History Of Scotland Vol. 2 - Part 15

( Originally Published 1909 )

Kinmont Willie made Prisoner by the English—The Scottish Warden attacks Carlisle Castle, and liberates him—Elizabeth demands that Buccleuch should be delivered up, which is refused by the Scottish Parliament—He visits England of his own Accord, and is honorably received—The Catholic Lords give new Trouble—James proposes that they shall be reconciled to the Church—The Scottish Clergy take Alarm, and establish a Standing Committee of the Church at Edinburgh—Black preaches a Sermon highly disrespectful to the King—He is called before the Privy Council—The Clergy encourage him to disown the Jurisdiction of the Judges—He is found guilty, and banished to the North—Misunderstanding between the King and Church—Great Tumult in Edinburgh—The King leaves the City, and removes the Courts of Justice—The Clergy apply to the Lord Hamilton to support them, but in vain—He returns to Edinburgh, attended by the Border Clans and others The Citizens are alarmed for fear of being Plundered—James makes a Composition and pardons them—He becomes desirous to new model the Church of Scotland, by introducing Episcopacy; but is obliged to proceed with great Caution—The Order of Bishops is established under strict Limitations

AN incident took place in the beginning of the year 1596, which had almost renewed the long discontinued wars upon the border. Excepting by the rash enterprises of Bothwell, these disorderly districts had remained undisturbed by any violence worthy of note since the battle of the Reedsquair. Upon the fall of Bothwell, his son-in-law, Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, had obtained the important office of keeper of Liddisdale, and warden of the Scottish borders upon that unsettled frontier. According to the custom of the marches, Buccleuch's deputy held a day of truce for meeting with the deputy of the Lord Scroope, governor of Carlisle Castle, and keeper of the west marches on the English side. The meeting was, as usual, attended on both sides by the most warlike of the borderers upon faith of the usual truce, which allowed twenty-four hours to come and go from such meetings, without any individual being, during that short space, liable to challenge on account of offences given to either kingdom. Among others who attended Buccleuch's deputy was one Armstrong, commonly called Kinmont Willie, remarkable for his exploits as a depredator upon England. After the business of the meeting had been peaceably transacted the parties separated. But the English, being on their return homeward, at the south side of the River Liddle, which is in that place the boundary of the kingdoms, beheld this Kinmont Willie riding upon the Scottish bank of the river alone and in absolute security. They were unable to resist the tempting opportunity of seizing a man who had done them much injury; and, without regarding the sanctity of the truce, a strong party crossed the river into Scotland, chased Kinmont Willie for more than a mile, and by dint of numbers made him at length their prisoner. He was carried to the castle of Carlisle and brought before Lord Scroope, where he boasted proudly of the breach of the immunities of the day of truce in his person, and demanded his liberty, as unlawfully taken from him. The English warden paid little attention to his threats, as in-deed the ascendency of Elizabeth in James's councils made her officers infringe the rights of Scottish subjects with little ceremony; and on the score of his liberty, he assured Kinmont Willie, scornfully, that he should take a formal fare-well of him before he left Carlisle Castle.

The Lord of Buccleuch was by no means of a humor to submit to an infraction of the national rights, and a personal insult to himself. On this occasion he acted with equal prudence and spirit. The Scottish warden first made a regular application to Lord Scroope for delivery of the prisoner, and redress of the wrong sustained in his capture. To this no satisfactory answer was returned. Buccleuch next applied to Bowes, the English ambassador, who interfered so far as to advise Lord Scroope to surrender the prisoner without bringing the matter to further question. Time was given to advertise Elizabeth; but she, being in this as in other cases disposed to bear the matter out by her great superiority of power, returned no satisfactory answer. The intercourse between the wardens became then of a more personal character; and Buccleuch sent a challenge to Lord Scroope, as having offered him a personal affront in the discharge of his office. Scroope returned for answer that the commands of the queen engaged him in more important matters than the chastisement of the Scottish warden, and left him not at liberty to accept his challenge. Being thus refused alike public and private satisfaction, Buccleuch resolved to resort to measures of extremity, and obtain by means of his own force that redress which was otherwise denied him. Being the chief of a numerous clan, he had no difficulty in assembling three hundred chosen horsemen at Woodhouselee upon the Esk, the nearest point to the castle of Carlisle upon the Scottish marches, and not above ten or twelve miles' distance from that fortress. The hour of rendezvous was after sunset; and the night, dark and misty, concealed their march through the English frontier. They arrived without being perceived under the castle of Carlisle, where the Scottish warden, taking post opposite to the northern gate of the town, ordered a party of fifty of his followers to dismount and attempt to scale the walls of the castle with ladders which had been provided for the purpose. The ladders being found too short, the assailants attacked a small postern-gate with iron instruments and mining tools, which they had also in readiness: the door giving way, the Scots forced their way into the castle, repulsing and bearing down such of the English guards as pressed forward to the defence of the place. The alarm was now given. The beacon on the castle was lighted, the drums beat, and the bell of the cathedral church and watch-bell of the mote-hall were rung, as in cases of utmost alarm.

