Scots worthies, 1560-1688

Introduction. ix
vengeance. But it could not be otherwise. Winzet asks
with amazement, " I conferrit with meself, how that micht
be, that Christiane men professing, techeing, and preching
Christe and his word sa mony zeirs, in ane monethis space
or thairby, said be changeit. sa proudly in sa mony heich
materis in ye plat contrair men. .At pasche and certaine
soundays efter, thay teichet with, grete appering zele, and
ministrate ye sacramentes til us on ye catholik maner ; and
be witsonday thay change their standart in our plane con-
trare."* It is strange how very small were the attempts
made to withstand the flood. The truth is, the reformers
were zealous, and believed in their cause. I do not deny
the same opinion to the Roman party ; but they were not
zealous. The archbishop of St. Andrews and the bishop
of Ross stand forth. Yet the archbishop dared not defend
his religion in the reforming parliament. True, he was
threatened ; but it was life or death for Willock and Knox
also. It is a great mistake to read over the scanty minutes
of the earlier general assemblies and to judge of the state
of matters from these. Only those firm in the reformed
faith were allowed to appear there. Even Willock, who
was in holy orders, afterwards accepted a living in the
church of England. This fact was long concealed by the
writers who fan the Knoxian cult. Laing first kills him
off in 1574, and not till the last volume of his "Works of
Knox " does he admit his ministry at Loughborough. \ If
further inquiries had been made it would have been found,
from the parish records of Loughborough (still preserved),
that Willock kept festival and fast there, and that clean-
ing and repair of church ornaments took place when he
was rector. His "latten byble and booke of concells" he
left to his patron. How, then, did the reformers succeed in
procuring the adhesion of so many of the old bishops,
abbots, doctors, and priests in Scotland ? Perhaps some
of my readers will start with surprise to know that any
* Booke of Four-Scoir-Thre Questions, p. 54.
t. Knox, Works, vi. p. 572, note.