Morton was not long in breaking through the decrees. Riding secretly by night from Edinburgh to Stirling, towards the end of May, he persuaded Mar to admit him and his followers into the royal castle. Once within the same building as the King, the Earl was now as powerful as before. He managed to arrange the formation of a new Council, with himself in the principal place, and he persuaded the King to order the Parliament, which had been summoned to meet at Edinburgh, to assemble in the hall of Stirling Castle. The opponents of Morton, naturally objecting to the Estates being convened within the walls of a fortress, were determined not to appear without a protest, so they sent the Earl of Montrose and Lord Lindsay of the Byres to lay their remonstrances before the King. James opened the Parliament in person, and before any business was transacted, Lord Lindsay protested against its proceedings. Morton interrupted him and ordered him to sit down, but Lindsay disobeyed the command until it was repeated by the King. Later in the day the intrepid lord again arose to make objections, and this time also he was silenced by James, who, at Morton’s prompting, declared that the Parliament was free and that those who loved him would think as he thought.[54] Morton’s recovery of power rendered civil war imminent. Argyll and Atholl raised the town of Edinburgh and were joined by the Borderers of Teviotdale and the Merse. Angus, on the other side, was preparing his forces at Stirling. The armies came within sight of each other near the town of Falkirk, and some skirmishing took place, but through the intervention of two leading ministers of the church and of Bowes, the English ambassador, an agreement was arrived at without any fighting taking place. The settlement left things much as they were, with the power in Morton’s hands, but the Earl of Montrose and Lord Lindsay of the Byres were admitted into the Council. Although not holding the title of regent, the Earl of Morton was now as powerful as ever he had been. His opponents felt themselves incapable of compelling him to deliver up their sovereign, and so secure did Morton consider his position and the King’s to be, that on the 12th of June, 1579, James was allowed to leave the castle by the nether bailey gate at five o’clock in the morning, with his own domestics, and was permitted to remain in the Park until seven o’clock at night. This was the first occasion on which the King passed beyond the castle walls without the protection of an armed guard.[55]