  of  the  presbyterian  writers,  "  the  nobility, 
the  barons,  the  burgesses,  the  ministers,  the  commons  of  all 
sorts  in  Scotland,  all  in  tears  for  their  breach  of  covenant, 
and  for  their  backsliding  and  defection  from  the  Lord,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  returning  with  great  joy  unto  their  God, 


preservation  of  religion  and  laws,  does  not  hinder  us  to  maintain  his  authority 
in  sundry  other  cases." — Baillie. 


iC 

02 


CHARLES  I. 


by  swearing  cheerfully  and  willingly  to  be  the  Lord's.     It    BOOK 
may  well  be  said  of  this  day  :  —  Great  was  the  day  of  Jezreel.      Vil< 
It  was  a  day  wherein  the  arm  of  the  Lord  was   revealed  ;  a      less. 
day  wherein  the  princes  of  the  people  were  assembled  to 
swear  fealty  and  allegiance  to  that  great  king,  whose  name 
is  the  Lord  of  Hosts."     The  prelates  were  thunderstruck  preiates 
at  the  explosion,  and  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  who  confounded 
saw  at  once  the  demolition  of  the  fabric  he  and  they  had  la-  * 
boured  so  long  and  by  such  unjustifiable  methods  to  build 
up,  exclaimed  in  despair  :  —  "  Now  all  that  we  have  been  do- 
ing these  thirty  years  past  is  at  once  thrown  down  !" 

xxix.  Copies  were  immediately  transmitted  by  the  depu-  Sent  tn  the 
ties  to  their  several  presbyteries,  accompanied  with  a  paper  8eve™1 
entitled  :  —  The  lawfulness  of  the  subscription  to  the  Con-  ries. 
fession  of  Faith,  1638  ;  and  commissioners  were  sent  to  the 
west  and  north,   where  the  only  opposition  was  expected  ; 
for  some  of  the  doctors  in  Glasgow  college  taught  the  court* 
ly  principles  of  non-resistance,  and  a  majority  had  complied 
with  the  innovations  authorized  by  the  articles  of  Perth. 
All   the  professors  in  the  colleges  of  Aberdeen  were  advo- 
cates for  prelacy  and  passive  obedience,  besides  being  un- 
der the  influence  of  Huntly  ;  but  the  presbytery  of  Glasgow  Aberdeen 
hailed  the  approach  of  the  covenant,   and  Aberdeen  stood 
alone   "  as  a  dreary  spot  in  a  land  of  light."     Everywhere 
else  a  zeal,  unfelt  since  the  first  days  of  the  reformation, 
animated  the  people,  and  in  every  parish  the  covenant  was 
embraced  upon  Sabbath,  with  equal  fervour,  and  the  same  de- 
monstrations of  delight  that  had  resounded  in  the  capital. 
The  excitement  spread  to  the  most  remote  districts,  Mo- 
ray,   Inverness,    Ross-shire,   and    Caithness,   emulated    the 
southern  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  in  the  space  of  two 
months,  almost  all  Scotland  had  submitted,  except  the  cour- 
tiers   and    their   retainers,    the   papists,    the   prelates,    and 
their  dependants.      The  nation  was  now  divided  into  two 
parties  —  an  overwhelming  majority  of  covenanters,  and  an 
astonished,  disheartened  minority  of  non-covenanters.     The  Nation  di. 
former  acquired  courage  by  ascertaining  the  number  and  vidcs* 
unanimity  of  their  adherents,  the  latter  were  surprised  and 
terrified  at  the  unexpected  discovery  of  their  own  weakness. 

xxx.  Alarmed  at  the  threatening  appearances  of  deter- 


456 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VII. 

1638. 


Council 
meets  at 
Stirling. 


Recom- 
mends le- 
nient mea- 
»ures. 


mined  opposition  displayed  by  the  protestations  against  the 
royal  proclamations,  the  privy  council  appointed  a  full  meet- 
ing to  be  held  at  Stirling,  to  consider  the  state  of  the  coun- 
try, investigate  the  causes  of  the  impending  crisis,  and  to 
transmit  to  court  such  information  as  might  guide  his  ma- 
jesty's councils ;  and  all  the  ecclesiastical  members  in  parti- 
cular, were  enjoined  to  attend.  The  day  was  inauspicious; 
when  thousands  were  flocking  to  the  Grey  Friars'  church 
in  Edinburgh,  to  affix  their  signatures  to  a  bond  of  unity, 
the  council  assembled,  in  the  almost  deserted  town  of  Stir- 
ling, to  deliberate, — but  without  any  of  their  clerical  coadju 
tors,  except  the  bishop  of  Brechin,  who  left  them  on  the 
third  day, — and  without  any  definite  project,  to  meet  the  exi 
gences  of  the  times.  After  four  days'  deliberation,  they 
agreed  to  send  sir  John  Hamilton  of  Orbiston,  lord  justice 
clerk,  to  London.  Besides  some  complaints  against  the 
chancellor  and  other  bishops,  for  non-attendance  upon  the 
set  day,  he  was  instructed  to  inform  his  majesty,  that  it  was 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  members  of  the  council  who 
had  assembled,  that  the  causes  of  the  general  combustions  in 
the  country,  were  the  fears  apprehended  of  innovations  in 
religion  and  in  the  discipline  of  the  kirk,  and  of  their  intro- 
duction contrary  to,  and  without  warrant  of  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom ;  to  represent  the  expedience  of  his  majesty's  de- 
claring that  he  would  inquire  into  the  nature  and  causes  o 
his  subjects'  grievances  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  not  press  up- 
on them  any  of  these  practices  of  which  they  complained; 
to  request,  that  if  he  approved  of  their  recommendation,  he 
would  be  pleased  to  call  up,  or  allow  the  board  to  send  such 
of  the  council  as  were  thought  fit  for  advising  how  it  might 
be  carried  into  execution ;  but  if  it  were  not  approved  of, 
that  his  majesty  would  not  determine  upon  any  other  course 
of  procedure,  without  some  of  their  number  being  allowed 
to  state  before  him,  the  reasons  for  the  opinion  they  had  gi 
ven ;  in  which  case,  those  who  were  of  opposite  sentiments, 
should  also  be  called  upon  to  state  the  grounds  of  their 
counsel,  and  the  whole  subject  be  fully  debated  in  his  pre- 
sence ;  and  finally,  he  was  to  inform  his  majesty,  that  hav- 
ing used  every  means  in  their  power  for  dispersing  the  meet- 
ings which  were  regularly  held,  they  find  they  can  do  no- 


CHARLES  T.  457 

thing  further,  till  his  majesty's  pleasure  be  returned  to  their    BOOK 
humble  remonstrance. 

xxxi.    The  instructions  were  signed  by  the  whole  lay      1638. 
lords  of  council,  and  afterward  transmitted  to  the  lords  spi- 
ritual, who  returned  them  with  the  signatures  of  the  chan- 
cellor, and  the  bishops  of  Edinburgh,  Dunblane,  Galloway, 
and  Brechin.     The  earls  of  Traquair  and  Roxburgh,  se- 
conded the  instructions  of  the  council  in  a  private  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  the  king,  confirming  their  statements  of  the  uni- 
versally' perturbed  situation  of  the  kingdom,  and  their  inabi- 
lity to  allay  the  commotion,  but  recommending  a  deceitful, 
crooked  policy.     They  advised  his  majesty,  as  religion  was  Traquair 
pretended  to  be  the  cause  of  all  the  combustion,  to  dissipate  burgh's  in- 
the  fears  of  his  subjects  for  the  time  with  regard  to  it,  by  sidkrns  ad- 
which,  they  thought,  the  wiser  sort  would  be  satisfied  ;  and 


add,  "  So  [will]  your  majesty  be  enabled,  with  less  pain  or 

trouble,  to  overtake  the  insolencies  of  any  who  shall  be  found 

to  have  kicked  against  authority."     A  letter  was  also  sent  by 

the  council  to  the  marquis  of  Hamilton,  entreating  him  to 

take  into  his  most  serious  consideration  the  important  busi- 

ness with  which  the  justice  clerk  was  intrusted,  as  the  peace 

of  the  country  was  never  in  so  great  hazard  ;  and  use  his 

interest  with  the  king,  to  bring  these  great  and  fearful  ills 

to  a  happy  event.     Lord  Lorn,  eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Ar- 

gyle,  and  the  earls  of  Traquair  and  Roxburgh,  were  soon 

after  invited  to  court  by  the  king,  to  assist  in  the  delibera-  to  court. 

tions  respecting  Scotland  ;  and  they  were  quickly  followed 

by  the  lord  president,  lord  register,  and  the  bishops  of  Ross, 

Brechin,  and  Galloway.     The  nobles  concurred  in  propos- 

ing soothing  remedies,  Lorn  spoke  freely,  and  recommend- 

ed the  entire  abolition  of  the  hated  innovations  ;  Traquair  ^Jemdjf 

was  for  temporizing  ;  but  the  bishops  of  Ross  and  Brechin  8Ures  re- 

urged  to  strong  measures,  and  are  said  to  have  suggested  a  ™ 

scheme  for  raising  an  army  in  the  north,  sufficient  to  assert 

the  majesty  of  the  crown,  and  correct  the  insolence  of  the 

covenanters. 

xxxii.  Charles  hesitated,  and  while  he  did  so,  rumours 
reached  Scotland,  that  he  intended  again  to  attempt  divid- 
ing the  supplicants.  To  prevent  any  such  attempt,  by  de- 

VOL.  in.  3  N 


458  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  monstrating  its  hopelessness,  a  paper,  containing  eight  avti- 
^^'  cles  for  the  present  peace  of  the  kirk  and  kingdom  of  Scot-  | 
1638.  land,  signed  by  the  earls  of  Rothes,  Cassillis,  and  Montrose, 
was  sent  to  all  the  Scottish  nobility  who  were  in  London. 
Supplicants  In  it  their  original  demands  were  repeated,  but  the  recalling 
their^e-11  °^ tne  service-book  and  the  canons,  were  not  now  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  perfect  cure  for  the  present  evils,  nor  a  safe- 
guard for  the  future.  They  demanded  to  be  delivered  from 
the  court  of  high  commission,  as  from  a  yoke  and  burden 
which  they  felt  to  be  far  more  heavy  than  they  should  ever 
be  able  to  bear.  They  required  that  the  articles  of  Perth, 
which,  for  twenty  years  had  produced  only  divisions  in  the 
church,  troubles  in  the  kingdom,  and  jealousies  between  his 
majesty  and  his  subjects,  without  any  spiritual  profit  or  edi- 
fication, should  not  be  enforced.  Ministers  were  not  to  be 
allowed  to  sit  and  vote  in  parliament,  except  under  the  cave- 
ats formerly  enacted.  Unlawful  oaths,  which  only  exclude 
worthy,  conscientious,  and  qualified  persons  from  the  minis- 
try, while  they  open  a  door  to  others,  who,  for  base  objects, 
are  willing  to  subscribe  them,  were  desired  to  be  abolished. 
Lawful  assemblies  of  the  church  were  required  to  be  reviv- 
ed, and  regularly  held ;  and  a  free  parliament  assembled,  to 
redress  the  grievances,  and  remove  the  fears  of  the  nation, 
by  renewing  and  establishing  such  laws,  as  might  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  the  one,  or  tend  to  recall  the  other,  which, 
if  granted,  the  public  mind,  now  so  agitated,  might  be  easily 
pacified.  Nor  would  it  be  possible,  they  added,  as  a  con- 
cluding argument,  to  express  what  gratification  compliance 
would  afford  ;  all  their  tongues  and  pens  would  not  then  be 
able  to  represent  what  would  be  the  joyful  acclamations 
and  hearty  wishes  of  so  loyal  and  loving  a  people  for  his 
majesty's  happiness,  nor  how  heartily  bent  all  sorts  would 
be  found  to  bestow  their  fortunes  and  lives  on  his  majesty's 
service. 

xxxin.  While  the  bishops  were  either  absent  from  fear, 

Presbyte-    or  at  court,  several  of  the  presbyteries  ventured  to  exercise 

their  priri-  tne^r  ^ong  l°st  privileges  of  ordaining  ministers,  without  the 

leges.          presence  or  consent  of  the  bishops.     All  of  them  removed 

their  constant  moderators,  and  the  suspended  ministers  re- 


CHARLES  I.  459 

turned  to  their  charges,  which  the  intruders,  knowing  the   BOOK 
aversion  of  the  people,  and  dreading  their  vengeance,  had      VII> 
left  vacant.  1638. 

xxxiv.  It  was  not  to  be  expected,  during  a  time  when  the 
administration   of  justice  was  stopped,  the  courts  shut,  the 
judges  and  principal  officers  of  state  at  London,  and  the  whole 
country  in  a  ferment,  that  no  irregularities  should  occur,  in 
such  a  promiscuous  multitude  as  the  covenanters  ;  neither 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  did.     The  rabble,  in  seve-  Outrages 
ral  instances,  maltreated  the  clergymen  who  had  been  forci-  of  the  low- 
bly  thrust  into  charges  from  which  popular  ministers  had 
been  ejected,  or  who  laboured  under  any  violent  suspicion 
of  being  favourable  to  popery.     Mr.  John  Lindsay,  the  con- 
stant moderator  of  the  presbytery  of  Lanark,  was  severely 
handled ;  Dr.  Ogston  of  Collington,  who  used  to  cause  the 
people  answer  his  examination  before  the  sacrament  on  their 
knees,  and  besides,  lay  under  an  imputation  of  having  spo- 
ken favourably  of  the  virgin  Mary,  was  also  attacked ;  and 
Mr.  Hannah,  the  minister  of  Torphichen,  who  had  been  in- 
truded sorely  against  the  inclination  of  the  parishioners,  in 
place  of  Mr.  Livingston,  who  was  deprived,  received  some 
rude  marks  of  disapprobation  from  the  malecontents  of  his 
parish.     The  more  judicious  of  the  covenanters  lamented, 
but  could  not  always  prevent  these  outrages ;  yet,  wherever 
they  could,  they  interfered.     The  ministers  inveighed  against  Condemn- 
them  as  hurting  the  cause,  and  bringing  a  reproach  upon  ministers, 
the  whole  body,  and  the  magistrates  who  were  friendly,  ex-  &c. 
erted  themselves  strenuously  to  preserve  the  peace. 

xxxv.  Representations  of  these  occurrences  were  imme- 
diately despatched  to  London,  as  a  counterpart  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  presbyterians,  and  to  inflame  the  mind  of  his 
majesty  against  them.  They  produced,  however,  no  present 
effect,  as  the  king  had  previously  resolved  to  send  a  high 
commissioner  to  Scotland,  and  intrust  him  with  the  delicate 
task  of  composing  the  tumults,  without  compromising  the 
dignity  of  the  crown.  For  this  purpose  the  marquis  of  Ha-  Marquis 

milton  was  made  choice  of,  as  being  unconnected  with  either  Hamilton 
•  f          1 1  •  i  i          i  •          appointed 

party,  of  extensive  influence  from  his  wealth  and  connexions,  commis- 

conciliatory  in  his  manners,  and  regarded  rather  favourably  Sloncr- 
by  the  covenanters,  although  his  father  had  carried  the  ar- 


460  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  tides  of  Perth  through  parliament.  When  he  had  with  dif- 
ficulty  been  prevailed  upon  to  accept  of  the  arduous  envied 
1638.  appointment,  the  Scottish  bishops,  and  the  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  were  called  to  a  cabinet  meeting,  and  introduced 
to  his  lordship,  as  the  high  commissioner  his  majesty  intend- 
ed to  despatch  to  Scotland.  The  marquis  desired  to  know 
what  the  bishops  expected  him  to  be  able  to  effect.  They 
answered,  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  the  good  of  the 
church.  For  this,  he  said,  their  assistance  would  be  requir- 
ed at  their  posts,  to  reclaim  such  of  the  ministry  as  had  once 
conformed.  But  they  replied  their  influence  was  gone,  and 
they  could  not  return  to  Scotland  without  danger ;  they 
therefore  wished  to  be  permitted  for  the  present  to  remain 
in  London.  Laud  strongly  opposed  this,  and  the  marquis 
having  promised  to  protect  them  as  far  as  in  his  power,  they 
were  constrained  to  comply.  The  king,  at  the  same  time, 
urged  upon  them  the  necessity  of  residing  each  on  his  own 
diocess,  and  by  their  attention,  endeavouring  to  engage  the  af- 
fections of  the  people,  and  subdue  their  aversion  to  the  epis- 
copalian form  of  the  church,  which,  however  modified  to  ob- 
tain present  tranquillity,  he  had  no  intention  to  relinquish. 
On  the  10th  May,  the  king  acquainted  the  Scottish  privy 
council  with  his  commission  to  Hamilton,  and  ordered  all 
the  members  to  assemble  at  Dalkeith,  June  6th,  to  receive 
him.  The  marquis  himself  wrote  to  the  chief  nobility  and 
gentry,  to  meet  him  at  Haddington  on  the  day  before,  and 
accompany  him  to  the  place  where  he  was  to  enter  upon 
office. 

xxxvi.  At  length  the  commissioner  left  London,  nearly 
three  months  after  the  covenant  had  been  signed,  and  the 
authority  of  the  tables  acknowledged  throughout  the  coun- 
His  in-  try  ;  yet  he  carried  with  him  instructions  to  insist  upon  the 
structions.  relinquishment  of  this  bond,  and  the  disunion  of  the  sub- 
scribers, as  preliminary  to  any  concessions  on  the  part  of 
the  crown.  Spots  wood  had  in  vain  attempted  to  persuade 
his  majesty  not  to  require  the  nation's  publicly  renouncing 
what  they  had  so  lately  sworn  to  observe,  but  the  king  was 
inflexible ;  he  would  hear  of  no  compromise,  and  declared, 
"  that  as  long  as  that  covenant  was  not  passed  from,  he  had 
no  more  power  than  the  duke  of  Venice." 


CHARLES  I.  461 

xxxvn.  Hamilton  was  met  at  Berwick  by  the  earl  of  BOOK 
Roxburgh,  who  informed  him  of  the  agitated  state  of  the  ^H- 
country,  and  the  impossibility  of  quieting  it  without  the  163g> 
most  ample  concessions.  Instead  of  being  welcomed  at 
Haddington  by  a  large  concourse  of  the  nobility  and  gen- 
try, he  was  waited  upon  by  the  earl  of  Lauderdale  and  lord 
Lindsay,  with  an  apology.  The  nature  of  his  commission 
had  transpired,  and  the  leaders — who  suspected  attempts 
would  be  made,  either  by  allurements  or  terror,  to  induce 
part  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  concessions,  and  dreaded  that 
if  they  separated,  the  train  of  the  commissioner,  swelled 
by  the  accession  of  their  friends,  would  have  an  imposing 
appearance,  whilst  their  own  diminished  body  would  give  His  cold 
some  plausibility  to  the  representations  of  their  enemies,  reception 
that  they  were  few  in  number,  and  contemptible  in  rank — 
after  mature  deliberation  determined,  that  it  would  be  im- 
proper for  adherents  of  the  public  cause,  either  to  attend 
upon  the  commissioner,  or  such  nobles  as  had  not  subscrib- 
ed the  covenant,  lest  this  should  serve  to  confirm  the  false 
impressions  they  might  have  received,  of  the  lukewarmness, 
or  want  of  constancy  in  any  of  the  covenanters ;  and  so  im- 
plicitly were  the  injunctions  of  the  tables  revered,  that  not 
even  his  own  vassals  in  Clydesdale  would  venture  to  infringe 
them.  His  grace  arrived,  disappointed  and  chagrined,  at 
Dalkeith ;  but  a  second  deputation,  at  the  head  of  which 
was  Rothes,  being  sent  to  congratulate  him  on  his  arrival, 
the  plausible  excuses,  aided  by  the  insinuating  manners  of 
the  earl,  tended  greatly  to  efface  the  ill  humour  occasioned 
by  the  apparent  neglect.  An  incident  which  occurred  a  few 
days  before,  and  had  very  nearly  raised  a  tumult,  had  also 
some  influence  in  exciting  suspicions  respecting  the  mis- 
sion of  the  marquis,  and  determining  him  at  first  not  to  en- 
ter the  capital. 

xxxviii.  Upon  a  representation  made  at  court,  that  the  no- 
blemen had  provided  their  houses  with  arms  and  ammunition, 
while  the  king's  castles  were  almost  destitute,  the  treasurer 
employed  a  vessel  to  convey  to  Leith  a  quantity  of  military  Arrival  of 

stores.     She  had  scarcely  anchored  in  the  roads,  when  an  milit»ry 
.  •..  ,  i         .        stores  at 

alarm  was  immediately  given,  and  her  arrival  at  the  time  Leith. 

that  the  commissioner  was  just  expected,  gave  rise  to  a 


462  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    number  of  distracting  reports.     It  was  the  sole  subject  of 
^**'       conversation  in  the  town,  and  so  apprehensive  were  the  in- 
1638.      habitants  of  the  measures  of  government,  that  it  was  propos- 
ed to  proceed  and  seize   the  vessel.     Traquair,    however, 
suspecting  some  sinister  design,  ordered  the  whole  to  be 
privately  transported  to  Dalkeith.     The  tables,  when  they 
understood  this,  summoned  the  captain  of  the  vessel  before 
them,   when  he  underwent  several  examinations,  and  the 
zeal  of  the  people  was  marked  by  a  circumstance  which  mus 
have  effectually  secured  the  wavering  attachment  of  many 
doubtful  character  ;    the    captain's    answers    at   first   wer 
haughty,  but  as  soon  as  his  contumacy  was  known,  all  hi 
bonds  were  immediately  presented  by  his  creditors,  and  pay 
ment  demanded,  on  which  he  subscribed  the  covenant  with 
out  delay,  and  a  number  of  friends  then  stepped  forward,  am 
saved  his  tottering  credit. 

xxxix.  Traquair,  who  was  accused,  by  report,  of  a  ridi 
culous  plot  to  blow  up  the  tables  when  they  should  assembl 
at  Dalkeith,  easily  exculpated  himself  from  so  foolish 
charge,  but  acknowledged  that  he  had  advised  the  supply 
ing  of  Edinburgh  castle ;  only  on  being  warned  by  some  no 
blemen  and  gentlemen,  that  a  determination  was  formed  t 
seize  the  cargo  if  carried  thither,  he  thought  it  more  advisa 
ble  to  send  it  to  Dalkeith,  in  order  to  avoid  giving  occasioi 
for  any  riot  that  might  widen  the  breach,  or  present  nev 
obstacles  to  a  reconciliation.  The  treasurer's  explanatioi 
was  not  altogether  satisfactory  to  the  violent  among  th< 
citizens,  who  insisted  upon  marching  instantly  to  Dalkeith 
and  seizing  the  stores.  More  moderate,  but  not  less  decisiv 
Covenant-  measures  were  adopted ;  the  castle  was  blockaded,  anc 
ade  the  "  guards  set  upon  the  gates  of  the  city,  by  which  all  supplie 
castle.  were  cut  off  from  the  fortress ;  and  in  this  state  almost  o 
siege,  was  the  metropolis  placed,  when  the  king's  high  com 
missioner  arrived  in  the  neighbourhood. 

XL.  Scarcely  was  the  privy  council  less  divided  than  th< 
kingdom ;  the  majority  were  in  favour  of  the  covenanters 
and  the  illegality  of  the  king's  projects  and  measures  was 
so  flagrant,  that  his  own  advocate  could  not  defend  their 
at  the  council  board.  Hamilton,  who  had  intermeddlec 
little  with  Scottish  affairs,  was  involved  in  the  utmost  per 


CHARLES.  I.  463 

plexity.     He  found  an  opposition  which  it  was  impossible    BOOK 
to  break  or  bend,  and  for  meeting  which  his  instructions      VI1> 
were  wholly  inadequate.      He  immediately  acquainted  the     ]638 
king  with  the  unpromising   appearance  of  the  country,  and  Hamilton's 
the  hopelessness  of  his  mission ;  informed  him  that  twenty-  ^n*™ 
three   thousand  men   were  in  arms    near   the  capital,    and 
advised  him  secretly  to  advance  his  military  preparations, 
as  he  saw  no  prospect  of  reducing  the  rebels  but  by  force, 
or  acceding  entirely  to  their  demands.     In  the  meanwhile, 
from  the  disposition  of  the  people,  he  found  it  would  be  , 
imprudent  to  follow  that  part  of  his  instructions,  requir-  His  advice 
ing  the  renunciation   of  the  covenant.      He  added,  if  his  to  the  king> 
majesty  meant  to  follow  his  first  alternative,  and  enforce 
obedience,  he  should  instantly  despatch  his  fleet  with  two 
thousand  land  soldiers,  and  send  down  arms  for  the  north- 
ern counties  ;  garrison   Berwick  with  fifteen  hundred,  and 
Carlisle   with    five    hundred    men,    and  resolve  himself  to 
follow  with  an  army ;  but  suggested  how  far  in  his  wisdom 
it    might   not  be  proper,   rather   in  mercy,   to  connive  at 
the  folly  of  his  poor  people,  than  in  justice  to  punish  their 
madness. 

XLI.  After  the  council  broke  up  at  Dalkeith,  the  commis- 
sioner received  addresses,  inviting  him  to  reside  in  Holyrood- 
house ;  but  he  declined  entering  a  town,  the  gates  of  which 
were  guarded,  and  whose  castle  was  beset  with  armed  men. 
This  difficulty,  however,  was  surmounted  chiefly  by  means 
of  the  lord  Lorn,  who  procured  the  dismissal  of  the  pub- 
lic watch,  and  persuaded  the  covenanters  to  receive  him 
with  every  mark  of  distinction  they  could  have  shown  to 
royalty  itself.  The  arrangements  for  his  public  entry  were 
upon  the  most  extensive  scale,  calculated  to  exhibit  in  im- 
posing array  the  strength  of  the  covenanters.  An  immense 
number  of  nobility,  gentry,  and  commoners,  from  all  the  dif- 
ferent shires,  lined  the  road  leading  to  Leith ;  upwards  of 
five  hundred  ministers  in  their  black  cloaks,  were  stationed  His  recep. 
by  themselves  on  a  conspicuous  eminence  in  the  links,  and  ^"rV^* 
the  magistrates  and  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  waited  to  re- 
ceive him  at  the  Watergate.  A  promiscuous  crowd  of  wo- 
men, children,  and  stragglers,  increased  the  show,  and  the 
congregated  multitude  was,  by  a  loose  calculation,  estimated 


464  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  at  about  sixty  thousand,  a  greater  number  of  people  than 
the  nation  had  seen  collected  in  the  city  during  more  than  a 
1638.  century.*  Wherever  he  appeared,  the  commissioner  heard, 
on  every  side,  earnest  and  loud  prayers  for  the  preservation 
of  the  liberties  and  religion  of  the  country,  which  moved 
him  even  to  tears ;  and  he  expressed  his  earnest  wish,  that 
king  Charles  himself  had  been  a  witness  of  the  scene.  He 
declined,  however,  to  listen  to  harangues  which  the  ministers 
had  prepared  to  deliver  as  he  passed,  and  politely  apologizec 
to  Mr.  William  Livingston,  "  the  strongest  in  voice  and  au- 
sterest  in  countenance  of  the  whole,"  who  had  been  appoint 
ed  to  pronounce  the  introductory  oration,  for  not  stopping 
in  his  progress  ;  "  the  honour  of  such  addresses  being,"  he 
said,  "  more  adapted  to  the  rank  of  a  prince,  than  suitable 
for  the  station  of  a  subject." 

XLII.  His  grace's  courteous  manners  and  winning  address 
gained  upon  the  covenanters,  and  for  some  days  there  was 
the  greatest  show  of  cordiality.  At  his  request,  the  mul- 
titude were  dismissed,  and  frequent  conferences  took  place 
between  him  and  the  leading  commissioners  who  remain 

His  confer.  e(j.     Jn  these  he  used  all  his  art.  by  flattering:  promises 

ences  with  . 

the  coven-  to  gain  at  least  some  of  them  over  to  his  purpose,  and  thej 

anters.  endeavoured  to  draw  from  him  some  explicit  declaration 
in  favour  of  their  demands  ;  but  neither  were  successful 
The  commissioner,  in  the  course  of  their  discussions,  ob 
served,  that  all  the  laws  for  forty  years  back,  were  agains 
the  covenanters.  The  others  replied,  they  were  foundec 
Upon  the  ruins  of  the  reforming  laws ;  had  been  obtained  b 
cunning  and  violence,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  na 
tion ;  were  destructive  to  religion,  subversive  of  liberty,  anc 
the  chief  causes  of  their  complaints.  He,  at  another  time 
offered  in  the  king's  name,  to  refrain  from  pressing  the  ca- 
nons and  liturgy,  unless  in  a  legal  manner,  and  remove  what 
ever  was  objectionable  in  the  high  commission  court,  by 
the  assistance  of  his  council,  but  required  the  surrender  o 

They  re-     fae  covenant  as  a  preliminary.     This  proposition  was  Us- 

(use  tosur-  ,.    ,   .  i  '•  •  i    i 

render  the    teneu  to  with  disdain,  and  the  universal  declaration  was,  thai 
covenant,     j^gy  wou](j  as  soon  renOunce  their  baptism   as  the  covenant 

*  Bin-net's  Memoirs,  p.  54.     Baillie's  Letters,  pp.  60,  61. 


CHARLES  I.  463 

XLIII.  The  deputies,   perceiving  that  the  powers  of  Ha-    BOOK 
milton  were  exceedingly  limited,  presented  as  their  ultima-      ^U- 


turn,  a  supplication  for  a  free  general  assembly,  and  for  a     1638. 
parliament  to  ratify  their  enactments :  and  as  a  stimulus  to  P".8611' . 

.     .  J  .        ,         ,  their  ulti- 

the  commissioner,  circulated  privately  a  paper,  intended  as  matum. 
a  demi-official  statement  of  their  demands,  and  containing 
pretty  intelligible  hints  of  their  determination  in  case  of  a  re- 
fusal. Their  grievances  were  declared  co-extensive  with  the 
kingdom,  so  must  their  remedy  be;  and  this  a  free  general 
assembly  and  parliament  were  only  able  to  effect  and  secure ; 
and  at  the  close,  two  portentous  queries  were  started,  "  If 
delay  were  used,  it  was  desired,  that  advice  might  be  sought 
concerning  the  power  of  calling  a  general  assembly,  how 
they  should  in  the  mean  time  behave  with  respect  to  contro- 
verted points,  and  that  some  lawful  course  might  be  thought 
upon,  how  justice  might  have  free  course,  and  frauds  be  pre- 
vented ?  And  if  violence  were  used  for  enforcing  obedience, 
that  a  committee  should  be  chosen  to  consider  what  was  fit 
and  lawful  to  be  done,  for  the  defence  of  their  religion,  laws, 
and  liberties  ?"  They  were  probably  induced  to  adopt  this 
resolute  mode  of  proceeding,  and  to  follow  it  up  by  steps 
equally  firm,  in  consequence  of  some  of  the  commissioners 
appearing  inclined  to  admit  an  alteration  in  the  covenant. 

XLIV.  The  marquis,  whose  object  now  was  to  gain  time, 
promised  an  answer  in  a  few  days ;  and  to  sooth  the  appli- 
cants in  the  interval,  attended  the  sermons,  and  held  private 
interviews  with  Mr.  Alexander  Henderson ;  but  when  the 
set  time  arrived,  they  found  that  he  was  restricted  by  the 
king's  declaration,  which  he  proposed  to  proclaim.  This  He  propose* 
they  considered  as  a  mockery,  and  plainly  told  him,  if  he  l°  publish 

i  i  •  u  u  *  e  king  s 

persisted  in  publishing  that  proclamation,  they  would  meet  declaration, 
it  by  a  protest,  assigning  as  their  reasons,  their  determination 
to  preserve  their  right  of  being  heard  ;  which  if  they  did  not 
exercise,  they  would  appear  to  condemn  all  former  protesta- 
tions, and  weaken  the  adherence  of  numbers  to  their  cause, 
besides  allowing  to  proclamations,  the  force  of  laws,  by  ac- 
cepting as  a  royal  favour,  remedies  which  could  only  be  le- 
gally granted  by  act  of  parliament.  A  protestation,  too,  was 
a  dutiful  forewarning  of  the  king  and  his  commissioner  of 
their  desires,  and  the  lawful  remedies  required;  of  thebene- 
VOL.  in.  3  o 


466  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  fits  of  granting,  and  the  hurtful  consequences  which  might 
arise  from  refusing  them  ;  a  vindication  of  their  conduct  to 
1638.  foreign  nations  ;  a  legal  introduction  to  lawful  defence,  and 
termer  e"  a  necessary  preface  to  any  future  declaration  which  necessity 
protest.  might  wring  from  them.  Above  all,  it  was  a  public  way  of 
thanking  his  majesty  for  his  public  favour  in  the  concessions 
he  had  made ;  and  as  they  declined  the  authority  of  the 
council  till  the  bishops  were  removed,  and  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  declaration  of  the  commissioner,  it  was  necessary  to 
preserve  their  recourse  and  immediate  address  to  his  majesty 
himself,  by  new  supplications  and  remonstrances.  These 
reasons  had  no  weight  with  Hamilton  ;  he  told  them  he  was 
resolved  to  see  his  royal  master  obeyed,  that  he  would  attend 
himself,  and  support  the  heralds  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty,  and  whoever  dared  to  protest,  he  would  denounce  them 
rebels. 

XLV.  The  covenanters,  thus  apprized,  were  on  the  alert ; 
and  when,  in  two  days  after,  they  perceived  preparations 
making  at  the  cross  for  publishing  the  declaration,  they  caused 
a  scaffold  to  be  erected  for  the  protesters  ;  and  in  an  incon- 
ceivably short  space,  a  numerous  guard  of  gentlemen,  and  of 
the  chief  burgesses,  collected  to  secure  them  against  any 
sudden  attack.  The  determined  front  of  the  assemblage  in- 
formed the  commissioner,  that  it  would  be  his  most  prudent 
plan  to  delay  the  promulgation  of  the  royal  edict.  He 
therefore  ordered  the  heralds  to  retire,  abandoned  the  de- 
sign for  the  present,  and  once  more  resorted  to  conciliatory 
overtures.  He  intimated  that  their  request  for  a  free  par- 
liament and  assembly  should  be  granted,  only  he  required 
His  concili-  to  be  satisfied  that  the  clause  in  the  covenant  for  mutual  de- 
atory  over-  fence  did  not  authorize  resistance  to  his  lawful  authority. 

tures.          . 

The  objection  was  by  some  deemed  vexatious,  and  intended 
merely  to  create  delay  and  discussion ;  but  in  order  to  avoid 
even  a  shadow  of  misrepresentation,  they  agreed  to  an  ex- 
planation, full,  clear,  and  impressive.  "  They  declared  be- 
fore God  and  men,  that  they  were  heartily  grieved  and  sor- 
ry that  any  good  man,  and,  most  of  all,  their  sovereign, 
should  entertain  such  misconceptions  respecting  their  pro- 
ceedings ;  that  they  were  so  far  from  the  thought  of  with- 
drawing themselves  from  their  dutiful  subjection  and  obedi- 


,  CHARLES  I.  467 

ence  to  his  majesty's  government,  that  they  had  no  intention    BOOK 
or  desire  to  attempt  any  thing  that  might  tend  tothedishon-      ^- 
our  of  God,  or  to  the  diminution  of  the  king's  greatness  and      1638. 
authority :    but,  on  the  contrary,   they   acknowledge  their  Declara- 

,  .7.  -,  ,     ,  tionof  the 

quietness,  stability,  and  happiness,  depended  upon  the  safety  covenant- 
of  the  king's  majesty,  as  upon  God's  vicegerent,  set  over ers> 
them  for  maintenance  of  religion  and  administration  of  jus- 
tice; that  they  had  solemnly  engaged  not  only  their  mutual 
concurrence  and  assistance  for  the  cause  of  religion,  but  also 
to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  with  their  means  and  lives,  to 
stand  to  the  defence  of  their  dread  sovereign,  his  person  and 
authority,  as  well  as  the  preservation  and  defence  of  true  re- 
ligion, laws,  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  they  did 
most  humbly  beseech  his  grace  to  esteem  their  confession  of 
faith  and  covenant  to  have  been  intended,  and  to  be  the 
largest  testimony  they  could  give  of  their  fidelity  to  God, 
and  loyalty  to  their  king ;  and  that  hindrance  being  remov- 
ed, they  do  again  supplicate  for  a  free  assembly  and  parlia- 
ment to  redress  all  their  grievances,  settle  the  peace  of  the 
church  and  kingdom,  and  procure  that  cheerful  obedience 
which  ought  to  be  rendered  to  his  majesty,  carrying  with  it 
the  offer  of  their  fortunes,  and  best  endeavours  for  his  ma- 
jesty's honour  and  happiness,  and  a  real  testimony  of  their 
thankfulness." 

XLVJ.  Such  an  explanation,  it  might  have  been  expected, 
should  have  proved  entirely  satisfactory,  and  it  would  so,  had 
the  objection  been  sincere;  but  the  commissioner  alleged 
his  apprehensions,  that  it  would  not  fully  content  the  king, 
as  his  powers  did  not  enable  him  to  gratify  them.    He  there-  Hepropos- 
fore  proposed  to  proceed  to  court,  to  communicate  personally  es  to8?  to 
to  his  majesty  the  information  he  had  collected  in  Scotland,  further  in- 
and  obtain  fuller  instructions,  and  more  ample  powers ;  to 8trnctions- 
which   the  deputies  assented,  and  it  was  mutually  stipulated 
that  no  alteration  should  take  place  till  his  return. 

XLVII.  Matters  thus  settled,  the  covenanters,  relying  upon 
the  immediate  departure  of  the  marquis,  separated  and  re- 
turned home ;  but  he  did  not  intend  to  leave  the  country 
without  first  publishing  the  king's  declaration.  On  Saturday, 
June  30,  1638,  he  went  to  the  cross,  and  a  number  who  still  Hi*  deceit, 
lingered  about  town,  assembled  at  the  first  rumour  of  a  pro-  fulcondurt- 


468  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK     clamation,  and  came  prepared  to  protest.     This  he  had  ex- 
VII-      pected,  and,   to  their  agreeable  disappointment,  they  found 
that  it  was  to  announce  the  return  of  the  courts  of  justice  to 
Edinburgh.     Next  day  he  set  out  apparently  upon  his  jour- 
ney, and  proceeded  the  length  of  Tranent,  where  he  heard 
sermon ;  whence  returning  unexpectedly,  he  caused  the  pro- 
Clandes-     clamation  be  published  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh,  expecting, 
lishes  the    by  his  previous  manoeuvre,  to  have  lulled  suspicion,  and  pre- 
declara-      vented  interruption.     He   was   met,   however,  by  a  protest 
from  the  vigilant  tables ;  and  unless  the  nobles,  whose  ab- 
The  tables  sence  he  had  reckoned  on,  had  interfered,  a  serious  riot 
protest-       might  have  ensued,  in  consequence  of  the  indiscreet  zeal  of 
some  of  the  prelates,  who,  from  an  obscure,  adjoining  win- 
dow, upbraided  the  readers  of  the  protest  as  rebels. 

XLVIII.  From  the  moment  Hamilton  entered  Scotland,  he 
seems  to  have  been  aware  of  the  combustible  materials  by 
which  he  was  surrounded,  and  does  not  appear  to  have  con- 
cealed the  extent  of  the  danger  from  the  king;  but  the  child- 
ish obstinacy  of  Charles,  and  the  false  ideas  he  entertained 
of  honour,  prevented  him  from  yielding  to  the  reasonable 
desires  of  his  subjects,  and  led  him  to  embrace  a  line  of 
conduct,  at  once  mean,  false,  and  deceitful.  It  is  perfectly 
evident  that  whatever  concessions  he  authorized  his  com- 
missioner to  make,  from  the  first  he  never  intended  to  ob- 
serve them  ;  and  this  is  not  the  suspicions  of  his  enemies, 
his  own  letters  bear  testimony  to  his  insincerity.  In  his 
first  despatch  to  Hamilton  he  speaks  plainly : — "  Though  I 
answered  not  yours  of  the  4th,  yet  I  assure  you  I  have  not 
been  idle,  so  that  I  hope  by  the  next  week  I  shall  send  you 
some  good  assurance  of  the  advancing  of  our  preparations. 
This  I  say  not  to  make  you  precipitate  any  thing — for  I 
like  of  all  you  have  hitherto  done,  and  even  of  that  which 
I  find  you  mind  to  do — but  to  show  you  that  I  mean  to  stick 
to  my  grounds,  and  that  I  expect  not  any  thing  can  re- 
duce that  people  to  their  obedience  but  only  force."  "  As 
for  the  dividing  of  my  declaration,  I  find  it  most  fit — in 
Duplicity  that  way  you  have  resolved  it — to  which  I  shall  add,  that  I 
"ng'  am  content  to  forbear  the  latter  part  thereof,  until  you  hear 
my  fleet  hath  set  sail  for  Scotland.  In  the  mean  time,  your 
care  must  be  how  to  dissolve  the  multitude,  and  if  it  be  pos- 


CHARLES  I.  469 

sible,  obtain  possession  of  my  castles  of  Edinburgh  and  Stir-  BOOK 
ling,  which  I  do  not  expect.  And  to  this  end  I  give  you 
leave  to  flatter  them  with  what  hopes  you  please,  so  that  1638. 
you  engage  not  me  against  my  grounds — and  in  particular, 
that  you  consent  neither  to  the  calling  of  parliament  nor  ge- 
neral assembly,  until  the  covenant  be  disavowed  and  given 
up — your  chief  end  being  now  to  win  time,  that  they  may 
not  commit  public  follies,  until  I  be  ready  to  suppress 
them  ;  and  since  it  is,  as  you  well  observe,  my  own  people 
which  by  this  means  will  be  for  a  time  ruined,  so  that  the 
loss  must  be  inevitably  mine ;  and  this  if  I  could  eschew — 
were  it  not  with  a  greater — were  well ;  but  when  I  consider, 
not  only  now  my  crown,  but  my  reputation  for  ever  lies 
at  stake,  I  must  rather  suffer  the  first,  that  time  will  help, 
than  this  last,  which  is  irreparable.  This  I  have  written 
to  no  other  end  than  to  show  you,  I  will  rather  die  than 
yield  to  these  impertinent  and  damnable  demands,  as  you 
rightly  call  them  ;  for  it  is  all  one  as  to  yield  to  be  no  king 
in  a  very  short  time."  In  a  postscript  he  adds  ; — "  As  af- 
fairs are  now,  I  do  not  expect  that  you  should  declare  the 
adherents  to  the  covenant,  traitors,  until  you  have  heard 
from  me,  that  my  fleet  hath  set  sail  for  Scotland.  In  a  word, 
gain  time  by  all  the  honest  means  you  can,  without  forsak- 
ing your  grounds." 

XLIX.  When  the  multitudes  began  to  disperse,  and  the 
commissioner   had  some  hope  of  an  amicable  adjustment, 
he  wrote  Charles  to  suspend  his  warlike  preparations.     The  Hamilton 
answer,  June  13th,  is  insidious,  and  demonstrates  how  un-  guJ1^;^6 
safe  it  would  have  been  to  have  placed  the  smallest  reliance  of  warlike 
on  any  agreement  with  the  king,  without  some  open,  legal  Jfo^ra 
guard,  against  his  duplicity  and  revenge.*     "  I  shall,"  says 
he,  "  take  your  advice  in  staying  the  public  preparations  for 
force ;  but,  in  a  silent  way — by  your  leave — I  will  not  leave 
to  prepare,  that  I  may  be  ready  upon  the  least  advertise- 
ment.    Now  I  hope  there  may  be  a  possibility  of  securing  The  king'* 
my  castles,   but  I  confess  it  must  be  done  closely  and  cun- 
ningly."     Then  follows  a  direction  for  the  marquis  to  obtain 
— he  does  not  say  by  what  means — an  opinion  from  the  law- 

•  Burnet's  Memoirs,  p.  57. 


470 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VII. 

1638. 


Hamilton 
recom- 
mends  an 
accommo- 
dation. 


Charles 
persists  in 
using  force 


yers  that  the  covenant  was  illegal,  which  would  have  laid  the! 
subscribers  at  his  feet ;  and  the  use  he  would  have  made  of] 
his  power  may  be  fairly  inferred  from  his  treatment  of  Bal- 
merino.  "  One  of  the  chief  things  you  are  to  labour  now  is, 
to  get  a  considerable  number  of  sessioners  and  advocates  to 
give  their  opinion,  that  the  covenant  is  at  least  against  law, 
if  not  treasonable."  The  favourable  appearances,  however, 
growing  less  encouraging,  Hamilon,  who  strictly  adhered 
to  the  will  of  his  master,  requested  a  warrant  from  Charles 
to  bring  back  the  court  of  session  to  the  capital ;  because  se- 
veral of  the  covenanters  being  involved  in  their  circum- 
stances, he  hoped,  by  means  of  the  suits  that  would  be  rais- 
ed against  them,  to  drive  away  some  of  the  most  trouble- 
some ;  but  chiefly  the  settling  of  the  court  again  in  Edin- 
burgh, looked  like  a  resolution  of  going  on  with  a  treaty,  ol 
which  it  was  fit  they  should  be  persuaded,  till  the  king  were 
in  a  good  posture  for  reducing  them. 

