Scottish Text Society publications > Old series > Catholic tractates of the sixteenth century, 1573-1600

XVI
INTRODUCTION.
version of James and his kingdom or for the restoration of
his mother to the throne, had their own separate interests
to serve. There is, moreover, no probability that James
was at any time sincerely inclined to be a Catholic, and
he certainly did not desire his mother to be associated with
him in the government. The interests of Spain were not
identical with those of France, and the Pope could move
but little way without acting in concert with other Catholic
powers, which were themselves incapable of working in
harmony.
The period at which we have arrived, 1580-81, twenty
years after the settlement of religion in both countries, is
as important a landmark in the history of Scottish, as it
is of English, Catholics. The stir among Scottish priests,
who were after all surprisingly unprepared for their chances,
was making itself felt everywhere. The need of foreign
seminaries, like those of Douai and Rome for England, was
keenly felt, and tardy efforts were made to establish them.
Students flocked to the little seminary of Pont-a-Mousson,1
and aid was given towards the reconstruction of the Scots
College at Paris.2 There was a cry for books in the
vernacular for distribution among the people, since there
was next to nothing of the kind at hand. Four out
of the seven books, of which specimens are given in this
volume, were the immediate outcome of this crisis, and
the prefaces or dedicatory epistles which they contain,
addressed to the king and to the captive queen, bear
witness to the too sanguine hopes and expectations of
the hour. There was on all sides a volunteering of mis-
1 Abram, VUniversiU de Pont-ci-Mousson, pp. 168, 169. During the
years 1581-84, thirty-six Scots were received there and supported at the
expense of the Pope and Mary Stuart.
2 See note at p. 81, infra.