and of primitive fanctity, who poffeffed in an intent degree the talent of feizing the attention and emaging the affections of the multitude. Wifhart fuffere with the patience of a martyr; but he could not forber remarking the barbarous triumph of his infulting acerfary, who beheld from a window of his fumptous palace the inhuman fpectacle: and he foretold, tha in a few days the cardinal fhould, in the fame palace, lie as low as now he was exalted high, in oppositionto true piety and religion.

This prophecy, like many others, was probably the caufe of the event which it foretold. The difciples of Wilhart, enraged at his cruel execution, formed a confpiracy against Beaton; and having affociated with them Norman Lefly,, eldeft fon of the earl of Rothes, who was inftigated by revenge on account of private injuries, they furprised the cardinal in his palace or caffle at St. Andrew's, and inftantly put him to death. One of the affaflins, named James Melvil, before he ftruck the fatal blow, turned the point of his fword towards Beaton, and in a tone of pious exhortation called ' to him, "Repent thee, thou wicked Cardinal, of all thy. fins and iniquities; but efpecially of the murder of George Wifhart, that inftrument of Chrift for the converfion of thefe lands. It is his death which now cries for vengeance. We are fent by God to inflict the deferved punishment upon thee."

Alarmed at the progrefs of the reformation, the popifh clergy had attempted to recover their finking authority, by enforcing the tyrannical laws againit herefy; and Hamilton, the primate, formerly diftinguifhed by his moderation, had fentenced to the flames Walter Mills, an aged prieft, convicted of embracing the proteftant opinions* This was the laft barbarity.

The good old reformer died with wonderful intrepidity. During his examination, his anfwers were acute and witty. Oliphant, a prieft, having afked him, whether there were not feven facraments? he replied, give me the Lord's fupper and baptifm, and divide the reit among you." What think you of matrimony, faid the other? "I think it a bleffed bond," faid Mills. "You abhor it, and take other men's wives and daughters."

of th kind that the catholics had the power to exercise in Sotland. The feverity of the archbishop rather roud than intimidated the reformers, who were powerfull fupported by the rhetoric of John Knox, a pracher, poffeffed of a bold and popular eloquence. Hving been carried prifoner into France, together wth other perfons taken in the caftle of St. Andrew's, fon after the murder of cardinal Beaton, Knox had nade his escape out of that kingdom; and, after refding fometimes in England, and fometimes in Scotand, had found it neceflary, in order to avoid the vengeance of the popifh clergy, to retire to Geneva. There he imbibed all the enthufiafm, and heightened the natural ferocity of his own character by the fevere doctrines of Calvin, who had fucceeded Zuinglius in the apostleship of that republic, and completed its ecclefiaftical establishment.

Invited home by the heads of the proteftant party in Scotland, Knox immediately joined his brethren, that he might share with them in the common danger, as well as in the glory of promoting the common caufe. Having mounted the pulpit at Stirling, he declaimed with fuch vehemence against the idolatry, and other abuses of the church of Rome, that his audience were ftrongly incited to attempt its utter fubverfion. During thofe movements of holy indignation, the indifcreet bigotry of a prieft, who immediately after that violent invective, was preparing to celebrate mafs, and had opened all his repofitory of images and reliques, hurried the enthufiaftic populace into immediate action. They fell with fury upon the devout catholic, broke the images, tore the pictures, overthrew the altars, and fcattered about the facred vafes. They next proceeded to the monafteries, against which their zeal more particularly pointed its thunder. Not content with expelling the monks, and defacing every implement of idolatrous worship, as they termed it, they vented their rage upon the buildings which had been the receptacles of fuch abomination; and, in a few hours, those fuperb edifices were level with the ground.

In 1560, the parliament was perfectly difpofed to establish the proteftant faith. Petitions in favor of reformation were kindly received, and the few Roman Catholics who fat in the house, feeing their party very weak, chofe to be filent. The papal authority being abolished, and the fervice forbidden to be read in Latin, a confeffion of faith, agreeable to the principles of reformation, was adopted, and general directions were given in favour of the new doctrines.

So little, however, had the proteftant Scots learned to profit by the odious appearance of that perfecution which had martyred their brethren, that one of their new laws enacted death, as the punishment for a third offence against its directions as to church worship.

CHAP. III.

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT.
A. D. 1547-1603.

