chbishop Adamson. No man in the kingdom was more responsible for the
recent troubles than Adamson, except Arran, whom he encouraged and
supported in all his arbitrary measures. The minister of the Church who
first opened fire on the Archbishop was James Melville. He had consulted
beforehand with his uncle; but those who think he was too amiable to
have any fight in him, or that on this or any other occasion he was only
doing his uncle's bidding, do not know the man. His courage was as great
as his uncle's, if he had a milder manner and a calmer temper; and his
action on this occasion was the irrepressible outburst of his honest
indignation at Adamson's treachery in the affairs of the Church ever
since his elevation to the See of St. Andrews.

In March 1586 the Synod of Fife met at St. Andrews, and James Melville
as the retiring Moderator had to preach the opening sermon. It was a
full meeting. The Archbishop with a 'grait pontificalite and big
countenance' was seated by the preacher's side. The subject of discourse
was the evil that had been done to the Church from the time of its
planting by the ambitious spirit and corrupt lives of men holding its
highest offices. On reaching his application, the preacher, turning to
the Archbishop and directing his speech to him personally, recalled his
long course of disloyalty to the Church and his persistent efforts to
overthrow its discipline, as well as all the injuries he had done to
religion by his avarice and ambition: he spoke of him as a dangerous
member who needed to be courageously cut off in order to save the body;
and then, addressing himself to the Assembly, exhorted it to 'play the
chirurgeon!' This bold and unexpected attack unmanned the
Archbishop--'he was sa dashit and strucken with terror and trembling
that he could skarse sitt, to let be stand on his feet.' It was manifest
that the Moderator had the whole House at his back, and it at once
entered on a process against Adamson. At first he declined its
jurisdiction, boasting that it was rather his place to judge the
Assembly. At length, however, he condescended to defend himself; and
the process ended in his excommunication. A day or two after he
retaliated by excommunicating, on his own authority, within his own
church, Andrew Melville and other brethren. He also despatched to the
King an appeal against the Synod's sentence, defying the sentence at the
same time by appearing in his own pulpit on the following Sabba