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 where he convened an assembly of the clergy to devise means for putting a stop to the disorders that were so heavily complained of, and which threatened the total ruin of the church. In this meeting it was proposed to allay the public clamours by taking measures for reforming the open profligacy of the priests, which was the chief source of complaint Their deliberations, however, were cut short by intelligence that George Wishart, the most eminent preacher of the reformed doctrines of his day, was residing with Cockburn of Ormiston, only about seven miles from Edinburgh. They calculated that, if they could cut off this individual, they should perform an action more serviceable to the cause of the church, and also one of much easier accomplishment, than reforming the lives of the priests. A troop of horse were immediately sent off to secure him; but Cockburn, refusing to deliver him, the Cardinal himself and the Regent followed, blocking up every avenue to the house, so as to render the escape of the reformer impossible. To prevent the effusion of blood, however, the Earl of Bothwell was sent for, who pledged his faith to Cockburn, that he would stand by Wishart, and that no harm should befall him; upon which he was peaceably surrendered. Bothwell, however, wrought upon by the Cardinal, and especially by the Queen-mother, with whom, Knox observes, "he was then in the glanders," after some shuffling to save appearances, delivered his prisoner up to the Cardinal, who imprisoned him, first in the Castle of Edinburgh, and soon after carried him to St Andrews, where he was brought before the ecclesiastical tribunal, condemned for heresy, and most cruelly put to death, as the reader will find related in another part of this work, under the article. Wishart was a man mighty in the Scriptures, and few even of the martyrs have displayed more of the meekness and humility that ought to characterize the follower of Jesus Christ; but his knowledge of the Scriptures availed him nothing, and the meek graces of his character, like oil thrown upon flame, only heightened the rage and inflamed the fury of his persecutors. Arran, pressed by his friends, and perhaps by his own conscience, wrote to the Cardinal to stay the proceedings till he should have time to inquire into the matter, and threatened him with the guilt of innocent blood. But the warning was in vain, and the innocent victim was only the more rapidly hurried to his end for fear of a rescue.

This act of tyranny and murder was extolled by the clergy and their dependants as highly glorifying to God and honourable to the actor, who was now regarded by them as one of the prime pillars of heaven, under whose auspices the most glorious days might be expected. The people in general felt far otherwise, and, irritated rather than terrified, regarded the Cardinal as a monster of cruelty and lust, whom it would be a meritorious action to destroy. Beaton was not ignorant of the hatred and contempt in which he was held, nor of the devices that were forming against him; but he supposed his power to be now so firmly established as to be beyond the reach of faction, and he was determined by the most prompt and decisive measures to be before-hand with his enemies. In the mean time, he thought it prudent to strengthen his interest, which was already great, by giving his daughter in marriage to the Master of Crawford. For this purpose he proceeded to Angus, where the marriage was celebrated with almost royal splendour, the bride receiving from her father the Cardinal, no less than four thousand marks of dowry. From these festivities he was suddenly recalled by intelligence that Henry of England was collecting a great naval force, with which he intended to annoy Scotland, and especially the coast of Fife. To provide against such an exigency, the Cardinal summoned the nobility to attend him in a tour round the coast, where he ordered fortifications to be made, and garrisons placed in the most advantageous positions. In this tour he was attended by the Master of Rothes, Norman Leslie, who had formerly been one of