Protestantism in Scotland - James Aitken Wylie

necks of both, simply at the will and by the decree
of the monarch. So little was Scottish Popery of
native growth, that the men as well as the system
had to be imported from abroad.
If in no country of Europe was the dominant
reign of Popery so short as in Scotland, extending
only from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, in no
country was the Church of Rome so powerful when
compared with the size of the kingdom and the
number of the population. The influences which in
countries like France set limits to the power of the
Church did not exist in Scotland. On her lofty
height she was without a rival, and looked down
upon all ranks and institutions -- upon the throne,
Which was weak; upon the nobles, who were
parted into factions; upon the people, who were
sunk in ignorance. Bishops and abbots filled all the
great posts at court and discharged all the highest
offices in the State. They were chancellors,
secretaries of State, justiciaries, ambassadors; they
led armies, fought battles, and tried and executed
criminals. They were the owners of lordships,
hunting-grounds, fisheries, houses; and while a full
7