re cut off as the ears of Laud's victims had been
cut off at Westminster. A broad ink mark was drawn round Laud's name. An
inscription declared that 'The man that puts the saints of God into a
pillory of wood stands here in a pillory of ink!'"

Things were brought to a crisis in Scotland also, through hatred of Laud
and the new prayer-book. The King, upon his visit to Scotland, had been
shocked at the slovenly appearance and the slovenly ritual of
the Scottish Church, which reflected strongly survivals of the
Presbyterianism of an earlier time. The King wrote to the Scottish
Bishops soon after his return to England: "We, tendering the good and
peace of that Church by having good and decent order and discipline
observed therein, whereby religion and God's worship may increase, and
considering that there is nothing more defective in that Church than the
want of a Book of Common Prayer and uniform service to be kept in all
the churches thereof, and the want of canons for the uniformity of the
same, we are hereby pleased to authorise you as the representative body
of that Church, and do herewith will and require you to condescend upon
a form of Church service to be used therein, and to set down the canons
for the uniformity of the discipline thereof." Laud, who as Archbishop
of Canterbury had no jurisdiction over Scottish Bishops, put his finger
into the pie as secretary of the King. As Gardiner says, "He conveyed
instructions to the Bishops, remonstrated with proceedings which shocked
his sense of order, and held out prospects of advancement to the
zealous. Scotchmen naturally took offense. They did not trouble
themselves to distinguish between the secretary and the archbishop. They
simply said that the Pope of Canterbury was as bad as the Pope of Rome."

The upshot of it all was that in May, 1637, the "new Prayer-book" was
sent to Scotland, and every minister was ordered to buy two copies on
pain of outlawry. Riots followed. It was finally decided that it must be
settled once for all whether a King had any right to change the forms of
worship without the sanction of a legislative assembly. Then came the
Scottish Covenant which declared the intention of the signers to uphold
religious liberty. The account of the signing of this covenant is one of
the most impressive episodes in all history. The Covenant was carried on
the 28th of February, 1638, to the Grey Friars' Church to which all the
gentlemen present in Edinburgh had