Arran, it is true, was not distinguished for his virtues nor for his intelligence, but he was very generally liked, as weak men often are. ‘The earl of Arran,’ wrote Lord Lisle to Henry VIII., ‘is himself a good soft God’s man, and loveth well to look on the Scripture, but he hath many that ruleth about him of his kin which be shrewd and evil men.’[270] Never had any regent been received with so much liking and hope, and this was the case especially because people were glad to be delivered from the cardinal. It was thought that he would reform all that went wrong in the church or state, and his first acts corresponded with this hope.[271] That Arran should thus get possession of power was astonishing, for he was as weak as Beatoun was strong, and the weakest, they say, always goes to the wall. In this case the reverse happened. But many people thought that the arrangement would be only temporary. Arran was the earthen pot of the fable, Beatoun the iron pot, and it was not difficult to foresee which of the two would break the other. It was not long before Arran gave a proof of his too easy temper. Instead of adopting measures for withdrawing the realm from the influence of Beatoun, as soon as the latter claimed to be made chancellor of Scotland, Arran committed that office to his hands, in order to alleviate the disgrace to which the assembly of the nobles had just subjected him.[272] The ambitious cardinal, however, did not long keep that post of influence. Many eminent and pious men supported the cause of the earl of Arran. One of his first acts was to appoint as his chaplains, on the recommendation of those supporters, two ministers who preached the pure Gospel. A former Dominican, Thomas Guillaume (or Williams), who had been very eminent in his order, having been converted by the Word of God, had thrown off his cowl. He was called to preach at Edinburgh. The soundness of his judgment, the purity of his doctrine, the force of his eloquence, and the clearness of his exposition of Scripture, together with a certain moderation in controversy, attracted a crowd to his preaching. The regent associated with him another evangelical minister, John Rough. He had entered a convent at seventeen years of age, had twice visited Rome, and having been painfully shocked by what he had seen there, he had embraced the Reformation. Less of a scholar than Guillaume, he was more simple-minded, and more ardent against superstition and impiety, and against the authority of the pope. Arran, urged on by his evangelical friends, sent his faithful ministers into various parts of the kingdom. Among their numerous hearers was Knox, and it was while listening to Guillaume that the great reformer began to be acquainted with the beauty of evangelical truth.[273]