By such devices and missions, as my grandfather was engaged in for the
Earl Glencairn with the Lord Boyd, a thorough understanding was
concerted among the Reformed throughout the kingdom; and encouraged by
their great strength and numbers, which far exceeded what was expected,
the Lords of the Congregation set themselves roundly to work, and the
protestant preachers openly published their doctrines.
Soon after my grandfather had returned from the shire of Ayr, there was
a weighty consultation held at the Earl his patron's lodging in
Edinburgh, whereat, among others present, was that pious youth,
afterwards the good Regent Murray. He was, by office and appointment,
then the head and lord of the priory of St Andrews; but his soul
cleaving to the Reformation and the Gospel, he laid down the use of that
title, and about this time began to be called the Lord James Stuart.
The Lords of the Congregation, feeling themselves strong in the goodness
of their cause and the number of their adherents, resolved at this
council, that they should proceed firmly but considerately to work, and
seek redress as became true lieges, by representation and supplication.
Accordingly a paper was drawn up, wherein they set forth how, for
conscience sake, the Reformed had been long afflicted with banishment,
confiscation of goods, and death in its cruellest forms. That continual
fears darkened their lives till, being no longer able to endure such
calamities, they were compelled to beg a remedy against the oppressions
and tyranny of the Estate Ecclesiastical, which had usurped an unlimited
domination over the minds of men,--the faggot and the sword being the
weapons which the prelates employed to enforce their mandates,--plain
truths that were thus openly stated in order to show that the suppliants
were sincere; and they concluded with a demand, that the original purity
of the Christian religion should be restored, and the government so
improved as to afford them security in their persons, opinions, and
property.
Sir James Calder of Sandilands was the person chosen to present this
memorial to the Queen Regent; and never, said my grandfather, was an
agent more fitly chosen to uphold the dignity of his trust, or to
preserve the respect which, as good subjects, the Reformed desired to
maintain and manifest towards the authority regal. He was a man far
advanced in life; but there was none of the infirmities of age under the
venerable exterior with which time had clothed his appearance. Of great
honour and a pure life, he was reverenced by all parties, and had
acquired both renown and affection, through his services to the realm
and his manifold virtues.
On a day appointed by the Queen Regent, the Lords and leaders of the
Congregation attended Sandilands, each with a stately retinue, to
Holyrood House; my grandfather having leave from the Earl, his master,
to wait on his person on that occasion.
It was a solemn day to the worshippers of the true God, who came in
great multitudes to the town, many from distant parts, to be present,
and to hear the issue of a conference that was to give liberty to the
consciences of all devout Scotchmen. From the house in the Lawnmarket,
where the Lords assembled, down to the very yetts of the palace, the
sight was as if the street had been paved with faces, and windows over
windows, roofs and lum-heads, were clustered with women and children.
All temporal cares and businesses were that day suspended: in the
accents and voices of men there was an awful sobriety, few speaking, and
what was said, sounded as if every one was affected with the sense of
some high and everlasting interest at stake.
When the Lords went down into the street, there was, for a brief
interval, a stir and a murmur in the multitude, which opened to the
right and left as when the waves of the Red Sea were opened, and through
the midst thereof prepared a miraculous road for the children of Israel.
A deep silence succeeded, and Sandilands, with his hoary head uncovered,
bearing in his hand the supplication and remonstrance, walked forward;
and the Lords went after also all bareheaded, and every one with them
followed in like manner as reverentially as their masters. The people,
as they passed along, slowly and devoutly, took off their caps and
bonnets, and bowed their heads as when the ark of the covenant of the
Lord was of old brought back from the Philistines; and many wept, and
others prayed aloud, and there was wonder, and awe, and dread, mingled
with thoughts of unspeakable confidence and glory.
When Sandilands and those with him were conducted into the presence of
the Queen Dowager, she was standing under a canopy of state, surrounded
by many of the nobles and prelates, and by her maidens of honour. My
grandfather had not seen her before, and having often heard her
suspected of double-dealing, and of a superstitious zeal and affection
for the papal abominations and cruelties, he had pictured to himself a
lean and haggard woman, with a pale and fierce countenance, and was
therefore greatly amazed when he beheld a lady of a most sweet and
gracious aspect, with mild dark eyes beaming with a chaste dignity, and
a high and fair forehead, bright and unwrinkled with any care, and lips
formed to speak soft and gentle sentences. In her apparel she was less
gay than her ladies, but nevertheless she was more queenly. Her dress
and mantle were of the richest purple Genoese unadorned with embroidery,
and round her neck she wore a ruff of fine ermine and a string of
princely pearls. A small golden cross of curious graven gold dangled to
her waist from a loup in the vale of her bosom.