To this din the Scots without the castle added their wild shouts; and the sound of their trumpets increased the con-fusion, of which none of the sleepers so unseasonably awakened could conceive the cause. In the meanwhile the assail-ants of the castle had delivered their countryman, Will of Kinmont. In passing through the courtyard he failed not to call out a lusty good night at Lord Scroope's window, and another under that of Salkeld, the constable of the castle. The assailants then made their retreat, abstaining strictly, for such was their charge, from taking any booty, or doing any violence which was not absolutely necessary for executing the purpose for which they came. Some prisoners were taken and brought before Buccleuch, who dismissed them courteously, charging the most considerable among them with a message to the constable of the castle, whom, he said, he accounted a more honorable man than Lord Scroope, who had declined his challenge; telling him what had been done was acted by the command of him the Lord of Liddisdale; and that if, as a man of honor, he sought a gallant revenge, he had only to come forth and encounter with those who were willing to maintain what they had dared to do. He then retreated into Scotland with his banner displayed and his trumpets sounding, and reached his domains with the delivered man in perfect safety.

The general spirit of the people of Scotland received the account of this stratagem of war with the highest applause. It seemed a revival of the ancient spirit which had so long enabled Scotland to protect her independence against a superior enemy; and the common saying among the people was that such an act of vassalage had not been performed in Scotland since the time of Sir William Wallace. Elizabeth, on the contrary, was highly offended; and either could not perceive, or would not acknowledge, that the fault of her own officer had given occasion to a retaliation which, everything considered, had been conducted with extreme moderation. By the queen's directions her ambassador lodged a violent complaint before the Scottish parliament, setting forth that the Lord of Liddisdale had invaded the queen of England's castle, wounded her subjects, done violence, and offered dishonor to her country, and to her warden; and as these insults had been offered during the time of profound peace, she required that the person of Buccleuch should be surrendered to England, to be treated according to his demerits. The matter was conducted with great solemnity; the king himself urging to the parliament the necessity of giving satisfaction to Elizabeth, and the secretary arguing the question in behalf of Buccleuch. The parliament came to a decision that the recovery of a prisoner unlawfully taken, achieved with such circumstances of moderation, was in itself lawful; and that to deliver Buccleuch to be punished for such an action would be totally unreason-able, and tend to the degradation of the king and whole realm of Scotland. The matter was summed up by the secretary, who said with a loud voice that Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch should pass into England when it should please the king himself to go thither, and not sooner. To escape the risk of displeasing Elizabeth, James, notwithstanding this spirited decision, personally requested of Buccleuch that he would present himself of his own free will before the queen of England, under the assurance that he should be permitted to return in honor and safety. Buccleuch readily agreed to a compromise which was to satisfy Elizabeth's point of honor, and relieve James from a serious difficulty. It is said, by tradition, that when he presented himself before Elizabeth, the queen asked him, with the air of imposing dignity, which she knew so well how to assume, how he had dared to commit so great an outrage in her dominions? —"May it please you, madam," answered the border chief, "I know not the thing that a man dares not do." Elizabeth was pleased with his spirit; and having detained him for some time at her court, dismissed him with tokens of honor and regard, thus extinguishing the last spark of that conflagration of hostility which had raged between England and Scotland for perhaps twenty centuries.

