THE REFORMATION.
_The Reformation_ (1)--_state of the Church_ (2)--_the
first Covenant_ (3)--_religious riots_ (4)--_treaties
with England_ (5)--_Reformation statutes_ (6)--_return
of the Queen_ (7)--_division of the Church lands_
(8)--_fall of Huntly_ (9)--_second marriage of the
Queen_ (10)--_murder of Rizzio_ (11)--_flight to Dunbar_
(12)--_murder of Darnley_ (13)--_third marriage of the
Queen_ (14)--_surrender at Carberry_ (15)--_captivity
of the Queen_ (16)--_James VI._; _Regency of Murray_
(17)--_escape of Mary_ (18)--_Battle of Langside_; _flight
of Mary_ (19)--_the Conference_ (20)--_state of parties_
(21)--_murder of the Regent_ (22)--_Regency of Lennox_
(23)--_taking of Dunbarton_ (24)--_Parliament at Stirling_
(25)--_Regency of Mar_ (26)--_Tulchan bishops_ (27)--_death
of Knox_ (28)--_taking of Edinburgh_ (29)--_Regency of
Morton_ (30)--_fall of Morton_ (31)--_raid of Ruthven_
(32)--_fall of Gowrie_ (33)--_fall of Arran_ (34)--_death
of Mary_--(35) _marriage of the King_ (36)--_abolition of
episcopacy_ (37)--_the Spanish blanks_ (38)--_religious
tumults_ (39)--_the Gowrie Plot_ (40)--_union of the
Crowns_ (41)--_state of the nation_ (42)--_summary_ (43).
=1. The Reformation.=--Five hundred years had gone by since the
_English_, who fled from the _Norman Conqueror_, had brought about
a great social revolution in the Celtic kingdom, where they found a
refuge. We now find another revolution arising from a very similar
cause. But there was a difference in the way in which these great
changes were wrought out characteristic of the two centuries in which
they took place. In the eleventh century it was the influence of the
Court which little by little changed the people; in the sixteenth
century, the people struggled against, and in the end overcame, the
opposition of the Court. When _Mary Tudor_ became Queen of England,
she wished to place the English Church under the authority of the
Pope, even more than it had been before the changes of her father
Henry. All who held the Reformed doctrines were persecuted as heretics.
Many of these so-called heretics sought safety across the Border, in
Scotland, and were welcomed there with a kindness that would have
seemed impossible but a few years before, when the deadly war was
waging. But religious sympathy got the better of national hate, and
thus the religious zeal of Mary Tudor may be said to have hastened the
Reformation in Scotland, which the cruelties of Henry and of Somerset
had for a while delayed. Still the traditional bent of the national
feeling influenced the character of the new movement, and led the
Scottish Reformers to mould anew the polity and form of worship of
their Church after the model of the _French Calvinists_, rather than to
follow the example of the _Church of England_ in her merely doctrinal
reform.
=2. State of the Church.=--In Scotland, as in the other lands of
Western Christendom, the clergy had lost their hold on the commons by
their immorality and irreligion; their greed of money, and their abuse
of their spiritual powers; while they had roused the jealousy of the
nobles by their wealth, and by the influence won by their learning,
which, though it was often but little, secured to them the offices of
state. The hope of getting hold of some of the well-cultivated Church
lands, led many _lairds_, as landholders are called in Scotland, to
join the popular movement of Reform.
=3. The First Covenant.=--The friends of Reform were thus silently
becoming a power in the state, and, as had been the Scottish custom
for centuries, they joined themselves together by a bond, 1557. In
this bond they pledged themselves to support one another, and to do
their utmost for the spread of the new doctrines. This bond is called
the _First Covenant_. By it the authority of the _Pope_ was renounced,
and the use of the _English Bible_ and of the _Prayer Book of Edward
VI._ was enjoined. Thenceforth the barons who had signed it, called
themselves the _Lords of the Congregation_. The burning of _Walter
Mill_, an aged priest of blameless life, who suffered for heresy at
_St. Andrews_ in 1558, roused them to action. They demanded of the
Regent a reformation of religion after the principles of their bond.
Though at first she seemed inclined to grant what they asked, she
afterwards set her face against them, and cited some of the preachers
of the new doctrines before the Privy Council. A great body of their
followers gathered at Perth to come with them; the Regent, in alarm,
begged them to disperse and promised to withdraw the citation. Instead
of doing this, she outlawed the preachers for not coming.
=4. Religious Riots.=--This breach of promise on the Regent's part
provoked their followers to a breach of the peace. The mob attacked,
and tried to pull down, the churches and the religious houses at
_Perth_, May 11, 1559, and this tumult was followed by riots of the
same kind in other towns. _John Knox_ was the spiritual leader of
the movement. But he only wished to destroy the images and ornaments
in the churches, which he looked on as idolatrous, not the churches
themselves. Nor is it to be laid to the charge of the Reformers that
there is but one cathedral church left entire in Scotland; the ruin of
far the greater number of the churches and religious houses is due to
the English invasions, or to the neglect of later times. After this
outbreak the Congregation strengthened themselves in _Perth_, but many
of the Lords, among others the _Lord James Stewart_, illegitimate
son of James the Fifth, joined the Regent, and, had she been true to
her promises, the strife which now broke out between the two parties
might have been prevented. But she led a French force against the
Congregation, who were now in open rebellion. An agreement was made
that the questions at issue between them should be left to be settled
by the Estates, while both armies laid down their arms, and the French
garrison was turned out of Perth. But the Regent did not keep to the
spirit of this treaty, though she avoided breaking the letter of it
by garrisoning Perth with native troops hired with French money. On
this the Congregation flew to arms, seized _St. Andrews_, and occupied
_Edinburgh_. There, in a meeting which they called a Parliament, they
deposed the Regent, though they still professed loyalty to the King and
Queen. But they were too weak to hold the advantage they had won, and
as _Elizabeth_ had now succeeded _Mary_ in _England_, they looked to
her for support.
