=2. State of the Church.=--In Scotland, as in the other lands of Western Christendom, the clergy had lost their hold on the commons by their immorality and irreligion; their greed of money, and their abuse of their spiritual powers; while they had roused the jealousy of the nobles by their wealth, and by the influence won by their learning, which, though it was often but little, secured to them the offices of state. The hope of getting hold of some of the well-cultivated Church lands, led many _lairds_, as landholders are called in Scotland, to join the popular movement of Reform. =3. The First Covenant.=--The friends of Reform were thus silently becoming a power in the state, and, as had been the Scottish custom for centuries, they joined themselves together by a bond, 1557. In this bond they pledged themselves to support one another, and to do their utmost for the spread of the new doctrines. This bond is called the _First Covenant_. By it the authority of the _Pope_ was renounced, and the use of the _English Bible_ and of the _Prayer Book of Edward VI._ was enjoined. Thenceforth the barons who had signed it, called themselves the _Lords of the Congregation_. The burning of _Walter Mill_, an aged priest of blameless life, who suffered for heresy at _St. Andrews_ in 1558, roused them to action. They demanded of the Regent a reformation of religion after the principles of their bond. Though at first she seemed inclined to grant what they asked, she afterwards set her face against them, and cited some of the preachers of the new doctrines before the Privy Council. A great body of their followers gathered at Perth to come with them; the Regent, in alarm, begged them to disperse and promised to withdraw the citation. Instead of doing this, she outlawed the preachers for not coming.