There were a few, however, who judged more correctly.

Halifax, to whom Perth expressed some apprehensions, answered with a sneer that there was no danger.

"Be of good cheer, my Lord; thy faith hath made thee whole." The prediction was correct.

Perth and Melfort went back to Edinburgh, the real heads of the government of their country.

[127] Another member of the Scottish Privy Council, Alexander Stuart, Earl of Murray, the descendant and heir of the Regent, abjured the religion of which his illustrious ancestor had been the foremost champion, and declared himself a member of the Church of Rome.