=5. Treaties with England.=--Elizabeth would not treat with subjects in
open rebellion against their Sovereign, though Mary had given her good
reason for offence, by quartering the arms of England on her shield,
as though she were lawful Queen and Elizabeth only a usurper. At last
a treaty was arranged at _Berwick_ in 1560, between Elizabeth and the
rebels. Chatelherault, the next heir to the Scottish crown, acted for
the Congregation, and by this treaty Elizabeth promised to send troops
to prevent the French conquering Scotland. The war that now followed
presented the unwonted sight of the _Scots_ on _Scottish_ ground
fighting side by side with the _English_ against their old allies of
_France_. But, before the year was out, the French were called away by
troubles at home, and by the treaty of _Edinburgh_ it was agreed that
no foreigners should in future be employed in the country without the
consent of the _Estates_. The Estates promised in the name of the King
and Queen that they should acknowledge Elizabeth as lawful Queen of
England, and thenceforth make no pretension to her kingdom.
=6. Reformation Statutes.=--Soon after the conclusion of this treaty,
the Regent died. The Estates then approved the _Geneva Confession of
Faith_, abjured the authority of the _Pope_, and forbade the saying of
the mass, or even assisting at the mass, on pain of forfeiture for the
first offence, banishment for the second, death for the third; 25th
August, 1560. Thus the old ecclesiastical system, with all its rites
and ceremonies, was suddenly overthrown. But this was only in name; in
reality it only died out bit by bit.
=7. Return of the Queen.=--Just a year after this, the Queen came home,
August 1561. She was now a widow, so the Scots were freed from the fear
they had felt of seeing their country sink into a province of France.
The people, who had an almost superstitious reverence for kingship,
which was very inconsistent with their contempt for kingly authority,
welcomed her with open arms, and showed their good will by a greater
display of discordant and grotesque rejoicing than the austere teachers
of the new doctrines could approve. As yet they only saw in her the
representative of that long line of Celtic kings whom they chose to
look on as their own. She was the "child," for whom they had struggled
so long, and had suffered so much from the English. They had yet to
find out that she had come back to them French in all but birth, gifted
with wit, intellect, and beauty, but subtle beyond their power of
searching, and quite as zealous for the old form of religion as they
were for the new one. The Queen, too, who came thus as a stranger among
her own people, had to deal with a state of things unknown in former
reigns. Hitherto the Church had taken the side of the Crown against the
nobles; now both were united against the Crown, whose only hope lay in
the quarrels between these ill-matched allies.
=8. Division of the Church Lands.=--The chief cause of discord between
them was the property of the Church. The Reformed ministers fancied
that they had succeeded, not only to the Pope's right of dictation
in all matters, public and private, but to the lands of the Church
as well. To neither of these claims would the Lords agree. They were
as little inclined to submit to the tyranny of presbyters as to the
tyranny of the Pope. They withstood the ministers who wished to forbid
the Queen and her attendants hearing mass in her private chapel, and
they refused to accept as law the _First Book of Discipline_, a code of
rules drawn up by the ministers for the guidance of the new Church. As
to the land, much of it had already passed into the hands of laymen,
who, with the lands, generally bore the title of the Church dignitary
who had formerly held them. The Privy Council took one-third of what
remained to pay the stipends of the ministers, while the rest was
supposed to remain in the hands of the Churchmen in possession, and,
as they died out, it was to fall in to the Crown.
=9. Fall of Huntly.=--_Lord James Stewart_, Prior of St. Andrews, whom
the Queen created _Earl of Murray_, was the hope of the Protestants,
but in the north the Romanists were still numerous and strong. Their
head was the _Earl of Huntly_, chief of the _Gordons_, who reigned
supreme over most of the north, and whose word was law where decrees
of parliament would have been set at nought. As his great power was
looked on as dangerous to the state, his downfall was resolved on.
Murray and the Queen set out for the north to visit him, as was said,
but with so large a force that he thought it expedient to keep out of
their way. His _Castle of Inverness_ was besieged and taken and the
governor hanged, and his followers were defeated and he himself slain
at _Corrichie_, near _Aberdeen_, in 1562. His body was brought to
Edinburgh, as was the custom in cases of treason, that the sentence of
forfeiture might be passed on it. His son was beheaded at Aberdeen; and
thus the power of the Gordons was broken. Thus Mary during the first
part of her reign showed no favour to the Romanists, but still she did
not confirm the Reformation Statutes.
=10. Second Marriage of the Queen.=--The most interesting question now
for all parties was, whom the Queen would marry. Many foreign princes
were talked of, and Elizabeth suggested her own favourite, the _Earl
of Leicester_, but Mary settled the matter herself by falling in love
with her own cousin, _Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley_. He was son of
_Lennox_ and _Margaret Douglas_, and was therefore the grandson of
_Margaret Tudor_, and was received as first prince of the blood at the
English court. Mary called a special council and announced to them her
intended marriage. She then raised Darnley to the _Earldom of Ross_,
and afterwards created him _Duke of Albany_. They were married with
the rites of the Romish Church, July 29, 1565. Murray had refused
his consent to the marriage. He and some others of the lay Lords now
took up arms. They got into the town of Edinburgh, but were fired at
from the Castle, and, as they were disappointed in their hopes of
recruits, they retreated to _Dumfries_. There they issued a declaration
that their religion was in danger, and that the Queen had acted
unconstitutionally in proclaiming Darnley _King of Scots_ without the
consent of the Estates. The feudal force was summoned, and the King and
Queen led it against them. On this the Lords retreated into England and
disarmed their followers.
