The cause of the Congregation now appeared to be triumphant, but it
contained elements of weakness of which everyone was aware and which
speedily became manifest. The acts of violence which had attended the
revolt were filling the law-abiding citizens with dismay. The
destruction of church property in Perth and St. Andrew's had been
followed by similar excesses elsewhere. Especially disquieting had been
what had occurred at Scone immediately after the surrender of Perth. In
defiance of the protests of Knox, the lord James, and Argyle, the
reformers of Dundee had sacked and burned to the ground the abbey and
palace of that village--an outrage which Knox himself regretted in the
interest of his own cause. It was a further source of weakness to the
Congregation that their actions easily lent themselves to
misconstruction and misrepresentation. The Regent industriously spread
the plausible report both at home and abroad that their religious
professions were a mere pretext, and that their real object was to
overthrow herself and to make the lord James their king. But, above all,
the nature of the host that supported them was such that it invariably
failed them when their need was the greatest. The men who composed it
had to leave their daily business in town and country; and, as they
received no pay and their own affairs demanded their attention, their
military service did not extend beyond a few weeks. The Protestant
leaders had no sooner taken possession of Edinburgh than their following
began to dwindle. During the first week their numbers amounted to over
seven thousand men; by the third week they had diminished to one
thousand five hundred. In these circumstances the Regent had only to
bide her time, and her opportunity must come. On July 23d her troops,
led by D'Oysel and Chatelherault, marched on Leith, which they reached
on the morning of the 24th. As had been anticipated, neither that town
nor the capital itself was in a position to offer any effectual
resistance; and the leaders of the Congregation at once proposed a
conference for the discussion of terms. Accordingly, the Duke and the
Earl of Huntly on the one side, and Argyle, the lord James, and
Glencairn on the other, met on the east slope of the Calton hill and
agreed to the following adjustment: The Congregation were to give up the
coining-irons, of which they had taken possession, and they were to
evacuate Edinburgh within twenty-four hours. The town was to b