nisters could
not agree with a monarchy; that Puritans were pests in the Kirk and
commonwealth of Scotland, and that bishops must be set up.

The General Assembly met in Montrose in March 1600; and Melville, who
had come to the town to attend it, was commanded by the King to keep to
his room. Summoned to his Majesty's presence, he was asked why he was
giving trouble in attending the Assembly after the Act depriving him of
his seat; when he replied: 'He had a calling in his Kirk of God and of
Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, quhilk he behovit to dischairge at all
occasiounes, being orderlie callit thereto, as he wes at this time; and
that for feir of a grytter punischment then could any earthly king
inflict.' The King in anger uttered a threat, when Melville, putting his
hand to his head, said: 'Sir, it is this that ye would haiff. Ye sall
haiff it: Tak it! Tak it! or ye bereave us of the liberties of Jesus
Christ and His kingdome.'

Excluded from the Assembly, Melville remained in Montrose during the
sittings, to assist his brethren with his counsel. The King was present
at every sitting, and was busy from early morning till late at night
canvassing the members of the House; and though there were many who
stood honestly by their principles, his authority and diplomacy carried
the day. The House was so far from being favourable to the King's
scheme, that it would have thrown it out, but for his arbitrary closure
of the debate; it did throw out the proposal of life representatives;
and it safeguarded the other clauses of the measure with so many
_caveats_, that had they been observed, it could not have served for the
restoration of the bishops. These _caveats_, however, were not observed;
then, as many a time before and since in Scotland, the Church got the
worst of the bargain in seeking a compromise with the civil power, and
found too late that she had sold her birthright. In less than a month
after the Assembly rose, three of the ministers had been appointed to
bishoprics, and these ministers took their seats in the next Parliament.
We have seen that James, whenever he felt that the tide of hostile
opinion in the country was becoming too strong for him, sought to turn
it by some popular act. The General Assembly held in Burntisland in May
1601 witnessed one of those periodic fits of apparent yielding, on the
King's part, to the will of the nation. He was in peculiar disfavour at
the time, owing to the mysterious trage