 In 1686, Perth and his brother opened a Catholic chapel in Edinburgh, and their public attendance there resulted in a riot.Perth and his brother suggested to James II that the Scottish Parliament would approve a repeal of the Test Act and penal laws against Catholics and Protestant dissenters, but this was later proved untrue.On 29 May 1687, nonetheless, he was made a Knight of the Thistle, being one of the eight original knights of that Order.