L.  Toward  the  close  of  the  month,  Hamilton,  who  saw  no 
hope  of  prevailing  with  the  college  of  justice,  judges,  or  law- 
yers, to  pronounce  the  covenant  either  seditious  or  treason- 
able ;  that  almost  all  the  privy  council  favoured  it,  and  that 
the  nation  were  nearly  unanimous,  represented  to  his  majesty  ; 
— that  if  he  would  admit  of  the  explanation  given  by  the  cove- 
nanters, every  thing  might  be  settled  without  more  trouble, 
either  to  the  king  or  country  ;  but  otherwise,  it  must  terminate 
in  blood.  He  desired  his  majesty  to  consider  well  before  he 
adopted  the  alternative,  and  if  he  unhappily  chose  war,  t( 
see  that  his  preparations  were  complete  before  he  hazardec 
a  rupture,  lest,  if  the  others  had  the  start,  all  his  faithful  ser- 
vants in  Scotland  would  be  ruined  ere  he  could  come  to  theii 
rescue ;  reminded  him  of  the  discontents  in  England,  and  th 
strong  probability  that  the  disaffected  there  would  join  th 
Scots,  whose  resolution  he  understood  it  was,  on  the  fi 
signal,  to  march  into  that  country,  and  make  it  the  seat 
war.  Charles'  reply  marks  the  value  he  set  upon  the  peac 
of  the  country  or  the  blood  of  his  subjects,  when  placed  ii 
opposition  to  the  gratification  of  his  despotic  temper.  "  My 
train  of  artillery,  consisting  of  forty  piece  of  ordnance,  with 
the  apurtenances,  all  Drakes — half  and  more  of  which  are  to 
be  drawn  with  one  or  two  horses  apiece — is  in  good  forward 


CHARLES  I.  471 

ness,  and  I  hope  will  be  ready  within  six  weeks  ;  fot   I  am    BOOK 
sure  there  wants  neither  money  nor  materials  to  do  it  with.       ^11- 
1  have  taken  as  good  order  as  I  can  for  the  present  for  se-     i63rf. 
curing  of  Carlisle  and  Berwick  ;  but  of  this  you  shall  have 
more  certainty  by  my  next.     I  have  sent  for  arms  to  Hol- 
land, for  fourteen  thousand  foot,  and  two  thousand  horse ; 
for  my  ships  they  are  ready,  and  I  have  given  order  to  send 
three  for  the  coast  of  Ireland  immediately,  under  pretence 
to  defend  our  fishermen.     Last  of  all,  which  is,  indeed,  most . 
of  all,  I  have  consulted  with  the  treasurer  and  chancellor  of 
the  exchequer  for  money  for  this  year's  expedition,  which  I 
estimate  at  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling,   which 
they  doubt  not  but  to  furnish  me.     More  I  have  done,  but 
these  are  the  chief  heads."     After  asking  Hamilton's  advice 
about  the  number  of  men  necessary  to  be  sent  with  the  fleet 
to  the  Forth,  about  seizing  and  fortifying  Leith,  and  ren- 
dering the  guns  in  the  castle  unserviceable,  he  adds : — "Thus 
you  may  see  that  I  intend  not  to  yield  to  the  demands  of 
these  traitors,  the  covenanters." 

LI.  The  marquis,  still  averse  to  involving  Scotland  in  a  ci-  Hamilton 

i  •  •     i     i      i  /-M       i          i      presses  for 

vil  war  at  this  period,  had  again  pressed  upon  Charles  the  pfcaceab]p 
great  hazards  he  apprehended  from  a  breach,  and  his  doubts  measures, 
with  regard  to  the  hearty  aid  of  the  English,  repeated  the  re- 
quests of  the  supplicants,  and  gave  at  length  their  explana- 
tion respecting  the  clause  for  mutual  defence.  To  which  he 
received  for  reply  : — "  There  be  two  things  in  your  letter 
that  require  answer,  viz.  the  answer  to  their  petition,  and 
concerning  the  explanation  of  their  damnable  covenant ; 
for  the  first,  telling  you  that  I  have  not  changed  my  mind 
in  this  particular,  is  answer  sufficient ;"  "  for  the  other,  ] 
will  only  say,  that  so  long  as  this  covenant  is  in  force,  whe- 
ther it  be  with  or  without  explanation,  I  have  no  more 
power  in  Scotland  than  as  a  duke  of  Venice,  which  I  will  Jhe  kin" 

determines 

rather  die  than  suffer;  yet  I  commend  the  giving  ear  to  on  war. 
the  explanation,  or  any  thing  else  to  win  time."  "  Lastly, 
my  resolution  is  to  come  myself  in  person,  accompanied 
like  myself;  sea  forces,  nor  Ireland  shall  not  be  forgotten." 
On  receiving  this  last  despatch,  the  commissioner  resolved 
to  proceed  instantly  to  London,  to  communicate  more  free- 
ly with  the  king  on  the  state  of  affairs  than  he  could  do 


472  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    by   letter  ;  to  ascertain  in   what  state  of  forwardness    the 
king's  preparations  were ;  and  especially  to  devise  a  plan 


1638.      for  protracting  the  negotiations,  or  counterworking  the  co- 

proceeds^o  venanters  with  their  own  instruments,  by  projecting  a  royal 

London,     covenant. 

LII.  When  he  arrived  at  court,   he  hastened  to  acquaint 
the  king  with  the  strength  and  fury  of  the  covenanters,  of  the 

His  repre-  unsteadiness  of  a  majority  in  the  privy  council,  and  of  the 
Deceit  practised  upon  his  majesty,  by  representing  his  mi- 
litary preparations  in  England  as  in  a  state  of  great  for- 
wardness. Influenced  by  these  considerations,  the  king, 
with  the  advice  of  Laud,  after  several  days'  deliberation, 
resolved  to  adopt  the  suggestion  of  Hamilton  respecting  a 
king's  covenant,  to  enlarge  the  commissioner's  instructions, 
and  to  temporize  till  his  force  was  ready  to  act.  He  had  li- 
berty to  summon  a  general  assembly,  if  he  found  no  other 

The  in-      course  could  quiet  the  business  at  that  time ;  but,  if  possible, 

structions    to  del       it  till  the   ]st  of  November,  or  later  if  he  could, 
given  him.  * 

He  was  to  endeavour  to  procure  for  the  bishops,  seats  in  the 

assembly,  and  that  one  might  be  chosen  as  moderator.  If 
this  could  not  be  obtained,  he  was  to  protest  in  their  favour, 
as  also  against  their  abolition ;  but  he  was  to  acknowledge 
their  accountability  to  the  general  assembly  ;  and  if  any 
particular  charges  were  urged  against  the  bishop  of  St.  An- 
drews, or  any  of  the  others,  he  was  to  acquiesce  in  their  be- 
ing brought  to  trial.  He  was  to  agree  to  recall  the  liturgy, 
canons,  and  high  commission,  and  suspend  the  articles  of 
Perth  ;  but  the  concluding  article  of  the  instructions  throws 
an  air  of  insincerity  over  the  whole.  "  Notwithstanding  all 
these  instructions,  you  are  by  no  means  to  permit  a  present 
rupture  to  happen,  but  to  yield  any  thing,  though  unrea- 
sonable, rather  than  now  to  break."  And  some  injudicious 
letters,  which  were  sent  to  the  north,  gave  just  grounds  to 
the  covenanters  to  hesitate  before  they  trusted  to  any  partial 
concessions. 

LIU.  During  the  absence  of  the  commissioners,  the  tables 

sent  a  new  deputation  to  Aberdeen,  consisting  of  the  earls  of 

Aberdeen    Montrose  and  Kinghorn,  and  lord  Couper,  with  three  emi- 

•ofn  thVco  nent  ministers>  Alexander  Henderson,  David  Dickson,  and 

venanters.    Andrew  Cant,  to  make  another  effort  to  bring  over  that  city 


CHARLES  I.  473 

to  join  the  public  cause.     They  were  courteously  received    BOOK 
by  the  magistrates,  but  they  could  not  induce  them  to  sub-  , '__ 


scribe  the  covenant,  and  the  ministers  refused  to  suffer  them 
to  occupy  their  pulpits.  A  controversial  war  took  place,  and 
several  pamphlets  were  published  on  both  sides,  in  which 
the  Aberdonian  doctors  claimed  the  victory,  and  the  south- 
ern missionaries  could  produce  but  few  converts  to  evidence 
their  superiority  of  argument.  The  marquis  of  Huntly  re- 
ported the  triumph  of  the  northern  episcopalians  to  the  king,  The  king 
who  immediately,  and  at  the  unlucky  moment  when  he  was  theh-°con- 
apparently  authorizing  the  abolition  of  the  rites  and  cere-  duct- 
monies  against  which  the  covenanters  had  united,  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  provost  and  bailies,  and  another  to  the  doctors, 
thanking  them  for  their  conduct,  and  promising  them  his 
favour  and  protection  in  future.  The  marquis  of  Hamilton 
also  sent  them  a  letter  of  similar  import,  and  remitted  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling,  to  enable  them  to  defray  their  ex- 
penses of  printing. 

LIV.  The  commissioner,  at  his  return,  was  waited  upon  Hamilton 
by  deputies  from  the  tables,  to  learn  the  event  of  his  expedi-  re 
tion ;  to  whom,  after  he  had  consulted  with  the  council,  he 
announced  eleven  preliminary  demands,  necessary  to  be  set- 
tled before  he  could  call  a  general  assembly.     A  negotiation 
ensued,  when  he  reduced  his  conditions  to  two: — That  no  lay-  His  propo- 
man  should  have  voice  in  choosing  the  ministers  from  the  S1 
presbyteries  to  the  general  assembly,  nor  any  but  the  mini- 
stry of  the  same  presbytery ;  and  that  the  assembly  should 
not  determine  upon  any  thing  established  by  act  of  parlia-  Rejected 
ment,  otherwise  than  by  remonstrance,  or  petition  to  parlia-  J^JHteJ". 
ment.     With  these,  as  rendering  nugatory  every  purpose  for 
which  a  free  assembly  was  asked,  they  refused  to  comply ;  Who  re- 
and  tired  of  delays,  which  they  knew  were  only  intended  to  JU^,, 
weary  them  out,  they  avowed  their  determination  to  indict  a  assembly, 
free  assembly,  and  published  their  reasons. 

LV.  On  the  divine  right  of  presbyterian  church  government, 
and  the  consequent  high  ground  which  is  assumed  for  holding 
general  assemblies,  there  have  always  been  doubts.  The  acts 
of  parliament  are  more  incontrovertible ;  and  the  legality  of 
assemblies  meeting  themselves,  without  any  warrant  from  the 
king,  appears  to  be  pretty  plainly  implied  in  the  act  of  James 

VOL.   Ill  3  P 


474 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIL 

1638. 

Right  of 
the  church 
to  call  as- 
semblies. 


Asserted 
by  the  ta- 
bles. 


They  agree 
to  delay. 


VI.  1592,  which  was  a  restriction  on  their  former  acknow- 
ledged freedom  of  meeting;*  but  a  most  formidable  objection 
arose  from  the  principles  of  the  covenanters  themselves.  It 
was  allowed,  when  a  Christian  church  lived  under  an  un- 
christian magistrate,  heathen  or  popish,  assemblies  of  the 
church  might  be  kept — as  was  done  by  the  church  of  Scotland 
for  many  years — without  the  consent  of  the  magistrate  ;  but 
when  the  church  lives  under  a  Christian  ruler,  so  that  the 
church  and  commonwealth  make  but  one  corporation,  the  as- 
semblies of  the  church  must  depend  upon  theindiction  of  the 
prince  or  magistrate,  who  is  the  head  of  the  republic,  and 
principal  member  of  the  church.  The  tables  got  rid  of  this  by 
a  very  summary  process ;  they  allowed  the  right  of  calling 
general  assemblies  to  reside  in  a  Christian  prince,  but  if  he 
omitted  to  do  his  duty,  it  devolved  on  the  office-bearers  of 
the  church ;  and  as  to  his  forbidding  assemblies,  if  neces- 
sary for  promoting  the  union  of  the  body  of  Christ  or  re- 
moving heresies,  the  pastors  of  the  church,  when  the  indic- 
tion  of  the  prince  cannot  be  obtained,  are  bound,  as  they 
will  answer  to  Christ,  to  provide  that  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
public receive  no  detriment,  and  to  esteem  the  safety  of  the 
church  the  supreme  law. 

LVI.  Seeing  the  resolution  of  the  tables  to  indict  an  assem- 
bly was  immovable,  the  commissioner  again  had  recourse 
to  delay  ;  and  requested  that  it  might  be  put  off  till  he 
revisited  the  court,  in  order  to  solicit  his  majesty's  con- 
currence. The  ministers,  gentry,  and  burgesses,  were  for 
proceeding  forthwith  ;  but  were  induced,  by  the  intervention 
of  the  lords  Lorn  and  Rothes,  to  acquiesce  in  the  delay  till 


*  And  declaris  that  it  sail  be  lauchfull  to  the  kirk  and  ministers,  everie  zeir 
at  the  least,  and  oftner,  pro  re  nata,  as  occasion  and  necessitie  sail  require, 
to  bald  and  keepe  generall  assemblies  :  Providing  that  the  king's  majestic, 
his  commissioners,  with  them  to  be  appoynted  be  his  hienesse,  be  present  at 
ilk  generall  assemblie,  before  the  dissolving  thereof,  nominat  and  appoynt 
time  and  place,  quhen  and  quhair,  the  next  generall  assemblie  sail  be  halden ; 
and  in  case  neither  his  majestic  nor  his  said  commissioners  beis  present  for 
the  time,  in  that  town  quhair  the  said  generall  assemblie  beis  halden,  then, 
and  in  that  case,  it  sail  be  leisum  to  the  said  generall  assemblie  be  themselves, 
to  nominate  and  appoynt  time  and  place  quhair  the  nixt  generall  assemblie  of 
the  kirk  sail  be  keiped  and  halden,  as  they  have  been  in  use  to  do  thir  times 
by  past— Act,  James  VI.  1592. 


CHARLES   I.  475 

the  20th  September ;  on   condition  that  the  marquis  should    BOOK 
endeavour  to  obtain  from  the  king  an  assembly,  free,   both       ^^ 
as  to  the  members  of  which  it  should  consist,  and  the  sub-      1638. 
jects  of  which  it  should  take  cognizance;  a  warrant  to  meet 
speedily,  and  in  such  place  as  should  be  most  generally  con- 
venient ;  and  a  promise,  that  their  free  communication  with 
England  should  not  be  interrupted. 

Lvir.  The  marquis,  having  satisfied  them  with  regard  to 
these  articles,  took  his  departure.     He  stopped  a  night  on 
the  road  to  consult  with  the  earls  of  Traquair,  Roxburgh,  Conces- 
and  Southesk,  who,  coinciding  with  him,  drew  up  and  sub-  ComLend- 
scribed  a  memorial  to  be  presented  to  his  majesty,  recom-  ed  by  Tra- 
mending  the  absolute  and  unreserved  recall  of  the  service 
book  ;  book  of  canons ;  the  abolition  of  the  high  commission 
till  established   by  law;  the  suspension  of  the  articles  of 
Perth  ;  the  illimited  power  of  the  bishops,  in  admitting  and 
deposing  ministers,  to  be  remitted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  assembly ;  and  reiterating  the  advice  of  Hamilton  respect- 
ing a  confession  of  faith. 

LVHI.  It  was  now  become  necessary  that  the  most  ample 
concessions  should  be  made,  or  immediate  force  employed. 
Charles,  after  a  considerable  struggle,  resolved  upon  the  for-  The  king 
mer,  and  agreed  to  grant  all  the  original  demands  of  the  ta-  comp  ie 
bles ;  that  the  two  obnoxious  books  should  be  unconditional- 
ly recalled ;  the  high  commission  abolished ;  the  articles  of 
Perth  suspended ;  and  an  assembly  and  parliament  appoint- 
ed, in  which  the  prelates  might  be  legally  prosecuted,  and     . 
their  lawless,  illimited  power  restrained. 

LIX.  Unfortunately  Charles  never  knew  how  to  yield  in 
time,  or  with  a  good  grace.  These  concessions  which,  grant- 
ed frankly  at  first,  would  not  only  have  satisfied  his  subjects, 
but  would  have  been  received  with  gratitude,  as  marks  of 
peculiar  favour,  were  now  received  with  coldness  and  dis» 
trust;  and  if  it  was  true,  as  Guthrie  asserts,*  that  copies  ofButill. 
all  Charles'  private  papers  were  sent  by  his  body  servants  to  structs  Ha- 

,.«,      ,  ,.          ,     .  milton  to 

the  covenanters,  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  tor  their  mve-  sow  discord 

terate  and  incurable  mistrust  of  all  his  propositions.     Along  betw:en 

.  •  ,  i     ,  e  the  clergy 

with  the  instructions  given  to  the  marquis  to  yield  the  con-  and  laity. 

*  Guthrie's  Hist.  vol.  ix.  p.  257. 


476  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  tested  points,  were  others  directing  him  to  prevent  their  be- 
neficial  effects,  by  sowing  discord  among  the  part}'.  "  You 
1638.  must,"  says  he,  "  by  all  means  possible  you  can  think  of, 
be  infusing  into  the  ministers  what  a  wrong  it  must  be  unto 
them,  and  what  an  oppression  upon  the  freedom  of  their 
judgments,  if  there  be  such  a  number  of  laicks  to  overbear 
them,  both  in  their  elections  for  the  general  assembly  and 
afterward ;  likewise,  you  must  infuse  into  the  lay  lords  and 
gentlemen,  with  art  and  industry,  how  manifestly  they  will 
suffer,  if  they  let  the  presbyters  get  head  upon  them."* 

LX.  The  presbyterians  were  convinced  by  experience,  that 
there  was  no  holding  parley  with  episcopacy ;  they  had  stud- 
ied the  progressive  growth  of  the  prelatical  usurpations ; 
they  had  seen  by  what  insidious  methods,  and  under  what 
false  pretences  it  had  undermined  their  polity,  when  the  law 

The  king's was  expressly  on  their  side ;  and  now,  when  a  fair  opportu- 

concessions  njfy  offered  for  getting  rid  of  the  pestiferous  root  of  so  much 

unsatisfac-       /  .  .    _     . 

tory.          mischief,  they  were  anxious  to  seize  it,  as  they  never  could 

believe  themselves  safe,  or  their  church  secure,  while  a 
fibre  was  allowed  to  remain.  They  now  aimed  at  the  re- 
storation of  the  church  of  Scotland  to  its  pristine  glory  and 
presbyterian  purity,  and  no  proposals  short  of  this  would  be 
listened  to. 

Hamilton        Lxi.  Hamilton  found   the  covenanters  in  this  disposition 
sowing  di's-  at  ^s  return  >  but  ^e  found  also  that  his  proposal  for  ex- 
sensions.     eluding  laymen  from  voting  in  presbyteries  for  the  commis- 
sioners to  the  general  assembly,  had  produced  the  desired 
effect,   and  that  some  dissension  had    arisen    between    the 
ministers  and   the  lords  of  the  covenant  on   that  subject. 
This  he  artfully  cherished,  and,  in  hopes  of  bringing  matters 
to  a  crisis,  resolved  upon  immediately  summoning  the  as- 
sembly. 

LXII.  For  some  days  after  his  arrival  he  kept  himself  se- 
cluded arranging  his  plans,  and  when  the  deputies  of  the 
covenanters  requested  to  be  informed  of  the  king's  pleasure, 
he  assured  them  the  king  had  granted  all  that  they  desired ; 
but  the  particulars  he  referred  till  after  he  should  have  com- 
municated with  the  council.  At  the  council  he  intimated 

*  Burnet's  Memoirs,  &c.  p.  74, 


CHARLES  I.  477 

the  design  to  renew  the  covenant  which  had  been  signed  by    BOOK 
king  James,   substituting  the  original  bond  for  that  annex-      ^' 
ed  by  the  covenanters.     This  the  council,  after  a  long  de-      1638 
bate,  agreed  to  subscribe,  with  an  explanation.     In  the  ori-  He  pro- 
ginal  oath,   the  subscribers  bound  themselves  to  maintain  original  co. 
"  religion  as  then  professed."     This,  by  the  chicane  so  pre-  venant. 
valent  in  all  Charles'  negotiations,  conveyed  a  double  mean- 
ing.    The  covenanters  in  their  bond,   to  prevent  miscon-  The  oath 
struction,  had  defined  the  expression  as  signifying,  in  strict  construe/ 
conformity  with  the  negative  confession  of  faith,  a  religion 
stript  of  all  names,  titles,  rites,  and  ceremonies,  that  bore  the 
smallest  resemblance  to  Rome,  and  as  it  existed  before  the 
late  innovations.     Charles  tacitly  understood  by  the  term — 
the  episcopal,  and  those  of  that  persuasion  likewise  under- 
stood it  in  the  same  sense.     The  privy  council,  and  the  pres- 
byterians,  took  it  according  to  the  original  meaning,  exclu- 
sive of  prelacy. 

LXIII.  The  covenanters  were  too  well  informed  of  the  se- 
cret reservations  of  the  court,  to  give  credit  to  their  integrity 
in  this  solemn  deed ;  and  they  descried  in  the  transaction, 
a  snare  too  inartificially  laid  to  entrap  them.  Aware,  how- 
ever, of  the  effects  it  might  produce  among  the  people,  who, 
without  considering  its  obvious  intention,  might  have  been 
inclined  to  adhere  to  the  royal  covenant,  in  which  there 
was  so  little  apparent  dissimilarity  to  their  own ;  Rothes,  ac- 
companied by  several  of  the  covenanting  lords,  waited  upon 
the  commissioner  at  an  early  hour,  and  requested  him  to 
postpone  issuing  the  king's  proclamation  for  a  day,  when 
they  would  be  prepared  to  exhibit  valid  reasons  why  the  old 
confession  of  faith  should  not  now  be  revived.  Hamilton,  The  origi- 
who  suspected  that  they  intended  to  intrigue  with  the  mem-  °^^°vr^ 
bers  of  the  privy  council,  would  hear  of  no  delay  ;  and  that  claimed, 
same  day,  ordered  a  proclamation  to  be  published,  announc-  g^ 
ing  the  king's  covenant  for  subscription,  and  indicting  an  as-  ed. 
sembly  to  be  held  at  Glasgow.  This  city  was  chosen,  be- 
cause the  family  influence  of  the  commissioner  was  great  in 
the  west,  in  preference  to  Aberdeen,  suggested  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  where  the  covenanters  were  weak- 
est, and  in  which  quarter  the  most  pliant  instruments  of  the 
crown  had  been  wont  to  be  found. 


478  HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        LXIV.  The  proclamation  was  met  by  a  protest  signed  by 
VII.      the  earl  of  Montrose,  and  other  deputies  from  the  tables; 

1638.      because  the  recall  of  the  service-book  and  canons,  was  not 
Protest  of  *•«.., 

the  tables   so  absolute  as  to  preclude  the  rears  ot  their  being  again  m- 

agamst  the  troduced  ;  for  although  the  acts  establishing  their  observance 

covenant.  . 

were  rescinded,  the  proclamations,  in  which  they  were  high- 
ly approved,  and  in  which  his  majesty  declares  his  purpose 
to  bring  them  in,  in  a  legal  way,  were  not  revoked ;  a  cir- 
cumstance, which  however  it  might  be  overlooked  by  such 
as  took  only  a  partial  view  of  the  subject,  and  neither  consi- 
dered what  they  were  doing,  nor  with  whom  they  were  deal- 
ing, could  not  escape  the  notice  of  those  who  carefully  com- 
pared the  steps  that  had  been  taken,  and  had  watched  the 
whole  progress  of  innovation  ;  because  the  archbishops  anc 
bishops  were  summoned  to  parliament,  without  any  reference 
to  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  which  was  contrary  to  the  cave- 
ats, and  to  the  assembly  in  right  of  office,  which  was  in  op- 
position to  their  declinature ;  because  all  his  majesty's  sub- 
jects were  commanded,  for  maintenance  of  the  religion  al- 
ready established,  to  subscribe  and  renew  the  Confession  ol 
Faith,  subscribed  before  in  the  year  1580;  for  although 
lately  they  would  have  been  glad  that  they,  as  well  as  the 
rest  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  had  been  commanded  by  au- 
thority, to  swear  and  subscribe  the  general  Confession  oi 
Faith,  yet  now,  after  so  particular  a  specification  as  they 
had  signed — but  which  they  had  been  so  frequently  urged 
to  rescind  or  alter — they  could  not  return  to  the  general, 
and  by  a  new  subscription,  obliterate  the  remembrance  ol 
their  late  Covenant  and  Confession,  which  was  sworn  to  by! 
them,  to  be  an  everlasting  covenant,  never  to  be  forgotten ; 
nor  would  they  think  themselves  guiltless  of  mocking  God, 
and  taking  his  name  in  vain,  if,  while  the  tears  which  be- 
gan to  flow  at  the  solemnizing  of  the  covenant  were  not 
yet  dry,  nor  the  joyful  noise  which  then  sounded  had  not 
yet  ceased,  they  should  enter  upon  a  new  obligation ;  nei- 
ther did  they  think  solemn  covenants  ought  to  be  multiplied, 
or  oaths  played  with  as  children  play  with  their  toys ;  be- 
cause, having  sworn  that  they  would  neither  directly,  nor 
indirectly,  suffer  themselves  to  be  divided  and  withdrawn 
from  their  late  loyal  conjunction,  they  could  not  consent  to 


CHARLES  J.  479 


a  subscription  and  oath,  which,  both  in  the  intention  of  the    BOOK 
urgers,  and  in  its  nature,  was  calculated  to  destroy  their  un-      ^^' 


animity ;  because  the  subscribing  of  another  would  be  ac-  1638, 
knowledging  that  they  were  rash  and  unadvised  in  their  last 
bond,  and  wished  only  a  fair  pretext  for  recanting ;  and  the 
intention  of  authority  was,  that  the  oath  might  consist  with 
the  corruptions  they  had  abjured,  a  meaning  which,  if  they 
signed  without  explanation,  they  would  confirm  and  estab- 
lish the  opinion  of  those  who  subscribed  the  old,  but  re- 
fused the  new  obligation,  as  substantially  different ;  and  be- 
cause the  general  bond,  adapted  to  the  time  when  it  was 
subscribed,  omits  an  obligation  so  necessary  for  adapting 
it  to  the  present — reformation  of  life- — that  the  subscribers 
should,  answerably  to  their  profession,  be  examples  to  others 
of  all  godliness,  soberness,  and  of  every  duty  to  God  and 
man. 

LXV.  The  proclamation   and  king's  covenant  was  spread  Measures 
with  the  utmost  diligence  in  every  corner  of  the  land,  andt^e^toy 

would,  it  is  probable,  have  produced  a  complete  schism  among  present  its 
,  ,      .    f.         ,  .  ,        acceptance. 

the  covenanters,  but  tor  the  precautionary  measures  taken 

by  their  leaders.  Deputies  were  despatched  by  the  tables, 
to  affix  their  protestation,  and  assign  their  reasons,  wherever 
the  messengers  of  the  commissioner  might  make  their  ap- 
pearance ;  and  they  succeeded  in  securing  the  attachment  of 
the  people,  and  preventing  divisive  courses,  except  in  Aber- 
deen, and  partially  in  Glasgow.  At  Aberdeen,  when  the 
king's  covenant  was  proclaimed  at  the  cross,  the  master  of 
Forbes,  and  lord  Frazer  caused  the  protest  to  be  read ;  but 
the  covenant  was,  through  the  influence  of  Huntly,  subscrib- 
ed by  a  great  number,  yet  not  without  several  restrictions 

by  the  doctors,   who  declared,  that  they  did  not,  by  sub-  Aberdeen 
.....  ,  .  ,  .  receives  it 

scribing,  abjure  or  condemn  episcopal  government,  as  it  was  wjth  rc_ 

in  the  days,  and  after  the  days  of  the  apostles,  for  many  strictions. 
hundred  years  in  the  church,  and  as  now,  agreeably  to  their 
model,  restored   in  the  church  of  Scotland  ;  nor  did  they 
condemn  the  articles  of  Perth,  nor  consider  adhering  to  the 
discipline  of  the  reformed  church  of  Scotland,  as  implying 
any  immutability  of  that  presbyterial  government  which  was  Which  are 
in  1581 ;  and  these  explications  were  accepted  by  the  mar-  Hamilton'. 
quis  of  Hamilton,  a  fact  which  justifies  the  assertion  of  the 


480 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VII. 

1638. 


Its  recep- 
tion at 
Glasgow. 


Policy  of 
the  cove- 
nanters to 
secure  a 
majority  in 
the  assem- 
bly. 


protest,  that  the  general  bond  was  understood  to  be  consis- 
tent with  the  innovations,  and  intended  to  create  division  : 
and  so  convinced  was  Huntly  of  this,  that  he  kept  the  matter 
secret,  took  their  subscriptions  on  a  separate  bond,  which  he 
transmitted  to  his  grace,  and  Burnet  assigns  as  the  reason, 
lest  an  humour  of  annexing  explications  might  have  run 
through  others  from  their  example,  which  might  not  only 
have  retarded  the  business,  but  occasioned  new  grounds  to 
the  covenanters  to  quarrel. 

LXVI.  In  Glasgow,  several  of  the  ministers  accompanied 
the  non-covenanters  to  the  Cross,  expressed  their  joy  at  the 
proclamation,  and  not  only  obtained  a  number  of  signatures, 
but  wrote  a  letter  of  thanks  to  the  commissioner,  which 
they  transmitted  to  his  grace  at  Hamilton,  by  the  principal 
of  the  university.  Soon  after,  the  marquis  honoured  the 
city  with  a  visit,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Balcanquhal,  his  chief 
adviser,  and  endeavoured  to  prevail  on  the  magistrates  to 
subscribe;  but  they  requested  time  to  consider.  After  ten 
days,  the  justice-general  found  them  yet  irresolute,  and  their 
scruples  increasing ;  and  when  the  assembly  met,  they  were 
still  unresolved. 

LXVII.  The  proposition  of  the  court  formerly  noticed 
"  That  the  commissioners  to  the  assembly  should  be  elect- 
ed by  the  ministers  alone,"  having  created  considerable  dis- 
sension,— as  the  original  constitution  of  that  court,  from  its 
long  disuse,  was  now  almost  forgotten,  except  by  some  o 
the  oldest ;  as  suspicion  was  raised  among  the  clerical  mem- 
bers of  presbyteries,  that  the  gentry  wished  to  lord  it  over 
them,  and  usurp  a  place  to  which  they  had  no  right ;  while 
the  laity  evidently  distrusted  a  number  of  the  ministers  who 
had  been  trained  up  under  the  episcopal  form,  and  were  not 
so  thoroughly  attached  to  the  principles,  or  instructed  in  the 
tenets  of  presbytery  as  the  times  required,  and  would  be  ne- 
cessary in  an  assembly,  where  every  inch  of  ground  would 
be  disputed — a  treatise  was  therefore  drawn  up,  in  which  the 
office  of  elders,  as  established  by  the  polity  of  the  church 
and  the  law  of  the  land,  was  shown  to  be  essential  to  the  ex- 
istence of  presbytery,  and  the  ruling  elder  a  constituent  part 
of  a  general  assembly.  This  was  circulated  among  the 
presbyteries,  together  with  instructions  respecting  the  forms 


CHARLES  I.  481 

to  be  observed  in  choosing  commissioners  to  the  assembly,     BOOK 
and  the  qualifications  requisite  for  those  who  might  be  cno-       VH> 
sen.     By  the  constitution  of  the  church,  an  elder  from  each      1638. 
parish  was  to  attend  the  presbytery,  and  thus,  when  the  can- 
didates who  were  put  in  nomination  were  withdrawn,  a  ma- 
jority of  the  laity  remained.     The  policy  of  adhering  strictly 
to  these  rules  was  evident  in  the  elections  which  followed ; 
the  most  zealous  of  the  ministers  were  returned  as  commis- 
sioners, and  the  leading  covenanters,  as  ruling  elders. 

LXVIII.  When  the  marquis  returned  to  the  capital — pre-  Hamilton 
viously  to  his  going  to  open  the  assembly — he  expected  to  postp0neh. 
have  found  some  of  the  bishops  there,  with  whom  to  consult 
respecting  the  method  he  was  to  pursue ;  but  to  his  great 
disappointment,  none  of  them  had  arrived  from  England, 
and  they  who  had  remained  in  Scotland,  advised  him  strong- 
ly to  prorogue  the  meeting.     Knowing  that  the  covenanters 
would  hold  the  diet  whether  he  attended  or  not,  he  resolved 
to  keep  it,  and  wrote  to  his  majesty,  informing  him  of  all  the 
untoward  circumstances  of  his  situation ;  yet  that,  notwith-  noid  jt> 
standing,  he  had  resolved  to  keep  the  appointed  time,  and 
first  propose  his  gracious  offers,  next  examine  the  nullities 
of  the  elections,  then  offer  a  declinature  from  the  bishops, 
and  ere  these  topics  were  discussed,  he  had  no  doubt  the 
members,  by  their  conduct,  would  give  sufficient  reason  for 
dissolving  the  meeting.     The  king  approved  of  the  resolu-  The  king 
tion  of  the  commissioner  in  keeping  the  day ;  but  added, —  ai 
"if  you  can  break  them  by  proving  nullities,  nothing  better.'* 
He  had  before  this  told  him,  that  he  expected  no  good  from 
the  assembly,  though  he  trusted  he  might  hinder  much  of 
the  ill ;  first,  by  putting  divisions  among  them  concerning 
the  legality  of  their  elections,   and  then,  by  protestations 
against  their  tumultuous  proceedings.     In  the  meanwhile,  But  ad. 
Hamilton  had  not  been  idle  in  his  attempts  to  procure  at  ^^J^1*0 
least  an  ostensible  opposition  to  the  introduction  of  lay  el-  divisions, 
dersj  and  by  some  presbyteries  they  were  admitted  with  re- 
luctance; particularly  in  Glasgow,  who  required  a  special 
visitation  from  lord  Loudon  and  three  of  the  leading  minis- 
sters,  before  their  doubts  could  be  resolved.     He,  besides, 
invited  the  Aberdeen  doctors  to  be  present  at  the  assembly, 

VOL.  ni.  3  Q 


482  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    to  assist  with  their  arguments  ;  but  they,  perceiving  the  to- 
^**      tal  inutility  of  any  efforts  of  theirs  to  stem  the  tor  rent,  declin- 
1638.     ed  the  journey  south,  alleging  the  state  of  the  roads  and  the 
season  of  the  year,  as  their  excuse. 

LXIX.  Amidst  the  mutual  preparations  for  the  approaching 

trial  of  strength,   the  accusation  of  the  bishops — an  object 

of  no  minor  importance — was  resolved  by  both  parties  as 

Case  of      what  would  brine  them  into  immediate  contact.     The  lead- 

,     ,  •  .  o 

)Sf  ing  covenanters  had  protested  against  their  taking  their  seats 
in  court  until  cleared  by  a  legal  trial,  and  were  ready  to 
bring  forward  their  charges;  but  they  possessed  no  legal 
power  to  cite  them  to  appear  before  the  assembly,  nor  was 
there,  in  the  then  disorganized  state  of  the  church,  any  re- 
gular ecclesiastical  mode  of  procedure  to  which  they  could 
resort  for  accomplishing  their  purpose.  The  earl  of  Rothes, 
therefore,  and  some  others,  petitioned  the  commissioner  for 
a  warrant  to  command  their  appearance.  With  this  he  re- 
fused to  comply,  as  there  was  no  precedent;  and  he  alleged 
he  did  enough,  if  he  did  not  place  any  obstructions  in  the 
way  of  their  being  brought  to  a  fair  trial ;  but  the  fact  was, 
the  bishops'  declinature  had  been  already  revised  by  his  ma- 
jesty, and  was  intended  to  be  used,  not  only  as  an  obstruc- 
tion to  their  trial,  but  as  a  pretext  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
assembly  altogether.* 

LXX.  The  crimes  and  vices  of  which  the  bishops  stood  ac- 
cused, were  open  and  flagrant ;  but  while  they  threw  an  op- 
probrium upon  the  whole  profession,  they  were  such  as  were 
capable  of  being  easily  proved,  if  true ;  and  if,  upon  investiga- 
tion they  had  turned  out  groundless,  or  very  palpably  ex- 
aggerated, the  infamy  would  have  recoiled  with  overwhelm- 
Observa-  ing  force  upon  the  heads  of  their  accusers.  Men  seldom 
tions'  suffer  unjustly  from  specific  charges  undisguisedly  brought 
against  them  ;  if  guiltless,  they  have  the  means  afforded  them 
of  fronting  the  calumny,  and  rebutting  it.  In  such  cases,  it 
is  always  suspicious  to  decline  a  trial.  It  is  when  general, 
undefined  allegations  are  asserted,  and  in  a  manner  that  ad- 
mits of  no  opportunity  of  bringing  them  to  the  test,  that  un- 

*  Burnet's  Memoirs,  p.  91. 


CHARLES  I.  483 

guarded,  and  comparatively  innocent  individuals,  are  ruined    UOOK 
by  their  more  cool  and  more  correct,  but  frequently  more      ^11- 
criminal  traducers.  1638~ 

.LXXI.  Whether  legal,  or  rigidly  proper,  the  refusal  of  the 
commissioner  to  cite  the  bishops  was  impolitic ;  and  attend- 
de  with  more  unfortunate  consequences  than  a  compliance 
would  probably  have  been.  A  complaint,  in  form  of  a  li- 
bel, was  drawn  up  against  all  the  body,  in  which  the  of-  Charges 
fences  of  the  order,  and  their  personal  vices  were  accumu- 
lated.  They  were  charged  in  a  collective  capacity,  with 
transgressing  the  caveats  by  which  former  assemblies  had 
limited  them  ;  of  tyranny  and  oppression,  behaving  rather 
like  lords  of  God's  heritage,  than  as  pastors  of  his  flock  ; 
individually,  with  publicly  teaching,  or  privately  defending 
the  doctrines  of  Rome  and  of  Arminius,  at  least  with  con- 
niving at  their  dissemination,  and  promoting  their  abettors  ; 
with  simony,  bribery,  drunkenness,  adultery,  gaming,  dis- 
honesty, common  swearing,  and  sabbath-breaking.  The 
complainers  were  the  principal  nobility,  gentry,  ministers  Mode  of 
and  burgesses,  not  commissioners  to  the  general  assembly,  procedure 
who  sent  a  copy  of  the  libel  in  their  own  name,  and  in  the 
name  of  all  the  other  covenanters — also  not  members — to 
each  of  the  presbyteries  within  whose  bounds  the  bishops 
resided  at  the  time,  or  where  their  cathedral  seats  were ; 
and  appended  to  it  the  particular  accusations  against  the  re- 
spective offenders,  with  a  petition  to  take  cognizance  of  the 
complaint,  and  censure  them  agreeably  to  the  nature  of 
the  offence,  or  make  reference  of  the  affair  to  the  assembly. 
According  to  concert,  all  the  presbyteries  referred  the  com- 
plaint, and  ordered  it  and  the  reference  to  be  publicly  read 
from  every  pulpit  within  their  jurisdiction,  together  with  a 
citation  to  the  bishops  to  appear  and  answer  to  the  particu- 
lar allegations. 

LXXII.  Every  measure  having  been  thus  taken  by  the  co> 
venanters  to  secure  the  return  of  their  friends,  and  exclude 
their  opponents,  the  tables  issued  a  requisition,  that  all  the 
noblemen  who  had  signed  the  covenant,  should  meet  at  Glas- 
gow, on  the  Saturday  preceding  the  opening  of  the  assembly  ; 
and  that  all  the  elders  chosen  as  commissioners,  should  bring 
with  them  four  assessors,  to  consult  in  private,  or  assist  with 


484  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    their  advice  in  the  public  deliberations.      Hamilton, — whose 

VII         •        • 

'       situation  was  far  from  enviable,  being  almost  totally  desert- 

1638.   ^   ed  by  the  other  high   officers  of  state, — when  the  court  of 
unpleasant8  sessi°n  sat  down  in  Edinburgh,  November  1st,  endeavoured 
situation,     to  prevail  upon  the  lords  to  sign  the  king's  covenant ;  but 
after  a  debate  of  three  hours,  he  only  succeeded  with  nine ; 
two  absented  themselves,  and  four  absolutely  refused.     His 
efforts  to  procure  co-operation  from  the  privy  council,  were 
not  much   more  propitious.     Before  proceeding  for  Glas- 
gow, he  called  them  together,  and  informed  them  it  was 
his  majesty's  pleasure,   that  episcopacy  might   be  limited, 
but  not  abolished,   urging  them  to  pass   an   act  declaring 
their  approbation   of  the  royal  message.     With  this  they 
were  unwilling  to  comply  ;  and  when  he  required  the  king's 
King's  ad-   advocate,  sir  Thomas  Hope,  to  prepare  for  defending  epis- 

vocate  re-    copacy,  as  agreeable  to   the  law  of  Scotland,  he  replied  he 
fuses  to  de.         ,  ,  •      i  •  •  i  ri  •  i         i  •    i      i 

fend  epis-    could  not  in  his  conscience  do  so,  tor  he  considered  it  both 

copacy.       contrary   to  the   word  of  God,   to  the  constitution  of  the 
church,  and  to  the  law  of  the  land. 

LXXHI.  On  his  arrival  in  Glasgow,  the  commissioner  found 
that  city  overflowing  with  the  commission  of  the  assembly, 
assessors,  and  immense  crowds  attracted  from  all  the  quar- 
ters of  the  kingdom.  He  came  attended  by  the  lords  of 
the  privy  council,  and  a  numerous  train  whom  he  brought 
from  Hamilton,  and  was  met  by  the  greater  part  of  the  no- 
Hamilton's  bility  and  chief  men  among  the  covenanters.  Mutual  ci- 

receptionat  vjlities  were   interchanged  with    much    seeming   cordiality, 

Glasgow.  J' 

he  protesting  that  nothing  dissonant  to  scripture,  equity,  and 

law  would  be  asked,  and  they  assuring  him  that  nothing 
reasonable  would  be  denied.  The  first  day  passed  in  mat- 
ters of  form;*  but  on  the  next,  Hamilton — who  had  received 

*  On  the  21st  of  November,  the  assembly  convened  in  the  High  Church, 
which  day,  and  for  two  weeks  thereafter,  the  multitudes  assembled  were  so 
exceeding  great,  that  the  members  could  not  get  access  without  the  assistance 
of  the  magistrates  and  town  guard,  of  the  nobles  and  gentry,  and  sometimes  at 
first,  the  lord  commissioner  in  person,  was  pleased  to  make  way  for  the  mem- 
bers, but  they  were  well  accommodated  after  they  got  in.  The  lord  commis- 
sioner sat  in  a  chair  of  state,  and  at  his  feet  before  and  on  each  side,  the  lords 
of  the  privy  council.  Traquair,  treasurer,  Roxburgh,  privy-seal,  [Lorn  now] 
Argyle,  Mar,  Moray,  Angus,  Lauderdale,  Wigton,  Glencairn,  Perth,  Tuli- 
bardin,  Galloway,  Haddington,  Kirighorn,  Southesk,  Linlithgow,  Dalziel, 
Dumfries,  Queensberry,  Belhaven,  Almont,  sir  John  Hay,  clerk -register,  sir 


FROM    THE    ORIGINAL    PAINTING   IN  THK   UNIVERSITY    07    GLASGOW. 