=11. Murder of Rizzio.=--Mary soon began to tire of her worthless
husband. She had all the weakness of her family for making favourites,
and no wisdom in the choice of them. At this time she had taken a fancy
to an Italian, _David Rizzio_, who acted as her secretary, and who had
great skill in music to recommend him. The nobles grew jealous of this
foreigner and determined to get rid of him; but, to save themselves
from any ill-consequences of the murder which they had planned,
they persuaded Darnley to sign a bond promising to stand by them in
anything they might do. At the same time he signed another bond for the
recall of Murray and the other banished lords. The Queen summoned a
parliament, which she expected would pronounce sentence of forfeiture
on those banished lords. In order to secure compliance with her wishes,
she interfered with the choosing of the Lords of the Articles, into
whose hands all the real business of the parliament was thrown. One
evening, as she was sitting at supper in the palace at _Holyrood_, the
conspirators, who had secured the gates, burst into the room, headed by
the _Lord Ruthven_. They seized on Rizzio, who clutched at the Queen
for help; they dragged him into the outer room; killed him, and then
threw the body downstairs, March 9, 1566. His fate was not made known
to the Queen till next day. _James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell_, who
already stood high in the Queen's favour, and the _Earl of Huntly_,
who had been restored to the titles and estates which his father had
forfeited, were in the palace when it was thus taken possession of, but
they contrived to escape.
=12. Flight to Dunbar.=--The Queen showed no signs of anger at first.
She pretended to be reconciled to Darnley, and promised pardon to
the banished lords. When they appeared before her the next day, she
received Murray affectionately. But the confederates soon found that
they had been mistaken in their hopes of Darnley, for in the night
following he fled with the Queen to _Dunbar_. Bothwell brought up
a force for her protection, and before the end of the month she
re-entered Edinburgh. Rizzio's body was taken up and buried among
the kings in the palace chapel, and _James Douglas, Earl of Morton,
Ruthven_, and others were cited to answer for the murder of Rizzio,
and, as they did not appear, they were outlawed.
=13. Murder of Darnley.=--A new favourite soon took the place of
Rizzio in the Queen's favour. This was _Bothwell_, who had lately done
such good service in coming to her aid at Dunbar. The abbey-lands of
_Melrose_ and _Haddington_ were given to him. He was made _Lord High
Admiral_, and _Warden of the Borders_, and it was noticed that it was
he and not Darnley who played the principal part at the baptism of her
son, the _Prince of Scotland_. Darnley was hated by everyone; by his
wife, because he had connived at the murder of her favourite, and by
his accomplices for his treachery in deserting them. Shortly after this
he fell ill of the small-pox, and was taken to _Glasgow_, to be tended
by his father, _Lennox_. There, when he was getting better, the Queen
paid him a visit, and proposed that he should be taken to _Craigmillar
Castle_, in order to hasten his recovery; but this plan was afterwards
changed, and he went instead to a house called the _Kirk-o'-Field_,
close to _Edinburgh_. This house was blown up on the night of February
9, 1567, while the Queen was present at a ball at _Holyrood_, and the
bodies of Darnley and of his page were found in a field hard by, as
though they had been killed while trying to make their escape. It was
commonly believed that Bothwell was guilty of the murder, and it was
suspected that he had done it to please the Queen and with her consent.
This suspicion was strengthened by her conduct. She made no effort to
find out the murderer and to bring him to punishment, and on the day
of the funeral she gave Bothwell the feudal superiority over the town
of _Leith_. Lennox now came forward and demanded that Bothwell and the
other persons suspected of the murder should be tried by the Estates.
This was granted, and a day was fixed for the trial. But as Lennox
was forbidden to bring any but his own household when he appeared as
the accuser of the murderer, while Bothwell had a great following, he
thought it more prudent not to appear. As no one came forward to bring
evidence against Bothwell, he was acquitted, and he offered to give
wager of battle to anyone who should still accuse him.
=14. Third Marriage of the Queen.=--Bothwell was now determined on
marrying the Queen, and, after the parliament rose, he got many of the
nobles to sign a bond agreeing to help him to do so. As he was already
married to Huntly's sister, his wife had to be got rid of first.
This was not now such an easy matter as it had been in former times.
The canon law had been done away with along with the old Church; the
Reformers had set up a court of their own to try such cases, while
the Queen had lately restored the old one. To make the matter sure
Bothwell's marriage was dissolved in both these courts. As the Queen
was coming back from _Stirling_, where she had been to visit her
child, Bothwell met her and carried her off to _Dunbar_, and on the day
the divorce was sent they came back to _Edinburgh_ together. He was
created _Duke of Orkney and Shetland_, and they were married by _Adam
Bothwell_, who had been _Bishop of Orkney_, but was now one of the
ministers of the new Church, May 15, 1567.
=15. Surrender at Carberry.=--A fortnight later Mary called out the
feudal force for an attack on the Borderers, but the barons did not
answer to her summons. On this the Queen and Bothwell, alarmed at the
increasing signs of discontent, shut themselves up in his strong castle
of _Borthwick_, but they were scarcely there before an army with the
Lords _Morton_ and _Home_ at its head appeared at its gates, and they
fled to _Dunbar_. The barons then entered _Edinburgh_; the governor
of the Castle gave it up to them. They had the Prince in their hands,
and they took measures for carrying on the government, though they
still professed to act in the Queen's name, and to be only striving
to free her from Bothwell. He meanwhile had mustered his followers,
who, though nearly equal in numbers, were in discipline far inferior
to their opponents. The two armies came in sight near _Musselburgh_,
but there was no battle, for the Queen surrendered to _William
Kirkcaldy_ of _Grange_, who had been sent out with a body of horse
to cut off her retreat to Dunbar, at _Carberry_, June 15, 1567, on
condition that Bothwell should be allowed to return to _Dunbar_ unhurt.
Bothwell escaped first to his own dukedom of Orkney, and afterwards to
_Denmark_, where he died about ten years later.
