d the monasteries of the
Dominicans and the Franciscans and the Charterhouse Abbey; and within
two days, says Knox, "the walls only did remain of these great
edifications."

There was now no alternative but the sword, and both parties at once
took action accordingly. In support of the French troops which were at
her disposal, the Regent ordered levies from Clydesdale, Stirlingshire,
and the Lothians to meet her at Stirling on May 24th. On their part the
insurgents strengthened the defences of Perth--according to Buchanan,
the only walled town in Scotland--and addressed themselves to their
brethren in Ayrshire for instant succor. As they were now engaged in
what might be construed as rebellion, they took steps to justify
themselves in the eyes of the world. In three manifestoes, probably the
work of Knox, they addressed respectively the Regent, D'Oysel, the
French ambassador, and the whole Scottish nobility. In view of the past
history of Scotland the insurgents could present a case which possessed
sufficient plausibility. It had been the exception for the reign of a
Scottish king to pass without some more or less serious revolt on the
ground of his alleged misgovernment. Even during the reign with which we
are dealing, there had been a fair precedent for the late proceedings of
the Congregation. At the outset of the reign, the Earl of Arran was
giving away the country to England and to heresy; Beaton and the French
party had taken up arms against him, and undone all his actions to which
they objected. But as Mary of Lorraine was now governing the country,
the danger of a French conquest was much more serious than had been the
danger of conquest by England. On the ground that the state was in
peril, therefore, there was ample justification for the action of the
Protestant leaders. With regard to religion, the good of the
commonwealth might easily be urged as a plea for the most drastic
dealing with the national Church. By the admission of its own officials
the Church had become a scandal, alike from the character of the clergy
and its general neglect of its duties as a spiritual body. For at least
a century the scandal had been growing; and good citizens had been
forced to the conclusion that their accredited spiritual guides were
either unable or unwilling to set their house in order.

But the time demanded deeds more than words. With a force of about eight
thousand French and Scots, D'Oysel, the Regent's chief adviser