3T.ACKIE  4  SON  GLASGOW.  EDINBURGH  4.LOTOON 


CHARLES   I.  485 

private  instructions  from  the  bishop  of  Ross,  as  to  the  man-    BOOK 
ner  of  conducting  himself,  so  as  best  to  render  the  meeting      J_j~ 
of  the  assembly  abortive — objected  to  a  moderator  being  cho-      1638. 
sen  until  the  commissions  of  the  members  were  examined;  for  toet^ejec' 
if  any  voted,  whose  commissions  were  afterward  found  null,  choosing  of 
considerable  confusion  might  ensue.     Custom  and  necessity  *0mo 
were  urged  in  reply.     His  grace  then  protested,  that  this 
decision  should  not  import  his  approbation  of  the  commission 
of  any  of  the  voters,  to  which  he  might  afterward  produce 
objections ;  and  he  also  protested,  that  the  nomination  of  a 
moderator  should  not  be  prejudicial  to  the  rights  of  the  lords 
of  the  clergy,  in  any  office,  dignity,  or  privilege,  which  the 
law  or  custom  had  given  them.     He  then  presented  the  de-  Presents 

clinature  of  the  bishops,  which  he  desired  to  be  read  :   but  *hede^in,a* 

ture  of  the 

the   assembly,   in  a  tumultuous  manner,  and  after  a  stormy  bishops, 
discussion,  refused  to  hear  it,    till  they  were   constituted,  w™ch  is 
when  they  would  be  ready  to  receive  and  answer  any  paper 
it  might  please  his  grace  to  present.     A  protest  was  taken 
against  this  refusal,  as   unjust,   which   was   followed    by  a 
counter  one,   and  the  day  was  wasted   by  a  multiplicity  of 
protestations,   "  with  which,"  says   Baillie,   "  all  were  wea- 
ried, except  the  clerk  pro  tempore,  who,   with  every  one 
received  a  piece  of  gold."     In  the  end,  Henderson  was  cho-  Henderson 
sen  moderator,  and  Johnston  of  Warriston  appointed  the 
clerk.      During  the  rest  of  the  week,   they  proceeded  to 
examine  the  commission  of  the  members,  and  their  deci- 

James  Carmichael,  treasurer-depute,  sir  William  Elphingston,  justice-general, 
sir  James  Hamilton,  justice-clerk,  sir  Lewis  Stewart  of  Blackball,  and  several 
others.  The  covenanting  lords  and  barons  sat  at  a  long  table  in  the  floor, 
with  their  assessors,  which  consisted  of  almost  the  whole  barons  of  note 
through  Scotland,  and  in  general,  from  all  the  fifty-three  presbyteries,  there 
were  three  commissioners — except  from  a  very  few — who  sat  all  commodiously 
in  seats  rising  up  by  degrees  round  the  long  table.  A  little  table  was  set  in 
the  midst  for  the  moderator  and  clerk.  At  the  end  was  a  high  room,  prepared 
chiefly  for  the  young  nobility,  lords  Montgomery,  Fleeming,  Boyd,  Erskine, 
Linton,  Crichton,  Levingstone,  Rosse,  Maitland,  Drummond,  Drumlanrick, 
Keir,  and  Elcho,  but  the  same  was  crowded  with  great  numbers  of  other  gen- 
tlemen, and  the  vaults  above  were  filled  with  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Mr.  Bell 
of  Glasgow,  as  the  oldest  minister,  was  appointed  to  preach,  a  wise  choice, 
which  prevented  any  inflammatory  harangue  from  younger  men  of  fiery  zeal, 
and  stouter  lungs.  His  sermon  was  lost  to  the  greater  part  of  the  auditory, 
not  above  the  sixth  part  of  whom  could  hear  him  distinctly  Baillie,  vol.  i. 
p.  96,  97. 


4*88  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    sincere  intentions  being  to  perform,  in  a  lawful  assembly,  all 
he  hath  promised  in  his  gracious  proclamation,  if  you  find 


L  uiciue 
I  am, 
t  to  ad- 
!  kimr's 


1638      out  a  way  now  tnese  things  may  pass,  and  be  performed  even 
in  this  assembly,  such  as  it  is,  and  yet  his  majesty  not  made 
to  approve  any  way  the  illegalities  and  nullities  of  it, 
by  his  majesty's  command,  ready  to  do  it,  and  content 
Orders  the  vise  how  it  may  be  done."     After  this,  he  ordered  the  king's 

concessions  .  ^i          t_    j    L.  c  i  i-j 

to  be  read,  concessions,  as  they  had  been  formerly  proclaimed,  to  be 
read  ;  and  having  taken  instruments,  that  by  producing  and 
signing  them,  he  had  made  his  majesty's  intentions  known, 
but  that  in  so  delivering  and  acknowledging  them,  the  law- 
fulness of  the  assembly  was  not  acknowledged. 

LXXVI.  When  the  clerk  had  done  reading,  the  commission- 
er resumed  : — He  regretted  that  he  could  not  go  on  with 
them,  while  ruling  elders  were  permitted  to  sit,  and  minis~ 
ters  chosen  by  laymen  were  commissioners ; — uttered  a 
sharp  invective  against  the  manner  in  which  the  bishops 
had  been  cited,  and  proposed  in  conclusion  : — "  If  you  will 
dissolve  yourselves,  and  amend  all  your  errors  in  a  new 
election,  I  will,  with  all  convenient  speed,  address  myself  to 

Hischreats.  his  majesty,  and  use  the  utmost  of  my  intercession  with 
his  sacred  majesty,  for  the  indiction  of  a  new  assembly,  before 
the  meeting  whereof,  all  these  things  now  challenged  may 
be  amended.  If  you  shall  refuse  this  offer,  his  majesty  will 
then  declare  to  the  whole  world  that  you  are  disturbers  of  the 
peace  of  this  church  and  state,  both  by  introducing  of  lay 
elders  against  the  laws  and  practices  of  this  church  and 
kingdom,  and  by  going  about  to  abolish  episcopal  govern- 
ment, which,  at  this  present,  stands  established  by  both  these 
said  laws." 

Modera-  LXXVI  i.  The  moderator  professed,  on  the  part  of  the  as- 
y°  sembly,  the  sincerest  loyalty  to  the  king.  It  was  the  way 
in  which  they  had  walked  in  time  past,  had  been  the  glory 
of  the  reformed  churches,  and  they  accounted  it  their  glory, 
in  a  special  manner,  to  give  unto  kings  and  magistrates  what 
belongs  to  their  places.  The  assembly  having  been  indict- 
ed by  his  majesty,  and  consisting  of  such  members  regular- 
ly authorized,  as  by  the  acts  and  practices  in  former  times 
had  a  right  to  represent  the  church,  they  considered  them- 
selves a  free  assembly ;  and  he  trusted  that  whatsoever  busi- 


CHARLES  I.  489 

ness  might  be  brought  before  it,  would  be  so  managed  as    BOOK 
to  evince  that  all  things  were  conducted  according  to  the      ^^- 
law  of  God  and  reason  ;  and  they  hoped  that  when  his  ma-      1638. 
jesty  had  the  truth  told  him,  he  would  rather  approve  than 
be  displeased  with    their   proceedings.     He   then  asked  if 
he  should   again  put  the   question : — Whether   they  were 
competent  to  judge  the  bishops?     But  the  commissioner 
urged  that  this  might  be  deferred.    "  Nay,  with  your  grace's 
permission,  that  cannot  be,"  said  the  moderator,   "  for  it  is 
requisite  that  it  be  put  immediately  after  the  declinature." 
Then,  said  the  commissioner,   it  is  requisite   I  should  be  Hamilton 
gone.     The  moderator,  lord  Loudon,  and  the  earl  of  Rothes,  t  ° le^ve  the 
entreated  him  to  stay  ;    and,  acknowledging   that   he  had  assembly. 
done  them  a  great  favour  in  procuring  the  assembly,  begged 
that  he  would  not  desert  it  now  that  it  was  constituted ;  or 
by  protestation,  attempt  to  fetter  their  deliberations.     Ham- 
ilton, affected  to  tears,  appealed  to  God  that  he  had  labour- 
ed as  a  good  Christian,  a  loyal  subject,  and  kind  country- 
man, for  the  benefit  of  the  Scottish  church,  and  that  there  was 
nothing  within  the  bounds  of  his  commission  that  he  would 
not  do ;  but  lamented  his  inability  to  bring  matters  to  such 
an  agreeable  conclusion  as  he  wished.     Some  further  rea-  Protests 
soning  ensued,  which  he  stopped,  by  requesting  the  modera-  ^£18tro 
tor  to  close  the  meeting  by  prayer ;  but  this  being  refused,  ceedings. 
he  renewed  his  protestations,  in  the  name  of  his  majesty,  of 
himself,   and  of  the  lords  of  the  clergy,  that  no  act  there 
should  imply  the  royal  consent,  be  binding  upon  any  of  the 
subjects,  or  prejudicial  to  any  of  their  interests.     He  then  dis-  Dissolves 
solved  the  assembly  in  the  king's  name,  and  forbade  their  it- 
further  proceedings. 

LXXVIII.    Rothes — who  had    come  prepared — presented  Assembly 
a  protest,  which  was  read  while  the  commissioner  and  coun-  Protest- 
cil  were  in  the  act  of  withdrawing ;  Argyle  only  remained 
behind  to  hear  the  reasonings.     From  the  assembly  the  mar- 
quis proceeded  to  hold  a  council,  in  which  he  expressed  his 
vexation  at  the  uneasiness  and  sorrow  which  this  breach 
would  occasion  to  the  king,  and  how  anxious  he  was  to  have 
prevented  it ;  but  their  rebellious  conduct  had  extorted  what 
was  done.     He  therefore  exhorted  them  to  remain  steadfast, 
and  discharge  their  duty  to  their  king,  assuring  them  they 

VOL.  in.  3  R 


490 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1638, 


He  dis- 
charges it 
by  procirw 
mation. 


They  re- 
eolve  to 
continue 
their  sit- 
tings. 


should  eventually  be  no  losers;  yet,  notwithstanding,  he 
durst  not  produce  the  proclamation  for  dissolving  the  assem- 
bly, so  little  could  he  depend  upon  those  from  whom  he  na- 
turally ought  to  have  looked  for  support.  In  the  evening, 
however,  he  ascertained  their  inclinations,  and  next  morning 
obtained  several  of  their  signatures  ;  after  which,  he  ordered  it 
to  be  published  with  the  accustomed  formalities: — "discharg- 
ing all  pretended  commissioners,*  and  other  members  of  the 
said  assembly,  from  all  farther  meeting  and  convening,  treat- 
ing and  concluding  any  thing  belonging  to  the  said  assembly, 
under  the  pain  of  treason."  This  also  was  met  by  a  protest, 
declaring  that : — If  the  commissioner's  grace  should  depart, 
and  leave  the  church  and  kingdom  in  its  present  disorder, 
notwithstanding  his  dissolution,  it  was  both  lawful  and  ne- 
cessary for  the  assembly,  indicted  by  his  majesty,  to  sit  still 
and  continue  their  meeting  till  they  had  tried,  judged,  and 
censured  all  the  bygone  evils  and  their  authors,  and  provid- 
ed a  solid  course  for  continuing  God's  truth  in  the  land  with 
purity  and  liberty,  according  to  his  word,  their  oath,  the  con- 
fession of  faith,  and  lawful  constitutions  of  the  church  ;  and 
farther,  that  they,  by  the  grace  of  God,  would  sit  still  and 
continue,  till  after  the  final  settling  and  conclusion  of  all 
matters,  the  assembly  were  dissolved  by  common  consent  of 
all  the  members  thereof.  And  this  resolution  they  justified 
by  the  original  constitution  of  the  Scottish  church,  which 
they  asserted  his  majesty  had  revived  and  recognised,  by  sub- 
scribing the  confession  of  faith  made  in  the  years  J  580— 90; 
and  also  by  early  precedent,  when  the  assemblies  had  exer- 
cised a  similar  right.  "  The  king's  majesty,  his  commission- 
er, and  privy  council,"  said  they,  "  have  urged  numbers  in 
this  kingdom  to  subscribe  the  confession  of  faith  made  in  the 
years  1580-90,  and  so  to  return  to  the  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church  as  it  was  then  professed ;  but  it  is  clear, 
by  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  this  church,  contained  in  the 
book  of  policy,  then  registrated  in  the  books  of  assembly,  and 

*  The  earl  of  Rothes,  in  the  assembly,  had  made  use  of  the  term,  "pre- 
tended" bishops.  In  the  proclamation,  the  commissioner  applies  the  same 
epithet  to  the  commissioners  of  the  assembly.  The  spirit  of  irritation,  which 
subsisted  on  both  sides,  is  perhaps  marked,  in  these  little  apparently  trifling 
matters,  more  distinctly  than  in  greater  matters. 


CHARLES  I.  491 

subscribed  by  the  presbyteries  of  this  church,  that  it  was  most  BOOK 
unlawful  in  itself,  and  prejudicial  to  those  privileges  which  ^^ 
Christ  in  his  word  hath  left  to  his  church,  to  dissolve  or  break  1638. 
up  the  assembly  of  this  church,  or  to  stop  their  proceedings,  J.ustlfica- 
in  making  acts  for  the  welfare  of  the  church,  or  execution  of  reiolmion. 
discipline  against  offenders,  and  so  to  make  it  appear  that 
religion  and  church  government  should  depend  absolutely 
upon  the  pleasure  of  the  prince."  <e  The  assemblies  of  this 
church,"  it  was  farther  contended,  "had  enjoyed  the  free- 
dom of  uninterrupted  sitting,  notwithstanding  any  counter- 
mand, as  was  evident  by  their  records,  particularly  by  the 
register  of  the  general  assembly  holden  1582,  which  being 
charged  with  letters  of  horning,  by  the  king's  majesty's  com- 
missioner and  council,  to  stay  their  process  against  Mr.  Ro- 
bert Montgomery,  pretended  bishop  of  Glasgow,  or  other- 
wise to  dissolve  and  rise,  did,  notwithstanding,  show  their 
liberty  and  freedom,  by  continuing  to  sit  still,  and  going  on 
in  that  process  to  the  end  thereof;  and  thereafter,  by  letter 
to  his  majesty,  did  show  clearly  how  far  his  majesty  had, 
upon  misinformation,  prejudged  the  prerogative  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  liberties  of  this  church,  and  did  enact  and 
ordain  that  none  should  procure  any  such  warrant  or  charge, 
under  the  pain  of  excommunication.  And  now,"  it  was  add- 
ed, "  to  dissolve,  after  so  many  supplications  and  complaints, 
after  so  many  reiterated  promises,  such  long  attendance  and 
expectation,  and  so  many  references  of  processes  from  pres- 
byteries, when  the  assembly  had  been  publicly  indicted, 
formally  constituted,  and  had  sat  seven  days,  were  to  offend 
God,  contemn  the  subjects'  petitions,  deceive  the  hopes 
which  had  been  raised  of  a  redress  of  the  calamities  of  the 
church  and  kingdom,  multiply  the  combustions  of  the  church, 
make  every  man  hereafter  despair  of  ever  seeing  religion  es- 
tablished, innovations  removed,  the  subjects'  complaints  re- 
spected, or  the  offenders  punished  with  consent  of  authority, 
and  thus  by  casting  the  church  loose  and  desolate,  abandon 
all  to  ruin." 

LXXIX.  Placed  in  a  very  trying  situation,  the  marquis  of 
Hamilton's  conduct  was  exposed,  as  all  unsuccessful  states- 
men's in  troublous  times  is,  to  blame ;  both  from  those  he  at- 
tempted to  support,  and  they  whom  he  opposed.  The  Scot- 


492  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    tish  episcopalians  accused  him  of  holding  intelligence  with 
_  the  opposite  party,  and  of  encouraging  them  in  their  opposi- 


1638.  tion.*  This  charge  was  evidently  groundless.  Perhaps  it 
opinions  w°uld  not  be  equally  easy  to  acquit  him  of  having  been  a 
respecting  party  with  the  king,  in  attempting  to  deceive  the  covenant- 
conduct.  ers>  Moderate  men,  who  were  not  then  acquainted  with  his 
secret  instructions,  blamed  his  precipitancy  in  urging  the 
bishops'  declinature ;  and  forcing  the  assembly  to  proceed  at 
so  early  a  period  to  consider  the  question  respecting  their 
powers  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  them,  which,  they  thought, 
he  ought  to  have  delayed  as  long  as  possible ;  and  could 
have  done  with  little  difficulty,  if  he  had  only  at  first  allow- 
ed them  to  examine  freely  the  books  of  common  prayer,  the 
canons,  and  the  doctrinal  points  of  Arminianism ;  where  al- 
though all  were  agreed,  yet  protracted  discussion  might  have 
been  encouraged,  and  their  final  condemnation  would  have 
soothed  the  minds  of  the  most  violent  ministers ;  prevented 
that  exasperation  against  the  prelates  which  their  declinature 
produced,  and,  if  it  had  not  averted,  might  at  least  have 
softened  the  fall  of  the  hierarchy. 

LXXX.  As  nothing  could  prevail  upon  Hamilton  to  remain 
in  the  assembly,  the  moderator,  with  admirable  dexterity, 
turned  his  conduct  in  leaving  them,  into  a  strong  motive  for 
their  continuing  to  go  forward,  and  not  desert  the  cause  of 
their  master.  "  Seeing,"  said  he,  as  the  marquis  left  the 

*  Guthrie  has,  besides,  a  charge  against  Hamilton,  that,  at  his  first  inter- 
view with  the  covenanters,  he  behaved  distantly  and  harshly;  but  when  they 
returned  to  him  on  the  morrow,  they  found  him  more  plausible  in  treating 
with  them,  even  before  the  privy  council ;  and  having  conveyed  them  through 
the  public  room,  he  drew  them  into  a  private  gallery,  where  he  expressed 
himself  as  follows  : — "  My  lords  and  gentlemen,  I  spoke  to  you  before  those 
lords  of  council,  as  the  king's  commissioner,  now,  there  being  none  present 
but  yourselves,  I  speak  to  you  as  a  kindly  Scottishman.  If  you  go  on  with 
courage  and  resolution,  you  will  carry  what  you  please  ;  but  if  you  faint,  and 
give  ground  in  the  least,  you  are  undone.  A  word  is  enough  to  wise  men." 
The  whole  of  Hamilton's  proceedings,  whatever  opinion  may  be  formed  of 
them  in  other  respects,  evince  unshaken  loyalty  to  his  master ;  and  if  he  err- 
ed in  any  thing,  it  was  in  being  too  devoted  to  his  will.  This  alone  would 
render  the  accuracy  of  the  bishop's  anecdote  doubtful ;  but  when  we  see  him 
afterwards  vigorously  opposing  men,  in  whose  hands  his  life  must  have  been 
placed,  if  the  story  had  been  true,  it  renders  it  more  than  doubtful. — Guth- 
rie's  Mem.  p.  48.  Baillie's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  116. 


CHAIILES  I.  493 

room,  "  we  perceived  his  grace,  my  lord   commissioner,  to    BOOK 
be  zealous  of  his  royal  master's  commands,  have  we  not  good      ^H- 
reason  to  be  zealous  toward  our  Lord,  and  to  maintain  the      1638t 
privileges  of  his  kingdom  ?     You  all  know  that  the  work  in 
hand  hath  had  many  difficulties,  and  yet  hitherto  the  Lord 
hath  helped  and  borne  us  through  them  all ;  therefore  it  be- 
cometh  not  us  to  be  discouraged  at  our  being  deprived  of 
human   authority ;   but  rather  that  ought  to  be  a  powerful 
motive  to  us  to  double  our  courage  in  answering  the  end 
for  which  we  are  convened."     When   he  had  spoken,  lord 
Loudon,  and  a  number  of  the  members  encouraged  each 
other,  by  mutual  exhortations,  to  remain  firm.     Their  pur- 
pose was  fixed,  by  what  appeared  to  them  as  an  evidence  of 
the  divine  favour,  and  what  certainly  operated  in  securing 
the  countenance  of  man.     At  a  moment  when  they  were 
afraid  lest  several  would  have  turned  back,   and  when  the 
defection  of  any  one  leading  member  might  have  been  ruin- 
ous, numbers  were  induced  to  declare  themselves,  and  join 
openly  with  them. 

LXXXI.  At  a  momentous  crisis,  sometimes  a  little  incident 
has  a  wonderful  effect;  and  one  such  on  this   occasion  pro- 
duced the  most  lively  sensations  of  joy.     Lord  Erskine,  son 
of  the  earl  of  Mar,   a  young  nobleman  of  great  promise, 
deeply  affected  with  the  addresses  he  had  heard,   came  into 
the  midst  of  the  assembly,  and  with  tears  besought  that  he 
might   be  admitted   to  subscribe  the   covenant — lamenting  Lord  Ers- 
that  he  had  so  long  omitted  this  sacred  duty — and  his  ex-  JjJe,£Jj!* 
ample  was  followed  by  several  others.     But  what  confirmed,  nant. 
if  it  did  not  originate,  their  resolution  not  to  disperse,  was 
the  approbation  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  privy  council, 
and  the  open  accession  of  the  earl  of  Argyle,  the  most  power-  Earl  ?f.Ar' 
ful  nobleman  in  the  west,  who  was  imagined  at  the  time  to  the  cove- 
stand  high  in  the  king's  confidence ;  and  whose  presence, 
after  the  commissioner  had  left  them,  some  affected  to  consi- 
der as  an  oblique  hint,  that  the  meeting  had  the  secret  ap- 
proval, although  not  the  public  sanction  of  government — a 
presumption  which  satisfied  the  loyal  scruples  of  a  few,  half 


hesitating  brethren.* 


*  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  119- 


494  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK        LXXXII.  The  departure  of  the  commissioner  was  followed 
v^-      by  a  free  and  unrestrained  examination  of  all  the  evils  of 
1638.      which  they  complained,  and  of  all  their  causes.     The  six  as- 
Assembiies  semblies,  since  the  accession  of  James  to  the  English  crown, 
declared      which  were  considered  the  sources  of  the  whole  dissensions 
null,  in  the  church  and  state,  were  declared  null  and  void,  upon 

reasons  which  even  Hume  is  constrained  to  allow  were  I 
"  pretty  reasonable/'*  From  the  assembly  held  at  Linlith-  I 
gow,  1606,  eight  of  the  most  able  ministers  of  the  church, 
had  been  forcibly  detained.  The  acts  were  sent  down 
framed  from  court,  and  one,  ordaining  bishops  to  be  con- 
stant moderators  of  general  assemblies,  which  never  was  vot- 
ed, was  inserted  among  them.  In  that  held  at  Glasgow, 
-1608,  nobles  and  barons  were  sent  thither  to  vote  by  the 
simple  mandate  of  the  king,  besides  four  or  five  members 
from  several  presbyteries,  and  thirteen  bishops,  who  had  no 
commission.  Against  the  assembly  of  1616,  at  Aberdeen, 
notorious  bribery  was  urged,  and  a  shameful  substitution  by 
the  primate,  of  sixteen  of  his  own  creatures,  in  the  room  of 
sixteen  lawfully  chosen  commissioners.  For  the  meeting  at 
St.  Andrews  no  one  contended,  its  illegality  stood  undis- 
puted. But  the  objections  brought  against  that  of  Perth, 
1618,  were  the  most  numerous,  as  it  had  been  the  most 
noxious.  Its  indiction  was  pronounced  informal.  The  arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews  assumed  the  chair  as  moderator 
without  election;  members  regularly  chosen,  but  suspected 
of  being  opposed  to  court  measures,  were  struck  out,  to 
make  room  for  others  who  were  expected  to  be  more  pliable  ; 
and  the  manner  of  putting  the  vote,  in  which  an  improper 
use  was  made  of  the  king's  name,  to  influence  the  members, 
was  of  itself  oppressive,  and  sufficient  to  annul  their  pro- 
ceedings. 

LXXXIII.  The  moderator,  in  pronouncing  the  decree  ol 
the  assembly  against  the  six  corrupt  convocations,  expressed 
his  hope  that  they  would  now  only  remain  as  so  many  bea- 
cons, that  the  church  might  not  again  strike  on  such  rocks. 
As  a  natural  consequence  of  these  assemblies  being  declar- 
ed illegal,  and  their  proceedings  annulled,  all  the  oaths  ol 

•  History  of  England,  vol.  vi. 


CHARLES  I.  495 

conformity  imposed  by  the  bishops  became  also  illegal,  and    BOOK 
the  ministers  from  whom  they  had  been  exacted  at  their  ad-      VI1 
mission,  were  released  from  their  obligation.     Presbyteries,      J638. 
and  other  church  judicatures,  which  had  been  unjustly  and 
violently  obstructed  by  the    bishops,  were  restored  to  their  And  their 
original  rights.     The  articles  of  Perth,  and  whatever  these 
assemblies    had   enacted,    were   rescinded,    as    contrary   to 
the  original  confession  of  faith,  by  which  they  were  held 
to   have  been  abjured  ;    but  as  this  confession   had  been 
taken  in  three  different  senses,  they  ordered  it  to  be  sub- 
scribed anew,  with  an  explanatory  clause,  in  which  the  ab- 
juration was  expressly  affirmed,  and   the  meaning  in  which 
the  covenanters  understood  it,    unambiguously  expressed. 
The  liturgy  and  canons  were  condemned,  as  imposed  with- 
out warrant  from  the  church ;  the  forms  of  ordination  and 
consecration,  as  introduced  and  practised  without  warrant 
either  of  civil  or  ecclesiastical  authority ;  and  the  high  court 
of  commission,  as  having  neither  act  of  assembly  nor  of 
parliament  in  its  favour,  and  regulated  by  no  law,  human  or 
divine. 

LXXXIV.  Episcopacy  thus  abolished,  and  the  crooked,  op- 
pressive, false,  and  disingenuous  policy  of  two  reigns  en- 
tirely subverted,  the  pillars  of  the  divine  hierarchy  were  tried  proccss  a. 
and  disposed  of.     Two  archbishops  and  six  bishops  were  ex-  gainst  the 
communicated,  four  were  deposed,*  and  two,  upon  making 
humble  submission,  were  only  suspended  from  their  ecclesi- 
astical functions.     The  charges  which  the  assembly  sustain-  Charges  on 
ed,  were  arminian  doctrines,  superstitious  and  papal  innova-  wlucn  tn°y 

were  con- 

tions,  illegal  imposition  of  oaths,   tyranny  and   oppression  demned. 
in  suspending  and  deposing,  for  no  cause,  but  adherence  to 
the  principles  of  the  Scottish  church,  some  of  her  worthiest 
members.     The   imputations  against  their  private  conduct 
were  an  utter  disregard  of  decency,  and  a  relaxation  of  mo- 

•  The  bishop  of  Argyle  had  his  sentence  mitigated  by  an  opportune  witti- 
cism. When  it  came  to  the  voting,  Mr.  Alexander  Carse,  who  was  first  called 
on,  answered,  "  It  is  said  of  one  of  the  Roman  consuls,  that  he  was  so  vigi- 
lant, that  he  slept  none  all  his  time,  for  he  entered  on  his  office  in  the  morning, 
and  was  put  from  it  ere  night.  So  it  was  with  this  prelate,  for  he  was  not 
well  warmed  in  his  cathedral  chair,  till  both  chair  and  cushion  were  taken  from 
him ;  therefore  depose  him  onlyJ' 


496 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


1638. 


Ministers 
excluded 
from  civil 
power. 


BOOK  rals,  which  had  been  sufficient  in  less  scrupulous  times,  to 
have  authorized  their  being  removed  from  stations  of  such 
high  responsibility,  as  that  of  teachers  of  religion.  While 
gloomy,  morose,  unsocial  fanaticism  is  urged  and  reiterated 
against  the  covenanters,  and  even  alleged  as  an  excuse  for 
the  excesses  of  their  opponents,  it  is  unfair  to  conceal  the 
flagrant  improprieties  of  the  episcopalian  clergy,  which  had 
no  inconsiderable  effect  in  rendering  the  others  more  scru- 
pulous and  precise  in  the  indulgence  of  even  innocent 
amusements  ;  the  irregularities  of  the  former,  produced,  per- 
haps, by  a  terror  of  being  esteemed  puritans,  naturally  cre- 
ated a  necessity  for  the  latter  avoiding  even  the  appearance 
of  deviating  from  the  most  rigid  line  of  propriety. 

LXXXV.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  that  most  deadly 
of  all  the  episcopalian  sins — and  which  is  not  only  in- 
consistent with,  but  diametrically  opposite  to  both  the 
spirit  and  the  letter  of  a  Christian  pastor's  commission — 
civil  power  in  churchmen ;  an  act  was  passed  against  mi- 
nisters holding  any  seats  in  parliament,  exercising  the 
office  of  justice  of  peace,  lords  of  session,  or  judges  in  the 
exchequer.  But,  as  by  this  deed,  ministers  were  excluded 
from  the  estates,  the  elders  who  were  members,  were  so- 
licited to  exert  themselves  to  obtain  a  ratification  in  par- 
liament, of  the  acts  of  this  assembly.  Before  closing  the 
assembly,  they  asserted  their  right  to  meet  by  appoint- 
ing their  next  session  to  be  at  Edinburgh,  on  the  third 
>f  Wednesday  of  July,  1639 ;  but  at  the  same  time,  reserving 
blyappoint-  the  right  of  the  king,  by  ordaining,  that  if  it  should  please 
his  majesty  to  indict  a  general  assembly,  all  presbyteries, 
universities,  and  burghs,  should  send  their  commission 
to  keep  the  time  and  place  he  should  appoint ;  and  it  a 
pears  evident,  notwithstanding  all  that  had  occurred,  that 
the  king  might  have  retained  unimpaired,  his  civil  power 
and  prerogative,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  state, 
could  he  only  have  been  content  not  to  have  forced  upon 
their  consciences,  a  form  of  church  government,  and  a  ritual 
abhorrent  to  the  nation;  had  he  complied  with  what  it  is  never 
justifiable,  and  seldom  safe  for  a  king  to  refuse, — the  uni- 
versal prayer  of  a  people  goaded  to  the  verge  of  resistance  by 
an  imperious  party,  who  claimed  the  exclusive  praise  of 


CHARLES  I.  497 


loyalty,  and  abused  their  sole  access  to  the  royal  ear  ;  for    BOOK 
the  presbyterians  were  far  from  wishing  to  come  to  a  rup- 


ture,  and  in  their  supplication  which  they  presented  to  him,      1638. 
soliciting  his  sanction  to  their  acts,  they  entreat  his  com- 
pliance in  language  the  reverse  of  disaffection,  and  which 
their  stubborn,   inflexible  opposition   ought  to  have   freed 
from  the  charge  of  sycophancy,  or  insincerity.     "  We  hum- 
bly beg,"  say  they,   "  and  certainly  expect,  from  the  bright 
beams  of  your  majesty's  countenance,  shining  on  this  your 
majesty's  own  kingdom  and  people,  all  our  storms  shall  be 
changed  into  a  comfortable  calm,  and  sweet  sunshine;  and 
that  your  majesty's  ratification  in  the  ensuing  parliament,  Their  ad- 
shall  settle  us  in  such  a  firmness  and  stability  in  our  religion, 
as  shall  add  a  further  lustre  unto  your  majesty's  glorious 
diadem,  and  make  us  a  blessed  people  under  your  majesty's 
long  and  prosperous  reign  ;  which   we  beseech    Him  who 
hath  directed  us  in  our  affairs,  and  by  whom  kings  reign,  to 
grant  unto  your  majesty,  to  the  admiration  of  all  the  world, 
the  astonishment  of  your  enemies,  and  comfort  of  the  godly." 
But  Charles  preferred  the  hollow  flattery,  and  the  idle  state 
of  a   few  worthless  prelates,  to  the  esteem,   affection,    and 
gratitude  of  such  men  ;  and  rather  than  give  up  a  liturgy  — 
at  best  of  very  equivocal  utility  —  and  a  hierarchy  burden- 
some to  the  state,  and  hateful  to  the  people,  he  was  willing 
to  involve  his  kingdom  in  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  and 
stake  his  life  and  his  crown  upon  the  issue. 

LXXXVI.  The  work  of  reformation  thus  thoroughly  and 
unexpectedly  completed,  the  assembly,  after  having  sat  twen- 
ty-six days,  rose  triumphantly*  "  We  have  now  cast  down,"  riscs> 
said  Henderson,  "  the  walls  of  Jericho,  let  him  that  rebuild- 
eth  them,  beware  of  the  curse  of  Hiel  the  Betheiite."  To 
the  heroic  patriotism  of  this  assembly,  Scotland  owes  much. 
The  wisdom  of  their  measures,  was  not  less  conspicuous  than 
their  courage  and  their  zeal.  The  leaders  were  always  pre- 
pared for  every  event,  and  the  decided  step  they  took  in  dis- 
regarding the  commissioner's  orders  to  dissolve,  was  not  less 
necessary  for  their  own  individual  safety,  than  it  has  been  ul- 
timately advantageous  to  their  country.  Had  they  dissolved 
without  razing  the  foundations  of  prelacy,  it  would  not  have 
been  long  ere  the  fabric  had  been  rebuilt,  with  greater  cau- 

VOL.  III.  3  S 


498 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


'roceeds'to 
court. 


**on  PernaPs>  but  witn  m°re  durability  ;  and  those  seeds  of 
liberty  which  they  watered,  and  which  braved  the  storms  of 
half  a  century,  ere  they  ripened  into  fruit,  had  probably  ne- 
ver blossomed.  Had  Charles  succeeded  in  effecting  his  pur- 
pose in  Scotland,  in  ruling  there  by  his  prerogative,  England, 
divided  as  it  was,  would  have  been  forced  to  bend  under  the 
yoke  of  despotism,  and  Britain  might  have  had  yet  to  strug- 
gle for  rational  freedom.  The  power  of  this  assembly  to  an- 
nul what  had  received  the  sanction  of  parliament,  has  been 
questioned.  A  case  of  such  imperious  urgency  would  have 
justified  them,  had  they  even  done  this.  When  all  is  at  ha- 
zard, when  fortune,  liberty,  and  life  are  in  peril,  it  is  no  time 
to  search  for  precedents.  Self-preservation  tells  a  man,  to 
provide  first  against/danger,  and  afterward,  he  may  search 
for  precedents,  or  ask  for  bills  of  indemnity  ;  but  the  assem- 
bly did  not  do  this,  they  annulled  what  they  had  a  right  to 
annul  ;  —  the  irregular  and  illegal  proceedings  of  their  own 
assemblies  —  and  if,  when  they  were  found  to  be  nullities,  the 
acts  of  parliament,  which  proceeded  upon  the  supposition 
of  their  being  regular  and  according  to  law,  fell  to  the 
ground,  the  blame  must  attach  to  those  who  built  upon 
the  sand,  not  to  those  who  exhibited  the  frailty  of  the  foun- 
dation. 

After  he  left  the  assembly,  the  marquis  set  out  for  Hamil- 
ton, whence,  after  depositing  some  of  the  bishops  in  a  place 
of  safety,  he  proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  and  reiterated  his 
proclamation  dissolving  the  assembly,  which  was  attended 
with  the  usual  accompaniment  of  a  formal  protest.  Vexed 
at  the  failure  of  his  attempts,  and  worn  out  with  mental  anx- 
iety and  bodily  fatigue,  the  marquis  was  detained  in  Scotland 
*°r  some  ^me  ^J  indisposition  ;  but  about  the  close  of  De- 
cember  he  set  out  for  London,  to  exculpate  himself  to  the 
king,  to  learn  the  real  state  of  the  armament,  and  concert  a 
plan  of  operations  for  a  contest,  which  appeared  now  inevi- 
table. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  VIII. 

Charles  I. — His  preparations  for  war — Covenanters  receive  arms  from  France. 
— Their  manifesto. — Royal  Army  assembles  at  York — Covenanters  take 
Edinburgh  and  Dunbarton  Castles — Proceedings  in  the  North. — Montrose 
takes  Aberdeen — Makes  a  Treaty  with  Huntly. — Brings  him  prisoner  to 
Edinburgh — Hamilton  arrives  with  a  fleet  in  the  Forth — Town  Council  of 
Edinburgh  refuses  to  publish  the  King's  proclamation. — Negotiations  with  Ha- 
milton— Aboyne  retakes  Aberdeen. — Dispersed  at  Dee-bridge — The  Royal 
Force  advances  from  York — Covenanters  arrive  on  the  Borders. — Encamp 
at  Dunse-law. — State  of  their  army — Negotiations. — A  Treaty  concluded. 
— The  Covenanters  disband  their  troops,  and  deliver  up  the  castles. — An 
Assembly  held. — Causes  of  the  bygone  evils  in  the  Church  and  the  re- 
medies.— Council  sanction  the  Covenant — The  King  refuses  to  ratify  the 
Acts  of  the  Assembly. — A  Parliament. — Its  sudden  prorogation. — Remon- 
strance by  the  Estates  and  Covenanters. — The  King  decides  on  Hostili- 
ties.— Deputation  from  Parliament  sent  to  London. — Earl  London's  Speech 
before  the  Council — Letter  of  the  Nobles  to  the  King  of  France. — Loudon 
committed  to  the  Tower. — Death  of  Archbishop  Spotswood. — Earl  of  Stir- 
ling— Knights  of  Nova  Scotia — Van  Tromp  defeats  the  Spaniards  in  the 
English  Channel. — Proceedings  of  the  English  Parliament. — Armaments — 
Proceedings  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  proclaimed  treasonable. — Proceed- 
ings of  Argyle  and  Monro — Assembly  held  at  Aberdeen — Discussions  re- 
specting private  meeting  for  religious  exercises. — Earl  of  Loudon  released 
and  sent  to  Scotland Covenanters'  army  enters  England — Their  Consi- 
derations and  Intentions — Battle  of  Newburn-fords. — Dunbarton  Castle 
taken. — Dunglas  powder  magazine  explodes — Edinburgh  Castle  surrenders, 
— Covenanters  supplicate  the  King  for  peace. — State  of  their  army.— Cor- 
respondence of  Montrose  with  the  King  discovered. — Council  of  Peers 
advise  negotiations  with  the  Covenanters — Commissioners  meet  at  Rippon. 
— Conferences  removed  to  London. — A  Truce  concluded — 1639-4  . 

I.  THE  year  1639  is  remarkable,  in  the  history  of  Scotland,    BOOK 
for  the  commencement  of  hostilities  between  the  king  and  his  __VHL_ 
subjects.     Charles,  who  had  long  looked  forward   to  this  c^f£'s  j 
issue  of  his  disputes,  had  his  preparations  in  a  formidable 


500  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    state  of  forwardness  ;  his  artillery   was   ready  in  June  pre- 
_  ceding,  arms  to  a  considerable  extent  were  commissioned 
1639.     from  the  continent,  his  fleet  was  equipped,  and  he  had  two 
tary'prepa-  nundred  thousand  pounds  in  his  exchequer.     In  the  month 
rations,       of  January  Hamilton  arrived  at  Whitehall,  and  learned  the 
intentions  of  his  majesty.     He  proposed  to  lead   in   person 
an  army  of  thirty  thousand  horse  and  foot,  which  was  to  as- 
semble at  York  where  all  the  nobility,  with  their  attendants, 
Plans.        were  summoned  under  the  pretence  of  repelling  invasion; 
Berwick  and  Carlisle  were  to  be  garrisoned ;  the  west  coast 
was  to  be  invaded  from   Ireland,  by  the  earl  of  Antrim  ;  ; 
and  the  navy,  with  a  land  army  of  five  thousand  men,  was  to 
co-operate  with  Huntly  in  the  north ;  who  were  first  to  se- 
cure that  quarter,  and  then  march  south,  while  Charles  ad-  ; 
vanced  by  the  east  coast. 

n.  The  king's  armament  had  neither  been  so  secretly,  nor 
could  it  so  speedily  be  executed,  as  not  to  communicate 
alarm  to  the  Scots,  whose  leaders  were  too  determined,  and 
too  acute,  to  allow  themselves  to  be  either  dismayed  at  its  i 
magnitude,  or  taken  unawares  at  its  approach.  It  is  impos-  ; 
sible  to  say  exactly  at  what  time  they  first  began  to  enter- 
tain the  ideas  of  resistance,  because  the  steps  by  which  they 
were  led  on,  till  they  made  their  ultimate  appeal  to  an 
arose  so  gradually  out  of  the  circumstances  in  which  th< 
were  placed,  that  had  it  not  been  for  their  uncommon 
o-acity,  and  their  accurate  intelligence,  the  king  must  inevi- 
tably have  got  the  start,  They  soon,  however,  received 
effectual  pecuniary  aid  from  an  unexpected  quarter,  which 
enabled  them  to  purchase  arms  and  ammunition.  Fran< 
and  Holland  had  combined  against  Spain,  with  the  intention 
of  seizing  and  dividing  the  Low  Countries,  and  were  anxious 
to  secure  the  neutrality  of  England,  whose  maritime  power 
they  dreaded.  Richlieu  sent  D'Estrades  to  Charles  to  pro- 
pose any  terms  to  obtain  this,  and  even  promised  the  assist- 
ance of  French  troops  to  aid  him  in  reducing  his  rebelli- 
He  refuses  ous  subjects ;  Charles  however  rejected  the  proposals,  and 
France.  told  the  ambassador  who  made  them,  that  he  had  a  squadron 
ready,  and,  if  necessary,  would  cross  the  sea  with  fifteen 
thousand  men  to  prevent  the  conquest ; — thanked  the  French 
minister  for  his  offer,  but  said,  he  had  no  need  of  any  foreign 


CHARLES  I.  501 

assistance  to  reduce  his  subjects  ;  his  own  authority,  and  the    BOOK 
laws  of  England,  were  sufficient  to  compel  them  to  do  their 


duty.  1639. 

