Near Linlithgow was the barony of Kincavil, which had been given by James IV., in 1498, to Sir Patrick Hamilton. Catherine Stuart, the wife of the latter, was daughter of the duke of Albany, son of King James II. Sir Patrick, on his side, was second son of Lord Hamilton, and, according to trustworthy charters, of the princess Mary, countess of Arran, also a daughter of James II.[13] Sir Patrick had two sons and one daughter, James, Patrick, and Catherine. Patrick, the young man of whom we speak, was therefore of the blood royal, both by the father’s and the mother’s side. He was born probably at the manor of Kincavil, and was there brought up. He grew up surrounded with all the sweetnesses of a mother’s love, and from his childhood the image of his mother was deeply engraven on his heart. This tender mother, who afterwards engaged his latest thoughts on the scaffold, observed with delight in her son a craving for superior culture, a passion for science, a taste for the literature of Greece and Rome, and above all, lively aspirations after all that is elevated, and movements of the soul towards God. As for his father, Sir Patrick, he had the reputation of being the first knight of Scotland, and as cousin-german of King James IV. he had frequent occasions for displaying his courage. One day a German knight arriving in Scotland to challenge her lords and barons, Sir Patrick encountered and overthrew him. At the marriage of Margaret of England with the King of Scotland, it was once more Sir Patrick who most distinguished himself at the tournament. And at a later time, when sent ambassador to Paris with an elder brother, the earl of Arran, he won fresh honors in London on his way.[14] People were fond of recounting these exploits to his two boys, James and Patrick, and nothing appeared to them more magnificent than the glittering armor of their father hung upon the walls of the banqueting hall. Ambition awoke in the heart of the younger of the sons; but he was destined to seek after another glory, holier and more enduring. The Hamiltons having many relations at Paris, Sir Patrick determined to send thither his second son, and at the age of fourteen the lad set out for that celebrated capital.[15] His father, who destined him for the great offices of the Church, had already procured for him the title and the revenues of abbot of Ferne, in the county of Ross, and from that source the expenses of the young man’s journey and course of studies were to be defrayed. It was the moment at which the fire of the Reformation, which was just kindled on the Continent, began to throw out sparks on all sides. One of these sparks was to light on the soul of Patrick. But if Hamilton were destined to bring from Paris to Scotland the first stone of the building, another Scotchman, one year younger than he, was destined to bring the top-stone from Geneva. [Sidenote: BIRTH OF JOHN KNOX.]