THE defpotifm of Henry VIII. was fucceeded by a kind of nervelefs ariftocracy. A few potent noblemen, during the reign of Edward, ftruggled for power and profit, and left the people to be plundered and ruined by bribed fenators and iniquitous judges. Edward undoubtedly had good difpofitions; but except the fpirited Latimer, who attempted by his plain but fatirical discourses to open his eyes, he feemed hardly to have a fingle perfon about him who was not a party in fupporting the prevailing fyftem of corruption. The mildnefs of Cranmer rendered his advice ineffectual; and Somerset was governed by his wife, the vainest of women.

The corruption of the judges, though connived at by the great; could not efcape the fevere animadverfions of Latimer, in his fermons before the king. "Now-a-days," fays he, "the judges are afraid to hear a poor man against the rich; they will either pronounce against him, or delay the fuit, fo that he hall

not be able to go through with it. But the greåtest man in the realm cannot hurt the judge fo much as a poor widow." He then relates the ftory of a judge who was skinned for taking bribes, and his fkin nailed to a chair for future judges to fit in." The magiftrates," adds he, "fhew favour to fome, and will not fuffer them to be put to fhame.' "Oh! he is fuch a one's fervant, I must not meddle with him. He is a great man, I dare not displease him."-" Fie upon thee! art thou a judge, and wilt thou be afraid to give right judgment? Fear him not be he ever fo great a man, but take care to do true juftice."

The tyrannical laws against high treason, inftituted under Henry the eighth, were abolished by Edward. But this young and virtuous prince having foon paffed away, the blood-thirfty Mary aftonished the world with her cruelties.

Under the long and brilliant reign of Elizabeth, England began to breathe anew; and the proteftant religion, being once more eftablished, brought with it. more freedom and toleration. The ftar-chamber, that effectual inftrument of the tyranny of the two Henries, yet continued to fubfift; the inquifitorial tribunal of the high commiffion was even instituted; and the yoke of arbitrary power lay ftill heavy on the fubject. This, however, was rendered tolerable by the brilliancy of the reign, and affection of the people for a princefs whofe great talents rendered her worthy of being ranked among the greatest fovereigns.

The eftablifhed principles of the times, which attributed to the prince fuch an unlimited power as was fuppofed to be the origin of all law, were unfavourable to liberty. The homilies published for the ufe of the clergy, inculcate a blind and paffive obedience to the fovereign; and Dr. Gifford was fufpended in 1584, for preaching up a limited obedience to the civil magiftrate. It is remarkable that in all the historical plays of Shakespeare, where the manners and characters, and even the tranfactions of the feveral reigns are fo exactly copied, there is fcarcely any mention of

civil liberty. In the elaborate panegyric of England, contained in the tragedy of Richard II. and the detail of its advantages, we have not a word of its civil conftitution, as different from, or fuperior to, that of other European kingdoms; an omiffion which cannot be fuppofed in any English author, who wrote fince the restoration, at least fince the revolution. It was only during the next generation that the noble principles of liberty took root, and spreading themfelves under the fhelter of puritanical abfurdities, became fashionable among the people.

Queen Elizabeth herself, indeed, was no friend to liberty, but watchfully checked those faint dawnings of its fplendor, which now and then pervaded the gloom of defpotifm; nor was the adminiftration of justice in her time calculated to fecure either life or property. Dr. Hayward having dedicated a book to the earl of Effex, in which the queen fuppofed there was treason, and that it was not written by himself, but by a more mifchievous perfon, afked lord Bacon, whether he ought not to be racked to make him produce the author? To which his lordship replied," nay, madam, he is a doctor, never rack his perfon, but rack his ftyle. Let him have pen, ink, and paper, and help of books, and let him be enjoined to continue the ftory where it breaks off, and I will undertake, by collating the ftyles, to judge whether he were the author or no. Thus, had it not been for Bacon's humanity, or rather his wit, Dr. Hayward had been put to the rack for a most innocent performance. His real offence was his dedicating a book to that munificent patron of the learned, the earl of Effex, at a time when this nobleman lay under her majefty's difpleafure. The queen's menace of trying and punifhing this author for treafon could have eafily been executed, though the book had been ever so innocent. While fo While fo many terrors hung over the people, no jury durft have acquitted a man, when the court was refolved to have him condemned. The practice alfo of not confronting witneffes with the prifoner, gave the crown lawyers all imaginable advantage against him.

CHAP.