fcibrarjp of Che Cheologf cal ^tm\n^0' H ,9 OF JOHN KNOX; CONTAINING ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HISTORY OP THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL REFORMERS, AND SKETCHES OF THE PROGRESS OF LITERATURE IN SCOTLAND DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY; AND AN APPENDIX, CONSISTING OF ORIGINAL PAPERS. BY THOMAS M'CRIE, D.D. FIRST COMPLETE AMERICAN EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH SCHOOL WORK. 1 90.-,. PREFACE TO THE EIUST EDITION. The Reformation from Popery marks an epoch un- questionably the most important in the history of modern Europe. The effects of the change which it produced, in religion, in manners, in politics, and in literature, continue to be felt at the present day. No- thino;, surely, can be more interesting than an investi- gation of the history of that period, and of those men who were the instruments, under Providence, of ac- complishing a revolution which has proved so benefi- cial to mankind. Though many able writers have employed their talents in tracing the causes and consequences of the Reformation, and though the leading facts respecting its progress in Scotland have been repeatedly stated, it occurred to me that the subject was by no means exhausted. I was confirmed in this opinion by a more minute examination of the ecclesiastical history of this country, which I began, for my own satisfaction, several years ago. While I was pleased at finding that there existed such ample materials for illustrating the history of the Scottish Reformation, I could not but resfret that no one had undertaken to dio^est and exhibit the information on this subject which lay hid iii W PREFACE. in manuscripts, and in books which are n.w little known or consulted. Not presuming, however, that I had the ability or the leisure requisite for executing i task of such difficulty and extent, I formed the design of drawing up memorials of our national Reformer, in which his personal history might be combined Avith illustrations of the progress of that great undertaking, in the advancement of which he acted so conspicuous a part. A work of this kind seemed to be wanting. The name of Knox, indeed, often occurs in the general his- tories of the period, and some of our historians have drawn, with their usual ability, the leading traits of a character with which they could not fail to be struck ; but it was foreign to their object to detail the events of his life, and it was not to be expected that they would bestow that minute and critical attention on his history, which is necessary to form a complete and accurate idea of his character. Memoirs of his life have been prefixed to editions of some of his works, and inserted in biographical collections, and periodical publications; but in many instances their authors were destitute of proper information, and in others they were precluded, by the limits to which they were confined, from entering into those minute statements, which are so useful for illustrating individual character, and which render biography both pleasing and in structive. Nor can it escape observation, that a num- ber of writers have been guilty of great injustice to the memory of our Reformer, and from prejudice, from ignorance, or from inattention, have exhibited a distorted caricature, instead of a genuine portrait. I was encouraged to prosecute my design, in con- PREFACE. V sequence of my possessing a manuscript volume of Knox's Letters, which throw considerable light upon his character and history. The advantages which I have ierived from this volume will appear in the course of the work, where it is quoted under the g:^neral title of MS. Letters.^ The other manuscripts which I have chiefly made use of, are Calderwood's large History of the Church of Scotland, Row's History, and Wodrow's Collections. Calderwood's History, besides much valuable informa- tion respecting the early period of the Reformation, contains a collection of letters written by Knox be- tween 1559 and 1572, which, together with those in my possession, extended over twenty years of the most active period of his life. I have carefully con- sulted this history as far as it relates to the period of which I write. The copy which I most frequently quote belongs to the Church of Scotland. In the Advocates' Library, besides a complete copy of that work, there is a folio volume of it, reaching to the end of the year 1572. It was wTitten in 1634, and has a number of interlineations and marginal alterations, differing from the other copies, which, if not made by the author's own hand, were most probably done under his eye. I have sometimes quoted this copy. The reader will easily discern when this is the case, as the references to it are made merely by the year under which the transaction is recorded, the volume not being paged. Row, in composing the early part of his Historic of the Kirk, had the assistance of Memoirs written by David Fercruson, his father-in-law, who was admitted * See an account of this MS. p. 503. Vi PREFACE. minister of Dunfermline at the establishment of the Reformation. Copies of this History seem to have been taken before the author had put the finishing hand to it, which may account for the additional mat- ter to be found in some of them. I have occasionally quoted the copy which belongs to the Divinity Library in Edinburgh, but more frequently a copy transcribed in 1726, which is more full than any other that I have had access to see. The industrious Wodrow had amassed a valuable collection of manuscripts relating to the ecclesiastical history of Scotland, the greater part of which is now deposited in our public libraries. In the library of the University of Glasgow, there is a number of vol- umes in folio containing collections which he had made for illustrating the lives of the Scottish reform- ers and divines of the sixteenth century. These have supplied me with some interesting facts; and are quoted under the name of Wodrow MSS. in Bibl. Coll. Glas. For the transactions of the General Assembly, I have consulted the Register commonly called the Book of the Universal Kirk. There are several copies of this manuscript in the country; but that which is followed in this work, and which is the oldest that I have examined, belongs to the Advocates' Library. I have endeavoured to avail myself of the printed histories of the period, and of books published in the age of the Reformation, which often incidentally men- tion facts that are not recorded by historians. In the 4dvocates' Library, which contains an invaluable treasure of information respecting Scottish affairs, I PREFACE. yii had an opportunity of examining tl e original editions of most of the Reformer's works. The rarest of all his tracts is the narrative of his Disputation with the Abbot of Crossraguel, which scarcely any writer since Knox's time seems to have seen. After I had sriven up all hopes of procuring a sight of this curious tract, I was accidentally informed that a copy of it was in the library of Alexander Boswell, Esq. of Auchinleck, who very politely communicated it to me. In pointing out the sources which I have consulted, r wish not to be understood as intimatins" that the reader may expect in the following work, much infor- mation which is absolutely new. He who engages in researches of this kind, must lay his account with finding the result of his discoveries reduced within a small compass, and should be prepared to expect that many of his readers will pass over with a cursory eye, what he has procured with great, perhaps with unnecessary labour. The principal facts respecting the Reformation and the Reformer, are already known. I flatter myself, however, that I have been able to place some of these facts in a new and more just light, and to bring forward others which have not hitherto been generally known. The reader will find the authorities, upon which I have proceeded in the statement of facts, carefully marked ; but my object was rather to be select than numerous in my references. When I had occasion to introduce facts which have been often repeated in his- tories, and are already established and unquestionable, I did not reckon it necessary to be so particular in producing the authorities. viii PREFACE. After so many writers of biography have incurred the charge either of uninteresting generality, or of tedious prolixity, it would betray great arrogance were I to presume that I had approached the due medium. I have particularly felt the difficulty, in writing the life of a public character, of observing the line which divides biography from general history. Desirous of o-ivino- unity to the narrative, and at the same time anxious to convey information respecting the ecclesi^ astical and literary history of the period, I have sepa- rated a number of facts and illustrations of this de- scription, and placed them in notes at the end of the Life. I am not without apprehensions that I may have exceeded in the number or length of these notes, and that some readers may think, that, in attempting to relieve one part of the work, I have overloaded another. No apology will, I trust, be deemed necessary for the freedom with which I have expressed my senti- ments on the public questions which naturally occur- red in the course of the narrative. Some of these are at variance with opinions which are popular in the ■present age ; but it does not follow from this that they are false, or that they should have been suppressed. I have not become the indiscriminate panegyrist of the Reformer, nor have I concealed or thrown into shade his faults ; but, on the other hand, the apprehension of incurring these charges has not deterred me from vindicating him wherever I considered his conduct to be justifiable, or from apologizing for him against un- candid and exaggerated censures. The attacks which have been made on his character from so many quar ters, and the attempts to wound the Reformation PREFACE. j^ through him, must be my excuse for having so often adopted the language of apology. In the Appendix, I have inserted a number of Knox's letters, and other papers relative to that period, none of which, as far as I know, have formerly been pub- lished. Several others, intended for insertion in the same place, have been kept back, as the work has swelled to a greater size than was expected. A very scarce Poem, written in commendation of the Refor- mer, and published in the year after his death, is re- printed in the Supplement. The prefixed portrait of Knox is engraved from a painting in the possession of the Right Honourable Lord Torphichen, with the use of which his Lord- ship, in the most obliging manner, favoured the pub- lishers. There is every reason to think that it is a genuine likeness, as it strikingly agrees with the print of our Reformer, which Beza, who was personally acquainted with him, published in his Icones. There is a small brass medal, which has on one side a bust of Knox, and on the other the following inscription : — JOANNES KNOXUS SCOTUS THEOLOGUS ECCLESIiE EDTM- BURGENSIS PASTOR. OBIIT EDIMBURGI AN. 1572. ^T. 57. It appears to have been executed at a period much later than the Reformer's death. There is an error of ten years as to his age ; and as Beza has fallen into the same mistake, it is not improbable that the inscrip- tion was copied from his Icones, and that the medal was struck on the Continent. Edinbdrgh, November 14, 1811. B PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In preparing this work for a second impression, I iiave endeavoured carefully to correct mistakes which had escaped me in the first, both as to matter and lan- guage. I have introduced accounts of the principal public transactions of the period, which a desire of being concise induced me formerly to exclude, but which serve to throw light on the exertions of the Reformer, and ought to be known by those who read his Life. And I have entered into a more full detail of several parts of his conduct than was practicable within the limits of a single volume. Such additional authorities, printed or manuscript, as I have had ac cess to, since the publication of the former edition, have been diligently consulted ; and I flatter myself that the alterations and additions which these have enabled me to make, will be considered as improve- ments. I have added to the Supplement a number of ori- ginal Latin Poems on the principal characters men- tioned in the course of the work, which may not be unacceptable to the learned reader. . Edinburgh, March 1, 1813. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION. Besides the additional matter introduced into the Fourth Edition, the present contains a variety of new facts and documents, the most interesting of which will be found in the Note concerning Scottish Mar- tyrs. The portrait of the Regent Murray, engraved for this edition, is taken from the original in Holyrood Palace. Edinburgh, February 14, 1831. CONTENTS. PERIOD FIRST. Birth and parentage of Knox — his education — state of literature in Scot- land— introduction of Greek language — political and ecclesiastical opin- ions of John Major — their probable influence on Knox and Buchanan — Knox teaches scholastic philosophy at St. Andrews — is admitted to cleri- cal orders — change in his studies and sentiments — state of religion in Scotland — urgent necessity of a reformation — gratitude due to the reform- ers— introduction of reformed opinions into Scotland — Patrick Hamilton — martyrs — exiles for religion — reformation promoted by the circulation of the Scriptures — by poetry — embraced by persons of rank — its critical state at the death of James V ' . . Page 17 PERIOD SECOND. Knox retires from St. Andrews, and joins himself to the reformed — is de- graded from the priesthood — reformation favoured by Regent Arran — Scottish Parliament authorize tlie use of the Scriptures in the vulgar language — the Regent abjures the reformed religion — Thomas Guillaume — George Wishart — Knox enters tlie family of Langniddrie as a tutor — Cardinal Beatoun assassinated — Knox persecuted by Archbishop Hamil- ton— averse to go to England — takes refuge in the Castle of St. Andrews — his sentiments respecting the assassination of Beatoun — Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount — Henry Balnaves of Halhill — John Roui>-h — Knox's call to the ministry — his reluctance to comply with it — reflections on this — his first sermon — his disputation before a convention of the clergy — the clergy begin to preach at St. Andrews — success of Knox's labours — castle taken, and Knox confined in the French galleys — his health in- jured— his fortitude of mind — writes a confession of faith — extract from his dedication to a treatise of Balnaves — his humane advice to his fellow- prisoners — his liberation, Page 38 PERIOD THIRD. Knox arrives in England — state of the Reformation in that kingdoui — Knox sent by the priv-y council to preach at Berwick — his great exertions - jtii CONTENTS character of Bishop Tonstal — Knox defends his doctrine before him — is removed to Newcastle — made chaplain to Edward VI. — consulted in the revisal of the Liturgy and Articles — makes proposals of marriage to Marjory Bowes — receives marks of approbation from the privy council — incurs the disoleasure of Earl of Northumberland — is honourably acquit- ted by the privy council — bad state of his health — preaches in London — declines accepting a benefice — refuses a bishopric — his objections to thf worship and government of the Church of England — private sentiments ot English reformers similar to his — plan of Edward VL for improving the Church of England — state of his court — boldness and lionesty of the roya' chaplains — Knox's sermons at court — his distress at the death of Edwara — he retires to the north of England on the accession of Mary — returns to the south — his prayer for the queen — marries Marjory Bowes — displea- sure of some of her relations at this — Roman Catholic religion restored by Parliament — Knox continues to preach — his letters are intercepted — he is forced to abscond — and retires to Dieppe in France, . Page 62 PERIOD FOURTH. Knox's uneasy reflections on his flight — letters to his friends in England — his eloquent exhortation to religious constancy — he visits Switzerland — returns to Dieppe with the intention of venturing into England — visits Geneva — forms an intimate friendship with Calvin — returns to Dieppe — distressing tidings from England — writes his admonition — apology for the severity of its language — devotes himself to study at Geneva — his means of subsistence — called to be minister to the English exiles at Frankfort — dissensions among them about the Liturgy — moderation with which Knox acted in these — harmony restored — disorderly conduct of the sticklers for the Liturgy — rebuked by Knox — he is accused of high treason — retires to Geneva — turns his thoughts to his native country — retrospect of ecclesi- astical transactions in Scotland from the time he left it — triumph of the Popish clergy — execution of Melville of Raith — martyrdom of Adam Wallace — provincial councils of the clergy — canons enacted by them for reforming abuses — catechism in tlie vulgar language — Queen Dowager made Regent — she privately favours the Protestants — violence of English Queen drives preachers into Scotland — William Harlow — John Wiilock — Knox visits his wife at Berwick — preaches privately in Edinburgh — John Erskine of Dun — William Maitland of Lethington — Knox's letter to Mrs. Bowes — he prevails on the Protestants to abstain from hearing mass — preaches at Dun — at Calderhouse — Sir James Sandilands — John Spots- wood — Lord Lorn — Lord Erskine — the Prior of St. Andrews — Knox dis- penses the sacrament of the supper in Ayrshire — Earl of Glencairn — first religious covenant in Scotland — conversation at court about Knox — he is summoned before a convention of the clergy — appears — preaches publicly in Edinburgh — his letter to Mrs. Bowes — his letter to the queen regent — he receives a call from the English Congregation at Geneva — leaves Scotland — clergy condemn him as a heretic, and burn his effigy — sum- mary of the doctrine which he had taught — estimate of the advantages which accrued to the Reformation from this visit — letter of instruction which he left behind him, Page 87 PERIOD FIFTH. Knox arrives at Geneva — happiness which he enjoyed in that city — his pas- sionate desire to preach the gospel in his native country — he receives an CONTENTS. xi„ invitation from the Protestant nobles in Scotland — leaves Geneva — ro- ceives letters at Dieppe dissuadinij him from prosecutinij tlie jeurney — his animated letter to tlie nobility — persecution of the Protet.unts in France — Knox preaches in Rochelle — and at Dieppe — reasons winch in- duced him not to proceed to Scotland — he writes to the Protestants of Scotland — warns them against tlie Anabaptists — writes to the nobility — his prudent advice respecting resistance to the government — lie returns to Geneva — assists in an English translation of the Bible — publishes his letter to the Queen Regent — and his Appellation from the si'iiteiice of the clergy — and his First Blast of the Trumpet — reasons which led to this publication against female government — Aylmer's answer to it — Knox receives a second invitation from the Protestant nobility of Scotland — progress which the Reformation had made — formation of private congre- gations— resolutions of a general meeting — Protestant preachers taken into the families of tlie nobility — correspondence between the Archbishop of St. Andrew's and Earl of Argyle — martyrdom of Walter Mill — impor- tant effects of this — Protestants present a petition to the regent — her fair promises to them — death of Queen Mary of England and accession of Elizabeth — Knox leaves Geneva for Scotland — is refused a passage through England — grounds of this refusal-;-Knox's reflections on it — reason for his wishing to visit England — he writes to Cecil from Dieppe — arrives in Scotland, Page 129 PERIOD SIXTH. Critical situation in which Knox found matters at his arrival — dissimulation of the Queen Regent — differences between her and Archbishop Hamilton accommodated — a provincial council of the clergy — reconciliation of the two archbishops — remonstrance presented by some members of the Popish Church — canons of the council — treaty between the regent and clergy for suppressing the Reformation — proclamation by the queen against the Protestants — the preachers summoned to stand trial — Knox's letter to Mrs. Locke — clergy alarmed at his arrival — he is outlawed — he repairs to Dundee — Protestants of the north resolve to attend tlie trial of their preachers — send information of this to the Regent — her duplicity — Knox preaches at Perth — demolition of the monasteries in that town — unjustly imputed to Knox — Regent threatens the destruction of Perth — Protes- tants resolve to defend themselves — a treaty — Knox's interview with Ar- gyle and Prior — treaty violated by the Regent — the name of the Congre- gation given to the Protestant association — Lords of the Congregation invite Knox to preach at St. Andrews — archbishop opposes this by arms- intrepidity of Knox — he preaches at St. Andrews — magistrates and inha- bitants agree to demolish the monasteries and images, and to set up the reformed worship — their example followed in other parts of the kingdom — apology for the destruction of tiie monasteries — Lords of the Contrre- gation take possession of Edinburgh— Knox is chosen minister of that city — Willock supplies his place after the capital was given up to the Regent — Archbishop Hamilton preaches — Fvnox undertakes a tour of preachino- through the kingdom — his family arrive in Scotland — Christo- pher Goodman—settlement of Protestant ministers in principal towns- French troops come to the assistance of the Regent— Knox persuades the Congrea-ation to seek assistance from the court of England— apologizes to Elizabeth for his book against female government — undertakes a jour- ney to Berwick — succeeds in the negotiation — reasons for hi" taking 8 2 ^^ CONTEx\TS. part in political managements — embarrassments in which this involved him — pri'judices of the English court against him — their confidence in' his honesty — his activity and danger — Lords of Congregation consult on the deposition of the Regent — Knox advises her suspension — influence of the Retbrmation on civil liberty — political principles of Knox — resistance to tyrants not forbidden in the New Testament — disasters of the Congre- gation— their courage revived by the eloquence of Knox — his exertions in Fife — treaty between Elizabeth and Congregation — expedition of the French troops against Glasgow — English army enter Scotland — death of the Queen Regent — intrigues of the French court — civil war concluded — exertions of Protestant preachers during the war — increase of their number — conduct of Popish clergy — their pretended miracle of Mussel- burgh— meeting of parliament — petition of Protestants — Protestant Con- fession of Faith ratified by parliament — retrospective view of the ad- vancement of the Reformation, .... Page 158 PERIOD SEVENTH. Knox resumes his situation in Edinburgh — urges the settlement of ecclesi- astical polity — aversion to this on the part of the nobles — Knox is employed in compiling the Book of Discipline — this is approved by General Assem- bly and subscribed by greater part of Privy Council — sketch of the form and order of the Reformed Church of Scotland — attention to education — avarice of the nobility — influence of the Reformation on literature — intro- duction of Hebrew into Scotland — John Row — return of Buchanan — re- marks on Mr. Hume's representation of the rudeness of Scotland — literary hours in a Scottish minister's family — cultivation of the vernacular lan- guage— David Ferguson — First General Assembly — Knox loses his wife — corresponds with Calvin — his anxiety for the safety of the Reformed Church — Queen Mary arrives in Scotland — her education — her fixed de- termination to restore Popery — alarm excited by her setting up of mass — behaviour of Knox on this occasion — remarks on this — sanguinary spirit and proceedings of Roman Catholics — hostile intentions of the (iueen against Knox — first interview between them — Knox's opinion of her cha- racter— his austerity and vehemence useful — he vindicates the right of holding ecclesiastical assemblies — inveighs against the inadequate provi- sion made for the ministers of the Church — his own stipend — attention of town-council to his support and accommodation — he installs two superin- tendents— is employed in reconciling the nobility — the Queen is offended at one of his sermons — second interview between them — his great labours in Edinburgh — he obtains a colleague — incidents in the life of John Craig — the Prior of St. Andrews created Earl Murray, and made prime minister — insurrection under Huntly — conduct of Knox on that occasion — Quin- tin Kennedy — dispute between him and Knox — Ninian Wingate- -excom- munication of Paul Methven — reflections on the severity of the Protes- tant discipline — third interview between Knox and the Queen — artifice of Mary — she prevails on the parliament not to ratify the Protestant religion — indignation of Knox at this — breach between him and Earl of Murray — his sermon at the dissolution of parliament — fourth interview between him and the Queen — apology for the sternness of his behaviour — slander against his character — he is accused of high treason — the courtiers endea- vour to intimidate him into a submission — his trial and defence — indigna- . tion of the Queen at his acquittal, . . . . Page 208 CONTENTS. PERIOD EIGHTH. k ic courtiers charge Knox with usurping a papal power — tlie General As- jembly vindicate him — he marries a daughter of Lord Ochiltree — splcnc- ic reflections of the Papists on this alliance — dissensions between the rourt and preachers — apology for tlie liberty of the pulpit — debate be- tween Knox and secretary Maitland — on Knox's form of prayer for the «4ueen — and on his doctrine respecting resistance to civil rulers — Craig's account of a similar dispute ii; Bologna — the Queen marries Lord Darn- ley — change in the court — reasons which induced the nobles who opposed the marriage to take up arms — Queen amuses the ProtesUmt ministers — Knox is reconciled to Earl of Murray — gives offence to tlie King — is inhibited from preaching — town-council remonstrate against tliis — he re- sumes his employment — Goodman leaves St. Andrews — petition for Knox's translation to that town refused by Assembly — he is employed to write different treatises for the church — extract from the treatise of Fasting — measures taken by the Queen for restoring Popery — assassination of Rizzio — sudden changes in the court — Knox retires to Kyle — Queen re- fuses to permit his return to the capital — he resolves to visit his sons in En/rland — receives a recommendation from the General Assembly — car- rieo a letter to the English bisliops — Archbishop Hamilton restored to hia anc.ent jurisdiction — spirited letter of Knox on that occasion — alienation betvveen Mary and her husband — the King murdered by Bothwell — the Queen's participation in the murder — her marriage to Bothwell — inde- pendmt behaviour of John Craig — the Queen resigns tli& crown to her son — «^nox returns to Edinburgli — preaches at the coronation of Jamea VI. — (is opinion concerning the punishment of Mary — the Earl of Mur- ray is 'nstalled in the Regency — act of Parliament in favour of the Pro- testan Church — state of tlie Church during the regency of Murray — Knox > herishes the desire of retiring from public life — tlie regent opposed by a pt fty attached to Mary — attempts made on his life — he is assassin- ated bv Hamilton of Bothvvellhaugh — national grief at this event — cha- racter u'' Murray — Knox bewails his loss — fabricated conference between them — Thomas Maitland insults over the death of the Regent — Knox's denunciation against him — his pathetic sermon before the Regent's fune- ral— is struck with apoplexy, ...... Page 2t)8 PERIOD NINTH. Knox recovers from the apoplectic stroke — Kircaldy of Grange joins the Queen's party — Knox involved in a personal quarrel with him — interposi- tion of the gentlemen of the west in his favour — anonymous libels against him — his spirited answers from the pulpit — Queen's party tike possession of the capital — danger to which Knox is exposed — he is prevailed on to retire to St. Andrews — civil war — hostility of the Queen's fiiction asrainst Knox — he 's opposed by their adherents at St. Andrews — .John Hamilton — Arcliibald Hamilton — execution of Archbishop Hamilton — the Regent Lennox slain — is succeeded by Earl of Mar — invasion on the jurisdiction of the Church — tulchan bishops — not approved of by the General Assem- bly— Knox's letter to the assembly at Stirling — his sentiments respecting episcopacy — he refuses to install Douglas as Archbishop of St. .\ndre\vs — gradual decay of his health — striking description of his appearance and pulpit eloquence — his familiarity with the students at the university — hfl xvi CONTENTS. publishes an answer to a Scots Jesuit — ardently desires his dissolution — his last letter to the General Assembly — his subscription to Ferguson's sermon — he returns to Edinburgh — requests a smaller place of worship — Craig removes from Edinburgh — Lawson chosen as successor to Knox — Knox's letter to him — Bartholomew massacre in France — Knox's denun- ciation against Charles IX. — he begins to preach in the Tolbooth Church — his last sermon — his sickness — interview between him and his session — his message to Kircaldy — his religious advices, meditations, and comfort during his last illness — his death — his funeral — opinions entertained re- specting him by the Papists — by foreign reformers — by Scottish Protes- tants— by divines of the Church of England — origin and cause of preju- dices against him — his character — reflections on the prophecies ascribed to him — account of his family — sufferings of John Welch, his son-in-law, interview between him and Louis XIII. — interview between Mrs. Welch and James VI. — character of Knox's writings — conclusion, Page 310 Notes, 367 Appendix, 505 Supplement, •••••••••• 540 Index, • .563 THE LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. PERIOD I. FROM THE YEAR 1505, IN WHICH HE WAS BORN, TO THE YEAR 1542 WHEN HE EMBRACED THE REFORMED RELIGION. John Knox was born in the year one thousand five hundred and five. The place of his nativity has been disputed. That he was born at Gifford, a village in East Lothian, has long been the prevailing opinion ; but some late writers, relying upon popular tradition, have fixed his birth-place at Hadding- ton, the principal town of the county. The house in which he is said to have been born is still shown by the inhabitants, in one of the suburbs of the town called the Gifford-gate. This house, with some adjoining acres of land, continued to be pos- sessed, until about fifty years ago, by a family of the name of Knox, who claimed affinity with the Reformer. I am inclined, however, to prefer the opinion of the oldest and most credible writers, that he was born in the village of Gifford.* His father was descended from an ancient and respectable family, who possessed the lands of Knock, Ranferly, and Craig- ends, in the shire of Renfrew. The descendants of this family have been accustomed to enumerate among the honours of their house, that it gave birth to the Scottish Reformer, a bishop of Raphoe, and a bishop of the Isles.t At what particular period his paternal ancestors removed from their original seat, * See Note A. f Nisbet's Heraldry, p. 180. Crawfurd's Renfrew, by Semple, Part II pp. 30, 139. Account of Knox, prefixed to his Historie, anno 1732, pacre Ji- Keith's Scottish Bishops, p. 177. C 17 18 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. and settled in Lothian, I have not been able exactly to ascer- tain. His mother's name was Sinclair.* Obscurity of parentage can reflect no dishonour upon the man who has raised himself to distinction by his virtues and talents. But though our Reformer's parents were neither great nor opulent, the assertion of some writers that they were in poor circumstances, is contradicted by facts.t They were able to give their son a liberal education, which, in that age, was far from being common. In his youth, he was put to the grammar school of Haddington: and, after he had acquired the principles of the Latin language, his father sent him, in the year 1521, to the University of Glasgow. J The state of learning in Scotland at that period, and the pro- gress which it made in the subsequent part of the century, have not been examined with the attention which they deserve, and which has been bestowed on contemporaneous objects of infe- rior importance. There were unquestionably learned Scots- men in the early part of the sixteenth century ; but most of them owed their chief acquirements to the advantage of a for- eign education. Those improvements which the revival of literature had introduced into the schools of Italy and France, were long in reaching the universities of Scotland, though ori- ginally formed upon their model ; and, when they did arrive, they were regarded with a suspicious eye, and discountenanced by the clergy. The principal branches cultivated in our uni- versities were the Aristotelian philosophy, scholastic theology, and canon law.§ * In times of persecution or war, when there was a risk of his letters being intercepted, the Reformer was accustomed to subscribe, "John Sin- clair." Under this signature at one of them, in the collection of letters in my possession, is the following note: " Yis was his mother's surname, wlk he wrait in time of trubill." MS. Letters, p. 346. t See Note A. I See Note B. Beza (Icones Virorum Illustrium, Ee. iij. anno 1580) and Verheiden (Effigies et Elogia Prsestant. Theolog. p. 92. Hagaecomit. 1602) say that Knox was educated at the University of St. Andrews. 5 Boetii Vitse Episcopor. Murthlac. et Aberdon. fol. x.xix. col. cum fol. xxvi — xxviii. Impress, anno 1522. This little work is of great value, and contains almost the only authentic notices which we possess, as to the state of learning in Scotland, about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Mackenzie, the copier of the fabulous Dempster, who gives an account of learned men who never existed, and of books that no man ever saw, or could see, talks of almost every writer whom he mentions as finishing " the course of his studies in the Belles Lettres and Philosophy," in one of the Scots uni- versities. These are merely words of course. The Aristotelian rules con- cerning rhetoric were taught by the professors of scholastic philosophy; but it does not appear that stated lectures of this kind were read, until the time of the Reformation, when they were appointed to be regularly delivered io the colleges. First Book of Discipline, pp. 40, 42, edit, anno 1621. LIFE OF JOHN Kx\ ox. 19 Even in the darkest ages, Scotland was never altogether des- titute of schools for teaching the Latin language.* It is prob- able that these were at first attached to monasteries ; and it was long a common practice among the barons to board their children with the monks for their education.! When the regular clergy had degenerated, and learning was no longer" confined to them, grammar schools were erected in the principal towns, and taught by persons wiio had qualified themselves for this task in the best manner that the circumstances of the country admitted. The schools of Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling Dumbarton, Killearn, and Haddington, are particularly men tioned in writings about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The two first of these acquired the greatest celebrity, owing to the skill of the masters who presided over them. In the year 1520, John Vans was rector of the school of Aberdeen, and is commended by Hector Boece, the learned principal of the uni- versity, for his knowledge of the Latin tongue, and his success in the education of youth.t^ At a period somewhat later, An- drew Simson acted as master of the school of Perth, where he taught Latin with applause. He had sometimes three hundred boys under his charge at once, including sons of the principal nobility and gentry ; and from his school proceeded many of those who afterwards distinguished themselves both in Church and State. § These schools afforded the means of instruction in the Latin tongue, the knowledge of which, in some degree, was requisite for enabling the clergy to perform the religious service. But the Greek language, long after it had been enthusiastically studied on the Continent, and after it had become a fixed branch of education in the neighbouring kingdom, continued to be * In the twelfth century, there was a school at Abernethy and at Rox- burgh. Sir James Dalrymple's Collections, pp. 226, 255. Other schools in that and the subsequent century are mentioned in charters, apud Chalmers's Caledonia, i. 76. f Caledonia, i. 768. J Boetii Vitae, fol. xxx. Vans was the author of " Rudimenta Artia Grammaticee per Jo. Vaus Scotvm Selecta — Edinbvrgi Excudebat Robertas Lepreuik, Anno Do. 1566." 4to. This was probably another edition of the work printed by Jod. Bad. Ascensius, Paris, 1522. 5 Row's History of the Kirk of Scotland, MS. pp. 3, 4. Simson taught at Perth between 1550 and 1560. At the establishment of the Reformation, he became minister of Dunning and Cargill, from which he was translated, in 1566, to Dunbar, where he sustained the double office of minister of the parish, and master of the grammar school. He was the author of the Latin Rudiments, which continued to be taught in the schools of Scotland until the time of Ruddiman, and were much esteemed by that accomplished scholar. Row, ut supra. Keith's History, p. 534. Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman, pp. 2", 22, 63. 20 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. almost unknown in Scotland. Individuals acquired the know ledge of it abroad ; but the first attempts to teach it in this country were of a private nature, and exposed their authors to the suspicion of heresy. The town of Montrose is distinguished oy being the first place, as far as I have been able to discover, in which Greek was taught in Scotland ; and John Erskine of Dun is entitled to the honour of being regarded as the first of his countrymen who patronized the study of that elegant and useful language. As early as the year 1534, this enlightened and public spirited baron, on returning from his travels, brought with him a Frenchman, skilled in the Greek tongue, whom he settled in Montrose ; and, upon his removal, he liberally encou- raged others to come from France and succeed to his place. From this private seminary many Greek scholars proceeded, and the knowledge of the language was gradually diffused over the kingdom.* After this statement, I need scarcely add, that the Oriental tongues were at this time utterly unknown in Scot- land. I shall afterwards have occasion to notice the introduc- tion of the study of Hebrew. Knox acquired the Greek language before he arrived at middle age ; but we find him acknowledging, as late as the year 1550, that he was ignorant of Hebrew,t a defect in his education which he exceedingly lamented, and which he afterwards got supplied during his exile on the Continent. John Mair, better known by his Latin name, Major, was professor of philosophy and theology at Glasgow, when Knox attended the university. The minds of young men, and their future train of thinking, often receive an important direction from the master under whom they are educated, especially if his reputation be high. Major was at that time deemed an oracle in the sciences which he taught ; and as he was the pre- ceptor of Knox, and of the celebrated scholar Buchanan,^ it may be proper to advert to some of his opinions. He had received the greater part of his education in France, and acted for some time as a professor in the University of Paris, where * Life of John Erskine of Dun, p. 2, in Wodrow MSS. vol. 1. Bibl. Coll. Glas. .This industrious collector had access to some of Erskine's papers, when employed in compilmg his Life. Additional facts respectinEr the early state of Greek literature in Scotland will be found in Note C. t " In the Hebrew toung (says Knox, in his defence before the Bishop of Durham), I confess myself igfnorant; but have, as God knaweth, fervent thirst to have sum entrance thairin." MS. Letters, p. 16. J Major had come to St. Andrews in 1523. The Records of that Uni- versity show that Buchanan was not of St. Salvator's College, but of St. Mary's. It is probable that Major at that time taught in this College ; and it was not until 1533 that he became provost, or principal, of St Salvator's. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 21 he acquired a more liberal habit of thinking and expressing himself on certain subjects than was yet to be met with in his native country, and in other parts of JEurope. He had imbibed the sentiments concerning ecclesiastical polity, maintained by John Gerson and Peter D'Ailly, who so ably defended the decrees of the Council of Constance, and the liberties of the Galilean Church, against the advocates for the uncontrollable authority of the Sovereign Pontiff. He taught that a General Council was superior to the pope, and might judge, rebuke, restrain, and even depose him from his dignity ; denied the temporal supremacy of the bishop of Rome, and his right to inaugurate or dethrone princes ; maintained that ecclesiastical censures, and even papal excommunications, had no force, if pronounced on irrelevant or invalid grounds : he held that tithes were not of divine right, but merely of himian appoint- ment ; censured the avarice, ambition, and secular pomp of the Court of Rome, and of the Episcopal order ; was no warm friend of the regular clergy ; and advised the reduction of monasteries and holydays."^ His opinions respecting civil governments were analogous to those which he held as to ecclesiastical polity. He taught, that the authority of kings and princes was originally derived from the people ; that the former are not superior to the latter, collec- tivel}^ considered: that if rulers become tyrannical, or employ their power for the destruction of their subjects, they may law- fully be controlled by them, and proving mcorrigible may be deposed by the community as the superior power ; and that tyrants may be judicially proceeded against, even to capital punishment.! The affinity between these sentiments and the political prm ciples afterwards avowed by Knox, and defended by the classic pen of Buchanan, is too striking to require illustration. Some of them, indeed, had been taught by at least one Scottish author, who flourished before the time of Alajor ; but it is most proba- ble that the oral instructions and writings of their master first suggested to them the sentiments which they so readily adopted, and which were afterwards confirmed by mature reflection, and more extensive reading ; and tliat, consequently, the important chang-is which tnese contributed to accomplish, should be traced, in a certain measure, to this distinguished professor. Nor, in such circumstances, could his ecclesiastical opinions fail to have a proportionate share of influence on their habits of thinking with respect to religion and the Church. * These sentiments are collected from his Commentaries on the Third Book of the Master of Sentences, and from his Exposition of Matthew's Gos- pel ; printed in Latin at Paris, the former in 1.517, and the latter in 1518. I- See Note D. 22 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. But though, in these respects, the opinions of Majoi Arere more free and rational than those generally entertained at that time, it must be confessed that the portion of instruction which his scholars could derive from him was extremely small, if we allow his publications to be a fair specimen of his academical, prelections. Many of the questions which he discusses are utterly useless and trifling ; the rest are rendered disgusting ly the most servile adherence to all the minutiae of the scholastic mode of reasoning. The reader of his works must be content with painfully picking a grain of truth from the rubbish of many pages ; nor will the drudgery be compensated by those discoveries of inventive genius and acute discrimination, for which the writings of Aquinas, and some others of that subtle school, may still deserve to be consulted. Major is entitled to praise, for exposing to his countrymen several of the more glaring errors and abuses of his time ; but his mind was deeply tinctured by superstition, and he defended some of the absurdest tenets of popery by the most ridiculous and puerile arguments.* His talents were moderate ; with the writings of the ancients he appears to have been acquainted only through the medium of the collectors of the middle ages ; nor does he ever hazard in opinion, or pursue a speculation, beyond the limits which Had been marked out by some approved doctor of the Church. Add to this, that his style is, to an uncommon degree, harsh and forbidding : " exile, aridum, conscissum, ac minutum." Knox and Buchanan soon became disgusted with such stu- dies, and began to seek entertainment more gratifying to their ardent and inquisitive minds. Having set out in search of knowledge, they released themselves from the trammels, and overleaped the boundaries, prescribed to them by their timid conductor. Each following the native bent of his genius and inclination, they separated in the prosecution of their studies. Buchanan, indulging in a more excursive range, explored the extensive fields of literature, and wandered in the flowery mead of poesy ; while Knox, passing through the avenues of secular learning, devoted himself to the study of divine truth, and the labours of the sacred ministry. Both, however, kept uniformly * Lord Hailes, having given an example of this, adds, " After this, can Buchanan be censured tor saying that he was ' solo cognomine Major?'' " (Provincial Councils of the Hcottish Clergy, p. 11.) By the way, it was Major who first said this of himself. It was the sight of these words, "Joannes, solo cognomine Major," in the dedicatory epistle to his writings, that drew from Buchanan the satirical Imes, which have been so often ap- pealed to by his enemies, as an infallible proof of the badness of his heart. If fault there was in this, we may certainly make the apology which his learned editor produces tor him in another case, "Non tam hominis vitium, quam poelte." Poets and wits cannot always spare their best friends. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 23 in view the advancement of true religion and liberty, with the •ove of which they were equally smitten ; and as, during their lives, they suffered a long and painful exile, and were exposed to many dangers, for adherence to this kindred cause, so their memories have not been divided in the profuse but honourable obloquy with which they have been aspersed by its enemies, and in the deserved and grateful recollections of its genuine friends.* But we must not suppose that Knox was able at once to divest himself of the prejudices of his education and of the times. Barren and repulsive as the scholastic studies appear to our minds, there was something in the intricate and subtle sophistry then in vogue calculated to fascinate the youthful and ingenious mind. It had a show of wisdom ; it exercised, although it did not enrich, the understanding ; it even gave play to the imagination, while it served to flatter the pride of the learned adept. Once involved in the mazy labyrinth, il was no easy task to break through it, and to escape into the open field of rational and free inquiry. Accordingly, Knox continued for some time captivated with these studies, and prosecuted them with great success. After he was created master of arts, he taught philosophy, most probably as a regent of one of the classes in the university.! His class became cel- ebrated ; and he was considered as equalling, if not excelling, his master in the subtleties of the dialectic art. J About the same time, although he had no interest but what was procured by his own merit, he was advanced to clerical orders, and was ordained a priest, before he reached the age fixed by the canons of the church.§ This must have taken place previous to the * Buchanan always mentions Knox in terms of high respect, Oper. ed. Ruddiman, pp. 313, 321, 366. And the Reformer, in his Historie, has borne testimony to the virtues as well as splendid talents of the Poet: "That notable man, Mr. George Bucquhanane — remains alyve to this day, in the yeir of God 1566 years, to the glory of God, to the gret honour of this na- tioun, and to the comfort of thame that delyte in letters and vertew. That singulare wark of David's Psalmes, in Latin meetre and poesie, besyd mony other, can witness the rare graices of God gevin to that man." Historie, p. 24. t D. Buchanan's Life of Knox. Mackenzie's Lives, iii. 111. Although I have followed the common accounts, I have great doubts if Knox was made Master of Arts. It was usual to put Mr. before the names of those who had been laureated, but I have never seen this title prefixed to his name in any old record. I " In hac igitur Anthropotheologia egregie versatus Cnoxus, eandem et n)agna autoritate docuit : visusque fuit magistro suo (si qua in subtil- itate felicitas), in quibusdam felicior." Verheiden. Effigies et Elogia PrsBstant Theolog. p. 92. Hagsecomit. 1602. Beza; Icones. Ee. iij. Melck Adami Vitfe Theolog. Exter. p. 137. Francofurti, 161 S. } See Nota E. 24 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. year 1533, at which thne he had arrived at his twenty-fifth year, the canonical age for receiving ordination. It was not long, however, till his studies received a new direction, which led to a complete revolution in his religious sentiments, and had an important influence on the whole of his future life. Not satisfied with the excerpts from ancient authors, which he found in the writings of the scholastic divines and canonists, he resolved to have recourse to the original works. In them he found a method of investigating and communicating truth to which he had hitherto been a stranger, and the simpli- city of which recommended itself to his mind, in spite of the prejudices of education and the pride of superior attainments in his own favourite art. Among the fathers of the Christian Church, Jerome and Augustine attracted his particular attention. By the writings of the former, he was led to the Scriptures as the only pure fountain of divine truth, and instructed in the utility of studying them in the original languages. In the works of the latter, he found religious sentiments very opposite to those taught in the Romish Church, who, while she retained his name as a saint in her calendar, had banished his doctrine, as heretical, from her pulpits. From this time, he renounced the study of scholastic theology ; and although not yet com- pletely emancipated from superstition, his mind was fitted for improving the means which Providence had prepared for lead- ing him to a fuller and more comprehensive view of the system of evangelical religion. It was about the year 1535 when this favourable change commenced ;* but it does not appear that he professed himself a Protestant before the year 1542. As I am now to enter upon that period of Knox's life at which he renounced the Roman Catholic communion and com- menced Reformer, it may not be improper to take a survey of the state of religion in Scotland at that time. Without an ade- quate knowledge of this, it is impossible to form a just estimate of the necessity and importance of that Reformation, in the ad- vancement of which he laboured with so great zeal ; and no- thing has contributed so much to give currency, among Pro- testants, to prejudices against his character, as ignorance, or a superficial consideration of the enormous and almost incredible abuses which then prevailed in the Church. This must be my apology for a digression which might otherwise be deemea superfluous or disproportionate. The corruptions by which the Christian religion was univcr * Bezse Icones, Verheidenii EfBg-ies Melchior Adam ; ut supra. Spots wood's History, p. 265. Lond. 1677 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 25 sally disfigured, before the Reformation, had grown to a greater height in Scotland than in any other nation within the pale of the Western Church. Superstition and religious imposture, in their grossest forms, gained an easy admission among a rude and ignorant people. By means of these, the clergy attained to an exorbitant degree of opulence and power ; which were accompanied, as they always have been, with the corruption of their order, and of the whole system of religion. The full half of the wealth of the nation belonged to the clergy ; and the greater part of this was in the hands of a few individuals, who had the command of the whole body. Avarice, ambition, and the love of secular pomp, reigned among the superior orders. Bishops and abbots rivalled the first nobilitv in magnificence, and preceded them in honours : they were Privy-Counsellors, and Lords of Session, as well as of Parlia- ment, and had long engrossed the principal offices of state. A vacant bishopric or abbacy called forth powerful competitors, who contended for it as for a principality or petty kingdom ; it was obtained by similar arts, and not unfrequently taken pos- session of by the same weapons.* Inferior benefices were openly put to sale, or bestowed on the illiterate and unworthy minions of courtiers ; on dice-players, strolling bards, and the bastards of bishops.t Pluralities were multipUed without bounds, and benefices, given in commend ain,v^QXQ kept vacant during the life of the commendator — nay, sometimes dm-ing several lives ;± so that extensive parishes were frequently de- priA^ed for a long course of ^'•ears, of all religious service, — if a deprivation it could be called, at a time when the curfi of souls was no longer regarded as attached to livings originally endow- ed for that purpose. The bishops never, on any occasion, con- * During the minority of James V. the celebrated Gawin Douglas was recommended by the Queen to the archbishopric of St. Andrews ; but John Hepburn, prior of the regular canons, opposed the nomination, and took the archiepiscopal palace by storm. Douglas afterwards laid siege to the cath- edral of Dunkeld, and carried it more by the thunder of his cannon, than the dread of the excommunication which he threatened to fulminate against his antagonist. Buch. Hist. xiii. 44. Spotsw. 61. Life of Gawin Doug- las, prefixed to his translation of the ^neid : Ruddiman's edition. \ Sir David Lindsay's Works, by Chalmers, i. 344; ii. 237, 238. Win- zet, and Kennedy ; apud Keith, App. 4S8, 504. \ The Popes were accustomed to grant liberty to the commendators to dispose of benefices which they held by this tenure, to others who should succeed to them after their death. hitroduction to Scots Biography, in Wodrow, MSS. vol. ix. p. 171 ; Bibl. Coll. Glas. So late as anno 1.534, Clement VIL granted, in cornmendam, to his nephew, Hypolitus, Cardinal de Medici, ALL the benefices in the world, secular and regular, dignities and parsona- ges, simple and with cure, being vacant, for six months; with power to dispose of all their fruits, and convert them to his own use. Father Paul's History oithe Council of Trent, lib. 1. p. 251. Lond. 1620. 3 D 26 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. descended to preach ; indeed, I scarcely recollect an .nstance of it mentioned in history, from the erection of the regular Scottish Episcopacy down to the era of the Reformation.* The practice had even gone into desuetude among all the secular clergy, and was wholly devolved on the mendicant monks, who employed it for the most mercenary purposes.! The Uves of the clergy, exempted from secular jurisdiction, and corrupted by wealth and idleness, were become a scandal to religion, and an outrage on decency. While they professed chastity, and prohibited, under the severest penalties, any of the ecclesiastical order from contracting lawful wedlock, the bishops set an example of the most shameless profligacy before the inferior clergy ; avowedly kept their harlots, provided their natural sons with benefices, and gave their daughters in marriage to the sons of the nobility and principal gentry, many of whom were so mean as to contaminate the blood of their families by such base alliances for the sake of the rich dowries which they brought. I Through the blind devotion and munificence of princes and nobles, monasteries, those nurseries of superstition and idleness, had greatly multipUed in the nation ; and though they had uni- versally degenerated, and were notoriously become the haunts of lewdness and debauchery, it was deemed impious and sacri- legious to reduce their number, abridge their privileges, or alienate their funds. § The kingdom swarmed with ignorant, * One exception occurs, and must not be omitted. When George Wish- art was preaching in Ayr, Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, took posses- sion of the pulpit, in order to exclude the Reformer. Some of the more zealous hearers would have dispossessed the bishop, but Wishart would not suffer them. " The bishope preichit to his jackmen, and to some auld boisses of the toun. The soum of all his sermone was, They sey, we sould preiche: Quhy not 1 Better lait thryve nor nevir thryve. Had us still tor your bishope, and we sail provyde better the next tyme." Knox, Historie, p. 44. I War not the preiching of the begging freiris,. Tint war the faith among the seculeiris. Lyndsay, ut supra, i. 343, comp. ii. 101. X Lord Hailes's Notes on Ancient Scottish Poems, pp. 249, 2.50, 297, 309. We need not appeal to the testimony of the reformers, nor to satirical poems published at that time, in proof of the extreme profligacy of the popish clergy. The truth is registered in the Acts of Parliament, and in the decrees of their own councils, (Wilkins, Concil. torn. iv. pp. 46 — 60. Keith's Hist. pref. xiv. and p. 14,) in the records of legitimation, (Lord Hailes, ut supra, pp. 249, 250,) and in the confessions of their own wri- ters. (Kennedy and Winzet, apud Keith, append. 202, 205 — 207. Lesley, Hist. 232. Father Alexander Baillie's True Information of the Unhallowed Offspring, &c. of our Scottish Calvinian Gospel, pp. 15,16; Wirtzburg, anno 1628.) \ In consequence of a very powerful confederacy against the religious knights, called Templars, and upon charges of the most flag'jtious crimes, LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 27 idle, luxurious monks, who, like locusts, devoured the fruits of the earth, and filled the air with pestilential infection ; with friars, white, black, and grey ; canons regular, and of St. Anthony ; Carmelites, Carthusians, Cordeliers, Dominicans, Franciscan Conventuals and Observantines, Jacobins, Premon- stratensians, monks of Tyrone, and of Vallis Caulium, and Hospitallers, or Holy Knights of St. John of Jerusalem ; nuns of St. Austin, St. Clair, St. Scholastica, and St. Catherine of Sienna, with canonesses of various clans.* The ignorance of the clergy respecting religion was as gros? as the dissoluteness of their morals. Even bishops were not ashamed to confess that they were unacquainted with the canon of their faith, and had never rfead any part of the sacred Scrip- tures, except what they met with in their missals.t Under such masters the people perished for lack of knowledge. That book, which was able to make them wise unto salvation, and intended to be equally accessible to " Jew and Greek, Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free," was locked up from them, and the use of it in their own tongue prohibited under the heaviest penalties. The religious service was mumbled over in a dead language, which many of the priests did not understand, and some of them could scarcely read ; and the greatest care was that order was suppressed by a general council, anno 1312; but their pos- sessions were conferred upon another order of sacred kniijhts. The pleni- tude of papal power was stretched to the very utmost, in this dread attempt : " Quanquam," says his holiness in the bull, " de jure non possumus, tamen ad plenitudinem potestatis dictum ordinem reprobamus." VValsinorham, Histor. Angl. p. 99. Wlien the Gilbertine monks retired from Scotland, because the air of the country did not agree with them, their revenues were, upon their resignation, transferred to the monastery of Paisley. Keith's Scottish Bishops, p. 266. * See Note F. ^ t Fox, p. 1153, printed anno 1.596. Chalmers's Lyndsay, ii. 62, 63, 64. Lord Hailes, Provincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy, p. 30. Sir Ralph Sadler's testimony to he clergy, as the only men of learning about the court of James V. may seet \ to contradict what I have asserted. But Sadler speaks of their talents for political management, and in the same letter gives a proof of their ignorance in other respects. The clergy, at that time, made law their principal study, and endeavoured to quality themselves for offices of State. This, however, engaged their whole attention, and they were grossly ignorant in their own profession. Sadler's State Papers, i. 47, 4S ; Edin. "l809. Knox, Historie, p. 18. Andrew Forman, bishop of Murray, and papal legate for Scotland, being obliged to say grace, at an entertainment which he gave to the pope and cardinals in Rome, blundered so in his latmity, that his holiness and their eminences lost their gravity, which so disconcerted the bishop, thnt he concluded the blessing by giving ail the false carles to the devil, in nom- ine patris, filii et sancti spiritus ; to which the company, not understanding his Scoto-Latin, said Amen. " The holy bishop," says Pitscottie, " was not a good scholar, and had not good Latin." History, p. 106 <28 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. taken to prevent even catechisms, composed and approved by the clergy, from coming into the hands of the laity.