HUGH MILLER 69 



James found himself in more congenial society for the 

 promulgation of his views on kingcraft which were to 

 embroil the nation and drive his descendants from the 

 throne. The preface to the Authorised Version of the 

 Bible by the translators of 1611 shews the depth to 

 which the Anglican clergy could sink. No wonder that 

 James found such men ready tools to his hand. In 

 their company he could complacently vapour about 

 * No bishop, no king,' or express his joy in finding him- 

 self for the first time in the company of 'holy and 

 learned men.' When Melville, as professor of divinity 

 at Sedan, was dying an exile in 1622 James was dis- 

 missing the two English houses of Parliament for what 

 he was pleased to call an invasion of his prerogative ; 

 the rumours of the Spanish marriage were in the air, 

 the first instalment of the royal legacy of kingcraft. 

 'No bishop, no king': The nation was to take him 

 at his word, and to demonstrate pretty effectively that 

 kingdoms can do without either and both. 



' Not a king but a member ; ' ' in all matters eccle- 

 siastical as well as civil head supreme ' the whole his- 

 tory of Scotland was to run for three hundred years in 

 these grooves. This is the doctrine which, from 1560 

 till now, has in Scotland been known as the Headship 

 of Christ. Without a correct understanding of this 

 question, not as a mere metaphysical or theological 

 figment, but as a reality most vitally 'within practical 

 polities' carrying effects direct and visible into every 

 corner of the national life, the history of Scotland must 