=16. Captivity of the Queen.=--Just a month after her third marriage
the Queen was brought back to Edinburgh, to be greeted by the railings
of the mob, who now openly accused her as a murderess, and paraded
before her eyes a banner, showing the dead body of her husband; her
infant son on his knees, as though praying for justice against the
murderers of his father, and the words, "Judge and avenge my cause, O
Lord," embroidered upon it. From Edinburgh she was taken to a lonely
castle built on a small island in the centre of _Loch Leven_. A few
days later a casket containing eight letters was produced. These
letters, it was said, Bothwell had left behind him in his flight, and
they seemed to have been written by Mary to him while Darnley was
ill in Glasgow. If she really wrote them, they proved very plainly
that she had planned the murder with Bothwell. They are called the
"casket letters," from the box or casket in which they were found.
The confederate barons acted as if they were really hers. The _Lord
Lindsay_ and _Robert Melville_ were sent to her at _Loch Leven_, and
she there signed the _demission_ of the government to her son, and
desired that Murray should be the first Regent. From that time Mary
ceased to be Queen of Scots. Her beauty, talents, and misfortunes have
won her much pity and many champions, but it was her own folly and sin
that changed the love of her people into hate, and their rejection of
her stands out as one of the facts in their history that does most
honour to the nation.
=17. James VI., 1567-1625. Regency of Murray.=--The infant King who was
now to be set up in the room of his mother was crowned and anointed
at _Stirling_. By his sponsor _Morton_ he took an oath to uphold the
Reformed, or as its supporters called it, the true Church, and to root
out all heretics and enemies of the same. Murray was recalled from
France, whither he had gone soon after the murder of the King. He made
some objection to accepting the regency, and would not do so till he
had had an interview with his sister. At last he agreed to take it, to
comply with her wishes, as he said. As the country was crying out for
vengeance on the murderers of the King, four of Bothwell's creatures
who had aided in his crime were hanged at Edinburgh, but no steps were
taken to punish the lords who had joined themselves by a bond with
Bothwell.
=18. Escape of Mary.=--But there was a large party of the nobles, with
the Hamiltons at their head, who were opposed to the new government and
kept themselves apart at _Hamilton_. Before a year of her captivity
had passed, Mary escaped and joined them there, and again took up
the sceptre which she had so lately laid down. Eighteen lords of
parliament and many lesser barons signed a bond to uphold their Queen,
and she sent a message from her court at Hamilton to Murray, who was
at _Glasgow_ almost unguarded, commanding him to resign the regency.
Instead of obeying, Murray seized the herald who had come to proclaim
the Queen; sent to _Stirling_ for cannon, and called out the feudal
force in the name of King James.
=19. Battle of Langside.=--The Castle of _Dunbarton Rock_, the
strongest fortress in the kingdom, was held for the Queen, and to it
she determined to go for greater safety. To get there she had to pass
close by _Glasgow_, where Murray was. At _Langside_, on the southern
shore of the _Clyde_, her way was barred by the King's army, which,
though not so large as her own, had much better leaders. The fight that
followed settled the fate of Scotland, May 13, 1568. Few lives were
lost, for at the first charge the spears of the front rank got locked
in the jacks of their opponents. They could thus neither go backward
nor forward, and kept those behind from coming within arm's length of
one another. _Grange_ turned the day by charging the Queen's force with
his cavalry. They fled in confusion, and Mary rode with all speed to
the Border; crossed the _Solway_, and going straight to _Carlisle_,
threw herself on the protection of _Elizabeth_. But Elizabeth had
not forgotten how Mary had assumed her arms and had given herself
out as the real Queen of England; and as she knew that Mary, if left
at liberty, would plot with the English Roman Catholics, she put her
in ward in _Bolton Castle_, and refused to see her till she cleared
herself of the suspicion under which she lay of having been concerned
in her husband's death. But at the same time Elizabeth would not
acknowledge the government of Scotland, nor approve the conduct of the
lords who had set up King James, for she did not like the doctrine that
princes, however badly they had acted, might be judged and punished by
their subjects.
=20. The Conference.=--To give both parties a chance of saying what
they could for themselves, it was agreed to hold a conference, to which
Murray came in person, and Mary and Elizabeth each sent commissioners.
The conference met at _York_ in October. On opening it the _Duke of
Norfolk_ required that Murray should do homage in the name of his King
to the Queen of England. On this, _William Maitland_ of _Lethington_,
the _Scottish Secretary of State_, a very subtle man, said that if
England liked to give up again the northern counties, once held by
Scotland, their King would gladly do homage for them; but as for the
kingdom it was as free, or more so, than England itself. This he said
to show that they did not ask Elizabeth to judge between them because
she had any right to interfere, but only because she was their nearest
neighbour. Before the end of the month the conference was removed
to _Hampton Court_, and held before the Queen in Council. The lords
brought forward the "casket letters," as a proof against Mary, and
she refused to vindicate herself, but ordered her commissioners to
withdraw. Thus the conference ended, leaving matters much as they were
before, for Elizabeth decided that nothing had been brought forward
to the dishonour of Murray, nor anything proved against Mary. At the
same time she lent Murray five thousand pounds for the maintenance
of peace and order between the two countries, which was an indirect
acknowledgment of his government.
=21. State of Parties.=--The _Hamiltons_ and _Huntly_ were the chief
upholders of Mary's interest. The Hamiltons wished to keep Mary on the
throne, because they were the next heirs to Mary, and in the event of
her son dying before her, Chatelherault could claim the crown. But as
they were not the next heirs to James, they were naturally opposed to
the revolution which had placed him on the throne, for they feared that
if he died when actually reigning, the crown would pass to his heir,
_Charles Stewart_, his father's brother. _Huntly_ held out, from hatred
of _Murray_ and love of the old Church, which was still strong in his
county. A compromise was at last made between the two parties. Murray
promised a pardon for all past offences and a reversal of forfeitures
if the other party would promise to obey King James. To make matters
more sure, when the Duke of Chatelherault went up to Edinburgh, Murray
put him in ward in the Castle. Just at this time there was a great
rising of the Roman Catholics in the north of England, Murray marched
southward, in order to be ready to put down any disturbance on the
Border. There he seized as his prisoner the _Earl of Northumberland_,
the head of the Romanists in England, who had come to seek a refuge on
the Scottish side among the Borderers, many of whom still clung to the
old Church.