IIT.  Richlieu's  pride  was  irritated,  and,  in  revenge,  he  de- 
termined to  avail  himself  of  the  troubles  in  Scotland,  for 
giving  employment  to  Charles.  In  a  letter  to  D'Estrades  he 
tells  him,  "  before  the  end  of  twelve  months,  the  king  and 
queen  of  England  shall  repent  having  refused  the  proposal 
which  you  made  them  from  his  majesty;  and,  if  God  blesses 
our  undertaking,  his  majesty  will  have  no  great  reason  to 
regret  that  England  has  rejected  his  offers."  A  hundred  Richlicu  in 
thousand  crowns  were  in  consequence  furnished  by  the  car-  conse- 

•*  *  quence 

dinal,  who  employed  his  almoner,  Chambers,  to  reside  as  a  sends  mill- 
secret  emissary   in   Scotland  ;  these  were  employed  on  the  taryst°res 
continent  in  the  purchase  of  military  stores,  which  were  clan-  land. 
destinely  imported  by  the  Scottish  merchants. 

iv.  Alexander  Leslie,  who  had  greatly  distinguished  him-  General 
self  in  Gustavus'  service,  was  invited  bv  his  chief,  the  earl     ,?  f  5  e" 

*  ...      called  from 

of  Rothes,  to  return   to  his  native  land,  and  assist  in   its  the  conti- 
defence  ;  and  by  his  influence  the  most  experienced  officers,  nent' 
who  had  been  trained  under  the  same  great  leader,  were 
recalled    to    instruct  their  countrymen   in  the  use  of  arms. 
There  was,  however,  one  main  obstacle  to   be  overcome; 
the  nation  had,  during  a  long  period,  been  unaccustomed 
to  warfare,  and  now,  when  it  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  con- 
test with  their  king,  a  number  were  ready  to  cloak  their 
want  of  military  ardour  under  the  plea  of  the  duty  they 
owed  to  their  sovereign  ;  and  not  a  few  of  those  who  had 
conformed  were  impressed  with  the  notions  of  passive  obe- 
dience, which  the  prelates  so  constantly  rung  in  their  ears. 
They  conceived  it  might  be  just  and  necessary  to  resist  the  Doubts  as 
monarch,  so  long  as  this  could  be  done  in  the  assembly  or  to.the  P''°- 

.         pnety  of 

the  estates,  yet  were  not  equally  persuaded  of  the  propriety  taking 
of  doing  so  in  the  field  ;  but  when  the  king's  proclamation 
appeared  denouncing  them  as  traitors  ready  to  invade  Eng-  king. 
land,  no  man  could  longer  remain  neuter,  and  it  became 
necessary  their  minds  should  be  resolved. 

v.  A  manifesto  was  ordered  by  the  tables,  to  be  drawn  Manifesto 
up  and  circulated,  entitled,  a  state  of  the  question,  and.  rea-  of  thc  covc* 

r.  T      •      i  I  •  nantcrs. 

sons  for  defensive  war.     In  it  they  say  the  question  is  not 


502  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  about  obeying  his  majesty ;  this  they  never  denied.  They 
11  *•  cheerfully  acknowledge  their  duty  to  honour,  obey,  and  fear 
1639.  the  king ;  but  they  cannot  see  their  obligation  to  obey  evil 
and  wicked  superiors,  in  an  evil  thing;  for  if  God  com- 
mand one  thing,  and  kings  another,  they  consider  it  their 
duty  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  Nor  is  the  question 
about  invasion ;  this,  they  add,  our  consciences  abhor,  and 
our  actions  deny ;  it  is  simply  about  our  own  defence  and 
safety ;  and  here  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  a  king 
residing  in  the  kingdom,  attentive  to  the  statements  of  both 
parties,  and  correctly  informed  about  the  subject  of  dispute 
— and  a  king  residing  in  a  different  country,  listening  only 
to  one  party,  and  misinformed  by  our  adversaries.  An- 
other weighty  difference  is,  between  private  persons,  or  a 
few  subordinate  magistrates  taking  arms  for  resistance,  and 
a  whole  nation  standing  to  their  own  defence ;  between  a 
people  rising  against  law  and  reason,  that  they  may  throw 
off  the  bonds  of  obedience,  and  a  people  holding  fast  their 
allegiance  to  their  sovereign,  and  supplicating  for  religion 
and  justice.  The  question  then  resolves  itself  into  this : — 
In  such  a  case  is  defensive  war  lawful  ?  or  ought  the  peo- 
ple to  defend  themselves  against  extreme  violence  and  op- 
pression, bringing  utter. ruin  and  desolation  on  the  kirk  and 
kingdom,  upon  themselves  and  their  posterity  ?  That  they 
ought,  they  deduced  from  a  variety  of  reasons; — from  the 
very  absurdity  of  absolute  sovereignty,  and  unlimited  au- 
thority residing  in  princes ;  from  the  end  of  magistracy  in- 
stituted for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  their  defence ;  the 
body  of  the  magistrate  is  mortal,  but  the  people,  as  a  so- 
ciety, is  immortal,  and  therefore  it  were  a  direct  overturn- 
ing of  all  the  foundations  of  policy  and  government,  to  pre- 
fer subjection  to  the  prince  to  the  preservation  of  the  com- 
monwealth, or  to  expose  the  public,  wherein  every  man's 
person,  family,  and  private  estate  are  contained,  to  be  a  prey 
to  the  fury  of  the  prince,  rather  than  by  all  their  power  to 
defend  and  preserve  the  commonwealth  ;  from  the  law  of  na- 
ture, as  mariners  and  passengers  may  save  themselves,  by 
resisting  him  who,  sitting  at  the  helm,  would  drive  the  ves- 
sel against  a  rock,  or  by  hindering  the  prince  himself,  not 
only  by  supplication  of  mouth,  but  by  strength  of  hand,  to 


CHATtLES  I.  503 

govern  the  ship  to  their  certain  shipwreck ;  from  examples    BOOK 
in  scripture ;  from  the  mutual    contract  between  king  and     vm- 
people,  acknowledged  in  the  coronation  ceremony ;  from  acts     1639. 
of  parliament,  ratifying  the  authority  of  the  three  estates ; 
from  their  own  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history ;  and  from  the 
covenant  lately  sworn  and  subscribed,  binding  them  to  de- 
fend the  king's  majesty's  person  in  support  of  the  true  re- 
ligion, and  to  protect  the  true  religion  against  all  persons 
whatsoever. 

vi.  Nor  were  the  pulpits  silent ;  the  necessity  of  self-de-  Exhorta- 
fence  was   insisted  on,  the  dangers  that  threatened  religion  * 

and  the  commonwealth  were  strongly  pointed  out,  and  the 
sin  of  standing  back  in  the  day  of  trouble,  was  threatened 
with  the  curse  pronounced  against  those  who  came  not  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.'  Their  arguments 
and  exhortations  were  not  ineffectual ;  a  spirit  of  enthusias- 
tic zeal  for  the  cause  was  universally  excited,  and  every 
where  men  pressed  to  enlist  under  the  banner  of  the  cove- 
nant. But  while  endeavouring  to  rouse  the  martial  spirit 
of  their  countrymen,  they  used  every  means  to  assure  the 
English  nation  of  their  ardent  desire  for  peace,  and  their 
aversion  to  the  smallest  acts  of  hostility  against  them.  In 
vain  did  the  king  interdict  the  publication  of  Scottish  de- 
clarations, they  were  spread  extensively  through  the  coun- 
try, and  a  fellow  feeling  was  excited  in  the  breasts  of  the 
puritans,  for  men  whose  principles  and  wrongs  were  so  si- 
milar to  their  own.  With  their  open  avowal  of  their  inten-  Prudent 
tion  to  defend  themselves  against  invasion,  the  tables  adopt- 
ed  the  most  vigorous  and  wise  measures  for  carrying  their 
intention  into  effect ;  they  not  only  attempted  to  secure  the 
friendship  of  the  people  of  England,  by  explaining  to  them 
their  motives,  but  wisely  rejected  all  foreign  assistance,  as 
that  which  might  have  given  them  umbrage,  although  they 
had  heard  that  the  king  had  entered  into  treaty  for  some 
Spanish  veterans  from  the  Netherlands,  of  whose  aid  he  was 
only  deprived  by  accidental  circumstances.  A  supreme  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  reside  at  Edinburgh,  with  full  ex- 
ecutive powers,  and  subordinate  ones  in  every  shire,  for  con- 
sulting on  its  proper  defence,  and  providing  arms  The  For  de- 
commanders,  who  had  served  abroad,  were  distributed  fencc' 


504  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  throughout  the  counties,  to  instruct  the  officers  and  exercise 
the  men,  and  every  fourth  man  was  ordered  to  be  levied. 
1639.  All  expert  smiths  were  put  in  requisition,  for  the  fabrication 
of  musquets,  carabines,  pole-axes,  Lochaber-axes  and  hal- 
berts ;  and  magazines  and  beacons  were  established  in  each 
shire.*  A  permanent  body  of  two  thousand  foot  were  placed 
under  Monro,  as  a  seminary  for  training  the  rest  of  the 
country,  and  to  be  always  ready,  either  to  repress  any  sud- 

And  train-  (Jen  incursion  on   the  borders,  or  overawe  any  appearance 
ing  the  „  .  ,     /         ;     . 

people.        ot  insubordination    among   themselves ;  and   tor   their  pay 

the  nobles  borrowed  from  Mr.  William  Dick  of  Priestfield, 
afterwards  provost  of  Edinburgh,  200,000  merks,  and  gave 
their  joint  bond  for  that  sum,  till  money  could  otherwise 
be  raised.  Argyle  undertook  to  maintain  nine  hundred 
men,  for  the  protection  of  the  west  coast  from  the  Macdo- 
nalds  of  the  Isles,  and  the  arrival  of  Antrim,  their  chief,  from 
Ireland. 

Royal  ar-        vii.  The  king's  forces,  on  the  appointed  day,  assembled 
WeVat0111"  at  York,   amounting  to  three  thousand  horse,  and  twenty 
York.         thousand  foot,  the  command  of  which  was  intrusted  to  the 
earl  of  Arundel,  a  nobleman  of  great  family,  but  of  no  mili- 
tary experience.     The  earl  of  Essex,  who  had  seen  consi- 
derable service,  and  was  extremely  popular  among  the  soldi- 
ery, was  appointed  lieutenant-general.     The  earl  of  Holland, 
said  to  be  a  favourite  of  the  queen,  was  general  of  the  horse. 

*  The  following  were  the  instructions  for  alarming  the  country  in  case  of 
danger.  "  That  no  shire  might  want  advertisement,  it  was  thought  fit  that 
beacons  should  be  set  up  in  all  eminent  places  of  the  country,  that  so  any 
danger  that  appeared  at  sea,  might  be  made  known  by  the  beacons  running 
along  the  country ;  which  beacons  were  a  long  and  strong  tree,  set  up  with  a 
long  iron  pole  across  the  head  of  it,  carrying  on  it  an  iron  grate  for  holding  a 
fire,  and  an  iron  brander  fixed  on  a  stalk  in  the  middle  of  it,  for  holding  a 
tar  barrel,  and  the  manner  of  advertisement  was  this  : — The  first  fire  was 
upon  the  ground,  beside  the  beacon,  on  the  sight  whereof,  all  were  to  provide 
themselves  to  stand  to  their  arms,  and  set  out  watches  to  advertise  others. 
The  next  advertisement  was  by  two  fires,  the  one  on  the  ground,  and  the 
other  on  the  large  grate,  on  the  sight  whereof,  all  were  to  come  out,  first  to 
the  rendezvous  of  their  company,  and  then  of  their  regiment,  and  if  the  dan- 
ger was  imminent,  to  the  two  former  signs  were  added,  that  of  the  burning  tar 
barrel,  and  lest,  through  rain  or  mist,  or  the  people  being  at  rest,  these  bea- 
cons should  prove  abortive  of  the  end  designed,  the  next  adjacent  gentlemen 
were  to  warn  all  betwixt  that  and  the  next  beacon,  going  out  one  way  and 
coming  in  another."  Inst.  No.  6. 


CHARLES   I.  505 

tn  addition  to  the  funds   in  the  exchequer,  the  clergy  were    BOOK 
called  upon  by  Laud,  to  contribute;  and  the  papists,  by  the 


influence  of  the  queen,  came  liberally  forward  to  support  his     1639. 
majesty  in  the  episcopal  crusade. 

viu.  The  Scots,  though  unwilling  to  commence  any  war-  Covenant- 
like  operations,  yet,  aware  of  the  danger  of  leaving  enemies  ^'nce™ 
behind  them,  determined  to  secure  their  rear  before  they  ad-  operations. 
vanced  to  meet  the  invader.     Huntly  had  begun  to  arm  in 
the  north,  the  earls  of  Airly  and  Southesk  in  Angus,  and 
Douglas  in  the  south  ;   they  therefore  planned  the  surprise 
of  all  the  strong  places  not  held  by  their  friends.    Edinburgh 
castle  had  only  a  feeble  garrison,  and  was  ill  supplied,  but 
when  Leslie  appeared  before  it,  the  captain  refused  to  sur-  Take  Ed- 
render  ;  on  which,  after  a  short  parley,  a  petard  was  brought  inbtirgk 
to  the  outer  gate,  which  was  immediately  blown  open.    Axes 
and  hammers  demolished  the  inner,  and  in  less  than  half  an 
hour,  the  covenanters  had  possession  without  the  loss  of  a 
man.     On  the  same  day,  Dunbarton  was  taken  by  stratagem.  Dunbarton, 
It  was  well  garrisoned  and  supplied,  and  the  governor  was 
staunch  to  the  opposite  party  ;  but  being  invited  to,  or  en- 
tering without  suspicion,  the  church  of  Dunbarton  on  a  fast, 
accompanied  by  the  greater  part  of  the  soldiers,  the  provost 
of  the  town,  and   Campbell  of  Ardincaple,   took  the  whole 
prisoners,  and  the  few  who  remained  on  the  rock,  at  the  first 
summons  surrendered.*     Traquair's  residence  at  Dalkeith,  Dalkeith 
was  taken  possession  of  by  Monro  and  500  men,  who  found  house- 
there  the  arms  and  ammunition  intended  for  Edinburgh  cas- 
tle, a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions,  and  the  regalia, 
which,  in  spite  of  his  denunciations  of  treason,  they  carried 
off  in  triumph,  and  lodged  in  the  fortress  of  the  metropolis. 
The  castles  of  Tantallon  and  Douglas,  belonging  to  the  mar-  Tantallon 
quis,  who  was  a  papist,  were  also  both  seized  upon,  and  Car- 
laverock,  protected  by  the  vicinity  of  Carlisle,  and  well  man- 
ned and  provided,  was  the  only  strength  of  which  they  did 
not  obtain  possession. 

ix.  In  the  north,  where  Huntly  had  collected  a  consider- 
able force,  appearances  were  more  threatening.  Against 
him,  therefore,  Montrose  and  Leslie  were  despatched.  They 

*Baillie,  vol.  i.  p-  1*9- 
VOL.  III.  3  T 


506  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

.BOOK    appointed  Turreff,  a  village  in  Aberdeenshire,  north-west  of 

VTTT 

Aberdeen,   as  the  place  of  rendezvous  for  all  the  adherents 


1639.  of  the  covenant  in  that  quarter,  and  soon  found  themselves 
Proceed-  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  body  of  men.  Huntly,  inform- 
north.  fid  of  the  intended  meeting,  raised  about  two  thousand  five 
hundred  horse,  and  advanced  to  disperse  them,  but  they 
were  too  well  posted  to  be  attacked ;  Montrose  could  not 
act  without  Leslie,  who  happened  at  the  time  to  be  absent ; 
they  therefore  gazed  at  each  other,  and  without  exchanging 
either  courtesy  or  blows,  Huntly  retired,  and  next  day  Mon- 
trose returned  south.  The  formidable  array  of  Huntly  at 
Turreff,  demanded  that  he  should  either  be  rendered  inca- 
pable of  mischief,  or  attached  as  a  friend,  and  the  tables  or- 
dered their  generals  instantly  to  re-assemble  their  army  ;  but 
Huntly  for-  Huntly  had  augmented  his  forces,  and  taken  possession  of 
deen.  ' 'T~  Aberdeen,  which  he  slenderly  fortified  with  the  assistance  of 
the  inhabitants,  who  were  almost  all  non-covenanters.  His 
orders  were,  however,  to  act  entirely  upon  the  defensive,  un- 
til he  should  receive  reinforcements  from  England ;  and  for 
this  purpose,  he  endeavoured  to  protract  the  time  till  their 
arrival,  by  proposing  to  Montrose,  that  he  should  remain 
on  the  south  of  the  Grampians,  till  it  was  ascertained  whe- 
ther there  was  any  likelihood  of  a  treaty  being  concluded  be- 
tween the  king  and  the  covenanters  ;  he  pledging  himself  to 
remain  quiet  within  the  bounds  of  his  own  lieutenancy.  Mon- 
trose answered,  he  was  oi-dered  by  the  general  assembly  to 
visit  the  college  of  Aberdeen,  which  he  intended  to  do,  but 
in  no  hostile  manner. 

x.  On  the  advance  of  Montrose,  Huntly,  who  could  not 

cope  with   him,   and  who  alleged  that  he  was  restrained  by 

his  orders  from  fighting,  retired  homeward,  and  the  doctors, 

Montrose    and  several  other  high  episcopalians,  fled  to  Berwick.     After 

demolishes  vjsjtjnor  the  college,  in  which  only  one  professor  was  left,  and 

the  fortifi-  .  . 

cations.  demolishing  the  fortifications,  he  proceeded  to  Inverury, 
where  he  pitched  his  camp,  and  whence  he  sent  to  Huntly, 
requesting  an  interview.  To  this  Huntly  agreed,  and  the 
way  in  which  it  took  place,  is  highly  descriptive  of  the  sa- 
vage and  suspicious  manners  of  the  age  and  country,  "  The 
place  of  interview  between  Huntly  and  Montrose,  was  mu- 
tually agreed  to  be  Louiss,  a  country  village,  some  five  miles 


CHARLES  I.  507 

north  of  the  covenanters'  camp,   and  nine  miles  south  of  BOOK 
Strathbogie.     There  were  twelve  gentlemen  appointed  to  be      VIII. 
on  each  side,  armed  only  with  walking  swords.     Both  par-      1639. 
ties  kept  the  appointment;  but  before  the  parley,  there  was  His  inter' 

'•  view  with 

a  gentleman  deputed  irom  either  side,  to  search  the  counter  Huntly. 
party  for  hidden  arms.     Huntly  afterward  proceeded  to  the 
covenanters'  camp,  when  a  pacification   for  the  north  was 
agreed  upon,  Montrose  to  march   south,  and  the  marquis 
agreeing  not  to  disturb  any  of  the  covenanters  within  his 
bounds  ;  at  the  same  time  signing  a  paper,  in  substance  si-  Concludes 
milar  to  the  covenant,  but  yet  so  equivocally  written,  that 
the  historian  of  the  house  of  Gordon,  very  furiously  accuses 
bishop  Guthrie  of  falsehood,  for  asserting  that  it  has  the 
smallest  resemblance.     In   the  paper  Huntly  subscribed,* 
he  obliged  himself  to  maintain  the  king's  authority,  together 
with  the  liberty  and  religion  of  the  kingdom,  which,  as  he 
would  interpret  it  to  mean  episcopacy,  his  own  persuasion, 
and  they  presbytery  as  what  they  intended,  it  is  evident  the 
partisans  of  each  might  with  equal  justice  accuse  the  other 
of  being  mistaken  ;  certain  it  is,  however,  that  neither  were 
satisfied,  although    both   separated,  apparently  considering 
every  thing  as  terminated. 

xi.  Montrose  returned  to  Aberdeen  with  the  army,f  and 

"  Straloch  MS.  History  of  Gordon. 

f  Spalding  gives  a  curious  and  particular  account  of  this  army,  at  their 
entry  into  Aberdeen.  "  They  were  estimate  to  be  about  9000  men,  horse 
and  foot  with  their  carriages  ;  they  had  two  cartons,  or  quarter  cannons,  fol- 
lowing them,  with  twelve  piece  of  other  ordnance ;  they  might  easily  come  to 
Aberdeen  that  night,  having  daylight  enough,  but  they  would  not  come,  but 
stentet  their  pavilions  on  the  hill,  and  rested  there  all  ni^ht.  Upon  the  mor- 
row, being  Saturday  30th  March,  they  came  in  order  of  battle,  well  armed, 
both  on  horse  and  foot,  each  horseman  having  at  least  five  shot  with  a  cara- 
bine in  his  hand,  two  pistols  by  his  sides,  and  other  two  by  his  saddle  ;  the 
pikeman  in  their  ranks,  with  pike  and  sword  ;  the  musketeers  in  their  ranks, 
with  musket,  staff,  bandalier,  sword,  powder,  ball,  and  match.  Each  company, 
both  of  horse  and  foot,  had  their  captains,  lieutenants,  ensigns,  Serjeants,  and 
other  officers  and  commmanders,  all  for  the  most  part  in  buff  coats ;  and  in 
goodly  order.  They  had  five  colours  or  ensigns,  whereof  the  earl  of  Montrose 
had  one,  having  the  motto,  "  for  religion,  the  covenant,  and  the  country," 
the  earl  of  Marischal  had  one,  the  earl  of  Kinghorn  had  one,  and  the  town  of 
Dundee  had  two.  They  had  trumpeters  to  ilk  company  of  horsemen,  and 
drummers  to  ilk  company  of  footmen j  they  had  their  meat,  drink,  and  pro- 
visions carried  with  them.  The  marquis'  family,  when  they  were  dwelling  in 


508 


H1STOKV  OF   SCOTLAND. 


Has  an- 
other in. 
terview 


BOOK  employing  that  species  of  argument,  unfortunately  too  fami- 
liar to  all  ruling  parties,  he  imposed  the  covenant  upon  the 
town ;  and  the  magistrates'  subscription  was  accepted  as  an 
equivalent  for  a  contribution,  which  perhaps,  it  might  have 
been  much  more  difficult  to  procure.  While  performing 
ien'  this  pious  service,  Montrose  invited  Huntly  to  another  con- 
ference, and  Huntly,  on  receiving  a  safe  conduct,  sealed  by 
the  general,  appeared  at  head-quarters ;  where,  after  some 
preliminary  conversation,  the  marquis  was  addressed,  "  my 

mth  Hunt-  jorc^  seejng  we  are  an  now  friends,  will  ye  go  south  with  us  ?" 
He  replied,  he  was  neither  inclined  nor  prepared  at  the  time, 
for  such  an  excursion.  "  Your  lordship,1'  said  the  gallant 
Montrose,  "  would  do  well  to  go  with  us."  The  marquis 
perceiving  his  aim,  quickly  answered,  "  my  lord,  I  came  here 
to  this  town,  upon  assurance  that  I  should  come  and  go  at 
my  pleasure,  without  molestation,  but  I  saw  by  the  manner 
in  which  my  lodging  was  guarded,  that  I  was  not  left  at 
liberty ;  and  now,  contrary  to  expectation,  ye  would  take 
me,  and  whether  I  would  or  not,  carry  me  to  Edinburgh ; 
this,  in  my  opinion,  seems  neither  fair  nor  honourable;  how- 
ever, my  lord,  give  me  my  bond  whilk  I  gave  you  at  In- 
verury,  and  you  shall  have  an  answer."  On  which  the 
bond  was  delivered  up,  then  he  said,  "  I  will  go  with  you  ;" 
and  he  and  his  eldest  son,  lord  Gordon,  were  carried  pri- 
soners to  Edinburgh,  where  they  remained  confined  in  the 

prisoners     castle  till  the  treaty.     Wishart,  in  his  romantic  history  of 

to  Ldiu-        -.  T  .  ,,        TT         ,    .  .     *  , 

burgh.  Montrose,  is  at  a  loss  to  account  for  Huntly  s  antipathy 
to  his  hero,  even  after  he  had  changed  his  party,  except  upon 
a  principle  of  envy;  the  foregoing  narrative  will  easily  unravel 
the  mystery,  and  shows  that  Huntly,  without  being  envious, 
might  justly  be  suspicious,  both  of  the  honour  and  promises 
of  a  man,  whose  own  seal  bore  witness  against  him. 


Carries 
him  and 
his  son 


the  town,  had  ribbons  of  a  red,  flesh  colour,  which  they  wore  in  their  hats, 
and  called  it  the  royal  ribbon.  Mostly  all  in  this  army  had  blue  ribbands, 
called  the  covenanter's  ribband.  They  entered  Aberdeen  about  ten  hours, 
and  marched  to  the  Links  directly,  where  muster  being  made,  all  men  were  by 
sound  of  trumpet,  in  general  Montrose'  name,  commanded  to  go  to  breakfast, 
either  in  the  Links  or  in  the  town.  The  general  himself,  nobles,  captains, 
commanders  for  the  most  part  and  soldiers,  sat  down  in  the  Links,  and  of  their 
own  provision,  with  a  servit  on  their  knee,  took  breakfast." 


CHARLES  I.  509 

xii.  Leith  was  an  object  of  too  great  national  importance    BOOK 
to  be  overlooked,  and  its  fortification  was  undertaken  with      VIII> 
an  enthusiasm  equal  to  its  importance.     The  ruins  of  the      1639 
old  works  yet  remained,  but  sir  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  Lcith  for 
acted  as  engineer,  abandoned  the  French  lines,  and  traced  tified' 
out  new,  and  more  modern  ones,  according  to  the  then  im- 
proved state  of  the  art.     The  first  baskets  of  earth  were  car- 
ried by  the  noblemen,  the  chiefs  of  the  covenanters,  and  all 
ranks  emulated  and  encouraged  each  other  in  forwardin^ 

O  O 

the  labour;  nor  did  ladies  of  distinction  disdain  to  excite  by 
their  example,  the  most  sturdy  exertions  of  the  men,  in  the 
transport  of  materials.  Night  and  day  there  was  no  inter- 
mission, and  the  port  speedily  put  in  a  respectable  state  of 
defence,  secured  the  capital  from  assault  by  sea.  The  towns 
along  the  coast  of  Fife,  were  also  hastily  surrounded  by  bat- 
teries,  on  which  ship-cannon  were  mounted;  Inchkeith  and  Fife. 
Inchcolm  alone  were  neglected,  and  allowed  to  remain  as 

O  ' 

points  of  rest  for  an  enemy  entering  the  Forth. 

xni.  Hamilton,  to  whom  the  command  of  the  fleet,  much 
against  his  inclination,  was  committed,  received  orders  from 
the  king  while  he  lay  at  Yarmouth  roads,  desiring  him  to 
sail  directly  for  the  Frith  of  Forth,  and  endeavour  to  create 
some  "awful  diversion;"*  but  the  troops  he  had  on  board  Hamilton 
were  so  miserably  trained,  that  out  of  about  five  thousand,  'thc  Fortj, 
scarcely  two  hundred  could  fire  a  musket.  As  soon  as  lie 
appeared,  the  beacons  were  in  a  blaze,  and  in  a  short  time, 
twenty  thousand  defenders  guarded  the  shores  of  the  Forth. 
Leith  being  inaccessible,  he  cast  anchor  in  the  roads,  after 
sending  a  fruitless  summons  to  the  provost  of  Edinburgh, 
requiring  the  surrender  of  the  castle  and  of  the  port.  His 
men,  besides  the  sea  sickness,  were  afflicted  with  the  small 
pox,  and  he  was  forced  to  land  them  on  the  barren  islands, 
which  the  covenanters  had  neglected  to  occupy.  He  next 
sent  an  order  to  the  town  council,  to  publish  a  proclamation 
from  the  king,  professing  great  affection  for  religion,  and 
promising  to  defend  it;  and  to  allow  the  covenanters  all  the 
benefit  of  his  majesty's  and  his  commissioners'  promises  and 
offers ;  also,  proffering  a  gracious  pardon  to  them,  if  they 


Burnet's  Mem.  p    121. 


\ 


510  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    gave  up  his  castles  and  forts,  laid  down  their  arms  and   ac- 

V*H-      knowledged  his  authority  within  eight  days ;  but   declaring 

1639.      all  such  traitors,  as  should  not  within   that  space,  comply 

'council  of   w^  l^e  terms  and   SUDmit,  and  that  their  estates  should  be 

Edinburgh  given  to  their  superiors  or  vassals  continuing  loyal,  or  con- 

tmbMsh'the  tr'buting  to  suppress  them.     This  order  the  council  declined 

king's  pro-  to  obey,  and  requested  he  would  excuse  their  refusal,  as  the 

on*  estates  were  expected  to  meet  in  a  few  days,  in  obedience  to 

the  royal   mandate,  when  the  paper  should  be  laid  before 

them.     With  this  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  comply,  and  wrote 

in  the  mean  time  to  his  majesty,  informing  him  of  the  strength 

of  the  covenanters,  and  advising  him  to  treat. 

xiv.  When  the  members  of  the  estates  arrived  in   Edin- 
burgh, they  were  met  by  a  royal  order  proroguing  the  par- 
liament, which  they  submissively  obeyed,   after   having  ap- 
pointed general  Leslie  commander-in-chief,  with   unlimited 
powers,  accountable  only  for  his  conduct  afterward  to  the 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  courts  ;*  and  likewise  nominated  lord 
Balmerino  governor  of  Edinburgh  castle.     A  number  of  the 
noblemen  and  gentlemen,  however,  who  had  assembled,  ap- 
proved of  the  refusal  of  the  magistrates  to  publish  the   pro- 
clamation, and  assigned  their  reasons  in  a  letter  to  the  mar- 
Nobles  ap.  quis  : — Because,  although  it  was  an  edict  printed  in  a  foreign 
thereon-    country,  and  not  warranted  by  act  and  authority  of  the  coun- 
duct ;         cil,  lawfully  convened  within  the  kingdom,  it  yet  denounced 
the  penalty  of  high  treason  against  all  such  as  would  not  ac- 
cept the  offers  it  contained ;  "  And  your  grace  knows  well," 
they  add,  "  that  by  the  laws  of  this  kingdom,   treason  and 
forfeiture  of  the  lands,  life,  and  estate  of  the  meanest  subject 
within  the  same,  cannot  be  declared,  but  either  in  parlia- 
ment, or  in  a  supreme  justice  court,  after  citation  and  lawful 
probation  ;  how  much  less  of  the  whole  peers  and  body  of 
the  kingdom,  without  either  court,   proof,  or  trial."     They 
And  desire  conclude,   by  requesting  that  he  would  procure  for  them  a 
to  procure  ^ree  parliament,  as  the  best  remedy  for  settling  all  their  af- 
a  free  par-  fajrs  .  fo^   jn  the  interim,   desire,   that  he  would  point  out 

liament.  ,  .   .        .     .  .  .    , 

some  way  in  which   their  representations  might  reach  the 
royal  ear,  as  they  were  confident  they  could  prove  that  they 

•  Baillie,   vol.  i.  p.  166. 


CHARLES   I. 


were  loyal  and  upright  subjects,  and  make  it  evident  to  his    BOOK 
majesty  and  to  the  world,  that  their  enemies  were  traitors  to     vm- 
the  church  and  state.  ^Zj 

xv.  A  negotiation  was  in  consequence  entered  into,  and  Negotia- 
protracted  by  Charles'  desire,  till  he  should  hear  of  the  ad- 
vance  of  the  royal  army  to  the  borders.  The  inactivity  of 
Hamilton  was  ascribed,  as  he  himself  suspected  it  would  be, 
to  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  the  enemy  ;  but  set- 
ting aside  the  express  orders  of  Charles,  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  look  farther  than  to  the  force  that  he  com- 
manded for  his  excuse,  and  for  his  absolute  inability  to 
do  any  thing  decisive.  In  the  north  there  was  no  defi- 
ciency of  untrained  men,  and  in  the  frith,  had  all  his  sol- 
diers been  picked,  they  were  too  few  to  have  made  any  very 
serious  impression;  but  more  honourable  motives  have  been  Reasons  as 

assigned  for  his  aversion  to  precipitate  measures,  —  his  filial  f'?n.ed  fof 
.,,.—.„,  his  macu- 

piety,  and  his  affection  for  his  country.     His  mother,  who  vity. 

was  a  zealous  covenanter,  had  raised  some  troops,  whom  she 
headed  herself,  and  it  was  said,  had  expressed  the  heroic 
resolution  of  putting  her  son  to  death  with  her  own  hands, 
if  he  dared  to  land  as  an  enemy  in  his  native  country.  His 
representations  to  Charles  prevented  the  noble  lady's  reso- 
lution, if  she  indeed  formed  it,  from  being  put  to  the  test  ; 
he  received  orders  to  send  two  of  his  three  regiments  to 

o 

Holy  Island,  and  not  long  after,  was  summoned  to  head-  He  and  his 
quarters  himself.  During  his  stay  he  committed  no  ravages  caned!" 
upon  his  countrymen,  although  he  discharged  his  duty  to 
his  king,  by  interrupting  the  trade  of  Leith,  and  seizing  and 
sending  to  the  royal  army,  every  munition  of  war,  upon 
which  he  could  lay  his  hands.  What  he  could  he  did  for 
Aboyne,  he  gave  him  officers,  but  to  men  accustomed  only 
to  obey  their  chieftains,  and  these  chieftains  unfit  themselves 
to  command,  and  unwilling  to  delegate  their  authority,  the 
best  officers  could  be  of  little  service.  A  brief  view  of  the 
comparatively  unimportant  affairs  in  the  north  at  this  period, 
will  evince  the  impracticability  of  any  thing  having  been  ef- 
fected, except  a  powerful,  well  disciplined  force  could  have 
been  sent  to  co-operate  in  that  quarter. 

xvi.  The  Gordons,  dissatisfied  with  the  imprisonment  of  ?pte™tlOM 
their  chief,  were  restless  and  anxious  to  rise,  but  wanted  a  north. 


512 


HISTOKY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1639. 


Trot  of 
Turreff— 
Gordons 
take  A  her 
deen. 


March  &- 
gainst  the 
covenant- 
ers. 


Return 
home. 

Montrose 
again  plun- 
ders Aber- 
deen. 


leader,  as  lord  Aboyne  was  in  England,  and  the  boys  who 
were  at  home  were  too  young  for  service.  On  hearing, 
however,  that  the  covenanters'  committee  was  to  assemble 
at  Turreff,  they  agreed  that  sir  John  Gordon  of  Haddo, 
and  sir  George  Ogilvy  of  Banff,  should  have  the  joint  com- 
mand ;  and  that  under  them,  they  would  attempt  to  disperse 
the  meeting.  They  advanced  about  900  strong,  with  two 
field  pieces,  and  coming  unexpectedly  upon  the  village,  their 
adversaries,  who  had  first  notice  of  their  approach  from  the 
sound  of  their  trumpets,  ran,  but  without  any  order,  to 
arms.  A  few  muskets,  and  a  shot  or  two  from  the  artillery, 
were  sufficient  to  disperse  the  crowd,  who  fled  in  the  ut- 
most confusion,  but  with  no  great  loss.  This  action,  known 
as  the  Trot  of  Turreff,  inspired  their  hopes,  and  encourag- 
ed a  body  of  the  Highlanders  to  join  them  ;  and  marching  to 
•  Aberdeen,  they  took  possession  of  the  town,  where  they 
lived  at  free  quarters  upon  the  proselytes  of  the  covenant. 
While  here  enjoying  themselves,  they  were  desired  by  Gor- 
don of  Straloch  to  return  home,  as  having  no  commission 
from  the  king,  it  would  be  difficult  to  vindicate  their  con- 
duct. With  this  advice  they  were  preparing  to  comply, 
when  they  learned  that  the  covenanters  of  the  north,  under 
the  earl  of  Seaforth,  lord  Lovat,  the  Dunbars,  the  Inneses 
of  Moray,  and  the  Grants  of  Strathspey,  were  in  arms  against 
them,  and  that  Montrose  was  also  preparing  to  attack.  En- 
vironed by  enemies,  they  determined  to  crush  their  northern 
opponents,  before  the  more  formidable  southern  foe  could 
advance.  With  nearly  a  thousand  foot,  and  three  hundred 
horse,  they  crossed  the  Spey,  and  about  sunrise,  encamped 
on  an  eminence  nearly  two  miles  from  Elgin,  where  the 
enemy  lay,  amounting  to  between  two  and  three  thousand 
horse  and  foot.  A  parley  ensued,  in  which  it  was  agreed, 
that  the  one  should  not  pass  south  beyond  the  river,  and  the 
other  returned  home.  The  Gordons  immediately  marched 
quietly  back. 

xvu.  Meanwhile  Montrose  once  more  entered  Aber- 
deen, with  an  army  of  nearly  four  thousand  horse  and  foot, 
and  levied  from  the  citizens  ten  thousand  merks,  besides 
spoiling  their  houses,  devouring  or  destroying  their  corn, 
and  robbing  the  fishermen  of  their  salmon.  In  the  country 


CHARLES  I.  513 

round,  the  meal  girnals  were  broken  up,  not  a  fowl  left,  and,    BOOK 
"  because  the  lasses,  in  derision  of  the  covenant,  had  knit     y11 
blue  ribbands  about  their  messen's  craigs,"  not  a  single  house     J639. 
dog  was  suffered  to  live.*     In  vain  did  the  Aberdonians  re- 
mind the  general  that  they  had  taken  the  covenant.     He 
had,   unfortunately  for  their  sincerity,  intercepted  some  of 
their  letters  on  his  march,  in  which  they  assured  his  majesty 
of  their  devotion  to  his  service.     The  earl's  stay  was  but 
short ;  he  marched  to  attack  the  strengths  of  the  Gordons. 
The  first  he  summoned  was  the  castle  of  Gight;   but  sir  Ineffectu. 
George,  with   lieutenant-colonel  Johnstone,  determined  to  8iegege" 
defend  it  to  the  utmost ;  and  Montrose,  after  battering  it  for  Gight. 
two  days,  raised  the  siege  in  a  hurry,  on  hearing  that  Aboyne 
had  arrived  with  reinforcements  in  Aberdeen  roads. 

xvin.  Aboyne,  who  had  received  a  commission  of  lieuten-  Earl  of  A- 
ancy  from  the  king,  in  a  short  time  assembled  an  army  of  j^jj^6^" 
three  thousand  foot,  and  five  hundred  horse,  with  whom  he  berdeen. 
easily  retook  Aberdeen  ;  after  which,  he  proposed  to  attack 
the  earl  Marischall,  then  marching  to  Angus,  join  the  earl 
of  Airly,  and,  as  they  had  no  money,  to  support  themselves 
in  free  quarters  on  the  covenanters'  lands.     With  this  reso- 
lution they  marched  from  Aberdeen  along  the  coast,  order-  Marches  to 
ing  their  vessels,  with  cannon  and  ammunition,  to  attend 
their  progress ;  but  a  westerly  wind  having  blown  the  ves- 
sels off  the  shore,  a  possibility  of  which  they  had  no  concep- 
tion, Gun,  an  experienced  officer  sent  to  direct  their  move- 
ments, was  immediately  suspected  of  treachery,  because  he 
had  advised  transporting  the  heavy  artillery  by  sea.     All 
confidence  in  their  leader  was  now  at  an  end,  and  every 
petty  chief  conceived  himself  at  liberty,  if  not  to  direct  at 
least  to  criticise  the  operations  of  the  army.     In  the  neigh-  Skirmish 
bourhood  of  Stonehaven  the  covenanters  were  advantage- 
ously  posted  on  a  hill  south  of  the  village,  and  one  Johnston 
proposed,  that  part  of  the  army  should  attack  its  front,  while 
another,  making  a  circuit  westerly,  should  throw  themselves 
in  their  rear,  and  prevent  their  retreat  to  Dunnotter.     To 
this  Gun  objected,  and  his  treachery  was  considered  as  de- 
monstrated ;  but  the  highlanders,  who  never  had  faced  can- 

•  Spalding,  vol.  i.  p-  160. 
VOL.   III.  3   U 


514  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   non,  when  the  general,  after  much  entreaty,  allowed  a  skir- 
mishing  party  to  push  forward,  justified  the  caution  he  had 


1639.     shown  in  avoiding  an  engagement  ;  at  the  first  round  they 

fled,  and  sought  refuge  in  a  moss,  nor  could  all  Aboyne's 

efforts  recal  them  to  the  field.     In  a  state  nearly  of  mutiny, 

the  army  returned  toward  Aberdeen,  and  after  an  ineffectu- 

Aboyne's     al  stand  at  the  bridge  of  Dee,  they  dispersed.     The  unhap- 

perees  at    P7  ^ty'  alternately  the  prey  of  the  parties,  again  in  Mon- 

the  Bridge  trose's  power,  was  fined  sixty  thousand  merks  sterling  ;  but 

was  saved  from  threatened  destruction,  by  the  annunciation 

that  very  night,  of  a  treaty  being  signed  with  the  king,  and 

that  all  hostilities  were  at  an  end.* 

The  royal       xix.  From  York  the  royal  army  advanced  with  all  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  not  as  to  uncertain  combat, 


from  York,  but  as  to  a  bloodless  triumph  ;  for  it  never  once  was  imagin- 
ed by  the  king,  or  hinted  by  his  flatterers,  that  the  Scottish 
rebels  would  dare  to  face  him  in  the  field;  but  as  he  pro- 
ceeded, the  unwelcome  truth  broke  in  upon  him,  and  what 
he  was  still  more  unwilling  to  believe,  he  found  that  the 
English  were  far  from  being  hearty  in  the  cause.  Oaths 
and  tests  are  always  very  uncertain  securities  for  loyalty  ; 
they  in  general  are  more  offensive  to  the  truly  honest  sub- 
ject, than  efficacious  in  retaining  the  doubtful  ;  yet,  in  cases 
of  dubiety,  and  particularly  where  governments  are  consci- 
ous of  having  merited  distrust,  they  are  multiplied  with  as 
much  anxiety,  and  imposed  with  as  much  rigour,  as  if  ex- 
perience had  never  yet  discovered  that  their  impolicy  and 
weakness  are  in  exact  proportion  to  their  strictness  and  num- 
ber. The  king's  council,  previously  to  the  army's  approach- 
ing Scotland,  recommended  a  protestation  of  loyalty  to  be 
made  by  both  the  English  and  Scottish  nobles  who  were 
Lords  Say  with  the  forces.  Lords  Say  and  Brook,  in  his  majesty's  pre- 
refuse  the  s^nce,  refused.  If  he  suspected  their  loyalty,  they  said,  he 


declaration  might  proceed  against  them  as  he  thought  fit  ;  but  it  was 

of  loyalty  •  i       i  •  i  •  i 

required      against  the  law  to  impose  oaths  or  protestations  upon  them, 
from  the      when   they  were  not  enjoined  by  law,  and  in  that  respect, 

nobles.  ,          ,  .    ,  ,  ,  ...  , 

that  they  might  not  betray  the  common  liberty,  they  would 


"  Spalding,  vol.  i.  p.  176-     History  of  the  House  of  Gordon,  vol.  i.  p.  282, 
312.     Burnet's  Memoirs,  p.  112.  140.     Guthrie's  Memoirs,  p.  56,57. 


CHARLES  I.  515 

not  submit  to  it;  and  he,  fearing  the  infection  of  their  ex-    BOOK 
ample,  ordered  the  two  lords  to  return  home  ;*  the  rest  took     VIII- 
the  oath. 

xx.  Successive  messages  of  the  capture  of  his  castles,  and 
the  increasing  strength  of  the  covenanters,  reached  Charles 
on  his  march ;  and  he  learnt  to  form  a  pretty  accurate  esti- 
mate of  the  difficulties  he  would  probably  have  to  encounter 
ere  the  royal  pavilion  was  pitched  at  Birks.f     Influenced  by 
this  intelligence,  a  milder  proclamation  was  issued,  in  which  Charles  is- 
the  charges  of  treason  and  rebellion  were  omitted  ;  represent-  ^t*  con" 
ing  that  the  king's  armament  was  only  intended  to  secure  prociama 
peace  ;  and  promising,  upon  a  demonstration  of  obedience  in  uon* 
civil  matters,  that  his  majesty  was  ready  to  grant  their  just 
supplications ;  but  commanding  them  not  to  approach  with- 
in ten  miles  of  the  royal  camp.     The  main  army  of  the  Scot-  covenant- 
tish  had  also  arrived  on  the  borders;  Leslie  was  at  Dunglas,  ers  on  the 
and  Monro  at  Kelso ;  yet,  still  desirous  of  peace,  and  trust- 
ing that  this  was  a  break  in  the  sky,  they  immediately  obey- 
ed the  order,  as  a  token  of  their  loyalty,  and  a  proof  of  their  They  obey 
repeated  declarations  being  honest,  that  their  preparations 
were  entirely  defensive, 

xxi.  This   submission  was  immediately  construed  into  ti- Their  sub- 
midity ;  and  Charles,  elated  at  the  symptoms  of  terror,  as  he  "ng'tmed 
supposed,  was,  in  an  evil  hour,  persuaded  to  issue  another  into  timidi- 
proclamation,  as  if  on  purpose  to  dissipate  any  favourable  ty' 
impressions  that  his  former  might  have  made;  and  to  con- 
vince his   already  suspicious   subjects,  that  nothing  but  ne- 
cessity would  ever  make  him  sincere  in  his  concessions.    He 
required  them  to  submit  within  ten  days,  or,  in  case  of  diso- 
bedience, declared  them  rebels  ;  set  a  price  on  the  heads  of  He  issues 
their  leaders ;   and  offered  their  rents  to  the  vassals  and  ten-  q""'^"®" 
ants  who  should  desert  them,  or  to  their  feudal  superiors,  conditional 
who  continued  loyal.     This  proclamation  was  published  at 8U 
Dunse  by  the  earl  of  Holland,  who  entered  the  town  at  the 
head  of  two  thousand  horse,  without  seeing  an  enemy,  and 
was  received  by  the  few  who  remained  in  it  with  loud  accla- 
mations.    On  his  return  a  council  of  war  was  held,  informa- 

*  Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 

t  A  plain  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tweed,  about  three  miles  distant  from 
Berwick. 


516 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

— ^— — — — 

1639. 


Lord  Hoi, 
land  retires 
before  the 
covenant- 
ers. 


They  en- 
camp  at 
Dunse 
Law. 


Alarm  of 
the  Eng- 
lish. 


tion  having  been  received,  that  a  party  of  fifteen  hundred 
Scots  were  at  Kelso,  and  thither  it  was  resolved  to  send  the 
general  of  horse  to  publish  the  proclamation  also.  Next 
day,  June  3d,  he  proceeded  with  two  thousand  horse  and 
two  thousand  foot,  to  carry  his  instructions  into  effect,  and 
the  day  proving  extremely  sultry,  the  horse  advanced,  leav- 
ing the  foot  nearly  three  miles  in  rear.  When  within  sight 
of  the  enemy,  he  commanded  them  to  withdraw,  to  which 
they  replied  by  sending  him  back  a  similar  charge ;  and  on 
exhibiting  their  force — although  exceedingly  inferior  in  ca- 
valry—the English,  panic  struck,  commenced  a  disorderly 
retreat,  which,  without  a  blow,  was  soon  converted  into  an 
ignominious  flight,*  The  Scots  conceiving,  by  these  pro- 
ceedings on  the  part  of  the  king,  that  they  were  released 
from  any  obligation  to  remain  inactive,  and  their  general 
dreading  lest  any  of  their  scattered  parties  might  be  sur- 
prised, advanced  himself  from  Dunglas,  and  concentrated 
his  forces  on  Dunse-law,  in  sight  of  the  English,  a  strong 
position,  which  commanded  the  two  high  roads  to  the  capi- 
tal.f 

xxn.  On  the  same  day  the  king  had  a  grand  review  of  his 
whole  army,  who,  in  high  order  and  holiday  garb,  made  a 
gallant  show  on  the  parade ;  but  scarcely  were  they  dismissed, 
when  an  alarm  was  given  that  the  Scots  were  approaching, 
and  the  whole  camp  was  instantly  thrown  into  the  utmost 
confusion  and  dismay.  Some  of  the  principal  officers  ran  to 
the  king's  tent  with  the  intelligence,  and  such  was  their  con- 
sternation, that  they  actually  pointed  out  the  movement  to 
his  majesty ;  but  the  king  taking  his  prospective  glass,  walk- 
ed out  coolly  to  the  river  side,  where  he  plainly  discerned 
the  Scottish  army  encamped  on  the  face  of  the  hill,  and  turn- 
ing to  his  generals,  asked  contemptuously,  "  Have  not  I  good 
intelligence,  that  the  rebels  can  march  with  their  army,  and 
encamp  within  sight  of  mine,  and  I  never  hear  it  till  their 
appearance  gives  the  alarm  ?" 

xxni.  This  army,  which  the  king  estimated  at  sixteen  thou- 
sand, was  rapidly  augmented  to  twenty-four ;  for,  on  the  first 
notice  of  the  English  incursions  at  Dunse  and  Kelso,  the  gen- 


*  Kushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  936. 


•J  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  173. 