It would have been an ill time for Elizabeth and James to have harbored any discord which might be forborne, since Philip of Spain was again agitating the most gigantic schemes for the conquest of Britain. This occasioned the deepest anxiety on the part of King James, embarrassed as he was by the difficulty of dealing between the Catholic lords so lately in rebellion and the ministers of the Church. Huntley, Angus, and Errol had wandered in foreign parts since the king's march into the north and the end of their rebellion. Finding their reception and entertainment colder than they expected, they began to cast their eye back to their own country, aware that they would find little opposition on the part of the king if they could only evade or satisfy the suspicions of the churchmen. The banished earls returned secretly into Scotland, and soon after sent a petition to the king and convention, praying for permission to reside in their own country, under security for their good behavior. The king laid this petition before a convention which met at Falkland upon August 12, together with these sensible observations : 'only one of two courses, he said, could be pursued toward these unfortunate noblemen; either they must be utterly destroyed and exterminated with their whole race and family, a task of some difficulty, and of a most vindictive and unchristian character, or else they must be admitted to pardon upon expressing a humble acknowledgment of their offence, and finding security for the safety of the Church. It was therefore agreed by the convention that the petition of the earls should be granted upon such conditions as the king in council should attach to the boon so conferred.

When this news transpired, the jealousy of the Church was excited to the most violent and unreasonable degree. The ministers held meetings, wrote circular letters, commanded the churchmen to read from every pulpit the ex-communication of the Catholic lords, and enjoined them to impose the same sentence on all those who should show the least attachment to the popish religion, or disposition to favor the Catholic earls. They summoned a committee of the most eminent clergymen, and enjoined them to come to Edinburgh, where, with the ministers of that city, they were to form a permanent committee, called the Standing Council of the Church, with power to exert the supreme authority of the whole body in case of any apparent danger to the ecclesiastical establishment. These violent measures greatly offended the king, who was desirous that his subjects, both Catholics and Presbyterians, should live peaceably together, attach themselves to his government, and abstain from domestic quarrels. For this purpose, he pleaded for some terms of reconciliation with Mr. Robert Bruce, a minister of talents and respectability, with whom he had hitherto been on good terms. With difficulty Bruce was brought to allow that Angus and Errol might be admitted to remission on the part of the Church; but sternly insisted that Huntley, the most able as well as most powerful of the three, should be declared incapable of pardon. "Your grace," said the preacher, with an unusual degree of insolence, "may make your choice between Huntley and me; but you cannot have the friendship of both."

While the king and the Church were on these evil terms with each other, slight causes, arising from the want of sense and temperance of individuals, occurred every moment to add fuel to the flame. One Black, a clergyman of warm passions and contemptible understanding, had, in a sermon at St. Andrew's, cast forth the most bitter and despiteful reproaches against the king and queen, the judges, and servants of the crown, and Elizabeth herself. The king took this opportunity to act upon the resolution formed to check the insolence of the ministers, and he caused Mr. Black to be cited to appear before the privy council. The charges contained in the summons against this turbulent clergyman accused him, first, of having affirmed in the pulpit that the popish lords had returned into the country with his majesty's knowledge, and upon his assurance; and of having said that, in so doing, James had discovered the treachery of his heart.

Secondly, he was charged with having called all kings the devil's bairns; adding that the devil was in the court, and in the guiders of it. Thirdly, in his prayer for the queen he was charged with having used these words: "We must pray for her, for the fashion; but we have no cause; she will never do us good." Fourthly, that he had called the queen of England an atheist. Fifthly, that he had discussed a suspension, granted by the lords of session, in the pulpit, and called them miscreants and bribers. Sixthly, that, speaking of the nobility, he said they were degenerated, godless dissemblers, and enemies to the Church; likewise, speaking of the council, that he had called them holliglasses, cormorants, and men of no religion. Lastly, that he had convocated divers noblemen, barons, and others, within St. Andrew's, in the month of June, 1594, caused them to take arms, and divide themselves in troops of horse and foot, and had thereby usurped the power of the king and civil magistrate.

