Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/274

 258 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 6$. him.' 1 Lennox called him 2 ' a little devil/ and ordered him to leave Edinburgh instantly, with seventy of the chief persons of his congregation. He thought it pru- dent to obey ; but none the less, on the Sunday follow- ing, Mr Robert Montgomery was excommunicated ; the sentence was publicly read in every Lowland pulpit ; and it was intimated in no very vague terms that Len- nox's own turn should follow. Father Holt, who was with Lord Seton at the time, attributed the courage of the ministers to the intrigues of Elizabeth. ' The Queen of England/ he informed Mendoza, ' has instigated the ministers to preach against Lennox, and, finding it im- possible to shake his credit with the King, is now seek- ing to have him cut off from their diabolical congrega- tion, and rendered thus incapable by law of holding office in the country. As a step towards it, they have excommunicated a person whom the King, at the in stance of Lennox, had appointed Bishop of Glasgow. Their religion, they pretend, does not permit men to call themselves bishops. They will have no Papistry, they say, but will be ruled by superintendents, after the fashion of Geneva.' 3 The Assembly required no prompting by Elizabeth, and had she interfered it would not have been in defence of Presbytery ; but the dispute gave her a chance of re- establishing the party which she had so lightly allowed to fall to pieces, and of which she had felt the loss bitterly. She put herself in communication with Lord Angus, who 1 CALDEBWOOU. 2 < UD petit diable.' 5 Mendoza to Philip, July 12, 1582 : MSS. Simancaa.