enom of her double
heart." She looked "frowardly" on Protestants, "commanded her household
to use all abominations at Easter," she herself communicated, "and it is
supposed that after that day the devil took more violent and strong
possession in her than he had before . . . For incontinent she caused
our preachers to be summoned."

But _why_ did she summon the same set of preachers as before, for no old
offence? The Regent, says the "Historie," made proclamation, during the
Council (as the moderate Reformers had asked her to do), "that no manner
of person should . . . preach or minister the sacraments, except they
were admitted by the Ordinary or a Bishop on no less pain than death."
The Council, in fact, made excommunication the penalty. Now it was for
ministering the sacrament after the proclamation of March 13, for
preaching heresy, and stirring up "seditions and tumults," that Methuen,
Brother John Christison, William Harlaw, and John Willock were summoned
to appear at Stirling on May 10, 1559. {99a}

How could any governor of Scotland abstain from summoning them in the
circumstances? There seems to be no new suggestion of the devil, no
outbreak of Guisian fury. The Regent was in a situation whence there was
no "outgait": she must submit to the seditions and tumults threatened in
the Protestation of the brethren, the disturbances of services, the
probable wrecking of churches, or she must use the powers legally
entrusted to her. She gave insolent answers to remonstrances from the
brethren, says Knox. She would banish the preachers (not execute them),
"albeit they preached as truly as ever did St. Paul." Being threatened,
as before, with the consequent "inconvenients," she said "she would
advise." However, summon the preachers she did, for breach of her
proclamations, "tumults and seditions." {99b}

Knox himself was present at the Revolution which ensued, but we must now
return to his own doings in the autumn and winter of 1558-59. {100}

CHAPTER IX: KNOX ON THE ANABAPTISTS: HIS APPEAL TO ENGLAND: 1558-1559

While the inevitable Revolution was impending in Scotland, Knox was
living at Geneva. He may have been engaged on his "Answer" to the
"blasphemous cavillations" of an Anabaptist, his treatise on
Predestination. Laing thought that this work was "chiefly written" at
Dieppe, in February-April 1559, but as it contains more than 450 pages it
is probably a work of longer time than two months. I