Before that moment arrived, the conquests of the Reformation in Scotland had begun. It counted already many humble but devout adherents in convents, parsonage houses and cottages. At the head of the canons of St. Augustine at St. Andrews was an immoral man, an enemy of the Gospel, prior Hepburn; nevertheless, it was among them that the awakening began. One of the canons, Alesius, had been confirmed in the faith of the Gospel by the testimony which Hamilton had borne to the truth during his trial, and by the simple and heroic beauty of his death, which he had witnessed. On returning to his priory he had felt more deeply the need of reformation. ‘Ah,’ said he, ‘how wretched is the state of the Church! Destitute of teachers competent to teach her, she finds herself kept far away from the Holy Scriptures,[136] which would lead her into all truth.’ Alesius gave utterance at the same time to the love which he felt even for the persecutors. ‘I do not hate the bishops,’ he said; ‘I do not hate any of the religious orders; but I tremble to see Christ’s doctrine buried under thick darkness, and pious folk subjected to horrible tortures. May all learn what power religion displays in men’s souls, by examining with care its divine sources.’[137] The death of Hamilton was day after day the subject of the canons’ conversation, and Alesius steadily refused to condemn him. The worthless Hepburn and his satellites could not endure this. They denounced Alesius to the archbishop as a man who had embraced the faith for which Hamilton had been burnt, and they added that other canons seemed likely to take the same path. In order to ascertain the sentiments of the young man, the primate resolved to lay a snare for him; and when a provincial synod met at St. Andrews, he appointed Alesius to preach the sermon at its opening. Alesius entered the pulpit, and, while avoiding anything which might uselessly offend his hearers, he brought forward the doctrines of the truth, and boldly urged the clergy to give an example of holy living, and not to be stumbling-blocks to the faithful by scandalous licentiousness. [Sidenote: HIS IMPRISONMENT.]