Publications of the Clan Lindsay Society - Electric Scotland

THE IIOUSK OF l)UNK(;l). 27
attempting to encroach upon tbeni.' '* But there was
a epeciahty in tlie appointment of Lindsay that calls
for particular notice. lie proved hini.selt' to he a
staunch Protestant. Archljisliop Beaton must have
known him personally ; pruhaljly he knew him inti-
mately ; and if we had information tliat he was aware
of his Protestant proclivities, yet preferred him to any
of the faithful sons of Mother Church, of whom there
were many in the vicinity as opulent and powerful as
he, this would be a point of special interest. It would
lead us to conclude that the Arclibisliop, with the fate
of the religious houses of Perth and St Andrews in his
mind, had judged it wiser to place the property of the
Church in Glasgow in the keeping of a moderate
Protestant rather than in that of a faithful Catholic,
who would have attracted thither and been unable to
stem the destructive zeal of the more fanatical reformers.
To the churchmen of the day, the movement
for reform had not yet presented itself as other than
a storm that would pass, leaving the ancient Church in
possession of its old power and as much of its wealth
as might be saved. Where this wealth was not re-
movable and lay open to the attacks of the enemy,
prudence forbade a display of defensive force ;
prudence
rather counselled surrender of what could not be de-
fended until the expected time for reclaiming it should
arrive. On this policy the Archbishop of Glasgow
appears to have acted when he withdrew to France
with the charters and evidents that would have enabled
him to recover the property of his diocese had there
been a restoration of Catholic power. And had there
M'Ure ; HUtorn of Glasijorv (Ed. 18:^0), p. 72.