CHARLES  I.  517 

eral  committee  sent  expresses  through  the  length  and  breadth   BOOK 
of  the  land,  representing  the  fruitless  efforts  they  had  made     VI11- 
for  peace,  announcing  the  entrance  of  the  enemy  into  the      1639.  * 

Merse,  and  exhorting  all  who  loved  their  country,  their  con-  Arra7  of 
IT  the  cove- 

sciences,  liberty,  or  lire,  to  hasten  to  head-quarters.     The  nanters. 

whole  country  rose  at  the  call,  and  every  disposable  man 
south  of  the  Tay,  prepared,  if  necessary,  to  swell  the  ranks 
of  the  covenanted  band.  "  It  would  have  done  your  heart 
good,"  said  an  eye-witness,  with  a  degree  of  national  exul- 
tation at  the  animating  spectacle,  "  to  have  cast  your  eyes 
athort  our  brave  and  rich  hills,  as  oft  I  did,  with  great  con- 
tentment and  joy  ;  our  hill  was  garnished  on  the  top,  toward 
the  south  and  east,  with  our  mounted  cannon,  well  near  to 
the  number  of  forty,  great  and  small.  Our  regiment  lay  on 
the  sides;  the  crowners*  lay  in  canvass  lodges,  high  and 
wide ;  their  captains  about  them  in  lesser  ones ;  the  soldiers 
about  all  in  huts  of  timber,  covered  with  divot  or  straw; 
they  were  all  lusty  and  full  of  courage,  the  most  of  them  stout 
young  ploughmen,  great  cheerfulness  in  the  face  of  all." 
At  each  captain's  tent  door,  was  displayed  a  colour  with  the 
Scottish  arms,  and  an  inscription  in  golden  letters,  "  For 
Christ's  Crown  and  Covenant."  Morning  and  evening  the 
soldiers  were  summoned  to  sermon  by  the  drums,  and  at 
dawn  and  sunset,  the  tents  resounded  with  psalms,  prayers* 
and  reading  the  Scriptures.  The  scene  was  like  a  beatific 
vision  to  the  ministers  who  accompanied  the  army,  "  for  my- 
self," says  Baillie,  "  I  never  found  my  mind  in  better  tem- 
per than  it  was  all  that  time  since  I  came  from  home ;  for 
I  was  as  a  man  who  had  taken  my  leave  from  the  world, 
and  was  resolved  to  die  in  that  service  without  return."  Nor 
were  the  grosser  comforts  of  the  soldiers  unattended  to.  At 
first,  from  the  inexpertness  of  their  commissaries,  their  pro- 
visions were  not  regularly  brought  in,  but  when  they  were 
a  little  accustomed  to  it,  the  men  were  better  fed  than  at 
home ;  their  regular  pay  was  sixpence  a  day,  a  groat  pur- 
chased a  leg  of  lamb,  and  the  meanest  among  them  had 
wheaten  bread  regularly  served  out.  The  general  kept  open 
table  daily  at  Dunse  castle,  for  the  nobility  and  strangers, 

•  Military  commanders  of  counties,  somewhat  equivalert  to  co'onel. 


518  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    besides  a  long  side-table  for  gentlemen  waiters,  and  as  there 

A7TTT 

had  been  an  extraordinary  crop  the  preceding  year,  and  all 
1639.  the  people  were  forward  to  offer  supplies,  the  camp  abound- 
ed in  every  necessary  of  life.  What  formerly  used  to  be 
the  bane  of  Scottish  armies — the  emulation  of  their  nobles, 
was  repressed  by  the  eminent  wisdom  of  Leslie,  their  com- 
Their  un-  mander,  who,  though  diminutive,  old,  and  distorted,  received 
an  implicit  submission  their  forefathers  had  seldom  paid  to 
their  kings ;  and  the  men,  daily  exercised  in  the  use  of  arms, 
acquired  a  confidence  in  themselves,  which  the  few  days' 
training  of  hasty  levies  can  seldom  impart,  while  the  exhorta- 
tions of  their  ministers,  and  the  uniform  success  which  had 
hitherto  attended  them,  were  calculated  to  strengthen  their 
faith  in  the  divine  favour,  and  in  the  goodness  of  their  cause. 
Every  night  the  general  in  person,  accompanied  by  his  lieu- 
tenant, rode  round  the  camp,  and  saw  the  guards  set,  nor 
did  he  omit  any  of  the  duties,  which  inspire  soldiers  with 
confidence  in  their  leader. 

xxiv.  Although  the  Scots  were  amply  provided  for  a  short 
campaign,  their  resources  were  not  sufficient  for  protracted 
operations  ;*  and  now  when  their  army  was  so  formidable  in 
number,  discipline,  and  spirit,  to  have  remained  inactive, 
would  have  been  as  imprudent  as  it  was  impossible.  Un- 
acquainted with  the  real  causes  of  Charles'  forbearance,  they 
imagined  his  delay  in  attacking  them,  was  to  allow  the  pre- 
sent enthusiasm  to  subside,  the  fire-edge  of  the  troops  to  be 
blunted,  their  resources  to  be  exhausted,  while  their  trade 
by  sea  was  shut  up,  and  all  foreign  supplies  cut  off;  and 
then,  by  one  simultaneous  attack  from  the  Irish  on  the  west, 
the  Gordons  on  the  north,  and  himself  in  front,  to  accom- 

*  The  circumscribed  nature  of  their  means  may  be  gathered  from  the  fol- 
lowing statement.  "  We  would  have  feared  no  inlack  for  little  money  for 
some  months  to  come.  Merse  and  Teviotdale  are  the  best  mixed,  and  most 
plentiful  shires,  both  for  grass  and  corn,  for  flesh  and  bread,  in  all  our  land. 
We  were  much  obliged  to  the  town  of  Edinburgh  for  money.  Mr.  Harry 
Pollock,  by  his  sermons,  moved  them  to  shake  out  their  purses.  The  garners 
of  the  non-covenanters  gave  us  plenty  of  wheat  j  for  we  thought  it  but  rea- 
sonable, since  they  sided  with  those  who  put  our  lives  and  our  lands  for  ever 
to  sale,  for  the  defence  of  [f.  e.  because  we  defended]  our  church  and  country, 
to  employ  for  that  cause,  wherein  their  interest  was  as  great  as  ours,  if  they 
would  be  Scotsmen,  a  part  of  their  rent  for  one  year."  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  177. 


CHARLES  I.  519 

plish  their  destruction,  or  force  them  to  unconditional  sub-    BOOK 
mission.     They,  therefore  discovered,  and  that  not  obscure-      VHI^ 
ly,  their  intentions  of  approaching  the  English,  who  imme-      1639- 
diately  began  to  intrench  themselves,  and  with  the  utmost  solve  toad- 
trepidation,   threw  up  some  advanced  works  on  the  north  '™af*>- 
side  of  the  Tweed. 

xxv.  The  Scots  had  never  intermitted  their  pacific  over- 
tures   till   the   late  proclamation  had  apparently  rendered 
all    further    attempts   upon  honourable  terms  unnecessary. 
Charles,  who  was  now  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  treating,  Charles 
but  was  too  proud  to  make  any  direct  advances,  communi-  njnts  a  de- 
cated  obliquely,  through  one  of  his  pages,  a  hint  that  a  hum- 


ble  supplication  for  peace  would  not  now  be  unattended  to.* 
Waving  all  punctilio,  the  covenanters  immediately  embraced 
the  opportunity,  and  studious  of  consulting  the  king's  hon- 
our, as  well  as  of  humouring  his  show  of  dignity,  despatched 
the  earl  of  Dunfermline,  a  young  nobleman,  not  personally 
obnoxious  as  a  leader,  with  the  following  humble  petition  : 
—  "  That  whereas  the  former  means  used  by  us,  have  not 
yet  been  effectual  for  receiving  your  majesty's  favour,  and 
the  peace  of  this  your  native  kingdom,  we  fall  down  again  at 
your  majesty's  feet,  most  humbly  supplicating,  that  your  ma-  Covenant- 
jesty  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  appoint  some  few  of  the  £™  send 
many  worthy  men  of  your  majesty's  kingdom  of  England,  tion. 
who  are  well  affected  to  the  true  religion,  and  our  common 
peace,  to  hear  by  some  of  us,  of  the  same  affection,  our  hum- 
ble desires,  and  to  make  known  unto  us  your  majesty's  gra- 
cious pleasure  ;  that  as  by  the  providence  of  God,  we  are 
here  joined  in  one  island  under  one  king,  so  by  your  ma- 
jesty's great  wisdom  and  tender  care,  all  mistakings  may  be 
speedily  removed,  and  the  two  kingdoms  may  be  kept  in 
peace  and  happiness  under  your  majesty's  long  and  happy 
reign  ;  for  the  which  we  shall  never  cease  to  pray,  as  becom- 
eth  your  majesty's  most  faithful  subjects."f 

xxvi.  The  king,  still  attached  to  frivolous  points  of  hon- 
our, having  gained  so  far  as  to  make  them  first  commence  a 
negotiation,  before  proceeding,  insisted  that  the  proclama- 
tion which  had  not  been  suffered  to  be  read  at  Edinburgh, 

*  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  178-  t  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  938. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1639. 

His  frivo- 
lous punc- 
tilios. 


Commis- 
sioners ap- 
pointed to 
negotiate. 


The  king 
interrupts 
them. 


should  now  be  published;  and  sent  sir  Edmund  Verney 
back  with  the  earl  of  Dunfermline,  to  see  this  done  in  the 
Scottish  camp.  The  Scottish  nobles  on  the  requisition  be- 
ing made  to  them,  to  read  the  king's  proclamation  at  the 
head  of  the  troops,  declined  compliance,  for  the  same  sub- 
stantial reasons  which  they  had  adduced  to  the  marquis  of 
Hamilton,  for  not  allowing  it  to  be  published  at  the  cross  of 
Edinburgh ;  but  in  order  to  comply  with  the  letter  of  the 
order,  it  was  read  with  much  reverence  at  the  general's  ta- 
ble, and  commented  on,  so  that  with  the  same  kind  of  equi- 
voque which  had  unfortunately  got  possession  of  all  their 
intercourse,  the  one  side  could  say  they  had  considered  the 
proclamation,  the  other,  that  it  had  been  read  in  the  camp, 
xxvii.  Charles  was  satisfied,  and  commissioners  were  mu- 
tually appointed  to  negotiate ;  but  before  the  Scottish  depu- 
ties were  suffered  to  enter  the  English  camp,  their  consti- 
tuents required  a  safe  conduct  under  the  king's  own  hand.* 
The  Scottish  deputies  were  Rothes,  Dunfermline,  Loudon, 
sir  William  Douglas,  A.  Henderson,  and  Johnston.  Those 
appointed  on  the  king's  part,  were  the  general,  the  earls 
of  Essex,  Holland,  Salisbury,  and  Berkshire,  and  Mr.  Se- 
cretary Cook,  to  whom  the  king  added  sir  Harry  Vane. 
The  commissioners  were,  however,  scarcely  met  in  lord 
Arundel's  tent,  when  the  king  came  unexpectedly,  and  sat 
down  among  them,  telling  the  Scottish  deputies,  "  That  he 
was  informed  they  had  complained  that  they  could  not  be 
heard,  and  therefore,  he  was  now  come  himself  to  hear  what 
they  would  say."  The  earl  of  Rothes  replied,  it  was  their 
humble  desire  to  be  secured  in  their  religion  and  liberties. 
But  when  Loudon  began  to  explain  and  vindicate  their  pro- 
ceedings, the  king — interrupting  him — told  him  he  would 
not  admit  of  any  of  their  excuses  for  what  was  past ;  but  if 
they  came  to  sue  for  grace,  they  should  set  down  their  de- 


*  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  929.  Balfour's  Hist-  Works,  vol.  ii-  p.  325.  Bail- 
lie,  however,  says,  much  debate  was  there  about  a  safe-conduct  for  the  return 
of  ours,  [deputies,]  yet  the  stoutness  of  our  men,  the  trust  we  put  in  the  king's 
simple  word,  the  hope  we  had,  by  the  lads  on  the  hill,  to  have  fetched  them 
in  haste,  or  as  good  for  them,  made  us  leave  off  that  question.  But  the  safe- 
conduct  which  was  granted,  was  under  the  form  of  a  new  nomination  of  com- 
missioners, and  Baillie  might  be  misled  by  the  subterfuge. 


CHARLES  I.  521 

sires  particularly,  in  writing ;  which,  after  consulting  toge-    BOOK 
ther  apart,  they  did.     They  humbly  prayed,   "  that  the  acts      VIIL 
of  the  general  assembly  passed  in  Glasgow,  should  be  rati-       I63d7~ 
fied  in  the  parliament  to  be  held  at  Edinburgh,  July  23  ; 
that  all  ecclesiastical  matters  should  be  determined  by  as- 
semblies of  the  kirk,  and  all  civil  by  parliament,  which  should  Demand 

be  held  at  least  once  in  two  or  three  years :  that  his  males-  of  the  co" 

•  J         venanters. 

ty's  ships  and  land  forces  be  recalled ;  that  all  persons,  ships 

and  goods  arrested,  be  restored  ;  the  kingdom  be  made 
safe  from  invasion ;  and  that  all  excommunicate  persons,  in- 
cendiaries, and  informers  against  the  realm,  who,  out  of  ma- 
lice, have  caused  these  commotions  for  their  own  private 
ends,  may  be  returned  to  suffer  their  deserved  censure  and 
punishment."  The  king  then  desired  them  to  assign  their 
reasons  for  their  requests ;  on  which  lord  Loudon,  on  his 
knees,  said,  that  they  only  asked  to  enjoy  their  religion  and 
liberties  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  laws  of  the 
kingdom.  These  demands  were  too  reasonable  to  be  refus- 
ed ;  and  after  two  days'  deliberation,  he  returned  an  answer, 
equally  oracular  with  any  of  his  other  communications : — 
"  That  if  their  desires  were  only  the  enjoying  of  their  reli-  Hisamwer. 
gion  and  liberties,  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil 
laws  of  his  majesty's  kingdom  of  Scotland,  his  majesty  doth 
not  only  agree  to  the  same,  but  shall  always  protect  them 
to  the  utmost  of  his  power ;  and  if  they  shall  not  insist  upon 
any  thing  but  that  which  is  so  warranted,  his  majesty  will 
most  willingly  and  readily  condescend  thereunto ;  so  that  in 
the  mean  time,  they  pay  unto  him  that  civil  and  temporal 
obedience,  which  can  be  justly  required  and  expected  of  loy- 
al subjects." 

xxviu.  When  they  had  received  this  answer,  the  depu-  They  pro- 
ties  exhibited  to  his  majesty  a  paper  containing  the  rea- 
sons  and  grounds  of  their  desires,  which  he  promised  to 
take  into  his  consideration.  The  principal  purport  of  these 
was  a  vindication  of  the  Glasgow  assembly,  similar  to  the 
reasons  for  holding  that  assembly,  [vide  p.  474.]  When 
they  returned  for  their  answer  on  the  Monday,  they  found 
his  majesty,  through  the  influence  of  the  bishops  of  Ross  The  king 

....  i_      o   i  i      i.  recurs  to 

and  Aberdeen,  who  had  been  with   him  on  the  babbatn,  re-  his  supre- 
lapsed  into  all  his  high  notions  of  ecclesiastical  supremacy.  mac7- 

VOL.   III.  3  X 


522  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK     He  demanded  whether  he  had  not  the  sole  indiction  of  as- 
semblies ?  whether  he  had  not  a  negative  voice  ?  and  whe- 

o 

1639.      ther  an    assembly  could   sit,   after  he    had   commanded  it 
to  rise  ?     These  questions,  which  the  Scottish  commission- 
ers  very  naturally  thought   had   already  received    practi- 
cal answers,  they    treated    now  as  only  agitated   to  drive 
time,  till  either  reinforcements  should  arrive  to  the  king, 
Covenant-  or  they  were  starved  out ;  they  therefore  resolved  to  bring 
to  advance.  l^e  discussions  at  once  to  issue,  by  advancing  within  can- 
non range  of  the  royal  camp ;  but  intelligence  of  their  in- 
tention having  reached   the  king,   on  their  next  meeting, 
the  questions  were  dropped,  and   a  royal  declaration  was 
emitted,  in  which,  although  the  late  assembly  at  Glasgow 
was  not  acknowledged,  yet,  whatever  was  promised  by  the 
commissioner,  was  to  be  strictly  performed  ;*  and   besides, 
all  ecclesiastical  matters  were  referred  to  the  decision  of  an- 
The  king    other  to  be  indicted  at  Edinburgh,  on  the  6th  day  of  August, 
and  all  civil  affairs  to  a  parliament,  to  be  summoned  on  the 
20th,  to  ratify  its  acts.      Upon  this  declaration,  accompanied 
by  verbal  explanations,  a  treaty  was  concluded.     The  forces 
on  both  sides  to  be  withdrawn  and  disbanded — the  Scottish 
army  within  forty-eight  hours — the  castles  and  forts,  with 
their  ammunition,   to  be  delivered  up  to  the  king,  and  the 
fleet  to  depart  with  the  first  fair  wind  after ;  all  fortifications 
to  desist;  all  forfeitures  to  be  restored;  and  all  meetings 
A  treaty     or  convocations  of  the  lieges,  except  such  as  are  authorized 
eluded.00 1"  by    act   °f  parliament,  to  be  discontinued.     These  articles 
were  signed  on   the   18th  June,  and  on  the  same  day  pro- 
claimed,  with  the  king's  declaration,   in   the   English   and 
Scottish  camps.f     In   the  latter  they  were  accompanied  by 
an   information,  in  which,  to  prevent  mistakes,  the  expres- 
sion, "  pretended  assembly,"  in  the  declaration,  was  explain- 
ed, as  not  intending  that  any  persons,  by  their  acceptance  of 

*  The  commissioner  had  promised  to  annul  the  service-book  ;  snd  that  all 
and  every  one  of  the  present  bishops  and  their  successors,  may  be  answerable, 
and  censured  accordingly  from  time  to  time,  according  to  their  demerits,  by  the 
general  assembly. 

t  On  which  occasion,  an  Englishman  remarked  jocularly,  that  the  bishops 
were  discharged  in  Scotland,  neither  by  the  canon  law,  nor  the  civil  law,  but 
by  Duns-law. 


CHARLES  I.  523 

the  declaration,  should  be  thought  to  disapprove  or  depart    BOOK 
from  the  same,  nor  in  any  sort  or  degree,  disclaim  the  said     VIIIt 

assembly.* 

1639 

xxix.  While  the  treaty  was  in  progress,  all  the  discus- 
sions were  regularly  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the 
tables,  or  their  representatives  in  the  Scottish  camp,  and 
the  treaty,  before  being  concluded,  underwent  several  mo- 
difications ;  only  it  was  allowed  to  be  published  as  above — 
except  in  Scotland,  where  the  information  accompanied  it — 
for  the  sake  of  the  king's  honour  among  foreign  nations : 

tj  O  O  * 

but  the  verbal  explanations  were  taken  down  by  the  com-  Remarks, 
missioners  at  the  time,  and  communicated  to  the  people, 
to  reconcile  them  to  what  might  have  otherwise  appeared 
as  a  dereliction  of  principle,  and  a  surrender  of  the  advan- 
tages of  which  they  were  already  in  possession.  The  Glas- 
gow assembly,  they  were  not  called  upon  to  disobey ;  and 
prelacy  was  referred  to  the  decision  of  the  next  free  meet- 
ing, where  its  fate  could  not  be  considered  doubtful.f 

*  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  944.  Burnet's  Mem.  pp.  140-1.  Baillie,  vol.  i. 
p.  182. 

•}•  The  verbal  explanations,  as  published  by  the  Scots  : — They  objected,  that 
the  preface  and  conclusion  of  his  majesty's  declaration  was  harsh,  importing 
as  if  they  struck  at  monarchy,  and  his  majesty's  royal  authority — The  king 
answered,  that  he  had  no  such  opinion  of  them,  but  required  that  the  paper 
should  not  be  altered,  for  the  sake  of  his  honour  among  other  nations  ;  and 
urged,  that  they  would  not  stand  with  their  king  upon  words,  if  so  be  they 
obtained. 

They  objected,  that  the  declaration,  containing  an  impeachment  of  the 
assembly  at  Glasgow,  as  pretended,  their  accepting  of  the  declaration,  as  a  sa- 
tisfaction of  their  desires  might  be  construed  as  a  departing  from  the  decrees  of 
that  assembly — The  king  answered,  that  as  he  did  not  acknowledge  that  as- 
sembly, farther  than  that  it  had  registrated  his  declaration,  so  he  would  not 
desire  his  subjects  of  Scotland  to  pass  from  the  said  assembly,  or  the  decrees 
thereof. 

They  objected,  that  his  majesty's  not  allowing  of  the  assembly  for  the  rea- 
sons contained  in  his  several  proclamations,  is  a  declaration  of  his  judgment 
against  ruling  elders,  as  prejudging  the  constitution  of  a  free  assembly.— The 
king  answered,  though  his  judgment  be  against  lay  elders,  yet  seeing  that  clause 
is  constructed  as  a  prelimitation  of  the  freedom  of  the  assembly,  he  is  willing 
that  it  be  delete. 

His  majesty's  commissioner,  having  in  the  last  assembly,  contended  against 
ruling  elders  having  a  voice  in  assembly,  and  for  his  majesty's  assessors  having 
voice  therein,  and  that  his  majesty  or  his  commissioner  had  a  negative  over 
the  assembly,  they  wanted  to  be  resolved  what  was  understood  by  the  words 


524  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  These  concessions  were  afterward  disavowed  on  the  part 
*****  of  the  king,  and  burned,  as  false ;  but  as  they  are  so  com- 
1639.  pletely  in  consonance  with  the  spirit  of  the  treaty,  and  were 
acted  upon  from  the  first  by  the  Scots ;  and  as  it  is  acknow- 
ledged by  Clarendon,  that  the  most  material  parts  passed 
in  discourse ;  and  that  although  every  body  disavowed  the 
contents,  nobody  would  take  upon  him  to  publish  a  copy 
owned  to  be  true,  it  is  impossible  to  consider  the  Scottish 
statement  as  otherwise  than  correct ;  nor  is  it  within  the  range 
of  credibility,  that  Henderson,  the  moderator  of  the  Glasgow 
assembly,  or  Johnston,  the  clerk,  would  have  put  their  hands 
to  a  paper  without  explanation,  disowning  that  meeting,  and 
themselves  incur  the  curse  of  Hiel  the  Bethelite,  which  the 
moderator  had  deprecated  at  the  close  of  the  assembly.  But 
the  peace  was  hastily  concluded,  and  a  number  of  the  Scots 
who  possessed  influence  in  the  camp,  and  were  respected 
by  all  parties  for  their  moderation,  were  yet  to  be  convinc- 
ed of  the  little  reliance  to  be  placed  "on  the  word  of  a 
king."*  They  rested  satisfied  with  the  meaning  their  coun- 
trymen affixed  to  the  ambiguous  passages  in  an  agree- 
ment, in  "  which,"  a  noble  historian  says,  "  nobody  meant 

"free  Assembly."  His  majesty,  after  requiring  that  the  differences  mentioned 
might  be  remitted  to  himself,  being  informed  that  this  was  against  the  consti- 
tution of  the  kirk  of  Scotland,  agreed  that  the  words,  free  assembly,  in  his 
majesty's  declaration,  did  import  freedom  of  judging  in  all  questions  arising 
there,  concerning  constitution,  members,  and  matters. 

The  declaration,  bearing  that  no  other  oath  be  exacted  from  entrants,  than 
what  is  contained  in  the  act  of  parliament  j  as  also,  that  the  clause  bearing, 
that  pretended  bishops,  &c.  shall  be  censurable  by  the  general  assembly,  seem 
to  import  the  continuance  of  episcopacy,  which  we  cannot  acknowledge,  &c.~ 
The  king  answered,  that  being  willing  to  leave  these  things  to  the  determina- 
tion of  the  assembly  and  parliament  respective,  he  is  pleased  to  delete  both 
these  clauses. 

It  was  with  all  humility  urged,  that  if  his  majesty  would  comply  with  that 
chief  desire  of  his  subjects,  the  quitting  with,  and  giving  up  episcopacy,  his 
majesty  might  depend  on  as  cordial  subjection  as  ever  prince  received — His 
majesty  answered,  that  having  appointed  a  free  general  assembly,  which  might 
judge  of  all  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  a  parliament,  wherein  the  constitutions 
of  assembly  should  be  ratified,  he  would  not  prelimit  nor  forestall  his  voice- 
There  were  other  two  objections,  the  one  respecting  the  forts,  &c.  to  which 
the  king  made  no  reply ;  the  other  with  regard  to  forfeiture  and  restitution, 
which  he  referred  to  parliament.     Stevenson's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  pp.  744,  745. 
•  Charles'  favourite  mode  of  asseveration. 


CHARLES  I.  525 

what   others  understood  he   did,"  and  were  unwilling  too    BOOK 
rigidly  to  examine  what  they  wished  to  believe.  VIII. 

xxx.  There  were,  besides,  other  reasons,  which  made  any      i63«. 
imperfection  in  the  treaty  be  overlooked.     The  English,  not- 
withstanding their  secret  assurances  of  friendship,  showed  no 
disposition  to  join  cause  with  the  covenanters  ;  and  had  their 
army  been  defeated,  a  sense  of  national  pride  might  have 
urged   them  to  arms,  to  wipe  away  the  disgrace.*     There  Causes  of 
was  no  intelligence  from  the  north,  and  some  of  the  Merse  the  cove" 

,  nanters 

nobles  were  beginning  to  get  tired  of  so  great  an  assem-  hurrying 
blage  in  their  neighbourhood,  while  others  of  the  west,  who  the  treaty 
were  daily  hearing  of  the  depredations  committed  by  the 
Irish  on  their  coasts,  were  anxious  to   get  home.     Their 
camp  accordingly  was  broken  up,  their  army  disbanded,  and 
the  forts  and  castles  delivered  to  officers  appointed  by  the 
king. 

xxxr.  Treaties  cannot  remove  distrust;  and  where  this  ex- 
ists, so  soon  as  the  immediate  necessities  which  have  suspend- 
ed its  operation  cease,  it  often  returns  with  double  force ;  and 
if  the  terms  have  not  been  substantially  advantageous,  they 
are  readily  quarrelled  with,  and  easily  broken.  The  one 
which  had  been  signed,  settled  nothing  agreeably  to  the 
wishes  of  either  of  the  parties ;  and  both,  when  they  began 
to  consider  the  articles,  were  dissatisfied,  on  reflecting  that  Both  sides 
so  much  expense  had  been  incurred,  and  so  much  prepara-  dissatisfied 
tion  wasted  for  no  purpose,  except  that  of  allowing  them- 
selves to  be  duped  by  one  another.  The  covenanters  ima- 
gined themselves  over-reached,  in  the  surrender  of  the  cas- 
tle of  Edinburgh  and  fortifications  of  Leith,  with  all  their 
stores  unconditionally ;  especially,  when  they  saw  the  for- 
tress taken  possession  of  by  general  Ruthven,  now  lord  Et- 
trick;  and  they  regretted  that  their  army  should  have  been  dis- 
banded, before  they  had  received  complete  security  against 
^-  the  possibility  of  royal  vengeance.  Charles  was  chagrined, 
at  having  been  forced  at  the  head  of  his  army  to  grant  so 
much  to  his  rebellious  subjects  in  arms  ;  and  ere  the  ink  was 
dry  which  had  signed  the  treaty,  their  mutual  jealousies  be- 
came apparent.  The  riotous  disposition  manifested  in  the 

•  Baillie,  pp.  182,  183- 


526 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

— — — — ^^™ 

1639. 


Traquair 
appointed 
commis- 
sioner. 


Charles  re. 
turns  to 

London. 


capital,*  an  accusation  that  the  tables  still  kept  up  their 
_  meetings,  with  a  number  of  other  petty  complaints,  that 
marked  the  irritation  of  the  royal  mind,  were  seized  upon 
as  excuses  for  the  king's  not  presiding  in  the  general  assem- 
bly, as  he  had  promised.f  Hamilton,  when  applied  to,  to 
fill  the  situation  of  commissioner,  declined  the  disagreeable 
honour ,  and  at  his  request,  Traquair  was  appointed.  Four- 
teen of  the  leading  covenanters  were  also  sent  for,  to  attend 
his  majesty  at  Berwick,  to  try  what  effect  the  smiles  of  royal- 
ty would  produce  upon  them.  Six  attended,  but  of  these, 
only  one — Montrose — was  won.  The  king,  who  wished  the 
whole  experimented  upon,  sent  off  an  express  for  the  rest ; 
but  unfavourable  rumours  reaching  Edinburgh,  that  this 
was  a  trap  laid  to  ensnare  the  chief  men  of  influence,  and 
send  them  to  London,  the  populace  detained  them  by  force.J 
Lindsay  and  Loudon  returned  to  offer  an  apology,  but  the 
king  would  hear  none ;  and  his  purpose  or  his  fears  being 
confirmed  by  the  flattering  remonstrances  of  his  courtiers, 
who  dissuaded  him  from  trusting  his  sacred  person  among 
the  mutinous  Scots,  he  departed  for  England  in  the  most 
melancholy  mood,  bi'ooding  over  his  disappointed  hopes,  his 
tarnished  fame,  and  the  means  of  getting  rid  of  a  treaty  he 
was  unwilling  to  fulfil. § 

xxxii.  One  only  chance  remained  for  preserving  the  peace 
of  the  kingdom,  and  that  was  in  the  king's  honestly  per- 
forming what  he  had,  through  his  own  precipitation,  been 
forcad  to  promise.  A  few  years  would  have  restored  to 
him  the  confidence  of  his  subjects,  dissolved  the  associa- 
tion, and  reduced  to  its  ordinary  and  peaceful  level,  the 
power  of  the  nobles.  The  ministers,  by  the  usual  and 


•  Lord  Aboyne  and  general  Ruthven,  were  accused  of  insulting  and  quar- 
relling with  the  covenanters  in  the  streets ;  the  covenanters  were  charged  with 
maltreating  those  of  the  opposite  party,  and  the  magistrates  of  standing  aloof, 
during  the  squabble.  In  one  disturbance,  Traquair  was  assaulted,  his  coach 
very  nearly  overturned,  and  the  white  staff  his  servant  carried  before  him,  bro- 
ken. When  he  complained  to  the  town  council,  another  white  stick,  value  six- 
pence, was  sent  him,  "  so  high  rated  they,"  as  Burnet  laments,  "  the  affront 
put  on  the  king,  in  the  person  of  my  lord  treasurer.'' 
f  Burnet's  Mem.  p.  144. 

J  Stevenson,  Hist  vol.  iii.  p.  764.     Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  128. 
§  Strafford's  Letter.     Rush.  vol.  iii   p.  948. 

! 


CHARLES  I.  527 

regular    routine    of  government,   deprived   of  any  pretext   BOOK. 
for  interfering  in  civil  affairs,  would  have  devoted  their  at-     v     ' 
tention  to  the  religious  instruction  of  their  flocks,  and  exert-     1639. 
ed  their  influence  on  the  side  of  the  power  to  which  they 
owed  their  protection.     To  this  his  most  sincere  friends  ad- 
vised him,  but  with  this  his  wounded  pride  would  not  allow 
him  to  comply.     His  instructions  to  the  new  commissioner, 
were  conceived  in  such  a  manner  as  he  imagined  would  re- 

o 

lieve  his  conscience  from  the  guilt  of  falsehood,  while  he 
was  practising  with  his  subjects,  a  system  of  perfidious  de- 
ceit. He — Traquair — was  to  allow  the  abolition  of  epis-  „•  • 
copacy,  not  as  unlawful,  but  only  in  satisfaction  of  the  stmctions 
people,  for  settling  the  present  disorders,  and  similar  rea-  JIL^*" 
sons  of  state,  and  on  no  account  to  suffer  the  appearance  of 
any  warrant  from  the  bishops.  He  was  to  consent  to  the 
covenant  being  subscribed,  as  originally,  in  1580,  "  Provid- 
ed it  be  so  conceived,  that  our  subjects  do  not  thereby  be 
required  to  abjure  episcopacy  as  a  part  of  popery,  or  against 
God's  law;  but  if  they  require  it  to  be  abjured,  as  contrary 
to  the  constitution  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  he  was  to  give 
way  to  it  rather  than  to  make  a  breach,  and  the  proceedings 
of  the  Glasgow  assembly  were  to  be  ratified,  not  as  deeds 
of  that  illegal  meeting,  all  mention  of  which  was  to  be  avoid- 
ed, but  as  acts  of  this  ;  and  after  all  assembly  business  was 
ended,  immediately  before  prayers,  he  was  commanded,  in 
the  fairest  way  possible,  to  protest,  that  in  respect  of  his  To  pro- 
majesty's  resolution  of  not  coming  in  person,  and  his  instruc-  tost' 
tions  being  hastily  written,  many  things  may  have  occurred 
upon  which  he  had  not  his  majesty's  pleasure,  therefore,  in 
case  any  thing  had  escaped  him,  or  been  condescended  upon 
prejudicial  to  his  majesty's  service,  his  majesty  may  be  heard 
for  redress  thereof,  in  his  own  time  and  place."  By  this 
form,  Charles  retained  to  himself  the  power  of  disavowing 
the  conduct  of  his  commissioner,  and  disannulling  any  or 
every  act  of  the  assembly  whenever  he  chose,  or  found  it  ex- 
pedient. His  irreconcilable  enmity  to  the  covenanters,  was 
expressed  in  these  instructions,  by  directions  to  stop  the 
signatures  of  all  acts  in  their  favour,  in  as  far  as  it  could  be 
done  without  interrupting  altogether  the  common  course  of 
justice ;  and  while  he  was  enjoined  to  hear  complaints  against 


528  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    the  rest  of  the  subjects,  none  were  to  be  listened  to,  if  against 
such  as  had  suffered  for  refusing  the  covenant,  particularly 
1639.      sir  John  Hay,  and  sir  Robert  Spotswood. 

xxxui.  But  besides  the  protest,  the  king  had  another,  and 
wnat  seemed  an  insurmountable  objection  to  the  legality  of 
any  acts  abolishing  episcopacy.  Traquair  suggested,  that 
they  could  not  be  ratified  in  a  parliament  from  which  the  pre- 
lates, who  constituted  one  of  the  estates,  were  excluded ;  and 
the  king  was  thus  persuaded  to  allow  them  to  pass,  in  the  belief 
that  they  were  intrinsically  null  and  void.  His  intention 
merely  to  temporize  till  the  necessities  of  the  time  were  past, 
and  to  revoke  all  the  concessions  which  he  considered  as  ex- 
torted from  him,  was  unequivocally  expressed  in  a  letter  to 
the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews ;  who,  after  he  resigned  the 
office  of  chancellor,  had  resided  in  Newcastle.  The  bi- 
shops had  written  to  Laud,  requesting  the  king  to  prorogue 
the  assembly  and  parliament.  In  reply,  his  majesty  inform- 
ed the  primate,  this  could  not  be  done  without  great  pre- 
judice both  to  himself  and  his  service;  but  that  he  had  given 
his  commissioner  special  instructions  to  watch  over  the  in- 
terest of  their  lordships  and  of  the  inferior  clergy,  who  had 

His  advice  suffered  for  their  duty  to  God,  and  their  obedience  to  his 
bl~  c°mman(Js  >  an(l  assuring  them,  that  it  should  be  still  one  of 
his  chiefest  studies  how  to  rectify  and  establish  the  govern- 
ment of  that  church  aright,  and  to  repair  their  losses.  He 
recommended,  however,  as  the  best  mode  for  them,  to  give 
in,  by  way  of  protestation  or  remonstrance,  their  exceptions 
against  the  assembly  and  parliament,  to  the  commissioner, 
— privately  as  he  entered  the  church — to  be  by  him  present- 
ed to  the  king;  which  he  promised  to  take  so  into  consider- 
ation as  becometh  a  prince  sensible  of  his  own  interest  and  hon- 
our, joined  with  the  equity  of  their  desires ;  and  added,  "you 
may  rest  secure,  that  though  perhaps  we  may  give  way  for 
the  present,  to  that  which  will  be  prejudicial  both  to  the 
church  and  our  own  government,  yet  we  shall  not  leave 
thinking  in  time  how  to  remedy  both."  In  the  meanwhile, 
till  their  estate  could  be  restored,  the  rents  of  the  bishoprics 
which  were  declared  vacant,  or  had  reverted  to  the  crown, 
were  to  be  drawn  by  the  crown  officers,  and  appropriated  to 
their  support. 


CHARLES  1.  529 

Xxxiv.  The  duplicity  which  these  transactions   exhibit,    BOOK 
and  which  can  neither  be  defended  nor  denied,  was  unfortu-      VIIL 
nately  flattered  by  the  person  the  king  chose  as  his  commis-      1639. 
sioner.     Traquair,  ever  since  the  surrender  of  Dalkeith,  had 
been  under  a  cloud — for  although  pardoned,  he  had  never 
been  trusted — and  in  order  to  regain  the  good  graces  of  his 
master  was  forced  to  administer  to  his  humour,  and  in  no 
way  could  he  do  this  so  effectually,  as  by  appearing  to  be 
the  dupe  of  his  political  casuistry.     He  carried  the  king's 
letter,  which  he  had  suggested,  to  Newcastle,  and  received  Who  Pv« 
himself  the  bishops'  declinature,*  on  his  road  to  Scotland,  thei^dedl' 
to  hold  those  very  assemblies,  whose  proceedings  it  was  in-  nature- 
tended  to  annul. 

xxxv.  Traquair  held  the  assembly  on  the  appointed  day  ;  He  holds 
at  the  opening  of  which,  Henderson  the  moderator  of  the  ^e  assenl* 
last,  preached ;  and  towards  the  close  of  his  sermon,  address- 
ed the  members,  exhorting  them  to  temper  their  zeal  with 
moderation  and  prudence;  reminding  them  of  the  advan- 
tages which  had  been  attempted  to  be  taken  of  their  un- 
guarded warmth,   and  of  the  obligation  thereby  imposed 
upon  them  to  show  to  the  world,  that  presbytery — the  go- 
vernment they  contended  for  in  the  church — could  very  well 
consist  with  monarchy  in  the  state.     The  assembly  proceed- 
ed in  accordance  with  this  advice  ;  and  dreading  no  deceit 
on  the  part  of  the  king,  although  steady  in  their  determina- 
tion not  to  recede  from  their  principles,  they  showed  every 
disposition  to  yield  in  matters  of  form  to  his  prejudices  or 
caprice.     Every  reference  to  the  preceding  assembly  was 
avoided ;  and  the  objects  the  presbyterians  wished  to  obtain 
the  royal  sanction  for,  were  enumerated  in  an  act  of  the  pre- 
sent, entitled,  "  An  Act,  containing  the  Causes  and  Remedy 
of  the  bygone  evils  of  the  Church."   The  CAUSES  : — "  First,  Causes  of 
the  pressing  upon  this  church,  a  service  book,  or  book  °f  ^f,glj£e  the 
common  prayer,  by  the  prelates,  without  direction  or  war-  church, 
rant  from  the  church,  containing  beside  the  popish  frame, 
divers  popish  errors  and  ceremonies,  with  a  book  of  canons, 
establishing  a  tyrannical  power  over  the  kirk  in  the  person 
of  bishops;    a   book   of  consecration  and    ordination,    ap- 

*  Burnet's  Mem.  p.  155- 

VOL.  in.  3  Y 


530  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  pointing  offices  in  the  house  of  God,  not  warranted  by  the 
'  '  word  of  God,  and  repugnant  to  the  discipline  and  acts  of  the 
1639.  kirk ;  and  the  high  commission.  Second,  the  articles  of 
Perth.  Third,  the  change  of  the  government  of  the  kirk, 
from  the  assemblies  of  the  kirk  to  the  persons  of  some  kirk- 
men,  usurping  priority  and  power  over  their  brethren. 
Fourth,  civil  places  and  power  of  kirkmen.  Fifth,  keeping 
and  authorizing  corrupt  assemblies.  Sixth,  the  want  of  law- 
ful and  free  assemblies,  rightly  constituted  of  pastors,  doc- 
tors, and  elders,  yearly  or  oftener,  pro  re  nata,  according  to 
The  reme-  tne  liberty  of  the  kirk.  The  REMEDIES  : — That  the  service 
posed.  book,  book  of  canons  and  ordination,  and  the  high  com- 
mission, be  still  rejected ;  that  the  articles  of  Perth  be  no 
more  practised ;  that  episcopal  government,  and  the  civil 
places  and  power  of  kirkmen,  be  holden  still  as  unlawful  in 
this  kirk  ;  that  the  pretended  assemblies  1605,  to  1618,  be 
hereafter  held  as  null,  and  of  none  effect;  and  that  for  the 
preservation  of  religion,  and  preventing  all  such  evils  in  time 
coming,  general  assemblies  rightly  constituted,  as  the  proper 
and  competent  judges  of  all  matters  ecclesiastical,  be  hereaf- 
ter kept  yearly  and  oftener,  pro  re  nata  as  occasion  and  ne- 
cessity shall  require,  the  necessity  of  these  occasional  assem- 
blies being  first  shown  to  his  majesty  by  humble  supplica- 
tion ;  as  also,  that  kirk  sessions,  presbyteries,  and  synodal 
assemblies,  be  constituted  and  observed,  according  to  the 

Rcserva.     order  of  this  church."     The  commissioner,   to  this  act  sub- 

tion  of  the  ...        ,,          .  ,        •      i        i  j  •    r 

commis-     joined  a  declaration,  that  it  should  not  infer  any  censures  on 

sioner,        practices  out  of  the  kingdom,  thus  waving,  or  rather  reserv- 
ing, the  question  respecting  the  unlawfulness  of  episcopacy  ; 
but  the  assembly,  to  prevent  its  re-introduction  in  Scotland, 
ordained,  that  no  innovation  which  might  disturb  the  peace 
of  the  church,  and  make  division,  should  be  proposed  till 
Overruled    the  motion  were  first  communicated  to  the  several  synods, 
oemblV*8*    presbyteries  and  kirk  sessions,  that  the  matter  might  be  ap- 
proved by  all  at  home,  and  commissioners  might  come  pre- 
pared unanimously  to  give  out  a  solid  determination  in  the 
general  assembly. 

xxxvi.  Having  settled  these  fundamental  points,  in  the 
manner  which  it  was  supposed  would  be  least  offensive  to 
the  king,  the  assembly  showed  a  disposition  to  gratify  him, 


CHARLES  I.  531 

by  dealing  gently  with  those  ministers  who  had  only  been  BOOK 
guilty  of  compliances  with  the  orders  of  the  court ;  and  all  VIII. 
who  did  not  stand  accused  of  immoral  conduct,  and  were  1639. 
found  to  be  capable,  were  re-admitted  to  their  functions  in 
the  church.  There  now  only  remained  wanting  the  royal 
sanction  to  the  covenant,  and  the  concurrence  of  his  grace 
was  obtained  more  readily  than  they  expected;  the  chief 
difficulty  was,  how  to  render  this  palatable  to  Charles,  who 
had  so  repeatedly  and  strongly  expressed  his  antipathy  to 
that  "  damnable  instrument."  To  soften  the  matter  as  much 
as  possible,  a  supplication,  couched  in  the  most  loyal  and 
affectionate  language,  was  presented  to  the  privy  council,  in 
which  the  long  tried  fealty  of  their  ancestors  to  a  succession 
of  one  hundred  and  seven  kings,  his  majesty's  royal  prede- Their  pcti- 
cessors,  was  appealed  to  as  a  pledge  that  they  would  not  g^p-j^6 
dishonour  their  descent,  by  rebelling  in  thought  against  the  sanction 
last  of  so  illustrious  a  line.  On  the  contrary,  they  acknow- 
ledged  their  quietness,  stability,  and  happiness,  to  depend 
upon  the  safety  of  the  king's  person,  and  the  maintenance 
of  his  royal  authority  as  God's  vicegerent,  set  over  them  for 
the  support  of  religion,  and  ministration  of  justice;  and  so- 
lemnly concluded,  by  declaring  : — "  We  have  sworn,  and  do 
swear,  not  only  our  mutual  concurrence  and  assistance  for 
the  cause  of  religion,  and  to  the  uttermost  of  our  power, 
with  our  means  and  lives,  to  stand  to  the  defence  of  our 
dread  sovereign,  his  person  and  authority,  in  preservation 
and  defence  of  the  true  religion,  liberties,  and  laws  of  the 
kirk  and  kingdom — but  also  in  every  cause  which  may  con- 
cern his  majesty's  honour,  shall,  according  to  the  laws  of  this 
kingdom,  and  the  duties  of  good  subjects,  concur  with  our 
friends  and  followers,  in  quiet  manner  or  in  arms,  as  we  shall 
be  required  by  his  majesty,  his  council,  or  any  having  his 
authority ;  and  therefore,  being  most  desirous  to  clear  our- 
selves of  all  imputation  of  this  kind,  and  following  the  laud- 
able example  of  our  predecessors,  1589,  do  most  humbly 
supplicate  your  grace,  and  the  lords  of  his  majesty's  most 
honourable  privy  council,  to  enjoin,  by  act  of  council,  that 
the  confession  of  faith  and  covenant,  which,  as  a  testimony 
of  our  fidelity  to  God,  and  loyalty  to  our  king,  we  have  sub- 


532  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    scribed,  be  subscribed  by  all  his  majesty's  subjects,  of  what 
VIII.      rank  and  quality  soever." 
]  639.          xxxvn.  The  privy  council  acceded   to  the  prayer  of  the 

Granted.-  .  .  *        '      .     ,  J 

petition,  and  the  commissioner  announced  in  open  assembly, 

the  gratifying  intelligence : — "  That  their  supplication  was 
granted,  and  an  act  in  consequence  passed,  so  that  nothing 
was  wanting  now,  but  the  resolution  of  the  assembly.  As 
an  individual,  he  cordially  agreed  with  the  deed  as  it  stood; 
Traquair  as  his  majesty's  commissioner,  he  affixed  a  clause,  declara- 

addsare.    tory  of  jts  being  understood  by  him,  as   one  in  substance 
serration  ;       .  J  ... 

with  that  which  was  subscribed  by  his  majesty's  father,  of 

blessed  memory,    1580,  81—90,  and  often  since  renewed." 
The  assembly's  vigilance  was  not,  however,  thus  to  be  lulled ; 
every  reservation  was  viewed  with   a  jealous  eye.     They, 
therefore,  ordered  an  explanation  to  be  prefixed  to  the  sig- 
natures in  the  following  terms :  "  The  article  of  this  cove_ 
nant,  which  was,  at  the  first  subscription,  referred  to  the  de- 
termination of  the  general  assembly,  being  determined,  and 
thereby  the  five  articles  of  Perth,  the  government  of  the 
And  the  as-  kirk  by  bishops,  the  civil  places  and  power  of  kirkmen,  up- 
explana^11   on  ^e  reasons  an(^  grounds  contained  in  the  acts  of  the  ge- 
tion,  neral  assembly,  declared  to  be  unlawful  within  this  kirk,  we 

subscribe  according  to  the  determination  foresaid."  Thus 
was  the  covenant  again  renewed  in  two  different  senses ;  yet, 
upon  receiving  assurance  that  their  conclusions  would  be  ra- 
tified in  parliament,  the  meeting  dissolved  with  great  appar- 
ent cordiality  and  mutual  satisfaction,  and  the  public  de- 
monstrations of  national  joy  on  the  occasion,  were  ardent 
and  universal.* 

xxxvin.  Charles  did  not  participate  in  the  general  satis- 
faction the  conduct  of  his  commissioner  had  diffused ;  and 
although  Traquair  had,  with  great  dexterity,  managed  a 
very  delicate  business,  and  brought  it  to  a  termination, 
whence  a  conciliatory  system  might  with  much  loveliness 
and  grace  have  commenced  j  instead  of  receiving  the 


*  Stevenson's  Hist.  vol.  iii.  pp.  769 — 806.  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  pp.  949 — 964. 
Burnet's  Mem.  pp.  153,  157.  Balfour's  Ann.  vol.  ii.  p.  353,  Acts  of  As-, 
eembly. 


