mmoned them to depart from the town of St. Johnstoun;
but afterwards hearing of the daily increase of their numbers, she gave
them leave to depart peaceably, with many fair promises, that they
should meet with no further danger. On which they obeyed and left the
town, but they had no sooner done so, than she with her French guards
entered it in a most outrageous manner, telling the inhabitants, That
no faith should be kept with heretics.--This flagrant breach of promise
provoked Lord James to that degree, that he left the queen, and joined
the lords of the congregation (for so they were afterwards called). As
soon as the queen got intelligence of this, she sent a threatening
letter to him and Argyle (for they stuck together on almost all
occasions) commanding them to return, but to no purpose; for they went
to Fife, and there began to throw down and remove the monuments of
idolatry: Here they continued for some time; but being informed that the
queen intended to go to Stirling, they went off from Perth late in the
night, and entered Stirling with their associates where they immediately
demolished the monasteries, and purged the churches of idolatry. Such
was the zeal of these worthy noblemen for the interest of the reformed
religion in Scotland.

From Stirling they marched for Edinburgh, purging all the superstitious
relicts of idolatry out of Linlithgow in their way.--These summary
proceedings alarmed the queen regent, insomuch that her zeal for the
Romish idolatry, gave way to her fears about her civil authority. To
make the conduct of these reformers the more odious to the unthinking
part of the nation, she gave out that they were in open rebellion
against her, and that they made a pretence of religion, but that the
real design was to set lord James on the throne (there being now no
male-heir to the crown), These insinuations she found means to transmit
to lord James himself, in a letter said to be forged in the names of
Francis and Mary the king and queen of France, wherein he was further
upbraided with ingratitude on account of the favours they pretended that
they had shown him, and threatened to lay down his arms and return to
his allegiance. To this letter, (notwithstanding there were strong
reasons to suspect it was forged) he nevertheless returned a resolute
answer, declaring that he was not conscious to himself, either in word
or deed, of any offence either against the regent or laws; but in regard
the nobilit