Cardinal Beaton

“ This annual abomination happening to take place shortly after the martyrdom of that true saint and gospel preacher Mr George Wishart, and while kirk and quire were resounding, to the great indignation of all Christians, with lamentations for the well-earned death of the cruel Cardinal Beaton, his ravenous persecutor, the monks and friars received but little homage as they passed along triumphing, though the streets were, as usual, filled with the multitude to see their fine show. ”

“ Had Beaton confined himself to secular politics, his strenuous opposition to the plans of Henry VIII. for the subjugation of Scotland would have earned him the lasting gratitude of his countrymen. Unfortunately politics were inextricably interwoven with the religious controversies of the time, and resistance to English influence involved resistance to the activities of the reformers in the church, whose ultimate victory has obscured the cardinal’s genuine merits as a statesman. ”

“ In general, the Catholic clergy sided with the royal cause, while the religious reformers egged on the nobles to champion Protestantism in order to deal an effective blow against the union of the altar and the throne. Thus Cardinal Beaton, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, ordered numerous executions on the score of protecting religion and the authority of the queen-regent; on the other hand several noblemen, professing the new theology, assassinated the cardinal and hung his body on the battlements of the castle of St. ”

“ Thus we find in history, that the savage spirit of ignorance and credulity which impelled the great Cardinal Beaton to burn six men at the stake, on the charge of heresy, was out-Heroded by the still greater ignorance and credulity of his successors, who, for each of these six, sacrificed more than thousands for the imaginary crime of witchcraft. ”

“ There is no roof between us and the sky, which, after all, does shelter the true faith, and if one misses the chanting of the monks echoing through these arches, under this roofless space, there is the moan of the sea, sobbing at the foot of the crag, the sea which is of no faith and never keeps faith. And if one misses the scarlet robes of Cardinal Beaton as he swept through these aisles in splendid procession with all the gorgeous trappings of his retinue, there are mosses and wild flowers to give glows of colour—one must content himself. ”

“ But though Beaton was in prison, his spirit was abroad. The clergy had the highest faith in the talents and influence of the cardinal. They considered his liberation as necessary to avert the ruin of their party, and they put in motion all their machinery for rousing the people. They shut up the churches, and refused to administer the sacraments or bury the dead; and the priests and monks were thus set at liberty from all other duties to harangue and influence the passions of the people. ”

“ Beaton’s party were anxious to secure him, and after a preaching tour in the Lothians he was seized in Ormiston House and handed over to the Earl of Bothwell, who, breaking pledges he had made, delivered him to the Cardinal; he lodged him in the dungeon at St. Andrews (end of Jan. 1546) , and had him tried in the cathedral, when he was condemned to the stake (March 1st, 1546) . ”

“ The diocese of Glasgow was erected into an archbishopric in 1491, with Galloway, Argyll and the Isles as suffragans. James Beaton, archbishop of Glasgow and abbot of Dumfermline, the uncle of Cardinal Beaton, died primate of Scotland in 1539. Many munificent marks of his public spirit and piety long resisted time, and remained after the cathedral ceremonies had been deserted for the plain offices of the kirk of Scotland. ”

“ Beatification, religious honour allowed by the pope to certain who are not so eminent in sainthood as to entitle them to canonisation.
Beaton, or Bethune, David, cardinal, archbishop of St. Andrews, and primate of the kingdom, born in Fife; an adviser of James V., twice over ambassador to France; on the death of James secured to himself the chief power in Church and State as Lord High Chancellor and Papal Legate; opposed alliance with England; persecuted the Reformers; condemned George Wishart to the stake, witnessed his sufferings from a window of his castle in St. ”

“ Andrews, died, and the charge of all ecclesiastical affairs was committed to his nephew the cardinal, David Beaton [q. v.] , who in 1540 desired to associate Gibson with himself as suffragan. He was to hold his other preferments and to receive a pension of 200l. a year from the cardinal and his successors. To this arrangement the pope's sanction was needful, and in letters dated 4 May 1540 James V and Cardinal Beaton answer for Gibson's knowledge of law and theology, and for his high moral character. ”

