BEATON. 



371 



Beaton, and successfully negociated a second marriage for 

 v > the king, wi; ; Mary, daughter of the Duke of 

 Guise. 



Beaton, now high in power, and eminently quali- 

 fied to promote the interests of the church of Rome, 

 was, in 1538, raised by Pope Paul III. to the rank 

 of cardinal, by the title of St Stephen, in monte cce- 

 lio. This promotion gave great uneasiness to Henry 

 VIII., who, jealous of Beaton's growing ascendancy 

 over his sovereign, and afraid of the consequences of 

 that strict alliance which he had formed with the 

 king of France, devised a scheme for the cardinal's 

 disgrace ; but, though deeply laid, it did not suc- 

 ceed. The archbishopric of St Andrews falling 

 vacant, f he cardinal succeeded, and became primate 

 of Scotland. No sooner was he invested with that 

 high office, than he discovered the most violent spi- 

 rit of bigotry and persecution. Having summoned 

 a numerous meeting of the Romish clergy and laity 

 to St Andrews, he, in a long speech, denounced the 

 reformers, who, he said, openly maintained their he- 

 retical opinions in the king's court. He particular- 

 ly accused Sir John Borthwick, whom he had cited 

 to that meeting ; and against whom a sentence of ex- 

 communication for non-appearance was passed, his 

 goods confiscated, and his person burned in effigy. 

 But Borthwick was not the only victim of Beaton's 

 resentment; several pesons of rank and distinction 

 were included in this prosecution, among whom we 

 find the celebrated Buchanan. All would, without 

 doubt, have suffered death, had they not happily esca- 

 ped from prison ; and to what length this bloody per- 

 secutor would have gone, it is impossible to say, had 

 not the king's death put a stop to his power ; for, it 

 is affirmed, that he had furnished his majesty with a 

 list of no fewer than 360 of the nobles, whom he re- 

 presented as heretics, who deserved to suffer the se- 

 verest punishment. James appears not to have been 

 averse to those violent measures, being tempted by 

 the hope of getting the valuable estates of the con- 

 victed nobles annexed to the crown. 



When the king died, Beaton produced a deed 

 signed by his majesty, which Buchanan affirms was 

 forged. The fact is also admitted by Robertson 

 and Guthrie. Hume, after mentioning it, expres- 

 ses himself thus : " At least, (for historians are not 

 well agreed in the circumstances of the fact), he had 

 read to James a paper of that import, to which that 

 monarch, during the delirium which preceded his 

 death, had given an imperfect assent and approba- 

 tion." The deed established the regency in himself, 

 and the Earls of Argyle, Huntly, and Arran ; but 

 it was set aside, although to give it validity, he 

 caused it to be proclaimed at the cross of Edinburgh. 

 The Earl of Arran, who, next to the young prin- 

 cess, was heir to the crown, was chosen sole regent, 

 during her minority ; and the cardinal was sent pri- 

 soner to the castle of Blackness. But he found 

 means of soon obtaining his liberty, and of restoring 

 himself to the good opinion of the regent : nay, he 

 was again admitted to the council ; promoted to the 

 high office of chancellor of the kingdom ; and, at 

 the express solicitation of the regent himself, receiv- 

 ed a commission from the Pope, appointing him his 

 legate. 



Having obtained this new dignity, he lost no time 

 in using it for the interest of the Romish see : he com- 

 menced a severe prosecution against the reformers ; 

 and he had the address to prevail upon so many per- 

 sons, of the highest rank in the kingdom, to sit in 

 judgment with him, that the condemnation of these 

 innocent men had more the appearance of being then- 

 act than his. Following out the same arbitrary pro- 

 ceedings, he summoned, in 1546, an assembly of the 

 clergy at Edinburgh, and hearing, that the celebra- 

 ted protestant preacher, Mr George Wishart, was 

 then officiating in that neighbourhood, he procured 

 an order from the governor to have him apprehended, 

 and sent first to the castle of Edinburgh, and after- 

 wards to the castle of St Andrews. Having got 

 him in his power, he found no difficulty in procuring 

 a sentence of an assembly of prelates to condemn him 

 to the flames. On the 2d day of March 1547, he 

 suffered the execution of the sentence, with a faith 

 and fortitude worthy of a Christian martyr ; while 

 his barbarous persecutor, from a window in the cas- 

 tle of St Andrews, feasted his eyes with the shock- 

 ing spectacle. Buchanan relates, that Wishart, while 

 wrapt in the scorching flame, foretold the death of 

 Beaton in these remarkable words, " He who looks 

 down upon me from yonder lofty place," pointing to the 

 cardinal, " shall ere long be as ignominiously thrown 

 down, as now he proudly lolls at his ease." But 

 Knox, in his History, assigns several good reasons 

 for not giving credit to that prediction. Admitting 

 the fact, it may be viewed not as a prophecy, pro- 

 perly so called, but as a denunciation of the divine 

 vengeance on the cardinal for his iniquities. Wishart 

 could not be ignorant of the general odium in which 

 Beaton was held, and might very naturally believe, 

 that he would soon fall a victim to his own arrogance 

 and cruelty. Relying, however, on the power of 

 the nobles, and the attachment of the Romish cler- 

 gy, Beaton appeared perfectly indifferent to the sen- 

 timents of the great body of enemies, whom that in- 

 human deed had raised against him. 



Not long after, he went to Finhaven, the seat of 

 the Earl of Crawfurd, where he solemnized, with 

 great pomp, a marriage betwixt the eldest son of 

 that nobleman and his own natural daughter : a 

 proof of the high reputation in which he was at that 

 time held among the nobility of Scotland. The 

 marriage-contract, subscribed with his own hand, is 

 still extant ; and the fortune he gave her amounted 

 to 666 : 13 : 4 Sterling, a very considerable sum in 

 those days. Having received intelligence, that an 

 invasion was threatened by an English squadron, 

 which was seen upon the coast, he hastened back to 

 St Andrews, and fortified his castle. While thus 

 employed, Norman Lesley, eldest son of the Earl of 

 Rothes, was treated by him with great injustice and 

 contempt. His uncle, Mr John Lesley, a violent 

 enemy of the cardinal, eagerly seiz.ed this opportu- 

 nity of inflaming his nephew ; and having conferred 

 with some others, to whom he was equally obnoxi- 

 ous, it was resolved, that he should be cut off. Ha- 

 ving met by appointment at St Andrews, early on 

 the morning of the 29th May 1546, they seized the 

 porter, and secured the gates of the castle ; and, al- 

 though they did not exceed sixteen, they turned out 

 6 



BcaMu, 