Sandilands advanced several paces before the Lords by whom he was
attended, and falling on his knees, read with a loud and firm voice the
memorial of the Reformed; and when he had done so and was risen, the
Queen received a paper that was given to her by her secretary, who stood
behind her right shoulder, and also read an answer which had been
prepared, and in which she was made to deliver many comfortable
assurances, that at the time were received as a great boon with much
thankfulness by all the Reformed, who had too soon reason to prove the
insincerity of those courtly flatteries. For no steps were afterwards
taken to give those indulgences by law that were promised; but the
papists stirring themselves with great activity, and foreign matters and
concerns coming in aid of their stratagems, long before a year passed
the mind of the Queen and government was fomented into hostility against
the protestants. She called into her favour and councils the Archbishop
of St Andrews, with whom she had been at variance; and the devout said,
when they heard thereof, that when our Saviour was condemned, on the
same day Herod and Pilate were made friends, applying the text to this
reconcilation; and boding therefrom woe to the true church. Moved by the
hatred which his Grace bore to the Reformers, the Queen cited the
protestant preachers to appear at Stirling to answer to the charges
which might there be preferred against them.
My grandfather, when this perfidy came to a head, was at
Finlayston-house, in the shire of Renfrew, with the Earl, his master,
who, when he heard of such a breach of faith, smote the table, as he was
then sitting at dinner, with his right hand, and said, "Since the false
woman has done this, there is nothing for us but the banner and the
blade;" and starting from his seat he forthwith ordered horses, and,
attended by my grandfather and ten armed servants, rode to Glasgow,
where Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudon, then sheriff of Ayr, and other
worthies of the time, were assembled on business before the Lords of
Justiciary; and it was instanter agreed, that they should forthwith
proceed to Stirling where the court was, and remonstrate with the Queen.
So, leaving all temporal concerns, Sir Hugh took horse, and they arrived
at Stirling about the time her Highness supped, and going straight to
the castle, they stood in the ante-chamber to speak, if possible, with
her as she passed.
On entering the room to pass to her table she saw them, and looked
somewhat surprised and displeased; but without saying anything
particular she desired the Earl to follow her, and Sir Hugh, unbidden,
went also into the banquet-room. It was seldom that she used state in
her household, and on this occasion, it being a popish fast, her table
was frugally spread, and only herself sat at the board.
"Well, Glencairn," said she, "what has brought you hither from the west
at this time? Is the realm to be forever tossed like the sea by this
tempest of heresies? The royal authority is not always to be insulted
with impunity, and in spite of all their friends the protestant
preachers shall be banished from Scotland, aye, though their doctrines
were as sound as St Paul's."
The Earl, as my grandfather heard him afterwards relate, replied, "Your
Majesty gave your royal promise that the Reformed should be protected,
and they have done nothing since to cause the forfeiture of so gracious
a boon: I implore your Majesty to call that sacred pledge to mind."
"You lack reason, my Lord," she cried, sharply; "it becomes not subjects
to burden their princes with promises which it may be inconvenient to
keep."
"If these, madam, are your sentiments," replied the Earl, proudly, "the
Congregation can no longer acknowledge your authority, and must renounce
their allegiance to your government."
She had, at the moment, lifted the salt-cellar to sprinkle her
salad,--but she was so astonished at the boldness of this speech, that
she dropped it from her hand, and the salt was spilt on the floor,--an
evil omen which all present noted.
"My Lord Glencairn," said she, thoughtfully, "I would execute my great
duties honestly, but your preachers trouble the waters, and I know not
where the ford lies that I may safest ride. Go ye away and try to keep
your friends quiet, and I will consider calmly what is best to be done
for the weal of all."
At these words the Earl and Sir Hugh Campbell bowed, and, retiring, went
to the lodging of the Earl of Monteith, where they were minded to pass
the night, but when they had consulted with that nobleman, my
grandfather was ordered to provide himself with a fresh horse from
Monteith's stable, and to set out for Edinburgh with letters for the
Lord James Stuart.
"Gilhaize," said his master, as he delivered them, "I foresee we must
buckle on our armour; but the cause of the Truth does not require that
the first blow should come from our side. By this time John Knox, who
has been long expected, may be hourly looked for; and as no man stands
higher in the aversion of the papists than that brave, honest man, we
shall know by the reception he meets with what we ought to do."
So my grandfather, putting the letters in his bosom, retired from the
presence of the Earl, and by break of day reached the West-port and went
straight on to the Lord James Stuart's lodging in the Canongate. But,
though the household were astir, it was some time before he got
admittance, for their master was a young man of great method in all
things, and his chaplain was at the time reading the first prayers of
the morning, during which the doors were shut, and no one, however
urgent his business, could gain admission into that house while the
inmates were doing their homage to the King of kings.