EDINBURGH] ST GILES 51 much acceptance among the friends of reform. In 1559, when John Knox had to leave Edinburgh in peril of his life, Willook took his place as the evangelist of the Reformation. It was then that he con- ducted in St Giles what is believed to have been the earliest public celebration of the Holy Communion in Scotland after the reformed ritual. In 1560, when Queen Mary of Guise lay dying, the Earls of Argyll and Moray, and other Lords of the Congregation advised her to "send for a godly, learned man of whom she might receive instruction " ; and Willock was chosen to minister to her, which he faith- fully did. That same year he was made Superintendent of Glasgow and the West. He was also one of the six Johns entrusted with the drawing up of the First Book of Discipline, the others being John Knox, John Winram, John Spottiswood, John Douglas, and John Row. Sometime in that year he went to England, and brought home his wife, Katherine Picknavell, an English lady. He was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1563, 1564, 1565, and 1568. In 1565 QueenMaryendeavoured to put a stop to his activity by having him imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle ; but the Reformers were now too strong for her, and she had to depart from her purpose. After that, Willock went back to his English rectory at Loughborough. In 1567 the General Assembly sent him a strong letter of appeal, begging him to come again to aid the good cause. This led to his return, and he was Moderator of Assembly in 1568. He went again to Loughborough, and was there in 1570 when the Regent Moray was assassinated. Knox then wished much to have the aid of his old friend in the perplexities of the time, but Willock could not come. His letter to Knox tells of his sorrow at the loss of the good regent, and of his great admira- tion for that departed statesman. Willock died at the rectory of Lough- borough, 4th Dec. 1585. His wife survived until 1599. His last will makes provision for his son Edmund, and Edmund's wife Grizel, also for their children John, Kath- erine, Mary, Bridget, Dorothy, and George. —[Knox's History, Keith's History, Foxe's Martyrs, Wodrow's Works; Ti-ansactions ofScott. Ecclesiological Society, 1913.] JAMES LAWSON, born 1538, at Perth, 1572 of humble parentage ; received his early education at the Grammar School of his native city under the celebrated Andrew Simson. In 1559 he became the fellow-student and friend of Andrew Melville at St Andrews ; and afterwards travelled on the Continent as tutor to the young Earl of Crawford. In 1568 he was appointed to teach Hebrew in the New College, St Andrews ; in 1569, after the "purging" of the University of Aberdeen, he was promoted to be Sub-Principal of King's College, and the same year he became min. of Old Machar. In 1572, "after long reasoning," he was called to be successor to Knox. Following a "trial" sermon preached on 19th Sept., he was admitted to the charge by Knox himself on 9th Nov. He assisted in the drawing up of the First Book of Discipline, and was an examiner of all books proposed to be printed. He was Moderator of the Dundee Assembly, 1st July 1580 ; attended the Regent Morton on the scaffold in 1581 ; and was zealous in defending the authority of the Church in the affair of Archbishop Montgomery, 1582. In 1584 he declaimed so vehemently against the Parliament, that the Earl of Arran said : " If Lawson's head were as great as an haystack, I shall cause it to leap from his hawse [throat]." For this he was compelled to fly, and accompanied by Balcanquhal, sought refuge at Berwick, 27th May 1584. Always a man of melancholic mood, he was so affected by the troubles of the times and the unworthy conduct of some of his flock that he resolved to leave the country altogether, and make his home in England. He had barely reached London when he was seized with illness, and died 12th Oct. 1584. James Melville spoke of him as "a man of singular learning, zeal, and eloquence, whom I never heard preach but he melted my heart with tears " {Diary, p. 146). Lawson's great educational achievement was the founding of the