* Scotland, from her local situation, had been less exposed to disturbance from the encroaching ambition, th(? vexatious exactions, and fulminating anathemas of the Vatican court, than the countries in the immediate vicinity of Rome. But from the same cause, it was more easy for the domestic clergy to keep up on the minds of the people that excessive veneration for the Holy See, which could not be long felt by those who had the opportunity of witnessing its vices and worldly politics.! The burdens which attended a state of dependence upon a remote foreign jurisdiction were severely felt. Though the popes did not enjoy the power of presenting to the Scottish pre- lacies, they wanted not numerous pretexts for interfering with them. The most important causes of a civil nature, which the ecclesiastical courts had contrived to bring within their juris- diction, were frequently carried to Rome. Large sums of mone}?- were annually exported out of the kingdom, for the confirmation of benefices, the conducting of appeals, and many other purposes ; in exchange for which were received leaden bulls, woollen palls, wooden images, old bones, and similar arti- cles of precious consecrated mummery. J Of the doctrine of Christianity almost nothing remained but the name. Instead of being directed to offer up their adora- tions to one God, the people were taught to divide them among an innumerable company of inferior divinities. A plurality of mediators shared the honour of procuring the divine favour * Wilkins, Concilia, torn. iv. 72. Lord Hailes's Provincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy, p. 36. t Luther often mentioned to his familiar acquaintances the advantage which he derived from a visit to Rome in 1510, and used to say, that he would not exchange that journey for 1000 florins; so much did it con- tribute to open his eyes to the corruptions of the Romish Court, and to weaken his prejudices. Melchior. Adami, Vitse Germ. Theol. p. 104. Erasmus had a sensation of the same kind, although weaker, John Rough, one of the Scottish Reformers, felt in a similar way after visiting Rome. Fox, p. 1841. t Notwithstanding laws repeatedly made to restrain persons from going o Rome, to obtain benefices, the practice was. greatly on the increasfl ■■bout the tir* of the Reformation. It is schort time sen ony benefice Was sped in Rome, except great bishoprics; But now, for ane unworthy vickarage, A priest will rin to Rome in Pilgrimage. Ane cavill qnhilk was never at the scule Will rin to Rome, and keep ane bischopis mule: And syne come hame with mony a colorit crack, With ane burdin of beneficis on his back. Chalmers's Lyndsuy, ii. 60 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 29 with the " one Mediator between God and man;" and n ore petitions were presented to the Virgin Mary, and other saints, than to '' Him whom the Father iieareth always." The sacri- fice of the mass was represented as procuring forgiveness of sins to the Hving and the dead, to the infinite disparagement of the sacrifice by wliich Jesus Christ expiated sin and procured everlasting redemption ; and the consciences of men were with- drawn from faith in the merits of their Saviour to a delusivf reliance upon priestly absolutions, papal pardons, and voluntary -.enances. Instead of being instructed to demonstrate the sin- cerity of their faith and repentance by forsaking their sins, and to testify their love to God and man by practising the duties of morality, and observing the ordinances of worship authorized by Scripture, they were taught that, if they regularly said their aves and credos, confessed themselves to a priest, punctually paid their tithes and church-offerings, purchased a mass, went in pilgrimage to the shrine of some celebrated saint, refrained from flesh on Fridays, or performed some other prescribed act of bodily mortification, their salvation was infallibly secured in due time : while those who were so rich and so pious as to build a chapel or an altar, and to endow it for the support of a priest, to perform masses, obits, and dirges, procured a relaxa- tion of the pains of purgatory for themselves or their relations, m proportion to the extent of their liberality. It is difiicult for us to conceive how empty, ridiculous, and wretched those ha- rangues were which the monks delivered for sermons. Legen- dary tales concernmg the founder of some religious order, his wonderful sanctity, the miracles which he performed, his com- bats with the devil, his watchings, fastings, flagellations ; the virtues of holy water, chrism, crossing, and exorcism ; the horrors of purgatory, and the numbers released from it by the intercession of some powerful saint ; these, with low jests, table-talk, and fireside scandal, formed the favourite topics of the preachers, and were served up to the people instead of the pure, salutary, and sublime doctrines of the Bible.* The beds of the dying were besieged, and their last moments disturbed, by avaricious priests, who laboured to extort be- quests to themselves or to the Church. Not satisfied with exacting tithes from the living, a demand was made upon the dead : no sooner had the poor husbandman breathed his last, than the rapacious vicar came and carried ofl' his corpse-present, which he repeated as often as death visited the family.t Ec- ♦ Knox, 14—16. Spotpwood, 64, 69. Keith, append. 20"). Dalyell'a Cursory Remarks, prefixed to Scottisli Poems of the Sixteeiitli Century, i. 16—18. Chalmers's Lyndsay, i. 211. t See Note G. 30 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. clesiastical censures were fulminated against those who were reluctant in making these payments, or who showed themselves disobedient to the clergy ; and, for a little money, they were prostituted on the most trifling occasions.* Divine service was neglected ; and, except on festival days, the churches, in many parts of the country, v/ere no longer employed for sacred pur- poses, but served as sanctuaries for malefactors, places of traffic, or resorts for pastime.t Persecution, and the suppression of free inquiry, were tlie only weapons by which its interested supporters were able to defend this system of corruption and imposture. Every avenue by which truth might enter, was carefully guarded. Learning was branded as the parent of heresy. The most frightful pic- tures were drawn of those who had separated from the Romish Church, and held up before the eyes of the people, to deter 'them from imitating their example. If any person, who had attained a degree of illumination amidst the general darkness, began to hint dissatisfaction with the conduct of churchmen, and to propose the correction of abuses, he was immediately stigmatized as a heretic, and, if he did not secure his safety by flight, was immured in a dungeon, or committed to the flames. And when, at last, in spite of all their precautions, the light which was shining around did break in and spread through the nation, the clergy prepared to adopt the most desperate and bloody measures for its extinction. From this imperfect sketch of the state of religion in this country, we may see how false the representation is which some persons would impose on us ; as if popery were a system, erroneous, indeed, but purely speculative, superstitious but harmless, provided it had not been accidentally accompanied witli intolerance and cruelty. The very reverse is the truth. It may be safely said, that there is not one of its erroneous tenets, or of its superstitious practices, which was not either originally contrived, or afterwards accommodated, to advance and support some practical abuse ; to aggrandize the ecclesias- tical order, secure to them immunity from civil jurisdiction, sanctify their encroachments upon secular authorities, vindi- cate their usurpations upon the consciences of men, cherish im- plicit obedience to the decisions of the Church, and extinguish free inquiry and liberal science. It was a system not more repugnant to the religion of the Bible, than incompatible with the legitimate rights of princes, and the independence, liberty, and prosperity of kingdoms , not more destructive to the souls of men, than to domestic and * Knox, Historie, p. 14. t Dalyell's Cursory Remarks, &c. i. 28. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Jl social happiness, and the principles of sound morality Con- siderations from every quarter combined in calling aloU' for a radical and complete reform. The exertions of every 'descrip- tion of persons, of the man of letters, the patriot, the prince, as well as the Christian, each acting in his own sphere for his own interests, with the joint concurrence of all as in a conmioii cause, were urgently required for extirpating abuses, of which all had reason to complain, and for effectuating a revolution, in the advantages of which all would participate. There was, however, no reasonable prospect of accomplishing this, without exposing, in the first place, the falsehood of those notions which have been called speculative. It was principally by means of these that superstition had established its empire over the minds of men; behind them the Romish ecclesiastics had intrenched themselves and defended their usurped prerogatives and pos- sessions ; and had any prince or legislature endeavoured to de- prive them of these, while the great body of the people remained unenlightened, it would soon have been found that the attempt was premature in itself, and replete with danger to those by whom it was made. To the revival of the primitive doctrines and instit^^tions of Christianity, by the preaching and writings of the reformers, and to those controversies by which the popish errors were confuted from Scripture, (for which many modern philosophers seem to have a thorough contempt), we are chiefly indebted for the overthrow of superstition, ignorance, and des- potism ; and in fact, all the blessings, political and religious, which we enjoy, may be traced to the Reformation from popery. How grateful should we be to Divine Providence for this happy revolution ! For those persons do but sport with their 3wn imaginations, who flatter themselves that it must have taken place in the ordinary course of human aflairs, and over- look the many convincing proofs of the superintending direc- tion of superior wisdom in the whole combination of circum- stances which contributed to bring about the Reformation in this country, as well as throughout Europe. How much are we indebted to those men, who, under God, were the instruments in eflfecting it; men who cheerfully hazarded their lives to achieve a design which involved the felicity of millions unborn; who boldly attacked the system of error and corruption, though fortified by popular credulity, by custom, and by laws, fenced with the most dreadful penalties; and who, having forced the stronghold of superstition, and penetrated the recesses of its temple, tore aside the veil that concealed the monstrous idol which the world had so long ignorantly worshipped, dissolved the spell by which the human mind was bound, and restored it to liberty ' How criminal must those be, who, sitting at ease 32 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. under the vines and fig-trees, planted by the labours, and watered with the blood of these patriots, discover their dis esteem of the invaluable privileges which they inherit, or their ignorance of the expense at which they were purchased, by the most unworthy treatment of those to whom they owe them — misrepresent their actions, calumniate their motives, and load their memories with every species of abuse !* The reformed doctrine had made considerable progress in Scotland before it was embraced by Knox. Patrick Hamilton, a youth of royal lineage,! obtained the honour, not conferred upon many of his rank, of first announcing its glad tidings to his countrymen, and of sealing them with his blood. He was born in the year 1504; and being designed for the Church by his relations, the abbacy of Feme was conferred upon him in his childhood, according to a ridiculous custom which prevailed at that period. But, as early as the year 1526, and previous to the breach of Henry VHI. with the Romish see, a gleam of light was, by some unknown means,J imparted to his mind, amidst the darkness which brooded around him. His recom mendations of ancient literature, at the expense of the philoso phy which was then taught in the schools, and the free Ian * Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause Bled nobly ; and their deeds, as they deserve, Receive proud recompense. But fairer wreaths are due, though never paid, To those who, posted at the shrine of truth, Have fallen in her defence. Yet tew remember them. With their names No bard embalms and sanctifies his song: And history, so warm on meaner themes, Is cold on this. She execrates, indeed, The tyranny that doomed them to the fire, But gives the glorious sufferers little praise. Cowper, Task, Book V. In the margin, Cowper names Hume as chargeable with the injustice which he so feelingly upbraids. While it is painful to think that other historians, since Hume, have exposed themselves to the same censure, it is pleasant to reflect, that Cowper is not the only poet who has " sanctified," and, I trust, "embalmed his song," with the praises of these patriots. The reader will easily perceive that I refer to the author of The Sabbath. f His father, Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavil, was son of Lord Hamilton, who married a sister of King James III. His mother was a daughter of John Duke of Albany, brother to the same monarch. Pinkerton's Hist, of Scotland, ii. 45, 46, 289. X Tliere was an act of Parliament, as early as 17th July 1525, prohibiting ships from bringing any books of Luther or his disciples into Scotland, which had always "bene dene of all sic filth and vice." Act. Pari. Scot. vol. ii. p. 29.5. This renders it highly probable that such books had already been introduced into this country. LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. 33 guage which he used in speaking of the corruptions cl the Church, had ah'eady drawn upon him the suspicions of the clergy, when he resolved to leave Scotland, and to improve his mind by travelling on the Continent. He set out witji three attendants, and, attracted by the fame of Luther, repaired to Wittemberg. Luther and jVIelancthon were highly pleased with his zeal ; and, after retaining him a short time with them, they recommended him to the miiversity of Marburg. This imiversity was newly erected by that enlightened prince, Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, who had placed at its head the learned and pious Francis Lambert of Avignon. Lambert, who had left his native country, and sacrificed a lucrative situation, from love to the reformed religion, conceived a strong attachment to the young Scotsman, who imbibed his instructions with extra- ordinary avidity. While he was daily advancing in acquaint- ance with the Scriptures, Hamilton was seized with an uncon- querable desire of imparting to his countrymen the know- ledge which he had acquired. In vain did Lambert represent to him the dangers to which he would be exposed ; his deter mination was fixed ; and taking along with him a single atten dant, he left Marburg, and returned to Scotland.* The clergy did not allow him long time to disseminate his opinions. Pretending to wish a free conference with him, they decoyed him to St. Andrews, where he was thrown into prison by Archbishop Beatoun, and committed to the flames on the last day of February 1528, and in the twenty -fourth year of his age. On his trial he defended his opinions with firmness, yet with great modesty; and the mildness, patience, and forti- tude, which he displayed at the stake, equalled those of the first martyrs of Christianity. He expired with these words in his mouth : " How long, 0 Lord, shall darkness cover this realm ! How long wilt thou sufter this tyranny of men ! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit !"t " The murder of Hamilton,'^ says a modern historian,! " was afterwards avenged in the blood of the nephew and successor of his persecutor ;" and the flames in which he expired were, " in the course of one generation, to enlighten all Scotland, and to consume, with avenging fury, the Catholic superstition, the papal power, and the prelacy itself." The good eff'ects which resulted from the martyrdom of * F. Lamberti Avenionensis Comment, in Apocalypsin, prsefat. anno 1528. t Lambert, tit supra. Bezse Icones Ff j. Fox, 888. Knox, 4—6. Lind- say of Pitcottie's History of Scotland, pp. 133—5; Edin. 1728. This last author gives a very interesting account of Hamilton's trial, but he is wrong as to the year of his martyrdom. l Pinkerttin. E 34 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. Hamilton soon began to appear. Many of the learned, as wel, as of the common people, in St. Andrews, beheld with deep mterest the crnel death of a person of rank, and could not refrain from admiring the heroism with which he endured it. This excited inquiry into the opinions for which he suffered, and the result of inquiry, in many cases, was a conviction of their truth. Gawin Logic, principal of St. Leonard's College, was so successful in instilling them into the minds of the stu- dents under his care, that it became proverbial to say of any one who was suspected of Lutheranism, that he " had drunk of St. Leonard's well."* Under the connivance of John Win- ram, the subprior, they also secretly spread among the novici- ates of the abbey.t These sentiments were not long confined to St. Andrews, and everywhere persons were to be found who held that Pat- rick Hamilton had died a martyr. Alarmed at the progress of the new opinions, the clergy adopted the most rigorous measures for their extirpation. Strict inquisition was made after heretics ; the flames of persecution were kindled in all quarters of the country ; and, from 1530 to 1540, many inno- cent and excellent men suffered the most inhuman death. J Henry Forrest, David Straiton, Norman Gourlay, Jerom Rus- sel, Kennedy, Kyllor, Beveridge, Duncan Sympson, Robert Forrester, and Thomas Forrest, were the names of those early martyrs, whose sufferings deserve a more conspicuous place than can be given to them in these pages. A few, whose constancy was overcome by the horrors of the stake, purchased their lives by abjuring their opinions. Numbers made their escape to England and the Continent ; among whom were the following learned men, Gawin Logic, Alexander Seatoun, Alexander Aless, John Macbee, John Fife, John Macdowal, John Macbray, George Buchanan, James Harrison, and Robert Richardson.§ Few of these exiles afterwards returned to their native country. England, Denmark, Germany, France, and even Portugal, offered an asylum to them ; and foreign universities and schools enjoyed the benefit of those talents which their bigoted countrymen were incapable of appreciating. To maintain their authority, and to preserve those corruptions from which they derived their wealth, the clergy would wil- lingly have driven into banishment all the learned men in the kingdom, and quenched for ever the light of science in Scotland. ♦ Cald. MS. i. 69. f In 1546, VVinram having spoken to the bishops in favour of George Wishart, Cardinal Beatoun upbraided him, saying, " Well, sir, and you, we koow what a man you are, seven years ago." Pitscottie, 189. t See Note H. b See Note I. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 35 Various causes contributed to prevent these measures from arresting the progress of the trutii. Among these, the first place is unquestionably due to the circulation of the Scriptures in the vulgar language. Against this the patrons of ignorance had endeavoured to guard with the utmost jealousy. But when the desire of knowledge has once been excited among a people, they easily contrive methods of eluding the vigilance of those who would prevent them from gratifying it. By means of merchants who traded from England and the Continent to the ports of Leith, Dundee, and Montrose, Tindall's translations of the Scriptures, with many Protestant books, were imported. These were consigned to persons of tried principles and pru- dence, who circulated them in private with great industry One copy of the Bible, or of the New Testament, supplied sev- eral families. At the dead hour of night, when others were asleep, they assembled in a private house ; the sacred volume was brought from its concealment, and while one read, the rest listened with mute attention. In this way the knowledge of the Scriptures was diffused, at a period when it does not appear that there was a single public teacher of the truth in Scotland.* Nor must we overlook another means which operated very extensively in alienating the public mind from the established religion. Those who have investigated the causes which led to the Reformation on the Continent, have ascribed a consider- able share of influence to the writings of the poets and satirists of the age. Poetry has charms for persons of every descrip- tion ; and in return for the pleasure which it affords them, mankind have in all ages been disposed to allow a greater lib- erty to poets than to any other class of writers. Strange as it may appear, the poets who flourished before the Reformation used very great freedom with the Church, and there were not wanting many persons of exalted rank who encouraged them in this species of composition. The same individuals who were reaiiy, at the call of the pope and clergy, to undertake a crusade for extirpating heresy, entertained poets who inveighed against the abuses of the court of Rome, and lampooned the religious orders. One day they assisted at an auto-da-fe, in which her- etics were committed to the flames for the preservation of the Catholic Church ; next day they were present at the acting of a pantomime or a play, in which the ministers of that Church were held up to ridicule. Intoxicated with power, and lulled asleep by indolence, the clergy had either overlooked these attacks, or treated them with contempt ; it was only from ex- * Wodrow's MSS. in Bibl. Coll. Glas. vol. i. p. 2. Calderwood's MS. Hist, of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p. 35. Knox, Historic, p. 22 36 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. perience that they learned their injurious tendency , and before they made the discovery, the practice had become so common that it could no longer be restrained. This weapon was wield- ed with much success by the friends of the reformed doctrine in Scotland. Some of their number had acquired great celebrity among their countrymen as poets ; and others, who could not lay claim to high poetical merit, possessed a talent for wit and humour. They employed themselves in writing satires, in which the ignorance, the negligence, and the immorality, of the clergy were stigmatized, and the absurdities and superstitions of the popish religion exposed to ridicule. These poetical effusions were easily committed to memory,, and were circu- lated without the intervention of the press, which was at that time entirely under the control of the bishops. An attack still more bold was made upon the Church. Dramatic composi- tions, partly written in the same strain, were repeatedly acted in the presence of the royal family, the nobility, and vast assemblies of people, to the great mortification, and the still greater disadvantage, of the clergy. The bishops repeatedly procured the enactment of laws against the circulation of sedi- tious rhymes and blasphemous ballads : but metrical epistles, moralities, and psalms, in the Scottish language, continued to be read with avidity, notwithstanding prohibitory statutes and legal prosecutions.*" In the year 1540, the reformed doctrine could number among its converts, besides a nmltitude of the common people, many persons of rank and external respectability : among whom were William, Earl of Glencairn; his son Alexander, Lord Kil- maurs ; William, Earl of Errol ; William, Lord Ruthven ; his daughter Lilias, wife of the Master of Drummond ; John Stewart, son of Lord Methven ; Sir James Sandilands, Sir David Lindsay, Campbell of Cesnock, Erskine of Dun, Melville of Raith, Balnaves of Halhill, Straiton of Laurieston, with Wil- liam Johnston, and Robert Alexander, advocates.t The early period at which they were enrolled as friends to the Reforma- tion, renders these names more worthy of consideration. It has often been alleged that the desire of sharing in the rich spoils of the Popish Church, together with the intrigues of the Court of England, engaged the Scottish nobles cai the side of the Reformed religion. At a later period, there is reason to think that this allegation was not altogether groundless. But at the time of which we now speak, the prospect of overturning the Established Church was too distant and uncertain to induce persons, who had no higher motive than to gratify avarice, to * See Note K. ^ Cald. MS. i. 103. 119. Sadler, i. 47. Knox, 21, 24. L I F E O F J O H N K N O X . 37 take a step by wliich they exposed their hves and fortunes to the m3st imminent liazard ; nor had the EngUsh monarch ycf extended his influence in Scotland by those arts of politica: intrigue which he afterwards employed. During the two last years of the reign of James V. the num- bers of the reformed rapidly increased. Twice did the cler^v attempt to cut them off by a desperate blow. Tliey presented to the king a list, containing the names of some hundreds, pos- sessed of property and wealth, whom they denounced as here- tics ; and endeavoured to procure his consent to their condemn- ation, by flattering him with the immense riches which would accrue to him from the forfeiture of their estates. When this proposal was first made to him, James rejected it with strong marks of displeasure ; but so violent was the antipathy which he at last conceived against his nobility, and so much did he fall under the influence of the clergy, that it is highly probable he would have yielded to the solicitations of the latter, if the disgraceful issue of an expedition, which they had instigated him to undertake agamst the English, had not impaired his reason, and put an end to his unhappy life on the 13th of December, 1542."* * Sadler, i. 94. Knox, 27, 28. Pitscottie, 164. Keith, 22. Sir James Melvil's Memoirs, 2 — 4, Lend. 1683. Knox says, that the roll contained "mo than ane liimdreth landit men, besides utheris of meener degre, amongis quhome was the Lord Hamiltoun, then second persoun in the realme." Sadler says, "eighteen score noblemen and gentlemen, all well minded to God's word, which then they durst not avow ;" among whom was the Earl ot" Arran, the Earl of Cassils, and the Earl Marishal. Pitscottie says, "seventeen score;" but he includes in his account not only " earls, lords, barons, gentlemen," but also " honest burgesses and craftsmen." 4 38 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. PERIOD II. FROM THE YEAR 1542, VSTHEN HE EMBRACED THE REFORMED RELI GION, TO THE YEAR 1549, WHEN HE WAS RELEASED FROM THE FRENCH GALLEYS. While this fermentation of opinion was spreading through the nation, Knox, from the state of his mind, could not remain long unaffected. The reformed doctrines had been imbibed by several persons of his acquaintance, and they were the topic of common conversation and dispute among the learned and inquisitive at the university.* His change of views first dis- covered itself in his philosophical lectures, in which he began to forsake the scholastic path, and to recommend to his pupils a more rational and useful method of study. Even this inno- vation excited against him violent suspicions of heresy, which were confirmed when he proceeded to reprehend the corruptions that prevailed in the Church. He was then teaching at St. Andrews ; but it was impossible for him to remain long in a * The progress of opinion in Scotland, and the jealous measures adopted for checking- it, may be traced in the variations introduced into the Act of Parliament, 17th of July, 1.525, " For eschewing of Heresy," as these are marked in the original record. The act, as originally drawn, in prohibiting the rehearsing of, or disputing about, the heresies of Luther, or his disci- ples, has this exception; "gif (i. e. unless) it be to the confusion thairof;" but this being thought too loose, the following clause is added on the mar- gin, "and that be clerkis in the sculis alenarlie." According to the tenor of the act, when passed in 1525, " na maner of persoun, strangear, that happenis to arrive with thare schip within ony part of this realme, bring with thame any bukis or workis of the said Luther, his discipulis, or ser- vandis, disputis or rehersis his heresies, &c. under the pane of escheting of thare schipis and guidis, and putting of thaire personis in presoun." But in 1.527, the chancellor and lords of council added this clause :< "and all uther the kingis liegis assistaris to sic opunyeons be punist in semeible wise, and the effect of the said act to straik upon thaim." From this it appears that, in 1.52.5, Protestant books and opinions were circulated by strangers only, who came into Scotland for the purpose of trade ; but that, in 1527, it was found necessary to extend the penalties of the act to na- tives of the kingdom. Both these additions were embodied in the act, as renewed 12th June, 1535. Acta Parliamentorum Scotiae, vol. ii. p. 29-5, 341, 342, published by the authority of his Majesty's Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom. This highly valuable and accurate work will afterwards be referred to under the title of Act. Pari. Scot. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 39 town which was wholly under the power of Carcinal beatoun. the chief supporter of the Romish Church, and a determined enemy to all ^reform. Accordingly, he left that place, and re- tired to the south of Scotland, where he avowed his belief of the Protestant doctrine. Provoked by his defection, and alarmed lest he should draw others after him, the clergy were anxious to rid themselves of such an adversary. Having passed sentence against him as a heretic, and degraded him from the priesthood, the cardinal employed assassins to waylay him, by whose hands he must have fallen, had not Providence placed him under the protection of Douglas of Langniddrie.* The change produced in the political state of the kingdom by the death of James V, had great influence upon the Refor- mation. After a bold but unsuccessful attempt by Cardinal Beatoun to secure to himself the government during the minority of the infant queen, the Earl of Arran was peaceably estab- lished in the regency. Arran had formerly shewn himself attached to the reformed doctrines, and he was now surrounded with counsellors who were of the same principles. .Henry VIII. laid hold of this opportunity for accomplishing his favourite measure of uniting the two crowns, and eagerly pressed a marriage between his son Edward, and Mary, the young Queen of Scots. Notwithstanding the determined oppo- sition of the whole body of the clergy, the Scottish Parliament =igreed to the match ; commissioners were sent into England to settle the terms ; and the contract of marriage was drawn out, subscribed, and ratified, by all the parties. But, through the intrigues of the cardinal and queen-mother, the fickleness and timidity of the regent, and the violence of the English monarch, the treaty, after proceeding thus far, was broken off; and Arran not only renounced connection with England, but abjured the reformed religion publicly in the church of Stirling. The Scottish queen was soon after betrothed to the dauphin of France, and sent into that kingdom ; a measure which, at a subsequent period, nearly accomplished the ruin of the inde- pendence of Scotland, and the extirpation of the Protestant religion. The Reformation had, however, made very considerable pro- gress during the short time that it was patronized by the regent. In 1542, the Parliament passed an act, declaring it lawful for all the subjects to read the Scriptures in the vulgar language. This act, which was proclaimed in spite of the protestations of the bishops, was a signal triumph of truth over error.t For- * BezBB Icones, Ee. iij. \ Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 415, 425. Sadler's Letters, i. 83. Crawfurd'a Offi- cers of State, 77, 4c8. Keith, 36, 37. 40 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. merly, it was reckoned a crime to look on the sacred books ; now, to read dieni was safe, and even the way to honour. The Bible was to be seen on everj^ gentleman's table ; the New Testament was almost in every one's hands.* Hitherto, the Reformation had been advanced by books imported from Eng- land ; but now the errors of popery were attacked in publica- tions which issued from the Scottish press. The reformed preachers, whom the regent had chosen as chaplains, dissemi- nated their doctrines throughout the kingdom, and, under the sanction of his authority, made many converts from the Roman Catholic faith.t One of these preachers deserves particular notice here, as it was by means of his sermons that Knox first perceived the beauty of evangelical truth, and had deep impressions of reli- gion made upon his heart.J Thomas Guillaume, or Williams, was born at Athelstoneford, a village in East Lothian, and had entered into the order of Black Friars, or Dominican monks, among whom he rose to great eminence. § But having em- braced- the sentiments of the reformers, he threw off the monk- ish habit. His learning and elocution recommended him to Arran and his Protestant counsellors ; and he was much esteemed by the people as a clear expositor of Scripture. When the regent began to waver in his attachment to the Reforma- tion, G-uillaume was dismissed from the court, and retired into England, after which I do not find him noticed in history. But the person to whom our Reformer was most indebted, was George Wishart, a brother of the laird of Pittarrow in Mearns. Being driven into banishment by the Bishop of Brechin, for teaching the Greek Testament in Montrose, he had resided for some years at the university of Cambridge. Li the year 1544, he returned to his native country, in the com- pany of the commissioners who had been sent to negotiate a treaty with Henry VIH. of England. Seldom do we meet, in ecclesiastical history, with a character so amiable and interest- ing as that of George Wishart. Excelling all his countrymen at that period in learning, of the most persuasive eloquence, irreproachable in life, courteous and afl:able in manners, his fervent piety, zeal, and courage in the cause of truth, were tempered with uncommon meekness, modesty, patience, pru- * Knox, 34. t Ibid. 33, 34. I Life of Knox, prefixed to his History of the Reformation, anno 1644. 9 Cald. MS. i. 118. Calderwood says, that he was provincial of theordei of Dominicans, or black Friars, in Scotland, But a late author informs us, that the chartulary of the Black Friars' monastery at Perth mentions John Grierson as having been provincial from the year 1525 to the time of the Reformation. Scott's History of the Reformers, p. 96. LIFE OF JO HN KNOX. 41 dence, and charity.* In his tour of preaching through Scot- land, he was usually accompanied by some of the principal gentry ; and the people, who flocked to hear him, were rav- ished with his discourses. To this teacher Knox attached him- self, and profited greatly by his sermons and private instruc- tions. During the last visit which Wishart paid to Lothian, Knox waited constantly on his person, and bore the sword, which was carried before him, from the time that an attempt was made to assassinate him in Dundee. Wishart was highly pleased with the zeal of his faithful attendant, and seems to have presaged his future usefulness, at the same time that he laboured under a strong presentiment of his own approaching martyrdom. On the night on which he was appiehended by Bothwell at the instigation of the cardinal, he directed the sword to be taken from Knox ; and, on the latter insisting for liberty to accompany him to Ormiston, the martyr dismissed him with this reply, " Nay, return to your bairnes," (meaning his pupils,) " and God bless you : ane is suflicient for a sacrifice." Having relinquished all thoughts of officiating in that Church which had invested him with clerical orders, Knox had entered as tutor into the family of Hugh Douglas of Langniddrie, a gentleman in East Lothian, who had embraced the reformed doctrines, John Cockburn of Ormiston, a neighbouring gentle- man of the same persuasion, also put his son under his tuition. These yoimg men were instructed by him in the prhiciples of religion, as well as in the learned languages. He managed their religious instruction in such a wa)^ as to allow the rest of the family, and the people of the neighbourhood, to reap ad- vantage from it. He catechized them publicly in a chapel at Langniddrie, in which he also read, at stated times, a chapter of the Bible, accompanied with explanatory remarks. The memory of this fact has been preserved by tradition, and the chapel, the ruins of which are still apparent, is popularly called John Knox's Kirk.t It was not to be expected that he would be suffered long to continue this employment, under a government which was now entirely at the devotion of Cardinal Beatoun, who had gained a complete ascendant over the mind of the timid and irresolute regent. But, in the midst of his cruelties, and while he was planning still more desperate deeds,J the cardinal was hinise'''" * See Note L. t Chalmers's Caledonia, ii. 526. comp. Knox, Historic, 67. I In his progress through the kingdom with tlie governor, lie instigated nmi *' to hang (at Perth) four honest men, for eating of a goose on Friday ; and drowned a young woman, because she refused to pray to our lady in her 4* F 42 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. suddenly cut off. A conspiracy was formed against his lite , and a small but determined band (some of whom seem to have been instigated by resentment for private injuries, and the influ- ence of the English court, others animated by a desire to revenge his cruelties, and deliver their country from his oppres- sion) seized upon the castle of St. Andrews, in which he resided, and put him to death, on the 29th of May, 1546. The death of Beatoun did not, however, free Knox from per- secution, John Hamilton, an illegitimate brother of the regent, who was nominated to the vacant bishopric, sought his life with as great eagerness as his predecessor. He was obliged to con- ceal himself, and to remove from place to place, to provide for his safety. Wearied with this mode of living, and apprehen- sive that he would some day fall into the hands of his enemies, he came to the resolution of leaving Scotland. England presented the readiest and most natural sanctuary to those who were persecuted by the Scottish prelates. But, though they usually fled to that kingdom in the first instance, they did not find their situation comfortable, and the greater part, after a short residence there, proceeded to the Continent. Henry VHL, from motives which, to say the least, were highly suspicious, had renounced subjection to the Roman see, and compelled his subjects to follow his example. He invested himself with the ecclesiastical supremacy, within his own dominions, which he had wrested from the Bishop of Rome ; and in the arrogant and violent exercise of that power, the English pope was scarcely exceeded by any of the pretended successors of St. Peter. Having signalized himself at a former period as a literary champion against Luther, he was anxious to demonstrate that his breach with the court of Rome, had not alienated him from the Catholic faith ; and he would suffer none to proceed a step beyond the narrow and capricious line of reform which he was pleased to prescribe. Hence, the motley system of religion which he established, and the contra- dictory measures by which it was supported. Statutes against the authority of the pope, and against the tenets of Luther, were enacted in the same parliament ; and Papists and Protes- tants were alternately brought to the same stake. The Protes- tants in Scotland were universally dissatisfied with this bastard reformation, a circumstance which had contributed not a little to cool their zeal for the lately proposed alliance with England. Sir Ralph Sadler, his ambassador, found himself ui a very birth." Pitscottie, 188. Knox says, that the woman, " having an soucking jabe upon hir briest, was drounit." Historic, 40. Petrie's Hibtory ot" the Church of Scotland, part ii. p. 182. He had planned the destrucii'^n of the principal gentlemen of Fife, as appeared from documents fbuna after his death. Knox, 63, <>4. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 43 awkward predicament on this account ; for tlie Pa ists were offended because he had gone so far from Rome, the Protes- tants because he had gone no further. The latter disrelished, in particular, the restrictions which he had imposed upon the reading and interpretation of the Scriptures, and which he urged the regent to imitate in Scotland. And they had no desire for the king's book, of which Sadler was furnished with copies to distribute, and which lay as a drug upon his hands.* On these accounts Knox had no desire to go to England, where, although " the pope's name was suppressed, his laws and corruptions remained in full vigour."t His determination was to visit Germany, and to prosecute his studies in some of the Protestant universities, until he should see a favourable change in the state of his native country. But the lairds of Langniddrie and Ormiston, who were extremely reluctant to part with him, prevailed on him to relinquish his design, and to repair, along with their sons, to the castle of St. Andrews.| The conspirators against Cardinal Beatoun kept possession of the castle after his death. The regent had assembled an army and laid siege to it, from a desire not so much to avenge the murder of the cardinal, at whose fall he secretly rejoiced, as to comply with the importunity of the clergy, and to release his eldest son, who had been retained by Beatoun as a pledge of his father's fidelity, and had now fallen into the hands of the conspirators. But the besieged, having obtained assistance from England, baffled all his skill ; and a treaty was at last concluded, by which they engaged to deliver up the castle to the regent, upon his procuring to them from Rome a pardon for the cardinal's murder. The pardon was obtained ; but the conspirators, alarmed, or affecting to be alarmed, at the contra- dictory terms in which it was expressed, refused to perform their stipulation, and the regent felt himself unable, without foreign aid, to enforce a compliance. In this interval, a number of persons who were harassed for their attachment to the re- * Sadler's State Papers, i. 264, 2fi."\ comp. p. 128. Sir John Borthwick (who fled to England in the year loJO) ridicules the Scottish clergy for making it an article of accusation against him, that he had approved of "all tliose heresies, commonly called the heresies of England ;" " Because," says he, " what religion at that time was used in England, tli<' like the whole realm of Scotland did embrace ; in this point only the Englishmen diflered from the Scottes, that they had cast off the yoke of Anticlirist, tlie other not. Idols were worshipped of both nations ; the prophanating of the supper and baptisme was like unto them both. — Truly, it is most fiilse that I had sub- bcribed unto such kinde of heresies." Fox, 1149, ll.")0. t Knox, Historic, p. 67. t I^i^l- 44 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. formed sentiments, repaired to tlie castle where they enjoyed the free exercise of their rehgion.* Writers, mifriendly to Knox, have endeavom-ed to fix an accusation upon him respecting the assassination of Cardinal Beatoun. Some have ignorantly asserted, that he was one of the conspirators.! Others, better informed, have argued that he made himself accessory to their crime, by taking shelter among them.J With more plausibility, others have appealed to his writings, as a proof that he vindicated the deed of the conspirators as laudable, or at least innocent. I know that some of Knox's vindicators have denied this charge, and main- tain that he justified it only so far as it was the work of God, or a just retribution in Providence for the crimes of which the cardinal had been guilty, without approving the conduct of those who were the instruments of punishing him.§ The just judgment of Heaven is, I acknowledge, the chief thing to which he directs the attention of his readers ; at the same time, I think no one who carefully reads what he has written on this subject, can doubt that he justified the action of the conspirators. || The truth is, he held the opinion, that persons who, according to the law of God, and the just laws of society, have forfeited their lives by the commission of flagrant crimes, such as notorious murderers and tyrants, may warrantably be put to death by private individuals, provided all redress, in the ordinary course of justice, is rendered impossible, in consequence of the offen- ders having usurped the executive authority, or being system- atically protected by oppressive rulers. This is an opinion of * Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 471, 477—9. Keith, 50, 51. Knox, 66, 67. Bu- chanan, i. 296. f This is done in a book entitled, " The image of both Churches, Hie- rusalem and Babell, Unitie and Confusion, Obedience and Sedition, by P. D. M." (supposed to be Sir Tobie Matthews) pp. 139, 140, Torney, 1623. In p. 136, the author says, " Yet there is one aduise of Knox whicli is to be recorded with admiration, ' It wear good, that rewards wear pub- licklie appointed by the peopl for such as kill tyrants, as well as for those that kill wolfs.' " In proof of this he refers to Knox's Historie, p. 372. The reader who chooses to give himself the trouble, will probably search in vain (as I have done) for such a sentiment, either in that or in any other part of the History. t " Quorum se societate, non multo post, implicaret Joannes Knoxus, Calvinistarum minister, qui se evangelicas perfectionis cumulum assecu- tum non arbitrabatur nisi in cardinalis ac sacerdotis sanguine ac CEede triumphasset." Leslaeus de rebus gestis Scotorum, lib. x. The bishop should have recollected, that the violence of his popish brethren drove " the Calvinistic minister" to this " pinnacle of evangelical perfection." 5 Principal Baillie s Historical Vindication of the Government of the Church of Scotland, p. 42. A. 1646. Cald. MS. ad an. 1590. II H'storie, 88. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 45 the same kind with that of tyrannicide, held by so many of the ancients, and defended by Buchanan, in his dialogue, De jure regni apnd Scotos. It is a principle, I confess, of very dange- rous application, and extremely liable to be abused by factious, fanatical, and desperate men, as a pretext for perpetrating the most nefarious deeds. It would be unjust, however, on this account, to confound it with the principle, which, by giving to individuals a liberty to revenge their own quarrels, legitimates assassination, a practice which was exceedingly common in that age. I may add, that there have been instances of persons, not invested with public authority, taking the execution of punishment into their own hands, whom we may scruple to load with an aggravated charge of murder, although we cannot approve of their conduct.* Knox entered the castle of St. Andrews at the time of Easter, 1547, and conducted the education of his pupils after his accus- tomed manner. In the chapel within the castle, he read to them lectures upon the Scriptures, beginning at the place in the Gospel according to John, where he had left off at Langnid- drie ; and he catechized them publicly in the parish-church belonghig to the city. Among the refugees in the castle who attended these exercises, and who had not been concerned in the conspiracy against Beatoun,t there were three persons who deserve to be particularly noticed. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Lyon King at Arms, had been a favourite at the court both of James IV., and of his son James V. He was esteemed one of the first poets of the age, and his writings had contributed greatly to the advancement of the Reformation. Notwithstanding the indelicacy which dis- figures several of his poetical productions,! the personal deport- ment of Lindsay was grave, his morals were correct, and his writings discover a strong desire to reform the manners of the age, as well as ample proofs of true poetical genius, extensive learning, and wit the most keen and penetrating. He had long lashed the vices of the clergy, and exposed the absurdities and superstitions of popery, in the most popular and poignant satires, being protected by James V., who retained a strong attachment to the companion of his early sports, and the poet * See Note M. t Spotswood says, that " seven-score persons entered into the castle the day after the slaughter" of the cardinal. History, p. 84. J The coarseness of the age, and the strong temptation wiiich he was under to gratify a voluptuous prince, will not excuse the gross indelica- cies of Lindsay ; and still less will the desire of preserving the ancient dialect of Scotland, and of gratifying an antiquarian passion, apologize for giving to the modern public a complete edition of his works, accom- panied with a glossary and explanatory notes. 46 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. who had often amused his leisure hours. After the death of that monarch, he entered zealously into the measures pursued by the Earl of Arran at the commencement of his government ; and when the regent dismissed his reforming counsellors, Sir David was left exposed to the vengeance of the clergy, who could never forgive the injuries which they had received from his pen.* Henry Balnaves of Halhill had raised himself, by his talents and probity, from an obscure situation to the highest honours of the state, and was justly regarded as one of the principal ornaments of the reformed cause in Scotland. Descended from poor parents in the town of Kirkaldy, he travelled, when only a boy, to the Continent, and hearing of a free school in Cologne, he gained admission to it, and received a liberal education, together with instruction in the principles of the Protestant religion. Returning to his native country, he applied himself to the study of law, and practised for some time before the consistorial court of St. Andrews.t Notwithstanding the jeal- ousy of the clergy, his reputation daily increased, and he at length obtained a seat in parliament, and in the court of ses- sion. J James V. employed him in managing public affairs of great importance ; and at the beginning of Arran's regency, he was made secretary of state. The active part which he at that time took in the measures for promoting the Reformation, ren- dered him peculiarly obnoxious to the administration which suc- ceeded, and obliged him to seek shelter within the walls of the castle. § John Rough having conceived a disgust at being deprived of some property to which he thought hi^nself entitled, had left his parents, and entered a monastery in Stirling, when he was only seventeen years of age.|| During the time that the light of divine truth was spreading through the nation, and pene- trating even the recesses of cloisters, he had felt its influence, and became a convert to the reformed sentiments. The repu- tation which he had gained as a preacher was such, that in the year 1543, the Earl of Arran procured a dispensation for his leaving the monastery, and appointed him one of his chap- lains. Upon the apostasy of Arran from the reformed religion, * Heroes ex omni Historia Scotica lectissimi : Auctore Johan. Johnstono Abredonense Scoto, pp. 27, 28. Lugduni Batavorum, 1603, 4to. Chal- mers's Life of Lindsay, Works, vol. i. t Cald. M^. \ IIJ. I Lord Hailes, Catalogue of the Lords of Session, p. 2, Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 353. 5 Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 409. Sadler's State Papers, i. 83. Knox, 35. II Fox, p. 1840. He was born A. D. 1510. LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. 47 he retired first into Kyle, and afterwards into the castle of St. Andrews, where he was chosen preacher to the garrison.* These persons were so much pleased with Knox's talents, and his manner of teaching his pupils, that they urged him strongly to preach in public, and to become colleague to Rough. But he resisted all their solicitations, assigning as his reason, that he did not consider himself as having a call to this employ- ment, and would not be guilty of intrusion. They did not, however, desist from their purpose ; but having consulted with their brethren, came to a resolution without his knowledge, that a call should be publicly given him, in tlie name of the whole, to become one of their ministers. Accordingly, on a day fixed for the purpose. Rough preached a sermon on the election of ministers, in which he declared the power which a congregation, however small, had over any one in whom they perceived gifts suited to the office, and how dangerous it was for such a person to reject the call of those who desired instruction. Sermon being concluded, the preacher turned to Knox, who was present, and addressed him in these words : " Brother, you shall not be offended, although I speak unto you that which I have in charge, even from all those that are here present, which is this : In the name of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the name of all that presently call you by my mouth, I charge you that you refuse not this holy voca- tion, but, as you tender the glory of God, the increase of Christ's kingdom, the edification of your brethren, and the comfort of me, whom you understand well enough to be oppressed by the multitude of labours, that you take the public office and charge of preaching, even as you look to avoid God's heavy displea- sure, and desire that he shall multiply his grace unto you." Then, addressing himself to the congregation, he said, " Was not this your charge unto me ? and do ye not approve this vocation ?" They all answered, " It was ; and we approve it." Overwhelmed by this unexpected and solemn charge, Knox, after an ineffectual attempt to address the audience, burst into tears, rushed out of the assembly, and shut himself up in his chamber. " His countenance and behaviour, from that day till the day that he was compelled to present himself in the public place of preaching, did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his heart ; for no man saw any sign of mirth from him, neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for many days together.! This proof of the sensibility of his temper, and the reluctance which he felt at undertaking a public office, may surprise thoso * Fox, p. 1840. Knox, Historic, pp. 33, 36, 37. i Knrx, llistorie, p. 68. 48 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. who have carelessly adopted the common notions respecting our Reformer's character ; but we shall meet with many exam- ples of the same kind in the course of his life. The scene, too, will be extremely interesting to such as are impressed with the weight of the ministerial function, and will naturally awaken a train of feelings in the breasts of those who have been intrusted with the Gospel. It revives the memory of those early days of the Church, when persons did not rush forward to the altar, nor beg to " be put into one of the priest's offices, to eat a piece of bread ;" when men of piety and talents, deeply affected with the awful responsibility of the office, and with their own insuf- ficiency, were with great difficulty induced to take on them those orders which they had long desired, and for which they had laboured to qualify themselves. What a contrast did this exhibit to the conduct of the herd, which at that time filled the stalls of the Popish Church ! The behaviour of Knox serves also to reprove those who become preachers of their own ac- cord ; and who, from vague and enthusiastic desires of doing good, or a fond conceit of their own gifts, trample upon good order, and thrust themselves into employment without any regular call. We must not, however, imagine, that his distress of mind, and the reluctance which he discovered to comply with the call which he had received, proceeded from consciousness of its invalidity, through the defect of certain external formalities which had been usual in the church, or which, in ordinary cases, may be observed with propriety in the installation of persons into sacred offices. These, as far as warranted by Scripture, or conducive to the preservation of order, he did not contemn ; and his judgment respecting them may be learned from the early practice of the Scottish Reformed Church, in the organization of which he had so active a share. In common with all the original reformers, he rejected the order of episcopal ordination, as totally unauthorized by the laws of Christ ; nor did he even regard the imposition of the hands of presbyters as a rite essential to the validity of orders, or of necessary observance in all circumstances of the Church. The Papists, indeed, did not fail to declaim on this topic, representing Knox, and other reformed ministers, as destitute of all lawful vocation. In the same strain did many hierarchical writers of the English Church afterwards learn to talk, not scrupling, by their extravagant doctrine of the absolute necessity of ordination by the hands of a bishop, who derived his powers by uninterrupted succession from the apostles, to invalidate and nullify the orders of all the re- formed churches, except their own, — a doctrine which has been revived in the present enlightened age, and unblushingly avowed and defended, with the greater part of its absurd, illiberal, and • LIFE OF J C H N KNOX. 49 horrid consequences. The fathers of the English Reformatio) i, however, were very far from entertaining such contracted and unchristian sentiments. When Knox afterwards went to Eng- land, they accepted his services without the smallest hesitation. They maintained a constant correspondence with the reformed divines on the Continent, and cheerfully owned them as bretliren and fellow-labourers in the ministry. And they were not so ignorant of their principles, nor so forgetful of their character, as to prefer ordination by popish prelates to that which was con- ferred by protestant nresbyters.* I will not say that our Reformer utterly disregarded his early ordination in the Popisli Church, although, if we may credit the testimony of his adver- saries, this was his sentiment ;t but I have little doubt that he looked upon the charge which he received at St. Andrews a? principally constituting his call to the ministry. His distress of mind, on the present occasion, proceeded from a higher source than the deficiency of some external formalities in his call. He had now very different thoughts as to the importance of the ministerial office, from what he had enter tained when ceremoniously invested with orders. The care of * Whittingham, Dean of Durham, was ordained in the English Church at Geneva, of which Knox was pastor; and Travers, the opponent of Hooker, was ordained by a presbytery at Antwerp. Attempts were made Dy some highflyers to invalidate their orders, and induce them to submit to re-ordination ; but they did not succeed. Strype's Annals, vol. ii. .520 — i. In the year 1582, Archbishop Grindal, by a formal deed, declared the validity of the orders of Mr. John Morrison, who had been ordained by the Synod of Lothian, "according to the laudable form and rite of the Reformed Church of Scotland," says the instrument, " per generalem synodum sive congregationem illius comitatus, juxta laudabilem ecclesise Scotise Reformatae formam et ritum, ad sacros ordines et sacrosanctum niinisterium per manuum impositionem admissus et ordinatus. Nos igitur formam ordinationis et prsefectionis tuse hujusmodi, modo prsemisso factam, quantum in nos est, et de jure possumus, approbantes et ratificantes," &c. Strype's Life of Grindal. Append. Book ii. Numb. xvii. p. lOL It has been objected that Archbishop Grindal was at this time under sequestration, and that the license was granted, not by him, but by Dr. Aubrey, as vicar-general. To this it is sufficient to reply, that Mr. Strype is of opinion, that the sequestration was taken off from the time that the writs and instruments run in the name of Aubrey alone, without any mention of Clark, (Life of Grindal, p. 271 ;) that, even during the period of the sequestration, " all licenses to preach, &c. were granted by those two civilians, with a deference to the archbishop, and consult«ition with him in what they did," (Ibid. p. 240;) and that the license in question bears, that it was granted " with the consent and express command of the most reverend father in Christ, the Lord Edmund, by the Divine Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, to us signified ;"—^' ie consensu et expresso mandato reverendiss. in Christo patris domini Ednmndi, &:c. nobis significato." Ibid. p. 271. Append, p. 101. t Ninian Winzet, apud Keith's History, App. pp. 212, 213. Burne's Di» putation, p. 128. Parise, 1581. 