The godly departed with great grief of heart, and in the afternoon repaired to the Abbey in great companies. These gave plain signification that they could not abide that the land, which God by His power had purged from idolatry, should be polluted again in their eyes. This understood, there began complaint upon complaint. The old dontibours[179] and others that long had served in the Court, who had no remission of sins except by virtue of the Mass, cried that they would return to France without delay: they could not live without the Mass. The Queen's uncles affirmed the same. Would to God that that menyie,[180] together with the Mass, had bidden good-night to this realm for ever. So would Scotland have been rid of an unprofitable burden of devouring strangers, and of the malediction of God that has stricken and yet will strike in punishment of idolatry. [179] Courtezans. [180] Crowd of followers. [Sidenote: The Council tolerates the Mass at Court.] The Council having assembled, disputation was had as to what was the next remedy. Politic heads were sent to the gentlemen, with these and like persuasions, "Why, alas, will ye chase our Sovereign from us? She will incontinently return to her galleys; and what then shall all realms say of us? May we not suffer her a little while? We doubt not but that she shall leave it. If we were not assured that she might be won, we should be as great enemies to her Mass as ye be. Her uncles will depart, and then shall we rule all at our pleasure. Would not we be as sorry to hurt the religion as would any of you?" With these and the like persuasions, the fervency of the brethren was quenched, and an Act was framed.... [Sidenote: The Earl of Arran protests.] This Act and Proclamation, penned and put in form by men who had formerly professed Christ Jesus (for Papists had then neither power nor vote in the Council) was publicly proclaimed at the Market Cross of Edinburgh. No man reclaimed or made repugnance to it, with the sole exception of the Earl of Arran. He, in open audience of the heralds and people, protested that he dissented that any protection or defence should be made for the Queen's domestics or any that came from France, permitting to them more than to any other subject to offend God's Majesty, and to violate the laws of the realm. God's law had pronounced death against the idolater, and the laws of the realm had appointed punishment for sayers and hearers of the Mass. "I here protest," said he, "that these ought to be universally observed, and that none should be exempted, until such time as a law, as publicly made and as consonant to the law of God, shall have disannulled the former." [Sidenote: The Protestants are beguiled.]