never more bitterly proved than in Scotland between the day of Flodden
and the day of the return of Mary Stuart from France (1513-1561). James
V. was not only a child and fatherless; he had a mother whose passions
and passionate changes in love resembled those of her brother Henry VIII.
Consequently, when the inevitable problem arose, was Scotland during the
minority to side with England or with France? the queen-mother wavered
ceaselessly between the party of her brother, the English king, and the
party of France; while Henry VIII. could not be trusted, and the policy
of France in regard to England did not permit her to offer any stable
support to the cause of Scottish independence. The great nobles changed
sides constantly, each "fighting for his own hand," and for the spoils of
a Church in which benefices were struggled for and sold like stocks in
the Exchange.

The question, Was Scotland to ally herself with England or with France?
later came to mean, Was Scotland to break with Rome or to cling to Rome?
Owing mainly to the selfish and unscrupulous perfidy of Henry VIII.,
James V. was condemned, as the least of two evils, to adopt the Catholic
side in the great religious revolution; while the statesmanship of the
Beatons, Archbishops of St Andrews, preserved Scotland from English
domination, thereby preventing the country from adopting Henry's Church,
the Anglican, and giving Calvinism and Presbyterianism the opportunity
which was resolutely taken and held.

The real issue of the complex faction fight during James's minority was
thus of the most essential importance; but the constant shiftings of
parties and persons cannot be dealt with fully in our space. James's
mother had a natural claim to the guardianship of her son, and was left
Regent by the will of James IV., but she was the sister of Scotland's
enemy, Henry VIII. Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow (later of St Andrews),