CHARLES  I.  533 

thanks  of  his  sovereign,  he  received  a  pettish  letter,  filled  BOOK 
with   captious  distinctions,  refusing    to   ratify   the   acts   to     VI11- 
which  the  earl  had  consented.     Episcopacy  had  been  de-      i639. 
clared  by   the  act  of  assembly,   to  be  "  unlawful   in   this The  kin& 

i          i»>  ••          11-          -i-ii         i-ii  refuses  to 

church,  a  position  the  king  denied  that  he  had  ever  allow-  ratify  the 
ed.  He  had  consented  to  its  being  abolished,  as  "con-acts- 
trary  to  the  constitutions  of  the  church  of  Scotland,"  but 
as  to  the  word  unlawful,  it  would  not  be  found  in  all  his  in- 
structions ;  his  representative  was  therefore  commanded,  not 
only  not  to  ratify  the  act  in  these  terms  in  parliament,  but 
to  declare  that  the  king  consented  to  its  ratification  with 
his  explanation,  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  of  the  land, 
though  otherwise  in  his  own  judgment,  he  neither  held  it 
convenient  nor  fitting.  Had  the  word  unlawful  been  used 
in  an  unrestricted  sense,  there  might  have  been  some  plau- 
sibility in  the  king's  objection  : — that  suffering  such  a  sen- 
tence to  pass  in  Scotland,  was  by  inference  condemning  the 
function  in  England  also ;  but  used  as  it  was,  to  signify 
merely  that  episcopacy  was  unlawful  in  the  church  of  Scot- 
land, because  contrary  to  the  law  of  that  church,  was  an  af- 
firmation which  did  not  necessarily  imply  any  opinion  re- 
specting its  legality  any  where  else.  But  the  real  objection 
which  the  king  had  to  the  term  was,  he  thought  it  would 
authorize  the  rescinding  the  acts  of  parliament  made  in  fa- 
vour of  episcopacy,  acts  which  his  father  had  with  so  much 
expense  of  time  and  industry  established ;  "  which,"  he  says, 
"  may  hereafter  be  of  so  great  use  to  us  j"  and  as  he  was 
evidently  anxious  to  hasten  a  rupture,  he  did  not  wish  to  Reasonsfor 
pronounce  unlawful,  what  by  that  rupture  he  hoped  to  re-  *"s  refusal- 
store ;  for  although  he  might  alter  or  improve  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Scottish  church,  by  re-establishing  episcopacy, 
he  could  not,  even  with  all  his  equivocations,  reintroduce 
it,  if  he  once  stigmatized  it  as  unlawful ;  and  therefore,  he 
adds,  "  if  on  this  point  a  rupture  happen,  we  cannot  help  it, 
the  fault  is  on  their  own  part,  which  one  day  they  may  smart 
for." 

xxxix.  In  the  act  of  signing  the  treaty,  the  king  was  me- 
ditating its  rupture ;  and  now  he  was  eager  that  his  commis- 
sioner should  find  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Scots,  a  justifi- 
cation of  his  own  premeditated  perfidy.  "If you  find  that 


534  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK   what  we  have  commanded  you  to  do,  is  likely  to  cause  a 
rupture,  their  impertinent  motives  give  you  a  fair  occasion 
1639.     to  make  it  appear  to  the  world,  that  we  have  condescended 
proofs  of     to   a^   matters    which  can  be   pretended   to  concern  con- 
his  perfidy,  science  and  religion,  and  that  now  they  aim  at  nothing  but 
the  overthrow  of  royal  authority  ;  and  therefore,  we  hope 
and  expect,  that  if  a  rupture  happen,  you  will  make  this  ap- 
pear to  be  the  cause  thereof,  and  not  religion,  which   you 
know  not  only  to  be  true,  but  must  see  it  will  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  us,  and  therefore  must  be  seriously  intended  by 
you.1' 

Parliament  XL.  Parliament  was  opened  with  great  pomp,  on  the  day 
succeeding  the  close  of  the  assembly,  the  earls  of  Argyle, 
Crawford,  and  Sutherland,  carrying  the  regalia.  One  of 
the  estates  being  absent,  it  was  necessary  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency, and  anticipate  any  objection  of  nullity  on  this 
score,  that  might  be  made  to  their  proceedings.  In  order  to 
support  the  appearance  of  a  spiritual  estate,  it  was  propos- 
ed by  the  court,  that  lay  abbots  should  be  appointed  ;  but 
as  even  the  name  was  objectionable  to  the  majority,  the  re- 
Lesser  ba-  presentatives  of  the  lesser  barons  were  substituted.  In 
ply  theP"  choosing  the  lords  of  the  articles — respecting  which  Charles 
place  of  the  appeared  so  anxious — the  parliament  being  freed  by  the 
abolition  of  prelacy  from  the  obtrusion  of  the  bishops,  pro- 
posed to  revert  to  the  original  method  of  naming  that  com- 
mittee ;  but  as  this  might  have  occasioned  a  debate,  they 
allowed  for  the  present,  the  commissioner  to  appoint  the 
eight  nobles,  whom  of  late  the  bishops  were  wont  to  name, 
with  the  understanding  that  this  should  form  no  precedent 
for  the  future,  but  that  the  members  should  be  freely  and 
separately  chosen  by  their  respective  estates  ;  and  that 
Their  pro-  their  powers  should  extend  only  to  such  articles  as  were 

OGOQUIffl 

referred  to  their  consideration,  and  which,  if  not  again  re- 
ported, might  be  resumed  in  parliament  by  the  original  pro- 
poser. Freedom  of  debate  was  also  secured ;  and,  to  pre- 
vent the  power  of  the  crown  being  unnaturally  exerted  by 
the  introduction  of  strangers  unconnected  with  the  country, 
as  peers  of  parliament,  it  was  enacted,  that  no  patent  of  ho- 
nour be  granted  to  any  strangers,  but  such  as  have  a  com- 
petency of  land  rent  in  Scotland  ;  and  it  was  provided,  that 


CHARLES  I.  535 

a  parliament  should  be  held  at  least  once  in  three  years.    BOOK 
They  demanded  that  the  abuses  of  the  mint  should  be  reme-  _ 
died,  and  the  coinage  be  subject  to  the  superintendence  of    1639. 
parliament ;  that  no  foreigner  should  be  intrusted  with  the 
command  of  any  of  the  natural  fortresses,  nor  any  person  ap- 
pointed without  the  approbation  of  the  estates. 

XLI.  The  acts  of  the  general  assembly  were  preparing  for 
ratification ;  another  important  act,  abolishing  hereditary 
jurisdictions,  was  also  in  progress,  and  a  number  of  ne- 
cessary measures  for  reforming  the  abuses  of  the  preceding 
forty  years  ;  but,  while  these  were  framing,  the  commis- 
sioner, who  well  knew  how  disagreeable  they  would  be  to  the  Jnterrupt- 
king,  continued  the  parliament  by  several  prorogations,  till 
he  should  receive  farther  instructions ;  and  parliament,  a- 
fraid,  from  the  surmises  that  had  reached  them,  that  their 
proceedings  would  not  be  confirmed  by  his  majesty,  in  the 
interim,  with  lord  Traquair's  consent,  despatched  the  earls 
of  Dunfermline  and  Loudon  to  London,  to  endeavour  satis- 
fying his  royal  scruples,  and  implore  his  permission  to  pro- 
ceed and  determine  the  business  before  thejn  ;  but,  ere  the 
peers  reached  the  capital,  they  were  met  by  a  messenger, 
discharging  them  from  approaching  within  a  mile  of  the 
court;  and  peremptory  orders  were  sent  to  Scotland,  to  pro- 
rogue the  parliament  to  June  next  year.  Traquair,  ashamed 
of  the  employment,  did  not  proceed  to  dissolve  the  parlia-  They  are 
ment  in  form  ;  he  transmitted  the  king's  letter  containing  the  suddenly 

0  °  prorogued^ 

injunction,  by  the  lord  privy  seal,  to  where  the  lords  of  the 
articles  were  sitting,  desiring  one  of  the  clerks  of  parliament 
to  read  it  Gibson,  younger  of  Durie,  who  was  applied  to, 
refused;  but  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  estates, 
he  read  a  remonstrance  against  it : — "  As  a  new  and  unusual 
mode  of  prorogation,  without  precedent,  contrary  to  his 
majesty's  honour,  engaged  for  ratifying  the  acts  of  the 
church,  contrary  to  the  laws,  liberties,  and  perpetual  prac- 
tice of  the  kingdom,  by  which  all  continuations  of  parlia-  Rem<>n- 

J  str&nce  of 

ment,  once  called,   convened,  and  begun  to  sit,   have  ever  the  estates. 
been  made  with  express  consent  of  the  estates;  contrary  to 
the  public  peace,   both  of  the  church  and  kingdom,   which, 
by  reason  of  the  present  condition  thereof,  and  the  great 
confusion  like  to  ensue  from  procrastination,  cannot  endure 


536 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1639. 


Of  the 
covenan- 
ters. 


Deputation 
from  parlia- 
ment al- 
lowed to 
proceed  to 
London. 


so  long  delay ;  but  to  the  advantage  of  malicious  adversar* 
ies,  who,  for  their  own  ends,  are  incessantly  seeking  all  oc- 
casions, by  creating  dissensions  between  the  king  and  his 
subjects,  to  bring  both  the  country  and  the  crown  to  utter 
ruin  and  desolation." 

XLII.  As  these  facts  were  so  evident,  the  covenanters  as- 
sumed, that  whenever  they  were  properly  represented  to  his 
majesty,  he  would  drive  from  his  presence  his  unprincipled 
advisers,  and  do  them  justice.  With  a  great  show  of  mo- 
deration they  then  declared,  that  although  by  the  examples 
of  their  ancestors  in  cases  of  similar  necessity,  by  his  ma- 
jesty's indiction,  and  by  the  articles  of  pacification,  they 
might  lawfully  continue  to  sit ;  yet,  from  the  obloquy  that 
attends  all  their  proceedings,  and  the  misrepresentations  to 
which  they  were  liable,  to  avoid  the  least  shadow  of  dis- 
obedience or  disrespect  to  his  majesty's  commands,  and  out 
of  the  most  reverend  regard  to  render  not  only  all  real  de- 
monstrations of  civil  obedience,  but  to  avoid  whatever  might 
give  him  the  least  discontent,  they  would  only  remonstrate 
and  dissolve,  leaving  a  committee  from  each  estate,  to  await, 
in  Edinburgh,  the  answer  to  their  remonstrance ;  and  con- 
cluded with  a  solemn  adjuration : — "  If  it  shall  happen — 
which  God  forbid — that  after  we  have  made  our  remon- 
strances, and  to  the  uttermost  of  our  power  and  duty  used 
all  lawful  means  for  his  majesty's  information,  that  our  ma- 
licious enemies,  who  are  not  considerable,  shall,  by  their 
suggestions  and  lies,  prevail  against  the  informations  and 
general  declarations  of  a  whole  kingdom,  we  take  God  and 
men  to  witness,  that  we  are  free  of  the  outrages  and  insol- 
encies  that  may  be  committed  in  the  meantime,  and  that  it 
shall  be  to  us  no  imputation,  that  we  are  constrained  to  take 
such  courses  as  may  best  secure  the  kirk  and  kingdom  from 
the  extremity  of  confusion  and  misery." 

XLIII.  Immediately  upon  the  rising  of  parliament,  a  re- 
quest was  sent  by  the  committee  to  his  majesty,  that  he 
would  allow  some  of  their  number  to  wait  upon  him,  and 
personally  state  their  grievances  and  their  desires.  To  this 
reasonable  request  he  acceded,  but  before  they  could  take 
any  advantage  of  the  concession  Traquair  arrived  in  Lon- 
don. The  commissioner  was  at  first  coldly  received,  on  ac- 


CHARLES  Ii'  537 

count  of  his  conduct  in  the  assembly,  particularly  in  sub-    BOOK 
scribing  the  covenant;  but  his  apology  was  accepted.     He     VIIt 
vindicated  his   procedure  from  the  necessity   of  the  case,     1539. 
which  did  not  admit  of  his  hesitating  about  half  measures, 
for  they  would  have  prematurely  precipitated  a  quarrel,  from 
which,  as  it  must  still  have  had  the   semblance  of  religion 
for  its  foundation,  no  advantage  could  have  arisen.     But  he  Traquair 
ingratiated  himself  into  the  royal  favour,  by  representing  the  P^so,n8  the 
proceedings  of  the  estates  in  the  most  odious  point  of  view,  mind, 
as  encroachments  upon  the  prerogative  and  destructive  of 
regal  authority  ;  and  by  adducing  a  great  many  arguments, 
to  fortify  the  king  in  his  determination  to  reduce  his  Scot- 
tish subjects  by  force.     In  these  he  was  seconded  by  the  bi- 
gotry of  Laud,  and  the  violence  of  Wentworth,  and  their 
united  efforts  overpowered  the  voice  of  Hamilton  and  Mor- 
ton— the  two  other  but  more  moderate  members  of  the  Jun- 
to who  managed  Scottish  affairs — and  decided  the  question  Hostilities 

for  the  renewal  of  hostilities,  before  the  arrival  of  the  parlia*  resolved 

upon. 

mentary  deputies. 

XLIV.  The  earl  of  Dunfermline  and  lord  Loudon  were  ap- 
pointed a  second  time,  together  with  sir  William  Douglas  of 
Cavers,  and  Robert  Barclay,  the  provost  of  Irvine,  to  pro- 
ceed to  court;  and  although  their  cause  was  prejudged,  it 
was  deemed  expedient  to  admit  them  to  an  audience  before 
the  council.  Loudon,  in  a  long  speech,  pronounced  the  vin-  The  depu- 
dication  of  the  estates.  In  the  preceding  assembly,  episco- 
pacy  was,  with  the  concurrence  of  his  majesty's  commission- 
er, removed  out  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  and  all  civil 
places  and  power  of  churchmen,  declared  to  be  unlawful  in  Earl  of 
that  kingdom ;  whence  it  necessarily  followed,  that  bishops  ^^£1,* 
who  usurped  to  be  the  church,  and  did,  in  the  name  of  the  fore  the 
church,  represent  the  third  estate,  being  taken  away,  there  w 
must  be  an  act  of  the  constitution  of  parliament  without 
them,  and  an  act  for  repealing  the  former  laws,  whereby 
the  church  was  declared  the  third  estate.  Nor  do  these 
acts  wrong  the  church,  or  state,  or  the  royal  authority ; 
not  the  church,  because  she  hath  renounced  and  condemn- 
ed the  civil  power  and  worldly  pomp  conferred  upon  her 
in  time  of  popery,  esteeming  it  not  a  privilege,  but  a  detri- 
.inent,  incompatible  with  her  spiritual  nature,  and  as  being 

VOL.  III.  3  Z 


538 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    repugnant   to  her  doctrine  and  discipline  ;  not  the  state, 
_  because  the  whole   congregations  of  the  kingdom,   repre- 

1639.  sented  by  their  commissioners  from  presbyteries  in  the  ge- 
neral assembly,  have  given  their  consent  to  the  deeds  of  the 
church;  neither  the  king,  "  for  we  cannot  believe,"  continu- 
ed the  earl,  "  that  your  majesty— r-who,  we  hear,  doth  ac- 
knowledge princes  to  be  like  shining  stars,  which  have  their 
splendour  for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  and  who  esteems  the 
prosperity  and  welfare  of  your  people  your  greatest  enjoy- 
ment, and  the  possession  of  their  hearts  your  greatest  se- 
curity— will  think  the  granting  of  that,  which,  upon  so  good 
reason,  is  so  earnestly  desired  both  by  church  and  state,  to 
be  any  diminution  of  your  majesty's  royal  prerogative  and 
privilege  of  your  crown,  which  is  not  mutable  with  the 
change  of  any  of  the  estates,  but  is  that  power  which  did 
justly  belong  to  the  king,  before  any  bishops  were  in  Scot- 
land ;  which  did  belong  to  him  in  time  of  popery,  when  bi- 
shops who  had  their  dependance  on  the  pope  were  allowed ; 
and  which  did  likewise  pertain  to  the  king  in  the  time  of  the 
reformation,  when  episcopacy  was  abjured,  and  removed  out 
of  Scotland." 

XLV.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  the  king  asked,  what  power 
they  had  to  give  him  satisfaction,  for  their  instructions  ap- 
peared to  be  rather  for  justifying  than  satisfying;  and  though 
some  of  their  desires  were  against  the  law,  they  had  no 
power  to  yield  to  any  point.  They  answered,  the  parlia- 
ment had  given  them  power  to  make  it  clear,  that  their 
desires  and  proceedings  were  agreeable  to  the  fundamental 
laws  and  customs  of  the  kingdom,  to  reason,  and  to  the  act 
of  pacification,  by  which  the  king  was  obliged  to  ratify 
them,  and  this  they  were  ready  to  do.  Here  archbishop 
Laud,  who  sat  on  the  king's  right  hand,  smiling  contemptu- 
ously at  the  commissioners,  begged  his  majesty  to  inquire 
how  their  assertions  that  their  desires  and  proceedings  were 
agreeable  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  Scotland,  which  must 
mean  the  present  statutes,  could  consist  with  their  desires 
that  the  present  standing  laws  should  be  repealed  ?  adding, 
he  did  not  believe  the  king  was  obliged  to  repeal  them,  or 
ratify  the  acts  of  the  assembly.  The  commissioners  replied, 
that  their  desires  might  be  agreeable  to  fundamental  laws, 


Another 
meeting. 


Laud  in- 
terferes. 


CHARLES  I.  539 

and  yet  they  might,  without  any  inconsistence,  crave  that    BOOK 
particular  acts  repugnant  to  the  conclusions  of  the  assembly,      ^IIL 
might  be  repealed  ;  for  as  the  parliament  may  make  laws      1639. 

for  the  good  of  the  church  and  state,   so  they  may  repeal  c.ommis- 

J         J       I         sioners*  r« 

such  as  are  m  opposition  to  the  welfare  of  either ;  and  they  ply. 
undertook  to  show  that  the  king  was  obliged  to  ratify  their 
conclusions.  On  which,  the  primate  superciliously  observed, 
lie  was  not  so  grossly  ignorant,  as  not  to  know  that  par- 
liament had  power  as  well  to  repeal  laws  as  to  make  them; 
but  what  he  wished  to  be  informed  of  was,  how  could 
their  desires  be  agreeable  to  the  laws,  when  they  crave 
standing  laws  to  be  repealed,  by  reason  of  the  conclusions 
of  the  assembly,  ex  consequenti  ?  For  if  the  convocation  in 
England  should  take  upon  them  to  annul  and  repeal  acts  of 
parliament,  what  confusion  would  there  be  ?  To  this  the 
commissioners  answered  : — "  That  acts  of  parliament  which 
depend  upon  acts  of  assembly,  must  necessarily  fall  and  be 
repealed,  when  an  assembly  had  annulled  those  acts  of  the 
assembly,  whereof  those  acts  of  parliament  were  ratifica- 
tory  ;  but  that  the  English  convocation,  consisting  only  of 
prelates,  and  some  of  the  clergy,  was  far  different  from 
their  general  assembly,  where  the  king  or  his  commission- 
er sits,  and  where  the  whole  congregations  and  parishes  of 
the  kingdom  are  represented  by  their  commissioners  from 
presbyteries ;  so  that  what  is  done  by  them,  is  done  by  the 
whole  church  and  kingdom,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  al- 
lowed in  parliament."  "  The  convocation  in  England," 
said  the  archbishop  angrily,  "is  as  eminent  a  judicature 
as  yours,  and  ought  not  to  be  so  slighted  ;"  adding,  that  he 
and  the  clergy  were  members  of  parliament,  but  no  reform- 
ed church  had  lay  elders  as  they  had  in  their  assemblies, 
and  he  would  lose  his  life  before  they  had  them.  The 
commissioners  told  him,  they  had  not  meddled  with  his 
convocation,  nor  would  if  he  had  not  brought  it  in  him- 
self; they  denied  that  laics  were  members  of  their  assem- 
bly, for  the  office  of  elders  is  ecclesiastic,  and  as  orthodox 
and  agreeable  to  scripture  as  any  order  they  had  in  their 
convocation ;  but  what  they  craved  was,  that  acts  of  parlia- 
ment should  repeal  acts  of  parliament  which  had  now  no 


540  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    force.*     In  several  subsequent  appearances,   the   commis- 

*II>     sioners  explained  or  defended  the  various  articles  which  had 

1639.      been  proposed  to  be  enacted  at  the  meeting  of  the  estates  ; 

fence  of '   at  *^e  same  time  remarking,   that  as  they  were  only  pro- 

the  parlia-  positions  prepared  for  parliament,  some  might  have  been 

withdrawn,  and  what  was  objectionable  in  the  others,  could 

have  been  altered,  amended,  or  modified,  before  they  were 

passed. 

XLVI.  Unacquainted  as  the  English,  in  general,  were  with 
the  constitution  of  a  Scottish  parliament,  they  might  not, 
perhaps,  have  perceived  that  all  the  outrages  against  his  au- 
thority, of  which  Charles  complained,  were  merely  first 
draughts  of  bills,  which  had  not  received  even  the  consider- 
ation of  the  estates;  but  the  explanations  which  the  com- 
missioners gave,  so  completely  exposed  the  futility  of  their 
being  considered  as  grounds  of  war,  that  the  king,  who  was 
anxious  to  interest  the  English  nation  in  the  quarrel,  eager- 
ly seized  upon  a  letter  of  some  of  the  Scottish  nobles  to  the 
French  king — produced  by  Traquair — as  an  evidence  of  the 
treason  of  the  covenanters,  and  a  proof  of  their  intentions 
to  introduce  the  ancient  enemy  again  into  the  island.  The 
letter  was  of  the  following  purport : — "  Sire,  your  majesty 
being  the  refuge  and  sanctuary  of  afflicted  princes  and  states, 
we  have  found  it  necessary  to  send  this  gentleman,  Mr. 
Colvil,f  to  represent  unto  your  majesty,  the  candour  and  in- 
genuity, as  well  of  our  actions  and  proceedings  as  of  our  in- 
tentions, which  we  desire  to  be  engraved  and  written  to  the 
whole  world,  with  a  beam  of  the  sun,  as  well  as  to  your  ma- 
jesty. We  therefore  most  humbly  beseech  you,  Sire,  to 
give  faith  and  credit  to  him,  and  to  all  that  he  shall  say 

Letter  to    on  our  part,  touching  us  and  our  affairs,  being  much  assur- 

the  French      ,     „.   *        ' 

king.          ed,  bire,  or  an  assistance  equal  to  your  wonted  clemency 

heretofore,  and  so  often  showed  to  this  nation,  which  will 
not  yield  the  glory  to  any  other  whatsoever,  to  be  eternal- 
ly, Sire,  your  majesty's  most  humble,  most  obedient,  and 


*  Rushworth,  vol.  iH.  pp.  995-7.     Proceedings  of  the  Scots  commission- 
ers.    King's  declaration. 

f  Brother  to  sir  Robert  Colvil  of  Cleish. 


CHARLES  I.  54-1 

most  affectionate  servants,"  subscribed,  Rothes,  Mar,  Mont-    BOOK 
gomery,  Montrose,  Loudon,  Leslie,  and  Forrester,  and  ad-     V^l- 
dressed — au   Roi — the   style  appropriate  from  subjects  to      1639 
their  natural  sovereign.     This  letter  was  without  a  date, 
and  was  directed  by  a  different  hand,  not  by  any  of  the 
parties  implicated  in  the  transaction.     Owing  to  an  inaccu- 
racy in  the  language,*  after  the  paper  was  signed,   it  was 
thrown  aside,  and   by  some  accident  fell   into  the  hands  of 
sir  Donald  Goram,  by  whom  it  was  given  to  the  earl  of  Tra- 
quair. 

XLVII.  This  discovery,  which  revealed  the  connexion  of 
the  Scots  with  France,  was  construed  as  a  transference  of 
their  allegiance  from  their  natural  prince.  Loudon,  when  ex- 
amined before  the  privy  council,  honestly  acknowledged  the  Loudon  ac- 
hand-writing  and  subscription  as  his,  but  said  it  was  written 
when  his  majesty  was  marching  in  hostile  array  against  his 
native  land ;  that  in  these  circumstances,  anxious  to  procure 
some  mediator  to  mitigate  his  wrath,  they  could  think  of  no 
one  so  fit  for  that  office  as  the  French  king,  the  nearest  re- 
lative by  affinity  his  majesty  had  among  the  princes  of 
Europe ;  but  that  the  idea  was  suggested  too  late,  when  the 
English  army  was  already  upon  the  borders,  and  therefore 
the  letter  was  never  either  addressed  or  forwarded ;  besides, 
he  urged  that  even  if  there  had  been  any  criminality,  that  he 
was  comprehended  in  the  act  of  oblivion ;  and,  at  all  events, 
his  crime  was  only  cognizable  by  his  peers,  and  in  the  coun- 
try where  it  was  alleged  to  have  been  committed.  The  com-  The  com. 

missioners  were  notwithstanding,   sent  to  the   Tower,   and  mission?™ 
T        i  .     .       /v«          i  i  j  sent  to  the 

Loudon,  it  is  affirmed,  very  narrowly  escaped  a  summary  Tower. 

execution.  The  king,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
sent  to  Balfour,  lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  a  warrant  for  be- 
heading the  earl  before  nine  o'clock  next  morning,  which  the 
lieutenant  intimated  to  his  lordship  that  evening,  by  whom 
the  awful  annunciation  was  received  with  astonishing  com- 
posure, and  he  prepared  to  submit  with  resignation  to  his 
fate.  But  Balfour,  not  altogether  clear  about  the  responsi- 
bility of  putting  a  nobleman  to  death  without  a  trial,  carried 

*  The  word  raiy,  a  cray-fish,  having  been  used  instead  of  rayon,  a  sunbeam. 


542 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 


Death  of 
archbi- 
shop 
Spots- 
wood. 


Ills  char, 
acter. 


the  warrant  to  the  marquis  of  Hamilton,  who  with  some  dif- 
ficulty obtained  access  to  the  king  at  midnight,  and  began  to 
expostulate,  when  his  majesty  interrupted  him,  exclaiming 
violently  : — "  by  God  it  shall  be  executed."  Hamilton, 
however,  represented  the  dismal  consequences  which  were 
likely  to  ensue  from  the  violation  of  the  safe-conduct  he  had 
granted,  and  of  all  legal  forms,  so  strongly  ;  affirming,  that  if 
he  proceeded,  Scotland  would  be  lost  for  ever,  nor  would 
his  own  person  be  safe  from  the  outrages  of  the  populac 
that  the  king  sullenly  called  for  the  warrant,  and  tore  it 
pieces,  with  evident  marks  of  reluctance  and  chagrin.* 

XLVIII.  In  the  midst  of  these  distractions  died  archbishop 
Spotswood,  primate  of  Scotland,  the  prime  mover  of  all  the 
commotions.  He  took  alarm  at  the  serious  opposition 
which  he  saw  made  to  the  introduction  of  the  liturgy,  and 
early  fled  to  England  to  escape  the  mischief  he  had  raised. 
Although  educated  in  the  principles  of  the  first  reformers, 
his  ambition  made  him  the  ready  and  active  tool  in  establish- 
ing a  hierarchy.  He  was  supple,  crafty,  and  intriguing, 
and  his  eminent  abilities  enabled  him  to  reach  the  highest 
dignities  in  church  and  state ;  but  he  exercised  his  power 
without  moderation,  and  to  his  violence  and  severity  it  may 
in  some  measure  be  ascribed,  that  he  lived  to  see  the  one 
overturned,  and  the  other  shaken  to  the  foundation.  His 
proceedings  in  the  court  of  high  commission  paved  the  way 
for  the  confusion  that  followed.  His  private  life  was  open 
to  the  attacks  of  his  enemies,  and  indefensible  by  his  friends; 
for  in  avoiding  the  appearance  of  puritanism,  he  indulged 
in  practices  both  immoral  and  profane.  As  a  historian,  he 
is  entitled  to  high  praise ;  leaning,  as  was  natural,  to  the 
side  he  espoused,  he  is  yet  moderate,  and  although  some- 


"  Oldmixon,  Hist.  p.  140.  Burnet's  Memoirs,  p.  161.  Laing,  vol.  iii. 
p.  196.  thinks  that  the  fact  appears  to  be  more  conformable  to  the  precipitate 
councils,  than  to  the  general  character  of  Charles,  who  was  arbitrary  indeed, 
but  was  certainly  averse  to  the  execution  of  a  sanguinary  measure  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  perceive  any  marks  of  aversion  in  Charles  to  sanguinary  measures  ; 
he  showed  no  great  reluctance  to  arm  his  subjects  against  each  other,  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  his  arbitrary  mandates,  about  trifles ;  yet  there  have  been 
men,  who,  while  they  gloried  in  wholesale  massacre,  would  have  shrunk,  per- 
haps, from  an  individual  murder. 


CHARLES    I.  543 

times  overcharged  in  the  colouring,  the  material  parts  of   BOOK 
his  narrative  remain  unimpeached.     His  style  is  plain  and      VIi*' 
perspicuous,  undebased   by  the  false  ornament,   or  foolish      1<HO 
quibbling,   in  which   some  of  his   contemporaries  delight  ; 
and  it  has  been  remarked,  as  his  peculiar  felicity,  that  his 
erudition  was  neither  infected  with  the  pedantry,  nor  con- 
fined to  the  polemical  disputes  of  the  age. 

XLIX.  Not  many  months  after,  the  earl  of  Stirling,  prin-  Death  of 
cipal  secretary  of  state,  died  also.     His  poetical  genius  and 
scholarship  first  recommended  him  to  James,  and  he  succeed- 
ed to  an  equal  share  of  favour  with  the  son.     He  was  the 
only  Scotlishman  who  had  a  foreign  title,  having  been  creat- 
ed viscount  Canada,  with  liberty  to  dub  an  hundred  knights, 
from  each  of  whom  he  received  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 
He  obtained  a  grant  of  Nova  Scotia  from   James,  which  lie  Knights  of 
transferred  to  the   French  king  for  an  ample  consideration  ;  sc'jtfa. 
and  a  license  to  coin  copper,  which  he  employed   to  debase 
the  currency,  till  the  abuse  swelled  the  list  of  national  griev- 
ances.    He  was  succeeded   as  treasurer  by  lord   William 
Hamilton,  brother  to  the  marquis  of  Hamilton,  then  in  Ins 
twenty-fourth  year,  dignified  with  the  title  of  earl  of  Lanark,  Earl  of  La- 


a   title,   the  patent  of  which,  it  was  alleged,  was  formerly  na*  trea' 
withheld,  on  account  of  the  covenanting  zeal  of  the  dowager 
marchioness. 

L.  Pending  the  negotiations  between  the  king  and  the 
Scots  an  incident  took  place  which  deserves  to  be  noticed, 
on  account  of  the  effects  which  it  produced  on  the  affairs  of 
the  island,  although  at  first  sight  it  may  appear  rather  un- 
connected with  the  passing  events.  Scarce  two  months  af- 
ter the  king  returned  from  Berwick,  a  large  Spanish  arma- 
ment appeared  upon  the  English  coast,  consisting  of  about 
seventy  sail  of  ships.  They  were  descried  first  by  a  small 
fleet  of  Hollanders  beyond  the  Land's  End,  who,  being  too  Van 
weak  to  risk  an  engagement,  hovered  in  their  rear  till  they  ?'romP  de- 

....  *  feats  the 

arrived  in  the  narrow  sea,  when  obtaining  the  weather  gage,  Spaniards 
they  kept  up  a  brisk  fire,  not  only  to  annoy  the  enemy, 
to  give  notice  to  the  Dutch  admiral,  Van  Tromp,  then  block-  nei. 
ading  Dunkirk.     Attracted  by  the  noise  of  the  firing,  he 
broke  up,  and  joined  his  countrymen  with  eight  stout  ves- 


544:  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  sels,  which  now  increased  the  Dutch  squadron  to  twenty-five 
VIII.  saj]t  Undismayed  at  the  superiority  of  number,  he  reso- 
1640.  lutely  attacked  the  Spaniards,  and  after  a  hard  day's  fight- 
ing, took  three  galleons,  sunk  one,  and  shattered  a  number, 
insomuch  that  the  Spanish  admiral  sought  refuge  in  the 
Downs.  Here  they  remained  nearly  a  month,  receiving 
reinforcements  daily,  till  at  last  Tromp,  impatient  of  wait- 
ing, attacked  the  enemy — although  within  the  English  wa- 
ters— -with  great  fury,  and  sending  in  some  fire-ships  among 
them,  the  whole  dispersed,  each  shifting  for  himself;  twen- 
ty, under  the  vice-admiral,  ran  on  shore ;  five  were  sunk, 
among  which  was  a  flag-ship ;  about  thirty  put  to  sea,  under 
cover  of  a  thick  mist,  but  the  day  clearing  up,  they  were 
again  attacked  by  the  indefatigable  Dutch,  and  of  the  whole, 
about  ten  ships  only,  along  with  the  admiral,  Don  Antonio 
D'Oquendo,  reached  a  friendly  port. 

LI.  Rashly  again  at  issue  with  the  Scottish  subjects,  the 
very  first  steps  of  the  king  should  have  opened  his  eyes  to 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  lay  before  him.  He  had 
already  had  proof  of  their  zeal  and  unanimity ;  and  the  dis- 
satisfaction in  England  was  such,  that  for  eleven  years  he 
had  not  dared  to  assemble  his  parliament.  The  complaints 
of  the  Scots  were  similar  to  those  of  the  English ;  and  he 
was  well  aware  that  the  wide  diffusion  of  their  supplications, 
and  the  personal  communication  which  took  place  while  the 
armies  lay  within  sight  of  each  other,  had  strengthened  the 
sympathies  of  the  two  nations  for  their  mutual  sufferings ; 
and  that  the  moderation  which  the  covenanters  always  dis- 
played, as  well  as  the  loyalty  they  uniformly  professed, 
had  created  an  interest  in  their  favour,  which  their  uniform, 
exemplary  conduct  on  every  occasion  tended  to  increase. 
In  such  circumstances  a  war  was  not  likely  to  be  popular  in 
England,  whence  alone  he  could  draw  the  means  for  carry^ 
ing  it  on ;  and  his  treasury  was  exhausted  by  his  last  worse 
than  fruitless  campaign.  To  replenish  it,  he  had  recourse 
Affords  an  to  j^jg  former  illegal  exactions :  and  as  the  invasion  of  his 

excuse  for 

levying       waters  by  the  Dutch  seemed  to  require  that  the  honour  and 
ship  mo-     integrity  of  his  naval  dominion  should  be  preserved,  it  af- 
forded a  pretext  for  imposing  anew  that  hated  course  of 


CHARLES  1.  545 

raising  supplies,  by  levying  ship  money ;  the  lord  high  ad-  BOOK 
miral  was  ordered  to  equip  twenty  vessels,  and  the  tax,  with  VIII- 
arrears,  was  rigorously  exacted. 

LIT.  Charles  with  great  difficulty  found  means  to  raise  an 
army ;  but  all  his  resources  he  perceived  would  be  inade- 
quate to  support  it  long.  An  English  parliament  therefore  An  Eng. 
was  resolved  upon,  and  summoned  to  assemble  under  cir-  ment^' 
cumstances  the  most  unfavourable,  when  his  necessities  were 
so  urgent,  and  the  irritations  and  disgusts  of  the  puritans, 
who  formed  the  most  able  as  well  as  the  most  numerous  class 
of  the  community,  so  fresh  and  so  strong.  But  he  anticipat- 
ed powerful  effects  from  the  demands  of  the  Scottish  estates, 
which  his  council  had  persuaded  him  were  too  enormous  to  be 
considered  in  any  other  light  than  as  violent  attacks  upon  his 
unequivocal  rights  of  sovereignty ;  whilst  they  displayed  their 
malignity  toward  the  English,  by  stigmatizing  them  as 
strangers,  unworthy  to  enjoy  any  dignities  or  privileges  in 
Scotland,  or  of  being  intrusted  with  the  command  of  any  forti- 
fied place  in  their  country  ;  and  the  abstracted  letter  of  the  no- 
bles, which,  besides  being  in  his  opinion  palpably  treasonable, 
he  affirmed  was  equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war  against 
England,  by  inviting  their  ancient  enemy  into  their  country. 

LIU.  Unwilling,  however  to  trust  that  assembly  with  a 
long  session,  he  delayed  the  day  of  opening  till  the  urgency 
and  pressure  of  the  times  should  become  so  imperious  and 
unequivocal,  as  to  cut  off  all  opportunity  for  protracted  dis- 
cussion respecting  the  propriety  of  granting  supplies.  When 
they  met,  therefore,  he  represented  the  season  of  the  year,  and 
the  state  of  his  armament,  as  reasons  why  they  should  pro- 
ceed, in  the  first  instance,  to  grant  him  such  supplies  as 
would  enable  him  to  meet  the  current  expenses ;  assuring 
them  upon  the  word  of  a  king,  that  he  would  soon  afford 
them  another  opportunity  for  inquiring  into,  and  remedying 
the  abuses  of  the  state. 

LIV.  The  house  of  commons  did  not  participate  so  vio-  Prove  re. 
lently  as  his  majesty  had  expected,  in  his  exasperated  feel-  fractoI7- 
ings.     They  proceeded  to  examine  their  own  wrongs,  which, 
as  they  felt  more  acutely,  they  were  more  anxious  speedily 
to  get  rid  of,  than  of  the  more  distant,  and  somewhat  doubt- 
ful wrongs  of  their  sovereign.     As  they  persisted  in  stating 

VOL.  III.  4  A 


546 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  their  grievances,  the  king,  impatient  of  their  delay,  and  ir- 
VIII>  ritated  at  their  non-compliance  with  his  request,  hastily  dis- 
1640.  solved  them  in  a  fit  of  passion,  before  they  had  sat  much 

Dissolved.  jonger  than  a  month.  The  ill  humour  which  this  abrupt 
termination  engendered,  was  still  farther  promoted,  by  the 
harsh  and  unconstitutional  acts  which  immediately  followed. 

King's  vio-  fjenry  Bellasis,  Esq.  member  for  the  county  of  York,  and 
sir  John  Hotham,  were  summoned  before  the  council,  and 
refusing  to  give  an  account  of  their  conduct  in  parliament, 
were  committed  to  the  Fleet.  John,  afterward  lord,  Crew, 
who  had  been  chairman  of  the  committee  on  religious  affairs, 
because  he  would  not  deliver  up  the  petitions  and  complaints 
which  had  been  presented,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower ; 
and  the  cabinets  of  the  earl  of  Warwick  and  lord  Brooke, 
were  broken  open,  and  even  their  pockets  searched,  upon 
suspicion  of  having  held  some  secret  correspondence  with 
the  Scots. 

LV.  A  parliament,  which  the  nation  revered,  being  dis- 
solved, the  convocation  which  they  hated,  was,  notwithstand- 
ing, allowed  to  sit  and  frame  canons,  an  unusual  circum- 
stance during  a  recess  of  the  legislature.  Among  their  en- 
actments, what  afforded  a  fertile  topic  for  ridicule,  was  an 
oath,  which,  in  their  anxiety  to  guard  against  Scottish  con- 
tagion, they  prescribed  to  be  taken  by  all  clergymen  and 
graduates  of  the  universities ;  they  made  them  promise  ne- 
ver to  give  their  consent  to  alter  the  government  of  this 
church  by  archbishops,  bishops,  deans,  archdeans,  &c.  and 
swearing  to  an  et  ccetera,  was  thought  rather  a  strange  me- 
thod of  binding  a  man  to  a  particular  class  of  orders  in  a 
church.  But  whatever  might  be  their  faults  in  the  eyes  ol 
the  people,  they  possessed  redeeming  qualities  in  the  eyes 
of  the  king ;  they  flattered  his  prejudices,  and  ministered  to 
his  necessities  by  a  seasonable  benevolence  from  the  spi- 
ritualities, amounting  to  about  twenty  thousand  pounds  ster- 
ling annually,  for  six  years.  The  other  expedients  to  which 
the  king  resorted  in  this  exigency,  were  ordering  the  coun- 
ties to  advance  coat  and  conduct  money  for  their  respec- 
tive troops  ;*  buying  all  the  East  India  peppers  on  credit, 


The  con- 
vocation 


Vote  a 
supply. 


These  troops  were  pressed  out  of  the  militia  of  each  county 


CHARLES  I.  54-7 

and  reselling  them  at  a  low  rate  for  ready  money ;  an  ex-    BOOK 
torted  bonus  of  forty  thousand  pounds  from  merchants  who     VIII. 
had  bullion  in  the  Tower,  in  order  to  save  the  whole  from     1540. 
seizure ;  and  a  forced  contribution  from  the  city  of  London,  °tner  ex- 
under  pain  of  forfeiting  their  privileges.    A  voluntary  loan  to  procuring 
a  considerable  extent,  was  besides  obtained  from  the  nobles,  monev- 
and  Strafford  had  procured  five  subsidies  from  the  Irish  par- 
liament, amounting  to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds. 

I. vi.  At  length,  by  dishonourable  shifts  and  strenuous  ex-  An  army 
ertions,  his  majesty  saw  equipped  for  the  episcopal  campaign,*  appoint! 
nineteen  thousand  foot,  and  two  thousand  horse.  Nonements. 
of  the  former  commanders  were  employed  ;  but  instead,  the 
earl  of  Northumberland  was  appointed  general,  Strafford, 
who  was  called  over  from  Ireland  on  purpose,  lieutenant-ge- 
neral, and  lord  Conway,  general  of  the  horse.  Scotland  exhi- 
bited a  very  different  appearance;  in  opposition  to  the  tardy, 
unwilling,  impressed  soldiery  of  Charles,  all  was  animation, 
unanimity,  and  zeal.  The  wealthy  readily  contributed  their 
money,  plate,  or  credit,  the  women  brought  their  ornaments 
to  the  public  treasury,  and  provided  cloth  for  the  soldiers'  Zeal  of  the 
tents,  and  the  voluntary  collections  at  the  church  doors,  °cots' 
were  increased  to  a  considerable  amount,  by  the  small,  but  ac- 
cumulated offerings  of  the  lower  and  middling  ranks,  who  emu- 
lated their  superiors  in  the  cordiality  with  which  they  gave, 
if  not  in  the  value  of  their  gifts.  The  tables  had  not,  even 
in  signing  the  treaty,  confided  in  the  sincerity  of  the  king; 
and  when  the  army  was  disbanded,  they  retained  the  expe- 
rienced officers  among  them,  upon  the  honourable  pretext, 
that  they  could  not  in  justice,  allow  countrymen  to  go  unre- 
warded, who  had  resigned  their  rank  and  honour  abroad,  to 
serve  their  native  land  in  the  hour  of  danger.  The  soldiers, 
they  knew,  on  the  first  call  would  return  to  their  ranks,  and 
the  merchants  never  intermitted  the  importation  of  arms  and 
ammunition.  The  leaders  had  narrowly  watched  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Charles,  from  his  refusal  to  attend  the  meeting 


*  One  private  country  gentleman,  little  known,  observed,  that  the  supply 
was  to  be  employed  in  the  supporting  Bellum  Episcopale,  which  he  thought 
the  bishops  were  fittest  to  do  themselves.  Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  136. 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK    of  the  assembly  and  estates,  till  he  called  together  his  Eng- 
IIIj      lish  parliament,  and  marked  every  progressive  act  of  hostili- 
J640.      ty;  but  they  waited  with  patience  till  their  own  should  re-as- 
semble, after  the  prorogation  had  expired. 