It would have been more than could have been expected, at this unenlightened and fanatical period, that the Church of Scotland, though containing many learned and wise men, should have viewed the polemical disputes between the two religions with the liberality that did not belong to the time: they would, in that case, have seen that pressing the king to the destruction and extermination of three great and powerful barons was involving him in a task neither easily accomplished nor suitable to his means, since James had neither a standing army nor revenues capable of keeping one on foot. They would also have seen that the earls themselves could have no interest to assist the oppressive and ambitious designs of Philip II., unless they were driven to these extremities by exile from their country, plunder of their estates, and oppression of their consciences. This was not, however, the reasoning of the times; and the Roman Church was in fact scarcely more intolerant than the Kirk of Scotland, except that the latter was content to limit the rigor of their opinions to this world, and to allow that, in the next, a Catholic might be capable of salvation. During their stay in this world, the Protestants alike invoked against those who dissented from them the censures of the Church and the sword of the temporal power. There was no room, they contended, for toleration to papists, either on the part of the king or on the part of the Church.

But although this severe doctrine was so deeply entwined with their notions of church government, it might have been expected that the wise and discreet among the ministers would have discerned the danger of useless and unnecessary quarrels with James, by such scandalous imputations as those for which Black was called before the council. It was the business and interest of the. Church to have instantly disavowed this rash man; and by imposing upon him the censure and punishment of his own order, his spiritual superiors would have taken away from the king all the jealousy which he might otherwise have retained of the irresponsibility of the clergymen to the temporal power. They ought to have recollected, with some feeling of gratitude, that King James had abolished those acts of parliament passed in the year 1584, by which the clergy had been declared liable to censure and punishment in lay courts for offences committed in the pulpit. Besides this, the position of James rendered it every year more politic to secure his power and favor. The prospects of King James's succession to the English throne became yearly nearer; and as he must be then invested with the power of a large and wealthy kingdom, it would have been of importance to have pre-served ais affection and good opinion while he was in the less powerful condition of a mere king of Scotland.

But these reflections had no weight: the clergy made the cause of Black that of the order at large : they again revived the dispute concerning the ecclesiastical immunities, pretending that the clergymen in the exercise of their office were only subject to the general assembly, and their other spiritual superiors. For such doctrine as he had promulgated from the pulpit the council of the Church, therefore, enjoined Black to refuse to plead before the privy council, or answer any questions which might be there put to him; and they ordered their resolutions on this head to be circulated through every presbytery in the kingdom, and subscribed by every minister. It was now impossible for the king to give way; and he must have either persevered in his purpose of punishing Black, or lost all estimation as a king who could not avenge the most flagrant and injurious insults of the clergy. He published a proclamation for dissolving the committee of ministers called the Council of the Church: it set forth that certain ministers residing in Edinburgh, and assuming authority over their brethren, had presumed to publish a paper declining the regal jurisdiction, and calling on others to subscribe the same. The king, therefore, charged them by name to depart from the town, and return to their charges within twenty-four hours, under pain of treason. The commission, thus in danger of being dissolved, applied first to the Octavians, who returned them a short answer, saying that as these controversies were begun without their advice they should end without their interference. The commissioners next applied to the king himself, who seemed very willing to accommodate the affair. If they would pass, he said, from the objections to the jurisdiction of the privy council, or would declare that they only used them in a particular case, he would on his part desist from the prosecution of Black, notwithstanding the high indecency of his behavior. As this accommodation did not suit the clergy, although a considerable portion voted for accepting it, they resolved to stand by their proposed immunity.

The king, highly displeased, caused the proclamation to be issued, dissolving the commission of the Church; and though some attempts were made to accommodate the mat-ter with Mr. Black, it ended in the privy council proceeding against him, notwithstanding his claim of privilege. Having adduced proof of the offensive expressions which he had used, they declared him guilty of the scandalous charges brought against him, and referred his punishment to the king. James, though sufficiently jealous of his own authority, was not unreasonably severe in the punishment. He appointed Black to be sent to the north for some time; and at the same time he required from the ministers that a bond of obedience to the king should be subscribed by each of them, under pain of their stipends and means of living being sequestrated; at the same time, Black was ordered to depart upon his banishment. The clergy and their congregations were alarmed at these proceedings. Other reports, as is usual in such cases, augmented the fears and anxieties of men's minds. The king was, on his part, in-formed that a nightly watch was kept in Edinburgh around the ministers' houses, as if to defend them from some apprehended danger. James was so far moved by this intelligence that he was induced to command about twenty-four of the burgesses, most zealous in the cause of the clergy, to absent themselves from the town.

