A new instalment
of one thousand pounds, secretly sent by Elizabeth, was cleverly seized
by James, Earl of Bothwell, afterward the notorious helpmate of Mary
Stuart. Their arms, also, met with no success. While a detachment of
their troops was in pursuit of Bothwell, the enemy found their
opportunity and made their way even into the streets of Edinburgh; and
on November 25th the reformers sustained so severe a reverse that the
capital was no longer a safe place for them. They had no money to pay
the few mercenaries whom they had hired; the town was tired of them; and
the earl Marischal, who had charge of the castle, held resolutely aloof.
As at the close of their previous rising, the leaders held a council at
Stirling to determine their future policy; before they entered on their
deliberations, Knox was called upon to preach a sermon--Knox, of whom it
was said that he "put more life" into those who heard him "than five
hundred trumpets continually blustering" in their ears. The
deliberations that succeeded took a sufficiently practical shape. Young
Maitland of Lethington, who had lately deserted the Regent for the
Congregation, was despatched to England with offers that might induce
Elizabeth to give direct support to the cause of Protestantism in
Scotland. As to their own future action, the lords made the following
arrangement: Chatelherault, Argyle, Glencairn, and the lords Boyd and
Ochiltry were to make their head-quarters in Glasgow; while Arran, the
lord James, the lords Rothes and Ruthven, and John Knox were to act from
St.
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