Protestantism in Scotland - James Aitken Wylie

the sphere of the Romish Church, was daily
contracting that of the Protestant one. A royal
order, directed to the bishops, enjoined them "to
discharge all the inferior clergy from preaching
upon controverted points in divinity." While the
Protestant pulpit was lettered, an unbounded
license was given to the Popish one. The priests
attacked the Protestant faith with all the rigor of
which they were capable, and their sermons,
printed by authority, were dispersed over the
kingdom. This order was modeled on a worthy
precedent. One of the first acts of Queen Mary, for
the restoration of Popery, was a proclamation
forbidding all preaching upon controverted points,
for fear, it was said, or awakening animosities
among her subjects. The same tender regard for the
peace of his kingdom moved James II to issue his
edict.
The king's order had just the opposite effect of
that which he intended. It called forth in defense of
Protestantism a host of mighty intellects and
brilliant writers, who sifted fear, it was said, of
awakening animosities among her subjects. The
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