5 G 50 L I F E O F J O H N K N O X . immortal souls, of whom he must give an account to the Chief Bishop ; the charge of declaring " the whole counsel of God, keeping nothing back," however ungrateful it might be to his hearers ; the manner of life, afflictions, persecutions, imprison- ment, exile, and violent death, to which the preachers of the Protestant doctrine were exposed ; the hazard of his sinking under these hardships, and " making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience," — these, with similar considerations, rushed into his mind, and filled it with anxiety and fear. Satisfied, at length, that he had the call of God to engage in this work, he composed his mind to a reliance on Him who had engaged to make his "■ strength perfect in the weakness" of his servants, and resolved, with the apostle, " not to count his life dear, that he might finish with joy the ministry which he received of the Lord, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Often did he afterwards reflect with lively emotion upon this very interesting step of his life, and never, in the midst of his greatest sufferings, did he see reason to repent of the choice which he had so delib- erately made. An occurrence which took place about this time contributed to fix his wavering resolution, and induced an earlier compliance with the call of the congregation than he might otherwise have been disposed to yield. Though sound in doctrine. Rough's literary acquirements were moderate. Of this circumstance the patrons of the established religion in the university and abbey took advantage ; and among others. Dean John Annand* had long proved vexatious to him, by stating objections to the doctrine which he preached, and entangling him with sophisms, or garbled quotations from the fathers. Knox had assisted the preacher with his pen, and by his superior skill in logic and the writings of the fathers had exposed Annand's falla- cies, and confuted the popish errors. This polemic being one day, at a private disputation in the parish church, driven from all his usual defences, fled, as his last refuge, to the infallible authority of the church, which, he alleged, had ren- dered all farther debate on these points unnecessary, in conse- quence of its having condemned the tenets of the Lutherans as heretical. To this Knox replied, that, before they could submit to such a summary determination of the matters in controversy, it was requisite to ascertain the true Church by the marks given in Scripture, lest they should blindly receive, as their spiritual * In the former editions, I had spoken of Annand as probably a friar, who, according to the custom of the times, had assumed the honorary title of dean. But I have since ascertained that he was a person of great note in the university. It appears from the Records, that he was prin- cipal of St. Leonard's College in 1.544, and continued to hold that office iuring severa yea s subsequent to that period. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 5/ mother " a harlot instead of the immaculate spouse ol" Jesus Christ.'-' " For," continued he, " as for your Roman Churcli, as it is now corrupted, wherein stands the hope of your victory, I no more doubt that it is tlie synagogue of Satan, and the head thereof, called the pope, to be that man of sin of whom the apostle speaks, than I doubt that Jesus Christ sufi'ered by the procurement of the visible church of Jerusalem. Yea, I offer myself, by word or writing, to prove the Roman Church this day farther degenerate from the purity which was in the days of the apostles, than were the Church of the Jews from the ordinances given by Moses, when they consented to the inno- cent death of Jesus Christ." This was a bold charge ; but the minds of the people were prepared to listen to the proof They exclaimed, that, if this was true, they had been miserably de- ceived, and insisted that, as they could not all read his writings, he should ascend the pulpit, and give them an opportunity of hearing the probation of what he had so confidently affirmed. The request was reasonable, and the challenge was not to be retracted. The following Sabbath was accordingly fixed for making good his promise. On the day appointed, he appeared in the pulpit of the parish church, and gave out the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses of the seventh chapter of Daniel, as his text. After an introduc- tion, in which he explained the vision, and showed that the four animals hieroglyphically represented four empires, — the Baby- lonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman, out of the ruins of the last of which rose the empire described in his text, he proceeded to show that this was applicable to no power but the papal. He compared the parallel passages in the New Testament, and showed that the king mentioned in his text was the same else- where called the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, the Babylonian harlot ; and that, in prophetical style, these expressions did not describe a smgle person, but a body or multitude of people under a wicked head, including a succession of persons occupying the same place. In support of his assertion, that the papal power was antichristian, he described it under the three heads of life, doctrine, and laws. He depicted the scandalous lives of the popes from records published by Roman Catholic writers, and contrasted their doctrine and laws with those of the New Tes- tament, particularly on the heads of justification, holydays, and abstinence from meats and from marriage. He quoted from the canon law the blasphemous titles and prerogatives ascribed to the pope, as an additional proof that he was described in his text.* In conclusion, he signified that, if any of his hearers * The doctrine which the preacher delivered at tliis time was after- wards put i ito " ornate meeter," by one of his hearers, Sir David Lind- 52 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. thought that he had misquoted or misinterpreted he testimo- nies which he had produced from the Scriptures, ecclesiastical history, or the writings of the fathers, he was ready, upon their coming to him, in the presence of witnesses, to give them sat- isfaction. Among the audience were his former preceptor, Major, and the other members of the university, the sub-prior of the abbey, and a great number of canons and friars of dif- ferent orders. This sermon, dehvered with a considerable portion of that popular eloquence for which Knox was afterwards so celebrat. ed, made a great noise, and excited much speculation among all classes.* The preachers who had preceded him, not even excepting Wishart, had contented themselves with refuting some of the grosser errors of the established religion : Knox struck at the root of popery, by boldly pronouncing the pope to be antichrist, and the whole system erroneous and antiscriptural. The report of this sermon, and of the effects produced by it, having reached Hamilton, the bishop-elect of St. Andrews, he wrote to Winram, who was vicar-general during the vacancy of the see, expressing his surprise that such heretical and schis- matical tenets were allowed to be taught without opposition. Winram was at bottom friendly to the reformed doctrine ; but he durst not altogether disregard this admonition, and, there- fore, appointed a convention of the learned men of the abbey and university to be held in St. Leonard's Yards, to which he summoned Knox and Rough. The two preachers appeared before that assembly. Nine articles, drawn from their sermons, were exhibited, " the strange- ness of which," the sub-prior said, " had moved him to call for them to hear their answers." Knox conducted the defence, for himself and his colleague, with much acuteness and moderation. He expressed high satisfaction at appearing before an auditory so honourable, modest, and grave. As he was not a stranger to the say, who, in his " Monarchie," finished in 1553, has given a particular account of the rise and corruptions of popery, under the name of the " fifth spiritual and papal monarchie." Chalmers's Lindsay, iii. 86 — 116. * " Sum said, utheris hued the branches of papistry, hot he straiketh at the rute, to destroye the whole. Utheris said, gif the doctors and mag-istri nostri defend not now the pope and his authoritie, which in their owin presence is so manifestlie impugnit, the devill have my part of him and his lawes bothe. Utheris said, Mr. George Wischeart spak never so planelie, and yet he was brunt ; even so will he be in the end. Utheris said, the tyrannic of the Cardinal maid not his cause the better, neither yet the suftering of Godis servand maid his cause the wors. — And thair- foir we wald counsail yow and thame to provyde better defences than fyra and sword ; for it may be that allis ye shall be disappointed : men now have uther eyes than they had then. This answer gave the laird of Nydrie." Knox, Historie, p. 70. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 53 repoi t concerning tlie private sentiments of Winrain, and nothing was more abhorrent to his own mind than dissimulation, he, be- fore commencing his defence, obtested him to deal uprightly in a matter of such magnitude. " The people," he said, " ought no»* to be deceived or left in the dark ; if his colleague and he had advanced any thing unscriptural, he wished the sub-prior by all means to expose it ; but, if, on the other hand, the doctrine taught by them was true, it was his duty to give it the sanction of his authority." Winram cautiously replied, that he did not come there as a judge, and would neither approve nor con- demn ; he wished a conference, and, if Knox pleased, he would reason with him a little. Accordingly, he proceeded to state some objections to one of the propositions maintained by Knox, " That, in the worship of God, and especially in the adminis- tration of the sacraments, the rule prescribed in the Scriptures is to be observed, without addition or diminution ; and that the Church has no right to devise religious ceremonies, and impose significations upon them." After maintainmg the argument for a short time, the sub-prior devolved it on a grey friar, named Arbukgill, who took it up with great confidence, but was soon forced to yield with disgrace. He rashly engaged to prove th(! divine institution of ceremonies ; and, being pushed by his an • tagonist from the Gospels and Acts to the Epistles, and from one epistle to another, he was driven at last to affirm, " that the apostles had not received the Holy Ghost when they wrote the Epistles, but they afterwards received him, and ordained cere- monies." Knox smiled at the extravagant assertion. " Father!" exclaimed the sub-prior, " what say ye ? God forbid that ye say that ! for then farewell the ground of our faith." Alarmed and abashed, the friar attempted to correct his error, but in vain. He could not afterwards be brought to argument upon any of the articles, but resolved all into the authority of the Church. His opponent urging that the Church could have no authority to act in opposition to the express directions of Scrip- ture, which enjoined an exact conformity to the divine laws respecting worship : " If so," said Arbugkill, " you will leave us no Church." " Yes," rejoined Knox, sarcastically, " in David T read of the church of malignants, Odi ecclesiam maligtian- tium; this church you may have without the word, and fight- ing against it. Of this church if you will be, I cannot hinder you ; but as for me I will be of no other church bat that which has Jesus Christ for pastor, hears his voice, and wili not hear the voice of a stranger." For purgatory,* the friar had no bet- * Knox, Histor'e, p. 70 — 74. " Alexander Arbuckylle" was made Bacb* elor of Arts, Nov 3. iry25. Ac* Fac. Art. 5^ 54 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. ter authority than that of Virgil in the sixth ^rjeid ; and the pains of it, according to him, were — a bad wife. Solventur risu tabulse ; tu missus abibis. Instructed by the issue of this convention, the Papists avoided for the future all disputation, which tended only to injure their cause. Had the castle of St. Andrews been in their power, they would soon have silenced these troublesome preachers ; but as matters stood, more moderate and crafty measures were necessary. The plan adopted for counteracting the popular preaching of Knox and Rough was artfully laid. Orders were issued, that all the learned men of the abbey and university should preach by turns every Sunday in the parish church. By this means the reformed preachers were excluded on those days when the greatest audiences attended ; and it was expect- ed that the diligence of the established clergy would conciliate the affections of the people. To avoid offence or occasion of speculation, they were also instructed not to touch in their ser- mons upon any of the controverted points. Knox easily saw through this artifice ; but he contented himself with expressing a wish, in the sermons which he still delivered on week days, that the clergy would show themselves equally diligent in places where their labours were more necessary. He, at the same time, expressed his satisfaction that Christ was preached, and that nothing was spoken publicly against the truth ; if any thing of this kind should be attempted, he requested the people to suspend their judgment, until they should have an opportu- nity of hearing him in reply.* His labours were so successful durmg the few months that he preached at St. Andrews, that, besides the garrison in the castle, a great number of the inhabitants of the town renounced popery, and made profession of the Protestant faith, by parti- cipating of the Lord's Supper. This was the first time that the sacrament of the supper was dispensed after the reformed mode in Scotland, if we except the administration of it by Wishart in the same place, which was performed with great privacy immediately before his martyrdom.t Those who pre- ceded Knox appear to have contented themselves with preach- ing ; and such as embraced their doctrine had most probably continued to receive the sacraments from the popish clergy, at least from such of them as were most friendly to the reforma- tion of the Church. The gratification which he felt in these * Knox, Historie, pp. 74, 75. t Buchanan, Uis\ lib. xv. Oper. torn. i. '293, 294. Pitscottie, 189, folio edit. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX 55 fii'st fruits of his ministry, was considerably abated b^ instances of vicious conduct in the persons under his charge, some of whom were guihy of those acts of hcentiousness which are too common among soldiery when placed in similar circumstances. From tlie time that he was chosen to be their preacher, he had openly rebuked these disorders ; and when he perceived that his admonitions failed in putting a stop to them, he did not con- ceal his apprehensions of the unsuccessful issue of the enter- prise in which they were engaged.* In tht end of June, 1547, a French fleet, with a considerable body of land forces, under the command of Leo Strozzi, ap- peared before St. Andrews to assist the governor in the reduc- tion of the castle. It was invested both by sea and land ; and, being disappointed of the expected aid from England, the besieged, after a brave and vigorous resistance, were under the necessity of capitulating to the French commander on the last day of July. The terms which they obtained were honour- able ; the lives of all in the castle were to be spared ; they were to be transported to France, and if they did not choose to enter into the service of the French king, were to be con- veyed to any country which they might prefer, except Scotland. John Rough had left them previous to the commencement of the siege, and retired to England.! Knox, although he did not expect that the garrison would be able to hold out, could not prevail upon himself to desert his charge, and resolved to share with his brethren in the hazard of the siege. He was con- veyed along with them on board the fleet, which, in a few days, set sail for France, arrived at Fecamp, and, going up the Seine, anchored before Rouen. The capitulation was violated, and they were all detained prisoners of war at the solicitation of the pope and Scottish clergy. The principal gentlemen were incarcerated in Rouen, Cherburg, Brest, and Mont St. Miciiel. Knox, with a few others, was confined on board the galleys ; and in addition to the rigours of ordinary captivity, was loaded with chains, and exposed to all the indignities with which Pa- * Buchan. Oper. i. 293. Pitscottie, 191. Knox, 76. t Rough continued to preach in England until the death of Edward VL when he'retired to Norden in Friesland. There he was obliged to sujjport himself and his wife (whom he had married in England) by knitting caps, stockings, &c. Having come over to London in the course of his trade, he heard of a congregation of Protestants which met secretly in that city, to whom he joined himself, and was elected their pastor. A few weeks a tier this, the conventicle was discovered by the treachery of one of their own number, and Rough was carried before Bishop Bonner, by whose orders ho was committed to the flames on the '22i\ of December, 1.557. An account of his examination, and two of his letters breathing the true spirit of t martyr, may be seen in Fox, pp. 1810 — 1842. 66 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. pists were accustomed to treat those whom they regarded as heretics.* From Rouen they sailed to Nantes, and lay upon the Loire during the following winter. Solicitations, threatenings, and violence were all employed to induce the prisoners to change their religion, or at least to countenance the popish worship. But so great was their abhorrence of that system, that not a single individual of the whole company, on land or water, could be induced to symbolize in the smallest degree with idol- aters. While the prison-ships lay on the Loire, mass was fre- quently said, and salve regina sung on board, or on the shore within their hearing. On these occasions, they were brought out and threatened with the torture, if they did not give the usual signs of reverence ; but instead of complying, they covered their heads as soon as the service began. Knox has preserved in his history a humorous incident which took place on one of these occasions ; and although he has not said so, it is highly probable that he himself was the person concerned in the affair. One day a fine painted image of the Virgin was brought into one of the galleys, and a Scotch prisoner was desired to give it the kiss of adoration. He refused, saying, that such idols were accursed, and he would not touch it. " But you shall," replied one of the officers roughly, at the same time forcing it towards his mouth. Upon this the prisoner seized the image, and throwing it into the river, said, " Lat our Ladie now save hir- self; sche is lycht enoughe, lat hir leirne to swyme." The officers with difficulty saved their goddess from the waves: and the prisoners were relieved for the future from such trou- blesome importunities.! In summer 1548, as nearly as I can collect, the galleys in which they were confined returned to Scotland, and continued for a considerable time on the east coast, watching for English vessels. Knox's health was now greatly impaired by the se- verity of his confinement, and he was seized with a fever, dur- ing which his life was despaired of by all in the ship. J Bu even in this state his fortitude of mind remained unsubdued,§ and he comforted his fellow-prisoners with hopes of release. * Balnaves's Confession, Epist. Dedic. Archibald Hamilton says, that he was cone 'smned to work at the oar : — ' Impellendis longarum navium remis, cum reliquis adjudicatur.' Dialogus de Confusione Calvinianse Sectse, p. 64, b. t Knox, Historip, p. 83. % MS. Letters, p. 53. \ One of his most bitter adversaries has borne an involuntary but hon- ourable testimony to his magnanimity at this time : — " Ubi longo maris tffidi) et laboris molestia extenuatum quidem, et subactum corpus tuit; sed animi elatio eum subinde rerum mag-narum spe extimulan.-^, nihilo magis tunc quam prius quiescere potuit." — Hamiltonii Dialogus, p. 54, b. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 57 To their anxious despjnding inquiries (natural to men in their situation), " if he thought they would ever obtain their Hberty," his uniform answer was, " God will deliver us to his glory, even in this life." While they lay on the coast between Dundee and St. Andrews, Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Balfour, who was confined in the same ship with him, pointed to the spires of St. Andrews, and asked him if he knew the place. " Yes," replied the sickly and emaciated captive, " I know it well ; for I see the steeple of that place where God first opened my mouth in public to his glory ; and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever I now appear, that I shall not depart this life, till that my tongue shall glorify his godly name in the same place." This striking reply Sir James repeated in the presence of a number of witnesses many years before Knox returned to Scotland, and when there was very little prospect of his words being verified.* We must not, however, think that he possessed this tranquil- lity and elevation of mind during the whole period of his im- prisonment. When first thrown into fetters, insulted by his enemies, and deprived of all prospect of release, he was not a stranger to the anguish of despondency, so pathetically de- scribed by the royal Psalmist of Israeli He felt that conflict in his spirit, with which all good men are acquainted, and which becomes peculiarly sharp when aggravated by corporal affliction ; but having had recourse to prayer, the never-failing refuge of the oppressed, he was relieved from all his fears, and reposing upon the promise and the providence of the God whom he served, he attained to " the confidence and rejoicing of hope." Those who wish for a more particular account of die state of his mind at this time, will find it in the notes, ex- tracted from a rare work which he composed on Prayer, and the chief materials of which were suggested by his own expe- rience. J When free from fever, he relieved the tedious hours of cap- tivity, by committing to writing a confession of his faith, con- taining the substance of what he had taught at St. Andrews, with a particular account of the disputation which he had maintained in St. Leonard's Yards. This he found means to convey to his religious acquaintances in Scotland, accompanied with an earnest exhortation to persevere in the faith which they had professed, whatever persecutions they might sufl'er for its sake.§ To this confession I find him referring in the defence which he afterwards made before the Bishop of Durham. " Let no man think, that because I am in the realm of England, therefore so boldly I speak. No : God hath taken that suspi- * Knox, H'storie, p. 74. f Psalm xlii. f See Noto N. i Knox, Historie, p. 74. This Treatise appears to have been lost. H 58 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. cion from me. For the body lying in most painful bands, ir the midst of cruel tyrants, his mercy and goodness provided that the hand should write and bear witness to the confession of the heart, more abundantly than ever yet the tongue spake."* Notwithstanding the rigour of their confinement, the prison- ers who were separated found opportunities of occasionally corresponding with one another. Henry Balnaves of Halhill had composed, in his prison, a treatise on Justification, and the Works and Conversation of a Justified Man. This having been conveyed to Knox, probably after his return from the coast of Scotland, he was so much pleased with the work, thai he divided it into chapters, and added some marginal notes, and a concise epitome of its contents ; to the whole he prefixed a recommendatory dedication, intending that it should be pub- lished for the use of his brethren in Scotland, as soon as an opportunity offered.! The reader will not, I am persuaded, be displeased to have some extracts from this dedication, which represent, more forcibly than any description of mine can do, the pious and heroic spirit which animated the Reformer, when " his feet lay in irons ;" and I shall quote more freely, as the book is rare. It is thus inscribed :J " John Knox, the bound servant of Jesus Christ, unto his best beloved brethren of the congregation of the castle of St. Andrews, and to all professors of Christ's true evangel, desireth grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, with perpetual consolation of the Holy Spirit." After mentioning a number of instances in which the name of God had been magnified, and the interests of religion advanced, by the exile of those who were driven from their native countries * MS. Letters, p. 40. t The manuscript, there is reason to think, was conveyed to Scotland about that time, but it fell aside, and was long considered as lost. After the death of Knox, it was discovered by his servant, Richard Bannatyne, in the house of Ormiston, and was printed, anno 1581, by Thomas Vaultrollier, in l"2mo, with the title of " Confession of Faith, &c., by Henry Balnaves of Halhill, one of the Lords of Council and Session of Scotland." — David Buchanan, in his edition of Knox's History, anno 1644, among his other alterations and interpolations, makes Knox to say that this work waa published at the time he wrote his History : which may be numbered among the anachronisms in that edition, which, for some time, discredited the authenticity of the History, and led many to deny that Knox was its author. But in the genuine editions, Knox expresses the very reverse. " In tlie presoun, he (Balnaves) wrait a maist profitabill treatise of justifica- tioun, and of the warkis and conversatioun of a justifyed man : ' but how it was suppressit we knaw not.' " Historic, p. 83, Edin. anno 1732. See also p. 181 of the first edition, in 8vo, printed at London by Vaultrollier in the year 1586. I I have not adhered to the orthography of the printed work, which ia evidently differ ■•nt from what it must have been in the MS. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX 59 by tyranny, as in the examples of Joseph, Mosts, Daniel, and the primitive Christians, he goes on thus : " Which thing sliall openly declare this godly work subsequent. The counsel of Satan in the persecution * of us, first, was to stop the whole- some wind of Christ's evangel to blow upon the parts where we converse and dwell ; and, secondly, so to oppress ourselves by corporal affliction and worldly calamities, that no place should we find to godly study. But by the great mercy and infinite goodness of God our Father, shall these his counsels be frustrate and vain. For, in despite of him and all his wicked members, shall yet that same word (0 Lord, this I speak, con- fiding in thy holy promise) openly be proclaimed in that same country. And how that our merciful Father, amongst these tempestuous storms, byt all men's expectation, hath provided some rest for us, this present work shall testify, which was sent to me in Roane, lying in irons, and sore troubled by corporal infirmity, in a galley named Nostre Dame, by an honourable brother, Mr. Henry Balnaves of Halhill, for the present holden as prisoner (though unjustly) in the old palace of Roane. J Which work after I had once and again read, to the great comfort and consolation of my spirit, by counsel and advice of the fore- said noble and faithful man, author of the said work, I thought expedient it should be digested in chapters, &c. Which thing I have done as imbecility of ingine § and incommodity of place would permit ; not so much to illustrate the work (which in the self is godly and perfect) as, together with the foresaid noble man and faithful brother, to give my confession of the article of justification therein contained. || And I beseech you, beloved brethren, earnestly to consider, if we deny any thing presently (or yet conceal and hide) which any time before we professed in that article. And now we have not the castle of St. Andrews to be our defence, as some of our enemies falsely accused us, saying. If we wanted our walls, we would not speak so boldly. But blessed be that Lord whose infinite good- ness and wisdom hath taken from us the occasion of that slan- der, and hath shown unto us, that the serpent hath power only to sting the heel, that is, to molest and trouble the flesh, but not to move the spirit from constant adhering to Christ Jesus, nor public professing of his true word. 0 blessed be thou. Eternal Father ! which, by thy only mercy, hast preserved ut, to this day, and provided that the confession of our faith (which ever we desired all men to have known) should, by this trea- tise, come plainly to light. Continue, 0 Lord ! and grai.t unto * It is ' perfection' in the printed copy, which is evidently a mistuKe. \ i. e beyond. t Rouen, not Roane, is the place meant. \ i. €. genius or knowledge. II See Xote O. 60 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. us, that, as now with pen and ink, so shortly we may confess with voice and tongue the same before thy congregation ; upon whom, look, 0 Lord God ! with the eyes of thy mercy, and suffer no more darkness to prevail. I pray you, pardon me, beloved brethren, that on this manner I digress : vehemency of spirit (the Lord knoweth I lie not) compelleth me thereto." The prisoners in Mont St. Michel consulted Knox as to the lawfulness of attempting to escape by breaking their prison, which was opposed by some of them, lest their escape should subject their brethren who remained in confinement to more severe treatment. He returned for answer, that such fears were not a sufficient reason for relinquishing the design, and that they might, with a safe conscience, effect their escape, pro- vided it could be done " without the blood of any shed or spilt ; but to shed any man's blood for their freedom, he would never consent." * The attempt was accordingly made by them, and successfully executed, " without harm done to the person of any, and without touching any thing that appertained to the king, the captain, or the house." t At length, after enduring a tedious and severe imprisonment of nineteen months, Knox obtained his liberty. This happened in the month of February 1549, according to the modern com- putation. J By what means his liberation was procured I cannot certainly determine. One account says, that the galley in which he was confined was taken in the Channel by the English.§ According to another account, he was liberated by order of the King of France, because it appeared, on examination, that he was not concerned in the murder of Cardinal Beatoun, nor accessory to other crimes committed by those who held the * This is the man whom a high-church historian has represented as hold- ing the principles of the ancient Zealots or Sicarii, and teaching that any person who met a Papist might kill him ! Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 54.5. f Kjiox, Historie, pp. 84, 85. I In one of his letters, preserved by Calderwood, Knox says, that he was nineteen months at the French galleys. Cald. MS. vol. i. 2.56. In the printed Calderwood, the period of his confinement is limited to nine months, a mistake which has been copied by several writers. It is proper that the reader of that book should be aware, that it is an abridgment of a larger work, still in manuscript ; and though there is reason to believe that it was drawn up by Calderwood himself, yet, having been printed after his death, and in a foreign country, it is often incorrect. Knox, in a conference with Mary of Scotland, told the queen, that he was five years resident in Eng- land (Historie, p. 289). Now, as he came to England immediately after he obtained his liberty, and left it (as we shall afterwards see) in the end of January or beginning of February 15-54, this accords exactly with the date »yf his liberation, which is given above from Calderwood's MS. 5 This is mentif ned in a MS. in my possession ; but little credit can be given to it, as it i written in a modern hand, and no authority is produced. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 61 castle of St. Andrews.* In the opinion of others, his liber. y was purchased by his acquaintances, who fondly cherished the hope that he was destined to accomplish some great achievements, and were anxious, by their interposition in his behalf, to be in- strumental in promoting the designs of Providence.! It is more probable, however, that he owed his deliverance to the comparative indifference with which he and his brethren were now regarded by the French court, who, having procured the consent of the Parliament of Scotland to the marriage of Queen Mary to the dauphin, and obtained possession of her person, felt no longer any inclination to revenge the quarrels of the Scottish clergy. * Petrie's Church History, part ii. p. 184. t Hamiltonii Dialog, p. 64. 6 62 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. PERIOD III. FROM "^'HE YEAR 1549, WHEN HE WAS RELEASED FROM THE FRENCH GALLEYS, TO THE YEAR 1554, WHEN HE FLED FROM ENGLAND Upon regaining his liberty, Knox immediately repaired to England. The objections which he had formerly entertained against a residence in that kingdom were now in a great measure removed. Henry VIII. had died in the year 1547 ; and Arch- bishop Cranmer, released from the severe restraint under which he had been held by his tyrannical and capricious master, now exerted himself with much zeal in advancing the Reformation. In this he was cordially supported by those who governed the kingdom during the minority of Edward VI. But the under- taking was extensive and difficult ; and, in carrying it on, he found a great deficiency of ecclesiastical coadjutors. Although the most of the bishops had externally complied with the altera- tions introduced by authority, they remained attached to the old religion, and secretly thwarted, instead of seconding, the measures of the primate. The inferior clergy were, in general, as unable as they were unwilling to undertake the instruction of the people,"* whose ignorance of religion was in many parts of the c<:>untry extreme, and whose superstitious habits had become quite inve- terate. This evil, which prevailed universally throughout the Popish Church, instead of being corrected, was considerably aggravated by a ruinous measure adopted at the commencement of the English Reformation. When Henry suppressed the monasteries, and seized their revenues, he allowed pensions to the monks during life ; but, to relieve the royal treasury of this burden, small benefices in the gift of the crown were afterwards substituted in the place of pensions. The example of the mon- arch was imitated by the nobles who had procured monastic lands. By this means a great part of the inferior livings were * Peter Martyr, in a letter dated Oxford, 1st July 1650, laments the paucity of useful preachers in England. " Doleo pkis quam dici possit, tanta ubique in Anglia verbi Dei penuria laborari ; et eos qui oves Christi doctrina pas- cere tenentur, cum usque eo remisse agant, ut ofRcium facere prorsus recu- sant, nescio quo fletu, quibusve lachrymis deplorari possit. Verum confido fore ut nieliora simus visuri." Martyri Epist. apud Loc. Commun. p. 760 Geneve 1 V24. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 6b held by ignorant and superstitious monks, who were a dead weight upon the Enghsh Cliurch, and a principal cause of the nation's sudden relapse to Popery, at the subsequent accession of Queen Mary.* Cranmer had already adopted measures for remedying this alarming evil With the concurrence of the protector and privy council, he had invited a number of learned Protestants from Germany into England, and had placed Peter Martyr, Martin Bucer, Paul Fagius, and Emanuel Tremellius, as professors in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. This was a wise measure, which secured a future supply of useful preachers trained up by these able masters ; but the necessity was urgent, and demanded immediate provision. For this purpose, instead of fixing a number of orthodox and popular preachers in partic- ular charges, it was judged most expedient to employ them in itinerating through ditierent parts of the kingdom, where the clergy were most illiterate or disaffected to the Keformation, and where the inhabitants were most addicted to superstition. In these circumstances, our zealous countryman did not re- main long unemployed. The reputation which he had gained by his preaching at St. Andrews,t and his late sufferings, re- commended him to the English council ; and soon after hia arrival in England, he was sent down from London to preach in Berwick.^ The council had every reason to be pleased with the choice which they had made of a northern preacher. He had long thirsted for the opportunity which he now enjoyed. His love for the truth, and his zeal against Popery, had been inflamed during his captivity, and he spared neither time nor labour in the instruction of those to whom he was sent. Regarding the wor- ship of the Romish Church as idolatrous, and its doctrines as damnable, he attacked both with the utmost fervour, and exerted himself in drawing his hearers from the belief of the one, and * Burnet's Hist, of the Reformation, ii. 24. The suppression of the chan- tries, in the reign of Edward VI. was attended with similar elfects. Strype'd Memorials of the Reformation, ii. 440. f I omitted mentioning in the proper place, that the biographi-r of Sir David Lindsay has stated, from the minutes of the Englisli council, that Knox was in the pay of England as early as the year 15 17. Chalmers's Lindsay, i. 32. I cannot suppose tiiat the learned author woultl confound the salary which Knox received during his residence in England, with a pension allotted to him when he was in his native country. But, on tlie other hand, I think it very unlikely that he should have been known to the English Court before he entered the castle of St. Andrews, and am inclined to suppose that any pension which he received from them did not connnence imtil that period at soonest. Mr. Chalmers's language conveys the idetu that he was pensioned by England before he went to the castle. I Strype's Memor. of the Reform, iii. 235. Knox. Hist 8'), 299. 64 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. from the observance of the other, with as much eagerness as if he had been saving their lives from a devom'hig flame or flood. Nor were his eff'orts fruitless. During the two years that he con- tinued in Berwick, numbers were converted by his ministiy from Ignorance and the errors of Popery ; and a visible reformation of manners was produced upon the soldiers of the garrison, who liad formerly been noted for licentiousness and turbulence.* The popularity and success of a Protestant preacher were very galling to the clergy in that quarter, who were, almost to a man, bigoted Papists, and enjoyed the patronage of the bishop of the diocese. Tonstal, Bishop of Durham, like his friend Sir Thomas More, was one of those men of whom it is extremely difficult to give a correct idea, qualities of an opposite kind being mixed and blended in his character. Surpassing all his brethren in polite learning, he was the patron of bigotry and superstition. Dis- playing, in private life, that moderation and suavity of maimers which liberal studies usually inspire,! he was accessory to the public measures of a reign disgraced throughout by the most shocking barbarities. Claiming our praise for honesty by oppos- ing in parliament innovations which his judgment condemned, he forfeited it by the most tame acquiescence and ample confor- mity ; thereby maintaining his station amidst all the revolutions of religion during three successive reigns. He had paid little attention to the science immediately connected with his profes- sion, and most probably was indifferent to the controversies then agitated; but, living in an age in which it was necessary for every man to choose his side, he adhered to those opinions which had been long established, and which were friendly to the power and splendour of the ecclesiastical order. As if anxious to atone for his fault, in having been instrumental in producing a breach between England and the Roman see, he opposed in parliament all the subsequent changes. Opposition awakened his zeal ; he became at last a strenuous advocate for the popish tenets ; and wrote a book in defence of transubstantiation, of which, says Bishop Burnet, " the Latin style is better than the divinity." The labours of one who exerted himself to overthrow what the bishop wished to support, could not fail to be very disagree- able to Tonstal. As Knox acted under the authority of the protector and council, he durst not inhibit him ; but he was disposed to listen to the informations which were lodged against him by the clergy. Although the town of Berwick was Knox's principal station during the years 1549 and 1550, it is probable * Knox, Historie, p. 289. f Sir Thomas More, in one of his letters to Erasmus, gives the following character of Tonstal : — " Ut nemo est omnibus bonis Uteris instructior, nemo vita moribusque severior, ita nemo est uscjuam in convictu jucundior." LIFE OF JUHN KNOX. 65 mat he was appointed to preach occasionally in thv adjacent country. Whether, in the course of his itinerancy, he had preached in Newcastle, or whether he was called up to it in consequence of complaints against the sermons which he had delivered at Berwick, it is difficult to ascertain. It is, however, certain, that a charge was exhibited against him Ijefore the bishop, for teaching that the sacrifice of the mass was idola- trous, and that a day was appointed for him publicly to assign his reasons for this opinion. Accordingly, on the 4th of April, 1550, a large assembly being convened in Newcastle, among whom were the members of the council,* the Bishop of Durham, and the learned men of his cathedral, Knox delivered in their presence an ample defence of his doctrine. After an appropriate exordium, in which he stated to the audience the occasion and design of his appearance, and cautioned them against the powerful preju- dices of education and custom in favour of erroneous opinions and corrupt practices in religion, he proceeded to establish the doctrine which he had taught. The manner in which he treated the subject was well adapted to his auditory, which was com- j)0sed both of the learned and the illiterate. He proposed his arguments in the syllogistic form, according to the practice of the schools, but illustrated them with a plainness level to the meanest capacity among his hearers. The propositions on which he rested his defence are very descriptive of his charac- teristic boldness of thinking and acting. A more cautious and timid disputant would have satisfied himself with attacking the grosser notions which were generally entertained by the people on this subject, and exposing the glaring abuses of which the priests were guilty in the lucrative sale of masses. Knox scorned to occupy himself in demolishing these feeble and fall- ing outworks, and proceeded directly to establish a principle which overthrew the whole fabric of superstition. He engaged to prove that the mass, " even in her most high degree," and when stripped of the meretricious dress in which she now ap- peared, was an idol struck from the inventive brain of sujjcr- stition, which had supplanted the sacrament of the supper, and engrossed the honour due to the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. " Spare no arrows," was Knox's motto ; the authority of Scripture, and the force of reasoning, grave reproof, and * Besides the great council wliich manatjed the affairs of the kingdom under the protector, a number of tlie privy counsellors who belonged to that part of the country, composed a subordinate board, called "tlie council of the north." The members here referred to probably belonged to this coun- cil, and not to the town council of Newcastle. If I am rigiit in tiiis con- jecture, Knox might owe to them, and not to the bishop, the liberty of thid •jublic defence. 6* I 66 LIFli OF JOHN KNOX. pointed irony, were weapons which he alternately employed. In the course of this defence, he did not restrain those sallies of raillery, which the fooleries of the popish superstition irresisti- bly provoke, even from such as are deeply impressed with its pernicious tendency. Before concluding his discourse, he ad- verted to certain doctrines which he had heard in that place on the preceding Sabbath, the falsehood of wliich he engaged to demonstrate ; but, in the first place, he said, he would submit the notes of the sermon, which he had taken down, to the preacher, that he might correct them as he saw proper ; for his object was not to misrepresent, or captiously entrap a speaker, by catching at words unadvisedly uttered, but to defend the truth, and warn his hearers against errors destructive to their souls. The defence, as drawn up by Knox himself, is now before me in manuscript, and the reader who wishes a more particular account of its contents, will find it in the notes.* This defence had the effect of extending Knox's fame through the north of England, while it completely silenced the bishop and his learned assistants.! He continued to preach at Berwick during the remaining part of this year, and in tbe following was removed to Newcastle, and placed in a sphere of greater usefulness. In December, 1551, the privy council conferred on him a mark of their approbation, by appointing him one of King Edward's chaplains in ordinary. " It was appointed," says his majesty, in a journal of important transactions which he wrote with his own hand, " that I should have six chaplains ordinary, of which two ever to be present, and four absent in preaching; one year, two in Wales, two in Lancashire and Derby ; next year, two in the marches of Scotland, and two in Yorkshire ; the third year, two in Norfolk and Essex, and two in Kent and Sussex. These six to be Bill, Harle,J Perne, Grin- * See Note P. f The compiler of the account of Knox, prefixed to the edition of his History printed in 173"J, says, that the MS. containing the defence bears, that it " quite silenced" the bishop and his doctors. But that writer does not appear to have ever seen the MS., which contains nothing of the kind. The fact, however, is attested by the Bishop of Ossory, who had good oppor- tunities of knowing the truth, and who is accurate in his account of other circumstances relative to it. His words are, " Et 4 die Aprilis ejusdem anni [1550] aperiens in concione opinionem, ejus idolatrias et horrendas blasphe- mias, tarn solidis argumentis, abominationem esse probabat, ut, cum omnibus Bciolis, Saturnius ille somniator [Dunelmensis] refragare non possit." Baleus, De Script. Scot, et Hibern. Art. Knoxus. \ John Harle or Harley, was afterwards made Bishop of Hereford, May 2f), 1553. Strype's Cranmer, p. 301. A late writer has confounded thii Englishman with William Harlowe, who was minister of St. Cuthbert's church, near Edinburgh. Si jtt's History of the Reformers in Scotland, p. 242. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 67 dal, Bradford and ."* The name of the sixth has been dashed out of the journal, but the industrious Strype has shown that it was Knox.t " Tliese, it seems, were the most zealous and readiest preachers, who were sent about as itinerants, to supply the defects of the greatest part of the clergy, who were generally very faulty." J An annual salary of forty pounds was allotted to each of the chaplains.§ In the course of this year, Knox was consulted about the Book of Common Prayer, which was undergoing a revisal. On that occasion, it is probable that he was called up for a short time to London. Although the persons who had the chief direction of ecclesiastical affairs were not disposed, or did not deem it as yet expedient, to introduce that thorough reform which he judged necessary, in order to reduce the worship of the English Church to the Scripture model, his representations on this head were not altogether disregarded. He had influ- ence to procure an important change in the communion oflice, completely excluding the notion of the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament, and guarding against the adoration of the Elements, which was too much countenanced by the prac- tice, still continued, of kneeling at their reception. || In iiis Admonition to the Professors of the Truth in England, Knox speaks of these amendments with great satisfaction. " Also God gave boldness and knowledge to the court of parliament to take away the round clipped god, wherein standeth all the holiness of the Papists, and to command common bread to be used at the Lord's table, and also to take away the most part of superstitions (kneeling at the Lord's table excepted) which before profaned Christ's true religion." These alterations gave great offence to the Papists. In a disputation with Latimer, after the accession of Queen Mary, the prolocutor. Dr. Weston, complained of our countryman's influence in procuring them * King Edward's Journal, apud Burnet, ii. Records, p. 42. t Memorials of the Reformation, ii. 297. Memor. of Cranmer, p. 292. Burnet, iii. 212. Records, 420, 422. I Burnet, ii. 171. 5 Strype's Memor. of Reform, nt supra. Life of Grindal, p. 7. Mr. Strype says, that the number of cliaplains was afterwards reduced to four, Bradford and Knox being; dropped from the list. But botii of tliese preached in their turn before the court, in tlie year 15o3. And in tlie council book a warrant is granted, October 27, l-)")2, to four frontlemon, to pay to Knox, " his majesty's preacher in tlie north, forty pounds, as liis mnjesty's reward." Strype's Cranmer, 292. This salary he retained until the (h^ath of Edward: for, in a letter written by him at tlic time he left Enirland, he says, " Ather tlie queen's majestic, or sum thesaurer, will be 4(t jiounds rycher by me, sae meikie lack I of the dutie of my patentis; but that littil trublis me." MS. Letters, p. 286. II See Note Q. 68 LIFE OF JOHN SNOX. « A runnagate Scot did take away the adoration or worship- ping of Christ in the sacrament, by whose procurement that heresy was put into the last communion book ; so much pre- vailed that one man's authority at that time."* In the follow- ing year, he was employed in revising the Articles of Religion, previous to their ratification by parliament.t During his residence at Berwick, he had formed an acquaint- ance with Marjory Bowes, a young lady, who afterwards be- came his wife. Her father, Richard Bowes, was the youngest son of Sir Ralph Bowes of Streatlem ; her mother was Eliza- beth, the daughter and one of the co-heirs of Sir Roger Aske of Aske. J Before he left Berwick, Knox had paid his addresses to this young lady, and met with a favourable reception. Her mother also was friendly to the match; but, owing to some reason, most probably the presumed aversion of her father, it was deemed prudent to delay solemnizing the union. But having come under a formal promise to her, he considered him- self, from that time, as sacredly bound, and in his letters to Mrs. Bowes always addressed that lady by the name of mother. § Without derogating from the praise justly due to those worthy men who were ut this time employed in disseminating religious truth through England, I may say, that our countryman was not behind the first of them, in the unwearied assiduity with which he laboured in the stations assigned to him. From an early period his mind seems to have presaged, that the golden oppor- tunity now enjoyed would not be of long duration. He was eager to "redeem the time," and indefatigable both in his studies * Fox, p. 1326. Strype questions the truth of Weston's statement, and says that Knox " was hardly come into England (at least any further than Newcastle) at this time." Annals, iii. 117. But we have already seen that he arrived in England as early as the beginning of 1549. t " October 2, (15.")2), a letter was directed to Messrs. Harley, Bill, Horn, Grindal, Pern, and Knox, to consider certain articles exhibited to the king's majesty, to be subscribed by all such as shall be admitted to be preachers or ministers in any part of the realm ; and to make report of their opinions touching the same." Council book, apud Strype's Cranmer, p. 273. Their report was returned before the 20th of November, ibid. p. 301. Burnet says, the order was given Oct. 20. History, iii. 212. The articles agreed to at this time were forty-two. In 1562, they Were reduced to thirty-nine, their present number. I See the pedigree of the family of Bowes among the original papers at the end of the work. 5 From this appellation in the MS. letters, I concluded that Knox was married to Miss Bowes before he left Berwick, until I met with one of his printed works, to which a letter from him to Mrs. Bowes is added. On the margin of this, opposite to a place in which he had called her mother, is this note : " I had maid faithful promise, before witness, to Mariorie Bowes, her daugiiter, so as she took me for sone, I hartly embrased her as my mo- ther." Knox's Answer to Tyrie, the Jesuit. F. ij. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 69 and in tsaching. In addition to liis ordinary services on Sabbatli he preached regularly on week-days, frequently on every day of the week.* Besides the portion of time which he allotted to study, he was often employed in conversing with persons who applied to him for advice on religious subjects.! The council were not insensible to the value of his services, and conferred on him several marks of their approbation. They wrote different letters to the governors and principal inhabitants of the places where he preached, recommending him to their notice and pro- tection. J They secured him in the regular payment of his salary until he should be provided with a benefice. § And out of respect to him, they, in September 1552, granted a patent to his brother, William Knox, a merchant, giving him liberty, for a limited time, to trade to any port of England, in a vessel of a hundred tons burden. II But the things which recommended Knox to the council, drew upon him the hatred of a numerous and powerful party in the northern counties, who remained addicted to Popery. Irri- tated by his boldness and success in attacking their superstition, and sensible that it would be vain, and even dangerous, to prefer an accusation against him on that ground, they watched for an opportunity of catching at something in his discourses or beha- viour, which they might improve to his disadvantage. He had long observed, with great anxiety, the impatience with which the Papists submitted to the present government, and their eager * MS. Letters, pp. 265, 276. f Ibid, passim. I They wrote a letter in commendation of him, Dec. 9, lofrJ, to Lord Wharton, deputy warden of the Borders. During- the following year, wlien he was employed in Buckinghamshire, in order to secure greater acceptance and respect to him in that county, the council wrote in his favour to Lords Russel and Windsor, to the justices of the peace, and to several other gen- tlemen. Strype's Cranmer, p. 292. 5 Strype's Memor. of the Reformation, ii. 533. II Bishop Burnet, and Mr. Strype (Memor. of Reform, ii. 299), who have recorded this fact, conjectured that the patentee was a relation of our Re- former. That he was his brother, is evident from Knox's letters, which mention his being in England about this time. In a letter written in 1553, he says : " My brother, Williame Knox, is presentlie with me. What ye wald haif frome Scotland, let me knaw this Monunday at nycht ; for liie must depart on Tyisday." MS. Letters, p. 271. Perhaps the same person is referred to in the following extract from another letter : " My brother hath communicat his haill hart with me, and I persave the mychtie opera- tion of God. And sa let us be establissit in his infinit gudnes and maist sure promissis." lb. p. 266. William Kjiox afterwards became a preacher, and was minister of Cock- pen, in Mid-Lothian, after the establishment of the Reformation in Scotland. No fewer than fourteen ministers of the Church of Scotland are numbered among his descendants. Genealogical Account of the Knoxes, apud Scott's History of the Reformew \u Scotland, p. 152. 70 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. desires for any change which might lead to the overthrow of tne Protestant rehgion, — desires which were expressed by them in the north, without that reserve which prudence dictated in places adjacent to the seat of authority. He had witnessed the joy with which they received the news of the protector's fall, and was no stranger to the satisfaction with which they circulated prognostications as to the speedy demise of the king. In a sermon preached by him about Christmas 1552, he gave vent to his feelings on this subject ; and, lamenting the obstinacy of the Papists, asserted, that such as were enemies to the gospel then preached in England, were secret traitors to the crown and commonwealth, thirsted for nothing more than his majesty's death, and cared not who should reign over them, provided they got their idolatry again erected. The freedom of this speech was immediately laid hold of by his enemies, and transmitted, with many aggravations, to some great men about court, secretly in their interest, who, thereupon, accused him of high misde- meanours before the privy council.* In taking this step, they were not a Uttle encouraged by their knowledge of the sentiments of the Duke of Northumberland, who had lately come down to his charge as warden-general of the northern marches.t This ambitious and unprincipled nobleman had affected much zeal for the reformed religion, that he might the more easily attain the highest preferment in the State, which he had recently secured by the ruin of the Duke of Somerset, the protector of the kingdom. Knox had offended him by publicly lamenting the fall of Somerset as dangerous to the Re formation, of which this nobleman had always shown himself a zealous friend, however blamable his conduct might have been in other respects.! Nor could the freedom which the preacher used in reproving from the pulpit the vices of great as well as small, fail to be displeasing to a man of Northumberland's character. On these accounts, the duke was desirous to have Knox removed from that quarter, and had actually applied for this, by a letter to the council, previous to the occurrence just mentioned, alleging, as a pretext for this, that great numbers of * MS. Letters, p. 193. Knox's Admonition to the Professors of the Truth in England, p. fil, apud History, Edin. 1644, 4to. t The Earl of Warwick, now created Duke of Northumberland, was ap- pointed warden-general of the northern marches in October 1551. But being occupied in securing his interest at court, he got himself excused from going north until June 1552. Strype's Memor. of the Reformation, ii. 282, y:)9. I MS. Letters, pp. 112, 173. Admonition, p. 51, apud History, Edin- burgh, 1614. Knox considered that the Papists had a secret hand in foment- ing those dissensions which led to the condemnation and death of the pro- tector. N/jr were his suspicions ill-founded. See Strype's Memor. of the Reform, ii. cO' — 7. LIFE OF JOHN KNlX. 71 Scotsmen resorted to him ; as if any real danger was to be apprehended from this intercourse with a man, of whose fidehty the existing government had so many strong pledges, and who mriformly employed all his influence to remove the prejudices of his countrymen against England.