This increased the general suspicion of the Church, which was brought to a crisis by a letter received by Robert Bruce, and by him communicated to Mr. Walter Balcanqual, who was to preach at the hour of sermon. The paper stated (falsely) that the ministers ought to look to themselves; for Huntley had been with the king last night, and was the author of the proclamation against the ministers and citizens. The preacher, inflamed by this report, pronounced a fiery discourse, in which he cast gross reflections upon such statesmen as he concluded had given the king their advice in the late disputes with the Church. Turning then to the nobles and barons who were present, he reminded them of the zeal shown by their forefathers in establishing the re-formed religion, called upon them to follow the example of their predecessors, and for that purpose conjured them to assemble after the sermon should be ended in a neigh-boring place of worship, called the Little Kirk. While the clergy and the congregation, already much irritated, were heating themselves and exasperating their mutual passions, the king came to attend the sitting of the court of session, which was then held in the Tolbooth, close to St. Giles's Church, in which these tumultuary scenes were exhibited. This vicinity made it an easy matter for the meeting which had been held in the Little Kirk to send a committee of their number to wait upon the king. They were admitted to his presence, and declared that they were sent by the meeting convened in the Little Kirk, to bemoan the danger which was threatened to religion. "What danger does your wisdom apprehend?" said the king, angrily. The committee replied, that the ministers and best affected people were banished from town; that the Lady Huntley was received at court; and that it was shrewdly suspected her husband himself was not far distant. "And who are you," said the king, "who dare assemble contrary to my proclamation?" "We are such as dare do more," said the Lord Lindsay, who was one of the deputies from the Little Kirk; "we are those who will not see religion pulled down." At this time numbers of people thronged boldly into the room; observing which, the king arose, and leaving the apartment in which he was sitting, retreated to a lower one, and commanded the doors to be shut. The committee gave to the crowd who were waiting in the Little Kirk an alarming account of their want of success. "There is but one course to be taken," said Lindsay, fiercely : "let us stay together, such as are here, and stand by each other; let us send for our friends and those who favor religion, and let the day be either theirs or ours." This extravagant proposition was received by minds in a highly excited state; for during the absence of the committee, a clergyman named Cranstoun had been reading to the multitude the story of Haman, as a lesson appropriate to the subject. A great alarm then arose, some crying, "God and the king!" others, "God and the kirk!" until the whole people of Edinburgh rose in arms, and none knew for what purpose. Some also called out, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" others shouted, "Bring forth the wicked Haman!" Mischief of some kind would certainly have been done had it not been for the sense and courage of a stout citizen named John Watt, smith, who was principal deacon of the craftsmen of Edinburgh. He caused the artisans of the several incorporations to take arms, and coming at their head, demanded to see his majesty. The king showed himself from the window, and received the loyal proffer of the citizens to live or die with him. The tumult being in some degree composed, John Watt, with the trades as they are called, escorted the king safely to the abbey of Holyrood, and the night ended peace-ably. In the meantime the clergy, and such barons, gentry and citizens as adhered to them, drew up a petition to the following purpose: They prayed that professed papists should be sent from court; that the president, the lord advocate, and Mr. Elphinstone should be discharged from the council, as enemies to religion; that all the acts of council, proclamations and others unfavorable to religion, passed within the last five weeks, should be repealed; that the commissioners of the Church, and the burgesses who were banished, should be recalled by proclamation; that the order for subscribing the bond of obedience should be discharged as prejudicial to the Gospel; lastly, that an act of council should be made, recognizing as lawful whatever had been done by the actors in that day's disturbance. By the proposal of such high terms, which, indeed, comprehended everything which was in question between the crown and the Church, and decided all in favor of the latter, it is evident that the ministers entertained a mistaken belief that the victory was their own, if they could only maintain firmness enough to take advantage of the tumult, which, it was supposed, must have made a deep impression upon the king's mind. The petition was committed to the charge of a select party of the assembled clergy and gentry; and though the hour was late and the night dark they were required to proceed to the palace without loss of time, to deliver it to James in person. As they left the town of Edinburgh, however, and entered the more courtly suburb of the Canongate, the news which they received was unfavorable to their mission.

The Laird of Bargany, the principal person among them, was taken aside by a friend, who informed him that the king was irritated to the highest degree at the proceedings of the day, and that whoever should apply to him with such proposals as he and his companions were intrusted with must necessarily be in danger of incurring his severe displeasure. On receiving this intimation, Bargany excused himself from proceeding further upon the embassy; and those who were conjoined with him in the commission declined interfering in a business from which the principal commissioner with-drew himself. So the purpose of the petition was no further insisted on that night.