=22. Murder of the Regent.=--The Hamiltons had determined on Murray's
death. Though the Duke was in prison, _John_, the archbishop, the
constant stirrer up of strife, was at liberty, and he was popularly
supposed to be the contriver of a plot against the life of the Regent.
Murray was murdered by _James Hamilton_ of _Bothwellhaugh_, who shot
at him as he was riding in state through that town on his way from
Stirling to Edinburgh, February 23, 1570. This foul murder, the third
which had disgraced Scotland within the last quarter of a century,
was a great misfortune for the country, for Murray had ruled well and
wisely, he had put down the Highlanders and the Borderers, and had
enforced justice and order with a strong hand. In his time the land
was visited by a famine and a plague, evils for which the people are
ever apt to blame their rulers, but, in spite of these calamities, he
was popular during his life, and was remembered after his death as the
_Good Regent_.
=23. Regency of Lennox.=--While the government was thus without a head,
and the country was in confusion, two English armies invaded Scotland
to punish the Borderers for the shelter which they had given to the
leaders of the late rising in England. One of these armies came north
as far as the _Clyde_ and wasted the _Hamilton country_. Hitherto the
Queen's party had been chiefly made up of nobles with but a small
following, but this attack on the part of the English aroused the old
hatred of England and drove a large mass of the people to join them.
The choice of _Lennox_, the King's grandfather, as the new Regent, did
still more to divide the nation, for not only was he the subject of
Elizabeth and recommended by her, but also, when he came to Scotland,
it was as joint leader of one of these invading armies. Now, for the
first time, the nation was truly divided against itself. The war which
followed was the first real civil war in the annals of Scotland. It was
no strife of class against class, or of one chief against another, but
a war in which the commons were severed into two parties by the great
questions of loyalty, national honour, and religion. _Grange_, whom
Murray had made governor of _Edinburgh Castle_, declared for the Queen,
and _Lethington_, who was there in ward on a charge of having had some
part in the King's murder, followed his example.
=24. Taking of Dunbarton.=--This castle, the strongest in the kingdom,
was the chief strength of the Queen's party, and in it was the moving
spirit of the Hamiltons, John, the much hated and feared archbishop.
Both fell during this regency. _Crawford_ of _Jordanhill_, a retainer
of _Lennox_, took the castle by subtlety with but a handful of men. He
scaled the steep rock on which the castle is built under cover of the
night, and when he had gained the highest point he turned the guns on
the garrison below, who had no choice left but to give in, April 2,
1571. Five days later, the archbishop was hanged at _Stirling_, after
the form of a trial had been hurried through, on a charge of having
planned the murder of the King and of the Regent.
=25. Parliament at Stirling.=--The other noteworthy event during the
regency of Lennox was the holding of a parliament, for the first time
since 1567. It met at _Stirling_, and the young King, who lived in the
castle under the care of the _Earl of Mar_, was himself present. While
the Regent and all the leaders of his party were thus gathered in the
town, a body of four hundred men, sent out by the Queen's party in
Edinburgh Castle, came down upon them suddenly, swept the streets, and
captured _Morton_ and the Regent; and though the latter was afterwards
rescued, he had been mortally wounded in the scuffle, and died after
lingering a few hours, September 4, 1571. It was then remembered how
the little King had spied a hole in the cloth with which the board
whereon he sat was covered, and, trying to poke his finger into it, had
said, "There is a hole in this parliament." This was looked on as a
prophecy of the violent death of the Regent, and laid the foundation of
that reputation for wisdom and acuteness which clung to James all his
life.
=26. Mar's Regency.=--_John Erskine, Earl of Mar_, governor of
Stirling, was chosen Regent the very next day. As the Queen's party,
who held Edinburgh, had held a rival parliament in her name in the
Parliament House, it was clear that all efforts must be made to get
the castle out of their hands. Mar therefore began the siege, and open
war broke out. The West, the North, and the Border were for the Queen,
the eastern Lowlands for the King; the latter looked to England for
help, but got none; the former appealed to France with not much better
success. After much useless bloodshed, a truce of two months was agreed
on, August 1, 1572.
=27. Tulchan Bishops.=--Under Mar episcopacy was set up again. At
least it was settled that the titles and dignities of bishops and
archbishops were to stay as they were before the Reformation till the
King's majority, but they were shorn of their old authority, and were
to be subject to the _General Assembly_, which now managed all church
matters. The people thought so little of them that they called them in
mockery "_Tulchan_" bishops: the word "Tulchan" meaning a sham calf
which it was the custom to place before a cow to make her give milk
when the real calf had been taken from her. About this time there came
the news of the massacre of all the _Protestants_ in _Paris_, on _St.
Bartholomew's Day_. This roused a general horror of Romanists and
created a reaction in favour of Presbytery, for the Scots wished to be
more like the French Protestants, who had no bishops. It also made many
of the Queen's party go over to the other side.
_Mar_ died after being little more than a year in office, and _Morton_,
who had latterly directed everything, was chosen Regent in his place,
November 24, 1572.
=28. Death of Knox.=--On the same day died _John Knox_, who for
thirteen years had been the leader of religious reform in Scotland.
