complices was very grieuous, yet God so assisted his seruauntes
partly by inclining the kinges heart to gentlenes (for diuerse of
them were his great familiars) and partly by giuing bold and godly
aunswers to their accusators, that the enemies in the ende were
frustrate of their purpose. For while the Bishop in mockage saide
to Adam reade of blaspheming, read beleeue ye that God is in
heauen? he answered Not as I do the sacramentes seuen: whereat the
bishop thinking to haue triumphed said: Sir loe

Vautrollier's edition is a small 8vo, commencing with signature B, page
17, and breaking off with signature Mm, page 560, or near the beginning
of the 5th chapter of the Book of Discipline, which Knox has introduced
at the conclusion of Book Third of his History. Copies of this volume in
fine condition are of rare occurrence.

The edition of the History published at London by David Buchanan in
1644, and reprinted at Edinburgh in the same year, in all probability
under his own inspection, will be more particularly noticed in the
following volume. It might perhaps have been well had this publication
been actually prohibited, as Milton[8] seems to indicate was not
unlikely to have taken place. So much use at least had been made of the
unwarrantable liberties taken by the Editor, in altering and adding
passages, as for a length of time to throw discredit on the whole work.

At length there appeared the very accurate edition, published at
Edinburgh 1732, with a Life of the author, by the Rev. Matthew Crawfurd.
Besides this and the two editions published in a more popular form by
William M'Gavin, at Glasgow, there are numerous modernized and spurious
republications, all of them taken from Buchanan's interpolated
editions, and published at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee, between the
years 1731 and 1832. Even at an early period, both Calderwood, who had
made such copious extracts from the work, and Spottiswood, who expressed
his doubts respecting its authorship, appear to have employed
Vautrollier's inaccurate edition. The necessity of publishing the work
with greater care and in its most genuine form, will therefore by
readily admitted. The acquisition of the Manuscript of 1566, has enabled
the Editor to accomplish this, to a certain extent, by presenting the
text of the History in the precise form "wherein he hath continued and
perfectly ended at the year of God 1564," according to the declara