On the next morning a new scene opened. The king and council had left Holyrood early in the morning; and a proclamation was published at the cross of Edinburgh, stating that the seditious and armed tumult of the preceding day, the irreverence used toward his majesty's person, and the audacity of the clergymen, by whom the citizens had been encouraged to put themselves in arms, had rendered the capital an unfit place for the administration of justice. Therefore the courts of session, the sheriffs, and other judicial persons of every sort, connected with the courts of justice, were commanded to withdraw themselves from the said town of Edinburgh, and hold themselves in readiness to repair to such place as his majesty should assign; and a strict prohibition was laid on all nobles, barons, and others, discharging them from assembling either in Edinburgh or elsewhere without his majesty's license, under pain of his severe displeasure.

The trade in the metropolis at that time greatly depended upon the residence of the nobility, gentry, and others who attended the court, and that of the great number of residents brought thither to attend the courts of law. On such serious intimation of the king's displeasure, the citizens began to consider the necessary consequences to themselves and to the city, and looking sadly upon each other, seemed generally to desire that some accommodation might be resorted to. The ministers evinced greater courage, and used their utmost endeavors to induce the laity to join them, and to subscribe a bond, which they drew up, binding themselves to abide by the defence of the Protestant religion in those points in which it was now assailed. They applied, especially, to the Lord Hamilton and to the Lord of Buccleuch, inviting them to repair to Edinburgh and countenance the cause of religion. They resolved to excommunicate the lord president and the advocate, and only postponed doing so that the ceremony might be perfected with more solemnity at the next general assembly. Meanwhile they appointed fasts and sermons, in order to maintain and encourage the spirit of the people. The tenor of these discourses might be conceived from one preached by John Welsh in the High Church, in which he said the king was possessed with a devil, and that one devil being driven out of him, seven worse were entered in the room thereof; so that the subjects were legally entitled to arise and take the sword out of his hand, as in the case of the father of a family seized with a frenzy, whose children and servants are in these circumstances entitled to disarm and to bind him. They also spread reports that the Earl of Errol had come as far as the Queen's Ferry with five hundred horse, and had only returned on hearing of the tumult at Edinburgh. By thus taking upon themselves the odium of being the causers of the sedition, the ministers evidently showed that they re-membered how Knox, in the days of Queen Mary, had, by the energy of his preaching, animated the multitude, given. courage to the nobility, kept alive hope when it was well-nigh extinct, and remained victorious in the end. But they forgot that John Knox advocated the general cause of reformation of the Church and liberty of conscience, while they only wished to interest the feelings of others in defence of immunities claimed by the clergy, the propriety of which was extremely dubious : they had also forgotten that the nobles and barons who stood so firmly by the first Scottish reformers had in their view the private advantages which might arise to them from the occupation of the property be-longing to the Catholic Church. The ministers on the present occasion had no such bribe to offer ; and they might have remembered the proverb then current, that "Men cannot lure hawks with empty hands."

It proved as might have been expected : Lord Hamilton carried to the king the letter which invited him to put him-self at the head of the godly barons, who by the word and motion of the blessed Spirit had gone to arms, and invited him to Edinburgh for that purpose. King James was extremely offended by this epistle, addressed to one so near to him in blood. It does not appear what answer was made by Buccleuch, to whom a similar invitation was made; but he was certainly no way disposed to avail himself of it.

The first vindictive movement of the king was a letter commanding the magistrates of Edinburgh to imprison the ministers. They received timely information, however; and finding their hopes of obtaining the support which they had expected altogether vain, they fled to England, to escape the displeasure of the king. Deputations were in vain sent by the town of Edinburgh; for although the sturdy John Watt was of the number, to whom, probably, James owed his life, by his firmness during the tumult, they could not obtain an audience of James. Ile said that "fair and humble words could not excuse so gross a fault; and that ere long he should come to Edinburgh in person, and let them know that he was their king." The tumult was by the council declared to have been treason ; and all who were accomplices or maintainers in the same were declared liable to the doom of traitors. Language was even held at court which authorized more terrible suspicions; for it had been said that the destruction of the city was the only punishment which could atone for their sacrilegious insurrection.