He spent his life and his wonderful talents in striving for what he
believed to be truth and sound doctrine. One of the finest traits in
his character was his moral courage, which enabled him to speak the
truth boldly to those who stood highest in rank or power. To this
Morton himself bore witness, saying, as he looked on the dead body
of Knox, "There lies he who never feared the face of man." His zeal
sometimes led him to turn against the Romanists their own weapons of
intolerance and persecution, but he lived in times when men had not
yet found out that it was best to let one another alone in the matter
of religion. In those days any one who had shown himself tolerant of
the errors of others would have been looked on either as a hypocrite
or as an unbeliever. But Knox was not so much opposed to bishops and
to a set form of prayer as his followers afterwards became. He drew
up a prayer-book for daily use called the _Book of Common Order_,
which was pretty nearly a translation of the book of the church at
_Geneva_, and was what he had himself used when ministering to the
_English Protestants_ who in the reign of Mary Tudor had taken refuge
at _Frankfort_.
=29. Taking of Edinburgh.=--With the new year the war began again.
Morton was now in possession of the town of Edinburgh, and he held a
meeting of the Estates there. But the castle still held out, and it
was only by bringing against it an English force of fifteen hundred
men that Elizabeth had at last sent, that its defenders were reduced
to such straits that they were compelled to surrender. Grange gave
himself up to the English general and appealed to the English Queen.
But she either could not or would not protect him. His gallant defence
of the castle for Mary was looked on as treason against the government
of James, which Elizabeth had in a manner acknowledged. He was given up
into the hands of Morton, his bitter enemy, and hanged at Edinburgh,
August 3, 1573, in spite of all the efforts of his many friends to save
him. Brave, gallant, and unselfish, he was distinguished among a greedy
generation by his contempt alike of money and of place. In this he was
a great contrast to his companion, the clever, unprincipled, selfish
Lethington, who died by his own hand.
=30. Morton's Regency.=--Morton had now got all his old enemies out
of the way, but he soon made more; partly by his avarice, partly by
the firmness with which he insisted that the crown property should
be restored. He offended _Argyle_ by making him give back some crown
jewels that had come into his possession by his marriage with Murray's
widow; and, by trying to stop a feud between him and _Athole_, he made
enemies of them both. To make his power complete Morton longed to
get the King into his own hands, but he was kept apart in Stirling,
under the care of Erskine the Governor, and while there Morton had
no more power over him than any of the other nobles. He tried to
persuade James, who was now twelve years old, that he was old enough
to rule alone, but Argyle and Athole, who were both in the castle at
the time, found out his plan and outwitted him. A proclamation was
suddenly issued by them, setting forth that the king would now take
the government into his own hands, and would act by the advice of a
council, March 4, 1578. A time of great confusion followed. Morton, who
at first had seemed to lay down his power with a good grace, before
long was up in arms, got into Stirling Castle, dispersed the new
council, and again directed everything just as he pleased.
=31. Fall of Morton.=--About this time _Esmé Stewart_, Lord of
_Aubigny_, and nephew of the late Earl of Lennox, came from France and
became a great favourite with his cousin the king. Aubigny was stirred
up by _James Stewart of Ochiltree_, another favourite, to do his utmost
to turn the king against Morton, whom he already disliked. At length
Ochiltree accused Morton before the Council of having been a party in
the king's murder, and on this charge he was condemned and beheaded
at Edinburgh. After his death the two favourites rose still higher.
Aubigny was made _Duke of Lennox_, and Keeper of Dunbarton Castle;
and a royal bodyguard was set up in order to give him the dignity of
commander. _Stewart_, whose mother was a _Hamilton_, was raised to
their Earldom of Arran.
=32. Raid of Ruthven.=--Certain of the old nobles, who were displeased
and alarmed by the power exercised by these upstarts, bound themselves
together to displace them both, and to get the King by a bond into
their own power. The time they chose for carrying out their plan was
when the King went on a hunting party into the Highlands. The _Earl of
Gowrie_, one of the confederates, son of that _Ruthven_ who had played
the chief part in the murder of _Rizzio_, invited him to the castle
of Ruthven. James went, and found himself a prisoner in the hands of
the barons, August 22, 1581. They then made him declare that he was
well pleased with what they had done, and was not under any restraint.
Lennox was ordered to leave the kingdom, and after wandering about in
poverty and distress till the end of the year, he went back to France,
where he died before long. But before the Ruthven Lords had been a year
in power, another change came. The king escaped disguised as a groom,
rode to St. Andrews, where the nobles who were not in the bond gathered
round him in such force that the Confederates were obliged to yield.
=33. Fall of Gowrie.=--At first James acted moderately and wisely,
for he promised to pardon all those who had taken part in the Raid of
Ruthven; but when Arran got back his old power over him he turned about
and declared them all traitors, who must submit to his grace. Upon this
most of them fled to England, but Gowrie submitted to the King and was
pardoned. Arran had however determined on his fall, and Gowrie was so
much insulted and slighted at Court that he made up his mind to leave
the country. Just before he sailed, he heard that his old comrades had
contrived another plot, and he delayed his setting out in order to have
a share in it. Before anything was done, news of it got abroad, Gowrie
was seized and, after a very unjust trial, beheaded at Stirling. The
other conspirators made off to England again and were outlawed, and
their estates were forfeited.
=34. Fall of Arran.=--Arran's triumph did not last long. A fray took
place on the Border in which an Englishman, _Lord Russell_, was slain.
Arran was accused of having been the chief cause in this affair, and he
was ordered to withdraw from Court. Then the banished lords, thinking
this a good opportunity for them to return, went northward, joined the
_Hamiltons_ and _Maxwells_ on the Border, came to Stirling and made
their way into the presence of the king, who was forced to seem pleased
to see them, as they had eight thousand men to support them, November
4, 1585. A Parliament was called soon after, in which three important
pieces of business were done. Gowrie's children were restored to the
honours forfeited by the treason of their father; Arran was stripped of
all his dignities, and a new league was made with England.