* In consequence of the charge exhibited against him to the council, he was summoned to repair immediately to London, and answer for his conduct. The following extract of a letter, written by him to Miss Bowes,t will show the state of his mind on receiving this citation. " Urgent necessity will not suffer that I testify my mind unto you. My Lord of Westmoreland J has written unto me tliis Wednesday, at six of the clock at night, immediately thereafter to repair unto him, as I will answer at my peril. I could not obtain licence to remain the time of the sermon upon the morrow. Blessed be God who does ratify and confirm the truth of his word from time to time, as our weakness shall require ! Your adversary, sister, doth labour, that you should doubt whether this be the word of God or not. If there had never been testimonial of the undoubted truth thereof before these our ages, may not such things as we see daily come to pass prove the verity thereof ? Doth it not affirm, that it shall be preached, and yet contemned and lightly regarded by many ; that the true professors thereof shall be hated by father, mother, and others of the contrary religion ; that the most faithful shall be persecuted ? And cometh not all these, things to pass in ourselves ? Rejoice, sister, for the same word that forespeaketh trouble doth certify us of the glory consequent. As for myself, albeit the extremity should now apprehend me, it is not come unlooked for. But, alas ! I fear that yet I be not ripe, nor able to glorify Christ by my death ; but what lacketh now, God shall perform in his own time. Be sure I will not * The duke's letter was dated Nov. 23, 1552. Hayne's St;ite Papers, p. 18»). Brand's History of Newcastle, p. 304. Redpath's Border History, p. 577. f A great number of his letters in the MS. are superscribed " to his sis- ter." It appears from internal evidence, that this was a dauijhter of Mrs. Bowes ; and, although I cannot be positive, I am inclined to tliink tliat she was the young lady whom he married. One letter has this superscription, " '1 o Mariorie Bowes, who was his first wife." In it he addresses her l)y the name of Sister, and at the close says, " I think this be the first letter that I ever wrait to you." MS. Letters, p. 335. But there is no date by wliich to compare it with other letters. I Henry Nevyl, Earl of Westmoreland, was, by the interest of the Duke of Northumberland, admitted a member of the privy council in 1552. He was also a member of the council for the north, and lord lieutenant of the bishopric of Durham. His private character was indifferent Strype'si Meuior. of the Reformation, ii. 401, 457 — 9. 72 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. forget )/ou and your company, so long as mortal man may re- member any earthly creature."* Upon reaching London, he found that his enemies had been uncommonly industrious in their endeavours to excite prejudices against him. But the council, after hearing his defence, were convinced of the malice of his accusers, and gave him an honourable acquittal. He was employed to preach before the court, and his sermons gave great satisfaction to his majesty, who contracted a favour for him, and was anxious to have him promoted in the Church.t The council resolved that he should preach in London and the southerncounties during the following year ; but they allowed him to return for a short time to New- castle, either that he might settle his affairs in the north, or that a public testimony might be borne to his innocence in the place where it had been attacked. In a letter to his sister, dated Newcastle, 23d March 1553, we find him writing as follows: " Look farther of this matter in the other letter,! written unto you at such time as many thought I should never write after to man. Heinous were the delations laid against me, and many are the lies that are made to the council. But God ^ne day shall destroy all lying tongues, and shall deliver his servants from calamity. I look but one day or other to fall in their hands ; for more and more rageth the members of the devil against me. This assault of Satan has been to his confusion, and to the glory of God. And therefore, sister, cease not to praise God, and to call for my comfort ; for great is the multi- tude of enemies, whom every one the Lord shall confound. I intend not to depart from Newcastle before Easter." His confinement in the French Galleys, together with his labours in England, had considerably impaired the vigour of his constitution, and brought on the gravel. In the course of the year 1553, he endured several violent attacks of this acute disorder, accompanied with severe pain in his head and stomach. " My daily labours must now increase," says he, in the letter last quoted, " and therefore spare me as much as you may. My old malady troubles me sore, and nothing is more contrarious to my health than writing. Think not that I weary to visit you ; but unless my pain shall cease, I will altogether become unpro- fitable. Work, 0 Lord, even as pleaseth thy infinite goodness, and relax the troubles, at thy own pleasure, of such as seeketh thy glory to shine. Amen !"§ In another letter to the same correspondent, he writes : " The pain of my head and stomach * MS. Letters, p. 267—9. t MS Letters, p. 112. Melchior Adam, Vitas Theolog. Ext. p. 137. I The letter last quoted. MS. Letters, p. 273 — 4, compared with p. 268 { MS. Letters, p. 276. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 73 troubles me greatly. Daily I find my body decay ; but the pro- vidence of my God shall not be frustrate. I am charged to be at Widdrington upon Sunday, where, I think, I shall also remain Monday. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus rest with you. Desire such faithful with whom ye conmiunicate your mind, to pray that, at the pleasure of our good God, my dolour both of body and spirit may be relieved somewhat ; for presently it is very bitter. Never found I the spirit, I praise my God, so abundant, where God's glory ought to be declared ; and, there- fore, 1 am sure there abides something that yet we see not."'* " Your messenger," says he, in another letter, " found me in bed, after a sore trouble and most dolorous night ; and so dolour may complain to dolour when we two meet. But the infinite goodness of God, who never despiseth the petitions of a sore troubled heart, shall, at his good pleasure, put end to these pains that we presently sufler, and, in place thereof, shall crown us with glory and immortality for ever. But, dear sister, I am even of mind with faithful Job, yet more sore tormented, that my pain shall have no end in this life. The power of God may, against the purpose of my heart, alter such things as appear not to be altered, as he did unto Job ; but dolour and pain, with sore anguish, cries the contrary. And this is more plain than ever I spake, to let you know ye have a fellow and companion in trouble. And thus rest in Christ ; Ibr the head of the serpent is already broken down, and he is stinging us upon the heel."t About the begimiing of April, 155S, he returned to London. In the month of February preceding, Archbishop Cranmer had been directed by the council to present him to the vacant living of All-Hallows, in the city.f This proposal, which originated in the personal favour of the young king, was very disagreeable to Northumberland, who exerted himself privately to hinder the appointment. But the interference of this nobleman was unnecessary ; for Knox declined the living when it was oil'ered to him, and, being questioned as to his reasons, readily acknow- ledged that he had not freedom in his mind to accept of a fixed charge in the present state of the English Church. His reiiisal, with the reasons which he had assigned for it, gave oU'ence, and, on the 14th of April, he was called before tiie privy coun- cil. There were present the Archbishop of Canterbury, Good- rick Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor, the Earls of Bedford, Northampton, and Shrewsbury, the Lords Treasurer and Cham- berlain, and the two Secretaries of State. They asked him, why he had refused the benefice provided for him in Loudon * Ibid. p. 260-1. t MS. Letters, p. 262. I Strype's Cratrarr p. 292- 7 K 74 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. He answered, that he was fully satisfie I that he could be moie useful to the Church in another situation. Being interrogated^ if it was his opinion, that no person could lawfully serve in ecclesiastical ministrations according to the present laws of that realm, he frankly replied, that there were many things in the English Church which needed reformation, and that unless they were reformed, ministers could not, in his opinion, discharge their otlice conscientiously in the sight of God : for no minister had authority, according to the existing laws, to prevent the unworthy from participating of the sacraments, which was " a chief point of his office." Being asked, if kneeling at the Lord's table was not a matter of indifference, he replied, that Christ's action at the communion was most perfect, and in it no such posture was used ; that it was most safe to follow his example; and that kneeling was an addition and invention of men. On this article, there was a smart dispute between him and some of the members of the council. After long reasoning, he was told that they had not sent for him with any bad design, but were sorry to understand that he was of a judgment contrary to the common order. He said he was sorry that the common order was contrary to Christ's institution. The council dis- missed him with soft words, advising him to use all means for removing the dislike which he had conceived to some of the forms of their Church, and to reconcile his mind, if possible, tc the idea of communicating according to the established rites.* Scruples which had resisted the force of authority and argu- me,nt, have often been found to yield to the more powerfu.' influence of lucrative and honourable situations. But whether, with some, we sliall consider Knox's conduct on this occasion as indicating the poverty of his spirit,! or shall regard it as a proof of true independence of mind, the prospect of elevation to the episcopal bench could not overcome the repugnance which he felt to a closer connection with the Church of Eng- land. Edward VI., with the concurrence of his privy council, offered him a bishopric. But he rejected it ; and in the reasons which he gave for his refusal, declared the episcopal office to * The account of his examination before the council is taken from a letter of Knox, the substance of which has been inserted by Calderwood, in hia MS. [listory, and by Strype, in his Memorials of the Reformation, vol. iL p. 400. f Luther having rejected wit'i disdain the great offers by wlilch Alexan- der, the papal leg-ate, attempted to gain him over to the court of Rome, "He is a ferocious brute," exclaimed the legate, equally confounded and disappointed, " whom nothing can soften, and who regards riches and hon- ours as mere dirt; otherwise the pope would long ago have loaded him with favours." — Beausobre's History of the Reformation, i. :39") — f5. Macaulay'a Translation. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 75 be destitute of divine authority in itself, and its exoK ise in the English Church to be inconsistent with the ecclesiastical canons. This is attested by Beza, a contemporary author.** Knox iiini- self, in one of his treatises, speaks of the "high promotions" offered him by Edward ;t and we shall find him, at a later period of his life, expressly asserting that he had refused a bish- opric. Tonstal having been sequestered upon a charge of mis- prision of treason, the council came to a resolution, about this time, to divide his extensive diocese into two bishoprics, the seat of one of which was to be at Durham, and of the other at Newcastle. Ridley, Bishop of Loudon, was to be translated to the former, and it is highly probable that Knox was intended for the latter. " He was offered a bishopric," says Brand, " pro- bably the new founded one at Newcastle, which he refused — revera nnluit episcopari.'^ % It may be proper, in this place, to give a more particular account of Knox's sentiments respecting the English Church. The reformation of religion, it is well known, was conducted on very different principles in England and in Scotland, both as to worship and ecclesiastical polity. In England, the papal supremacy was transferred to the prince ; the hierarchy, being subjected to the civil power, was suffered to remain, and, the grosser superstitions having been removed, the principal forms of the ancient worship were retained; whereas, in Scotland, all of these were discarded, as destitute of divine authority, unpro- fitable, burdensome, or savouring of Popery, and the worsiiip and government of the Church were reduced to the primitive standard of scriptural simplicity. The influence of Knox in recommending this establishment to his countrymen, is univer- sally allowed ; but, as he officiated for a considerable time in the Church of England, and on this account was supposed to have been pleased with its constitution, it has been usually said, that he afterwards contracted a dislike to it during his exile on the Continent, and having imbibed the sentiments of Calvin, brought them along with him to his native country, and organ- ized the Scottish Church after the Genevan model. This state- ment is inaccurate. His objections to the English liturgv were increased and strengthened during his residence on the Conti- nent ; but they existed before that time. His judgment respect- ing ecclesiastical government and discipline was matured during that period, but his radical sentiments on these heads were formed long before he saw Calvin, or had any intercourse with ^ Bezae Icones. Ee iij. See also Verheideni Effigies, pp. 92, 93. Melch. Adam, p. 187. t MS. Letters, p. 73. The passage will aflerwards be quoted. X History of Newcastle, p. 304. Surtce's Durham, vol. i. p. 70. 7C LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. the foreign reformers. At Geneva he saw a Cliurch, which, upo.i the whole, corresponded with his idea of the divinely au- thorized pattern ; but he did not indiscriminately approve, nor servilely imitate, either that or any other existing establish- ment.* As early as the year 1547, he taught, in his first sermons at St. Andrews, that no mortal man could be head of the Church; there were no true bishops, but such as preached personally without a substitute ; that in religion men were bound to regu- late themselves by divine laws ; and that the sacraments ought to be administered exactly according to the institution and ex- ample of Christ. We have seen that, in a solemn disputation in the same place, he maintained that the Church has no au- thority, on pretext of decorating divine service, to devise reli- gious ceremonies, and impose upon them arbitrary significa- tions.! This position he also defended in the year 1550, at Newcastle, and on his subsequent appearance before the privy council at London. It was impossible that the English Church, in any of the shapes which it assumed, could stand the test of these principles. The ecclesiastical supremacy, the various orders and dependencies of the hierarchy, crossing in baptism, and kneeling in the eucharist, with other ceremonies — the theat- rical dress, the mimical gestures, the vain repetitions used in religious service, were all condemned and repudiated by the cardinal principle to which he steadily adhered, that, in the Church of Christ, and especially in the acts of worship, every thing ought to be arranged and conducted, not by the pleasure and appointment of men, but according to the dictates of in- spired wisdom and authority. He rejoiced that liberty and encouragement were given to preach the pure word of God throughout the extensive realm of England ; that idolatry and gross superstition were sup- pressed ; and that the rulers were disposed to support the Refor- mation, and even to carry it farther than had yet been done. Considering the character of the greater part of the clergy, the extreme paucity of useful preachers, and other hinderances to the introduction of the primitive order and discipline of the Church, he acquiesced in the authority exercised by a part of the bishops, under the direction of the privy council, and en- * The churches of Geneva and Scotland did not agree in all points. Though holydays were abolished in Geneva at the commencement of the Reformation, the observance of a number of them was very soon restored, and has always continued in that Church ; but this practice was wholly re- jected by the Church of Scotland, from the very first establishment of the Reformation, and its introduction has always been vigorously resisted by hfsr Other things in which they differed migiit easily be mentioned. t Knox, Ilistorie, pp. 72 — 74, and this Life, pp. 52, 5;^ LIFE OF JOHN Kx\OX. 77 deuvoured to strengthen their hands in the advancemer t of the common cause, by painful preaching in the stations which were assigned to him. But he could not be induced to contradict or to conceal his fixed sentiments, and he cautiously avoided com- ing under engagements by which he must have assented to what, in his decided judgment, was either in its own nature unlawful, or injurious in its tendency to the interests of religion. Upon these principles, he never submitted to the unlimited use of the liturgy, during the time that he was in England,* and refused to become a bishop, or to accept a parochial charge. When he perceived that the progress of the Reformation was arrested by the influence of a popish faction, and the dictates of a temporizing policy ; that abuses, which had formerly been acknowledged, began to be openly vindicated and stiffly main- tained ; above all, when he saw, after the accession of Eliza- beth, that a retrograde course was taken, and a yoke of cere- monies, more grievous than that which the most sincere Pro- testants had formerly complained of, was imposed and enforced by arbitrary statutes, he judged it necessary to speak in a tone of more decided and severe reprehension. Among other things which he censured in the English eccle- siastical establishment, were the continuing to employ a great number of ignorant and insufficient priests, who had been ac- customed to nothing but saying mass and singing the litany; the general substitution of the reading of homilies, the mum- bling of prayers, or the chanting of matins and even-song, in the place of preaching ; the formal celebration of the sacra- ments, unaccompanied with instruction to the people ; the scan- dalous prevalence of pluralities ; and the total want of ecclesi- astical discipline. He was of opinion, that the clergy ought not to be entangled, and diverted from the duties of their office, by holding civil places : that the bishops should lay aside their secular titles and dignities; that the bishoprics should be divided, so that in every city or large town there might be placed a godly and learned man, with others joined with him, for the management of ecclesiastical matters ; and that schools for the * Cald. MS. i. 250. During the reign of Edward, and even the first years ofthatof his sister Elizabeth, absolute conformity to the lituro-y was not pressed upon ministers. Strype's Annals, i. 419, 4:52. Burnet, iii. :10'\ 'Ml. Hutchinson's Antiq. of Durham, i. 453. Archbishop Parker, in the begin- ning of Elizabeth's reign, administered the elements to the communicants standing, in the cathedral church at Canterbury. Her majesty's commis- sioners appointed the communion to be received in the same posture in Co- ventry ; and tlie practice was continued in that town as late, at hvist, as the year KiOS. Certain demands propounded unto Ricliard, Arclibishop of Can- terbury, p. 45, anno 1605. Removal of Imputations laid upon tlie minist< ts of Devon and Cornwall, p. 51, anno IfiOK. Dispute upon tiie question of Kneeling, p. 131, anno 1608. 78 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. education of youth should be universally erected through the nation.* Nor did the principal persons who were active in effecting the English Reformation differ widely from Knox in these senti- ments, although they might not have the same conviction of their importance, and of the expediency of reducing them to practice. We should mistake exceedingly, if we supposed that they were men of the same principles and temper with many who succeeded to their places, or that they were satisfied with the pitch to which they had carried the reformation of the English Church, and regarded it as a paragon and perfect pattern to other churches. They were strangers to those extra- vagant and illiberal notions which were afterwards adopted by the fond admirers of the hierarchy and liturgy. They would have laughed at the man who seriously asserted, that the eci-le- siastical ceremonies constituted any part of " the beauty of holiness," or that the imposition of the hands of a bishop was essential to the validity of ordination ; and they would not have owned that person as a Protestant who would have ventured to insinuate, that where these were wanting,there was no Christian ministry, no ordinances, no church, and perhaps — no salvation. Many things which their successors have applauded, they barely tolerated ; and they would have been happy if the circumstances of their time would have permitted them to introduce alterations, which have since been cried down as puritanical innovations. Strange as it may appear to some, I am not afraid of exceeding the truth when I say, that if the English reformers, including the Protestant bishops, had been left to their own choice, — if they had not been held back and retarded by a large mass of popishly affected clergy m the reign of Edward, and restrained by the supreme civil authority on the accession of Elizabeth, they would have brought the government and worship of the Church of England nearly to the pattern of other reformed churches. If the reader doubts this, he may consult the evidence produced in the notes. t Such, in particular, was the earnest wish of his majesty, Edward VI., a prince who, besides his other rare qualities, had an unfeigned reverence for the word of God, and a disposition to comply with its precepts in preierence to custom and established usages ; and who showed himself uniformly inclined to give relief to his conscientious subjects, and sincerely bent on pro- * This statement of his sentiments is drawn from his Brief Exhortation to England for the speedy embracing of Christ's Gospel, printed at Geneva, anno 1559, and at the end of his History, Edinburgh, lt)44, 4to ; and tron* his letters^ to Mrs. Lf 'ke, dated 6th April, and 15th October, 1559 in Cald MS. i. pp. :.80, 491. t See Note R. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 79 moting the nnion of all the friends of the reformed relio-ion at home and aLroad. Of his intention on this head, there remain the most unquestionable and satisfactory documents.* Had liis life been spared, there is every reason to think that he would have accomplished the correction or removal of those evils in the English Church, which the most steady and enlightened Protes- tants have lamented. Had his sister Elizabeth been of the same spirit with him, and prosecuted the plan which he laid down, the consequences would have been most happy both for herself and for her people, for the government and ibr the Church. She would have united all the friends of the Reformation, who were the great support of her authority. She would have weakened the interest of the Roman Catholics, whom all her accommoda- ting measures could not gain, nor prevent from repeatedly con- spiring against her life and crown. She would have put an end to those dissensions among her Protestant subjects, which con- tinued during the whole of her reign, which she bequeathed as a legacy to her successors, and which, being fomented and exaspe- rated by the severities employed for their suppression, burst forth at length, to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, as well as of the hierarchy, whose exorbitancies it had patronized, and whose corruptions it had sanctioned and maintained — dissen- sions which subsist to this day ; which, though softened by the partial lenitive of a toleration, have gradually alienated from the communion of that Church, a large proportion of the people, and which, if a timely and suitable remedy be not applied, may ultimately undermine the foundations of the Eng- lish establishment During the time that Knox was in London, he had full opportunity for observing the state of the court ; and the observations which he made filled his mind with the most anxious forebodings. Of the piety and sincerity of the young king he entertained not the smallest doubt. Personal acquaint- ance heightened the idea which he had conceived of his char- acter from report, and enabled him to add his testimony to the tribute of praise which all who knew that prince had so cheerfully paid to his uncommon virtues and endowments.t But the prin- cipal courtiers, by whom he was at that time surrounded, were persons of a very different description, and gave proots, too unequivocal to be mistaken, of indifference to all religion, and * See Note S. t " We had," says he in his Letter to the Faithful in London, Newcastle, and Berwick, "ane king of sa godlie disposition towardis vertew, and thi- treuth of God, that nane frome the beginning passit him, and (to my kiiaw- ledge) none of his yeiris did ever mache him in that behalf; gif hie niyght hait bene lord of his awn will." MS. Letters, p. 119. He has passed a fuller encomium on this prince in his Ilistorie, p. 89. 80 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. of a readiness to acquiesce, and even to assist, in the re-estab- lishment of the ancient superstition, whenever a change oi rulers should render this measure practicable and expedient. The health of Edward, which had long been declining, grow- ing gradually worse, so that no hopes of his recovery remain- ed, they were eager only about the aggrandizing of their families, and providing for the security of their places and fortunes. The royal chaplains were men of a very different character from those who have usually occupied that place in the courts of princes. They were no time-serving, supple, smooth-tongued parasites ; they were not afraid of forfeiting their pensions, or of alarming the consciences, and wounding the delicate ears, of their royal and noble auditors, by denouncing the vices which they committed, and the judgments of Heaven to which they exposed themselves. The freedom used by the venerable Lati- mer is well known from his printed sermons, which, for their homely honesty, artless simplicity, native humour, and genuine pictures of the manners of the age, continue still to be read with interest. Grindal, Lever, and Bradford, who were superior to Latimer in learning, evinced the same fidelity and courage. They censured the ambition, avarice, luxury, oppression, and irreligion which reigned in the court. As long as their sove- reign was able to give personal attendance on the sermons, the preachers were treated with exterior decency and respect ; but after he was confined to his chamber by a consumptive cough, the resentment of the courtiers vented itself openly in the most contumelious speeches and insolent behaviour.* From what the reader has already seen of Knox's character, he may readily conceive that the sermons delivered by him at court, were not less free and bold than those of his colleagues. We may form a judgment of them from the account which he has given of the last sermon preached by him before his majesty ; in which he directed several piercmg glances of reproof at the haughty premier and his crafty relation, the Marquis of Win- chester, lord high treasurer, both of whom were among his hearers. His text was John xiii. 18, "He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up his heel against me," It had been often seen, he said, that the most excellent and godly princes were surrounded with false and ungodly officers and counsellors. Having inquired into the reasons of this, and illustrated the fact from the Scripture examples of Ahithophel under King David, Shebna under Hezekiah, and Judas under Jesus Christ, he added : " What wonder is it, then, that a young and innocent king be deceived by crafty, covetous, wicked, and ungodly coun- * See Note T. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. .. 265. * Ibid. p. 2»4. 8 86 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Having ascertained that his friends were not mistaken in the apprehensions which they felt for his safety, and that he could not hope to elude the pursuit of his enemies if he remained in England, he procured a vessel, which landed him safely at Dieppe, a port of Normandy in France, on the 20th of January, 1554.* * MS. Letters, p. 318. Archibald Hamilton has trumped up a ridiculous story, respecting Knox's flight from England. He says that, by teaching the unlawfulness of female government, he had excited a dangerous rebel- lion against Queen Mary ; but the queen, having marched against the rebels, defeated them with great slaughter ; upon which Kjiox, stained with their blood, fled to Geneva, carrying along with him a rich noblewoman. Dialog. de Confus. Calv. Sect p. 65. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 87 PERIOD IV. FROM THE YEAR 1554, WHEN HE LEFT ENGLAND, TO THE YEAR 1556 WHEN HE RETURNED TO GENEVA, AFTER VISITING SCOTLAND. Providence, having more important services in reserve foi Knox, made use of the urgent importunities of his friends to hurry him away from those dangers, to which, had he been left to the determination of his own mind, his zeal and fearlessness would have prompted him to expose himself No sooner did he reach a foreign shore, than he began to regret the course which lie had been induced to take. When he thought upon his fellow- preachers, whom he had left behind him immured in dungeons, and the people lately under his charge, now scattered abroad as sheep without a shepherd, he felt an indescribable pang; and an almost irresistible desire to return and share in the hazardous but honourable conflict. Although he had only complied with the divine direction, " when they persecute you in one city, flee ye unto another," and although in his own breast he stood acquitted of cowardice, yet he found it difficult to divest his conduct of the appearance of that weakness, and was afraid that it might operate as a discouragement to his brethren in England, and induce them to make sinful compliances with a view of saving their lives. On this subject we find him unbosoming himself to Mrs. Bowes in his letters from Dieppe. " The desire that I have to hear of your continuance with Christ Jesus, in the day of this his battle ( which shortly shall end to the confusion of his proud enemies), neither by tongue nor by pen can I express, beloved mother. Assuredly, it is such, that it vanquisheth and overcometh all remembrance and solicitude which the flesh useth to take for feeding and defence of herself. For, in every realm and nation. God will stir up some one or other to minister those things that appertain to this wretched life, and, if men will cease to do their office, yet will he send his ravens ; so that in every place, per- chance, I may find some fathers to my body. But, alas! where I siiall find children to be begotten unto God by the word of lite, that can I not presently consider ; and therefore the spiritual life of such as some time boldly professed Christ (God knoweth), is to my heart more dear than all the glory, riches, anil honour, SS LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. in earth ; and the faUing back of such men, as I hear daily to turn back to that idol again, is to me more dolorous than, 1 trust, the corporal death shall be, whenever it shall come at God's appointment. Some will ask. Then why did I flee ? Assuredly Fcannot tell ; but of one thing I am sure, the fear of death was not the chief cause of my fleeing. I trust that one cause hath been, to let me see with my corporal eyes, that all had not a true heart to Christ Jesus, that, in the day of rest and peace, bare a fair face. But my fleeing is no matter ; by God's grace I may come to battle before that all the conflict be ended. And haste the time, 0 Lord, at thy good pleasure, that once again my tongue may yet praise thy holy name before the con- gregation, if it were but in the very hour of death !" — " I would not bow my knee before that most abominable idol for all the torments that earthly tyrants can devise, God so assistmg me, as his Holy Spirit presently moveth me to write unfeignedly. And albeit that I have, in the beginning of this battle, appeared to play the faint-hearted and feeble soldier (the cause I remit to God), yet my prayer is, that I may be restored to the battle again. And blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am not left so bare without comfort, but my hope is to obtain such mercy, that, if a short end be not made of all my miseries by final death (which to me were no small advantage), that yet, by Him who never despised the sobs of the sore afflicted, I shall be so encouraged to fight, that England and Scotland shall both know, that I am ready to suffer more than either poverty or exile, for the profession of that doctrine, and that heavenly religion, whereof it has pleased his merciful providence to make me, among others, a simple soldier and witness-bearer unto men. And therefore, mother, let no fear enter into your heart, as that I, escaping the furious rage of these ravening wolves that, for our unthankfulness, are lately loosed from their bands, do repent any thing of my former fervency. No, mother , for a few sermons by me to be made within England, my heart at this hour could be content to suffer more than nature were able to sustain ; as, by the grace of the most mighty and most merciful God, who only is God of comfort and consolation through Christ Jesus, one day shall be known."^ In his present sequestered situation, Knox had full leisure to meditate upon the surprising vicissitudes in his lot during the last seven years — his singular call to the ministry, and employ- ment at St. Andrews — his subsequent imprisonment and release — the sphere of usefulness in which he had been placed in Englani, with the afflicting manner in which he was excluded from it, and driven to seek refuge as an exile in that country Ut * MS. Letters, pp. 70, 71, 107, 108. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. SO which he had formerly been carried as a prisouci. This lasr. event seemed in a special manner to summon him to a solemn review of the manner in which he had discharged the sacred trust committed to him, as " a steward of the mysteries of God." It will throw light on his character, and may not be without use to such as occupy a public station in the Church, to exhibit the result of his reflection on this subject. He could not deny, without ingratitude to Him who had called him to be his servant, that his qualifications for the ministry had been in no small degree improved since he came to England ; and he had the testimony of his own conscience, in addition to that of his numerous auditors, that he had not altogether neglect- ed the gifts bestowed on him, but had exercised them with some measure of fidelity and painfulness. At the same time he found reason for self-accusation on ditlerent grounds. Having men- tioned in one of his letters the reiterated charge of Christ to Peter, " Feed my sheep, feed my lambs," he exclaims, " Oh, alas ! how small is the number of pastors that obeys this com- mandment. But this matter will I not deplore, except that I, not speaking of others, will accuse myself that do not, I confess, the uttermost of my power in feeding the lambs and sheep of Christ. I satisfy, peradventure, many men in the small labours I take, but I satisfy not myself I have done somev/hat, but not according to my duty."* In the discharge of private duties, he acknowledges that shame, and the fear of incurring the scandal of the world, had sometimes hindered him from visiting the female part of his charge, and administering to them the instruction and comfort which they craved. In public ministra- tions, he had been deficient in fervency and fidelity, in impar- tiality, and in diligence. He could not charge himself with flattery, and his " rude plainness" had given olfence to some ; but his conscience now accusedhimof not havingbeen sufficiently plain in admonishing offenders. His custom had been to describe the vices of which his hearers were guilty in such colours that they might read their own image ; but, being " unwilling to provoke all men" against him, he had restrained himself from I)articular application. Though his " eye had not been much set on worldly promotion," he had sometimes been allured by atfection for friends and familiar acquaintances, to reside too long in some places, to the neglect of others which had an equal, or perhaps stronger, claim on his labours. For- merly, he thought he had not sinned, if he had not been idle ; now he was convinced that it was his duty to have considered how long he should remain in one place, and how many hungry souls were starving elsewhere. Sometimes, at the solicitation of * Ibid. pp. ^08, 309. 8* M 90 LIFEOF.IOHNKNOX. friends, he had spared himself, and devoted to worldly business or to bodily recreation and exercise, the time which ought to have been employed in the discharge of his official duties " Besides these," says he, " I was assaulted, yea infected, with more gross sins, that is, my wicked nature desired the favours, the estimation, and praise of men ; against which, albeit that sometimes the Spirit of God did move me to fight, and earnestly did stir me (God knoweth I lie not) to sob and lament for these imperfections, yet never ceased they to trouble me when any occasion was offered ; and so privily and craftily did they enter into my breast, that I could not perceive myself to be wounded till vainglory had almost got the upper hand. 0 Lord ! be merciful to my great offence ; and deal not with me according to my great iniquity, but according to the multitude of thy mercies."* Such was the strict scrutiny which Knox made mto his minis- terial conduct. To many the offences of which he accused himself will appear slight and venial, while others will perceive in them nothing worthy of blame ; but they struck his mind in a very different light, in the hour of adversity and solitary meditation. If he, whose labours were so abundant as to appeal to us excessive, had such reason for self-condemnation, how few are there in the same station who may not say, " I do remembei my faults this day !" He did not, however, abandon himself to melancholy, and unavailing complaints. One of his first cares, after arriving at Dieppe, was to employ his pen in writing suitable advices to those whom he could no longer instruct by preaching and con- versation. With this view, he transmitted to England two short treatises. The one was an exposition of the sixth Psalm, which, at the request of Mrs. Bowes, he had begun to write in England, but had not found leisure to finish. It is an excellent practical discourse upon that portion of Scripture, and will be read with peculiar satisfaction by those who have been trained to religion in the school of adversity. The other treatise was a large letter, addressed to those in London and other parts of England, among whom he had been employed as a preacher. The drift of it was to warn them against abandoning the religion which they had embraced, or giving countenance to the idolatrous worship now erected among them. The reader of this letter cannot fail to be struck with its animated strain, wher he reflects that it proceeded from a forlorn exile, in a strange country? without a single acquaintance, and ignorant where he woula find a place of abode, or the means of subsistence. As a speci- mer of elevated piety, and the most fervid eloquence, I cannot * MS. Letters, pp. 165 — 167. Admonition, pp. 46 — 48. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 91 refrain from quoting the conclusion of the letter ; in wnich he addresses their consciences, their hopes, their fears, and adjures them, by all that is sacred, and all that is dear to them, as men, as parents, and as Christians, not to start back from their good profession, and plunge themselves and their posterity into the gulf of ignorance and idolatry. " Allace ! sail we, efter so many graces that God has offerit in our dayis, for pleasure, or for vane threatnying of thame whome our hart knaweth and our mouthes have confessit to be odious idolateris, altogidder without resistance turne back to our vomit and damnabill ydolatrie, to the perdition of us and »ur posteritie ? 0 horribill to be hard ! Sail Godis halic pre- ceptis wirk no greater obedience in us ? Sail nature no otlier- wayis molifie our hartis ? Sail not fatherlie pitie overcum this cruelnes ? I speik to you, 0 natural fatheris ! Behold your children with the eie of mercie, and considder the end of thair creatioun. Crueltie it were to saif your selves, and damn thame. But, 0 ! more than crueltie, and madnes that can not be ex- pressit, gif,* for the pleasure of a moment, ye depryve yourselves and your posteritie of that eternall joy that is ordanit for thame that continewis in confessioun of Cliristis name to tlie end. Gif natural lufe, fatherly affectioun, reverence of God, feir of tor- ment, or yit hoip of lyfe, move you, than will yc ganestand that abominabill ydol ; whilk, gif ye do not, then, allace ! the Ronet is gone doun, and the lyht is quyte lost, the trompet is ceissit, and ydolatrie is placeit in quietnes and rest. But gif God sail strenthin you (as unfainedlie I pray that his Majestie may), then is their but ane dark elude overspred the sone for ane moment, whilk schortlie shall vanische, sa that the beanies efter salbe seven fauld mare bryht and amiable nor they were befoir. Your patience and constancie salbe a louder trompit to your posteritie than were the voces of the prophetis that in- structit you ; and so is not the trompit ceissit sa lang as any baldlie resistith ydolatrie. And, thairfoir, for the tender mer- cies of God, arme yourselves to stand with Christ in this his schorte battell. " Let it be knawn to your posteritie that ye wer Christianis, and no ydolateris ; that ye learnit Chryst in tyme of rest, and baldlie professit him in tyme of trubill. The preceptis, think ye, are scharpe and hard to be observit; and yet agane I affirme, that comparit with the plagis that sail assuredlie fall upon obstinat ydolateris, they salbe fund easie and lycht. For avoyding of ydolatrie ye may perchance be compellit to leave your native contrie and realme, but obeyris of ydolatrie without end salbe compellit to burne in hell ; for avoyding y lolatrie * If. t Sun. 92 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. yonr substance salbe spoillit, but for obeying ydolatrie heavenly ryches salbe lost; for avoyding ydolatrie ye may fall into the handis of earthlie tirantis, but obeyeris, manteaneris, and con- sentaris to ydolatrie sail not eschaip the handis of the liveing God ; for avoyding of ydolatrie your children salbe depryvit of father, friendis, ryches, and of rest, but by obeying ydolatrie they sail be left without God, without the knawledge of his word, and without hoip of his kingdome. Considder, deir breth- rene, that how mekill mair * dolorous and fearfuU it is to be tormentit in hell than to suffer trubill in erth, to be depryvit of heavenlie joy than to be rubbitt of transitorie ryches, to fall in the hands of the liveing God than to obey manis vane and uncertain displeasure, to leif oure children destitute of God than to leif them unprovydit before the world, — sa mekill mair feir- ful it is to obey ydolatrie, or by dissembling to consent to the same, than by avoiding and liying from the abominatioun, to suffer what inconvenient may follow thairupon. " Ye feir corporall deth. Gif nature admitit any man to live ever, than had your feir sum aperance of reasone. But gif corporall deth be commoun to all, why will ye jeoparde to lois eternall lyfe, to eschaip that which neither ryche nor pure, nether wyse nor ignorant, proud of stomoke nor febill of corage, and finally, no earthlie creature, by no craft nor ingyne| of man, did ever avoid. Gif any eschapit the uglie face and hor- ribill feir of deth, it was thay that baldlie confessit Chryst be- foir men. — Why audit the way of lyfe to be so fearful by reasone of any pane, considering that a great number of oure brethrene hes past befoir ws, by lyke dangeris as we feir. A stout and prudent marinell, in tyme of tempest, seeing but one or two schippis, or like weschells to his, pass throughout any danger, and to win a sure harberie, will have gud esperance, § by the like wind, to do the same. Allace ! sail ye be mair feir- full to win lyfe eternall, than the natural man is to save the cor- porall lyfe ? Hes not the maist part of the Sanctis of God from the begynning enterit into thair rest, by torment and trubillis? And yit what complayntis find we in thair niouthis, except it be the lamenting of thair persecuteris ? Did God comfort thame ? and sail his Majestie despyse us, gif, in fichting again is iniquitie, we will follow thair futstepis ? Hie will not." || On the last day of February, 1554,11 he set out from Dieppe, * Much more. f Robbed. J Wit. 5 Hope. II Letter to the Faithful in London, &c. in MS. Letters, pp. 149 — 151, 156. IT His Exposition of the sixth Psalm concludes with these words : " I l^pon the very point of my journey, the last of February, 155;i." MS. Letters, p. 109. The reader will recollect, that in our Reformer's time, they did no* LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 93 .ike the Hebrew patriarch of old, " not knowing whither he tvent ;"'* and " committing his way to God," travelled through France to Switzerland. A correspondence liad been kept up between some of the English reformers and the most noted divines of the Helvetic Church. The latter had already heard with the sincerest grief, of the overthrow of the Reformation, and the dispersion of its friends, in England. On niakiug him- se'f known, Knox was cordially received by them, and treated wiih the most affectionate hospitality. He spent some time in Switzerland, visiting the particular churches, and conferring with the learned men of that country ; and embraced the op- portunity of submitting to them certain difficult questions, which were suggested by the present conjuncture of afiairs in Eng- land, and about which his mind had been greatly occupied. Their views with respect to these coinciding with his own, he was confirmed in the judgment which he had already formed for himself.t In the beginning of May he returned to Dieppe, to receive information from England; a journey which he repeated at intervals as long as he remained on the Continent. The kind reception which he had met with, and the agreeable company which he enjoyed during his short residence in Switzerland, had helped to dissipate the cloud which hung upon his spirits when he landed in France, and to open his mind to more pleas- ing prospects as to the issue of the present afflicting events. This appears from a letter written by him at this time, and addressed " To his afflicted brethren." After discoursing of the situation of the disciples of Christ during the time that he lay in the grave, and of the sudden transition which they experi- enced, upon the reappearance of their Master, from the depth of sorrow to the summit of joy, he adds : " The remembrance thereof is unto my heart great matter of consolation. For yet my good hope is, that one day or other, Christ Jesus, that now is crucified in England, shall rise again, in despite of his ene- mies, and shall appear to his weak and sore troubled disciples ; begin the year until the 25th of March ; so that " February, 15")3," accord- ing to the old reckoning, is, " February, l.')54," according to the modern. * His Letter to the Faithful in London, &c. concludes tlius : — '' From ane sore trubillit hart, upon my departure from Diep, lo");3, wliit/ur Gml fmaw- eth. In God is my trust through Jesus Chryst liis sone; and, thairtbr, I feir not the tyrannie of man, nether yet what the devill can invent against me. Rejoice, ye faithfull ; tor in joy shall we meit, wher deth may not dissever us." MS. Letters, pp. 157, 158. t In a Letter, dated Dieppe, May 10, 1554, he says, " .My a win ostait is (his: since the "JS of Januar," counting from the time lie came to France, " I have travellit throughout all the congregations of Helvetia, and lias rea- sonit with all the pastoris and many other excellentlie learnit nifu, upon sic matters as now I cannot comit to wrytting." MS. Letters, p. 31H 94 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. (for yet some he hath in that wretched and miserable reahn) •, to whom he shall say, < Peace be unto you ; it is I, be not afraid.' "* His spirit was also refreshed at this time, by the information that he received of the constancy with which his mother-in-law- adhered to the Protestant faith. Her husband, it appears, took it for granted that she and the rest of the family had consciences equally accommodating with his own. It was not until she had evinced, in the most determined manner, her resolution to for- sake friends and native country, rather than sacrifice her reli- gion, that she was released from his importunities to comply with the Roman Catholic religion.! Before he went to Switzer- land, Knox had signified his intention, if his life was spared, of visiting his friends at Berwick. J When he returned to Di- eppe, he had not relinquished the thoughts of this enterprise. § It is likely that his friends had, in their letters, dissuaded him from it ; and, after cool consideration, he resolved to postpone an attempt, by which he must have risked his life, without the ■ prospect of doing any good.|| Wherefore, setting out again from Dieppe, he repaired to Geneva. The celebrated Calvin was then in the zenith of his reputation and usefulness in that city, and having completed its ecclesiastical establishment, and surmounted the opposition raised by those who envied his authority, or disliked his system of doctrine and discipline, was securely seated in the affections of the citizens. His writings were already translated into most of the languages of Europe ; and Geneva was thronged with strangers from England, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and even from Spain and Italy, who came to consult him about the advancement of the Reformation, or to find shelter from the persecutions to which they were exposed in their native coun- tries. The name of Calvin was respected by none more than the Protestants of England ; and, at the desire of Archbishop Cranmer, he had imparted to the Protector Somerset and to Edward VI. his advice as to the best method of advancing the Reformation in that kingdom.ll Knox was affectionately re- ceived by him as a refugee from England, and an intimate friendship was soon formed between them, which subsisted until the death of Calvin in 1564. They were nearly of the same age ; and there was a striking similarity in their senti- ments, and in the more prominent features of their character. * MS. Letters, pp. 313—315. t MS. Letters, p. 311 t Ibid- P- 106. § Ibid. p. 319. II Ibid. p. 310. IT Strype's Cranmer, p. 413. Calvini Epist. et Respons. pp. 179, 245, 24fiL •ianov. ]'i97. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 95 The Genevan reformer was highly pleased with the piety and talents of Knox, who, in his turn, entertained a greater esteem and deference for Calvin than for any other of the reformers. As Geneva was an eligible situation for prosecuting study, and as he approved much of the religious order esta])lished in that city, he resolved to make it the ordinary place of his residence during the continuance of his exile. But no prospect of personal safety or accommodation could banish from his mind the thoughts of his persecuted countrymen. In tiie month of July he undertook another journey to Dieppe, to inform himself accurately of their situation, and to learn if he could do any tlnng for their comfort.* The tidings he received on this occasion tore open those wounds which had begun to close. In Scotland, every thing w"as dark and discouraging The severities used against the Protestants of England daily increased ; and, what was still more afflicting to him, many of those who had embraced the truth under his ministry had been induced to return to the communion of the Popish Church. In the agony of his spirit, he wrote to them, setting before them the destruction to which they exposed their immortal souls by such cowardly desertion, and earnestly calling them to repent- ance.! Under his present impressions, he repeated his former admonitions to his mother-in-law, and to his wife ; over whose religious constancy he was tenderly jealous. " By pen will I write (because the bodies are put asunder to meet again at God's pleasiu'e) that which, by mouth, and face to face, ye have heard, that if man or angel labour to bring you back from the confession that once you have given, let them in that behalf be accursed. If any trouble you above measure, whether they be magistrates or carnal friends, they shall bear their just condemnation, unless they speedily repent. But now, mother, comfort you my heart (God grant ye may) in this my great affliction and dolorous pilgrimage ; continue stoutly to the end, and bow you never before that idol, and so will the rest of worldly troubles be unto * One of his letters to Mrs. Bowes is dated,' " At Diep the 20 of July 1544, afler I had visited Geneva and uther partis, and returned to Diep to learn the estait of Ingland and Scotland." MS. Letters, pp. 2'i'\ •J^ti. '1 hia is the letter which was published by Knox, along with his answer to Tyrie, in 157~*, after the death of Mrs. Bowes. f In the letter mentioned in last note, he refers his mother-in-law to a general letter written," says he, " be me in greit anguiss of liart, to the congregationis of whome I heir say a greit part, under pretence tiiat thai may keip faith secreitt in the hart, and yet do as idolaters do, beginni.-; now to fall before that idoll. But O, alas ! blindit and desavit ar thai ; as they sail knaw in the Lordis visitatioun, whilk, sa assuredlie as our God liveth, sail shortlie apprehend thai backstarteris amangis the middis of idolater is." MS. Letters, p. "J-VJ. On the margin of the printed copy is his note: "Fre- quent lett Ts written by Johne Knox to decline from idolatrie." 96 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. me more tolerable. With my own heart I often conmiune,yea and, as it were comforting myself, I appear to triumph, tha* God shall never siifter you to fall in that rebuke. Sure I an: that both ye would fear and eschame to commit that abomination in my presence, who am but a wretched man, subject to sin and misery like to yourself But, 0 mother ! though no earthly creature should be offended with you, yet fear ye the presence and offence of Him, who, present in all places, searcheth the very heart and reins — whose indignation, once kindled against the'inobedient (and no sin more inflameth his wrath than idolatry doth), no creature in heaven nor in earth is able to appease."* He was in this state of mind when he composed the Admoni- tion to England, which was published about the end of this year. Those who have censm-ed him, as indulging in an excessive vehemence of spirit and bitterness of language, usually refer to this tract in support of their charge.! It is true that he there paints the persecuting Papists in the blackest colours, and holds ihem up as objects of human execration and divine vengeance. I do not now stop to inquire, whether he was chargeable with transgressing the bounds of moderation prescribed by reason and religion, in the expression of his indignation and zeal ; or whether the censures pronounced by his accusers, and the prin ciples upon which they proceed, do not involve a condemnation of the temper and language of the most righteous men mentioned in Scripture, and even of our Saviour himself But, I may ask, is there no apology for his severity to be found in the character of the persons against whom he wrote, and in the state of his own feelings, lacerated, not by personal sufferings, but by sympathy with his suffering brethren, who were driven into prisons by their unnatural countrymen, " as sheep for the slaughter," to be brought forth and barbarously immolated to appease the Roman Moloch ? Who could suppress indignation in speaking of the conduct of men, who, having raised themselves to honour and affluence by the warmest professions of friendship to the reformed religion under the preceding reign, now abetted the most violent measures against their former brethren and benefactors ? What terms were too strong for stigmatizing the execrable system of persecution coolly projected by the dissem- bling, vindictive Gardiner, the brutal barbarity of the bloody Bonner, or the unrelenting, insatiable cruelty of Mary, who, having extinguished the feelings of humanity, and divested her- self of the tenderness which characterizes her sex, continued to urge to fresh severities the willing instruments of her cruelty after they were sated with blood, and to issue orders for the * MS. Letters, pp. 251—253. t Collier, Eccles. History, li. 411. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 97 murder of her subjects, until her own husband, bigoted andun fueling as he was, turned with disgust from the spectacle ? On such a theme 'tis impious to be calm ; Passion is reason, transport temper here. Oppression makes a wise man mad ; but (to use the words of a modern orator, with a more just appUcation) "the distemper is still the madness of the wise, which is better than the sobriety of fools. Their cry is the voice of sacred misery, exalted, not into wild raving, but into the sanctified frenzy of prophecy and inspiration.*' Knox returned to Geneva, and applied himself to study with all the ardour of youth, although his age now bordered upon fifty. It seems to have been at this time that he made himseli master of the Hebrew language, which he had no opportunity of acquiring in early life.* It is natural to inquire by what funds he was supported during his exile. However much in- clined his mother-in-law was to relieve his necessities, the dis- position of her husband appears to have put it greatly out of lier power. Any small sums which his friends had advanced to him, before his sudden departure from England, were ex- hausted; and he was at this time very much straitened for money. Being unwilling to burden strangers, he looked for assistance to the voluntary contributions of those among whom he had laboured. In a letter to Mrs. Bowes, he says, " My own estate I cannot well declare ; but God shall guide the footsteps of him that is wilsome, and will feed him in trouble that never greatly solicited for the world. If any collection inight be made among the faithful, it were no shame for nie to receive that which Paul refused not in the time of his trouble. But all I remit to his Providence that ever careth for his own."t I find that remittances were made to him by particular friends, both in England and Scotland, during his residence on the Continent.! Meanwhile, the persecution growing hot in England, great numbers of Protestants had made their escape from that king- dom. Before the close of the year 1554, there were on ilie Continent several hundred Englishmen of good education, besides others of different ranks, who had preferred religion to country, and voluntarily encountered all the hardships of exile, that they might hold fast the profession of the Protestant faith. The foreign reformed churches exhibited, on this occasion, an amiable proof of the spirit of their religion, and amply recom- * MS. Letters, p. 322. Davidson's Breif Commendatioiin of Uprichtnes, reprinted in the Supplement. + MS. Letters, p. 256. t Ibid. pp. 344, 373. 9 N 9^ LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. pensed the kindness which England had shewn to strangers during the reign of Edward. They emulated one another in exertions to accommodate the unfortunate refugees who were dispersed an.ong them, and endeav^oured, with the most affec- tionate solicitude, to supply their wants and alleviate their sufferings. * The principal places in which the English exiles obtained settlements, were Zurich, Basle, Geneva, Arrow, Embden, Wesel, Strasburg, Duysburg, and Frankfort. Frankfort on the Maine was a rich imperial city of Germany, which, at an early period, had embraced the Reformation, and befriended Protestant refugees from all countries, so far as this could be done without coming to an open breach with the em- peror, by whom their conduct was watched with a jealous eye. There was already a church of French Protestants in that city. On the 14th of July 1554, the English who had come to Frank- fort obtained from the magistrates the joint use of the place of worship allotted to the French, with liberty to perform religious service in their own language.! This was granted upon the condition of their conforming, as nearly as possible, to the mode of worship used by the French Church ; a prudent precaution, dictated by the political situation in which the city was placed. The offer was gratefully accepted by the English, who came to a unanimous agreement, that they would omit the use of the surplice, the litany, the audible responses, and some other cere- monies prescribed by the English liturgy, which, " in those re- formed churches, would seem more than strange," or which were "superstitious and superfluous." Having settled this point in the most harmonious manner, elected deacons and a temporary pastor, and agreed upon certain rules of discipline, they wrote a circular letter to their brethren who were scattered through different places, informing them of the agreeable settle- ment which they had obtained, and inviting them to participate in their accommodations at Frankfort, and unite with them in prayers for the afflicted Church of England. The exiles at Strasburg, in their reply to this letter, recommended to them * It is painful to observe, that many of the Lutherans, at this time, dis- graced themselves by their illiberal inhospitality, refusing, in different in- stances, to admit those who fled from England into their harbours and towns, because they differed from them in their sentiments on the sacramental con- troversy. Melch. Adami Vitse Exter. Theolog. p. 20. Strype's Cranmer, p. 353, 361. Gerdesii Hist. Reform, tom. iii. 235 — 237. ■\ The English exiles were greatly indebted for this favour to the friendly services of the French pastors. One of these, Valerandus Polanus, was a native of Flanders, and had been minister of a congregation in Strasburg. During the confiisions produced in Germany by the Interim, he had retired along witli his congregation to England, and obtained a settlement at Glas- tonbury. TTpon the death of \dward VI. he went to Franklbrt. Strvpe's Memor. of the Reform, ii. 242 L I F E O F J O H N K N O X . 