It was, however, James's secret intention not to injure, but only to intimidate and humble his capital. For this purpose he summoned the attendants of Highland nobles and the chiefs of border clans with their followers, wild in speech, aspect, habit, and manners, formidable from their renown as lawless depredators, and most likely to strike terror into the inhabitants of a peaceful metropolis, possessed of a comparative degree of wealth. Attended by such an ominous retinue, James prepared to return to his capital, in all the terrors of offended majesty surrounded by the means of vengeance.

The alarm in the capital was great ; and is best described by the burgher journalist Birrel, who witnessed the scene and shared in the alarm: "On the last day of December, 1596, the king came to Holy-rood House; and command was given, by open proclamation, that on the morrow the Earl of Mar should keep the West Port, while Lord Livingstone, Buccleuch, Cessford, and sundry others, should guard the High Street. At this time, and before, there was a great rumor among the townsmen that the king designed to send in Will of Kinmont, the common thief, with as many Southland men as should plunder the town of Edinburgh. Upon this rumor the merchants took their merchandise out of their booths or shops, and transported the same to the strongest houses that were in the town, where they remained with their servants, looking for nothing but a general scene of plunder. In like manner the craftsmen and ordinary citizens removed themselves with their best goods, as it were ten or twelve households, into one which was the strongest house, and might be best defended from being spoiled or burned, and there watched, armed with hackbut, pistol, and such other weapons as might best defend them. Judge, gentle reader," says the honest annalist, "if this were play!" On the morning the streets and points of strength of the city were occupied by the lords and clans appointed for that purpose, and the capital was thus placed at the absolute disposal of the sovereign. The king, attended by a great retinue of his nobility, entered the city, and rode up the High Street, through the ranks of these unwonted guards. The provost and magistrates made the submission on their knees, and underwent a long harangue upon the character of their offence. A large sum of money, the best mediator upon the occasion, was disbursed by the city to propitiate their sovereign; and Edinburgh was deprived for a time of several of its most honorable privileges. Notwithstanding there was among the citizens general congratulation and rejoicing at their escape, even on these hard terms, from Will Kinmont, the Southland men, and the fear of universal plunder. The effect of suppressed insurrection, especially if the explosion has been in no degree formidable, and if the extinction has been decisive, is always that of strengthening the party against whom it has been raised. This proved eminently the case with the tumults of Edinburgh. The king availed himself of them to control the power of the Church, as well in the violence used in their sermons as in several of their rights of jurisdiction and discipline. But the dispute between James . and the Church of Scotland upon this occasion was productive of more lasting effects, nor were the mortal offence and aversion which James entertained upon this occasion forgotten or forgiven during his whole reign. It was a sense of the violence displayed by the churchmen, not so much in inciting a meditated insurrection, for the turn-alt appears to have been entirely accidental, as the de-sire they showed to avail themselves of the popular discontent to raise a civil war, which rendered James from that period desirous once more to introduce into the Scottish discipline the institution of bishops, by which, in the English and most Lutheran churches, the republican system of Cal-vin was tempered with a hierarchy of priesthood; which united the whole order, to a certain degree, with the crown.

It is easy to see how, at an earlier period, the Scottish clergy, by using their privileges moderately, might have insured a longer possession of them. For at the period of the king's return from Denmark he was favorably disposed to their measures, system, and authority; and, naturally inclined to peace, would have been little disposed to seek a quarrel with so powerful a party, if they had shown the least disposition to abstain from an actual collision with his authority. As it was, the gauntlet was thrown down; nor was the contest desisted from until dissension and blood of a whole century had at length brought the dispute to a termination.

James had, indeed, reinstated the lay jurisdiction in all the powers of controlling the Church judicatories, or the clergy at large, in the full force in which the restraint had existed by the act of 1584. But he was shrewd enough to perceive that this could only lead to a perpetual contest of dubious issue, arising from collisions between the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which the former might not be always willing to enforce, and which the clergy, in every instance, would be certain to resist. By introducing into the Church a superior body of clergy, having a higher rank in the State and a place in the legislature, he hoped he might be able to give the crown, with whom the promotion must necessarily rest, an influence among the clergy in general, and the power of securing a party of supporters in church assemblies and church judicatories. But in this he was compelled to act with extreme caution.