A monk of the Dominican order, the order so devoted to the Inquisition, Alexander Seaton, confessor to the king--a man of lofty stature, downright, ready-witted and bold even to audacity[164]--was held in great esteem at the court. The state of the Church profoundly grieved him, and therefore, having been appointed to preach in Lent (1532) in the cathedral of St. Andrews, he resolved courageously to avow in that Scottish Rome the heavenly doctrine which was making exiles and martyrs. Preaching before a large congregation, he said--‘Jesus Christ is the end of the law, and no one is able by his works to satisfy divine justice. A living faith which lays hold of the mercy of God in Christ, can alone obtain for the sinner the remission of sins. But for how many years has God’s law, instead of being faithfully taught, been darkened by the tradition of men?’ People were astonished at this discourse: some wondered why he did not say a word about pilgrimages and other meritorious works; but the priests themselves were afraid to lay a complaint against him. ‘He is confessor to the king,’ they said, ‘and enjoys the favor both of prince and people.’[165] In the absence of Seaton, after Lent, the archbishop and the clergy took courage, condemned the doctrine which he had preached, and appointed another Dominican to refute him. Seaton immediately returned from Dundee, whither he had gone, had the cathedral bells rung, and, ascending the pulpit, repeated with more energy and clearness still what he had previously said. Then, recalling to mind all that a bishop ought to be according to St. Paul, he asked, where are such bishops to be found in Scotland? The primate, when informed of this discourse, summoned him before him, and rebuked him for having asserted that the bishops were only dumb dogs. Seaton replied that it was an unfounded accusation. ‘Your answer pleases me well,’ exclaimed Beatoun. But the witnesses confirmed their deposition. ‘These are liars,’ said again the king’s confessor to the archbishop; ‘consider what ears these asses have, who cannot decern Paul, Isaiah, Zechariah and Malachi, and friar Alexander Seaton. In very deed, my lord, I said that Paul says it behoves a bishop to be a teacher. Isaiah said that they that fed not the flock are _dumb dogs_. And Zechariah says, they are idle pastors. I of my own head affirmed nothing, but declared what the Spirit of God before had pronounced.’ [Sidenote: SEATON’S FLIGHT.]