99 certain persons as well qualified for filling the ofUces of super- intendent and pastor ; a reconimendatien not asked by the congregation at Frankfort, who did not think a superintendent necessary in their situation, and who intended to put themselves under the inspection of two or three pastors invested with equal authority. They accordingly proceeded to make choice of three persons to this office. One of these was Knox, who re- ceived information of his election by a letter written in the name of the congregation, and subscribed by its principal members.* The deputation which waited on him with this invitation found him engaged in the prosecution of his studies at Geneva. From aversion to sacrifice the advantages which he enjoyed, or from the apprehension of difficulties that he might meet with at Frankfort, he would gladly have excused himself from ac- cepting the invitation. But the deputies having employed the powerful intercession of Calvin,t he was induced to comply, and repairing to Frankfort in the month of November, com- menced his ministry with the universal consent and approba- tion of the Church. Previous to his arrival, however, the harmony which at first subsisted among that people had been disturbed. In reply to the letter addressed to them, the exiles at Zurich had signified that they would not come to Frankfort, unless they obtained security that the Church there would •' use the same order of service concerning religion, which was, in England, last set forth by King Edward ;" for they were fully determined " to admit and use no other." They alleged, that, by varying from that service, they would give occasion to their adversaries to charge their religion with im- perfection and mutability, and would condemn their brethren who were sealing it with their blood in England. To these representations the brethren at Frankfort replied, that they had obtained the liberty of a place of worship, upon condition of their accommodating themselves as much as possible to the forms used by the French Church ; that there were a number of things in the English service-book which would be offensive to the Protestants among whom they resided, and which had been occasion of scruple to conscientious persons at home ; that, by the variations which they had introduced, they were very far from meaning to throw any reflection upon the regu- lations of their late sovereign and his council, who had them- selves altered many things, and had resolved on still greater alterations, without thinking that they gave any handle to their popish adversaries ; and still less did they mean to detract from the credit of the martyrs, who, t\ey were persuaded, shed theli * See Note V. f Knox, Historie, p. 85. iOO LIFE OF JOHN KNOv blood in confirmation of more important things than mutable ceiemonies of human appointment. This reply had the effect of lowering the tone of the exiles at Zurich, but it did not satisfy them ; and instead of desisting from the controversy, and contenting themselves with remaining where they were, they instigated their brethren at Strasburg to urge the same re- quest, and, by letters and messengers, fomented dissension in the congregation at Frankfort.* When Knox arrived, he found that the seeds of animosity had already sprung up among them. From what we already know of his sentiments respecting the English service-book, we may be sure that the eagerness manifested by those who wished to impose it was very displeasing to him. But so sensible was he of the pernicious and discreditable effects of division among brethren exiled for the same faith, that he resolved to act as a moderator between the two parties, and to avoid, as far as pos- sible, every thing which might have a tendency to widen or continue the breach. Accordingly, when the congregation had agreed to adopt the order of the Genevan Church,t and re- quested him to proceed to administer the communion according to it, although he approved of that form, he declined carrying it into practice, until their learned brethren in other places were consulted. At the same time, he signified that he had not free- dom to dispense the sacraments agreeably to the English liturgy. If he could not be allowed to perform this service in a manner more consonant to Scripture, he requested that some other per- son might be employed in this part of duty, in which case he would willingly confine himself to preaching ; and if neither of these could be granted, he besought them to release him alto- gether from his charge. To this last request thev would by no means consent. Fearing that, if these differences were not speedily accom- modated, they would burst into a flame, Knox, and some othei members of the congregation, drew up a summary of the Book of Common Prayer, and, having translated it into Latin, sent it to Calvin for his opinion and advice. In a reply, dated January * BriefF Discours off the Troubles beg-onne at Franckford in Germany, Anno Domini 1554, abowte the booke off Common Prayer, pp. xviii — xxiv. Printed in 1-575. This work contains a full account of the transactions of the English Church at Frankfort, confirmed by original papers. 'J he author was a non-conformist, but his narrative was allowed to be accurate by the opposite party. To save repetition, I may mention once for all, that, when no authority is referred to, my statement of these transactions is taken from this book. It was reprinted in l- a very active part against the non- conformists after his return to England ; he even made some attempts for the remo\ al of the obnoxious ceremonies. 108 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. that their applications for rehef were cold and ineffectual, when made to rulers who were disposed to make the yoke still more severe, and " to chastise with scorpions those whom they had chastised with whips ?" I repeat it : when I consider the trans- actions at Frankfort, I am not surprised at the defeat of every subsequent attempt to advance the Reformation in England, or to procure relief to those who scrupled to yield conformity to some of the ecclesiastical laws. I know it is pleaded, that the things complained of are matters of indifference, not prohibited in Scripture, not imposed as essential to religion or necessary to salvation, matters that can affect no well informed con- science ; and that such as refuse them, when enacted by autho- rity, are influenced by unreasonable scrupulosity, conceited, pragmatical, opinionative. This has been the usual language of a ruling party, when imposing upon the consciences of the minority. But, not to urge here the danger of allowing to any class of rulers, civil or ecclesiastical, a power of enjoining in- different things in religion; nor the undeniable fact, that the burdensome system of ceremonial observances, by which re- ligion was corrupted under the Papacy, was gradually intro- duced under these and similar pretexts ; nor that the things in question, when complexly and formally considered, are not really matters of indifference ; not to insist at present upon these topics, the answer to the above plea is short and decisive. These things appear matters of conscience and importance to the scruplers; you say they are matters of indifference. Why, then, violate the sacred peace of the Church, and perpetuate division ; why silence, deprive, harass, and starve men of ac- knowledged learning and piety, and drive from communion a sober and devout people ; why torture their consciences, and endanger their souls, by the imposition of things, which, in your judgment, are indifferent, not necessary, and unworthy to be- come objects of contention ? Upon retiring from Frankfort, Knox went directly to Geneva.- He was cordially welcomed back by Calvin. As his advice had great weight in disposing Knox to comply with the invita- tion from Frankfort, he felt much hurt at the treatment which had obliged him to leave it. In reply to an apologetic epistle which he received from Dr. Cox, Calvin, although he prudently restrained himself from saying any thing which might revive or increase the flame, could not conceal his opinion, that Knox had been used in an unbrotherly and unchristian manner, and that it would have been better for his accuser to have remained at home, than to have come into a foreign country as a fire- brand to inflame a peaceable society.* *" Ca. vini Epistolce, p. 98, ut supra. This letter is addressed " Cnoxo' LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 109 It appeared from the event, that Providence had disengaged Knox from his late charge, to employ him on a more impor- tant service. From the time that he was carried prisoner into France, he had never lost sight of Scotland, nor relinquished the hope of again preaching in his native country. While he resided at Berwick and Newcastle, he had frequent opportuni- ties of personal intercourse with his countrymen, and of learn- ing the state of religion among them.* His unintermittcd lal)ours, during the five years which he spent in England, by occupying his time and attention, lessened the regret which he felt at seeing the object of his wishes apparently at as great a distance as ever. Upon leaving that kingdom, his thoughts were anxiously turned to Scotland. He found means to carry on an epistolary correspondence with some of his friends at home ; one great object of his journeys to Dieppe was to receive their letters ;t and he had the satisfaction, soon after his retreat from Frankfort, to obtain such information from them, as encouraged him to execute his design of paying a visit to his native country. To prepare the reader for the account of this journey, it will be necessary to take a view of the principal events which had occurred in that kingdom from the time that Knox was forced to leave it. The surrender of the castle of St, Andrews seemed to have given an irrecoverable blow to the reformed interest in Scotland. Among the prisoners conveyed to France were some of the most zealous and able Protestants in the kingdom ; and the rest, seeing themselves at the mercy of their adversaries, were dis- pirited and intimidated. The clergy triumphed in the victory which they had obtained,t and flattered themselves that they would now be able with ease to stifle all opposition to their measures. The regent, being guided entirely by his brother, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, was ready to employ all the power of the State in support of the Church, and {or suppress- ing those who refused to submit to her decisions. During the confusions produced by the invasion of the kingdom under the Duke of Somerset, and by the disastrous defeat of the Scots at Pinkie, in the year 1547, the regent found it his interest not to irritate the Protestants ; but no sooner was he freed from the (by mistake of the publisher, instead of Coxa), "et Gregalibus. Pridie Idus lunii, l.V)5." Knox was at Geneva when Calvin wrote that letter. * See above, p. 70, 71. t MS. Letters, pp. 2.>j — 6. \ The following lines were commonly repeated at this time, in allusion t« Nnimand Leslie, who headed the conspirators against Cardinal Beatoun; — Priestis, content you now, priestis, content you now ; For Norma nd, and his companie, hes HUit the gallayis fow. 10 110 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. alarm created by these events than he began to treat them with severity. Aware that it would be extremely invidious to pro secute the barons and gentry upon a charge of heresy, and per- haps convinced that such measures in the time of his predecessor, had proved injurious to the hierarchy, the crafty primate com- menced his attack by bringing them to trial for crimes against the state.* Although they had conducted themselves in the most peaceable and loyal manner during the late invasion, and many of them had died under the standard of the regent,! they were accused of being secretly favourable to the English, and of holding correspondence with them. Cockburn of Ormiston, and Crichton of Brunston, were banished, and their estates for- feited. J Sir John Melville of Raith, a gentleman of distinguish- ed probity, and of untainted loyalty, was accused of a traitorous connection with the enemy ; and although the only evidence adduced in support of the charge was a letter written by him to one of his sons then in England, and although this letter con- tained nothing criminal, yet was he unjustly condenmed and beheaded.§ The signing of a treaty of peace with England, in 1550, was a signal for the clergy to proceed to acts of more undisguised persecution. Adam Wallace, who had lived for some time as tutor in the family of Ormiston, was apprehended, and being tried for heresy before a convention of clergy and no- bility, was committed to the flames on the Castle-hill of Endin- burgh.|| These prosecutions were not confined to persons in holy orders. George Winchester of Kinglassie was summoned before the archbishop and clergy at St. Andrews, and, having made his escape, was condemned as a heretic, and his goods escheated. IF In the following year, the parliament renewed the * MS. Letters, pp. 435, 438. I" Knox, Historie, p. 78. Hume of Godscroft's History, ii. 128. I Knox, Historie, p. 80. 5 Buchanani Oper. i. 302. Knox, Historie, p. 82. The following- tribute to the memory of this patriot occurs in a work of one of our Latin poets, which is rarely to be met with : — JOHANNES MALVILLUS RETHIUS, Nobilis Fifanus, Jacobo V. regi olim familiarissimus, summa vitse inno- centia, ob purse relligionis studium, in suspicione falsi criminis, iniquissimo judicio subJatus est A. Christi 15:8. Quidnam ego commerui, quae tanta injuria facti, Hostis ut in nostrum sfeviat ense caput? Idem hostis, judexque simul. Pro crimine, Christi Relligio, et fcedo crimine pura manus. O secla! O mores: scelerum sic toUere posnas Ut virtus sceleri debita damna luat. Joh. Jonstoni Heroes, pp. 28, 29. |] Knox, Historie, pp. 87, 88. Spotswood, 90, 91. Bezse Icones, Ff ii. IT Winchester's brother-.in-law, William Arthur of Cairnes, obtained hi/i LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Ill laws in support of the Church, and added a new statute against the circulation of heretical ballads and tragedies.* By these severe measures the clergy struck terror into the minds of the nation ; but they were unable to conceal the gla- ring corruptions by which their own order was disgraced, and they could not remain strangers to the murmurs that these had excited throughout the whole kingdom. In the month of No- vember 1549, a provincial council was held at Edinburgh '' for the reformation of the Church, and the extirpation of heresy."t This council acknowledged that " corruption and profane lewd- ness of life, as well as gross ignorance of arts and sciences, reigned among the clergy of almost every degree,":^ and they en- acted no fewer than fifty-eight canons for correcting these evils. Tliey agreed to carry into execution the decree of the general council of Basle, which ordained that every clei-gyman who lived in concubinage should be deprived of the revenues of his bene- fice for three months, and that if, after due admonition, he did not dismiss his concubine, or if he took to himself another, he should be deprived of his benefices altogether.§ They ex- horted the prelates and inferior clergy not to retain in their own houses their bastard children, nor suffer them to be promoted directly or indirectly to their own benefices, nor employ the patrimony of the Church for the purpose of marrying them to barons, or of erecting baronages for them.]] That the distinc- tion between clergy and laity might be visibly preserved, they appointed the ordinaries to charge the priests under their care to desist from the practice of preserving their beards, which had begun to prevail, and to see that the canonical tonsure was duly observed.lT To remedy the neglect of public instruction, which was loudly complained of, they agreed to observe the act of the Council of Trent, which ordained that every bishop, "according to the grace given to him," should preach person- ally four times a year at least, unless lawfully hindered ; and that such of them as were unfit for this duty, through want of property: and by a disposition, dated 27th August 1555, "out of pity to Christian Martine" (wite of George Winchester), "and her eight fatherless children, disponed to her in liferent the fore tenement and the tacks of King- lassie and Polduft", sometime pertaining to the said George, witii iiis haill moveables, fallen in escheat, upon her paying to him the composition that he paid therefor." MS. Genealogical Collections of Martin of Clermont, vol. i. pp. ')3'-^ — 5. * Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 488—9. f This council assembled at Linlithgow, but was transferred to Edin- burgh. Wilkins, Concil. tom. iv. 4U. conf. p. 209. \ Proem. Concil. apud Wilkins, iv. 46. J Canon 1. Ibid. p. 47 II Can. 2. Ibid. p. 48. IT Can. 5. Ibid. p. 48. 112 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. practice, should endeavour to qualify themselves, and for that end should entertain in their houses learned divines capable of instructing them. The same injunctions were laid on rectors.* They determined that a benefice should be set apart in each bishopric and monastery, for supporting a preacher who might supply the want of teaching within their bounds; that, where no such benefice was set apart, pensions should be allotted ; and that, where neither of these was provided, the preacher should be entitled to demand from the rector forty shillings a year, provided he had preached four times in his parish within that period.! The council made a number of other regula- tions, concerning the dress and diet of the clergy, the course of study in cathedral churches and monasteries, union of benefi- ces, pluralities, ordinations, dispensations, and the method of process in consistorial courts. But, not trusting altogether to these remedies for the cure of heresy, they farther ordained that the bishop of each diocese, and the head of each monas- tery, should appoint " inquisitors of heretical pravity, men of piety, probity, learning, good fame, and great circumspection," who should make the most diligent search after heresies, foreign opinions, condemned books, and particularly profane songs, intended to defame the clergy, or to detract from the authority of the ecclesiastical constitutions. J: Another provincial council, held in 1551 and 1552, besides ratifying the preceding canons,§ adopted an additional expe- dient for correcting the continued neglect of public instruction. After declaring that " the inferior clergy, and the prelates for the most part, were still unqualified for instructing the people in the catholic faith, and other things necessary to salvation, and for reclaiming the erroneous," they proceeded to approve of a catechism which had been compiled in the Scottish lan- guage, ordered that it should be printed, and that copies of it should be sent to all rectors, vicars, and curates, who were en- joined to read a portion of it, instead of a sermon, to their parishioners, on every Sunday and holiday, when no person qualified for preaching was present. The rectors, vicars, and curates, were enjoined to practise daily in reading their cate- chism, lest, on ascending the pulpit, they should stammer and blunder, and thereby expose themselves to the laughter of the people. The archbishop was directed, after supplying the clergy with copies, to keep the remainder beside him " in firm custody ;" and the inferior clergy were prohibited from indis- creetly communicating their copies to the people, without the * Can. 15, 20. Ibid. pp. 50—1. f Can. 42, 45. Ibid. 56—7. t Can, 43, 44, 47. Ibid. pp. 57—8. 5 Ibid. 69—73. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 113 permission of their bishops, who might allow tliis privilege lo "certain honest, grave, trusty, and discreet laics, who appeared to desire it for the sake of instruction, and not of gratifying curiosity."* If any of the hearers testified a disposition to call in question any part of the catechism, the clerical reader was prohibited, mider the pain of deprivation, from entering into dispute with them on the subject, and was instructed to delate them to the inquisitors.! Many of the regulations enacted by these two councils were excellent ;X but the execution of them was committed to the veiy persons who were interested in support of the evils against which they were directed. Accordingly, the canons of the Scottish clergy, like those of general councils called for the reformation of the Church, instead of correcting, served only to proclaim the abuses which prevailed. We know from the declarations of subsequent provincial councils,§ as well as from the complaints of the people, that the licentiousness of the clergy continued ; and the catechism which they had sanctioned seems to have been but little used. I have not found it men- tioned by any writer of that age, Popish or Protestant ; and we know of its existence only from the canon of the Assembly which authorized its use, and from a few copies of it which have descended to our time.]] The council which met in 1551, boasts that, through the singular favour of the government, and the vigilance of the prelates, heresy, which had formerly spread through the king dom, was now repressed, and almost extinguished.lT There were still, however, many Protestants in the nation ; but they were deprived of teachers, and they satisfied themselves with retaining their sentiments, without exposing their lives to in- evitable destruction by avowing their creed, or exciting the suspicions of the clergy by holding private conventicles. In this state they remained from 1551 to 1554. While the Reformation was in this languishing condition, it experienced a sudden revival in Scotland, from two causes which appeared at first view to threaten its utter extinction in Britain. These were the elevation of the queen dowager to the regency of Scotland, and the accession of Mary to the throne of England. The queen dowager of Scotland, vho possessed a great por- tion of that ambition by which her brothers, the princes of Lorrain, were fired, had long formed the design of wresting the regency from the hands of Arran. After a seties of po- * Can. 16. Ibid. p. 72—3. t Ibid. p. 73. I See Note X. J Wilkins, iv. 207, 209, 210. Keitli, pref. p. xiv. II See Note Y. IT Wilkins, iv. 72. 10" P >i4 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. li.ical intrigue, in which she discovered the most consummate a-id persevering address, she at last succeeded; and, on the li/ih of April 1554, the regent resigned his office to her in the piesence of parliament, and retired into private life, with the title of Duke of Chastelherault. The dowager had, at an early period, made her court to the Protestants, whom Arran had alienated from him by persecution ; and, to induce them to fa- vour her pretensions, she promised to screen them from the violence of the clergy. Having received their cordial support, and linding it necessary still to use them as a check upon the clergy, who, under the influence of the primate, favoured the interest of her rival, the queen regent secretly countenanced them, and the Protestants were emboldened again to avow their sentiments. In the mean time the queen of England was exerting all her power to crush the Reformation ; and, had the court of Scotland acted in concert with her for this purpose, the Pro- testants must, according to all human probability, have been exterminated in Britain. But the English queen having mar- ried Philip, King of Spain, while the queen regent was indisso- lubly attached to France, the rival of Spain, a coldness was produced between these two princesses, which was soon after succeeded by an open breach. Among the Protestants who fled fiom the cruelty of Mary, some took refuge in Scotland, where diey were suffered to remain undisturbed, and even to teach in private, through the connivance of the new regent, and in consequence of the security into which the clergy had been lulled by success. Travelling from place to place, they propa- gated instruction, and by their example and their exhortations fanned the latent zeal of those who had formerly received the knowledge of the truth. William Harlow, whose zeal and acquaintance with the Scriptures compensated for the defects of his education, was the first preacher who, at this time, came to Scotland. Let those who do not know, or who wish to forget, that the religion which they profess was first preached by fishermen and tent- makers, labour to conceal the occupations of some of those men whom Providence raised up to spread the reformed gospel through their native country. Harlow had followed the trade of a tailor in Edinburgh;* but having imbibed the Protestant * Keith, Append, p. 90. Episcopal writers have sometimes upbraided the ►Scottish Church as reformed by tradesmen and mechanics. They have, however, no reason to talk in this strain; for in the first place, a sensible pious tradesman is surely better qualified for communicating religious in- struction than an ignorant superstitious priest ; and secondly, the Church of England herself, after trying those of the latter class, was glad to betake herself to the former. See Strype's Annals, i. 176, 177. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. ll5-«- doctni.e, he retired to England, where he was admitted to deacon's orders, and employed as a preacher during the reio-n of Edward VI.* Upon his return to Scotland, he remained for some time in Ayrshire, and continued to preach in different parts of the country with great fervour and diligence, until the establishment of the Reformation, when he was admitted min- ister of St. Cuthberts, in the vicinity of Edinburgh.! Some time after him arrived John Willock This reformer afterwards became the principal coadjutor of Kiiox, who never mentions him without expressions of affection and esteem. The cordiality which subsisted between them, the harmony of their sentiments, and the combination of the peculiar talents and qualities by which they were distinguished, conduced in no small degree to the advancement of the Relbrmation. Wil- lock was not inferior to Knox in learning, and though he did not equal him in eloquence and intrepidity, surpassed him in affability, in moderation, and in address ; J quahties which ena- bled him sometimes to maintain his station, and to accomplish his purposes, when his colleague could not act with safety or with success. He was a native of Ayrshire, and had belonged to the order of Franciscan friars ; but, having embraced the reformed opinions at an early period, he threw off the monastic habit, and fled to England. During the persecution for the Six Articles in 1541, he was thrown into the prison of the Fleet. He afterwards became chaplain to the Duke of Suffolk, the father of Lady Jane Grey ;§ and upon the accession of Queen Mary, left England, and took up his residence at Embden. Having practised there as a physician, he was introduced to Anne, Duchess of Friesland, who patronized the Reforniation,j| and whose opinion of his talents and integrity induced her to send him to Scotland, in the summer of 1555, with a commis- sion to the queen regent, to make some arrangements respecting the trade carried on between the two countries. The public character with which he was invested gave Willock an oppor- tunity of cultivating acquaintance with the leading Protestants and while he resided in Edinburgh, they met with him in pri vate, and listened to his religious instructions.^ * Cald. MS. i. 256. t Keith, History, p. 498. I Smetonii Respons. ad Arch. Hamiltoni Dialog, p. 93. Edinburgi, 1579. 5 Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, celebrates Willock among the chaplains of the duke, in the following lines : — Quid memorem quanta Wilocus, Skinerus et Haddon, ^Imerusque tuos ornarint luce penates 1 O Deus! O quales juvenes ! Quo principe digui? His tua luminibus splendet domus. Strype's Annals, ii. A opencf. p. 46. II Gerdesii Hist. Reform, iii. 147—8. IT Spotswood, p. 93. Knox, 90. 116 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Knox received the news of this favourable cl.ange in the situation of his brethren with heartfelt satisfaction. He did not know what it was to fear danger, and was little accustomed to consult his own ease, when he had the prospect of being useful in advancing the interests of truth; but he acknowledges that, on the present occasion, he was at first averse to a journey into Scotland, notwithstanding some encouraging circumstances in the intelligence which he had received from that quarter. He had been so much tossed about of late, that he felt a pe- culiar relish in the learned leisure which he at present enjoyed, and which he was desirous to prolong. His anxiety to see his wife, after an absence of nearly two years, and the importunity with which his mother-in-law, in her letters, urged him to visit them, determined him at last to undertake the journey.* Set- ting out from Geneva in the month of August 1555, he came to Dieppe, and sailing from that port, landed on the east coast, near the boundaries between Scotland and England, about the end of harvest.! He repaired immediately to Berwick, where he had the satisfaction of finding his wife and her mother in com fortable circumstances, and enjoying the happiness of religious society with several individuals in that city, who, like them- selves, had not "bowed the knee " to the established idolatry, nor consented to "receive the mark" of antichrist.^ Having remained some time with them, he set out secretly to visit the Protestants in Edinburgh ; intending, after a short stay, to return to Berwick. But he found employment which detained him beyond his expectation. He lodged with James Syme, a respectable burgess of Edinburgh, in whose house the friends of the Reformation assembled, to attend the instruc- tions of Knox, as soon as they were informed of his arrival. Few of the inhabitants of the metropolis had as yet embraced the reformed doctrines, but several persons had repaired to it at this time, from other parts of the country, to meet with Wil- lock. Among these were John Erskine of Dun, whom we had formerly occasion to mention as an early favourer of the new opinions, and a distinguished patron of literature,§ and whose great respectability of character, and approved loyalty and patriotism, had preserved him from the resentment of the clergy, and the jealousy of the government, during successive periods of persecution ;1| and William Maitland of Lethington, a young gentleman of the finest parts, improved by a superior * MS. Letters, p. 342. t Discours of the Troubles at Franckford, p. Iv. lix. Knox, Histories p. 90. I MS. Letters, p. 343. ^ See above, pp. 20, 36. II Buchanani Oper. i. 301. Keith Append, p. 57. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 117 education, but inclined to subtlety in reasoning, accommoda- ting in his religious sentiments, and extremely versatile in his political conduct. Highly gratified with Knox's discourses, which were greatly superior to any which they had heard from Popish or Protestant preachers, they brought their acquaintan- ces along with them to hear him, and his audiences daily increased. Being confined to a private house, he was obliged to preach to successive assemblies ; and was unremittingly em- ployed, by night as well as by day, in communicating instruc- tion to persons who demanded it with extraordinary avidity. The following letter, written by him to Mrs. Bowes, to excuse himself for not returning so soon as he had purposed, will con- vey the best idea of his employment and feelings on this inter- esting occasion. " The wayis of man are not in his awn power. Albeit my journey toward Scotland, belovit mother, was niaist contra- rious to my awn judgment, befoir I did interpryse the same ; yet this day I prais God for thame wha was the cause exter- nall of my resort to theis quarteris ; that is, I prais God in yow and for yow, whom hie maid the instrument to draw me from the den of my awn eas (you allane did draw me from the rest of quyet studie), to contemplat and behald the fervent thirst of our brethrene, night and day sobbing and gronying for the breide of life. Gif I had not sene it with my eis, in my awn country, I culd not have beleveit it ! I praisit God, when I was with you, perceaving that, in the middis of Sodome, God had mo Lottis than one, and mo faithful douchteris than tua. But the fervencie heir doith fer exceid all utheris that I have seen. And thairfor ye sail paciently bear, altho' I spend heir yet sum dayis; for depart I cannot, unto sic tyme as God quenche thair thirst a littil. Yea, mother, their fervencie doith sa ravische me, that I cannot but accus and condemp my sleuthful coldnes. God grant thame thair hartis desyre ; and I pray yow adverteis [me]. of your estait, and of thingis that have occurit sense your last wrytting. Comfort yourself in Godis promissis, and be assureit that God steiris up mo friendis than we be war of My com- mendation to all in your company. I commit you to the pro- tectioun of the Omnipotent. In great haist ; the 4. of Novem- ber, 1555. From Scotland. Your sone, Johne Knox."* Having executed the commission, Willock returned to Emb- den ; and he quitted Scotland with the less regret, as he left behind him one who was so capable of promoting the cause which he had at heart. Wlien he first arrived in Scotland, Knox found that the friends of the reformed doctrine continued, ui general, to attend the popish worship, and even th-j celebration * MS. Letters, pp. 342, 34? 118 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. of mass ; principally with the view of avoiding the scandal which they would otherwise incur. Highly disapproving of this practice, he laboured, in his conversation and sermons, to convince them of the great impiety of that part of the popish service, and the criminality of countenancing it by their pre- sence. Doubts being still entertained on the subject by some, a meeting of the Protestants in the city was held for the ex- press purpose of discussing the question. Maitland defended the practice with all the ingenuity and learning for which he was distinguished ; but his arguments were so satisfactorily an- swered by Knox, that he yielded the point as indefensible, and agreed, with the rest of his brethren, to abstain, for the future, from such temporizing conduct. Thus was a formal separation made from the Popish Church in Scotland, which may be justly regarded as an important step in the Reformation.* Erskine of Dun prevailed on Knox to accompany him to his family seat in the shire of Angus, where he continued a month, during which he preached every day. The principal persons in that neighbourhood attended his sermons. After his retm'n to the south of the Forth, he resided at Calder-house,t in West Lothian, the seat of Sir James Sandilands, commonly called Lord St. John, because he was chief in Scotland of the religious order of military knights, who went by the name of Hospi- tallers, or Knights of St. John. This gentleman, who was now venerable for his grey hairs as well as for his valour, sagacity, and correct morals, had long been a sincere friend to the re- formed cause, and had contributed to its preservation in that part of the country.| In 1548, he had presented to the parson- age of Calder, John Spottiswood,§ afterwards the reformed superintendent of Lothian, who had imbibed the Protestant doctrines from Archbishop Cranmer in England, and who in- stilled them into the minds of his parishioners, and of the no- bility and gentry that frequented the house of his patron. || Among those who attended Knox's sermons at Calder, were three young noblemen, who made a great figure in the public transactions which followed, — Archibald Lord Lorii, who, sue * Knox, Historie, p. 91. t On the back of a picture of our Reformer, which hangs in one of the rooms of Lord Torphichen's house at Calder, is this inscription : " The Rev John Knox. The first sacrament of the supper given in Scotland after the Reformation, was dispensed in this hall." The commencement of the Refor- mation is here dated from the present visit of Kjiox to Scotland ; for we have already seen that he administered the ordinance in the Castle of St. An- drews, in 1547. The account given by Knox in his History of the Refor- mation (p. 92), seems to imply that he performed this service in the west country, before he did it in Calder-house. I Knox, Historic, pp. 91, 118. 5 Keith, p. 530. II Spotsvvood, p. 90. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 119 (eodi.ig ro the earldom of Argyle at the most critical period of the Reformation, promoted, with all the ardour of youthful zeal, that cause which his father had espoused in extreme old age, — fohn Lord Erskine, afterwards Earl of Mar, who commanded 'he important fortress of Edinburgh Castle, during the civil war which ensued between the queen regent and the Protestants, and died Regent of Scotland, — and Lord James Stewart, an illegitimate son of James V., who was subsequently created Earl of Murray, and was the first regent of the kingdom during the minority of James VL Being designed for the Church, ihe last named nobleman had been in his youth made prior of St. Andrews — a title by which he is often mentioned in history ; but, on arriving at manhood, he discovered no inclination to follow the clerical profession. He was at this time in the twenty- second year of his age ;* and although he had lived for the most part in retirement from the court, had already given proofs of those superior talents which he had soon a more favourable op- portunity of displaying. Knox had formerly met with him in London, and his sagacity led him, even at that time, to form the highest expectations from the talents and spirit of the youth- ful prior.t The three noblemen were much gratified with Knox's doctrine, and his exhortations made an impression upon their minds, which remained during the succeeding part Oi their lives. In the beginning of the year 1556, he was conducted by Lockhart of Bar, and Campbell of Kineancleugh, to Kyle, the ancient receptacle of the Scottish Lollards, where there were a number of adherents to the reformed doctrine. He preached in the houses of Bar, Kineancleugh, Carnell, Ochiltree, and Gad- girth, and in the town of Ayr. In several of these places he also dispensed the sacrament of our Lord's Supper. A little before Easter, he went to Finlayston, the baronial mansion of the nobie family of Glencairn. William Earl of Glencairn, having been killed at the battle of Pinkie, had been succeeded by his son, Alexander, whose superior learning and ability did not escape the discerning eye of Sir Ralph Sadler, during his embassy in Scotland.^ He was an ardent and steady friend to the reformed religion, and had carefully instructed his family in its principles. In his house, besides preaching, Knox dispensed the sacrament of the supper; the earl himself, his countess, and two of their sons, with a number of their friends and acquaintance, participating of that sacred feast.§ * Chalmors's Caledonia, i. 848. f Knox, Historie, pp. 91, 381. I Sadler's State Papers, i. 83. Hume of Godscroft's Hist. ii. 128. 5 The silver cups which were used on that occasion were, till of late, care- fully preserved by the family of Glencairn at Finlayston ; and the parish of 120 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. From Finlayston he returned to Calder-house, aiiQ soon after paid a second visit to Dun, during which he preached more openly than before. At this time the greater part of the gentlemen of Mearns made profession of the reformed religion, by sitting down at the Lord's table ; and entered into a solemn and mutual bond, in which they renounced the Popish com- munion, and engaged to maintain and promote the pure preach- ing of the gospel, as Providence should favour them with op- portunities.* This seems to have been the first of those religious bonds or covenants, by which the confederation of the Protestants in Scotland was so frequently ratified. Although they have been condemned as unwarranted in a religious point of view, and dangerous in a political, yet are they completely defensible upon the principles both of conscience and policy. A mutual agreement, compact, or covenant, is virtually implied in the constitution of every society, civil or religious ; and the dictates of natural law conspire with the declarations of revelation in sanctioning the warrantableness and propriety of explicit en- gagements, about any lawful and important matter, and of ratifying these, if circumstances shall require it, by formal subscription, and by a solemn appeal to the Searcher of hearts. By strengthening the motives to fidelity and constancy, and thus producing mutual confidence among those who are em- barked in the same cause, they have proved eminently bene- ficial in the reformation of churches and nations, and in securing the religious and political privileges of men. The misapplica- tion of them, when employed in a bad cause and for mis- chievous ends, can be no argument against their use in a legi- timate way, and for laudable purposes. And the reasoning employed to prove that such covenants should not be entered into without the permission of rulers, would lead to the con- clusion, that subjects ought never to profess a religion to which their superiors are hostile, nor make any attempts to obtain the reform of abuses, or the redress of grievances, without the con- sent and approbation of those v/ho are interested in their sup port. Kilmalcolm was regularly favoured with the use of them at the time of dis- pensing the sacrament. " Tlie people," says the minister, in his account of that parish, " respect them much for their antiquity, as well as for the solem- nity attending them in former and later times." Statistical Account of Scot- land, vol. iv. p. 279. This writer thinks they had been originally candle- sticks, and converted to this use on the emergent occasion ; the hollow bottom reversed forming the mouth of the cup, and the middle, atler the socket was screwed out, being converted into the foot. But it is not very likely that the family of Glencairn were obliged to have recourse to this ex pedient. * Knox, Historic, p. 92. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 121 The dangers to which Knox and his friends had been accus- tomed, taught them to conduct matters with such secrecy, that he had preached for a considerable time, and in different quar- ters of the country, before the clergy knew that he was in the kingdom. Concealment was, however, impracticable after hi.s audiences became numerous. His preaching at Ayr was re- ported to the court, and formed the topic of conversation in the presence of the queen regent. Some one in the company liaving affirmed that the preacher was an Englishman, " a pre- late, not of the least pride, said, ' Nay ; no Englishman, but it is Knox, that knave.' " This was Beatoun, Archbishop of Glasgow. "It was my lord's pleasure," says Knox, "so to baptize a poor man ; the reason whereof, if it should be re- quired, his rochet and mitre must stand for authority. What further liberty he used in defining things alike uncertain to him, to wit, of my learning and doctrine, at this present I omit. For what hath my life and conversation been, since it hath pleased God to call me from the puddle of papistry, let my very enemies speak ; and what learning I have, they may prove when they please."* Interest was at this time made by the bishops for his apprehension, but without success.t After his last journey to Angus, the friars flocked from all quarters to the bishops, and instigated them to adopt speedy and decisive measures for checking the alarming effects of his preaching. In consequence of this, he was summoned to appear before a convention of the clergy, in the Church of the Blackfriars at Edinburgh, on the 15th of May. This diet he resolved to keep, and with that view came to Edinburgh, be- fore the day appointed, accompanied by Erskine of Dun, and several other gentlemen. The clergy lad never dreamed of his attendance. Being apprised of his determination, and afraid to bring matters to extremity, while unassured of the regent's decided support, they met beforehand, set aside the summons under pretence of some informality, and deserted the diet against him. On the day on which he should have appeared as a culprit, Knox preached in the Bishop of Dunkeld's large lodging, to a far greater audience than had before attended him in Edinburgh. During the ten following days, he preached in the same place, forenoon and afternoon ; none of the clergy making the smallest attempt to disturb him. It was in the midst of these labours, that he wrote the following hasty lines to Mrs. Bowes. " Belovit mother, with my maist hartlie commendation in the Lord Jesus, albeit I was fullie purposit to have visitit yow * Letter to Mary, Regent c ' Scotland, apud Historic, p. 417. t Ibid. pp. 416, 417. 11 Q 122 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. before this tyme, yet hath God laid impedimentis, -vhilk I culo not avoyd. They are suche as I dout not ar to his glorie, and to the comfort of many heir. The trumpet blew the aid sound thrie dayis together, till privat houssis of indifferent largenes culd not conteane the voce of it. God, for Christ his Sonis sake, grant me to be myndful, that the sobbis of my hart hath not been in vane, nor neglectit in the presence of his Majestie. 0 ! sweet war the death that suld follow sic fourtie dayis in Edinburgh, as heir I have had thrie. Rejose, mother ; the tynie of our deliverance approacheth : for, as Sathan rageth, sa dois the grace of the Halie Spreit abound, and daylie geveth new testymonyis of the everlasting love of oure merciful Father. I can wryt na mair to you at this present. The grace of the Lord Jesus rest with you. In haste — this Monun- day — youre sone, John Knox."* About this time, the Earl Marischal was induced to attend an evening exhortation delivered by Knox. He was so much pleased with the discourse, that he joined with Glencairn in urging the preacher to write a letter to the queen regent, which, they thought, might have the effect of inclining her to pro- tect the reformed preachers, if not also to lend a favourable ear to their doctrine. With this request he was induced to comply.t As a specimen of the manner in which this letter was written, I shall give the following quotation, in the original language : — " I dout not, that the rumouris, whilk half cumin to your grace's earis of me, half bene such, that (yf all re- portis wer trew) I wer unworthie to live in the earth. And wonder it is, that the voces of the multitude suld not so have inflamed your grace's hart with just hatred of such a one as I am accuseit to be, that all acces to pitie suld have been schute up. I am traducit as ane heretick, accusit as a false teacher and seducer of the pepill, besides other opprobries, whilk (affirmit by men of warldlie honour and estimation) may easelie kendill the wrath of majestratis, whair innocencie is not kiiawin. But blissit be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Chryst, who, by the dew of his heavenly grace, hath so (juenchit the fyre of displeasure as yit in your grace's hart (whilk of lait dayis I have understood), that Sathan is frustrat of his interpryse and purpois. Whilk is to my heart no small comfort ; not so muche (God is witness) for any benefit that * MS. Letters, pp. 343, 344. ■} Knox, Hi-storie, p. 92. Another hearer of EJiox at this time was Henr) Drummond of Riccartowne, who was married to a niece of Robert Creighton, Bishop of Dunkeld. Lord Strathallan's Account of the House of Drum- mond, MS. in Advocates' Library. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 123 Can resave in this miserable lyfe, by protectioun (f any earthlie creature (for the cupe whilk it behoveth me to drinK is apovntit by the wisdome of him whois consallis ar not changeable), as that I am for that benefit whilk I am assurit your grace sail resave ; yf that ye continew in like moderation and clemencie towards utheris that maist unjustlie ar and sail be accusit, as that your grace hath begun towardis me and my most despe- rate cause." An orator (he continued) might justly require ol' her grace a motherly pity towards her subjects, the execution of justice upon murderers and oppressors, a heart free from avarice and partiality, a mind studious of the public welfare, with other virtues which heathen as well as inspired writers required of rulers. But, in his opinion, it was vain to crave reformation of manners, when religion was so much corrupted. He could not propose, in the present letter, to lay open the sources, progress, and extent of those errors and corruptions which had overspread and inundated the Church ; but, if her majesty would grant him opportunity and liberty of speech, he was ready to undertake this task. In the mean time, he could not refrain from calling her attention to this important subject, and pointing out to her the fallacy of some general prejudices, by which she was in danger of being deluded. She ought to beware of thinking, that the care of religion did not belong to magistrates, but was devolved wholly on the clergy ; that it was a thing incredible that religion should be so universally depraved ; or that true religion was to be judged of by the majority of voices, by custom, by the laws and determinations of men, or by any thing but the infallible dictates of inspired Scripture. He knew that hmovations in religion were deemed hazardous ; but the urgent necessity and immense magnitude of the object ought, in the presput case, to swallow up the fear of danger. He was aware that a public reformation might be thought to exceed her authority as a regent ; but she could not be bound to maintain idolatry and manifest abuses, nor to sutler the clergy to murder innocent men, merely because they wor- shipped God according to his word. Though Knox's pen was not the most smooth nor delicate, and though he often irritated by the plainness and severity of his language, the letter to the queen regent is very far from being uncourtly or inelegant. It seems to have been written with great care, and in point of style may be compared with any composition of that period, for simplicity and forcible ex- pression.* Its strain was well calculated for stimulating the * This is more evident from tlie letter in its original lang'uafje, wliicli is now before me in manuscript. In the copies of it which have been published along with his Historv, and even in the edition of 17;i2, freedoms liave been 124 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. inq-jjiies, and confirming the resolutions, of one who was im- pressed with a conviction of the reigning evils of the Church, or who, though not resolved in judgment as to the matters in con- troversy, was determined to preserve moderation between the contending parties. Notwithstanding her imposing manners, the regent was not a person of this description. The Earl of Glencairn delivered the letter into her hand ; she glanced over it with a careless air, and gave it to the Archbishop of Glas- gow, saying, " Please you, my lord, to read a pasquil."^ The report of this induced Knox, after he retired from Scotland, to publish the letter, with additions. The style of the additions is more spirited and sharp than that of the original letter ; but there is nothing even in them which is indecorous, or which will warrant the charge which has been brought against him of being accustomed to treat crowned heads with irreverence and disrespect. " As charitie," says he, " persuade th me to interpret thinges doubtfully spoken in the best sence, so my dutie to God (who hath commanded me to flatter no prince in the earth) compelleth me to say, that if no more ye esteme the admonition of God nor the cardinalies do the scoffing of pasquilleS; then he shall schortly send you messagers, with whom ye shall not be able on that maner to jest. — I did not speak unto you, madame, by my former lettre, neither yet do I now, as Pasquillus doth to the pope, in behalf of such as dare not utter their names ; but I come, in the name of Jesus Christ, affirming that the religion which ye maintain is damna- ble idolatrie : the which I offre myselfe to prove by the most evident testimonies of Goddis Scriptures. And, in this quar- relle, I present myself againste all the Papistes within the realme, desireing none other armore but Goddis holie word, and the libertie of my tonge."t While he was thus employed in Scotland, he received letters from the English congregation at Geneva, stating that they had made choice of him as one of their pastors, and urging him to come and take the inspection of them.t He judged it his duty to comply with this invitation, and began immediately to pre- pare for the journey. His wife and mother-in-law had by this time joined him at Edinburgh; and Mrs. Bowes, being now a widow, resolved to accompany Mrs. Knox and her husband to Geneva. Having sent them before him in a vessel to Dieppe, used, and the style is not a little injured by the insertion of unnecessary and enfeebling expletives. * Historie, pp. 92, 425. f Letter, &c. apud Historic, pp. 425, 426. I This congregation (which consisted of those who had withdrawn from Frankfort), as early as September 1555, " chose Knox and Goodman for their pastors, and Gilby requested to supplie the rome till Knox returnee owte of France." Troubles at Franckford, p. lix. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 12f, • Ejiox again visited and took his leave of the brethren in the different places where he had preached. He was conducted^ by his friend Campbell of Kineanclengh, to the Earl of Argyle, and preached for some days at his seat of Castle Campbell.* That aged nobleman appears to have received durable impres- sions from the instructions of the Reformer. He resisted all the arts which the clergy afterwards employed to detach him from the Protestant interest, and on his death-bed laid a solemn charge upon his son to use his utmost influence for its preser- vation and advancemeiit. Argyle, and Glenorchy, who was also a hearer of Knox, endeavoured to detain him in Scotland, but without success. "If God so blessed their small begin- nings," he said, " that they continued in godliness, whensoever they pleased to conmiand him, they should find him obedient. But once he must needs visit that little flock, which the wicked- ness of men had compelled him to leave." Accordingly, in the month of July 1556, he left Scotland, and having joined his fa- mily at Dieppe, proceeded along with them to Geneva.t No sooner did the clergy understand that he had quitted the kingdom, than they, in a dastardly manner, renewed the sum- mons against him which they had deserted during his presence, and, upon his failing to appear, passed sentence against him, adjudging his body to the flames, and his soul to damnation. As his person was out of their reach, they caused his efligy to be ignominiously burned at the cross of Edinburgh. Against this sentence he drew up his Appellation, which he afterwards published, with a supplication and exhortation, directed to the nobility and commonalty of Scotland. It may not be impro- per here to subjoin the summary which he gave in this treatise of the doctrine taught by him during his late visit to Scotland, which the clergy pronounced so execrable, and deserving of such horrible punishment. He taught, that there is no other name by which men can be saved but that of Jesus, and that all reliance on the merits of others is vain and delusive ; that the Saviour having by his one sacrifice sanctified and recon- ciled to God those who should inherit the promised kingdom, all other sacrifices which men pretend to ofler for sin are blas- phemous ; that all men ought to hate sin, which is so odious before God that no sacrifice but the death of his Son could satisfy for it ; that they ought to magnify their heavenly Father, who did not spare him who is the substance of his glory, but gave him up to suffer the ignominious and cruel death of the cross for us ; and that those who have been washed from their * A piece of sloping- ground on the south side of the castle is still pointed out as the spot on which Knox preached. + Knox, Historie, pp. 92 — :3, 108. 11" 126 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. former sins are bound to lead a new life, fighting against the lusts of the flesh, and studying to glorify God by good works. In con- formity with the certification of his Master, that he would deny and be ashamed of those who should deny and be ashamed of him and his words before a wicked generation, he further taught, that it is incumbent on those who hope for life everlasting, to make an open profession of the doctrine of Christ, and to avoid idolatry, superstition, vain religion, and, in one word, every way of worship which is destitute of authority from the word of God. This doctrine he did believe so conformable to God's holy Scriptures, that he thought no creature could have been so impudent as to deny any point or article of it ; yet had the false bishops and ungodly clergy condemned him as a heretic, and his doctrine as heretical, and pronounced against him the sentence of death, in testimony of which they had burnt his efiigy ; from which sentence he appealed to a lawful and gene- ral council, to be held agreeably to ancient laws and canons; humbly requesting the nobility and commons of Scotland, to take him, and others who were accused and persecuted, under their protection, until such time as these controversies were de- cided, and to regard this his plam Appellation of no less effect, than if it had been made with the accustomed solemnity and ceremonies.* The late visit of our Reformer was of vast consequence. By his labours on this occasion, he laid the foundations of that noble edifice which he was afterwards so instrumental in com- pleting. The friends of the Protestant doctrine were separated from the corrupt communion to which, in a certain degree, they had hitherto adhered ; their information in scriptural truth was greatly improved ; and they were brought together in different parts of the nation, and prepared for being organized into a re- gular church, as soon as Providence should grant them external liberty, and furnish them with persons qualified for acting as overseers. Some may be apt to blame him for abandoning with too great precipitation the undertaking which he had so auspiciously begun. But, without pretending to ascertain the train of reflections which occurred to his mind, we may trace, in his determination, the wise arrangements of that Providence which watched over the infant Reformation, and guided the steps of the Reformer. His absence was now no less conducive to the preservation of the cause, than his presence and personal labours had lately been to its advancement. Matters were not yet rinened for a general reformation in Scotland ; and the clergy would never have suffered so zealous and able a cham- pion of the new doctrines to live in the country. By retiring * Appellation, &c. apud Historie, p. 428. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 127 at this time, he not only preserved his own Ufe, and reserved his labours to a more fit opportunity, but he also averted the storm of persecution from the heads of his brethren. Deprived of teachers, they became objects of less jealousy to their adver- saries; while in their private meetings, they continued to con- firm one another in the doctrine which they had received, and the seed lately sown had sufficient time to take root and spread. Before he took his departm'e, Knox gave his brethren such directions as he judged most necessary, and most useful to them, in their present circumstances. Not satisfied with com- municating these orally, he committed them to writing in a common letter, which he either left behind him, or sent fron:i Dieppe, to be circulated in the different quarters where he had preached. In this letter, he warmly recommends to every one the frequent and careful perusal of the Scriptures. He incul- cates the duty of attending to religious instruction and worship in each family. He exhorts the brethren to meet together once every week, if practicable, and gives them directions for con- ducting their assemblies, in the manner best adapted for theii mutual improvement, while destitute of public teachers They ought to begin with confession of sins, and invocation of the divine blessing. A portion of the Scriptures should then be read ; and they would find it of great advantage to observe a regular course m their reading, and to join a chapter of the Old and of the New Testament together. After the reading of the Scriptm'es, if an exhortation, interpretation, or doubt, occurred to any brother, he might speak ; but he ought to do it with mo- desty, and a desire to edify or to be edified, carefully avoiding " multiplication of words, perplexed interpretation, and wilful- ness in reasoning." If, in the course of reading or conference, they met with any difficulties which they could not solve, he advised them to commit these to writing, before they separated, that they might submit them to the judgment of the learned; and he signified his own readiness to give them his advice, by letter, whenever it should be required. Their assemblies ought always to be closed, as well as opened, by prayer."