Parliament  LVii.  On  the  2d  of  June  it  met  accordingly,  but  Traquair, 
who  was  afraid  to  revisit  Scotland  as  commissioner,  omitted 
to  forward  a  warrant  to  those  who  were  appointed  to  act  in 
his  place.  When  a  commission  to  prorogue  was  read,  lords 
Elphingston  and  Napier  refused  to  officiate  without  the  com- 
missioner's authority ;  and  the  other  two,  the  lord  justice  clerk 
and  king's  advocate,  unable  to  proceed  without  them,  could 
only  protest,  a  useless  ceremony,  as  this  was  merely  an  ad- 
journed meeting  of  a  parliament,  convoked  by  the  king's  au- 
thority. They  then,  without  farther  delay,  chose  lord  Bur- 
leigh  president,  and  resumed  their  business.  The  articles 
formerly  prepared,  were  now  adopted ;  the  constitution  of 
parliament  was  settled,  and  declared  to  consist  only  of 
nobles,  barons,  and  burgesses,  and  all  former  acts  in  favour 
of  bishops  and  other  ecclesiastics,  were  rescinded ;  the  lords 
of  the  articles  were  reduced  to  their  original  destination,  a 
Its  pro-  committee,  which  subsequent  parliaments  might  or  might 
ceedmgs.  not  cj,oose  as  they  saw  fitj  an(j  when  chosen,  should  be  free- 
ly elected  out  of  their  respective  estates ;  the  acts  of  the  ge- 
neral assembly  were  ratified,  and  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
powers  of  the  hierarchy  abolished ;  no  proxies  were  admit- 
ted, nor  could  any  person  be  created  a  peer  of  parliament, 
unless  possessed  of  ten  thousand  merks  of  yearly  rent  within 
the  kingdom ;  grievances,  instead  of  being  given  in  as  for- 
merly to  the  clerk  register,  were  to  be  openly  presented  to 
the  house  ;  the  privy  council  was  rendered  subordinate,  and 
accountable  to  parliament,  and  the  meeting  of  parliament 
once  in  three  years  was  secured,  the  time  and  place  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  his  majesty,  or  his  commissioner,  in  conjunction 
with  the  estates,  before  the  closing  of  every  parliament ;  ar- 
bitrary proclamations  were  declared  illegal.  After  these 
acts,  establishing  the  constitution,  liberty,  and  powers  of  the 
parliament,  a  committee  was  chosen,  to  manage  all  affairs 
concerning  the  army,  raising  money,  and  preserving  the 
public  peace,  one-half  to  attend  the  general  in  the  camp,  and 
the  other  to  remain  at  Edinburgh.  To  them  was  intrusted 


CHARLES  I.  549 

the  whole   executive  power,  till  next  meeting  of  the  estates    BOOK 
in  convention  or  in  parliament.     To  defray  the  expenses  of      vm- 
the  war,  a  tenth  of  the  rents,   and  a  twentieth  of  interest      16.40- 
were  imposed,  and  to  meet  the   immediate   demand,   the 
committee  were  empowered  to  borrow  upon  their  own  se- 
curity.    To  supply  the  want  of  the  royal  assent,  the  whole 
lieges  were   ordained  to  subscribe   a  bond,    promising   to 
obey,  maintain,  and   defend  the  acts  and  constitutions   of 
that  session  ;  they  then  prorogued,  by  their  own  authority, 
till  the  19th  of  November,  and  ordered  all  their  acts  to  be 
printed.     After  parliament  rose,  the  committee  transmitted 
a  copy  of  their  acts  to  lord  Lanark,  secretary,  to  present  to  Sentforthe 
his  majesty,  with  a  declaration  prefixed,  justifying  their  pro- 
ceedings,  and  a  loyal  petition  annexed,  praying  his  majesty's 
approval. 

LVIII.  War  having  already  commenced,  all  trade  was  in- 
terrupted by  the  English  cruisers  ;  and  the  garrison  of  Ed- 
inburgh castle,  which  had  been  victualled  and  reinforced 
during  the  hollow  truce,  commenced  firing  upon  the  town, 
and  committed  several  acts  of  wanton  depredation  upon  the 
citizens.     The  king  issued  his  manifesto,  and  refused  look- 
ing at  the  representations  of  the  last  Scottish  parliament,  jje  pro- 
which  he  pronounced  treasonable ;  the  Irish  parliament  de-  claims 
clared  the  Scots  rebels,  and  authorized  every  attempt  to  re-  sonable. 
duce  them  by  force  to  obedience.     At  last  the  general  com- 
mittee issued  their  orders  for  embodying  every  fourth  man 
capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  their  army  to  assemble.     Sir 
Alexander  Leslie  was  again  appointed  commander-in-chief, 
lord  Almond,  brother  to  the  earl  of  Linlithgow,  lieutenant- 
general,  W.  Baillie,   major-general,  colonel  A.  Hamilton, 
general  of  artillery,  colonel  John  Leslie,  quartermaster-ge-  Scottish 
neral,  and  A.  Gibson,  younger  of  Durie,  commissary-gene-  forces. 
ral.     The  nobles  in  general,  had  the  rank  of  colonel,  but  as 
their  knowledge  of  the  art  of  war  was  limited  to  the  commo- 
tions which  had  taken  place  in  their  own  country,  they  were 
assisted  by  the  advice  of  veterans   who  had  been  bred  in 
camps,  and  who  were  appointed  as  lieutenant-colonels.    Ar- 
gyle  was  ordered  to  protect  the  west  coast,  and  reduce  the 
disaffected  clans  in  the  north.     He  accordingly,  committing 
Canty  re  and  the  islands  to  the  charge  of  their  inhabitants, 


550 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 
Proceed- 
ings of  Ar- 
gyle  in  the 
highlands. 


Monro  in 
the  north. 


Imposes 
the  cove- 
nant. 


traversed,  with  a  force  of  about  five  thousand  men,  attended 
by  a  small  train  of  artillery,  the  districts  of  Badenoch,  Atholl, 
and  Mar,  levied  the  taxation  imposed  by  the  estates,  and  en- 
forced subjection.  The  earl  of  Atholl  having  made  a  show 
of  resistance  at  the  ford  of  Lion,  he  sent  him  prisoner  to 
Stirling;  and  his  factor,  sir  Thomas  Stewart,  younger  of 
Grantully,  together  with  twelve  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
county,  he  ordered  to  ward  in  Edinburgh,  till  they  found 
security  for  their  good  behaviour,  and  exacted  ten  thousand 
pounds  Scots  for  the  support  of  his  army.  Thence  he  march- 
ed into  Angus,  where  he  lived  at  free  quarters,  and  demo- 
lished the  house  of  Airly,  which  lord  Ogilvy  had  been 
obliged  to  abandon.  After  having  secured  the  peace  of  that 
district,  he  returned  home  to  Argyleshire,  in  time  to  relieve 
the  western  soldiers,  who  were  required  to  join  the  main 
army.  Episcopalians  speak  with  indignation  of  the  ra- 
vages committed  during  this  incursion,  but  Balfour  repre- 
sents the  army  as  under  the  strictest  discipline,  and  instances 
the  execution  of  four  soldiers  for  committing  robbery.* 

LIX.  Monro,  who  was  sent  to  the  north,  was  less  scru- 
pulous. Accustomed  to  pillage  in  the  German  wars,  he 
suppressed  the  king's  adherents  with  unjustifiable  severity. 
His  first  act,  for  which  it  is  alleged  he  had  neither  the  au- 
thority of  church  nor  state,f  but  for  which  he  certainly  had 
the  example  of  Montrose,  was  imposing  the  covenant  on  all 
he  suspected  of  disaffection. :j:  For  disobedience  to  this  in- 
junction, he  sent  twenty-six  of  the  wealthiest  burgesses  of 
Aberdeen  prisoners  to  Edinburgh,  where  they  were  de- 
tained a  considerable  time,  and  only  relieved  by  paying 

*  Balfour's  Hist.  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  381.         f  Stevenson,  vol.  iii.  p-  880. 

|  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  covenant  was  first  imposed  at  the  point 
of  the  sword  by  Montrose,  before  it  was  legally  enacted  by  parliament  j  now 
it  formed  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  and  from  the  period  when  it  became  so, 
it  became  obnoxious  to  the  most  powerful  objections  which  the  covenanters 
themselves  so  strenuously  urged  against  the  impositions  of  Charles,  and  to 
which  all  religious  tests  are  liable,  when  forced  upon  the  consciences  of  men 
by  any  other  than  rational  conviotion.  While  it  was  a  voluntary  bond  of  asso- 
ciation, for  the  defence  of  religion  and  liberty,  it  was  laudable,  and  from  the  pe- 
culiar circumstances  of  the  country,  requiring  assent  to  it  from  men  in  public 
situations,  might  perhaps  be  necessary ;  but  to  enforce  it  by  pains  and  penal- 
ties, on  those  whose  sentiments  were  different,  was  as  verily  persecution,  as 
commanding  the  observance  of  the  liturgy. 


CHARLES  I.  551 

pretty  heavy  fines.     He  besieged  and  took  Drum,  situate    BOOK 
near  the  river  Dee,   the  seat  of  sir  Alexander  Irvine,   a     VI"' 
gentleman  of  great  estate  and  ancient  family,   and   a  firm      1640. 
anti-covenanter,  who  had  garrisoned  the  place,  but  was  ab- 
sent when  it  was  attacked ;  and  his  lady,  terrified  by  the  can- 
non, and  hopeless  of  relief,  surrendered.     Here  forty  soldiers 
were  quartered,  with  directions  to  remain  till  all  the  pro- 
visions of  the  castle  were  consumed,  and  then  to  subsist  up- 
on the  produce  of  the  estate. 

LX.  Returning  to  Aberdeen,  he  augmented  his  army  with 
some  townsmen,  and  plundering  the  country  as  he  went, 
marched  against  Strathbogie,  where  he  encamped,  cutting  Wastes 
down  the  shrubbery  and  plantations,  to  make  huts  for  his  {^fg 
soldiers.  Earl  Marischal,  who  was  with  Monro,  sent  to  his 
relation  the  marchioness,  who  remained  at  the  Bog,  [now 
castle  Gordon,]  during  the  absence  of  her  lord,  and  required 
the  keys,  which  were  immediately  sent.  The  soldiers,  on 
obtaining  possession  of  the  store  rooms,  began  to  bake  and 
brew,  and  supplying  themselves  from  the  stock  of  the  ten- 
antry, with  beef,  mutton,  or  poultry,  rioted  with  all  the 
wanton  waste  of  unlicensed  mercenaries  in  a  conquered 
country.  Encouraged  by  the  example  of  the  troops,  a  high- 
land robber  ravaged  Moray,  and  carried  off  a  great  num- 
ber of  horse,  nolt,  kine,  and  sheep,  to  the  fields  of  Auchin- 
down,  where  he  was  pasturing  them  quietly  as  his  own  pro- 
perty, when  Monro  came  upon  them,  and  drove  above  two 
thousand  five  hundred  head  of  cattle  to  Strathbogie,  where 
they  were  sold  back  to  their  owners,  at  the  rate  of  a  merk  the 
sheep,  and  a  dollar  the  nolt. 

LXI.  Leaving  the  main  body  at  Strathbogie,  the  general,  Takes 
with  three  hundred  mer-  and  some  field-pieces,  set  out  for 
Spynie,  the  residence  of  Guthrie,  bishop  of  Moray,  who, 
without  resistance,  offered  him  the  keys,  and  invited  him 
and  his  followers  into  the  castle.  In  requite,  Monro,  seized 
only  the  ammunition  and  military  stores,  and  having  left  a 
small  guard  of  twenty-four  men,  returned  to  the  marquis 
of  Huntly's  grounds.  His  soldiers,  who  had  been  allowed 
to  revel  in  the  spoils  of  the  country,  dissatisfied  at  the  small 
share  they  had  received  of  the  monies  levied,  exhibited  a 
mutinous  disposition  :  but  Monro.,  whose  military  discipline 


552 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

VIII. 

•  .     •    ••  — 

1640. 


Destroys 
sir  George 
Ogi  Ivy's 
seat  at 
Banff. 


Bad  con- 
sequences 
of  his  pre- 
datory 
warfare. 


Assembly 
meets  at 
Aberdeen 


partook  of  the  German  school,*  quickly  suppressed  it,  by  a 
summary  execution  of  the  principal  ringleaders.  As  he 
had  now  rendered  the  district  "  moneyless,  horseless,  and 
armless,"  he  returned  the  keys  of  Strathbogie  to  the  march- 
ioness of  Huntly,  set  fire  to  his  camp,  and  marched  to  Banff, 
the  magnificient  seat  of  sir  George  Ogilvy,  which  he  de- 
stroyed, together  with  his  garden — then  the  finest  in  Scot- 
land—enclosed with  excellent  stone  walls,  and  well  stocked 
with  fruit  trees,  all  of  which  he  cut  down,  nor  did  he  leave 
a  hedge  standing.  Sir  George  was  then  with  the  king, 
who,  when  the  disaster  was  related,  remarked,  "as  for  the 
house  it  mattered  not  much,  money  could  build  it  up  again 
in  a  short  time ;  but  it  was  cruel  to  destroy  his  garden, 
which  years  could  not  repair."  By  these  severe  measures, 
he  dissipated  all  the  projected  risings  in  the  north,  broke 
the  power  of  the  royalists,  and  preserved  peace  for  the  time, 
but  he  left  behind  him  deep  dissatisfaction,  and  rendered 
the  district  he  had  wasted,  irreconcilable  to  the  covenant, 
although  a  number  had  subscribed  it,  to  avoid  being  plun- 
dered. 

LXII.  Agreeably  to  their  appointment,  the  assembly  met 
at  Aberdeen,  notwithstanding  the  confusion  and  din  of  arms, 
and  is  remarkable  for  the  first  introduction  of  discussion  up- 
on an  embryo  sect,  which  was  afterward  to  make  such  a 
prominent  figure  on  the  canvass,  during  the  troublous  times 
that  followed.  While  the  Perth  articles,  and  other  inno- 
vations were  rigidly  urged,  a  number  of  pious  persons,  par- 
ticularly in  Edinburgh,  who  could  not  consistently  attend  the 
places  of  worship  where  these  were  enforced,  were  accus- 
tomed to  meet  together  for  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures, 
and  religious  conference,  and  sometimes  during  church  hours; 
but  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  that  practice  had  been  much 
more  universal,  for  the  presbyterians  there  having  been 
deprived  of  their  ministers,  who  were  driven  away  by  the 
bishops,  they  found  these  social  meetings  a  mean  of  preserv- 
ing a  lively  sense  of  religion  among  them.  A  practice  so 
similar  to  that  of  the  independents,  naturally  led  to  the  adop- 


*  One  of  his  modes  of  punishment  was  by  the  trein  mare,  a  narrow  wood- 
en plank,  which  the  soldier  was  forced  to  ride  with  weights  affixed  to  his  feet 


CHARLES   I.  553 

tion  of  congenial  principles,  and  a  number  of  the  Scoto-Irish,    BOOK 
looking  forward  to  a  refuge  in  America,  were  partial  to  the      VIII. 
form   of  discipline  which  prevailed  among  the  churches  of     1640. 

New  England.     But  when  sects  at  first  break  off  from  a  na-  Priv*te 

i_        i      •     •  r-  •  i  meetings 

tional  church,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  a  considerable  degree  for  prayer, 

of  enthusiasm,  and  a  bitter  party  spirit,  to  mix  along  with  *£'  and 
their  endeavours  after  a  purer  communion,  from  a  number  dent  prin- 
of  half  informed  proselytes  of  unsettled  principles,  or  unruly  C1^les- 
passions ;  who,  perhaps  leaving  an  establishment  from  mo- 
tives of  personal  irritation,  of  conceit,  or  disappointed  vanity, 
think  the  farther  they  recede  from  the  church  they  leave, 
the  nearer  they  approach  to  perfection.     Some  such  mingled 
with  these  good  men  ;  and  by  their  extravagancies,  refusing 
to  worship  with  the  congregation,  meeting  during  the  night, 
censuring  others  as  less  holy  than  themselves,  and  delighting 
in  useless  and  impertinent  disputations,  created  a  feeling  of 
unkindness  towards  the  whole  body,  which  was  afterwards 
heightened  by  other  causes,  continued  long  in  Scotland  after 
the  original  offences  were  done  away,  and  is  not  yet  entirely 
extinguished. 

LXIII.  When  the  persecution  in  Ireland  forced  numbers 
to  flee,  some  who  had  not  the  means  of  crossing  the  Atlantic, 
came  to  Scotland,  where  they  were  kindly  received ;  and  on 
account  of  their  remarkable  piety,  their  peculiarities  were  in 
general  charitably  overlooked.  But  the  laird  of  Leckie,  who 
had  suffered  much  from  the  bishops,  and  was  esteemed  an 
intelligent  and  a  good  man,  having  settled  at  Stirling,  his 
exemplary  devotion  attracted  around  him  numbers,  chiefly 
of  the  lower  orders,  whom  he  encouraged  to  associate  for 
religious  exercises ;  several  of  them  who  were  unable  to  read, 
attended  on  his  family  worship — it  was  alleged  to  the  neglect 
of  their  own — and  some,  who,  as  was  conjectured,  came  as 
spies,  carried  expressions  which  he  had  used  in  prayer,  to  violently 
the  minister,  and  represented  them  as  reflections  cast  upon  ^P0^1  by 
him.  The  minister,  Mr.  Henry  Guthrie,*  immediately  Guthrie. 

*  It  cannot  be  too  strongly  inculcated,  that  zealots  always  hurt  the  cause 
they  espouse,  and  ought  ever  to  be  suspected ;  this  fiery  presbyterian  we  shall 
meet  with  after  the  restoration,  as  bishop  of  Dunkeld.  His  Memoirs,  or  rather 
apology,  were  published  after  his  death,  but  by  an  editor  of  somewhat  suspi- 
cious fidelity. 

VOL.   III.  4-  B 


554  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK  brought  him  before  the  presbytery,  where  he  and  they  who 
viM-  attended  at  his  meetings,  were  condemned  as  encroaching  on 
1640.  the  office  of  the  ministry,  and  the  magistrates  expelled  them 
from  the  town  !*  Not  satisfied,  however,  with  the  punish- 
ment of  Leckie  and  his  fellow- worshippers,  he  wished  to  root 
out  the  heretics,  and  collecting  every  report  he  could  hear 
to  their  disadvantage,  he  endeavoured  to  get  social  meetings 
for  Christian  exercise  prohibited  by  the  assembly,  1639 ;  but 
Mr.  Samuel  Rutherford,  and  Mr.  David  Dickson,  afraid  lest 
the  characters  of  the  innocent,  and  religion  itself  should  suffer, 
through  the  imprudence  of  a  few,  prevented  the  matter  from 
being  brought  before  that  meeting.  Yet  Guthrie  still  kept  alive 
the  flame,  which  the  more  temperate  of  his  brethren  wishing  to 
extinguish,  a  conference  was  held  in  Edinburgh,  between  the 
Conference  leaders  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  Mr.  Alexander  Hen- 
on  the  sub-  person,  and  Eleazer  Borthwick,  who  were  against,  and  Mr. 
David  Dickson,  and  Mr.  Robert  Blair,  who  favoured  the 
practice  of  private  meetings,  the  result  of  which  was  drawing 
up  a  few  caveats  to  prevent  abuses.  In  these,  the  people 
were  admonished  to  guard  against  doing  any  thing  in  their 
meetings  prejudicial  to  the  public  worship  of  the  congrega- 
tion ;  that  the  number  assembled  be  few,  and  unseasonable 
hours  avoided,  such  as  the  time  of  public  worship,  of  family 
exercise,  or  the  night  season ;  that  the  use  of  this  mean  in- 
terfere not  with  their  secular  employments,  or  relative  du- 
Caveats  a-  ties  ;  that  the  meetings  be  only  occasional,  and  that  they  be 

gamst  a-     not  tne  cause  of  dividing  between  the  members  and  the  rest 
buses  of  ....  ~,  .,    , 

such  meet-  or  the  congregation,  in  estimation  nor  affection,  and  it  they 

ings  issued,  nave  any  doubts  respecting  the  established  order,  that  they 
present  them,  with  their  reasons,  to  the  ministry  and  assem- 
blies of  the  church ;  that  the  exercise  be  prayer  and  con- 
ference, and  the  proper  distinction  be  observed  between 
what  belongs  to  private  christians,  and  what  belongs  to  the 
functions  of  the  ministers;  and  finally,  that  all  things  be 
done  with  prudence,  humility,  and  charity,  that  the  church 
may  be  built  up  in  one  body,  and  not  divided  or  destroyed. 
LXIV.  The  caveats  were  in  general  considered  throughout 
the  country,  as  the  only  and  most  satisfactory  manner  of 

"  Stevenson's  Ch.  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  891. 


CHARLES  I.  555 


treating  the  meetings,  but  Guthrie  insisted  upon  stronger  BOOK 
measures;  and  having  gained  over  a  number  of  the  north  coun-  VIII. 
try  ministers,  the  business  was  brought  before  the  present 


assembly.      After  a  riotous  debate,  in  which  the  opposers  Guthrie 
of  the  meetings   endeavoured  by  clamour  to  carry  a  con-  Before  the 
demnatory  sentence,  and  the  others  —  Mr  Samuel  Ruther-  assembly. 
ford    in    particular  —  *  contended,    that    the   practice    was 
scriptural,  and  what  the  scriptures  warranted,  no  assembly 
had  any  right  to  disallow;  an  act  passed,  prohibiting  any 
person,  except  a  minister,  or  expectant  approved    by   the 
presbytery,  from  explaining  the  scriptures  in  public,  or  ad- 
mitting to  family  worship,  more  than  the  members  of  the   . 
family.     Several  of  the  more  pious  members  of  the  assembly  ed  against 
were  highly  displeased  with  this  regulation,  but  submitted  them' 
to  their  noisy  brethren  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  not  to  ex- 
pose the  church  to  obloquy  in  a  place  where  there  were 
so  many  who  were  waiting  for  their  halting.     This  decision  it 
would  be  difficult  altogether  to  justify  ;  it  may  perhaps  be 
palliated  by  the  consideration,  that  a  number  of  the  mem- 
bers of  assembly  were  influenced  by  a  dread  of  appearing 
to  encourage  improper  practices  in  sectaries,  the  evil  effects 
of  which  some  of  the  most  learned  of  their  body  had  wit- 
nessed on  the  continent. 

LXV.  In  times  of  violent  public  agitation,  it  is  impossible 
always  to  repress  the  rabble,  so  that  no  extravagancies  will 
occur,  although  often  the  most  violent,  are  those  that  arise 
from  the  enemies  of  the  cause  they  pretend  to  espouse. 
Aberdeen,  from  the  indecision  and  versatility  of  her  politics, 
appears  to  have  been  especially  exposed  to  visitations  of  this 
kind,  and  was  alternately  plundered  and  harassed  by  cove- 
nanters, and  non-covenanters.  While  this  assembly  was 


*  Mr.  Rutherford  all  the  while  was  dumb,  only  in  the  midst  of  this  jang- 
ling, he  cast  in  a  syllogism,  and  required  them  all  to  answer  it,  "  What  scrip- 
ture does  warrant,  an  assembly  may  not  discharge  j  but  privy  meetings  for 
exercises  of  religion,  scripture  warrants,  James  v.  16.  Confess  your  faults  one 
to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another.  Malachi  iii.  16.  Then  they  that  feared 
the  Lord,  spoke  often  one  to  another;  thir  things  cannot  be  done  in  public 
meetings,  ergo,  &c."  A  number  haunsht  at  the  argument,  but  came  not  near 
the  matter,  let  be  to  answer  formally,  and  lord  Seaforth  would  not  have  Mr. 
Samuel  trouble  us  with  any  of  his  logic  syllogisms.  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  200. 


556  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    siting*  some  of  the  former  vented  their  pious  indignation 
VIII.      against  the  remnants  of  idolatry  ;*  but  we  shall  afterward 
16^0>      find  the  latter  strewing  the  streets  with  the  carcases  of  the 
slain. 

LXVI.  During  the  early  period  of  the  Scottish  prepara- 
tions, the  confinement  of  the  earl  of  Loudon,  prevented  all 
direct  intercourse  with  the  king ;  the  Scots  alleging,  that  they 
durst  not  venture  to  send  any  commissioners,  as  the  public 
faith  had  been  so  openly  violated  in  his  case.  His  majesty 
at  last,  convinced  of  the  impolicy  of  detaining  him,  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  marquis  of  Hamilton,  entered  into  a  treaty 
with  the  captive  lord,  expecting  to  purchase  his  gratitude 
and  services  by  setting  him  free  from  an  unjust  imprison- 

Earl  of       ment.     He  was  accordingly  enlarged,  and  allowed  to  return 

Loudon  re-  .       ,  .  . .  .  .  ,     ,  . 

leased  and  to  his   native  country,  carrying  with  him  an  answer  to  the 

sent  to  letter  which  the  Scottish  nobles  had  sent  to  the  earl  of  La- 
nark, when  they  transmitted  him  the  acts  of  parliament,  re- 
fusing the  royal  assent  to  the  acts ;  hinting,  however,  that 
the  refusal  was  not  absolute ;  but  that  when  they  should  take 
such  a  humble  and  dutiful  way  as  should  witness  that  they 
were  not  less  careful  and  tender  of  his  majesty's  royal  power, 
than  they  were  desirous  of  his  approbation  ;  then  it  would 
be  time  to  expect  such  a  gracious  and  just  answer,  as  would 
testify  his  fatherly  compassion  for  his  native  kingdom,  and 

*  The  earl  of  Seaforth,  master  of  Forbes,  with  the  principal  of  the  college, 
the  doctor  civilian,  with  a  number  of  barons  and  gentlemen,  held  a  meeting  in 
king's  college,  to  settle  some  internal  regulations,  and  it  is  pitifully  recorded, 
that  they,  "  riding  up  the  gate  to  St.  Michael's  kirk,  ordained  our  blessed 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  arms  to  be  cut  out  of  the  forefront  of  the  pulpit  thereof, 
and  to  take  down  the  portraiture  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  our  Saviour 
in  her  arms,  that  had  stood  since  the  up-putting  thereof,  in  curious  work,  under 
the  ceiling,  at  the  west  end  of  the  pend,  whereon  the  great  steeple  stands,  un- 
moved till  now ;  and  gave  order  to  colonel  master  of  Forbes,  to  see  this  done, 
whilk  with  all  diligence  he  obeyed  ;  and  besides,  where  there  were  any  cruci- 
fixes set  in  glass  windows,  those  he  caused  pull  out  in  honest  men's  houses ; 
he  caused  a  mason  strike  out  Christ's  arms  in  hewn  work,  on  each  end  of  bishop 
Gavin  Dunbar's  tomb,  and  sicklike  chizel  out  the  name  of  Jesus,  drawn  cypher- 
ways,  out  of  the  timber  wall  on  the  foreside  of  Machar's  isle,  anent  the  con- 
sistory door ;  the  crucifix  of  the  old  town  cross  was  thrown  down,  the  crucifix 
on  the  new  town  closed  up,  being  loath  to  break  the  stone.  The  crucifix  on 
the  west  end  of  St.  Nicolas'  church  in  New  Aberdeen  thrown  down,  whilk  was 
never  touched  before." — Spalding,  vol.  i.  p.  246. 


CHARLES  I.  557 

his  pious  and  princely  care  for  performing  whatever  was  ne-    BOOK 
cessary  for  establishing  their  religion  and  laws. 


LXVII.  When  Loudon  arrived,  affairs  had  proceeded  too 
far  to  admit  of  any  settlement,  short  of  an  unreserved  com- 
pliance on  the  part  of  the  king  with  the  demands  of  his  sub- 
jects, or  an  irresistible  power  to  crush  their  gathering  strength. 
He  was  not  willing  to  yield  to  the  first,  and  therefore  deter- 
mined to  try  the  last  alternative ;  but  it  was  toward  the  close 
of  the  summer  ere  active  operations  on  either  side  could 
commence,  and  the  first  movements  on  the  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish gave  warning  for  the  Scots  to  assemble.  Orders  were 
instantly  despatched  from  the  general  committee  at  Edin- 
burgh to  all  the  sub-committees  in  the  counties,  to  hasten 
the  march  of  their  different  quotas  to  the  general  rendezvous, 
with  provisions  for  from  thirty  to  forty  days.  Early  in  Au- 
gust they  arrived  at  Dunse,  where  they  were  reviewed  by  the  Covenant- 
general,  and  their  numbers  amounted  to  twenty-three  thou- 
sand  foot,  three  thousand  horse,  and  a  train  of  heavy  artil- 
lery,  besides  some  light  cannon  formed  of  tin,  and  leather 
corded  round,  capable  of  sustaining  twelve  successive  dis- 
charges ;  a  species  of  gun  which  had  been  used  by  Gustavus, 
and  which  the  Scottish  general  had  borrowed  from  that  ser- 
vice.* For  nearly  three  weeks,  the  army  lay  upon  the  bor- 
ders, improving  themselves  in  discipline,  and  preparing  for 
the  field  by  devotional  exercises,  in  which  they  were  assisted 
and  directed  by  the  most  eminent  of  the  ministers,  who  at- 
tended the  camp,  in  the  capacity  of  chaplains ;  and  were  not 
less  useful  in  enforcing  subordination,  and  exciting  courage 
by  their  exhortations,  than  their  officers  in  teaching  the  mi- 
litary art  by  their  instructions. 

LXVII i.  The  advance  of  the  royal  troops  under  Conway 
toward  Newcastle,  was  the  signal  for  the  Scottish  force  to 
break  up,  and  anticipate  their  attack  by  marching  into  Eng- 
land. This  movement,  which  appears  to  have  been  unex- 
pected by  Charles, — who  possibly  supposed  that  his  oppo- 

*  Guthrie  ridicules  the  idea  of  leathern  guns,  Hist-  vol.  ix.  p.  309.  but 
Burnet  says  distinctly  they  had  an  invention  of  guns  of  white  iron,  tinned  and 
corded,  so  that  they  could  serve  for  two  or  three  discharges  ;  were  light,  and 
were  canned  on  horseback. — Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  36.  Carte  informs  us,  that  such 
were  used  in  Germany,  in  the  History  of  Gustavus. — Laing,  voL  iii.  p.  194. 


558  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

rients  would  wait,  as  they  did  last  campaign,  till  they  were 
L_  invaded  —  although  in  itself  so  evidently  advantageous  and 


h  necessary,  is,  however,  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  a 
forgery  of  letter  from  lord  Saville,  to  which  was  appended  the  names 
lord  Savil-  of  severa]  other  noblemen  —  Bedford,  Essex,  Brooke,  War- 
wick, Say,  Seal,  and  Mandeville,  encouraging  them  to  en- 
ter England  without  delay.  This  letter,  which  afterwards 
turned  out  to  be  a  forgery,  was  rendered  highly  probable,  by 
the  previous  connexion  which  the  Scottish  commissioners 
had  had  with  these  noblemen,  and  with  Hampden,  Pym,  and 
the  rest  of  the  leading  patriots  while  in  London  ;  who  en- 
couraged them  to  proceed  in  their  opposition  to  the  court, 
hoping  that,  from  their  exertions,  advantage  would  arise  to 
the  cause  of  liberty  in  England  ;  and  as  a  farther  corrobora- 
tion,  Saville  wrote  to  lord  Loudon,  assuring  him  that  the 
entrance  of  the  Scots  into  England  would  embolden  their 
friends,  who  were  ready  cordially  to  unite  with  them  in  a  re- 
monstrance which  should  comprehend  the  grievances  of  both 
nations,  and  looked  to  their  army  as  the  chief  means  for  ef- 
fecting their  desires;  promising  them,  as  they  advanced, 
supplies  of  money,  reinforcements  of  men,  and  plenty  of  pro- 
visions. 

LXIX.  As  a  still  farther  stimulus,  the  following  letter  was 
And  an  a-  sent  to  head-quarters.  "  Such  is  our  affection  to  your 
letter110  *  cause,  and  care  of  your  affair,  that  nothing  hath  been 
omitted  which  might  conduce  to  the  furtherance  of  your  de- 
sign, nor  the  discharge  of  our  own  promises;  but  your  of- 
ten failing  in  point  of  entrance,  after  solemn  engagements 
by  word  and  write,  hath  deadened  the  hearts  of  all  your 
friends,  disabled  the  most  active  to  do  you  any  further  ser- 
vice, and  disappointed  yourselves  of  near  ten  thousand 
pounds,  which  was  provided  and  kept  for  you  till  you  had 
twice  failed,  and  that  there  was  little  or  no  hope  of  your 
coming.  The  Lord  hath  given  you  favour  in  the  eyes  of 
the  people  so,  as  I  know  not  whether  there  are  more  in- 
censed against  our  own  soldiers,  or  desirous  of  yours.  If 
you  really  intend  to  come,  strike  while  the  iron  is  hot  ;  if  you 
be  uncertain  what  to  resolve,  let  us  know,  that  we  may  se- 
cure our  lives,  though  we  hazard  our  estates  by  retiring. 
Here  is  no  body  of  an  army  to  interrupt  you,  no  ordinance 


CHARLES    I.  559 

to  dismay  you,  no  money  to  pay  our  own ;  the  city  hath  BOOK 
once  more  refused  to  lend,  the  trained  bands  to  be  pressed, 
the  country  storms  at  the  billeting  of  soldiers,  quarrels  arise 
every  day  about  it.  If  you  have  a  good  cause,  why  do  you 
stand  still  ?  If  a  bad,  why  have  you  come  so  far  ?  Either 
die  or  do,  so  you  shall  be  sons  of  valour.  P.  S.  If  there  be 
any  thing  of  consequence,  you  shall  have  speedy  intelligence 
of  it." 

LXX.  From  whatever  source  these  invitations  proceeded, 
they  arrived  very  opportunely  to  enforce  the  only  line  of 
conduct  the  Scots  could  pursue.     Their  provisions  and  pay 
were  every  day  wasting,    and   by  marching   into   another 
country,  they  would  bring  affairs  to  a  crisis,  or  procure  sub- 
sistence for  their  forces,  if  obliged  to  maintain  them  long  to- 
gether.    The  committee  in  the  camp,  therefore,  called  a  ge-  The  cove- 
neral  council  of  officers,  to  consider  the  propriety  of  carry-  soiveeto  enl 
ing  the  war  into  England,  when  it  was  unanimously  determin-  ter  En£- 
ed  on,  and  a  deputation  sent  to  Edinburgh  to  communicate 
their  resolution  to  the  committee  there  ;  with  which  they 
cordially  coinciding,  two  preparatory  papers  were  printed 
and  dispersed,  one  entitled,  "  Six  Considerations,  Manifest-  Publish 
ing  the  Lawfulness  of  their  Expedition  into  England ;"  the  jerSiT" 
other,  "The  Intentions  of  the   Army  of  the  Kingdom  ofandinten- 
Scotland,  Declared  to  their  Brethren  of  England." 

LXXI.  The  considerations  were,  first,  that  paramount  plea,  The  consi. 
necessity ;  either  they  must  seek  peace  in  England,  or  main-  deratlons' 
tain  armies  on  the  borders  to  defend  their  country  from  in- 
vasion, which  they  cannot  support;  be  deprived  of  their 
trade,  which  they  cannot  want,  and  be  without  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  which  would  occasion  a  confusion  not  to 
be  endured.  Second,  this  expedition  is  in  part  defensive, 
for  the  aggression  was  first  begun  on  the  part  of  his  majes- 
ty, who  refused  to  ratify  the  articles  of  pacification  agreed 
on  with  their  commissioners,  and  in  his  council  declared  war 
without  hearing  their  deputies ;  convened  the  English  and 
Irish  parliaments  to  grant  subsidies  for  carrying  it  on  ;  or- 
dered their  ships  and  goods  to  be  seized  and  confiscated, 
and  authorized  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  to  be  killed  by 
the  garrison  of  the  castle.  The  conduct  of  the  protestants 
in  France,  in  similar  circumstances,  was  justified  by  those 


560  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOO  K  wh°  would  now  wish  to  be  considered  the  greatest  royalists 
VIII-  in  England ;  and  if  it  be  lawful  for  a  private  man,  when  his 
1640.  house  is  shut  up,  and  the  supply  for  himself  and  family  pre- 
vented, to  forcibly  break  the  illegal  enthralment,  it  is  equal- 
ly so  for  a  nation  when  blockaded  to  seek  the  like  relief; 
but  as  a  conclusive  proof  that  their  object  was  only  defence, 
they  affirmed  their  willingness  to  lay  down  their  arms  as 
soon  as  a  secure  peace  could  be  obtained,  by  which  their  li- 
berty would  be  preserved.  Third,  that  they  had  endeavour- 
ed by  supplications  to  avoid  extremities,  but  were  constrain- 
ed to  take  arms  by  their  enemies,  who  wished  to  make  their 
resistance  to  oppression  a  national  quarrel,  which,  however, 
they  hope  will  prove  a  firmer  bond  of  union  between  the  na- 
tions in  the  work  of  reformation.  Fourth,  it  is  lawful,  be- 
cause it  is  not  against  the  nation,  but  the  Canterburian  fac- 
tion, misleaders  of  the  king,  and  common  enemies  of  both 
kingdoms.  Fifth,  the  end  for  which  they  come ;  not  to  do 
any  disloyal  act  against  his  majesty,  or  enrich  themselves, 
but  to  suppress  and  punish  in  a  legal  way,  the  disturbers  of 
the  church  and  state.  And  sixth,  the  blessed  effects  which 
will  follow  their  success  ;  Scotland  reformed  as  at  the  begin- 
ning ;  the  reformation  of  England,  so  long  prayed  for, 
brought  to  pass ;  papists,  prelates,  and  all  other  members  of 
the  antichristian  hierarchy  dismissed;  the  names  of  secta- 
ries and  separatists  no  more  mentioned  ;  and  the  Lord  one, 
and  his  name  one,  through  the  whole  island.  In  this  paper 
were  first  openly  expressed  by  the  presbyterians  a  wish  to 
extend  their  own  form  of  church  government  to  the  sister 
kingdom,  and  that  exclusive  claim  to  pre-eminence  and  civil 
protection,  which  afterward  became  the  source  of  so  much 
misfortune  and  misery. 

The  inten-  Lxxii.  The  "  Intentions,"  which  may  be  considered  as  the 
Scottish  manifesto,  is  an  able  and  an  elegant  production, 
drawn  up  with  much  art  to  conciliate  the  English  nation  ; 
and  though  it  breathes  the  same  spirit,  does  not  so  avowedly 
profess  the  principle  of  conformity  as  the  Instructions.  In 
it  they  disclaim  all  intention  to  enrich  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  their  dear  brethren,  and  appeal  to  their  past 
conduct  and  known  moderation  as  pledges  of  the  sincerity 
of  their  present  professions  ;  for  though  their  ships  and  goods 


CHARLES  I.  561 

were  seized  by  the  king's  ships,  they  had  made  no  retalia-     BOOK 
tion  upon  the  property  of  the  English.     They  gratefully  ac-      V*IL 
knowledge  the  hesitation  of  their  parliament  to  grant  sup-      1640. 
plies  while  that  of  Ireland  had  been  so  obsequious,  and  the 
affection  of  the  city  of  London,  and  attest  before  God  their 
desire  to  repay  such  kindness,  by  avoiding,  unless  compelled 
to  it  by  papists  or  prelates,  every  act  of  violence  or  blood- 
shed ;  but  warn  them,  that  the  forcible  suppression  of  their 
complaints  would  be  a  precedent  for  putting  down  their  own. 
Before  they  ever  ventured  to  supplicate,  they  had  suffered 
many  years,  nor  was  it  till  they  were  forbidden  to  insist,  un- 
der pain  of  treason,  that  they  renewed  their  national  oath  and 
covenant ;  and  when  his  majesty  was  moved  by  wicked  coun- 
sel to  march  toward  them  with  an  army,   rather  than  seem 
disobedient  to  their  king,  or  distrustful  to  their  brethren  in 
England,  they   disbanded  their  forces,   delivered  up  their 
strong  holds,   and,  notwithstanding  their  former  lawful  as- 
sembly, were  content  that  their  proceedings  should  be  recon- 
sidered by  a  new  assembly  and  the  parliament.     When  these 
proceedings  were  determined  by  an  assembly,  in  presence  of 
the  royal  commissioner,  and  parliament  met  to  ratify  them, 
it  was  illegally   prorogued ;  their  representations  were  not 
heard,  and  instead  of  a  gracious  answer,  their  commissioners 
were  latterly  restrained,  one  nobleman  imprisoned,  and  war 
commenced.     The  authors  of  these  disastrous  counsels  they 
declared  to  be  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  lord 
lieutenant  of  Ireland,  whose  punishment  they  required  ;  but 
in  no  other  manner  than  what  their  own  parliament  should 
determine.     The  question   then,  they  add,  is  not,  whether 
they  shall  defend  themselves  at  home,  or  invade  their  dear- 
est brethren  ?  but   whether  they  shall  keep  themselves  at 
home,  till  their  throats  be  cut,  and  their  religion,  laws,  and 
country  destroyed,  or  seek  their  safety,  peace,  and  liberty  in 
England  ?     They  must  not  have  men  think,  that  to  come  in- 
to England,  is  to  come  against  England.     Had  the  wrongs 
done  them  been  done  by  the  state,  then  there  had  been  just 
cause  for  a  national  quarrel ;  but  the  kingdom,  convened  in 
parliament,  refused  to  contribute  any  supply  against  them, 
and  have  shown  that  they  are  oppressed  with  grievances  like 
themselves  which  the  king  hath  declared  he  will  redress  out 

VOL.   III.  4  C 


562 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


]VITTK 


Supplies 


burgh. 


°^  Par^ament»  whereas  national  grievances  require  the  hand 
of  parliament  to  cure  ;  but  to  prevent  this  interfering,  they 
were  dissolved.  They  then  entreat  and  exhort  all  who  love 
their  religion  and  liberty  to  join  against  the  common  enemy, 
whose  design  was,  if  they  could  stir  up  their  dearest  bre- 
thren and  neighbouring  nation  to  war,  first  to  quiet  Scot- 
land by  some  ill  secured  peace,  till  England  were  subdued 
by  the  army  ostensibly  raised  against  them,  and  then  to  ri- 
vet the  yoke  of  despotism  upon  both  ;  but  they  obtest  the 
purity  of  their  intentions  ;  that  they  will  not  take  from  their 
dear  brethren,  without  price,  or  security  if  their  money  fail, 
from  a  thread  even  to  a  shoe  latchet  ;  they  shall  demand  no- 
thing of  his  majesty  but  the  safety  of  their  religion  and  li- 
berty, and  their  abode  in  England  shall  be  no  longer  than 
till  these  are  secured  by  their  parliament,  their  just  griev- 
ances redressed,  and  sufficient  assurance  given  for  the  trial 
and  punishment  of  the  authors  of  their  evils.* 

LXXIII.  The  faithlessness  and  insincerity  of  the  king,  so 
flagrant  in  all  his  transactions  with  the  covenanters,  thus  at 
last  drove  them  to  appeal  for  justice  and  security  to  the  Eng- 
lish parliament.  In  reviewing  their  progress  from  their  first 
humble  supplication  to  this  decided  manifesto,  the  tardy  con- 
cessions of  Charles  are  prominent  among  the  causes  whic 
produced  so  portentous  a  result  ;  instead  of  coming  in  timt 
to  allay  the  ferment,  they  came  always  precisely  at  the  mo- 
ment when  they  were  useless,  except  to  stimulate  to  fresh 
demands,  and  accompanied  with  reservations  which  called  for 
additional  securities. 