“ In the same month, Pope Paul iii., who needed a Churchman of the highest rank to publish his Bull against Henry VIII. in a place as near England as was possible to find, had sent him a Cardinal’s Hat. The Cardinal, Beaton, stood in Scotland for France and Rome against England and the Reformation. The struggle for the Regency in Scotland in 1542 carried with it an international and a religious policy. The clouds heralding the storm which was to destroy Mary, gathered round the cradle of the baby Queen. ”

“ They wool have their own realm free, and live within themselves after their own laws and custumes."
At this juncture Cardinal Beaton managed to escape from his prison, from which he had never ceased to correspond with and inspirit his party. How he came to escape has been considered a mystery; but perhaps that mystery is not very deep when we reflect that the Lord Seaton, in whose custody he was, was a man, though related to the Hamiltons, yet of a most loyal temper, and a decided Romanist. Seaton negotiated with Beaton to give up his castle of St. Andrews ”

“ A few months after this Gray was brought over to the support of the cardinal's party through his jealousy of Lord Ruthven, the quarrel being promoted by a clever stratagem on the part of Beaton. Beaton induced John Charteris of Kinfauns to accept the provostship of Perth by ‘donation of the governor,’ in opposition to the wishes of the people. ”

“ Paul III., alarmed at seeing the separation of England from Rome, and fearing lest Scotland, as she had a nephew of Henry VIII. for [111] her king, should follow her example, was anxious to have in that country one man who would be absolutely devoted to him. David Beatoun offered himself. The pope created him cardinal in December 1538, and thenceforth the red, a color thoroughly congenial with him, became his own, and as it were his symbol. Not that he was by any means a religious fanatic; he was versed neither in theology nor in moral philosophy. ”

“ Beaton, avoiding open violence through fear of Hamilton’s high connexions, invited him to a conference at St Andrews. The reformer, predicting that he was going to confirm the pious in the true doctrine by his death, resolutely accepted the invitation, and for nearly a month was permitted to preach and dispute, perhaps in order to provide material for accusation. At length, however, he was summoned before a council of bishops and clergy presided over by the archbishop; there were thirteen charges, seven of which were based on the doctrines affirmed in the Loci communes. ”

“ Meanwhile Beatoun found opportunities for secret interviews with the regent’s brother, who had everything in his own hands; for this bastard was as remarkable for force of character as his legitimate brother was for the want of it. The cardinal did not confine himself to intrigues in high places, but he had it at heart to win the multitude, and he tried all imaginable schemes in [170] order to succeed. [297] When he thought that he had at last secured his position, both above and below, he convoked the clergy at St. Andrews. ”

“ But the nobles transferred it to the Protestant Earl of Arran, who imprisoned Beaton and had the royal child affianced to Henry’s son Edward. Beaton escaped, by connivance of the queen-mother got possession of the child, and compelled the weak regent, in A.D. 1543, to abjure the English alliance. The persecution of the Protestants by fire and sword now began afresh. After many others had fallen victims to his persecuting rage, Beaton had a famous Protestant preacher, George Wishart, burnt before his eyes ”

“ Beaton in his reply points out to her that to find out and punish the murderers is the only way in which she can prove her innocence before the world. In 1598, on account of the 'great honours done to his majestie and the country by the said archbishop in exercising and using the office of ambassadoir,' he was restored to his 'heritages, honours, dignities, and benefices, notwithstanding any sentences affecting him.' He was as much respected and liked by the French as by his own countrymen. ”

“ He was not long in showing his inflexibility, and the capricious humor of the king again bent under his immovable firmness. Other men have been named great, just, or well-bred. Beatoun deserved to be called persecutor. This surname, which history inflicts on him as a disgrace, he seems to have aspired to as a glory.
SIR JOHN BORTHWICK.
Beatoun assembled at St. Andrews the prelates and the nobles who enjoyed his confidence. An elevated [127] seat was provided for him in the cathedral, and he sat there in his twofold character of primate and of cardinal. ”