=35. Death of Mary.=--The captive Queen, whose influence in the affairs
of her own country had ceased with the surrender of _Edinburgh_, had,
during her long imprisonment, been the cause of many plots against
the peace of England and the life of Elizabeth. For her share in
_Babington's_ Plot, the object of which was the assassination of
Elizabeth, she was tried, found guilty, and condemned to death. She
was beheaded at Fotheringhay, February 8, 1587. Though James made some
show of feelings of grief and anger at the news of his mother's death,
no steps were taken to avenge it, and the matter soon seemed to be
forgotten.
=36. Marriage of the King.=--As James was now of age, his counsellors
were looking about for a suitable wife for him. _Frederick the Second
King of Denmark_ had lately sent offering to pay up the money for
which the _Orkney_ and _Shetland Isles_ had been given in pledge, and
as Scotland had no wish to give them back, it was thought that the
difficulty might be got over by choosing one of his daughters, who
would most likely bring the islands as her dowry. This proposal was
agreed to by Frederick. His daughter _Anne_ was betrothed to James, and
_Keith_, the _Earl Marshal_, was sent to Copenhagen to act as proxy for
the King in the marriage ceremony and to bring home the bride. On their
way home the wedding party were storm-stayed and obliged to put into a
Norwegian Port, and the King, to the surprise of every one, suddenly
made up his mind to go himself to fetch his bride. He joined her at
Upslo, but as nothing could make him brave the long sea voyage again
till the winter was over they returned together to Copenhagen, and did
not come to Scotland till the next spring, May 1, 1590.
=37. Abolition of Episcopacy.=--For some time the government and the
church had been at variance about the bishops. The General Assembly of
1581 had declared the episcopal order to be contrary to the Word of
God, and had adopted the _Second Book of Discipline_ as the rule of the
government of the Church. This book was drawn up by _Andrew Melville_,
who had succeeded Knox as the spiritual leader of the reformed Church.
He was a zealous presbyterian, and it was mainly owing to him that the
Scottish Church adopted that form of church government. The Ruthven
lords had been the champions of the presbyterian or no-bishop party,
and, while they were in power, the ministers upheld by them had taken
more and more authority upon themselves. In theory they placed the
church far above the civil power, and they taught that the chief
magistrate, the King, ought to be subject to them in all matters of
conscience and religion. They also claimed the right of the old Church
in interfering with people's private affairs. Each _minister_ looked
on himself as _bishop_ over his own flock, and would not submit to
having any overseer set over him again. But, as the removal of the
bishops as spiritual peers would have been the removal of one of the
three Estates--that one too that had always been on the side of the
crown--and as their existence served as a pretext to the nobles for
drawing their revenues, it was clearly the interest both of the crown
and of the nobles to maintain them. In 1588 _Philip of Spain_ fitted
out a great fleet for the invasion of England. This caused a great
panic throughout Scotland. The people feared that Philip might conquer
England and bring it again under the dominion of the Pope, in which
case the subjection of Scotland must soon follow. The _Covenant_ for
the maintenance of the _Protestant religion_, which had been signed
in 1581, was renewed and signed all over the land. So great was the
dread of the bishop of Rome that the people looked on all bishops with
suspicion, and in 1592 an act was passed by which the whole order was
swept away and the presbyterian polity established. Thenceforth the
church was to be governed by a series of courts, the members of which
were presbyters. The ministers of several parishes formed a presbytery,
these again were grouped together into synods, while supreme over all
was the _General Assembly_, composed of ministers and lay elders from
the several presbyteries, which was to meet once a year at Edinburgh,
and at which the King or his commissioner was to be present.
=38. The Spanish Blanks.=--Still a large party adhered to the old
Church. The chiefs of this party were _Huntly_ in the north and the
_Maxwells_ on the Border. They were always suspected of scheming for
its restoration, and, as the King could not or would not proceed
against them, he was supposed to favour their plans. In 1592 eight
suspicious papers were seized on the person of _George Kerr_, the
_Lord_ _Newbottle's_ brother, who was leaving Scotland by the western
coast. These papers, called the _Spanish blanks_, were signed by
_Huntly_, _Errol_, and _Angus_, but had no other writing on them.
_Kerr_, after being put to the torture, declared that these blank
papers were to be filled up by two Jesuits who were commissioned to
offer the services of the nobles who had signed them to the King of
Spain, to aid him in the re-establishment of the old religion. This
discovery filled every one with horror. _Angus_ was seized; but as
_Huntly_ retreated to his own country in the north, _Argyle_, his rival
in the Highlands, was sent with full power against him. The two armies
met at _Glenlivat_, not far from the scene of the well-remembered fight
of _Harlaw_. Huntly had but two thousand men, raised chiefly in the
northern Lowlands, but they defeated Argyle's swarm of Highlanders,
October 1594. But the Romish party was too weak to follow up the
victory, and in 1597 Huntly and Errol publicly renounced their old
faith, and joined the established Church.
=39. Religious Tumults.=--The King and the Church were not long at
peace. He called certain of their ministers to account before the
council for what they had said in the pulpit. The ministers looked
upon this interference as an attack on their privileges. The people
supported them, and the result was a riot, so serious that the Court
had to flee to Linlithgow. Upon this the King threatened to take away
the courts of justice from Edinburgh. The fear of this damped the
spirit of the mob, and after the return of the Court the ministers who
had withstood the King fled to England. The Estates soon after passed
an act by which the King might confer on any minister the title of
_bishop_ or _abbot_, but only so as to give him a seat in Parliament;
the title was not to imply any lordship over his brethren.