LXXIV.  Anxious  to  make  good  their  professions,  the  Scots, 
whose  funds  began  to  be  exhausted,  despatched  two  of  the 
most  popular  noblemen,  accompanied  by  Henderson  and 
Johnston,  to  Edinburgh,  to  use  their  influence  with  the  ci- 
tizens in  procuring  an  advance  ;  and  as  it  would  have  creat- 
ed discontent  among  the  English,  if  the  Scottish  army,  on 
their  entering  the  country,  had  cut  down  the  trees  and 
shrubs  for  huts,  they  were  to  try  and  procure,  likewise,  as 
-  much  cloth  as  would  serve  for  tents  during  their  encamp- 
ments.  They  arrived  late  upon  Saturday  night,  but  so 


"  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  1223.     Ib.  Appendix,  p.  283. 


CHARLES    I.  563 

effectual  were  the  exhortations  of  the  ministers  next  day,    BOOK 
that  on  Monday  the  women  produced  webs  of  coarse  linen,     VIII. 
almost  sufficient  for  the  whole  army ;  and  the  monied  men,      1640. 
with  equal  promptitude,  advanced  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  pounds  Scots,  with  a  promise  of  re- 
mitting as  much  immediately,  which  they  rigidly  performed. 
LXXV.  Every  preparation  being  now  completed,  the  Scottish 
army  broke  up  from  Dunse,  and  on  the  20th  of  August  cross- 
ed the  Tweed  at  Coldstream,  Montrose  on  foot,  at  the  head  The  cove- 
of  his  regiment  leading  the  way.     The  college  of  justice  nanterf 

•  *•  /»  m         IT          i*  i  cross  tiic 

troop,  consisting  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  gentlemen,  un-  Tweed, 
der  sir  Thomas  Hope,  rode  on  the  right  wing  and  broke 
the  stream.  They  entered  England  in  three  divisions,  lord 
Almond  commanding  the  van,  major-general  Baillie  the  cen- 
tre, and  Leslie  bringing  up  the  rear.  On  the  22d  they  en- 
camped near  Wooler,  and  during  the  night  were  attacked  Defeat  a 
by  the  garrison  of  Berwick,  who  made  a  sally,  and  surprised 
a  detachment,  from  which  they  took  three  field-pieces  ;  but 
the  alarm  being  given,  the  guns  were  quickly  retaken,  and 
the  assailants  driven  back,  with  the  loss  of  several  prisoners. 
On  the  26th  they  encamped  at  Frewick*  on  Newcastle-muir ;  Encamp  on 
thence  the  committee  despatched,  by  a  drummer,  two  com- 
munications to  the  mayor  of  Newcastle,  and  to  sir  Jacob 
Ashley,  commander  of  the  troops,  enclosing  their  manifes- 
toes, deprecating  all  hostilities,  and  requesting  that  no  ob- 
struction might  be  offered  to  their  passage  through  that 
town ;  their  sole  intention  in  taking  arms  being  to  defend 
themselves  against  any  who  should  prevent  their  access  to 
his  majesty,  before  whom  they  meant  to  lay  their  grievances. 
Their  letters  were  returned  by  sir  Jacob  unopened,  and  the 
drummer  desired  to  inform  them,  that  no  sealed  papers  would 
in  future  be  received.  Next  day  the  army  marched  to  New- 
burn,  about  five  miles  above  Newcastle,  and  took  post  on  an  At  New. 
eminence  behind  that  village,  and  in  the  neighbourhood;  B 
kindling  large  fires,  during  the  night,  in  and  round  their 
camp,  to  a  considerable  extent,  which  conveyed  to  their  ene- 

*  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  204    Balfour's  Ann.  vol.  ii.  p.  384.      Rushworth,  vol. 
iii.  p.  1223,  calls  the  name  of  this  place  Creich. 


Newcastle- 
muir. 


564 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 
Charles 
leaves  Lon- 
don. 


Informed 

of  the  ad- 
vance of 
the  cove- 
nanters. 


Orders 
Conway 
to  attack 
them. 


mies  an  impression  of  a  much  more  formidable  force  than 
they  really  possessed. 

LXXVI.  On  the  same  day  that  the  Scots  entered  England, 
Charles  left  London  for  York,  to  join  an  army  almost  in  a 
state  of  mutiny.  Some  of  the  soldiers  had  risen  upon  their 
officers,  and  one  lieutenant,  who  was  a  suspected  papist, 
had  been  murdered ;  others  had  broken  into  a  church,  torn 
up  the  altar,  and  burned  the  rails  before  the  minister's 
door,  and  the  officers  had  not  sufficient  power  to  try  them 
by  martial  law,  even  for  such  notorious  breaches  of  mili- 
tary discipline.  At  York  the  gentlemen  of  the  county  were 
waiting  his  arrival  with  a  petition,  praying  to  be  relieved 
from  the  billeting  of  soldiers,  and  for  an  advance  of  fourteen 
days  pay  to  their  levies,  without  which  they  did  not  think 
they  would  be  able  to  raise,  or  forward  them  to  the  army. 

LXXVII.  Embarrassed  by  these  untoward  circumstances, 
the  king's  perplexities  were  increased  by  despatches  from 
lord  Conway, — who,  with  a  detachment  consisting  of  about 
four  or  five  thousand  foot,  and  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand horse,  had  advanced  to  observe  the  motions  of  the 
Scots,  and  guard  the  passage  of  the  Tyne, — informing  him 
of  the  approach  of  the  Scots,  and  desiring  instructions  how 
to  dispose  of  his  force.  His  majesty  immediately  summon- 
ed the  gentry  then  at  York  to  wait  upon  him,  and  informed 
them  by  the  earl  of  Strafford,  that  it  was  now  no  time  for  dis- 
putation about  pay ;  the  country  was  invaded,  and  all  classes 
were  bound  by  their  allegiance  to  attend  their  sovereign,  at 
their  own  proper  charges  and  cost.*  As  soon  as  the  meet- 
ing separated,  an  express  was  sent  off  to  Conway,  with  or- 
ders to  attack  the  Scots.  The  messenger  reached  him  at 
Stella,  about  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  army,  where  he 
was  holding  a  council  of  war  with  his  general  officers,  to 
whom  he  had  scarcely  submitted  the  despatches,  when  ano- 

*  Stratford's  manner  was  imperious  and  harsh,  and  contributed  not  a  little 
to  alienate  the  affections  of  the  nobles  from  his  master.  In  his  address  to  the 
gentlemen  upon  this  occasion,  after  telling  them  that  it  was  little  less  than 
high  treason  to  hesitate  about  the  service,  he  politely  added  : — "  I  say  it  again, 
we  are  bound  unto  it  by  the  common  law  of  England,  by  the  law  of  nature, 
and  by  the  law  of  reason  ;  and  you  are  no  better  than  beasts  if  you  refuse." — 
Rush  worth,  vol.  iii.  p.  1235. 


CHARLES  I.  565 

ther  arrived  in  haste  to  inform  him,  that  the  army  was  al-    BOOK 
ready  engaged.  VIII. 

LXXVIII.  The  English  were  intrenched  on  the  south  bank  of  leloT" 
the  Tyne,  where  they  had  constructed  two  four-gun  batte- 
ries, one  at  each  of  the  fords,  and  placed  in  them  five  hun- 
dred picked  musketeers ;  the  rest  of  their  forces  were  station- 
ed in  a  meadow,  at  the  foot  of  a  rising  ground,  nearly  a  mile 
in  rear.  The  Scots  had  planted  some  heavy  cannon  on  a 
hill  opposite  the  enemy,  in  the  town,  and  on  the  steeple  of 
Newburn  church;  their  musketeers  were  in  the  church, 
houses,  lanes,  and  hedges,  in  and  about  the  village.  Both 
continued  thus  arranged  during  the  morning  of  the  28th, 
and  watered  their  horses  on  their  respective  sides  of  the 
river,  without  molesting  each  other,  when  an  unexpected  inci- 
dent brought  on  an  engagement.  A  Scottish  officer,  about 
mid-day,  while  in  the  act  of  watering  his  horse,  being  ob- 
served to  fix  his  eye  steadily  on  the  opposite  intrenchments, 
was  shot  by  an  English  centinel.  The  Scottish  musketeers,  Battle  of 
who  perceived  him  fall,  immediately  commenced  firing,  and 
were  seconded  by  the  artillery,  whose  fire  seemed  the  effect 
of  magic,  as  the  houses  and  trees  had  screened  them  from 
the  view  of  their  opponents.  A  breach  was  soon  effected 
in  the  English  works,  and  the  troops  abandoned  them  in 
disorder.  On  their  confusion  being  seen  from  the  Scottish 
side,  the  general's  guard,  consisting  of  the  college  of  justice 
troop,  headed  by  sir  Thomas  Hope,  were  ordered  to  cross 
at  low  water,  and  take  possession  of  the  batteries,  which 
they  easily  effected,  making  prisoners  of  all  that  remained 
in  the  trenches.  They  were  followed  by  colonel  Leslie,  with 
some  additional  troops,  who  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  those 
that  had  fled.  These,  rallying  in  a  narrow  pass,  were 
charged  by  sir  Thomas  Hope,  supported  by  Leslie,  and 
driven  back ;  but  being  joined  by  twelve  troops  of  heavy 

English  cavalry,  they  again  formed,  and  the  Scots,  who  had 
advanced  too  far,  were  forced  to  retreat,  under  protection  of 
their  own  cannon.  The  English,  not  aware  of  a  new  bat- 
tery which  the  Scottish  general  had  erected,  continued  to 

aress  forward,  when  it  opened  upon  them,  threw  them  into 
disorder,  and  forced  them  to  retire  upon  the  main  body. 
The  Scots,  who  had  remained  on  the  north  bank  of  the 


566 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 


English 
defeated. 


Dunbarton 
castle  sur- 
renders. 


A  surprise 
on  Dunse 
repulsed. 

Dunglas 
magazine 
explodes. 


Edinburgh, 
castle. 


river,  impatient  to  engage,  were  now  led  on  by  lords  Lou- 
don,  Lindsay,  Queensberry  and  Montgomery,  but  ere  their 
van  had  reached  the  spot,  the  day  was  decided.  The  Eng- 
lish foot  sought  refuge  in  a  wood,  and  the  horse,  in  cover- 
ing their  retreat,  were  attacked  by  a  fresh  body  of  Scots,  de- 
feated with  some  loss,  and  their  commanders  taken  prison- 
ers ;  while  the  scattered  privates  escaped  under  cover  of 
night,  to  carry  dismay  and  confusion  to  the  main  body. 
The  loss  was  inconsiderable,  but  the  rout  was  complete,  and 
the  Scots  had  to  boast  of  a  standard,  and  three  officers  of 
rank,  as  the  trophies  of  the  day.*  So  panic  struck  were 
the  English,  that  their  cavalry  retired  hastily  to  Durham, 
the  foot  to  Newcastle,  and  early  next  morning,  the  whole 
were  in  full  retreat  into  Yorkshire.  On  the  same  day  on 
which  the  victory  at  Newburn  fords  was  gained,  the  castle  of 
Dunbarton  capitulated,  a  grievous  scurvy  having  broken  out 
among  the  soldiers ;  otherwise  the  rock  was  impregnable, 
being  in  a  complete  state  of  defence,  well  provisioned,  and 
fully  garrisoned. 

LXXIX.  To  complete  the  fortunate  events  of  the  28th,  an 
attempt,  made  by  the  troops  from  Berwick,  to  surprise  the 
Scottish  depot  at  Dunse,  was  defeated  by  the  earl  of  Had- 
dington,  who  retook  some  cannon  they  were  carrying  off; 
but  the  exultation  occasioned  by  these  events  was  in  some 
measure  damped  by  the  explosion  of  a  powder  magazine  at 
Dunglas,  which  buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  castle  the  earl  of 
Haddington,  two  of  his  brothers,  a  son  of  the  earl  of  Mar,  a 
number  of  gentlemen,  and  upwards  of  eighty  of  inferior  rank. 

LXXX.  Shortly  after,  the  ever  varying  chances  of  war,  com- 
pensated in  some  measure  for  this  disaster,  by  the  surrend- 
er of  Edinburgh  castle,  which  it  tended  to  hasten.  At  the 
meeting  of  parliament  in  July,  the  captain  cannonaded  the 
town,  and  killed  several  of  the  inhabitants.  When  required 
by  the  estates  to  desist  or  surrender,  he  refused  to  give  up 
his  charge  to  any  order  but  the  king's,  and  continued  hosti- 

*  Clarendon  says,  the  English  loss  was  "not  a  dozen,"  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  155. 
Rushworth  estimates  them  at  more  than  sixty  killed,  vol.  iii.  p.  1238.  White- 
lock  states  them  at  five  hundred  killed  and  prisoners,  p.  64«.  The  letter  of 
the  Scottish  committee  of  war  mentions  no  number.  No  account  rates  the 
Scottish  loss  exactly,  but  it  was  trifling. 


• 
• 

. 

' 


CHARLES  I.  569 

leading  clergy  having  fled  into  Yorkshire,  the  earl  of  Dun-   BOOK 
fermline  was  appointed  governor,  and  stationed  in  it  with  a     VIII. 
brigade.     Tynemouth  and  Shields  were  likewise  taken  pos-      1640. 
session  of,  in  which  latter  place  some  vessels  with  stores  for  T7ne- 
the  king's  army,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Scots.     The  earl  North 
of  Strafford  was  at  Darlington,  on  his  road  to  join  the  army,  Sllields- 
when  the  news  of  the  defeat  reached  him ;  which  he  had 
scarcely  heard,  when  he  was  astonished  with  intelligence  of 
the  evacuation  of  Newcastle  by  the  king's  troops  without  a 
blow.     Uncertain  of  the  extent  of  the  disaster,  he  sent  a 
messenger  to  the  army,  with  instructions  to  the  officers  to 
collect  their  scattered  forces,  and  retreat  upon  York ;  at  the  English  re. 
same  time  issuing  a  proclamation,  requiring  the  inhabitants  !£ea£ to 
of  the  county  palatine,  to  bring  all  such  butter,  cheese,  bread 
and  milk,  as  they  could  possibly  furnish,  to  Darlington ;  to 
take  away,  or  break  all  the  upper  millstones  ;  and  to  remove 
all  cattle,  and  whatever  might  be  of  use  to  the  enemy,  to 
places  of  safety.     The  king,  who  had  advanced  as  far  as 
Northallerton,  in  hopes  of  being  present  with  the  army  be- 
fore any  engagement,  was  there  met  by  the  disastrous  tid- 
ings, and  hastened  back  to  York,  to  ruminate  upon  this  most 
inauspicious  commencement  of  the  campaign,    and  lament 
over  misfortunes  which  might  have  been  foreseen  and  pre- 
vented ;  but  against  which  he  had  provided  no  resource,  and 
for  which  there  appeared  no  remedy. 

LXXXIV.  Established  in  comfortable  quarters,    the    Scots 
were  not  anxious  to  press  forward ;  they  dreaded  raising  the 
national  spirit  of  the  English,  by  appearing  to  exult  in  their 
i  success,  and  although  they  must  have  felt  gratified  at  the  for- 
tunate issue  of  the  first  encounter,  they  used  the  language  of 
lamentation  rather  than  of  triumph.     Preserving  the  same  Scots  sup- 
[respectful  attitude  to  the  king,  they  again  addressed  a  sup- 
)lication  for  peace,  but  required  the  guarantee  of  the  Eng-  peace, 
h  parliament  for  its  stability.     They  had  been  constrained 
enter  England,  they  said,  where  they  had  lived  upon  their 
>wn  means  and  provisions,  without  harming  any  individual 
their  persons  or  goods,  till  pressed  by  strength  of  arms, 
icy  were  obliged  to  remove  the  forces,  who,  contrary  to 
leir  inclinations,  and  against  their  own  conscience,  opposed 
leir  peaceable  passage  of  the  Tyne ;  and  they  submissively 

VOL,  III.  4  D 


570 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 

1640. 

guarantee 
of  the  Eng- 

mentT" 

London, 
York,  &e. 
likewise 
petition. 


The  rash 
measures 
of  Straf- 
ford, 


Prevented 

of 
ton- 


entreated  his  majesty,  that  he  would  at  last  take  into  his  se- 
rious consideration,  their  pressing  grievances,  provide  for 
repairing  their  wrongs  and  losses,  and  with  the  advice  of  a 
parliament  in  England,  settle  a  firm  and  durable  peace,  so 
that  his  throne  might  be  established  in  the  midst  of  them.* 

LXXXV.  The  Scottish  supplication,  was  the  forerunner  of 
petitions  from  the  nobles,  from  the  city  of  London,  from  the 
county  of  York,  and  from  several  other  counties,  represent- 
ing their  own  grievances,  and  praying  that  a  parliament  might 
be  assembled  to  redress  them,  and  a  treaty  concluded  with 
the  Scots.  The  high  royalists  had  done  every  thing  in  their 
power  to  prevent  the  voice  of  the  people  from  reaching  the 
throne.  The  privy  council,  when  they  heard  that  the  city 
of  London  intended  to  petition,  wrote  the  lord  mayor  and 
aldermen,  warning  them  against  giving  countenance  to  such 
an  unwarrantable  proceeding ;  and  the  lords  Wharton  and 
Howard,  who  had  presented  some  of  the  petitions  to  his  ma- 
jesty at  York,  were  thrown  into  jail,  and  a  council  of  war 
held  upon  their  conduct,  by  which,  on  the  motion  of  the 
earl  of  Strafford,  they  were  condemned  to  be  shot  at  the 
head  of  the  army,  as  movers  of  sedition,  and  the  sentence 
would  have  been  carried  into  effect,  but  for  the  marquis  of 
Hamilton,  who,  when  the  council  rose,  asked  Strafford  if  he! 
was  sure  of  the  army ;  and  he  on  inquiry,  finding  a  strong 
disposition  to  revolt  prevalent,  deemed  it  prudent  not  to  pro- 
ceed.f 

LXXXVI.  Charles  himself  would  never  believe  in  the  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  discontent,  nor  in  the  weakness  of  his 
power  when  opposed  to  the  torrent  of  public  opinion.  His 
courtiers  represented  the  complaints  of  the  people  as  un-j 
founded,  and  the  petitions  as  improperly  obtained,  and  flat- 
tered his  notions  of  the  irresistible  influence,  as  well  as  divine 
right  of  the  crown ;  he  in  consequence,  pursued  rash,  un-f 
complying  measures  ;  hated  all  that  offered  prudent  and  mo- 
derate counsels ;  thought  they  proceeded  from  a  meanness 
of  spirit,  or  a  desire  in  those  who  offered  them,  to  advance 
their  own  interest  by  sacrificing  his  authority,  or  from  re- 
publican principles  ;f  and  even  when  he  found  it  necessary 

*  Rushworth,  vol.  iii.  p.  1255-  f  Burnet's  Hist-  vol.  i.  p.  37. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  38. 


CHARLES  I  571 

to  follow  such  advice,  he  hated  those  who  gave  it  ;  but  above  BOOK 
all,  the  free  representations  of  the  house  of  commons  were  VI^' 
peculiarly  disagreeable,  and  he  looked  forward  with  an  ab-  1640. 

horrent  reluctance  to  their  meeting.     To  avoid  convoking  Charles 
....  i  i        i        i      i  111  summons  a 

this  obnoxious  assembly,   he  had  recourse  to  an  old,  and  council  of 

almost  obsolete  expedient  ;  he  summoned  a  council  of  no-  Peers  at 

x  ork. 

bles  to  meet  at  York  ;  and  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  Scots, 
he  ordered  Lanark  to  return  a  conciliatory  message,  in- 
forming them  of  his  having  done  so,  and  requiring  them  to  Hismes. 


*° 


state  their  demands  specifically — as  their  supplication  was  sa^e 

»  covenant- 

too  general — which  he  would  submit  to  the  consideration  of  ers. 

the  peers ;  and  with  their  advice,  return  such  an  answer  as 
might  be  consistent  with  his  honour,  and  the  welfare  of  his 
dominions. 

LXXXVII.  In  reply,  the  Scottish  chiefs  repeated  what 
they  had  published  in  their  declaration  : — that  his  majes- 
ty would  be  graciously  pleased  to  ratify  the  acts  of  the  T 
last  parliament ;  that  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and  other  fort- 
resses in  Scotland,  should  be  occupied  as  they  were  origi- 
nally intended,  only  for  the  security  and  defence  of  the  coun- 
try ;  that  Scottishmen  in  England  and  Ireland,  should  not 
be  molested  for  having  subscribed  the  covenant,  nor  forced 
to  take  oaths  in  opposition  to  that  engagement,  and  the 
laws  of  their  own  land ;  that  the  common  incendiaries,  the 
authors  of  these  combustions,  should  be  brought  to  punish- 
ment ;  the  ships  and  goods  sequestrated,  restored ;  the  ex- 
pense and  loss  occasioned  by  the  war,  repaired;  and  that, 
with  the  advice  and  concurrence  of  the  English  parliament, 
the  declarations  denouncing  them  as  traitors  be  recalled, 
the  frontier  garrisons  dismissed,  all  impediments  to  a  free 
trade  removed,  and  peace  established  on  a  basis  not  liable 
to  yearly  interruption  by  force,  or  at  the  pleasure  of  their 
adversaries. 

LXXXVIII.    Neither  of  the  parties  were  averse  to  nego- 
tiate.    The  king's  army,  inferior  in  numbers,  and  heartless 
in  the  cause,  were  willing  to  attribute  their  defeat  to  disaf- 
fection rather  than  want  of  courage,  and  ready  to  confirm 
their  vindication  by  a  mutiny.     Strafford  alone  advised  the  Straffbrd 
king  to  stake  his  chance  upon  a  desperate  throw ;  to  appeal  gtro^es 
to  the  instinctive  love  of  country,  and  the  natural  indigna-  measures 


572 


HISTOIIT   OF  SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 
Hamilton 
milder. 


Scottish 
army. 


Farced  to 
levy  con- 
tributions. 


tion  which  Englishmen  must  have  felt  at  the  invasion  of  their 
territory,  and  the  exaction  of  contributions,  and  to  their 
feelings  of  honour,  to  wipe  away  the  disgrace  their  arms  had 
suffered  ;  but  the  representations  of  the  marquis  of  Hamil- 
ton, and  the  certainty  almost  of  a  number  of  English  noble- 
men being  well  affected  to  the  Scots,  inclined  the  king  to 
the  milder,  although,  as  the  event  proved,  not  the  safer  plan 
of  treating. 

LXXXIX.  Nor  were  the  Scots  free  from  difficulty  and  em- 
barrassment ;  they  were  still  without  any  co-operation  from 
their  friends  in  England,  their  provisions  ran  low,  their  cash 
was  nearly  expended,  and  their  credit  considerably  under 
par.  In  these  circumstances,  they  had  been  constrained  for 
self-preservation,  to  depart  in  some  degree,  from  the  con- 
duct they  observed  on  their  first  entry  into  England,  and 
levy  their  subsistence  in  the  counties  they  occupied.  The 
estates  of  the  Canterburian  faction,  who,  as  the  authors  of 
the  war,  were  objects  of  fair  plunder,  being  unable  to  fur- 
nish supplies,  Newcastle  was  required  to  contribute  two 
hundred  pounds,  the  county  of  Northumberland  three  hun- 
dred, and  the  bishopric  of  Durham  three  hundred  and  fifty 
a  day,  for  the  current  expenses ;  and  the  manner  in  which 
these  impositions  were  exacted,  was  beginning  to  exasper- 
ate the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  against  their  friendly  inva- 
ders.* The  soldiers,  unaccustomed  to  remain  so  long  in 
camp,  began  to  be  afflicted  with  distempers  arising  from  cold 
and  exposure ;  or  tired  with  the  protracted  campaign,  to  de- 
sert in  considerable  numbers,  and  return  home.  Some  of 


*  Some  of  the  gentlemen  who  were  unable  to  furnish  their  quotas  of  the 
assessment,  had  their  cattle  seized,  those  who  were  employed  to  collect  the 
money,  exacted  double,  of  which  they  kept  the  one  half,  and  through  ignor- 
ance or  misinformation,  heavy  sums  were  taken  from  friends,  instead  of  ene- 
mies. Numbers  of  the  lower  English,  disguising  themselves  with  blue  bon- 
nets, as  Scots,  robbed  and  plundered  indiscriminately;  and  servants  of  the 
clergy,  left  to  take  charge  of  their  houses  in  their  absence,  carried  off  the  pro- 
perty intrusted  to  their  care,  and  laid  the  blame  upon  the  enemy.  The  mayor 
and  aldermen  of  Newcastle,  having  pled  their  inability  to  raise  two  hundred 
pounds  daily,  had  a  guard  placed  on  their  town  house,  till  they  satisfied  the 
commissioners.  All  this  while  securities  were  proffered  for  the  monies  which 
were  levied  under  the  name  of  loans.  Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  219-20.  Rushworth, 
vol.  iii.  p.  124-78. 


CHARLES  I.  573 

the  officers  showed  symptoms  of  discontent,  and  their  union    BOOK 
was  only  prevented  from  being  broken,  by   the  accidental      VI1^ 
discovery  of  a  secret  correspondence  carried  on  with  the  king,      1640. 
by  Montrose.  Discon- 

rr\  .  tents  ap- 

xc.  This  ambitious  and  unprincipled  nobleman,  who  had  pea>-- 
been  driven  into  the  arms  of  the  covenanters  by  the  neglect 
of  his  sovereign,  was  regained  by  his  condescending  affabili- 
ty at  Berwick.     His  conduct  had  been  viewed  with  suspicion 
for  some  time  before,  but  dui'ing  the  expedition  he  had  be- 
haved with  great  apparent  zeal ;  and  as  he  had  ever  advo-  Montrose's 
cated  the  most  extreme  measures  in  parliament,  so  he  seem-  ^cn"^  with 
ed  ready  to  support  them  in  the  field.     He  was  the  first  co-  the  king 
venanter  who  set  hostile  foot  in  England,  yet  he  had  engag-  dlscovered- 
ed  in  a  bond  with  several  other  noblemen,  to  support  the  des- 
potic pretensions  of  the  king,  and  was  holding  private  com- 
munication with  him.*     An  act  had  passed  the  committee  of 
war,  that  no  person  should  send  any  letter  to  court,  except  it 
had  been  seen  and  approved  of,  by  at  least  three  of  their  num- 
ber.   Montrose,  in  consequence,  read  to  the  committee,  sever- 
al letters,  which  he  proposed  sending  to  some  of  his  friends 
there,  but  in  sealing  them  up,  he  enclosed,  within  one  to  sir 
Richard  Graham,  another,  which  had  not  been  seen,  address- 
ed  to  the  king.    When  the  letters  were  delivered,  sir  Richard, 
opening  his  carelessly,  the  enclosure  fell  out.     The  Scottish 
envoy,   sir  James  Mercer,  who  was  standing  near,  politely 
stooping  down,  lifted  it,  and  observed  the  direction.     On  his 
return  to  the  camp,  he  informed  the  general,  who  proposed 
in  the  committee — of  which  Montrose  was  at  the  time  presi- 
dent— to  send  for   the  gentleman  who  had  carried  their  let- 
ters to  court,  and  examine  him  with  regard  to  what  letters 
he  had  delivered.     When  called,  he  related  to  the  commit- 
tee what  he  had  told  the  general.     Seeing  he  was  discover- 
ed, Montrose  endeavoured  to  defend  his  conduct,  by  alleg- 
ing that  others  did  the  same ;  but  he  was  reminded,  that  the 
guilt  of  others  did  not  excuse  him ;  that  they,  if  discovered, 
would  be  equally  liable  to  censure,  and  was  commanded  to  He  is  put 
confine  himself  to  his  chamber.     His  first  resolution  was  to™fcer*r" 
try  how  many  of  his  friends  would  support  him ;   an  advice 

*  Burners  Memoirs,  p.  179.     Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  210. 


574 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK 
VIII. 

1640. 

His  con- 
duct excus- 
ed. 


Prepare, 
tions  on 
both  sides 
for  renew- 
ing the 
contest. 


Council  of 
peers — the 
king's  ad- 
dress  to 
them. 


from  the  general,  however,  recommending  him  to  remain 
quiet,  unless  he  wished  to  be  tried  capitally  by  a  council  of 
war,  induced  him  to  produce  a  copy  of  the  letter  he  said  he 
had  written  to  his  majesty,  and  crave  pardon ;  on  which  the 
affair  was  hushed  up,  and  passed  over  for  the  time,  the  power- 
ful connexions,  and  high  reputation  of  the  earl,  rendering  it 
then  impolitic  to  pursue  it  further. 

xci.  Amid  their  mutual  professions  for  peace,  both  were 
anxious  to  be  prepared  for  an  opposite  result.  Charles  or- 
dered all  the  train  bands  north  of  the  Trent  to  be  called  out, 
and  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  twenty-four 
hours  notice.  The  counties  were  required  to  furnish  pro- 
visions; arms  and  ammunition  were  provided,  and  all  the 
garrisons  strengthened  and  put  in  a  state  of  defence.  Les- 
lie wrote  to  the  committee  at  Edinburgh,  for  recruits,  to 
supply  the  deficiencies  of  war,  and  a  reinforcement  of  at 
least  five  thousand  men,  a  request  with  which  the  internal 
quiet  of  the  country  enabled  them  to  comply.  Four  thou- 
sand foot  who  had  been  employed  in  the  north,  under  lords 
Marischall,  Home,  and  Lindsay,  and  major  general  Monro, 
were  despatched  to  join  their  brethren  in  England.  Soon 
after  the  earl  of  Argyle  followed,  accompanied  by  a  number 
of  gentlemen  and  vassals  belonging  to  the  clan ;  and  the 
earl  of  Eglinton,  who  had  been  employed  in  watching  the 
west  coast,  now  that  the  danger  there  was  over,  was  also 
commanded  to  keep  himself  ready  for  marching  on  the 
first  call. 

xcn.  On  the  24th  of  September,  the  great  council  of  the 
peers  assembled  at  York,  in  the  dean's  house,  near  the  Min- 
ster. At  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  the  king  arrived,  and 
being  seated  in  state,  informed  them  of  the  reasons  which 
had  induced  him  to  call  them  together,  in  conformity  with 
the  practice  of  his  predecessors  in  times  of  imminent  danger 
An  army  of  rebels  were  now,  he  told  them,  lodged  within 
the  kingdom ;  and  he  wished  their  advice  and  assistance,  to 
chastise  their  insolence  and  protect  his  faithful  subjects 
Sensible,  from  the  petition  he  had  received  since  he  called 
this  meeting,  that  a  number,  if  not  a  majority  of  the  peers  par- 
ticipated in  the  popular  feelings,  and  that  however  averse, 
he  would  be  obliged  to  comply,  he  naturally  concluded  that 


CHARLES  I.  575 

their   first   proposal    would    be  to    call   a  parliament;    he    BOOK 
anticipated   this  by   informing  them,   that  he  had   already     V1IL 
given  orders  to  issue  writs  for  its  assembling  on  the  3d  of     1640. 
November.     He  then  desired  their  advice,  as  to  what  answer 
he  should  return  to  the  petition  of  the  rebels,  and  how  he 
should  treat  with  them ;  next,  how  his  army  was  to  be  sup- 
ported till  the  supplies  could  be    obtained  in    parliament, 
as  it  was  impossible  to  disband  it  while  the  Scots  remained 
in  the  country.     To  meet  the  first  exigence,  it  was  resolved  They  de- 
to  appoint  sixteen  of  the  most  influential  and  popular  noble-  ^othw 
men,  assisted  by  the  earls  of  Traquair,  Morton,  and  Lan-  tion. 
ark,  Mr.  Secretary  Vane,  sir  Lewis  Stewart,  and  sir  John 
Burrough,   persons  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  Scotland, 
and  with   the  previous  transactions,   to  treat  with   commis- 
sioners from   the  Scots.      The  last  required  rather  longer 
deliberation;    StrafFord  represented,   that   the  royal   army, 
amounting  to  twenty  thousand  foot,  and  between  two  and 
three  thousand  horse,   with  three  regiments  of  loyal  Scots, 
were  in  arrears  for  a  fortnight's  subsistence ;  that  two  hun- 
dred thousand   pounds  would  be  requiste  to  support  them 

for  three  months,  and,  the  king's  treasury  being  completely  And  to 

&  r  j- raise  m°- 

drained,   proposed  borrowing  the  money   from   the  city  of  ney  for  the 

London.     To   this  motion  the  council    consented,    all  the  s"PF°rt  of 

the  army. 

peers  present  agreeing  to  become  security  for  the  repayment 
of  the  loan.  York  was  at  first  mentioned  as  the  place  of 
meeting  for  the  commissioners;  but  the  Scots,  who  were 
highly  incensed  against  the  earl  of  StrafFord,  for  his  procur- 
ing them  to  be  declared  traitors  and  rebels,  declined  intrust- 
ing themselves  in  the  midst  of  an  army  of  which  he  had  the 
command.  Northallerton  was  next  proposed,  and  rejected ;  Commis- 

at  last,  Rippon,  a  town  about  fifteen  miles  from  York  was  SIOners 

P  ,       ,  .  .       ,  meet  at 

fixed  upon,  where  the  commissioners  of  both  nations  arrived  Rippon. 

on  the  first  of  October. 

xciii.  After  exchanging  commissions,  the   English   were 
for  immediately  proceeding  to  negotiate,  but  the  Scots,  pre- 
viously to  entering  upon  any  discussion,  insisted  upon  Tra-  Scots  ob- 
quair  being  removed  as  one  of  the  incendiaries,  who,  by 
misrepresentations  to  the  king  and  his  council,  had  inflamed 
them  against  his  own  countrymen ;  nor  would  they  consent 
to  the  other  assistants  acting  with  the  commissioners,  as  they 


576  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    were  not  named  in  his  majesty's  commission.     The  English 
noblemen  represented  their  ignorance  of  the  Scottish  consti- 
1640.      tution,  and  the  necessity  of  persons  who  were  acquainted 
with  it  being  present.     The  Scots,  however,  still  insisted ; 
and  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  king,   who  agreed  that 
the  assistants  should  not  take  any  public  share  in  the  busi- 
King  com-  ness,  but  only  be  advised  with  privately,  which  was,  he  said, 
' ied'          the  purpose  for  which  they  had  been  originally  nominated. 
While  waiting  for  his  majesty's  answer,  the  English  com- 
missioners, in  their  private  interviews,  reproached  the  Scots 
for  their  scrupulous  caution  ;  and  they  retorted,  by  accusing 
their  tardy  motions,  and   their  failure  in  fulfilling  the  pro- 
mises on  which  they  had  depended.    The  noblemen,  astonish- 
ed at  the  charge,  denied  its  justice,  when  lord  Saville's  let- 
Discovery   ter   was  produced,  and  the  forgery  detected ;  yet,  so  well 
forgery.  *  *  ^a(^  'll  ^een  executed,  that  when  the  nobles  whose  names  were 
attached  to  it  saw  the  fictitious  signatures,  they  confessed 
they  were  so  like  their  handwriting,  that  but  for  the  con- 
sciousness of  never  having  seen  such  a  paper,  they  durst 
scarcely  have  affirmed  that  they  were  not  their  own  sub- 
scriptions.      This  explanation    removed    the    distance   and 
coldness    which    had   subsisted   between  the  parties,    who, 
from  this  time  appear  to  have  had  a  secret  understanding  with 
each  other,*  and  to  have  acted  in  concert. 

A  truce          xciv.  Upon  resuming  the  conference,  a  cessation  of  arms 
proposed.     wftg  prOpOsejj  jo  which  the  Scots  professed  their  readiness 
to  accede ;  but  as  the  districts  in  which  they  were  station- 
ed had  been  impoverished,  and  his  majesty  had  forbid  their 
advancing,  neither    could    they  return    home   with    safety, 
without  a  treaty  were  concluded  on  a  firm  basis,  provision 
Scots  de-    for  the  daily  subsistence  of  their  army  became  a  necessary 

mand  sub-  preliminary  ;  as  without  some  security  for  this,  a  truce  would 

sistence  for  r  . 

their  army,  be  to  them  more  ruinous  than  a  war.  The  English  commis- 
sioners allowed  the  justice  of  the  claim,  and  desired  the 
others  to  specify  the  amount.  The  Scots  demanded  forty 
thousand  pounds  a  month,  which  was  immediately  forward- 
ed to  the  king  and  council  of  peers.  The  council  was  di- 
vided in  opinion ;  lord  Herbert  strenuously  advised  the 

"  Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  152.     Burnet,  vol.  i.  p.  35. 


CHARLES  I.  577 

king  to  fortify  York ;  which  would  obstruct  the  progress  of   BOOK 
the  Scots  from  advancing.     "  Princes,"  he  observed,  "  had     VU1- 
sometimes  bought  a  peace  from  their  subjects ;  but  to  pay  at      1640 
such  a  rate,  merely  for  treating,  which  might,  or  might  not 
be  productive  of  any  beneficial  result,  was  a  thing  never 
before  heard  of;  to  purchase  liberty  to  treat  from  rebels, 
by  supporting  their  army  with  the  money  which  should  pay 
his  own,  would  be  disgraceful ;  if  they  were  sincere,  let  his  Debated  in 
majesty's  commissioners  propose,   that  the   armies  on  both  *"  coun' 
sides  be  disbanded,   all  things  else  remaining  as  they   were 
till  a  treaty  was  concluded ;  but  let  the  money  be  kept  to 
pay  the  king's  troops,  or  to  raise  reinforcements,   if  neces- 
sary."*    By  the  others,  the  sum  only  was  objected  to,  and 
eight  hundred  pounds    per    diem,    to  be  paid  weekly,  was 
proposed  and  accepted  ;  what  provisions  or  necessaries  were 
wanted  for  the  army,  were,  at  the  same  time,  allowed  to  be 
imported  from  Scotland,  duty  free  ;  and  proper  persons  nom- 
inated on  each  side,  to  regulate  the  price  of  what  was  pro- 
cured in  the  occupied  counties.     The  Scots  agreed  to  be  con-  Granted, 
tent  with  this  maintenance,  and  neither  molest  papists,  pre- 
lates, nor  their  adherents. 

xcv.  Under  this  arrangement  the  commissioners  proceed- 
ed, but  nearly  the  whole  month  of  October  was  consumed  in 
discussing  preliminaries ;  and  when   the  day  appointed  for 
the  meeting  of  the  English  parliament  drew  near,  nothing 
was  concluded.     The  English  nobles,  who  hated  StrafFord 
land  Laud  scarcely  less  than  the  Scots  did,  and  who  observ- 
|ed  the  advantages  the  latter  had  reaped  from  the  distresses 
)f  the  king,  hoped  to  obtain  the  removal  of  these  ministers, 
ind  redress  of  their  country's  grievances,  by  increasing,  ra- 
ther than  diminishing  his  difficulties  ;  for  in  their  intercourse 
|with  the  Scots,  they  had  imbibed  all  their  distrust  of  the 
ang's  ever  doing  any  thing  voluntarily  to  sooth  the  feelings, 
>r  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  his  subjects ;  they  were  not  Englishno. 

herefore  anxious  for  the  removal  of  the  army,  their  desire  Wes  dis- 
. ,     ~  ,      ,  f  i    •  •      trust  tne 

get  rid  or  the  despotism  or  their  government,  overcoming  king. 

Ihe  disgrace  of  allowing  a  foreign  force  to  pollute  their  soil. 
?hey  requested  the  king  to  allow  the  treaty  to  be  transfer- 

•  Rushworth,  pp.  1294,  1310. 
VOL.  III.  4  £ 


578  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

BOOK    rgd  from  Rippon  to  London  ;  the  Scots  to  remain  in  Eng- 
land  till  it  were  concluded.     The  king  hesitated;  untaught 


I6to.      by  the  example  of  the  more  wary  committee,  who  would  not 
Confer.       treat  in  York,  where  only  a  few  of  their  enemies  could  have 

ences  re-       .  •  • 

moved  to     influence,  he  at  last  yielded,  to  continue  the  discussion  in  a 
London,      place  filled  with  malecontents,  and  where  the  opposite  par- 

ty had  numerous,  powerful,  and  zealous  friends. 

xcvi.  Had  the  king,  instead  of  granting  this  request,  de- 

clared his  determination  to  assemble  no  parliament  till  the 
Impolicy  country  was  evacuated  ;  and  promised,  after  the  retreat  of 
ofthismea-  the  Scots  to  their  own  homes,  that  he  would  then  summon 

sure* 

one,  and  refer  the  treaty  to  their  consideration,  he  would  in 
all  likelihood  have  either  forced  the  invaders  to  withdraw 
of  their  own  accord  ;  or  distracted  their  measures,  and 
raised  such  a  powerful  reaction  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  northern  counties,  as  would  even  yet  have  enabled  him 
to  negotiate  with  his  subjects  upon  equal  terms  ;  but  by  con- 
senting to  the  removal  of  the  treaty,  and  the  continuance  of 
the  Scots  in  arms,  he  gave  up  every  advantage  he  possessed, 
and  delivered  himself  hand-bound  into  the  power  of  parlia- 
ment. 

xcvn.    The  Scots,   in   agreeing  to  the  transfer,  relaxed 
nothing  in  their  demands  ;  but  to  prevent  mistake  on  the 
most  material  point  —  the  means  of  keeping  their  army  to- 
gether till  they  had  obtained  their  desires  —  they  procured 
from  the  English  commissioners,  the  ratification  of  a  truce 
The  truce  upon  as  favourable  terms  as  they  could  have  dictated,  afte 
'  the  most  decisive  engagement.     It  was  signed  the  26th  c 
October,  from  which  time  all  acts  of  hostility  by   sea  an 
land  were  to  cease  ;  —  during  the  treaty,  both  parties  to  retai 
what  they  then  possessed  ;  all  estates  situate  in  Northumber 
land  and  the  bishopric,  to  be  liable,  without  exception,  fo 
the  payment  of  the   Scottish  subsistence-money,   althoug 
their  owners  reside  in  his  majesty's  forts  beyond  the  Tees 
none  of  the  king's  forces,  upon  either  side  of  the  river,  toob 
struct  the  contribution,  or  to  take  any  provision,  except  wha 
the  inhabitants  bring  voluntarily  to  them  ;  and  any  restrain 

Condi.       Of  corn   cattle,  or  forage,  made  by  the  Scots  for  their  bette 
tiuns.  .  J 

maintenance,   to  be  considered  no  breach.     The  eight  hun 

dred  pounds  a  day  to  be  only  raised  out  of  the  counties  c 


CHAULES  I.  579 

Northumberland,  the  bishopric,   town  of  Newcastle,    Cum-    BOOK 
berland,  and  Westmoreland.     The  non-payment  to  be  no      VIII< 
breach,  but  in  case  of  failure,  the  Scots  shall  have  power  to      1640  " 
raise  the  sum,  with  allowance  for  the  charges  of  driving,  to 
be  set  by  the  commissioners  of  the  forage.     No  recruits  to 
be  brought  into  either  army,  and  no  new  fortifications  erect- 
ed while  the  cessation  continues. 

xcvni.  Thus  ended   a   rash,   ill  planned,    ill    conducted 
campaign,  entered  into  by  the  king,  without  the  means  of  sup- 
porting one  army,  and  finished  by  a  treaty  obliging  him  to  sup- 
port two.     The  Scots  were  highly  delighted  with  the  nego- 
tiation being  transferred  to  London,  not  only  relying  upon 
the  good  offices  of  the  ablest  men  in  parliament — with  whom 
they  were  in  friendly  alliance — but  looking  forward,  with  High  ex- 
joyful  anticipation,  to  the  triumph  of  presbytery,  the  estab-  oHhe'co!.8 
lishment  of  which  in  England  they  now  considered  them-  venanters. 
selves  as  especially  called  upon,  by  the  leadings  of  God's 
providence,  to  attempt.     They  therefore  appointed  three  of 
their  most  eminent  divines,  besides  Henderson,  to  accompany 
their  commissioners  as  chaplains,  and  to  combat  the  prevail- 
ing errors  of  the  times.     Mr.  Robert  Baillie  was  destined  to 
assail  the  doctrines  of  Arminius,  Mr.  George  Gillespie  to  at- 
tack the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  hierarchy,  and  Mr.  Ro- 
bert Blair  to  wrestle  with  the  independents.     The  ministers, 
who  had  already  distinguished  themselves   in  these  various 
controversies,   cheerfully  accepted  the  tasks  allotted  them, 
and,  along  with  the  commissioners,  set  out  for  London,  to 
reach  the  capital  in  time  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  par- 
liament.* 

*  The  ministers  were  highly  gratified  with  their  journey,  but  they  seem  to 
have  grudged  the  expense ;  they  rode  upon  little  nags,  each  attended  by  his 
servant.  "  We  were  by  the  way  great  expenses,"  says  Mr.  Baillie  in  a  letter 
to  his  wife ;  "  their  inns  are  all  like  palaces  ;  no  marvel,  they  extortion  their 
guests ;  for  three  meals,  coarse  enough,  we  would  pay,  together  with  our  horses, 
sixteen  or  seventeen  pounds  Sterling — some  three  dishes  of  crevishes,  [cray-fish,] 
like  little  partans,  forty-two  shilling  Sterling."— .Baillie,  vol.  i.  p.  216.  Rush- 
worth,  p.  1306.  Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  160.  Strafford's  Letters. 

END  OF  VOLUME  THIRD, 


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