A form of declaration was drawn up which all preachers were required to sign under threat of dismissal. During the years 1585 and 1586serious attempts were made by the government to reduce them to subjection， but without any important result. In fact， at the suggestion of Melville， the General Assembly pronounced sentence of excommunication against Archbishop Adamson (1586)， and the archbishop was obliged to submit himself to the judgment of that body. From that time things went from bad to worse till in 1592 Parliament gave its formal sanction to Presbyterianism， though the /Second Book of Discipline/ was not approved， nor were the bishops deprived of their civil positions. Hardly had James been seated on the English throne than he determined to make another effort to force episcopacy and royal supremacy on the Scottish Church. He appointed several new bishops to the vacant Sees (1603). As the preachers still offered a strong opposition Melville was invited to a conference at Hampton Court (1606) where a warm debate took place between the representatives of the Presbyterians and their opponents. Melville and his friends refused to yield， and when the former was summoned to appear before the privy council to answer for certain verses he had composed， he seized the Archbishop of Canterbury by the sleeves of his rochet， denounced him as an enemy of the gospel truth， and assured him that he would oppose his schemes to the last drop of blood. He was arrested and thrown into prison. Parliament supported the king (1609)；a High Commission Court was established in 1610 to deal with the preachers， and in the same year the nominees of James were consecrated by English prelates. But despite the efforts of James and of his successor Charles I.， Presbyterianism still continued to flourish in Scotland.
Though the flight of the Earls of Huntly and Erroll (1595) had assured the triumph of Presbyterianism many of the people of Scotland， particularly of those in the north， still remained devoted to the old religion. The Jesuit Fathers had been untiring in their efforts， and the labours of men like Fathers Creighton， Hay， Gordon， and Abercromby were far from being unfruitful. Still the ecclesiastical organisation had broken down； the supply of priests was likely to become exhausted， and， unless some attempt was made to maintain unity and authority， as well as provide means of education for clerical students， there was grave danger that Catholicism might soon be extinguished. In 1598George Blackwell received faculties as archpriest or superior of the Scotch mission， and was provided with a number of consultors to assist him in his difficult task. A Scotch college was established at Rome by Clement VIII. to supply Scotland with priests (1600). Another college of a similar kind was founded at Tournai in 1576 by Dr. James Cheyne.
Later on it was removed to Pont-à-Mousson and placed under the control of the Jesuits， and finally it was brought to Douay. The old Irish foundations at Würzburg and Regensburg were taken over by the Scotch， and utilised for the education of priests. Scottish colleges were also established at Paris and at Madrid (transferred to Valladolid).
The Catholics of Scotland expected some toleration from James I.， but they were doomed to disappointment. The king was unable and unwilling to put an end to the violent persecution carried on by the kirk， which aimed at wiping out every trace of Catholicity by directing its attackings against the Catholic nobility of the north and against the Jesuits， one of whom， Father Ogilvie was put to death (1516).