“ James Beaton was arch-bishop, Hugh Spence dean of divinity, John Waddel rector, James Simson official, Thomas Ramsay canon and dean of the abbey, with the several superiors of the different orders of monks and friars.—It could not be expected, that Mr Hamilton's conduct would be long concealed from such a body as this. Their resentment against him soon rose to the utmost heights of persecuting rage; particularly the arch-bishop, who was chancellor of the kingdom, and otherwise very powerful, became his inveterate enemy. ”

“ Becket may have been a dissembler, or a great change may have been wrought in his character. Probably the new responsibilities imposed upon him as Primate of the English Church pressed upon his conscience. He knew that supreme allegiance was due to the Pope as head of the Church, and that if compelled to choose between the Pope and the King, he must obey the Pope. He was ambitious, doubtless; but his subsequent career shows that he preferred the liberties of his Church to the temporal interests of the sovereign. He was not a theologian, like Lanfranc and Anselm. ”

“ Beaton is vigorously assisted by Mrs. Beaton, who, along with the family to which she belongs, is devotedly attached to Presbyterianism. Previous to his appointment to his present position, Dr. Beaton took an active part in politics. By birth, training and conviction he is a Liberal. Having a natural aptitude for public speaking and no special dislike to the “roar around the hustings,” as the late D’Arcy McGee once happily put it, his services were always in demand at election times, and were freely given. ”

“ Not far from him was David Beatoun, abbot of Arbroath, an ambitious young man, who was already coveting his uncle’s dignity, and who, as if to prepare himself for a long work of persecution, vigorously pressed on the condemnation of Patrick. In the midst of these hypocrites and fanatics sat one man in a state of agitation and distress—the prior of the Dominicans, Alexander Campbell—with his countenance gloomy and fallen. A great crowd of canons, priests, monks, nobles, citizens, and the common people, filled the church ”

“ Cautious and choleric, prolix and stubborn, he had a real desire for reform and an earnest wish to avoid {382} quarrels with either of the great powers that menaced him, the emperor and France. The reforming spirit of the pope showed itself in the appointment of several men of the highest character to the cardinalate, among them Gaspar Contarini and Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. In other cases, however, the exigencies of politics induced the nomination of bad men, such as Del Monte and David Beaton. ”

“ During all these anxious years the severe measures against the reformers had really been directed by the man who comes more prominently into public view toward their close. This was David Betoun, the nephew of the primate, and, like him, a younger scion of the house of Balfour in Fife, who by this time was not only Abbot of Arbroath and Bishop of Mirepoix in France, but also coadjutor to his aged uncle in the Archbishopric of St Andrews, and cardinal, with the title of St Stephen on the Cœlian Mount. ”

“ Beaton, like one in a terrible dream, was unconscious of most that passed, till Taskes, awakening from a long swoon, grasped her hand and moaned in sad accents, "Beaton, dear Beaton; if I could but live till we might be married, I should die more content. And my dear John," he continued, directing his gaze towards I'an, "promise me, for all the years we have been like brothers, to be ever kind to Beaton and to my—to our"—he gasped for breath—with a gurgling in his throat, blood oozed from his lips. Looking wistfully at Beaton, he grasped brother's and sister's joined hands with a death-grip ”

“ Beatrice answered. “And I certainly have no hopes of his conversion.”
The Cardinal smiled at his ring. He opened his snuffbox, and inhaled a long deliberate pinch of snuff.
“Ah, well—who can tell?” he said. “But—he will be free now, and it is so long since he has been at the castle—had you not better ask him to luncheon or dinner?”
“Why should I?” answered Beatrice. “If he does not come to Ventirose, it is presumably because he does not care to come. If he does care to come, he needs no invitation. He knows that he is at liberty to call whenever he likes.” ”