, be read by sufficient masters, for whom honest stipends must be
appointed. As also that provision be made for those that be poore, and not
able by themselves nor by their friends to be sustained at letters, and in
special these that come from landward."[133]

Unfortunately, owing to the rapacity of the nobles, this splendid scheme
of national education was not carried out in its entirety. But though the
enlightened views which the Reformers thus endeavoured to impress both
upon the Parliament and the country were not so heartily and widely
adopted as they should have been, a beginning was made in the
establishment of parochial schools, and by this means the benefits of
education were brought within the reach of the great body of the people.
It has been justly remarked that if the counsel of the Reformers had been
followed, no country in the world would have been so well supplied as
Scotland with the means of extending the benefits of a liberal education
to every man capable of intellectual improvement.

The state of the Borders, however, for at least fifty years after the
Reformation, was such as to make it difficult in some places, and all but
impossible in others, to establish and maintain parochial schools. But in
course of time, as things began to improve, owing to the more systematic
and impartial administration of the law, the work of training the youth of
the district was entered upon with energy and enthusiasm. The beneficial
results of the new regime in matters educational soon became apparent.
Crime steadily decreased. The old reiving habits were gradually, if with
difficulty, abandoned, and increased attention was given to the peaceful
pursuits of agriculture and other industries; and out of the social chaos
which had so long been a notorious feature of Border life, a healthy,
vigorous, law-abiding community was evolved.

But the most potent factor in the pacification and moral regeneration of
the Borders was the influence and teaching of the Church. The religious
condition of the people in this part of the country, both before and after
the Reformation, can only be described as utterly deplorable. The fierce
fighting Border clans had practically broken with institutional religion
in all its forms. It is frequently said of them, and not without good
reason, that they feared neither God nor man. They delighted in robbing
and burning churches, and held both priest and presbyter in high disdain.
Johnie Armstr