^ There is every reason to conclude, that these directions were punctually complied with ; this letter may therefore be viewed as an im- portant document regarding the state of the Protestant Church in Scotland previous to the establishment of the Reformation, and shall be inserted at large in the notes.t Among his subsequent letters are answers to questions which his countrymen had transmitted to him for advice. The ques- tions are such as might be supposed to arise in the minds of pious persons lately made acquainted with Scripture, puzzled * MS. Letters, pp 352—359. t See Note Z. 128 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. with particular expressions, and at a loss how to apply some oi its directions to their situation. They discover an inquisitive and conscientious disposition ; and at the same time, illustrate the disadvantages under which ordinary Christians labour when deprived of the assistance of learned teachers.* Our Reformer's answers display an intimate acquaintance with Scripture, and dexterity in expounding it, with prudence in giving advice in cases of conscience, so as not to encourage a dangerous laxity on the one hand, or scrupulosity and excessive rigidness on the other. * Among the questions proposed were the following : — Whether the bap- tism administered by the Popish priests was valid, and did not require repe- tition? Whether all the things prohibited in the decree of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem (Acts xv.) were still unlawful ] Whether the prohibition in 2d John, verse 10, extended to the common salutation of those who taught erroneous doctrine 1 How are the directions respecting dress, in 2d Peter iii 3, to be obeyed 1 In what sense is God said to repent 1 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 129 PERIOD V FROM THE YEAR 1556 WHEN HE RETURNED TO GENEVA. AFTER VISITING SCOTLAND, TO MAY 1559, WHEN HE RETURNED TO SCOT- LAND FOR THE LAST TIME. Knox reached Geneva before the end of harvest, and took upon him the charge of the Enghsh congregation there,* among whom he laboured during the two following years. This short period was the most quiet of his life. In the bosom of his own family, he experienced that soothing care to which he had liith- erto been a stranger, and which his frequent bodily ailments now required. Two sons were born to him in Geneva. The greatest affection to him, and cordiality among themselves, sub- sisted in the small flock under his charge. With his colleague, Christopher Goodman, he lived as a brother; and he was happy in the friendship of Calvin and the other pastors of Geneva. So much was he pleased with the purity of religion established in that city, that he warmly recommended it to his religious acquaintances in England, as the best Christian asylum to which they could flee. " In my heart," says he, in a letter to his friend Mr. liOcke, " I could have wished, yea, and cannot cease to wish, that it might please God to guide and conduct yourself to this place, where, I neither fear nor eshame to say, is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles. In other places I confess Christ to be truly preached ; but manners and religion to be so sincerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place beside. "f But neither the enjoyment of personal accommodations, nor the pleasures of literary society, nor the endearments of do- * The congregation appear to have delayed the final settlement of their form of worship and discipline until Knox's arrival ; for the preface to The Order of Geneva, is dated " the lOth of February anno 15")(i." Dunlop's Collection of Confessions, ii. 40L If this date was according to the old method of reckoning, Knox must have been present at the time. But I am not sure but that the new mode of beginning the year in January was intro- duced in Geneva as early as 1.556. + MS. Letters, p. 377. K 130 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. mestic happiness, could subdue Knox's ruling passion, or unfix his determination to revisit Scotland, as soon as an opportunity should offer, for advancing the Reformation among his country- men. In a letter written to some of his friends in Edinburgh, March 16, 1557, he expresses himself in the following man- ner: " My own motion and daily prayer is, not only th& I may visit you, but also that with joy I may end my battle among you. And assure yourself of this, that whenever a greater number among you shall call upon me than now hath bound me to serve them, by his grace it shall not be the fear of pun- ishment, neither yet of the death temporal, that shall impede my coming to you."* A certain heroic confidence, and assu- rance of ultimate success, have often been displayed by those whom Providence has raised up to achieve great revolutions in the world ; by which they have been borne up under discour- agements which would have overwhelmed men of ordinary spirits, and imboldened to face dangers from which others would have shrmik appalled. Knox possessed no inconsidera- ble portion of that enthusiastic heroism which was so con- spicuous in the German reformer. "Satan, I confess, rageth," says he, in a letter written at this time ; " but potent is He that promiseth to be wnth us, in all such enterprises as we take in hand at his commandment, for the glory of his name, and for maintenance of his true religion. And therefore the less fear we any contrary power; yea, in the boldness of our God, we altogether contemn them, be they kings, emperors, men, angels, or devils. For they shall be never able to prevail against the simple truth of God which v>^e openly profess ; by the permis- sion of God they may appear to prevail against our bodies, but our cause shall triumph in despite of Satan."t Soon after the above letter had been written, two citizens of Edinburgh, James Syme and James Barron, arrived at Geneva with a letter and credentials from the Earl of Glencairn, and Lords Lorn, Erskine, and James Stewart, informing him, that the professors of the reformed doctrine remained steadfast, that its adversaries were daily losing credit in the nation, and that those who possessed the supreme authority, although they had not yet declared themselves friendly to it, continued to refrain from persecution ; and inviting him, in their own name, and in that of their brethren, to return to Scotland, where he would find them all ready to receive him, and to spend their lives and fortunes in advancing the canse which they had espoused.J Knox, at the same time that he laid this letter before his congre eation, craved the advice of Calvin and the other ministers of «= MS. Letters, p. 408. t Ibid p. :378. \ Knox, Historie, p. 97, 98. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 131 Geneva. They gave it as their opinion, "that he could not refuse the call without shewing himself rebellious to God, and unmerciful to his country." His congregation agreed to sacri- fice their particular interest to the greater good of the Church ; and his own family silently acquiesced. Upon this, he returned an answer to the letter of the nobility, signifying that he meant to visit them with all reasonable expedition. The congregation chose as his successor William Whittingham,* a learned Eng lishman, with whom he had been long united by the ties of friendship and congeniality of sentiment. Having settled his other affairs, he took an affectionate leave of his friends at Geneva, and went to Dieppe, in the month of October. But on his arrival there, he received letters from Scotland, written in a very different strain from the former. By these he was informed, that new consultations iiad been held among the Pro- testants in that country ; that some of them began to repent oi the invitation which they had given him to return ; and that the greater part seemed irresolute and faint-hearted. This intelligence exceedingly disconcerted and embarrassed him. He instantly despatched a letter to the nobility who had invited him, upbraiding tjiem for their timidity and inconstancy. The information which he had just received, had, he said, con- founded him, and pierced his heart with sorrow. After taking the advice of the most learned and godly in Europe, to satisfy his own conscience and theirs as to the propriety of this enter- prise, the abandonment of it must reflect disgrace either on him or them — it argued either that he had been marvellously for- ward and vain, or that they had betrayed great imprudence and want of judgment in the invitation which they had given him. To some it might appear a small matter that he had left his poor family destitute of a head, and committed the care of his little but dearly-beloved flock to another ; but, for his part, he could not name the sum that would induce hiin to go through that scene a second time, and to behold so many grave men weeping at his departure. What answer could he give to those who inquired, why he did not prosecute his journey ? He could take God to witness, that the personal iiicoiiveiiiences to which he had been subjected, and the mortification which he felt at the disappointment, were not the chief causes of his grief. He was alarmod at the awful consequences which would ensue — at the bondage and misery, spiritual and temporal, which they would entail on themselves and their children, their sub- jects and their posterity, if tiiey neglected the present oppor- tunity of introducing the gospel into their native country. In his conscience, he zould exempt none tiiat bore th\; name of * See Note AA. 132 LIFE OF JOHN KNO^. nobility in Scotland from blame in this affair. His woi Is might psrhaps appear sharp and indiscreet; but charity would con- strue them in the best sense, and wise men would consider that a true friend cannot flatter, especially in a matter which involves the salvation of the bodies and souls, not of a few persons, but of a whole realm. " What are the sobs, and what is the afllic- tion, of my troubled heart, God shall one day declare. But this will I add to my former rigour and severity ; to wit, if any per- suade you, for fear or dangers to follow, to faint in your former purpose, be he esteemed never so wise and friendly, let him be judged of you both foolish and your mortal enemy. I am not ignorant that fearful troubles shall ensue your enterprise, as in my former letters I did signify unto you. But, 0 ! joyful and comfortable are those troubles and adversities which man sus- taineth for accomplishment of God's will revealed in his word. For how terrible soever they appear to the judgment of natural men, yet they are never able to devour nor utterly to consume the sufferers ; for the invisible and invincible power of God sus- taineth and preserveth, according to his promise, all such as with simplicity do obey him. No less cause have ye to enter in your former enterprise, than Moses had to go to the presence of Pharaoh ; for your subjects, yea, your brethren are oppressed — their bodies and souls holden in bondage ; and God speaketh to your consciences (unless ye be dead with the blind world), that ye ought to hazard your own lives, be it against kings or emperors, for their deliverance. For only for that cause are ye called princes of the people, and receive honour, tribute, and homage at God's commandment, — not by reason of your birth and progeny (as the most part of men falsely do suppose,) but by reason of your office and duty ; which is, to vindicate and deliver your subjects and brethren from all violence and oppres- sion, to the uttermost of your power."* Having sent off this letter, with others written in the same strain, to Erskine of Dun, Wishart of Pitterow, and some other gentlemen of his acquaintance, he cherished the hope that he would soon receive more favourable accounts from Scotland, and resolved in the mean time to remain in France.t The re- formed doctrine had been early introduced into that kingdom ; it had been copiously watered with the blood of martyrs ; and all the violence which had been employed by its enemies had not been able to extirpate it, or to prevent its spreading among all ranks. The Parisian Protestants were at present smarting * Knox, Historic, pp. 98—100. t I find him about this time, addressing a letter to one of his correspon- dents from Lyons. MS. Letters, p. 340. This letter is subscribed John Sinclair. See above, p. 18, note * LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 13:i under the effects of one of those massacres, which so often dis- graced the Roman Cathohc rehgion in that country, before as well as after the commencement of the civil wars. Not satis- fied with assaulting them when peaceably assembled for wor- ship in a private house, and treating them with great barbarity, their adversaries, in imitation of their pagan predecessors, in- vented the most diabolical calumnies against them, and circu- lated the report that they were guilty of abominable practices in their religious assemblies.* The innocent sufferers had drawn up an apology, in which they vindicated themselves from the atrocious charge ; and Knox, having got this translated into English, wrote a preface and additions to it, with the intention of publishing it for the use of his countrymen. t Having formed an acquaintance with many of the Protestants of France, and being able to speak their language, he occasionally preached to them in passing through the country. It seems to have been on this occasion that he preached in thecity of Rochelle, and having alluded to his native country in the course of his sermon, told his audience that he expected within a few years, to preach in the Church of St. Giles, in Edinburgh. 1 * Histoire des Martyrs, pp. 425, 420. Anno 1597, Folio. Beza, Vita Calvini, ad ann. 1557. The Cardinal of Lorrain, uncle to Mary, the young Queen of Scotland, was industrious in propagating these vile calumnies ; a circumstance which increased Knox's bad opinion of that determined enemy of the Reformation. This is mentioned by him in his preface to the Parisian Apology. " 'J'his was not bruited be tlie rude and ignorant pepil ; but a cardinall (whais ipocrisie nevertheless is not abil to cover his awn tilthiness) eschamit not openlie at his tabill to affirm that maist impudent and manifest lie; adding, moreover (to the further declaratioun whais sone he was), tliat in the hous whair they wer apprehendit. 8 bedis were preparit. When in verie deed, in that place whair they did convene (except a table for the Lord's supper to have been ministered, a chayr for the preicher, and bankis and stullis for the easement of the auditors), no preparation nor furniture was abill to be proved, not even by the verie enemis." MS. Let- ters, pp. 445, 446. + MS. Letters, pp. 442 — 500. The Apology of the Parisian Protestants was published ; but I do not think that the English translation, with Knox's additions, ever appeared in print. The writer of the Life of Knox, prefixed to the edition of his History, 17:^2, p. xxi. has fallen into several blunders on this subject. There are no letters to the French Protestants in the MS. to which he refers. The Apology was written by the Parisians themselves, and Kno.x informs us, that a part of the translation only was done by him, — " the former and maist part was translatit by another, because of my other "abors." Ut supra, p. 446. I " Having particularly declared to me," says Row, " by those who heard him say, when he was in Rochel, in France, that within two or three years he hoped to preach the gospel publicly in St. Giles in Edinburgh. But the persons who heard him say it, being Papists for the time, and yet persuaded by a nobleman to hear him preach privately, and see him baptize a bairn that was carried many miles to him for that purpose, thought that such a thing could never come to pass, and hated him for so speaking; yet, comilg 12 134 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. It (lo. t Historie of the Estate of Scotland from 1559 to 1560, p. 1. MS. be- longing to Tliomas Thomson, Esq. Advocate. Tiiis MS., which I had not seen when I published the first edition of this work, contains a number of minute particulars not mentioned in other histories. It would have been extremely valuable if it had been complete, but tiie copy winch I have used stops short in the middle of the year 1560. t Ibid. 5 See Note EE. II Knox, Historie, p. 122. Bishop Bale, who was then at Basle, inserted, in a work which he was just publishing, a letter sent liim at this time by .152 LIFE OFJOHN KNOX. It did not require many arguments to persuade Knox to com ply with an invitation, which was accompanied with such gra- tifying intelligence ; and he began immediately to prepare for his jom'ney to Scotland. The future settlement of the congre- gation under his charge, occupied him for some time. Infor- mation being received of the death of Mary, Queen of England,* and the accession of Elizabeth, the Protestant refugees hastened to return to their native country. The congregation at Ge- neva, having met to return thanks to God for this deliverance, agreed to send one of their number with letters to their brethren in different places of the Continent, and particularly in Frank- fort, congratulating them on the late happy change, and re- questing a confirmation of the mutual reconciliation which had already been effected, the burial of all past ofiences, and a brotherly co-operation, in endeavouring to obtain such a settle- ment of religion in England as would be agreeable to all the sincere well-wishers of the Reformation. A favourable return to their letters being obtained,! they took leave of the hospita- ble city, and set out for their native country. By them Knox sent letters to some of his former acquaintances, who were now in the court of Elizabeth, requesting permission to travel through England on his way to Scotland. In the month of January 1559, our Reformer took his leave of Geneva for the last time.! In addition to former marks of respect, the republic, before his departure, conferred on him the freedom of the city.§ He left his wife and family behind him, Thomas Cole, an English refugee residing at Geneva, communicating this information. " Heri enim," says Cole, " D. Knoxus ex Scotia nova certis- sima de immutata religione accepit : Christum publice per totum illud reg- num doceri ; et ita demum hominum corda occupasse, ut omni metu posito audeant publicis precibus interesse sua lingua celebratis, et sacramenta quoque habeant rite administrata, impuris antichristi ceremoniis abjectis. Nunc regina cogitat Reformationem religionis, indicto die quo con ventus fiat totius regni," &c. Scriptor. Illustr. Major. Britannise Poster. Pars. Art. Knoxus. Basil. 1559. * "God would not suffer her to reign long," says a Catholic writer, " eitlier on account of the sins of her father, or on account of the sins cf her people, who were unworthy of a princess so holy, so pious, and endued with such divine and rare dispositions." Laing, de Vita Hseretic. fol. 28. t Troubles at Franckford, pp. 189, 190. \ Cald. MS. i. 380. § Histoire Litteraire de Geneve, par Jean Senebier, torn. i. 376, Genev. 1786. It is somewhat singular, that Calvin did not obtain this honour until December 1559. " II i.'y a cependant point de citoyen," says Senebier, " qui ait achete ce titre honorable aussi cherement que lui par ses services, et je ne crois pas qu'il en ait beaucoup qui I'aient autant merite, et qui le rendent aussi celebre." Ibid. pp. 230, 231. Our Reformer obtained another public testimony of esteem at this time from Bishop Bale, who dedicated his work on Scottish writers to him and Mexander Aless. The praise which he bestows on him deserves the more LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 153 until he should ascertain that they could Hve with safety in Scotland. Upon Ins arrival at Dieppe, in the middle of March, he received information that the English government had re- fused to grant him liberty to pass through their dominions. Tlie request had appeared so reasonable to his own mind, con- sidering the station which he had held in that country, and the object of his present journey, that he once thought of proceed- ing to London without waiting for a formal permission ; yet it was with some difficulty that those who presented his letters escaped imprisonment.* This impolitic severity was occasioned by the informations of some of the exiles, who had not forgotten the old quarrel at Frankfort, and had accused of disloyalty and disaffection to tlie queen, not only Knox, but all those who had been under his charge at Geneva, whom they represented as proselytes to the opinion which he had published against female government.t There was not an individual who could believe that Knox had the most distant eye to Elizabeth in publishing the obnoxious book ; nor a person of judgment who could seriously think that her government was exposed to the slightest danger from him or his associates, who felt no less joy at her auspicious acces- sion than their brethren.J If he had been imprudent in that publication, if he had " swerved from the particular question to the general," his error (to use the words of his respondent) notice, because the bishop had been one of his opponents at Frankfort. " Te vero, Knoxe, frater amatissime, conjunxit mihi Anglia et Germania, impri- mis autem doctrinse nostras in Christo Domino fraterna consensio. Nemo est enim qui tuam fidem, constantiam, patientiam tot erumnis, tanta persecutione, exilioque diuturno et gravi, testatum, non coUaudet, et non admiretur, non amplectatur." Balei Script. Illustr. Maj. Brit. Poster. Pars. pp. 175, 176. Basiliae, ex officina Joan. Operini, 15"9, mense Februario. * Knox, Historie, p. "205. t Ibid. pp. -20^, 210. I In February 1559, the Eng-lish e.xiles at Geneva published a prose trans- lation of the Book of Psalms, which they dedicated to Elizabeth ; and in this dedication, their congratulations on her accession to tlie throne, and their professions of loyalty, are as warm as those of any of her subjects were. It is inscribed, " To the most Vertuous and Noble Quecne Elizabeth, Queene of Englande, France, and Irelande, &C. your humble subjects of the English Church at Geneva, wyth grace," &c. After mentioning that they had em- ployed the time of their exile in revising the Englisii translation of the Bible, and endeavouring to brmg it as near as they could to the pure sim- plicity and true meaning of the Hebrew tongue, they add: — " \Vhen we heard that the almightie and most mercyfull God had no less myraculously preferred you to that excellent dignitie, than he had aboue all men's expec- ttitions, preserued you from the furie of such as sought your blood : with tlie most joyful myndes and great diligence we endeavoured our selves, to set foorth and dedicate this most excellent booke of the Psalmes vnto your grace as a speciall token of our seruice and cood will, till the rest of the Byble, which, praysed be God, is in good readinesse, may be 'accomplished and presented." Epistle, p. 3, prefixed to the Booke of Psalmes, Geneva, 1559 lOmo. U 154 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. •'' rose not of malice, but of zeal, and by looking more o the present cruelty, than to the inconveniences that after might follow ;" and it was the part of generosity and of good policy to overlook the fault. Instead of this, EUzabeth and her coun- sellors took up the charge in a serious light ; and the accused were treated with such harshness and disdain, that they repent- ed of leaving their late asylum to return to their native country. One cannot help feeling indignant at this weak revenge, when it is considered that Elizabeth had admitted to favour, and re- tained at court, persons who had endeavoured to prevent her succession, and who had thirsted for her blood ;* and that those who, under the preceding reign, had advised and practised the greatest severities against the Protestants, were now treated with the utmost lenity. Even the infamous Bonner was allowed to appear at court, and although the queen shuddered at the thought of a man who was polluted with so much blood kissing her hand, yet was he at this time going about London without the smallest molestation.t In the first parliament of Elizabeth, one Dr. Storey made a speech, in which he had the effrontery to justify the cruelties of Mary, to boast of his own activity in carrying her orders into execution, and to regret that measures still more violent and effectual had not been adopted for the utter extirpation of heresy. J Nor does it appear that this speech was resented either by the house or by the queen. De nobis, post haBC, tristis sententia fertur : Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas. The refusal of his request, and the harsh treatment of his flock, touched to the quick the irritable temper of our Reformer; md it was with some difficulty that he suppressed the desire * Haynes, State Papers, p. 295. Knox, Historic, p. 210. t Burnet, ii. 374, 398. Stow, Annals, p. 635, edit. 1631. When after- wards committed to the Marshalsea for refusing to take the oath of alle- giance and supremacy, Bonner was kept " under a very easy restraint." Godwin de Prssulibus Anglite, p. 251, edit. 1616. Stapleton, a Popish wri- ter, says that Tonstal was " cast into prison, as most of the bishops were, where he made a glorious end of a confessor, and satisfied for his former crime of schisme." " A prison !" exclaims Dr. Jortin, " Lambeth palace, and the archbishop's table, was a dreadful dungeon, to be sure ; and as bad, as those into which the righteous Bonner, and other saints of the same class, used to thrust the poor heretics ! Will men never be ashamed of these godly tricks and disingenuous prevarications'?" Life of Erasmus, i. 101. I He said, " that he saw nothing to be ashamed of or sorry for ; wished that he had done more, and that he and others had been more vehement in executing the laws ; and said that it grieved him that they laboured only about the young and little twigs, whereas they should have struck at the root ;" by which he was understood to mean Queen Elizabeth. Strype'a Annals, i. 79, 536. LIFE OF JOHN KNO^. 155 which he felt rising in his breast, to prosecute a controversy which he had resolved to abandon. " My First Blast," says he, in a letter dated Dieppe, 6th April 1559, "hath blown from me all my friends in England. My conscience bears record, that yet I seek the favour of my God ; and so I am in the less fear. The Second Blast, I fear, shall sound somewhat more sharp, except that men be more moderate than I hear they are. England hath refused me ; but because, before, it did refuse Christ Jesus, the less do I regard the loss of this familiarity. And yet have 1 been a secret and assured friend to thee, 0 Eng- land, in cases which thyself could not have remedied."* But greater designs occupied his mind, and engrossed his attention. It was not for the sake of personal safety, nor from the vanity of appearing at court, that he desired to pass through England. He felt the natural wish to visit his old acquaintances in that country, and was anxious for an opportunity of once more ad- dressing those to whom he had preached, especially at New- castle and Berwick. But there was another object which he had still more at heart, and in which the welfare oj both Eng- land and Scotland was concerned. Notwithstanding the flattering accounts which he had receiv- ed of the favourable disposition of the queen regent towards the Protestants, and the directions which he sent them to cultivate this, he appears to have always entertained suspicions of the sincerity of her professions. Since he left Geneva, these sus- picions had been confirmed ; and the information which he had procured, in travelling through France, conspired, with intelli- gence which he had lately received from Scotland, to convince him, that the immediate suppression of the Reformation in his native country, and its consequent suppression in the neigh- bouring kingdom, were intended. The plan projected by the gigantic ambition of the princes of Lorrain, brothers of the queen regent of Scotland, has been developed and described with great accuracy and ability by a celebrated modern his- torian.! Suffice it to say here, that their counsels had deter- mined the French court to set up the claim of the young Queen of Scots to the crown of England ; to attack Elizabeth, and wrest the sceptre from her hands, under the pretext that she was a bastard and a heretic ; and to commence their operations by suppressing the Reformation, and establishing the French influence in Scotland, as the best preparative to an attack upon the dominions of the English queen. In the course of his jour- neys through France, Knox had formed an acquaintance with certain persons about the court, and, by their means, had gained * Cald. MS. L 384. See also Knox, Historic, pp. 204—207. + Robertson's History of Scotland, b. ii. ad an. 1.559. 156 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. some knowledge of this plan.* He was convinced that th<* Scottish reformers were unable to resist the power which France might bring against them ; and that it was no less the interest than the duty of the EngUsh court to atford them the most effectual support. But he was afraid that a selfish and narrow policy might prevent them from doing this until it was too late, and was therefore anxious to call their attention to the subje'^f at an early period, and to put them in possession of the facts that had come to his knowledge. The assistance which Eli^a- teth granted to the Scottish Protestants in the year 1560, was dictated by the soundest policy. It baffled and defeated the designs of her enemies at the very outset ; it gave her an in- fluence over Scotland, which all her predecessors could not ob- tain by the terror of their arms, nor the influence of their money ; and it secured the stability of her government, by ex- tending and strengthening the Protestant interest, the principal pillar on which it rested. And it reflects not a little credit on our Reformer's sagacity, that he had conceived this plan at so early a period, was the first person who proposed it, and per- sisted, in spite of great discouragements, to urge its adoption, until his endeavours were ultimately crowned with success. Deeply impressed with these considerations, he resolved, al- though he had already been twice repulsed, to brook the morti- fication, and make another attempt to obtain an interview with some confidential agent of the English goverimient. With this view, he, on the 10th of April, wrote a letter to secretary Cecil, with whom he had been personally acquainted during his resi- dence in London. Adverting to the treatment of the exiles who had returned from Geneva, he exculpated them from all respon- sibility as to the off'ensive book which he had published, and assured him that he had not consulted with any of' them pre- vious to its publication. As for himself, he did not mean to deny that he was the author, nor was he yet prepared to retract the leading sentiment which it contained. But he was not, on that * Knox, Historie, pp. 206, 214, 260. He had an opportunity of receiving a confirmation of this intelligence during his voyage to Scotland. In the same ship in which he sailed, there was sent by the Frencli court to the queen regent a staff of state, with a great seal, on which were engraved the arms of France, Scotland, and England. 'J his was shewn to him in great se- crecy. The English court, after they were awakened from their lethargy, and convinced of the hostile designs of France, applied to Knox for the in- formation which they might have had from him six months before. Cotton MSS. Caligula, b. ix. f. :^8. 7!. Sadler's State Papers, i. 463,688 Keith, Append, pp. :38, 42. The English certainly suffered themselves to be amused during the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis, while the Courts of France and Spain concerted measures dangerous to England, and to the whole Protes- tant interest. Dr. Wotton, one of the commissioners, complains, in a letter to Cecil, of want of intelligence, and that the English had no spies on the continent. Forbes's State Papers ' 23. Lit E OF JOHN KNOX. 157 account less friendly to the person and government of Elizabeth, in whose exaltation he cordially rejoiced ; although he rested the defence of her authority upon grounds different from the common. This was the third time that he had craved liberty to pass through England. He had no desire to visit the court, nor to remain long in the country ; but he was anxious to com- municate to him, or some other trusty person, matters of great importance, which it was not prudent to commit to writing, or intrust to an ordinary messenger. If his request was refused, it would turn out to the disadvantage of England.* The situation in which he stood at this time with the court of England was so well known, that it was not without great diffi- culty that he could find a messenger to carry his letter ;t and, either despairing of the success of his application, or urged by intelligence received from Scotland, he sailed from Dieppe on the 22d of April, and landed safely at Leith on the 2d of May 1559. t * I- former. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 195 The example of the primitive Christians is not binding upon others any farther than it is conformable to the Scriptures ; and the circumstances in which they were placed were totally difler- ent from those of the Protestants in Scotland, and in other countries, at the time of the Reformation. Tiie fathers often indulge in oratorical exaggerations when speaking of the num- bers of the Christians ; nor is there any satisfactory evidence that they ever approached near to a majority of the Roman empire, during the time that they were exposed to persecution. " If thou niayest be made free, use it ratlier," says the Apos- tle ; a maxim which is applicable, by just analogy, to poUtical as well as domestic freedom. The Christian religion natively tends to cherish and difluse a spirit favourable to civil liberty, and this, in its turn, has the most happy influence upon Christ- ianity, which never flourished extensively, and for a long peri- od, in any country where despotism prevailed. It must there- fore be the duty of every Christian to exert himself for the acquisition and defence of this invaluable blessing. Christiani- ty ought not to be propagated'by force of arms; but the ex- ternal liberty of professing it may be vindicated in that way both against foreign invaders and against domestic tyrants. If the free exercise of their religion, or their right to remove religious abuses, enter into the grounds of the struggle which a nation maintains against oppressive rulers, the cause becomes of vastly more importance, its justice is more unquestionable, and it is still more worthy, not only of their prayers and peti- tions, but of their blood and treasure, than if it had been main- tained solely for the purpose of securing their fortunes, or of acquiring some mere worldly privilege. And to those whose minds are not warped by prejudice, and who do not labour un- der a confusion of ideas on the subject, it must surely appear paradoxical to assert, that, while God has granted to subjects a right to take the sword of just defence for securing objects of a temporary and inferior nature, he has prohibited them from using this remedy, and left them at the mercy of every lawless despot, with respect to a concern the most important of all, whether it be viewed as relating to his own honour, or to ihe welfare of mankind. Those who judge of the propriety of any measure from the success with which it is accompanied, will be disposed to con- demn the suspension of the queen regent. Soon after tiiis step was taken, tlie aflairs of the Congregation began to wear a gloomy aspect. The messenger whom they sent to Berwick to receive a remittance from the English court was intercepted on his return, and rifled of the treasure ; their soldiers mutinied for want of pay ; they were repulsed in a premature assanlt •193 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. upon the fortifications of Leith, and worsted in a sKirmish with the French troops ; the secret emissaries of the regent were too successful among tliem ; their numbers daily decreased ; and the remainder, disunited, dispirited, and dismayed, came to the resolution of abandoning Edinburgh on the evening of the 5th of November, and retreated with precipitation and disgrace to Stirling. Amidst the universal dejection produced by these disasters, the spirit of Knox remained unsubdued. On the day after their arrival at StirUng, he mounted the pulpit, and delivered a discourse, which had a wonderful effect in rekindling the zeal and courage of the Congregation. Their faces (he said) were confounded, their enemies triumphed, their hearts had quaked for fear, and still remained oppressed with sorrow and shame. Why had God thus dejected them? The situation of their affairs required plain language, and he would use it. In the present distressed state of their minds, they were in danger of attributing these misfortunes to a wrong cause, and of imagin- ing that they had offended in taking the sword of self-defence into their hands ; just as the tribes of Israel did, when twice discomfited in the war which they undertook, by divine direc- tion, against their brethren the Benjamites. Having divided the Congregation into two classes, those who had been embark- ed in this cause from the beginning, and those who had lately acceded to it, he proceeded to point out what he considered as blamable in the conduct of each. The former (he said) had laid aside that humility and dependence upon Divine Provi- dence which they had discovered when their number was small ; and, since they were joined by the Hamiltons, had become elated, secure, and self-confident. " But wherein had my lord duke and his friends offended ? I am uncertain if my lord's grace has unfeignedly repented of his assistance to these murderers, unjustly pursuing us. Yea, I am uncertain if he has repented of that innocent blood of Christ's blessed martyrs, which was shed in his default. But let it be that so he has done (as I hear that he has confessed his fault before the lords and brethren of the Congregation) ; yet I am assured that neither he, nor yet his friends, did feel before this time the anguish and grief of heart which we felt, when in their blind fury they pursued us. And therefore God hath justly permit- ted both them and us to fall in this fearful confusion at once, — us, for that we put our trust and confidence in man, and them, because they should feel in their own hearts how bitter was the cup which they made others drink before them." After exhort- ing all to amendment of life, to prayers, and works of charity, he concluded with an animating address: — " God," he said, " often suffered the wicked to triumph for a while, and ex LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 197 posed his chosen congregation to mockery, dangers, and appa- rent destruction, in order to abase their self-confidence, and in- duce them to look to himself for deliverance and victory. It they turned unfeignedly to the Eternal, he no more doubted .hat their present distress would be converted into joy, and followed by success, than he doubted that Israel was finally victorious over the Benjamites, after being twice repulsed wiili ignominy. The cause in which they were engaged would prevail in Scotland, in spite of all opposition. It was the eter- nal truth of the eternal God which they maintained ; it might be oppressed for a time, but would ultimately triumph.'"^ The audience, who had entered the church in deep despon- dency, left it with renovated courage. In the afternoon the council met, and, after prayer by the Reformer, unanimously agreed to despatch William Maitland of Lethington to London, to supplicate more eff'ectual assistance from Elizabeth. In the mean time, as they were unable to keep the field, it was agreed that they should divide, and that the one-half of the council should remain at Glasgow, and the other at St. Andrews. Knox was appointed to attend the latter in the double capacity of preacher and secretary. The French having in the begin- ning of the year 1560, penetrated into Fife, he encouraged that small band, which, under the Earl of Arran and the Prior of St. Andrews, bravely resisted their progress, until the appear- ance of the English fleet compelled the enemy to retreat with precipitation.! The disaster which obliged the Protestant army to raise the siege of Leith, and to evacuate Edinburgh, turned out eventu- ally to the advantage of their cause. It induced the English court to abandon the line of cautious policy which they had hitherto pursued. Maitland's embassy to London was success- ful ; and, on the 27th of February 1560, Elizabeth concluded a formal treaty with the lords of the Congregation, by which she engaged to send an army into Scotland, to assist them in expel- ling the French forces. Being informed of this treaty, the queen regent resolved to disperse the troops which were collec- ted at Glasgow under the Duke of Chastelhcrault, before the English army could arrive. On the 7th of March, the French, amounting to two thousand foot, and three hundred horse, issued from Leith, and proceeding by Linlithgow and KirkintuUoch, suddenly appeared before Glasgow. Having reduced the episcopal castle, they were preparing to advance to Hamilton, * Knox has preserved in his history (pp. 194 — 197) the principal topics en which he insisted in this sermon. t Knox, Historie, pp. 197, 201, 215. Spotswood, p. 140. MS Historie Df the estate of Scotland, pp. 19 — 22. 17* 198 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. when they received a message from the queen regent, inform ing them tliat the EngUsh army had begun its march into Scot- land ; upon which they reUnquished their design, and returned to Leith, carrying along with them a number of prisoners, and a considerable booty.* In the beginning of April, the Enghsh army joined the forces of the Congregation. The French shut themselves up within the fortifications of Leith, which was invested both by sea and land ; and the queen ro gent, who had for some time been in a declining state of health, was received by Lord Erskine into the castle of Edinburgh, where she died during the siege of Leith. These proceedings were viewed with deep interest by the court of France. Henry H. having died in July 1559, was suc- ceeded by Francis H. the husband of the young Queen of Scots ; in consequence of which, the administration of affairs fell entirely into the hands of the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorrain. They employed every art of political intrigue to prevent the Queen of England from giving assistance to the Scottish Congregation, and to prevail on her to desert them, after she had undertaken their protection. Nor were they al- together unsuccessful in their attempts. Elizabeth, partly from extreme caution and parsimony, and partly from the influence of some of her counsellors, was induced to listen to their plausi- ble proposals ; she delayed the march of her army into Scotland, and after the siege of Leith was commenced, suspended the military operations, and engaged in premature negotiations for peace. This last step justly alarmed the Congregation ; and while they neglected no means to persuade the English court to perform the stipulations of the late treaty, they prepared for the worst, by renewing their covenant among themselves. Elizabeth at last listened to the advice of her ablest minis- ters, and resolved to prosecute the war with vigour. No sooner did she evince this determination than the French court yielded to all her demands The armament which they had lately fitted out at great expense for Scotland, had been dis- persed by a storm ; the Frith of Forth was blocked up by an Eng- lish fleet ; and a confederacy had been formed among a number of the nobility in France, to remove the princes of Lorrain from the administration of public affairs, and to free the Protestants in that kingdom from the severe persecutions to which they had hitherto been exposed.! Influenced by these circumstan- * A particular account of this expedition, overlooked in our common his- tories, is given in MS. Historic of the Estate of Scotland from 1559 to 1566, pp. 25 — 7. Lesley (p. 519) refers to it obscurely. Spotswood (p. 140) and Keith (p. 110) have confounded it with a different expedition, which was undertaken in November preceding. t Those wlio wi^h to see a particular account of the negotiations between LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 199 ces, the French cabinet sent plenipotentiaries to Edinburgh, who conckided a treaty with England, by which the Scottish differences were also adjusted. By this treaty it was provided, that the French troops should immediately be removed from Scotland ; that an amnesty should be granted to all who had been engaged in the late resistance to the queen regent ; that the principal grievances of which they complained in the civil ad- ministration should be redressed ; that a free parliament should be held to settle the other affairs of the kingdom ; and tliat, during the absence of their sovereigns, the government should be administered by a council, to be chosen partly by Francis and Mary, and partly by the estates of the nation. The treaty was signed on the 7th of July. On the 16th, the French army embarked at Leith, and the English troops began their march into their own country; and on the 19th, the Congregation as- sembled in St Giles's Church, to return solemn thanks to God for the restoration of peace, and the success which had crown- ed their exertions.* In this maimer terminated the civil war which attended the Scottish Reformation, after it had continued for twelve months, with less rancour and bloodshed than have distingu'shed any other contest of a similar kind. During the continuance of the war, the Protestant preachers had been assiduous in disseminating knowledge through all parts of the kingdom, and their success was equal to their dili- gence. They had received a considerable accession t » their number from the ranks of their opponents. While we vene- rate those men who enlisted under the banners of truth when her friends were few, and who boldly took the field in her de- fence when the victory was yet dubious and distant, and while we cheerfully award to them the highest meed of honour, — let us not load with heavy censure, or even deprive of all praise, such as, less enlightened, or less courageous, were tardy in ap- pearing for the cause. He who " knew what is in man," has taught us not to reject such disciples, in the dawn of light, and in perilous times. Nicodemus, who at first " came to Jesus by night," and Joseph of Arimathea, who was his disciple, " but secretly, for fear of the Jews," afterwards avouched their faith in him, and obtained the honour of embalming and interring his body, when all his early followers had forsaken him and fled. Several of the Scottish clergy, who were favourable to the Protestant doctrine, had contrived to retain their places in France and England, and of the motives which influenced both courts in their conduct towards Scotland, may consult the letters published by For- bes and IJaynes, particularly those written from November 15")9 to July lofiO. * Jiuchaiiani Oper. i. 31:3. Kno.\, 229 — 23 1. Spotsvvood, pp. 147 — 9. Keith, pp. l:,0— 145. 200 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. the Church, by concealing then" sentiments, or by securing the favour of some powerful patron. Of this class were John Win- ram, subprior of the abbey of St Andrews, Adam Herriot, a friar of that abbey, John Spottiswood, parson of Calder, and John Carswell, rector of JCilmartine. In the gradual diffusion of knowledge through the nation, the minds of many who were attending the schools had been also enlightened ; among whom were David Lindsay, Andrew Hay, Robert Montgomery, Patrick Adamson, and Robert and Archibald Hamilton. Dur- ing the year 1559, these men came forward as auxiliaries to the first Protestant preachers ; and so successful were they in instructing the people, that the French would have found it ex- tremely difficult to support the ancient superstition, though they had proved victorious in the military contest. On the other hand, the exenious of the Popish clergy had been feeble in the extreme. Too corrupt to think of reforming their manners, too illiterate to be capable of defending then errors, they placed their forlorn hope on the success of the French arms, and looked forward to the issue of the war as in- volving the establishment or the ruin of their religion. The Bishop of Amiens, who came to Scotland in the double capac ity of ambassador from the French court and papal legate, wag accompanied by three doctors of the Sorbonne, who gave out that they would confound the reformed ministers, and bring back the people whom they had misled, to the bosom of the Church, by the force of argument and persuasion. Lesley boasts of the success which attended their exertions ; but there is good reason for thinking, that these foreign divines confined themselves to the easier task of instructing the Scottish clergy to perform the religious service with greater solemnity, and to purify the churches, in a canonical manner, from the pollution which they had contracted by the profane worship of heretics. * One effort, however, was made by the Popish clergy to support their sinking cause, which, if it had succeeded, would have done more to retrieve their reputation than all the arguments of the Sorbonnists ; and, as this was the last attempt of the kind that ever was made in Scotland, the reader may be gratified with the following account of it : — In the neighbourhood of Musselburgh was a chapel dedica- ted to our Lady of Loretto, the sanctity of which was increased from its having been the favourite abode of the celebrated Thomas the Hermit. To this sacred place the inhabitants of Scotland, from time immemorial, had repaired in pilgrimage, to present their offerings to the Virgin, and to experience the * I esley, pp. 516—7. Spotswood, 133—4. Keith, 102. Sadler says, that the Bishop of Amiens came to " curse, and also to dispute with tl\e Prf testants, and to reconcile them, if it wolbe." State Papers, i. 470. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 201 efficacy of her prayers, and the heaUiig virtue of the wonder working " Hermit of Lareit." * In tiie course of the year 1559 public notice was given by the friars, that they intended to put the truth of their reHgion to the proof, by performing a miracle at this chapel upon a young man who had been born blind. On the day appointed, a vast concourse of spectators assembled from all parts of Lothian. The young man, accompanied with a solemn procession of monks, was conducted to a scattbld erected on the outside of the chapel, and was exhibited to the multitude. Many of them knew him to be the blind man whom they had often seen begging, and whose necessities they had relieved ; all looked on him, and pronounced him stone blind. The friars then proceeded to their devotions with great fervency, invoking the assistance of the Virgin, at whose shrine they stood, and that of all the saints whom ihey honoured ; and after some time spent in prayers and religious ceremonies, the blind man opened his eyes, to the astonishment of the specta- tors. Having returned thanks to the friars and their saintly patrons for this wonderful cure, he was allowed to go down from the scaffold to gratify the curiosity af the people, and to receive their alms. It happened that there was among the crowd a gentleman of Fife, Robert Colville of Cleish,t who, from his romantic bra- very, was usually called Squire Meldrum, in allusion to a per- son of that name who had been celebrated by Sir David Lind- say. He was of Protestant principles, but his wife was a Ro- man Catholic, and, being pregnant at this 'ime, had sent a ser- vant with a present to the chapel of Loretto, to procure the assistance of the Virgin in her labour. The squire was too gallant to hurt his lady's feelings by prohibiting the present from being sent off, but he resolved to prevent the superstitious offering, and with that view had come to Musselburgh. He witnessed the miracle of curing the blind man with the distrust natural to a Protestant, and determined, if possible, to detect the imposition before he left the place. Wherefore, having sought out the young man from the crowd, he put a piece of money into his hand, and persuaded him to accompany him to his lodgings in Edinburgh. Taking him into a private room, and locking the door, he told him plainly that he was convinced he had engaged in a wicked conspiracy with the friars to impose on the credulity of the people, and at last drew from him the secret * The Earl of Glencairn's satirical poem against the friars is written in tlie form of an epistle from this hermit. Knox, Historie, p. 25. t He was the ancestor of Lord Colville of Ochiltree (Douglas's Peerage p. 147), and was killed at the siege of Leith, on the 7th of Mew ISCKJ Knox; Historie, p. 2;7. A2 202 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. of the story. When a boy, he liad been employed to .end the cattle belonging to the nuns of Sciennes, in the vicinity of Edin- burgh, and had attracted their attention by a peculiar faculty which he had of turning up the white of his eyes, and of keep ing them in this position, so as to appear quite blind. Certain friars in the city, having come to the knowledge of this fact, con- ceived the design of making it subservient to their purposes ; and having prevailed on the sisters of Sciennes to part with the poor boy, lodged him in one of their cells. By daily practice he became an adept in the art of counterfeiting blindness ; ana after he had remained so long in concealment as not to be re- cognised by his former acquaintance, he was sent forth to beg as a blind pauper ; the friars having previously bound him, by a solemn vow, not to reveal the secret. To confirm his narra- tive, he " played liis pavie" before the squire, by " flypping up the lid of his eyes, and casting up the white," so as to appear as blind as he did on the scaffold at Loretto. The gentleman laid before him the iniquity of his conduct, and told him that ne must next day repeat the whole story publicly at the cross of Edinburgh ; and, as this would expose him to the vengeance of the friars, he engaged to become his protector, and to retain him as a servant in his house. The young man complied with his directions, and Cleish, with his drawn sword in his hand, having stood by him till he had finished his confession, placed him on the same horse with himself, and carried him off to Fife. The detection of this imposture was quickly published through the country, and covered the friars with confusion. My author does not say whether it cured Lady Cleish of her superstition, but I shall afterwards have occasion to notice its influence hi opening the eyes of one who became a distinguish- ed promoter of the Reformation.* The treaty which put an end to the civil war in Scotland, made no particular settlement respecting the religious differ- encesjt but it was on that very account, the more fatal to Popery The Protestants were left in the possession of authority ; and they were now by far the most powerful party in the nation, * Row's MS. Historie of the Kirk, p. 356, transcribed in 1726. An ac- count of this pretended miracle and its detection, probably taken from the above MS., will be found in the Weekly Magazine for June 1772. t The English ambassadors, in a letter to Elizabeth, say: — "Two things have bene tow hott (too hot) for the French too meddle withal ; and there- fore they be passed, and left as they found them. The first is the matter of religion, which is here as freely, and rather more earnestly (as I, the secre- tary, thynk,) receaved than in England : a hard thyng now to alter as it is planted." Haynes, p. 352. Dr. Wotton, dean of Windsor, and secretary Cecil, are the subscribers of this letter; but as it would have been rather ton much for the dean to say that religion was " more earnestly received" in Scotland than in England, the secretary alone vouches for that fact. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 203 ooth as to rank and numbers. With the exception ot those places which had been occupied by the queen regent ar.d her foreign auxiUaries, the Roman CathoUc worship was almost universally deserted throughout the kingdom, and no provision was made in the treaty for its restoration. The firm hold which it once had on the opinions and affections of the people was completely loosened ; it was supported by force alone ; and the moment that the French troops embarked, that fabric which had stood for ages in Scotland fell to the ground. Its feeble and dismayed priests ceased of their own accord from the celebra- tion of its rites ; and the reformed service was peaceably set up, wherever ministers could be found to perform it. The par- liament, when it entered upon the consideration of the state ot religion, as one of the points undecided by the commissioners, which had been left to them,* had little else to do but to sanc- tion what the nation had previously done, by legally abolish- ing the Popish, and establishing the Protestant religion. When the circumstances in which they were assembled, and the affairs on which they were called to deliberate, are taken in- to consideration, this must be regarded as the most important meeting of the estates of the kingdom that had ever been held in Scotland. It engrossed the attention of the nation, and the eyes of Europe were fixed on its proceedings. The parliament met on the 10th of July, but, agreeably to the terms of the trea- ty, it was prorogued, without entering on business, until the first day of August. Although a great concourse of people resorted to Edinburgh on that occasion, yet no tumult or disturbance of the public peace occurred. Many of the lords spiritual and temporal, who were attached to Popery, absented themselves ; but the chief patrons of the old religion, as the Archbishop of St. Andrews, and the Bishops of Dumblane and Dunkeld, coun- tenanced the assembly by their presence, and were allowed to act with freedom as lords of parliament. There is one fact in its constitution and proceedings which strikingly illustrates the influence of the Reformation upon political liberty. In the reign of James I. the lesser barons had been exempted from personal attendance on parliament, and permitted to elect re- presentatives in their different shires. But a privilege which, m modern times, is so eagerly coveted, was then so little prized, that, except in a few instances no representatives from the shires had appeared in parliament, t and the lesser barons had almost * By one of the articles of the troatj% the parliament, after aGcrceing upon such things as they thouglit necessary tor tlie reformation of religion, were to send deputies into France to represent tiiem to their Majestios. Ivnox, Historie, p. '2'M. Spolswood \> 14^. r Robertson's History of Scotland, p. i. Keith, pp. 147 — 8. 204 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. forfeited their right by neglecting to exercise it. At this time, however, they nssembled at Edinburgh, and agreed upon a pe- tition to the parliament, claiming to be restored to their ancient privilege. The petition was granted, and, in consequence of this, about a hundred gentlemen took their seats.* The business of religion was introduced by a petition pre- sented by a number of Protestants of ditferent ranks, in which, after rehearsing their former endeavours to procure the removal of the corruptions which had affected the Church, they reques- ted parliament to use the power which Providence had now put into their hands for effecting this great and urgent work. They craved three things in general, — that the antichristian doctrine maintained in the Popish Church should be discarded ; that means should be used to restore purity of worship, and primi- tive discipline ; and that the ecclesiastical revenues, which had been engrossed by a corrupt and indolent hierarchy, should be applied to the support of a pious and active ministry, to the promotion of learning, and to the relief of the poor. They de- clared, that they were ready to substantiate the justice of all their demands, and, in particular, to prove, that those who ar rogated to themselves the name of clergy were destitute of all right to be accounted ministers of religion; and that, from the tyranny which they had exercised, and their vassalage to the court of Rome, they could not be safely tolerated, and far less intrusted with power, in a reformed commonwealth, t In answer to the first demand, the parliament required the reformed ministers to lay before them a summary of doctrine which they could prove to be consonant with the Scriptures, and which they desired to have established. The ministers were not unprepared for this task ; and, in the course of four days, they presented a Confession of Faith, as the product of their joint labours, and an expression of their unanimous judgment. It agreed with the confessions which had been published by other reformed churches. Professing belief in the common articles of Christianity respecting the divine nature, the trinity, the creation of the world, the origin of evil, and the per- son of the Saviour, which were retained by the Church of Rome, in opposition to the errors broached by ancient heretics, it condemned not only the idolatrous and superstitious tenets of that Church, but also its gross depravation of the doctrine of Scripture respecting the state of fallen man, and the method of * Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 525—6. Keith, 146—7. Robertson, i. Append. No. iv. In the list of members in this parliament, the names of the lesser barons, CM* gentlemen of the shires, are inserted after those of the commissioners of boroughs ; the roll having been made up previous to the admission of the ^brmer. t Knox Historie, pp. 2.37—8. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 205 his recovery. It declared, that by " original sin was the image of God dcfacit in man, and he and his posteritie of nature be- come enemies to God, slaifis to Sathan, and seruandis of sin ;" that " all our saluationn springs fra the eternall and immutabill decree of God, wha of meir grace electit us in Christ Jesus, his Sone, before the foundatione of the warld was laid ;'' that it be- hoves us " to apprehend Christ Jesus, with his justice and satis factioun, wha is the end and accomplischement of the law, by whome we are set at this libertie, that the curse and maledic- tioun of God fall not upon us ;" that " as God the Father creatit us whan we war not, and his Sone our Lord Jesus redemit us whan we were enemies to him, sa alswa the Haly Gaist dois sanctifie and regenerat us, without all respect of ony merite pro- ceeding fra us, be it befoir, or be it efter our regeneration, — to speik this ane thing yit in mair plaine wordis, as we willinglie spoyle ourselfis of all honour and gloir of our awin creatioun and redemptioun, sa do we alswa of our regeneratioun and sanctificatioun, for of our selfis we ar not sufficient to think ane gude thoclit, bot he wha hes begun the work in us is onlie he that continewis us in the same, to the praise and glorie of his undeservit grace ;" and, in fine, it declared, that although good works proceed " not from our fre-wil, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus," and although those that boast of the merit of then* own works, " hoist themselfis of that whilk is nocht," yet " blas- phemie it is to say, that Christ abydis in the hartis of sic as in whome thair is no spirite of sanctificatioun ; and all wirkers of iniquitie have nouther trew faith, nouther ony portioun of the Spirite of the Lord Jesus, sa lang as obstinatlie they continew in thair wickitnes." * The Confession was read first before the lords of Articles, and aftervvards before the whole parliament. The Protestant ministers attended in the house to defend it, if attacked, and to give satisfaction to the members respecting any point which might appear dubious. Those who had objections to it were formally required to state them. And the farther consideration of it was adjourned to a subsequent day, that none might pre- tend that an undue advantage had been taken of him, or that a matter of such importance had been concluded precipitately. On the 17th of August, the Parliament resumed the subject, and, previous to the vote, the Confession was again read, arti- cle by article, t The Earl of Athole, and Lords Somerville and Borthwick, were the only persons of the temporal estate who * Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 526—534. Knox, Historie, pp. 240—253. Dun- lop's Confessions, ii. 21 — 98. t In Knox's Historie, " the 17th day of July" is printed, b} mistake instead of the 17th of August. Act. Purl. Scot. ii. 534. IS 206 LlFh OF JOHn'knOX. voted in the negative, assigning this as their reason, "We will beleve as our forefatheris belevit." * " The bischopis spak nothing." t After the vote establishing the Confession of Faith, the Earl Marischal rose, and declared, that the silence of the clergy had confirmed him in his belief of the Protestant doctrine ; and he protested, that if any of the ecclesiastical estate should afterwards oppose the doctrine which had just been re- ceived, they should be entitled to no credit; seeing, after fu'l knowledge of it, and ample time for deliberation, they had allowed it to pass without the smallest opposition or contradic- tion. X On the 24th of August, the parliament abolished the papal jurisdiction, prohibited, under certain penalties, the cele- bration of mass, and rescinded all the laws formerly made in support of the Roman Catholic Church, and against the re- formed faith. § Thus did the reformed religion advance in Scotland, from small beginnings, and amidst great opposition, until it attained a parliamentary establishment. Besides the influence of Hea- ven secretly accompanying the labours of the preachers and confessors of the truth, the serious and inquisitive reader will trace the wise arrangements of Providence in that concatenation of events which contributed to its rise, preservation, and in- crease,— by overruling the caprice, the ambition, the avarice, and the interested policy of princes and cabinets, many of whom had nothing less in view than to favour that cause which they were so instrumental in promoting. The breach of Henry VHI. of England with the Roman see, awakened the attention of the inhabitants of the northern part of the island to a controversy which had formerly been carried on at too great a distance to interest them, and led not a few to desire a reformation more improved than the model which that monarch had held out to them. The premature death of James V. of Scotland saved the Protestants from destruction. During the short period in which they received the countenance of ci- vil authority, at the commencement of Arran's administration, the seeds of the reformed doctrine were so widely spread, and took such deep root, as to be able to resist the violent mea- sures which the regent, after his recantation, employed to extir- pate them. Those who were driven from the country by per- * Knox, Historic, p. 25^1 f Keith is at a great loss to account for, and excuse the silence of the Po])ish clergy; (to whom he is unitbrnily partial ;) and he found himself obliged to retract one apology which he had made tor them, namely, that they were deterred from speaking by the threatenings of their opponccta (listoT^, pp. 149, 150, comp. 488, note (a) X Knox, Historie, p, 2.53. t Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 534—5. Knox, Historie, pp. 254—5. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 207 secutioii found an asylum in England, under the decidedly Pro testant government of Edward VI. After his death, the alli- ance of England with Spain, and of Scotland with France, tiie two great contending powers on the continent, prevented that concert between the two courts which might have proved fatal to the Protestant religion in Britain. While the cruelties of the English queen drove Protestant preachers into Scotland, the political schemes of the queen regent induced her to favour them, and to connive at the propagation of their opinions. At the critical moment when the latter had accomplished her favourite designs, and was preparing to crush the Reformation, Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, and was induced, by political no less than religious considerations, to support the Scottish retbrmers. The French court was no less bent on sup- pressing them, and, having lately concluded peace with Spain, was left at liberty to direct its undivided attention to the accomplishment of that object ; but at this critical moment, those intestine dissensions, which continued so long to desolate France, broke out, and forced its ministers to accede to that treaty, which put an end to French influence, and the papal re- ligion, in Scotland. 208 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. PERIOD VII. FROM AUGUST 1560, WHEN KNOX WAS SETTLED AS MINISTER OF EDINBURGH, AT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMATION, TO DECEMBER 1563, WHEN HE WAS ACQUITTED FROM A CHARGE OF TREASON In appointing the Protestant ministers to particular stations, a measure wiiich engaged the attention of the privy council immediately after the conclusion of the civil war, the tempor- ary arrangements that had been formerly made were in general confirmed, and our Reformer resumed his charge as minister of Edinburgh.* For several months he had officiated as minister of St. Andrews;! but in the end of April 1560, he left that place, and returned to the capital, J where he preached during the siege of Leith, and the negotiations which issued in a peace. Altliough the parliament had abolished the papal jurisdiction and worship, and ratified the Protestant doctrine, as laid down in the Confession of Faith, the Reformed Church was not yet completely organized in Scotland. Hitherto the Book of Com- mon Order, used by the English Church at Geneva, had been generally followed as the rule of public worship and discipline. But this having been compiled for a single congregation, and for one that consisted chiefly of men of education, was found inadequate for the use of an extensive Church, composed of a multitude of confederate congregations. Our reformers were anxious to provide the means of religious instruction to the whole people in the kingdom ; but they were very far from ap- proving of the promiscuous admission of persons of all descrip- tions to the pecuhar privileges of the Church of Christ. From the beginning, they were sensible of the great importance of ecclesiastical discipline, to the prosperity of religion, the main- * Knox, Historie, p. 236. t " Ult. Mart. 1560. Margaret Aidnam askit God and the congregatioun forgiveness of the adultery committed be her wt William Rantoun, publiclie ui the paroche kirke of this town : John Knox beand at that tyme minister." Records of the kirk Session of St. Andrews. t Records of Town-council of Edinburgh, May 8. 1560. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 209 -.enance of order, and the preservation of sound doctrine and morals. In the petition presented to parliament in August, the establishment of tliis was specially requested.* And Knox, who had observed the great advantages which attended the ob- servance of a strict discipline at Geneva, and the manifold evils which resulted from the want of it in England, insisted very particularly on this topic, in the discourses which he delivered from the book of Haggai during the sitting of parliament.t The difficulties which the reformed ministers had to surmount, before they could accomplish this important object, began to present themselves at this early stage of their progress. When it is considered, that Calvin was subjected to a sentence of ban- ishment trorn the senate of Geneva, and exposed to a populai tumult before he could prevail on the citizens to submit to ec clesiastical discipline,t we need not be surprised at the opposition which our reformers met with in their endeavours to introduce it into Scotland. Knox's warm exhortations on this head were at first disregarded ; he had the mortification to find his plan of Church polity derided as a " devout imagination," by some of the professors of the reformed doctrine,§ — and the parlia ment dissolved without coming to any decision on this impor tant point. As the ministers, however, continued to urge the subject, and the reasonableness of their demands could not be denied, the privy council, soon after the dissolution of the parliament, gave a commission to Knox, and four other ministers, who had former- ly been employed along with him in composing the Confession, to draw up a plan of ecclesiastical government. |1 They imme- diately set about this task, with a diligence and care propor- * Knox, Historie, p. 238. + Ibid. p. 237 I Beza, Vita Calvini. Melch. Adami Vitae Exter. Theolog. pp. 70, 88. Persons unfriendly to the government of the reformed churches, have re- presented the opposition made to Calvin and his brethren, as arising from their attempts to have their discipline established by human laws, and sup- ported by civil penalties. This is an unfair representation of the case. "Neque enim consentaneum est," says Calvin, "ut qui monitionibus nostris obtemperare voluerint, eos ad magistratum deferamus." Institut. Christ. Relig. p. 434. Ludg. Batav. 1654. The dispute between him and his op- ponents turned on this question. Are ministers obliged to administer the sac- raments to those whom they judge unworthy I Or, (which amounts to the same thing,) Are the decisions of the church court in such matters to be Reviewed and reversed by the civil court? Melch. Adam, ut supra. And diis will be found to have been the true state of the question in Scotland, in Ihe greater part of the dissensions between the Court and the Church, atler the establishment of the Reformation. ^ Kno.x, Historie, pp. 237, 256. II The names of the ministers who composed the Confession of Faith, and the Book of Discipline, were John Winram, John Spotsw(Kxi, John Douglas, John Row, and John Kno.x. Ibid. p. 256 18* B 2 210 LIFE 0F70HN KNOX. tioned to their convictions of its importance. They '• took i o( their ext.mple," says Row, "from any kirk in the world, no, not from Geneva ; but drew their plan from the Sacred Scrip- tures." Having arranged the subject under different heads, they divided these among them ; and, after they had finished their several parts, they met together and examined them with great attention, spending much time in reading and meditation on the subject, and in earnest prayers for divine direction. When they had drawn up the whole in form, they laid it before the General Assembly, by whom it was approved, after they had caused some of its articles to be abridged.* It was also submitted to the privy council ; but, although many of the members highly approved of the plan, it was warmly opposed by others. This opposition did not arise from any difference of sentiment between them and the ministers respecting eccles- iastical government, but partly from aversion to the strict dis- cipline which it appointed to be exercised against vice, and part- ly from reluctance to comply with its requisition for the appro- priation of the revenues of the Popish Church to the support of the new religious and literary establishments. Though noi formally ratified by the council, it was, however, subscribed b) the greater part of the members ;t and as the sources of preju dice against it were well known, it was submitted to by the na- tion, and carried into effect in most of its ecclesiastical regula- tions, f It is known in history by the name of the Book of Policy, or First Book of Discipline. Considering the activity of Knox m constructing and recom- mending this platform, and the importance of the subject in itself, it cannot be foreign to our object to take a view of the form and order of the Protestant Church of Scotland, as delin- * Row, MS. Histxjrie of the Kirk, pp. 12, 16, 17. It is probable that the meeting of Assembly by which the Book of Discipline was approved, was that which Knox calls a Convention, held on the 5th of January I.5H1. His- torie, pp. 261, 295. The first General Assembly appointed a meeting to be held at that time. Buik of the Universall Kirk, p. -i. MS in Advocates' Library. But there is no account of its proceedings in that or in any other op : piling it was given on the 29th of April 1560, and that it was finished by them on the 20th of May following. But, as the civil war was not then con- sludcd, I have followed the account given by Knox, who says, that it was undertaken subsequently to the meeting of parliament in August that year. Historie, p. 256. •f In Dunlop's Collect, of Confessions, ii. 436, the approbation of it is sryieo " an act of secret council, 25th January 1560," i. e. 1561. I Knox, Historie, pp. 256, 257, 295, 296. Keith, 496, 497. Dunlop, li 606—608. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 211 euted m the Book of Discipline, and in other authentic docu ments of th.-it period. The ordinary and permanent office-bearers of the Church were of four kinds : the minister, or pastor, to whom the preacli- ing of the gospel and administration of the sacraments belong- ed ; the doctor, or teacher, wliose province it was to interprt-t Scripture and confute errors (including those who taught theol- ogy in schools and universities;) the ruling elder who assistecl the minister in exercising ecclesiastical discipline and govern- ment ; and the deacon, who had the special oversight of the revenues of the church and the poor. But, besides these, it was found necessary at this time to employ some persons i)i extraordinary and temporary charges. As there was not a suf ficient number of ministers to supply the different parts of the country, that the people might not be left altogether destitute of public worship and instruction, certain pious persons, who had received a common education, were appointed to read the Scriptures and the common prayers. These were called readers. In large parishes, persons of this description were also employ- ed to relieve the ministers from a part of the public service. If they advanced in knowledge, they were encouraged to add a few plain exhortations to the reading of the Scriptures. In this case they were called exhorters ; but they were examined and admitted before entering upon this employment. The same cause gave rise to another temporary expedient. Instead of fixing all the ministers in particular charges, it was judged proper, after supplying the principal towns, to assign to the rest the superintendence of a large district, over which they were appointed regularly to travel, for the purpose of preaching, of planting churches, and inspecting the conduct of ministers, exhorters, and readers. These were called superiiitendents. The number originally proposed was ten ; but, owing to the scarcity of proper persons, or rather to the want of necessary funds, there were never more than five appointed.* The defi ciency was supplied by commissioners, or visitors, appointed from time to time by the General Assembly. None was allowed to preach, or to administer the sacraments, :ill he was regularly called to this employment. Persons were * The General Assembly had, at different times, under their consideration, the appointment of superintendents for Jedburgh, Dumfries, Aberdeen, and Banff, but came to no conclusion. Those actually appointed were, Joini Erskin"* of Dun, for Angus; John Winram, for Fife; John Spots wood, for Lothian ; John Willock, for Glasgow ; and John Carswell, for Argyle. Keith's Hist. pp. 511, r)l-J, 518 — 9. Carswell is not mentioned among the superintendents in a curious document recently printed : but it contains no list of the Ministers in Argyle. Register of Ministers, Exhorters, and Rea- ders, and of their Stipends, after the period of the Reformation, pp. 1, 2 Ed- inburgh, 1830. 212 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. invested with the pastoral office in the way of being freely elected by the people,* examined by the ministers, and public- ly admitted in the presence of the congregation. On the day of admission, the minister who presided, after preaching a ser- mon suited to the occasion, put a number of questions to the candidate, to satisfy the Church as to his soundness in the faith, his willingness to undertake the charge, the purity of his motives, and his resolution to discharge the duties of the office with diligence and fidelity. Satisfactory answers having been given to these questions, and the people having signified their adherence to their former choice, the person was admitted and set apart by prayer, without the imposition of hands ; t and the service was concluded with an exhortation, the singing of a psalm, and the pronouncing of the blessing. Superintendents were admitted in the same way as other ministers. t The affairs of each congregation were managed by the minister, elders, and deacons, who constituted the kirk-session, which met regularly once a-week, and oftener if business required. There was a meeting, called the weekly exercise, or prophesy- ing, held in every considerable town, consisting of the ministers, exhorters, and learned men in the vicinity, for expounding the Scriptures. This was afterwards converted into the presbytery, or classical assembly. The superintendent met with the minis- ters, and delegated elders of his district twice a-year in the pro- vincial synod, which took cognizance of ecclesiastical affairs within its bounds. And the General Assembly, which was composed of ministers and elders commissioned from the differ- ent parts of the kingdom, met twice, sometimes thrice, in a year, and attended to the interests of the national Church. Public worship was conducted according to the Book of Com- mon Order, with a few variations adapted to the state of Scot- land. On Sabbath-days, the people assembled twice for public worship ; and to promote the instruction of the ignorant, cate- chising was substituted for preaching in the afternoon. In towns, a sermon was regularly preached on one day of the week besides Sabbath ; and on almost every day, the people had an opportunity of hearing public prayers and the reading of the Scriptures. Baptism was never dispensed unless it was icconipanied with preaching or catechising. The Lord's Sup- |>er was administered four times a-year in towns, and there were ordinarily two " ministrations," one at an early hour of the morning, and another later in the day. The sign of the * Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 524, 526, 545, 577, 638, 639. t Dunlop, ii. 526. Imposition of hands was afterwards appointed to b« used by the Second Book of Discipline. Ibid. 768 — 9. I Knox. Historie, pp. 26H — 266. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 213 cross ui ba,»tizing, and kneeling at the Lord's table, were con- demned and laid aside ; and anniversary holidays were wholly abolished. * We shall afterwards have occasion to advert to the discipline under which offenders were brought. The compilers of the First Book of Discipline paid particular attention to the state of education. They required that a school should be erected in every parish, for the instruction of youth in the principles of religion, grammar, and the Latin tongue. They proposed that a toUege should be erected in every " notable town,'^ in which logic and rhetoric should be taught, along with the learned languages. They seem to have had it in their eye to revive the system adopted by some of the an- cient republics, in which the youth were considered as the pro- perty of the public rather than of their parents, by obliging the nobility and gentry to educate their children, and by providing, at the public expense, for the education of the children of the poor who discovered talents for learning. Their regulations for the three national universities discover an enlightened regard to the interests of literature, and may suggest hints which deserve attention in the present age. t If these were not reduced to practice, the blame cannot be imputed to the reformed minis- ters, but to the nobility and gentry, whose avarice defeated the execution of their plans. To carry these important measures into effect, permanent funds were requisite ; and for these it was natural to look to the patrimony of the Church. The hierarchy had been abolished, and the Popish clergy excluded from all religious services, by the alterations which the Parliament had introduced ; and whatever provision it was proper to allot for the dismissed in cumbents during life, it was unreasonable that they should con- tinue to enjoy those emoluments which were attached to offices for which they had been found totally unfit. No successors could be appointed to them ; and there was not any individual, or class of men in the nation, who could justly claim a title to the rents of their benefices. The compilers of the Book of Discipline, therefore, proposed that the patrimony of the Church should be appropriated, in the first instance, to the support of the new ecclesiastical establishment. Under this head they in- cluded the ministry, the schools, and the poor. For the minis- ters they required that such " honest provision" should be made, as would give " neither occasion of solicitude, neither yet of insolencie and* wantonnesse." In ordinary cases, they thought that forty bolls of meal, and twenty-six bolls of malt, !•/ *h a. reasonable sum of money, to purchase other necessary * For an illustration of some of these facts, see Note NN. t Fir«t Book of Discipline, chap. vii. Dunlop, ii. 547 — 561. 214 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. articles of provision for his family, was an adequate stipend foj a minister. To enable superintendents to defray the extraordi nary expenses of travelling in the discharge of their duty, six chalders of bear, nine chalders of meal, three chalders of oats, and six hundred merks in money, were thought necessary as an annual stipend. The salaries of professors were fixed from one to two hundred pounds; and the mode of supporting the poor was left undetermined, until means should be used to suppress "stubborne and idle beggars," and to ascertain the number of the really necessitous in each parish. The stipends of ministers were to be collected by the deacons from the tithes ; but all illegal exactions were to be previously abolished, and measures taken to relieve the labourers of the ground from the oppressive manner in which the tithes had been gathered by the clergy, or by those to whom they had farmed them. The revenues of bishoprics, and of cathedral and collegiate churches, with the rents arising from the endowments of monasteries and other re- ligious foundations, were to be divided, and appropriated to the support of the universities, or of the churches within their bounds. Nothing could be more unpalatable than doctrine of this kind to a considerable number of the Protestant nobility and gentry. They had for some time fixed a covetous eye on the rich reve- nues of the Popish clergy. Some of them had seized upon church-lands, or retained the tithes in their own hands. Others had taken long leases of them from the clergy for small sums of money, and were anxious to have these private bargains legalized. Hence their aversion to have the Book of Discipline ratified ; * hence the poverty and the complaints of the minis- ters, and the languishing state of the universities. The Swiss Reformer, by his eloquence and his firmness, enabled his coun- trymen to gain a conquest over their avarice, which was more honourable to them than any of their other victories, when he prevailed on them to appropriate the whole revenues of the Po- pish establishment to the support of the Protestant Church and seminaries of literature, t But it was not so easy a matter to * Knox mentions Lord Erskine (afterwards Earl of Mar) as one of the chief noblemen who refused to subscribe the Discipline, and assigns two rea- sons for his refusal : first, " he has a very Jesabell to his wife ;" and, second, " if the pure, the senilis, and the ramistry of tlie kirk, had thair awin, hia kitcheing wald want twa partes and mair of that quhilk he now unjustly possesses." Historie, p. 2-.6. My Lady Mar's passion for money was well known at that time, and is referred to in Lord Thirlstane's " Admonitioun to my Lord of Mar Regent," published in Ancient Scottish Poems from Mait- land MS p. 164. Lond. 178 5:— " Nor, to content thy marrow's covatice, Put not thyself in perrell for to pereis." t Hess, Life of Zuingle, pp. '201 — -07. Gerdes. i. 309 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 215 manage the turbulent and powerful barons of Scotland, as it was to sway the minds of the burgomasters of Zurich. When we consider, however, the extent of the establishments propos- ed by our reformers, including the support of the ministry, of parochial schools, of city colleges, and of national universities, we caimot regard the demand which they made on the funds devoted to the Church as extravagant or unreasonable. They shewed themselves disinterested by the moderate share which they asked for themselves ; and the least that we can say of their plan is, that it was worthy of a more enlightened and lib- eral age, in which it might have met with rulers more capable of appreciating its utility, and better disposed to carry it into execution. "^ It is peculiarly pleasing to observe the restoration of religion and of letters going hand in hand, in our native country. Everywhere, indeed, the Reformation had the most powerful influence, direct and remote, on the general promotion of litera- ture. It aroused the human mind from the lethargy in which it had slumbered for ages, released it from the fetters of implicit faitli and blind obedience to human authority, and stimulated it to the exertion of its powers in the search of truth. It induced the learned to study with care the original languages in which the sacred books were written ; and it diffused knowledge among the illiterate, by laying open the Scriptures, and calling upon all to examine them for themselves. The unintelligible jargon which had long infested the schools began to be discard- ed. Controversies were now decided by appeals to Scrii)ture and to common sense ; and the disputes which were eagerly maintained led to the improvement of the art of reasoning, and a more rational method of communicating knowledge. Super- stition and credulity being undermined, the spirit of inquiry was soon directed to the discovery of the true laws of nature, as well as the genuine doctrines of revelation. In the south of Europe, the revival of letters preceded the reformation of religion, and materially facilitated its progress. In the north, this order was reversed ; and Scotland, in par- ticular, must date the origin of her literary acquirements from the first introduction of the Protestant opinions. As the one gained ground, the other was brought forward. We have al- ready seen that the Greek language began to be studied almost as soon as the light of Reformation dawned upon this country ; and I have now to state, that the first school for teacliing the Hebrew language in Scotland was opened immediately aftei' the establishment of the Protestant Church. Hebrew was one of the branches of education appointed by the Book of Disci * See Note 00. 216 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. pline to be taught in the reformed semmaries, and Providence had furnished a person who was well qualified for that task which those who filled the chairs in our universities were totally unfit to undertake. The person to whom I refer was John Row. After finishing his education at St Andrews, and practising for some time as an advocate before the consistorial court there, he left the country about the year 1550, with the view of prosecuting his studies to greater advantage on the Continent. Within a short time he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from two Italian imi- versities. He did not. however, confine himself to one branch of study ; but, improving the opportunity which he enjoyed, made himself master of the Greek and Hebrew languages. His reputation as a lawyer being high, the Scottish clergy em- ployed him as agent to manage some of their causes before the court of Rome. This introduced him to the friendship of Guido Ascanio Sforza, C-ardinal of Sancta Flora, and to the acquaint- ance of two sovereign pontiffs, Julius HL and Paul IV. Had he remained in Italy, it is highly probable tliat he would soon have attained to honourable preferment in the Church ; but having lost his health, he determined, in 1558, to return to his native country. The reigning pope had heard, with deep con- cern, of the progress which the new opinions were making in Scotland, and, as he had great confidence in Row's talents, ap- pointed him his nuncio, with instructions to use his utmost ex- ertions to oppose them. When he came home, he endeavoured for some time to discharge his commission ; but despairing of success, and foreseeing the confusions in which the country was about to be involved, he resolved on returning to Italy. From this resolution he was diverted by the prior of St. Andrews, who admired his learning, and conceived good hopes of his conversion, from the candour which he displayed in the man- agement of religious controversy. His constancy was soon after shaken by the discovery of the impostur,e which the clergy attempted to practise at Musselburgh; * and, having held several conferences with Knox, he became a complete convert to the Protestant faith. Upon the establishment of the Refor- mation, he was admitted minister of Perth, and, at the recom- mendation of his brethren, began to give lessons in the He- brew language to young men who were placed under his tuition, t The interests of literature in Scotland were not a little pro- moted at this time by the return of Buchanan to his native country. That accomplished scholar, since his flight in 153S, * See above, p. 201. T Row's MS. Historie, ut sup. pp. 308, 356, 372. See also Note PP. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 2n had visited the most celebrated seminaries on the Continent greatly improved his stock of learning, and given ample proof of those talents which, in the opinion of posterity as well as of his contemporaries, have placed him indisputably at the head of modern Latin poets. The reception which he obtained from his countrymen evinced that they were not incapable of esti- mating his merits ; and the satisfaction with which he spent the remainder of his life among them, after he had enjoyed the society of the most learned men in Europe, is a sufficient proof that they had already made no inconsiderable advances in the acquisition of polite literature.* We are apt to form false and exaggerated notions of the rudeness of our ancestors. Scotland was, indeed, at that period, as she is still at the present day, behind many of tlie southern countries in the cultivation of some of the fine arts, and she was a stranger to that refinement of manners which has oftener been a, concealment to vice than an ornament to virtue. But that her inhabitants were " men unacquainted with the pleasures of conversation, ignorant of arts and civility, and corrupted beyond their usual rusticity by a dismal fanaticism, which rendered them incapable of all humanity or improvement," t is an asser- tion which argues either inexcusable ignorance or deplorable prejudice. Will this character apply to such men as Buchanan, Knox, Row, Willock, Balnaves, Erskine, Maitland, Glencairn, and James Stewart, not to name many others ; men who ex- celled in their respective ranks and professions, who had received a liberal education, travelled into foreign countries, conversed with the best company, and, in addition to their acquaintance with ancient learning, could speak the most polite languages of modern Europe ? Perhaps some of our literati, who entertain such a diminutive idea of the taste and learning of those times, might have been taken by surprise, had they been set down at the table of one of our Scottish reformers, surrounded by a circle of his children and pupils, where the conversation was all car- ried on in French, and the chapter of the Bible, at family wor- ship, was read by the boys in French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Perhaps they might have blushed, if the book had been put into their hands, and they had been required to perform a part of the exercises. Such, however, was the common practice in the house of John Row.J Nor was the improvement of our native tongue neglected at that time. David Ferguson, minister oi Dunfermline, was celebrated for his attention to this branch of composition. He had not enjoyed the advantage of a univcr- ♦ See Note QQ. t Hume, History of England, vol. v. chap, 38, p. 51. Lend. 1807. t B nv's MS. p. 372. 19 C2 218 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. sity education, but, possessing a good taste and li/ely fancy was very successful in refining and enriching the Scottish Ian guage, by his discourses and writings.* The first meeting of the General Assembly of the Churcli of Scotland was held at Edinburgh on the 20th of December 1 560. It consisted of forty members, only six of whom were ministers.1 Knox was one of these ; and he continued to sit in most of the meetings of that judicatory until the time of his death. Its deliberations were conducted at first with great simplicity and unanimity. It is a singular circumstance that there were seven different meetings of Assembly without a moderator or presi- dent. But as the number of members increased, and business became more complicated, a moderator was appointed to be chosen at every meeting ; and he was invested with authority to maintain order. The first person who occupied that place was John Willock, superintendent of Glasgow and the West. Regulations were also enacted concerning the constituent mem- bers of the court, the causes which ought to come before them, and the mode of procedure. J In the close of this year, our Reformer suffered a heavy domestic loss, by the death of his valuable wife, who, after sharing the hardships of exile along with her husband, was removed from him just when he had obtained a comfortable settlement for his family.§ He was left with the charge of two young children, in addition to his other cares. His mother-in- 'aw was still with him ; but though he took pleasure in her .eligious conversation, the dejection of mind to which she was subject, and which all his ef!brts could never completely cure, ratlier increased than lightened his burden. |1 His acute feel- ings were severely wounded by this stroke ; but he endeavoured to moderate his grief by the consolations which he administered to others, and by application to public duty. He had the satis- faction of receiving, on this occasion, a letter from his much respected friend Calvin, in which expressions of great esteem for his deceased partner were mingled with condolence for his loss. II * See Note RR. t Buik of the Universal Kirk, p. 2. MS. Adv. Lib. Keith, 498. I See Note SS. 5 Knox's Historie, p. 260. II Preface to a Letter, added to An Answer to a Letter of a Jesuit, named Tyrie, be Johne Knox. — Sanctandrois — Anno Do. 1572. H Calvini Epistolse, p. 150. Oper. torn. ix. " Viduitas tua inihi, ut debet, tristis et acerba est. Uxorem nactus eras cui non reperiiintur passim similes," &c. In a letter to Christopher Goodman, written at the same time, Calvin says, " Fratrem nostrum Knoxum, etsi non parum doleo suavissima uxore fuisse privatum, ^uadeo tamen ejus morte non itafuisse afflictum, quin stronue operam suam Christo et e^'clesite impendat." Ibid. Calvm had lost nis own wife in 1549. Epistola3 et Responsa, p 212 — 3, 225, Hancv. 1597. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 219 I may take this oppGrtiiiiity of mentioning, that Knox, with the consent of his brethren, consulted the Genevan reformer upon several difficult questions which occurred respecting the settlement of tiie Scottish Reformation, and that a number of letters passed between them on this subject.* Anxieties on a public account were felt by Knox along with domestic distress. The Reformation had hitherto advanced with a success equal to his most sanguine expectations ; and, at this time, no opposition was publicly made to the new estab- lishment. But matters were still in a very critical state. There were a party in the nation, by no means inconsiderable in num- bers and power, who remained addicted to Popery ; and, though they had given way to the torrent, they anxiously waited for an opportunity to embroil the country in another civil war, for the restoration of the ancient religion. Queen Mary, and her husband, the King of France, had refused to ratify the late treaty and dismissed the deputy sent by the parliament, with marks of the highest displeasure at the innovations which they had presumed to introduce. A new army was preparing in France for the invasion of Scotland against the spring ; emis- saries were sent, in the mean time, to encourage and unite the Roman Catholics ; and it was doubtful if the Queen of England would subject herself to new expense and odium, by protecting them from a second attack. t The danger was not unperceived by our Reformer, who laboured to impress the minds of his countrymen with its mag- nitude, and to excite them speedily to complete the settlement of religion throughout the kingdom, which, he was persuaded, would prove the principal bulwark against the assaults of their adversaries. His admonitions were now listened to with atten- tion by many who had formerly treated them with indifference. + The threatened storm, however, blew over, in consequence of the death of the French king ; but this necessarily led to a mea- sure which involved the Scottish Protestants in a new struggle, and exposed the Reformed Church to dangers less obvious and striking, but, on that account, not less to be dreaded, than open violence and hostility. This was an invitation given by tne Protestant nobility to their young queen, who, on the 19th of August, 1561, arrived in Scotland, and assumed the reins of government into lier own hands. The education which Mary had received in France, what- ever embellishments it added to her beauty, was the very worst which can he conceived for fitting her to rule her native country * See Note TT. t Knox, 257, 258. Buchanan, i. 326, 327. Spotswood, 150, 151. Heitb 154, 157. I Knox, 2«0. 220 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. in the presen juncture. Of a temper naturally violent, the do votion which she had been accustomed to see paid to her per- sonal charms, rendered her extremely impatient of contradic- tion.* Habituated to the splendour and gallantry of the most luxurious and dissolute court in Europe, she could not submit to those restraints which the severer manners of her subjects miposed ; and while they took oflence at the freedom of her behaviour, she could not conceal the antipathy and disgust which she felt at theirs.t Full of high notions of royal pre- rogative, she regarded the late proceedings in Scotland as a course of rebellion against her legitimate authority. Nursed from her infancy in a blind attachment to the Roman Catholic faith, every means had been employed, before she left France, to strengthen this prejudice, and to inspire her with aversion to the religion which had been embraced by her people. She was taught that it would be the great glory of her reign to reduce her kingdom to the obedience of the Roman see, and to co-operate with the Popish princes on the Continent in extir- hating heresy. If she forsook the religion in which she had been educated, she would forfeit their powerful friendship ; if she persevered in it, she might depend upon their assistance to enable her to chastise her rebellious subjects, and to prosecute her claims to the English crown against a heretical usurper. With these fixed prepossessions, Mary came into Scotland ; and she adhered to them with singular pertinacity to the end of her life. To examine the subjects of controversy between the Papists and Protestants, with the view of ascertaining on which side the truth lay — to hear the reformed preachers, or permit them to lay before her the grounds of their faith, even in the presence of the clergy whom she had brought along with her — to do any thing, in short, which might lead to a doubt in her mind respecting the religion in which she had been brought up — were compliances against which she had formed an unal- terable determination. As the Protestants were in possession of power, it was necessary for her to temporize ; but she resolved to withhold her ratification of the late proceedings, and to em- brace the first favourable opportunity to overturn them, and re-establish the ancient system. J " Mr. Hume's letter, printed in the Life of Dr. Robertson ; History ol Scotland, vol. i. 25. Lond. 1809. Anderson's Collections, vol. iv. part i. pp. 71, 72, 74, 79. t " How sone that ever her French fillokes, fidlars, and utheris of that band, gat the hous alone, thair maycht be sene skipping not veray comelie for honest w^omen. Her com ana talk was in secrete, that sche saw nothing in Scotland but gravity, quhilk repugned altogidder to her nature, for sche was brocht up in joyeusetie." Knox, Historie, p. 294. I See Note UU. LIFE OF JOHN K x\ O X . 22 1 Tht reception which she met with on landing in Scotland was tiattering ; but an occurrence that took place soon after, damped the joy which had been expressed, and prognosticated future jealousies and confusion. The deputies sent to France with the invitation from the nobles, could not promise her more than the private exercise of her religion; but her uncles, by whom she was accompanied, wishing to take advantage of the spirit of loyalty which had been displayed since their arrival, insisted that she should cause the Roman Catholic rites to be performed with all publicity. Influenced by their opinion, and willing to give her subjects an early proof of her firm determi- nation to adhere to the ancient faith, Mary directed prepara- tions to be made for the celebration of a solemn mass in the chapel of Holyroodhouse, on the first Sabbath after her arrival. This service had not been performed in Scotland since the con- clusion of the civil war, and was prohibited by an act of the late parliament. So great was the horror with which the Pro- testants viewed its restoration, and the alarm which they felt at finding it countenanced by their queen, that the first rumour of the design excited expressions of strong discontent, which would have burst into an open tumult, had not some of the leading men among the Protestants interfered, and exerted theii authority in repressing the zeal of the multitude. From regard to public tranquillity, and reluctance to offend the queen at her first return to her native kingdom, Knox used his influence in private conversation to allay the fervour of the more zealous reformers, who were ready to prevent the service by force. But he was not less alarmed at the precedent than his brethren were ; and, having exposed the evils of idolatry on the follow- nig Sabbath, he concluded his sermon by saying, that " one mass was more fearfull unto him, than if ten thousand armed enemies were landed in ony parte of the realme, of purpose to suppress the whole religioun," * At this day, we are apt to be struck with surprise at the con- duct of our ancestors, to treat their fears as visionary, or at least as highly exaggerated, and summarily to pronounce them guilty of the same intolerance of which they complained in their adversaries. Persecution for conscience' sake is so odious, and the least approach to it is so dangerous, that we deem it impos- sible to express too great detestation of any measure which tends to countenance or seems to encourage it. But let us be just as well as Uberal, A little reflecti(m upon the circum- stances in which our reforming fathers were p aced may serve to abate our astonishment, and to qualify our censures. They were actuated by a strong abhorrence of Popish idolatry, a * Knox, riistorie, pp. 281 — 287. 19* 21^2 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. feeling which is fully justified by the spirit and precepts of Christianity ; and the prospect of the land being again defiled by the revival of its impure rites produced on their minds a sensation, with which, from our ignorance and lukewari.-.iess, as much as our ideas of religious liberty, we are incapable of sympathizing. But they were also influenced by a proper regard to their own preservation ; and the fears which they entertained were not fanciful, nor the precautions which they adopted unnecessary. The warmest friends of toleration and liberty of conscience (some of whom will not readily be charged with Protestant prejudices) have granted, that persecution of the most san- guinary kind was inseparable from the system and spirit of Popery which was at that time dominant in Europe ; and they 3annot deny the inference, that the profession and propagation of it were, on this account, justly subjected to penal restraints, as far, at least, as was requisite to prevent it from obtaining the ascendency, and from reacting the bloody scenes which it had already exhibited.* The Protestants of Scotland had these scenes before their eyes, and fresh in their recollection ; and infatuated and criminal indeed would they have been, if, listen- ing to the siren song of toleration, by which their adversaries, with no less impudence than artifice, now attempted to lull them asleep, they had suff'ered themselves to be thrown otf their guard, and neglected to provide against the most distant ap- proaches of the danger by which they were threatened. Could .hey be ignorant of the perfidious, barbarous, and unrelenting cruf.lty with which Protestants were treated in every Roman Catholic kingdom ? In France, where so many of their breth- ren had been put to death, under the influence of the house of Guise ; in the Netherlands, where such multitudes had been tortured, beheaded, hanged, drowned, or buried alive ; in Eng- land, where the flames of persecution were but lately extin- guished ; and in Spain and Italy, where they still continued to blaze ? Could they have forgotten what had taken place in their own country, or the perils from which they had themselves so recently and so narrowly escaped ? " God forbid !" exclaim- ed the lords of the privy council, in the presence of Queen Mary, at a time when they were not disposed to off'end her, — " God forbid ! that the lives of the faithful stood in the power of the Papists; for just experience has taught us what cruelty is in their hearts." t Nor was this an event so incredible, or so unlikely to happen, as many seem to imagine. The rage for conquest, on the Con- tinent, was now converted into a rage for proselytism; ard * See Note XX. t Knox, Historie, p. 341. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 22'3 steps had ilready been taken towards forming tliat league among the Popish princes, which had lor its object the univer sal extermination of Protestants. The Scottish queen was pas- sionately addicted to the intoxicating cup of which so many of " the kings of the earth had drunk." There were numbers in the nation who were similarly disposed. The liberty taken by the queen would soon be demanded for all who declared them- selves Cathohcs. Many of those who had hitherto ranged un- der the Protestant standard were lukewarm in the cause ; the zeal of others had already suffered a sensible abatement since the arrival of their sovereign:* and it was to be feared, that the favours of the court, and the blandishments of an artful and ac- complished princess, would make proselytes of some, and lull others into security, while designs were carried on pregnant with ruin to the religion and liberties of the nation. In one word, the public toleration of the Popish worship was only a step to its re-establishment, and this would be the signal foi kindling afresh the fires of persecution. It was in this mannei that some of the wisest men in the kingdom reasoned at thai lime ;t and, had it not been for the uncommon spirit which then existed among the reformers, there is every reason to think that their predictions would have been realized. To those who accuse the Scottish Protestants of displayuig the same spirit of intolerance by which the Roman Catholics were distinguished, I would recommend the following statement of a French author, who had formed a more just notion of these transactions than many of our own writers: — "Mary," says he, " was brought up in France, accustomed to see Protestants burnt to death, and instructed in the maxims of her uncles, the Guises, who maintained that it was necessary to exterminate, without mercy, the pretended reformed. With these disposi- tions, she arrived in Scotland, which was wholly reformed, with the exception of a few lords. The kingdom received her, ac- knowledged her as their queen, and obeyed her in all things according to the laws of the country. I maintain, that, in the state of men's spirits at that time, if a Huguenot queen had come to take possession of a Roman Catholic kingdom, with the slender retinue with which Mary went to Scotland, the lirst thing they would have done would have been to arrest her ; and if she had persevered hi her religion, they would have pro- * Knox, Historie, pp. 282, 283, 285, 287. t Several of the above considerations, along with others, are forcibly sta- ted in a letter of Maitland to Cecil, written a short time before Queen Mary's arrival in Scotland. Keitli, App. 92 — 95. That sagacious, but supple po- litician, was among the first to verify some of his own predictions. That such fears were very general in the nation appears also from a letter of Ran- dolph Robertson, Append. No. 5. ' 224 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. cured her degradation by the pope, thrown her nito thp Inquisi- tion, and burnt her as a heretic. There is not an honest man who can deny this."* After all, it is surely unnecessary to apologize for the restric- tions which our ancestors were desirous of imposing on Queen Mary, to those who approve of the present constitution of Bri tain, according to which every Papist is excluded from succee- ding to the throne, and the reigning monarch, by setting up mass in his chapel, would virtually forfeit his crown. Is Popery more dangerous now than it was two hundred and fifty years ago? Besides his fears for the common cause, Knox had, at this time, grounds of apprehension as to his personal safety. The queen was peculiarly incensed against him on account of the active part which he had taken in the late revolution; the Po- pish clergy who left the kingdom had represented him as the ringleader of her factious subjects ; and she had publicly declar- ed, before she left France, that she was determined he should be punished. His book against female government was most pro- bably the ostensible charge on which he was to be prosecuted; and, accordingly, we find him making application, through the English resident at Edinburgh, to secure the favour of Elizabeth ; reasonably suspecting that she might be induced to abet the pro- ceedings against him on this ground.! But whatever perils he apprehended, from the personal presence of the queen, either to the public or to himself, he used not the smallest influence to prevent her being invited home. On the contrary, he concurred with his brethren in this measure, and also in using means to de- feat a scheme which the Duke of Chastelherault, under the di- * Histoiredu Calvinisme et celle du Papisme mises en Parellele ; ou Apol- ogie pour les Reformateurs, pour la Reformation, et pour les Reforinez, tome i. 334. A Rotterdam, 168 5, 4to. The affirmation of this writer is complete- ly supported by the well known history of Henry IV. of France (not to men- tion other instances), whose recantation of Calvinism, although it smoothed his way to the throne, could not efface the indelible stigma of his former heresy, secure the affections of his Roman Catholic subjects, or avert from his breast the consecrated poniard of the assassin. t Randolph to Cecil, 9th Aug. 15B1, apud Robertson's Scotland, Appendix, No. 5, and Keith, p. 191>. A letter of Maitland to Cecil, of the same date with the above, seems to refer to the same design; and I shall take the op- portunity of correcting (what appears to me) an error in the transcription of this letter. " I wish to God," says Maitland, " the first warre may be planely intended against them by Knox, for so shold it be manifest that the suppressing of religion was ment; but I fear more she will proceed tharunto by indirect means. And nothing for us so dangerout-e as temporising." Haynes, p. 3!i7. This seems altogether unintelligble ; but if the words which I have printed in Italics be transposed, and read thus, " by them against Knox, "they will make sense, and correspond with tlie strain of the letter, and with the fact mentioned by Randolpii, in his letter to Cecil written on the same day. Maitland expresses his fears that Mary would have recourse LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 225 rection of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, had brnied to ex chide her from the government.* But when the Prior of St. An- drews was sent to France with the invitation, lie urged that her desisting from the celebration of mass should be one of the conditions of her return ; and when he found him and the rest of the council disposed to grant her this liberty within her own chapel, he predicted that "her liberty would be their thral- dom."'t In the beginning of September,J only a few days after her arrival in Scotland, the queen sent for Knox to the palace, and held a long conversation with him, in the presence of her bro- ther, the Prior of St. Andrews. Whether she did this of her own accord, or at the suggestion of some of her counsellors, is uncertain ; but she seems to have expected to awe him into sub- mission by her authority, if not to confound him by her argu- ments. The bold freedom with which he replied to all her charges, and vindicated his own conduct, convinced her that the one expectation was not more vain than the other ; and the im- pression which she wished to make on him was left on her own mind. She accused him of raising her subjects against her mother and herself; of writing a book against her just authority, which, she said, she would cause the most learned in Europe to refute ; of being the cause of sedition and bloodshed, when he was in England ; and of accomplishing his purposes by magical arts. To these heavy charges Knox replied, that, if to teach the truth of God in sincerity, to rebuke idolatry, and exhort a peo- ple to worship God according to his word, were to excite sub- jects to rise against their princes, then he stood convicted of that crime ; for it had pleased God to employ him, among many others, to disclose unto that realm the vanity of the papistical religion, with the deceit, pride, and tyranny of the Roman anti- christ. But if the true knowledge of God and his right wor- ship were the most powerful inducements to subjects cordially to obey their princes (as they certainly were,) then was he inno- cent. Her grace, he was persuaded, had at present as unfeign- ed obedience from the Protestants of Scotland, as ever her father, or any of her ancestors, had from those called bishops. With respect to what had been reported to her majesty concerning the fruits of his preaching in England, he was glad that his ene- mies laid nothing to his charge but what the world knew to be false. If they could prove, that, in any of the places where he to crafty measures for undermining their cause, instead of persevering in the design which she had avowed of prosecuting Knox. * Knox, llistorie, p. 269. 1 Ibid. p. 262 t Keith. 