=40. The Gowrie Plot.=--On the morning of the fifth of August, 1600,
as James was setting out hunting from Falkland Palace, he was met
by _Alexander Ruthven_, the younger brother of the _Earl of Gowrie_,
who told him with a great air of mystery that he had discovered a man
burying a pot of money in a field, and that he thought the affair so
suspicious that he had taken him prisoner, and begged the King to
come to _Gowrie House_ in _Perth_ to see him. James went, taking with
him _Mar_, _Lennox_, and about twenty other gentlemen. After dinner
_Alexander_ took the King aside, and, when his attendants missed him,
they were told that he had gone back to _Falkland_. They were preparing
to follow him there when some of them heard cries from a turret. They
recognized the King's voice, and they presently saw his head thrust
out of a window calling for help. They had much ado to make their way
to him, but they found him at last in a small room struggling with
Alexander, while a man dressed in armour was looking on. Alexander
Ruthven and Gowrie were both killed in the scuffle which followed. A
tumult rose in the town, for the Earl had been Provost and was very
popular with the townsfolk, and the King and his followers had to make
their escape by the river. The doom of traitors was passed on the dead
men, and their name was proscribed, but, as no accomplice could be
discovered, it was hard to say what was the extent or object of their
plot. The whole affair was very mysterious, the only witnesses being
the King himself and Henderson the man in armour. Some of the ministers
thought it so suspicious that they refused to return thanks for the
King's safety, as they thought the whole affair an invention of his
own. Eight years later some letters were discovered in the hands of
one _Sprot_, a notary at _Eyemouth_, which threw some more light on
the mystery. They were written by _Logan_ of _Restalrig_, and revealed
a plan between him and the Ruthvens for bringing some prisoner, who
was not named, but might possibly be the King, to _Fast Castle_, a
fortress belonging to Logan, standing on a rock at the entrance to the
_Forth_. Sprot was found guilty of treason, and was put to death for
not revealing all he knew about the plot long before.
=41. Union of the Crowns.=--When Elizabeth died, James was the nearest
heir to the throne of England by right of descent from _Margaret_,
elder daughter of _Henry the Seventh_. But her right had been passed
over by _Henry the Eighth_, who had in the will, which he was empowered
by Parliament to make, settled the succession on the heirs of his
younger sister, _Mary_. As it was politically convenient to the English
Privy Council that James should succeed Elizabeth on her death, they
sent off post haste to summon him to come and take the crown. His
questionable right was made good by the voice of the people in his
first Parliament. He entered London May 6, 1603. Hitherto he had had
less money and less power than almost any other prince in Europe;
he now became suddenly one of the richest and most powerful among
them. This union of the crowns made the third break in the history of
Scotland. The gallant struggle for freedom which had drawn forth all
the energies of the nation during the past three centuries was now
over. It was now to be united to the powerful neighbour that had so
long threatened its independence. The representative of the ancient
royal Celtic line, which the national reverence for hereditary royalty
had upheld unbroken through the strain of seven long minorities, now
became king of the larger and richer kingdom of _England_, which had
been ruled by one foreign dynasty after another ever since the Norman
Conquest.
=42. State of the Nation.=--In Scotland the feudal system was
still unshaken. To it the great barons owed their power, and the
_Reformation_, which in England had strengthened the crown, had in
Scotland only thrown more wealth and more power into the hands of
the nobles. Hitherto the people had been only dependents of the
great feudal barons, whose burthens they bore in return for their
protection. Still they could not have been very badly off, for in
Scotland there were no peasant wars, as in _France_ and _England_. It
was the _Reformation_ which first brought them out as a separate body
in the state. Their condition was now much worse than it had formerly
been. The crown brought its increased power to bear upon the nobles,
who in their turn, slaves and flatterers at the foreign Court and
tyrants at home, used their feudal rights for the oppression of the
people, who could hope for no redress from their absent King.
=43. Summary.=--We have, in this chapter, traced the progress of the
_Reformation_, and noted the changes which it made in the state of
the nation. Though the Reformation did not begin so soon in Scotland
as in _Germany_ and _England_, it made more striking changes and
overthrew the old Church more completely than it did in either of
those countries. It first gave to the people an independent national
life. Until it roused them to separate action, they had been swayed
by no party feelings, but had blindly followed the lead and fought
in the feuds of their feudal superiors, without paying any heed to
the cause for which they laid down their lives. The Reformation also
broke off the alliance with France which had subsisted ever since
the War of Independence. All the events of this period are closely
connected with the change of religion, and it is marked by more civil
war, more bloodshed, more crimes of violence, more party strife, more
treachery and wrong and robbery, than any other period in the history
of Scotland. It was the bad faith of Mary of Lorraine which first drove
the Reformers to take up arms in defence of their opinions. Under their
own native queen they hoped to enjoy liberty of conscience, and as they
looked to her to redress their grievances they welcomed her return
with much loyal feeling. By the craftiness and dissimulation of her
policy in public affairs, and by the scandals of her private life, she
changed their loyal affection into loathing and contempt, and finally
forfeited the crown. During the long minority which followed, the
country was desolated by a civil war, and the crown was impoverished
by the grasping greediness of the nobles. When the King came of age,
he showed himself quite unequal to the task of ruling and uniting the
different rival factions in the church and in the state, and allowed
himself to be governed by one worthless favourite after another. Nor
were the ecclesiastical affairs of this period at all more settled
than the secular. The form of church government was changed four times
before the presbyterian polity was finally established in 1592. The
lands of the old Church had been seized by the most worthless of the
nobles instead of being set apart for the support of the new Church,
so that the ministers could with difficulty secure a bare subsistence.
During such an unhappy state of affairs there could be little social
or intellectual development. There were however among the Reformers
many men distinguished for their learning and brilliant talents. Of
these the most conspicuous were _George Buchanan_, tutor to the young
king, who wrote a fabulous history of Scotland and other books in very
elegant Latin, and _John Knox_, who wrote a History of the Reformation,
remarkable for the vigour, clearness, and simplicity of its style. _Sir
James Melville_, who was also an accomplished courtier, and stood high
in favour both with Mary and with James, gives an excellent picture
of these disturbed times in his very entertaining memoirs. The Prayer
Book of the Reformed Church was also translated into Gaelic. It was
published in 1567, and was the first Celtic book that had ever yet been
printed.