188. D2 226 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. nad resided, there was either sedition or mutiny, he would confosa himself to be a malefactor. But so far irom this being the case, he was not ashamed to say, that in Berwick, where bloodshed had formerly been common among the military, God so blessed his weak labo .rs, that there was as great quietness, during the time he resided in that town, as there was at present in Edin- burgh. The slander of practising magic (an art which he had always condemned), he could more easily bear, when he recol- lected that his master, Jesus Christ, had been defamed as one in league with Beelzebub, As to the book which seemed to have offended her majesty so highly, he owned that he wrote it, and he was willing that all the learned should judge of it. He un- derstood that an Englishman had written against it, but he had not read his work. If that author had sufficiently confuted his arguments, and established the contrary opinion, he would con- fess his error ; but to that hour he continued to think himself able to maintain the propositions affirmed in that book against any ten in Europe. " You think, then, I have no just authority?" said the queen. •' Please your majesty," repUed he, " learned men in all ages have had their judgments free, and most commonly disagreeing from the common judgment of the world ; such also have they published both with pen and tongue ; notwithstanding, they themselves have lived in the common society with others, and have borne patiently with the errors and imperfections which they could not amend. Plato, the philosopher, wrote his book on the commonwealth, in which he condemned many things that then were maintained in the world, and required many things to have been reformed ; and yet, notwithstanding, he lived under such policies as then were universally received, with- out farther troubling of any state. Even so, madam, am I con- tent to do, in uprightness of heart, and with a testimony of a good conscience." He added, that his sentiments on that sub- ject should be confined to his own breast ; and that, if she re- frained from persecution, her authority would not be hurt, either by him or his book, " which was written most especially against that wicked Jesabel of England." " But ye speak of women in general," said the queen. -' Most true it is, madam : yet it appeareth to me, that wisdom should persuade your grace never to raise trouble for that which to this day has not troubled your majesty, neither in person nor in authority : for of late years many things which before were held stable have been called in doubt ; yea, they have been plainly impugned. But yet, madam, I am assured that neither Protestant nor Papist shall be able to prove that any such ques- tion was at any time moved either in public or in secret. Now, madam, if I had ii ended to have troubled your estate, because LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 227 ye are a woman, I would have chosen a tnne more convenient for that purpose than I can do now, when your presence is with- in the reahn." Changing the subject, she charged him with having taught the people to receive a religion different from that which was allowed by their princes ; and she asked if this was not contra- ry to the divine command, that subjects should obey their rulers. He replied, that true religion derived its origin and authority not from princes but from God ; that princes were often most ignorant on this point; and that subjects were not bound to frame their religious sentiments and practice according to the arbitrary will of their rulers, else the Hebrews ought to have conformed to the religion of Pharaoh, Daniel and his associates to that of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, and the primitive Christians to that of the Roman emperors. " Yea," replied the queen, qualifying her assertion ; " but none of these men raised the sword against their princes." " Yet you cannot deny," said he, " that they resisted ; for those who obey not the command- ment given them do in some sort resist." — " But they resisted not with the sword," rejoined the queen, pressing home the ar- gument. " God, madam, had not given unto them the power and the means." — " Think you," said the queen, " that subjects, having the power, may resist their princes ?" — " If princes ex- ceed their bounds, madam, no doubt they may be resisted, even by power. For no greater honour, or greater obedience is to be given to kings and princes, than God has commanded to be given to father and mother. But the father may be struck with a fren- zy, in which he would slay his children. Now, madam, if the children arise, join together, apprehend the father, take the sword from him, bind his hands, and keep him in prison, till the frenzy be over, think you, madam, that the children do any wrong? Even so, madam, is it with princes that would murder the children of God that are subject unto them. Their blind zeal is nothing but a mad frenzy ; therefore, to take the sword from them, to bind their hands, and to cast them into prison, till they be brought to a more sober mind, is no disobedience against princes, but just obedience, because it agreeth with the will of God." Mary, who had hitherto maintained her courage in reasoning, was completely overpowered by this bold answer; her counte- nance changed, and she remained in a silent stupor. Her bro- ther spoke to her, and inquired the cause of her uneasiness; but she made no reply. Recovering herself, at length, she sa'd, " Well, then, I perceive that my subjects shall obey you and not me, and will do what they please and not what I command • ^nd so must I bo subject to them, and not they to me." — " God forbid !" replied the Reformer, " that ever I take upon me tc 22ft LIFE OF. I OHN KNOX. command any to obey me, or to set subjects at lil erty to dc whatever pleases them. But my travail is, that both prmcer-- and subjects may obey God. And think not, madam, that wrong is done you when you are required to be subject unto God ; for it is he who subjects people under princes, and causes obedience to be given unto them. He craves of kings that they be as foster-fathers to his Church, and commands queens to be nurses to his people. And this subjection, madam, unto God and his Church, is the greatest dignity that flesh can get upon the face of the earth ; for it shall raise them to everlasting glory." " But you are not the Church that I will nourish," said the queen ; " I will defend the Church of Rome ; for it is, I think, the true Church of God." — "Your ivill, madam, is no reason, neither doth your thought make the Roman harlot to be the true and immaculate spouse of Jesus Christ. Wonder not, madam, that I call Rome an harlot, for that Church is altogether polluted with all kinds of spiritual fornication, both in doctrine and manners." He added, that he was ready to prove that the Roman Church had declined farther from the purity of religion taught by the apostles, than the Jewish Church had degenerated from the ordinances which God gave them by Moses and Aaron, at the time when they denied and crucified the Son of God. " My conscience is not so," said the queen. — " Conscience, ma- dam, requires knowledge, and I fear that right knowledge you have none." — " But I have both heard and read." — " So, madam, did the Jews, who crucified Christ Jesus, read the law and the prophets, and heard the same interpreted after their manner. Have you heard any teach but such as the pope and cardinals have allowed ? and you may be assured, that such will speak nothing to offend their own estate." '< You interpret the Scriptures in one way," said the queen evasively, " and they in another ; whom shall I believe, and who shall be judge ?" — " You shall believe God, who plainly speaketh in his word," replied the Reformer ; " and farther than the word teacheth you, you shall believe neither the one nor the other. The word of God is plain in itself; and if there ap- pear any obscurity in one place, the Holy Ghost, who is never contrary to himself, explains the same more clearly in other places, so that theie can remain no doubt, but unto such as are obstinately ignorant." As an example, he selected one of the articles in controversy between the Church of Rome and the Protestants, and was proceeding to shew, that the Popish doc- trine of the sacrifice of the mass was destitute of all foundation in Scripture, but the queen, who was determined to avoid all discussion of the articles of her creed, interrupted him, by say- ing, that she was unable to contend with him in argument, but LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 229 if she had those present whom she had heard, they would answer him. " Madam," replied the Reformer, fervently, " would to God that the learnedest Papist in Europe, and he whom you would best believe, were present with your grace to sustahi the argument, and that you would wait patiently to heai the matter reasoned to the end ! For then, I doubt not, madam, but you would hear the vanity of the papistical religion, and how little ground it hath in the word of God." — " Well," said she, " you may perchance get that sooner than you believe." — <' Assuredly, if ever I get that in my life, I get it sooner than I believe ; for the ignorant Papist cannot patiently reason, and the learned and crafty Papist will never come, in your audi- ence, madam, to have the ground of their religion searched out When you shall let me see the contrary, I shall grant myself to have been deceived in that point." The hour of dinner afforded an occasion for breaking off thisi singular conversation. At taking leave of her majesty the Re- former said, " I pray God, madam, that you may be as blessed within the commonwealth of Scotland, as ever Deborah was in the commonwealth of Israel."* I have been the more minute in the narrative of this curious conference, because it affords the most satisfactory refutation of the charge, that Knox treated Mary with rudeness and disre- spect. For the same reason I shall lay before the reader a circumstantial account of the subsequent interviews between .hem, from which we shall perceive that, though the Refornler addressed her with a plainness to which crowned heads are sel- dom accustomed, he never lost sight of that respect which was due to the person of his sovereign, nor of that decorum which became his own character. The interview between the queen and the Reformer excited great speculation, and different conjectures were formed as to its probable consequences. The Catholics, whose hopes now depended solely on the queen, were alarmed, lest Knox's rhe- toric should have shaken her constancy. The Protestants cherished the expectation that she would be induced to attend the Protestant sermons, and that her religious prejudices would gradually abate. t Knox indulged no such flattering expecta- tions. He had made it his study, during the late conference, to discover the real character o( the queen ; and when some of his confidential friends asked his opinion of her, he told them that he was very much mistaken if she was not proud, crafty, obsti- nately wedded to the Popish Church, and averse to all means of instruction.^ Writing to Cecil, he says, " The queen neyther * Knox, Historie, pp. 287—292. t Ibid. p. 292. t Knox, Historie, p. 29*^ Ke«' h, 197, 20 230 LIFK Oi 10 UN KNC <. is, neyther shal be of our opinion ; and, in very deed, her whoie proceedings do declair that the cardinalle's lessons are so deapUe printed in her heart, that the substance and the quaUtie are like to perishe together. I wold be glad to be deceaved, but 1 fear I shal not. In communication with her, I espyed such craft as I have not found in such aige. Since, hath the court been dead to me and I to it."* He resolved, therefore, vigilantly to watch her proceedings, and to give timely warning of any danger which might result from them to the reformed interest; and the more that he per- ceived the zeal of the Protestant nobles to cool, and their jeal- ousy to be laid asleep by the winning arts of the queen, the more frequently and loudly did he sound the alarm. Vehement and harsn as his expressions often were — violent, seditious, and insufferable, as his sermons and prayers have been pronounced to be, — I have no hesitation in saying, that, as the public peace was never disturbed by them, so they were useful to the public safety, and a principal means of warding off for a time those confusions in which the country was afterwards involved, and which brought on the ultimate ruin of the infatuated queen. His uncourtly and rough manner was not, indeed, calculated to gain upon her mind (nor is there any reason to think that an opposite manner would have had this effect), and his admoni- tions often irritated her; but they obliged her to act with greater reserve and moderation ; and they operated, to an in- describable degree, in arousing and keeping awake the zeal and the fears of the nation, which, at that period, were the two great safeguards of the Protestant religion in Scotland. We may form an idea of the effect produced by his pulpit orations, from the account of the English ambassador, who was one of his constant hearers. "Where your honour," says he, in a letter to Cecil, " exhorteth us to stoutness, I assure you the voice of one man is able, in an hour, to put more life in us, than six hundred trumpets continually blustering in our ears."t The Reformer was not ignorant that some of his friends * Letter, Knox to Cecil, 7th October 1.561. Haynes, State Papers, — p. 372. I Randolph's Letter, in Keith, 188. In this letter, the ambassador states some circumstances as to the first interview between the queen and the Re- former, which are not mentioned in Knox's History. He " knocked so hastily upon her lieart, that he made her to weep, as well you know there be some of that sex tliat will do that as well for anger as for grief; though in this the Lord James will disagree with me. He concluded so in the end with her, that he hath liberty to speak his conscience, [and] to give unto lier such reverence as becometh the ministers of God unto the superior powers." LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 23 1 thouglit him too severe in his language, nor was he alwav^s disposed to vindicate the expressions whicli lie employed. Still, however, he was persuaded that the times required the utmost plainness ; and he was afraid that snares lurked imder the smoothness which was recommended and practised by courtiers. Cecil having given him an advice on this head in one of his letters, Knox replied, — " Men deliting to swym be- twix two waters have often compleaned upon my severitie. 1 do fear that that which men terme lenitie and dulceness, do bring upon themselves and others more fearful destruction, than yit hath ensewed the veliemency of any preacher within this realme."* That abatement of zeal which he had dreaded from " the holy water of the court," soon began to appear among the Pro- testant leaders. The general assemblies of the Church were a great eye-sore to the queen, who was very desirous to have /hem put down. At the first General Assembly held after her irrival, the courtiers, through her influence, absented them- selves, and when challenged for this, began to dispute the pro- priety of such conventions without her majesty's pleasure. On 'his point there was sharp reasoning between Knox and Mait- land, who was now made secretary of state. " Take from us the liberty of assemblies, and take from us the gospel," said the Reformer. " If the hberty of the Church must depend upon lier allowance or disallowance, we shall want not only assem- blies, but also the preaching of the gospel." It was proposed that the Book of Discipline should be ratified by the queen ; but this was keenly opposed by the secretary. " How many of those that subscribed that book will be subject to it?" said he scoffingly. " All the godly," it was answered. '' Will the duke ?" said he. " If he will not," replied Lord Ochiltree, " I wisii that his name were scraped, not only out of that book, but also out of our number and company; for to what end shall men subsciibe, and never mean to keep word of that which they promise ?" Maitland said, that many subscribed it, in Jidt parentum, implicitly. Knox replied, that the scofl" was as un- true as it was unbecoming ; for the book was publicly read, and its difl!'erent heads discussed, for a number of days, and no man was required to subscribe what he did not understand. " Stand content," said one of the courtiers ; " that book will not be obtained." — "And let God require the injury which the commonwealth shall sustain, at the hands of those who hinder it," replied the Reformer.t * Haynes, 372. An epistolary correspondence was at this time maintain- ed between secretary Cecil and our Reformer. Keith, 191, 192, 194. Robertson, Append. No. 5. + Knox, Historie, pp. 29-J — 6. 232 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. He was still more indignant at their management m settling the provision for the ministers of the Church. Hitherto they had lived chiefly on the benevolence of their hearers, and many of them had scarcely the means of subsistence ; but repeated complaints having obliged the privy council to take up the affair, they came at last to a determination, that the ecclesiasti- cal revenues should be divided into three parts ; that two of these should be given to the ejected Popish clergy ; and that the third part should be divided between the court and the Protes- tant ministry ! * The persons appointed to '' modify the sti- pends,"! were disposed to gratify the queen, and her demands were readily answered, while the sums allotted to the ministers were as ill paid as they were paltry and inadequate. " Weall !" exclaimed Knox, when he heard of this disgraceful arrange- ment, " if the end of this ordour, pretendit to be takin for sus- tentatioun of the ministers, be happie, my judgment failes me I sie twa pairtis freely gevin to the devill, and the third mon be devyded betwix God and the devill. Who wald have thocht, that when Joseph reuUed in Egypt, his brethren sould have travellit for victualles, and have returned with emptie sackes unto thair families? 0 happie servands of the devill, and mis- erabill servants of Jesus Christ, if efter this lyf thair wer not nell and heavin !"t At a conference held on this subject, Mait- land complained of the ingratitude of the ministers, who did not acknowledge the queen's liberality to them. " Assuredly," replied Knox with a derisive smile, " such as receive any thing of the queen are unthankfull, if they acknowledge it not ; but whether the ministers be of that rank or not, I greatly doubt. Has the queen better title to that which she usurps, be it in * Keith, App. 175—179. Knox, 296—300. t The privy council appointed certain persons to fix the sums which were to be appropriated to the court and to the ministry, and also the particular salaries which were to be allotted to individual ministers, according- to the circumstances in which they were placed. The officers appointed tor this purpose composed a board or court, under the privy council, and was called the court of modification. I " So busie," says he, " and circumspect wer the modificators (because it was a new office, the terme must also be new), that the ministers should not be over-wantoun, that an hundred merks was sufficient to an single man, being a commone minister: thre hundreth merks was the hiest apoynted to any, except the superintendents and a few utheris." Historie, J-!01. "Mr Knox is not at all here diminishing the sum," says Keith ; " for the original books of assignation to the ministers, which now ly before me, ascertam the truth of what he says," p. 508. Wishart of Pittarrow, who was comptroller of the modification, pinched the ministers so much that it became a proverb, — " The gude laird of Petarro was an ernest professour of Christ, hot the mekill devill receave the comptroller." Sir John Wishart of Pittarrow, was appointed comptroller on the 1st of March 1561. Reg. Sigi . Seer, ib. xxi. 5. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 2;j3 giving to others, or in taking to herself, than sucii as crucified Christ had to divide his garments among them ? Let the Papists who have the two parts, some that have their thirds free, and some that have gotten abbacies and feu-lands, thank the queen ; the poor preachers will not yet flatter for feeding their bellies. To your dumb dogs, formerly ten thousand was not enough ; but to the servants of Christ, that painfully preach his evangell, a thousand pound! how can that be sustained?" — " These words," he himself tells us, " were judged proud and intolerable, and engendered no small displeasure to the speaker."* Knox gave vent to his feelings on this subject the more freely, as his complaints could not be imputed to personal mo- tives ; for his own stipend, though moderate, was liberal when compared with those of the most of his brethren. From the time of his last return to Scotland, until the conclusion of the war, he had been indebted to the liberality of individuals foi the support of his family. After that period, he lodged in the house of David Forrest, a burgess of Edinburgh, from which he removed to the lodging which had belonged to Durie, abbot of Dunfermline. As soon as he began to preach statedly in the city, the town council assigned him an annual stipend of two hundred pounds, which he was entitled to receive quarter- ly ; and they also paid his house-rent and his board, during the time that he had resided with Forrest. Subsequent to the settlement made by the privy coimcil, it would seem that he received, at least, a part of his income from the common fund allotted to the ministers of the Church ; but the good town had still an opportunity of testifying their generosity, by supplying the deficiencies of the legal allowance. Indeed, the uniform attention of the town council to his external support and accommodation, was honourable to them, and deserves to be recorded to their commendation.! In the beginning of the year 1562, he went to Angus to pre- side in the election and admission of John Erskine of Dun, as superintendent of Angus and Mearns. That respectable baron was one of those whom the first General Assembly declared " apt and able to minister •,"J and having already contributed in different ways to the advancement of the Reformation, he now devoted himself to the service of the Church, in a labo- rious employment, at a time when she stood eminently in need of the assistance of all the learned and pious. Knox had for- * Knox Historie, pp. 201—2. + See Extracts from the Re 'ords of tlie Town Council in Note YY. t Keith, p. 498. 20* E2 234 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. meily presided at the installation of John Spots wood as supei intendent of Lothian.* The influence of our Reformer appears from his being emplov- ed on different occasions to act as umpire and mediator in dis- putes of a civil nature among the Protestants. He was frequent- ly requested to intercede with the town council in behalf of such of the inhabitants as had subjected themselves to punish- ment by their disorderly conduct.! Soon after his return to Scotland, he had composed a domestic variance between the Earl and Countess of Argyle.J In the year 1561, he had been employed as arbitrator in a diff'erence between Archibald, Earl of Angus, and his brothers.§ And he was now urged by the Earl of Both well to assist in removing a deadly feud which sub- sisted between him and the Earl of Arran. He was averse to interfere in this business, which had already baffled the author- ity of the privy council ;|| but at the desire of friends, he yielded, and, after considerable pains, had the satisfaction of bringing the parties to an amicable interview, at which they mutually pro- mised to bury their former differences. But all the fair hopes which he had formed from this reconciliation were speedily blas- ted. For, in the course of a few days, Arran came to him in great agitation, with the information that Bothwell had endeav- oured to engage him in a conspiracy, to seize upon the person of the queen, and to kill the Prior of St. Andrews, Maitland, and the rest of her counsellors. Knox does not seem to have given nmch credit to this information ; he even endeavoured to prevent Arran from making it public ; in this, however, he did not succeed, and both noblemen were imprisoned. It soon after became evident that Arran was lunatic, but the fears of the courtiers shew that they did not altogether disbelieve his accusa- tion, and tbat they suspected that Bothwell had formed a design, of which his future conduct proved him not incapable. IT In the month of May, Knox had another interview with the queen, on the following occasion. The family of Guise were making the most vigorous efforts to regain that ascendency in the French councils, of which they had been deprived since the death of Francis II. ; and, as zeal for the Catholic religion was the cloak under which they concealed their ambitious designs, they began by stirring up persecution against the Protestants. * The form observed on that occasion, which was followed in the admission or ordination of all the superintendents and other ministers, is inserted at length in Knox's Historie, pp. 263 — 266; and in Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 627—6:^6. t Knox, Historie, p. 270. t Ibid. pp. 328—9. 5 See Note ZZ. II Keith, 215 IT Knox, Historie, 305—308, and letter to Locke, 6th May 1562, in Cald MS. i. 755, 756. Spotswood, 184. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 235 The massacre of Vassy, in the begimiing of March, was a pre- lude to this, in which tlie Duke of Guise and Cardinal of Lor- rain attacked, with an armed force, a congregation peaceably as- sembled for worship, killed a number of them, and wounded and mutilated others, not excepting women and children.* In- telligence of the success which attended the measures of her uncles was brought to Queen Mary, who immediately after gave a splendid ball to her foreign servants, at which the dancing was prolonged to a late hour. Knox was advertised of the festivities in the palace, and had no doubt that they were occasioned by the accounts which tlie queen had received from France. He always felt a lively inter- est in the concerns of the French Protestants, with many of whom he was intimately acquainted ; and he entertained a very bad opinion of the princes of Lorrain. In his sermon on the following Sabbath, after discoursing of the dignity of magis- trates, and the obedience which was due to them, he proceeded to lament the abuse which the greater part of rulers made of their power, and introduced some severe strictures upon the vices to which they were commonly addicted, their oppression, igno- rance, hatred of virtue, attachment to bad company and fondness for foolish pleasures. Glancing at the amusements which were common in the palace, he said that princes were more exercised in dancing and music than in reading or hearing the word of God, and delighted more in fiddlers and flatterers than in the company of wise and grave men, who were capable of giving them wholesome counsel. As to dancing, he said, that, although he did not find it praised in Scripture, and profane writers had termed it a gesture more becoming mad than sober men, yet he would not utterly condemn it, provided those who practised it did not neglect the duties of their station, and did not dance, like the Philistines, from joy at the misfortunes of God's people. If they were guilty of such conduct, their mirth would soon be converted into sorrow. Information of this discourse was quick- ly conveyed to the queen, with many exaggerations ; and the preacher was next day ordered to attend at the palace. Being conveyed into the royal chamber, where the queen sat with her maids of honour and principal counsellors, he was accused of having spoken of her majesty irreverently, and in a manner calculated to bring her under the contempt and hatred of her subjects. After the queen had made a long speech on that theme, he was allowed to state his defence. He told her majesty, that she had been treated as persons usually were who refused to attri d the preaching of the word of God ; she had been deceiveJ I y "^ Histoire des Martyrs, fol. 558, 559. Anno 1597. 236 LIFE OF JOHN KNOA. the fa 56 reports of flatterers. For, if she had heard the calum- niated discourse, he did not beheve she could have been otiendea with any thing that he had said. She would now, therefore, be pleased to hear him repeat, as exactly as he could, what he nad preached yesterday. Mary was obliged for once to listen to a Protestant sermon. Having finished the recapitulation of his discourse, he said, " If any man, madam, will say that I spake more, let him presently accuse me ; for I think I have not only touched the sum, but the very words as I spake them." Several of the company, who had heard the sermon, attested that he had given a fair and accurate account of it. After turning round to the informers, who were dumb, the queen told nim, that his words, though sharp enough as related by himself, had been reported to her in a different way. She added, that she knew that her uncles and he were of a dilTerent religion, and therefore did not blame him for having no good opinion of them ; but if he heard any thing about her conduct which dis- pleased him, he ought to come to herself privately, and she would willingly listen to his admonitions. Knox easily saw through this proposal; and, from what he already knew of Mary's character, was convinced that she had no inclination to receive his private instructions, but wished merely to induce him to refrain in his sermons from every thing that might be dis- pleasing to the court. He replied, that he was willing to do any thing for her majesty's contentment, which was consistent with his office ; if her grace chose to attend the public sermons, she would have an opportunity of knowing what pleased or dis- pleased him in her and in, others ; or if she chose to appoint a time when she would hear the substance of the doctrine which he preached in public, he would most gladly wait upon her grace's pleasure, time, and place ; but to come and wait at her chamber-door, and then to have liberty only to whisper in her ear what people thought and said of her, that would neither his conscience nor his office permit him to do. " For," added he, in a strain which he sometimes used even on serious occasions, " albeit, at your grace's commandment, I am heir now, yit can 1 not tell what uther men shall judge of me, that, at this time of day, am absent from my buke, and waitting upon the court.' — " Ye will not alwayes be at your buke," said the queen, pet- tishly, and turned her back. As he left the room " with a reasonable merry countenance," he overheard one of the Popish attendants sayhig, "He is not afraid!" — <' Why should the plesing face of a gentihooman afray me ?" said he, regarding them with a sarcastic scowl ; " I have luiked in the faces of mony angry meriy and yit have not bene aff'rayed above meas- our."* * K )x, Historie, :30«— 311. L I F E O F O H N K I\ D X . 237 There was at that time but ne place of worship in the city of Edinburgh.* The number >f inhabitants was, indeed, small, when compared with its presei t population ; but they still must have formed a very large congregation. St. Giles's church the place then used for worship, was capacious ; for we learn that, on some occasions, three thousand persons assembled in it to hear sermon. t In this church, Knox had, since 1560, performed all the parts' of ministerial duty, without any other assistant than John Cairns, who acted as reader.^ He preached twice every Sabbath, and thrice on other days of the week.§ He met regularly once every week with his kirk-session for discip- line,|| and with the assembly of the neighbourhood for the exer- cise on the Scriptures. He attended, besides, the meetings of the provincial Synod and General Assembly ; and at almost every meeting of the latter, he received an appointment to visit and preach in some distant part of the country. These labours must have been oppressive to a constitution which was already much impaired ; especially as he did not indulge in extempo- raneous effusions, but devoted a part of ever}'- day to study. His parish was sensible of this; and, in April 1562, the town council came to a unanimous resolution to solicit the minister of Canongate to undertake the half of the charge. The ensuing General Assembly approved of the council's proposal, and ap- pointed the translation to take place. IT It was not, however, accomplished before June 1563, owing, as it would seem, to the difficulty of obtaining an additional stipend.** The person who was appointed colleague to our Reformer was John Craig. A short account of this distinguished minister cannot be altogether foreign to the history of one with whom he was so strictly associated, and it will present incidents which are curious in themselves, and illustrative of the singular man- ner in which many of the promoters of the Reformation were fitted by Providence for engaging in that great undertaking. He was born in 1512, and soon after lost his father in the bat- tle of Flodden, which proved fatal to so many families in Scot- land. After finishing his education at the university of St. Andrews, he went to England, and became tutor to the family of Lord Dacres ; but war having broken out between England and Scotland, he returned to his native country, and entered * St. Cuthberts, or the West Church, was at that time (as it is at present) a distinct parish, of which William Harlow was minister. There was also a minister in Canongate or Holyroodhouse. 1 Cald. MS. ii. 157. I Records of Town Council, t26th October 1.561 J Ibid. 10th April 1.562. II The number of elders in the session of Edinburgh was twelve, and of deacons sixteen. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 638. IT Calderwood, apud Keith, 514. ** See Note AAA. 238 LIFEOFJOHNKNOX. into the order of Dominican friars. The Scottish clergy were at that time eager in making inquisition for Lutherans ; and owing to the circumstance of his having been in England, or to his having dropped some expressions respecting religion which were deemed too free, Craig fell under the suspicion of heresy, and was thrown into prison. The accusation was found to be groundless, and he was set at liberty. But although still at- tached to the Roman Catholic religion, the ignorance and bigo- try of the clergy gave him such a disgust at his native count r\-, that he left it in 1537, and, after remaining a short time iu England, went to France, and from that to Italy. At the recommendation of the celebrated Cardinal Pole, he was ad- mitted among the Dominicans in the city of Bologna, and was soon raised to an honourable employment in that body. In the library of the Inquisition, which was attached to the monastery, he found a copy of Calvin's Institutes. Being fond of books, he determined to read that work ; and the consequence was, that he became a thorough convert to the reformed opinions. In the warmth of his first impressions, he could not refrain from imparting his change of sentiments to his associates, and must soon have fallen a sacrifice to the vigilant guardians of the faith, had not the friendship of a father in the monastery saved him. The old man, who was a native of Scotland, represented the dana:er to which he exposed himself by avowing such tenets in that place, and advised him, if he was fixed in his views, to retire immediately to some Protestant country. With this pru- dent advice he complied so far as to procure his discharge from the monastery. At an early period of the Christian era, there were converts to the gospel " in Caesar's household ;" and in the sixteenth cen- tury, the light of reformation penetrated into Italy, and even into the territories of the Roman pontiff. On leaving the mon- astery of Bologna, Craig entered as tutor into the family of a neighbouring nobleman, who had embraced Protestant princi- ples ; but he had not resided long in it, when, along with his host, he was delated for heresy, seized by the familiars of the Inquisition, and carried to Rome. After being confined nine months in a noisome dungeon, he was brought to trial, and con- demned to be burnt, along with some others, on the 20th of August 1559. On the evenuig previous to the day appoint- ed for their execution, the reigning pontiff, Paul IV. died ; and, according to an accustomed practice on such occasions, the pri- sons in Rome were all thrown open. Wliile those who were confined for debt and other civil offences were liberated, hero- tics, after being allowed to go without the walls of their prison, were convt yed back to their cells. A tumult, however, having been raised "that ni^ht in the city, Craig and his companions LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 239 effected their escape, and took refuge in a house at a small dis- tance from Rome. They had not been long there when they Avere followed by a company of soldiers, sent to apprehend them. On entering the house, the captain looked Craig eagerly in the face, and taking him aside, asked, if he recollected of once relieving a poor wounded soldier in the vicinity of Bologna. Craig was in too great confusion to remember the circumstance. " But I remember it," replied the captain, " and I am the man whom you relieved, and Providence has now put it in my power to return the kindness which you shewed to a distressed stranger. You are at liberty ; your companions I must take along with me, but, for your sake, shall shew them every favour in my power." He then gave him what money he had upon him, with directions how to make his escape. We are not yet done with the wonderful incidents in the life of Craig. " Another accident," says Archbishop Spotswood, ".befell him, which I should scarcely relate, so incredible it seemeth, if to many of good place he himself had not often re- peated it as a singular testimony of God's care of him." In the course of his journey through Italy, while he avoided the pub- lic roads, and took a circuitous route to escape from pursuit, the money which he had received from the grateful soldier failed him. Having laid himself down by the side of a wood to ruminate on his condition, he perceived a dog approaching him with a purse in its teeth. It occurred to him that it had been sent by some evil-disposed person who was concealed in the wood, and wished to pick a quarrel with him. He therefore endeavoured to drive it away ; but the animal continuing to fawn upon him, he at last took the purse, and found in it a sum of money which enabled him to prosecute his journey. Having reached Vienna, and announced himself as a Domini- can, he was employed to preach before the Archduke of Austria, who afterwards wore the imperial crown, under the title of Maximilian H. That discerning prince, who was not unfriendly to a religious reform, was so much pleased with the sermon, that he was desirous of retaining Craig; but the new pope Pius IV. having heard of his reception at the Austrian capital, applied to have him sent back to Rome as a condemned heretic ; upon which the archduke dismissed him with a safe- conduct. When he arrived in England, in 1560, and was informed of the establishment of the reformed religion in his native country, he immediately repaired to Scotland, and was admitted to the ministry. Having in a great measure forgotten his native language during an absence of twenty -four years, he preached for a short time in Latin to some of the learned in Magdalene chapel. He was afterwards appointed minister 240 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. of the parish of Canongate, where he had not officiated long, till he was elected colleague to Knox.* The queen still persevered in the line of policy which she had adopted at her first arrival in Scotland, and employed none but Protestant counsellors. She intrusted the chief direction of public affairs to the Prior of St. Andrews, who, in 1562, was created Earl of Murray, t and married a daughter of tlie earl marischal. The marriage ceremony was performed by Knox publicly before the congregation according to the custom at that time ; and on that occasion the Reformer reminded the earl of the benefit which the Church had hitherto received from his services, and exhorted him to persevere in the same course, lest, if an unfavourable change was perceived, the blame should be imputed to his wife. + The fact, however, was, that Knox was more afraid that Murray would be corrupted by his con- nection with the court, than by his matrimonial alliance. Although the Protestants filled the cabinet, it was well known that they did not possess the affection and confidence of her majesty, and, in consequence of this, various plots were laid to displace and ruin them. During the autnmn of 1562, the Roman Catholics in Scotland entertained great hopes of a change in their favour. After several unsuccessful attempts to cut off the principal courtiers,§ the Earl of Huntly openly took arms in the north, to rescue the queen from their hands ; while the Archbishop of St. Andrews endeavoured to unite and rouse the Papists of the south. On this occasion, our Reformer acted with his usual zeal and foresight. Being appointed by the General Assembly as Commissioner to visit the churches of the west, he persuaded the gentlemen of that quarter to enter into a new bond of defence. Hastening into Nithsdale and Gallo- way, he, by his sermons and conversation, confirmed the Pro- testants in these places. He employed the master of Maxwell to write to the Earl of Bothwell, who had escaped from con- finement, and meant, it was feared, to join Huntly. He him- self wrote the Duke of Chastelherault, warning him not to listen to the solicitations of his brother, the archbishop, nor accede to a conspiracy which would infallibly prove the ruin of his house. * Row, MS. Historie of the Kirk, p. 47. Spotswood, pp. 463 — 4. I have chiefly followed Row's narrative. By comparing it with Spotswood's, the reader will perceive that they differ in a few unimportant circumstances. Row mentions that he had his information from several persons who had heard Craig himself relate the story, and particularly from his widow, " dame Craig," who survived her husband, and lived in Edinburgh until 1630. Mr John Craig, minister, his wife, Marion Small, and his eldest son, Mr William, are mentioned, under the date 16th August 1594, in Burgh Sas. ix. 60. t Keith, p. 226. t Knox, Historie, p. 302. 5 Keith, 230. Knox, 321. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 241 By these means the southern parts of the kingdom were preserved in a state of peace, while the vigorous measures of Murray crushed the rebellion in the north.* The queen expressed little satisfaction at the victory gained over Iluiitly, and there is every reason to think, that, if not privy to his rising, she expected to turn it to the advancement of her pro- jects.! According to Archbishop Spotswood, she scrupled iioi to say, at this time, that" she hoped, before a year was expired, to have the mass and Catholic profession restored through the whole kingdom."! While these hopes were indulged, the Popish clergy thought it necessary to gain credit to their cause, by appearing more openly in defence of their tenets than they had lately done. They began to preach publicly in ditlerent parts of the country, and boasted that tliey were ready to dispute with the Protestant ministers. § Tile person who stept forward as their champion was Quin tin Kennedy, uncle to the Earl of Cassilis,and abbot of Crossra guel. Though his talents were not of a superior order, the ab bot was certainly one of the most respectable of the Popish clergy in Scotland, not only in birth, but also in regularity and decorum of conduct. He seems to have spent the greater part of his life in the same neglect of professional duty which characterized his brethren ; but he was roused from his inactiv ity by the zeal and success of the Protestant preachers, who, in the years 1556 and 1557, attacked the Popish faith, and inveigh- ed against the idleness and corruption of the clergy. || At an age when others retire from the field, he began to rub up his long-neglected armour, and descended into the theological arena. His first appearance as a polemical writer was m 1558, when he published a short system of Catholic tactics, under the title of Ane Compendius Tractive, shewing "the nerrest and onlie way to establish the conscience of a Christian man," in all matters which were in debate concerning faith and religion. This way was no other than implicit faith in the decisions of * Knox, 31f>— 318. f The Historian of the family of Gordon expressly says, that " her majesty thought, by the Earl of Huntlie his power in the north, to get iicrselt" frecl from the hands of her bastard brother, James, Earle of Morray ;" and tliat "the Earle of Huntlie (at the quein's own desyre) did gather some forces, to get her out of the Earle of Murraye's power," Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland, by Sir Robert Grordon of Gordonstoun, pp. 140, 1 H. I Spotswood, 185. k Knox, Historic, pp. 316, 318. II The Reasoning betwixt Jo. Knox and the abbote of Crossraguell, fol. 4. Edinburgh, 15'J3. 21 F2 242 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. the ChurcA or clergy. When any point of religion was contr ) verted, the Scripture might be cited as a witness, but tlie Church was the judge, whose determinations, in general coun cils canonically assembled, were to be humbly received and submitted to by all the faithful* It was but " a harbour say- ing," which the Protestants had commonly in their mouths, that every man ought to examine the Scriptures for himself. It was sufficient for those who did not occupy the place of teach- ers, that they had a general knowledge of the creed, the ten commandments, and the Lord's prayer, according to the sense in which these were explained by the Church. And " as to the sacramentis, and all other secretis of the Scripture," every Christian nan ought to " stand to the judgment of his pastor, who did bear his burden in all matters doubtsome above his knowledge."! This was doubtless a very near way to stability of mind, and a most compendious mode of deciding every controversy which might arise, without having recourse to examination, reasoning, or debate. But as the wilful and stubborn reformers would not submit to this easy and short mode of decision, the abbot was reluctantly obliged to enter the lists of argument with them. Accordingly, in the beginning of 1559, he challenged Willock, who was preaching in his neighbourhood, to a dispute on the sacrifice of the mass. The challenge was accepted, the time and place of meeting were fixed ; but the (Bspute did not take place, as Kennedy refused to appear, unless his antagonist would previously engage to submit to the interpretations of Scripture which had been given by the ancient doctors of the Church. J From this time he seems to have made the mass the great subject of his study, and in 1561 wrote a book in its de- fence, which was answered by George Hay.§ On the 30th of August 1562, the abbot read, in his chapel of Kirkoswald, a number of articles respecting the mass, purga- tory, praying to saints, the use of images, and other points, which he said, he would defend against any who should impugn them, and he promised to declare his mind more fully on the following Sabbath. Knox, who was in the vicinity, * Kennedy, Compendius Tractive, A, iiij. f Ibid. D. vii. I Keith, App. 195 — 199. Kennedy, in a letter to the Archbishop of Glas- gow, says, " Willock, and the rest of his counsell, labourit earnestlie to sie gif I wald admitt the Scripture onlye juge, and, be that meines, to haif maid me contrarry to my awin buke ; bot thair labouris wes in waist. I held me evir fast at ane grounde." And he triumphs, that he " draif the lymmar — to refuse the interpretation of the doctoris allegeit be him and all utheris, bot so far as he thocht they war agreable with the worde of God, quhilk was as rycht nocht." Ibid. 193, 194. J See Note BBB. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 243 came to Kirkoswald on that day, with the design of hearing the abbot, and granting him the disputation which he had courted. In the morning, he sent some gentlemen who accompanied him to acquaint Kennedy with the reason of his coming, and to de- sire him either to preach according to his promise, or to attend Knox's sermon, and afterwards to state his objections to the doctrine which might be delivered. The abbot did not think it proper to appear, and Knox preached in the chapel. When he came down from the pulpit a letter from Kennedy was put into his hand, which led to an epistolary correspondence between them, fully as curious as the dispute which followed. The abbot wrote to Knox, that he was informed he had come to that quarter of the country " to seik disputation," which he was so far from refusing, that he " earnestlie and effectuouslie covated the samin," and with that view should meet him next Sunday in any house in Maybole that he choosed, provided not more than twenty persons on each side were allowed to be pre- sent. The reformer replied, that he had come to that quarter for the purpose of preaching the gospel, and not of disputing ; that he was under a previous engagement to be in Dumfries on the day mentioned by the abbot, but that he would return with all convenient speed, and fix a time for meeting him. To this letter the abbot sent an answer, to which Knox merely returned a verbal message at the time; but when he afterwards published the correspondence, affixed short notes to it by way of reply. The abbot proposed that they should have " familear, formall, and gentill ressoning." — " With my whole hart I accept the condition," replies the Reformer; " for assuredlie, my lord, (so I stile you by reason of blood, and not of office), chiding and brawling I utterlie abhor." To Knox's declaration that he had come to '' preach Jesus Christ crucified to be the only Saviour of the world," the abbot answers, " Praise be to God, that was na newings in this countrie, or ye war borne." — " I greatlie dout," replies the Reformer, "if ever Christ Jesus was truelie preached by a papistical prelat or monk." As an excuse for his not preaching at Kirkoswald on the day he had promised, the abbot says, that Knox had come to the place convoyed by five or six score strangers. " I lay the night before," says Knox, "in Mayboil, accompanied with fewer than twentie." Tbe abbot boasted, that Willock, at a former period, and Hay, more lately, had refused to dispute with him, until they consult- ed the council and their brethren. Maister George Hay offered unto your disputation, but ye fled the barrass." Knox wished the dispute to be conducted publicly in St. John's Church, Ayr; for, says he, " I wonder with what conscience ye can require privat conference of those artikles that ye have publicklie pro- poned. Y.- have infertp.d the ears of the simple, ye have ::44 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX wounded the hartes of the godUe, and ye ha^^e spoken blasphe- mie in oppen audience. Let your owne conscience no we be judge, if we be bound to answer you in the audience of twenty or forty, of whom the one half are alreadie persuaded in the treuth, and the other perchance so addicted to your error, tliat they will not be content that light be called light, and darknes, darknes." — " Ye said ane lytill afore," answers the abbot, " ye did abhor all chiding and railing, bot nature passis nurtor with yow." — " I will neither interchange nature nor nurtor with yow, for all the proffets of Crosraguell." — " Gif the vicforie consist in calmour or crying out," says the abbot, objecting to a public meeting, " I wil quite you the cause but farder pley ; * and yet, praise be to God, I may whisper in sic manner as I will be hard sufficientlie in the largest house in all Carrick." — " The larger the house, the better for the auditor and me," replied the Re- former. The Earl of Cassilis wrote to Knox, expressing his disap- probation of the proposed dispute, as unlikely to do any good, and calculated to endanger the public peace ; to which the Reformer replied, by signifying, that his relation had given the challenge, which he was resolved not to decline, and that his lordship ought to encourage him to keep the appointment, from which no bad effects were to be dreaded. Upon this the abbot wrote a letter to Knox, charging him with having* procured Cassilis's letter, to bring him into disgrace, and to advance his own honour ; and saying, that he would have " rancountered" nim the last time he was in that country, had it not been for the interposition of his nephew. " Ye sal be assured," adds he, " I sal keip day and place in Mayboill, according to my writing, an I half my life, an my feit louse ;" and in another letter to Knox and the bailies of Ayr, he says, " Keip your promes, and pretex na oukrie, by my lorde of Cassilis writing." — " To neither of these," says Knox, " did I answer otherwise than by appointing the day, and promising to keap the same. For I can pacientlie suffer wantone men to speak wantonlie, consid- ering that I had sufficiently answered my lord of Cassilis in that behalf" The conditions of the combat were now speedily settled. They agreed to meet on the 28th of September, at eight o'clock in the morning, in the house of the provost of Maybole. Forty persons on each side were to be admitted as witnesses of the dispute, with " as many mo as the house might goodly hold, at the sight of my lord of Cassilis." And notaries, or scribes, were chosen on each side to record the papers which might be givei in by the parties, and the arguments which they advanced * Without further plea. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 245 in the course of reasoning, to prevent unnecessary repetition, or a false report of the proceedings. These conditions were form- ally drawn out, and subscribed by the Abbot and the Reformer, on the day preceding the meeting. When they met, " Johne Knox addressed him to make pub- lict prayer, whereat the abbot wes soir offended at the first, but whil the said John wold in nowise be stayed, he and his gave audience ; which being ended, the abbote said, ' Be my faith, it is Weill said."' The reasoning commenced by reading a paper presented by the abbot, in which, after rehearsing the occasion of his present appearance, and protesting, that his entering into dispute was not to be understood as implying that the points in question were disputable or dubious, being already determined by lawful general councils, he declared his readiness to defend the articles which he had exhibited, beginning witli that con- cerning the sacrifice of the mass. To this paper Knox gave in a written answer in the course of the disputation ; and, in the mean time, after stating his opinion respecting general councils, he proceeded to the article in dispute. It was requisite, he said, to state clearly and distinctly the subject in controversy, and he thought the mass contained the four following things : the name, the form and action, the opinion entertained of it, and the actor, with the authority which he had to do what he pretended to do ; all of which, he was prepared to shew, were destitute of any foundation in Scripture. The abbot was aware of the ditficul- ty of managing the point on such broad ground, and he had taken up ground of his own, which he thought he could main- tain against his antagonist. " As to the masse that he will impung," said he, " or any mannes masse, yea, an it war the paipes awin masse, I will mantein na thing but Jesus Christes masse, conforme to my article, as it is written, and diffinition contened in my bulk, whilk he hes tane on hand to impung." Knox expressed his delight at hearing the abbot say, that he would defend nothing but the mass of Christ, for if he adhered to this, they were " on the verray point of an Christiane agre- ment," as he was ready to allow whatever could be shewn to have been instituted by Christ. As to his lordship's book, he confessed he had not read it, and (without excusing his negli- gence) requested the definition to be read to him from it. The abbot qualified his assertion by saying, that he meant to defend no other mass, except that which in its " substance, institution, and effect," was appointed by Christ ; and he defined the mass, in its substance and effect, to be the sacrifice and oblation of the Lord's body and blood, given and ofiered by him in the last supper; and. for the first confirmation of this, he rested upon the oblatio_ of bread and wine by JMelchizedec. His argument was, that the Scripture declared Christ to be a priest after the 2^ * 246 L I F E O F J O H N K iN 3 X . order of Melchizedec. Melchizedec offered bread and wine to God ; therefore Christ offered or made oblation of his body and blood in the last supper, which was the only instance in which the priesthood of Christ and Melchizedec could agree. Knox said, that the ceremonies of the mass, and the opinion entertained of it, (as procuring remission of sins to the quicK and the dead,) were viewed as important parts of it, and, having a strong hold of the consciences of the people, ought to be taken into the argument ; but as the abbot declared himself willing to defend these afterwards, he would proceed to the substance, and proposed, in the first place, to fix the sense in which the word sacrifice or oblation was used in this question. There were sacrifices propitiatorise. for expiation, and encharistica-, for thanksgiving ; in which last sense the mortification of the body, prayer, and almsgiving were called sacrifices in Scripture. He wished, therefore, to know whether the abbot understood the word in the first or second of these senses in this dispute. The abbot said, that he would not at present inquire what his opponent meant by a sacrifice propitiatorium ; but he held the sacrifice on the cross to be the only sacrifice of redemption, and that of the mass to be the sacrifice of commemoration of the death and passion of Christ. Knox replied, that the chief head which he intended to impugn, seemed to be yielded by the abbot ; and he, for his part, cheerfully granted, that there was a commemoration of Christ's death in the right use of the ordi- nance of the supper. The abbot insisted, that Knox should proceed to impugn the warrant which he had taken from Scripture for his article. "Pro- testing," said the reformer, " that this mekle is win, that the sacrifice of the messe being denied by me to be a sacrifice pro- pitiatorie for the sins of the quick and the dead (according to the opinion thereof before conceaved) hath no patron at the present, I am content to precede." — " I protest he hes win no- thing of me as yit, and referres it to black and white contened in our writing." — " I have openlie denied the masse to be an sacrifice propitiatorie for the quick, &c. and the defence thereof is denied. And, therefore, 1 referre me unto the same judges that my lord hath clamed." — "Ye may denie what ye pleis; for all that ye denie I tak not presentlie to impung ; but whair I began there will I end, that is, to defend the messe conform to my artickle." — " Your lordship's ground," said Knox, after some altercation, " is, that Melchizedeck is the figure of Christe in that he did offer unto God bread and wine, and that it be- hoved Jesus Christ to offer, in his latter supper, his body and blude under the forms of bread and wine. I answer to your ground yet againe, that Melchizedeck offered neither bread noi LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 247 wir.e unto God ; and, therefore, it that ye would tliereupou coiickide hath no assurance of your ground," — "Pi eve that," said the abbot. Knox replied, that, according to the rules of just reasoning, he could not be bound to prove a negative ; that it was incumbent on his opponent to bring forward some proof for his atiirmation, concerning which, the text was altogether sileni; and that until the abbot did this it was sufficient for him simply to deny. But the abbot said, he " stuck to his text," and insisted that his antagonist should shew for what purpose Melchizedec brought out the bread and the wine, if it was not to otier them to God. After protesting that the abbot's position remained destitute of support, and that he was not bound, in point of argument, to shew what became of the bread and wine, or what use was made of them, Knox consented to state his opinion, that they were hitended by Melchizedec to refresli Abraham and his company. The abbot had now gained what he wished ; and he had a number of objections ready to start against this view of the words, by which he was able at least to protract and involve the dispute. And thus ended the first day's contest. When the company convened on the following day, the abbot proceeded to impugn the view whicli his opponent had given of the text. He urged, first, that Abraham and his company had a sutficiency of provision in the spoils which they had taken from the enemy in their late victory, and did not need Melchiz- edec's bread and wine ; and, secondly, that the text said that Melchizedec brought them forth, and it was improbable that one man, and he a king, should carry as nmch as would refresh three hundred and eighteen men. To these objections Knox made such replies as will occur to any person who thinks on the subject. And in this manner did the second day pass. When they met on the third day, the abbot presented a paper, in which he stated another objection to Knox's view of the text. After some more altercation on this subject, Knox desired his opponent to proceed, according to his promise, to establish the argument upon which he had rested his cause. But the ab- bot, being indisposed, rose up, and put into Knox's hand a book to which he referred him for the proof By this time the noble- men and gentlemen present were completely wearied out. For, besides the tedious and uninteresting mode in which the dispu- tation had been managed, they could find entertainment neither for themselves nor for their retinue in Maybole ; so that if any person had brought in bread and wine among them, it is presu- mable that they would not have debated long upon the purpose for which it was brought. Knox proposed that they should ad- journ to Ayr and finish the dispute, which was refused by the abbot, who said he would come to Edinburgh for that purpose, 248 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. provided lie could obtain the queen's permission. Upon tliis the company dismissed. The dispute was never resumed, though Knox says that he apphed to the privy council for liberty to the abbot to come to Edinbursli for this purpose. Kennedy died in August 1564. It has been said that he was canonized as a saint after his death,* and Dempster makes him both a saint and a martyr.t I have not seen his name in the Romish calendar, but I find (what is of as great consequence) that the grand argument upon which he insisted in liis disputation with the Reformer has been can- onized. For in the calendar, at " March 25," it is written, " Melchezedec sacrifeit breid and wyne in ligin-e of ye bodie and bloud of our Lord, vvhilk is ofterit in ye messe."J Doubt- less those who knew the very month and day on which this happened, must have been better acquainted with the design of Melchizedec than either Moses or Paul. The abbot and his friends having circulated the report that he had the advantage in the disputation, Knox, in 1563, publisli- ed the account of it from the records of the notaries, to which he added a prologue and short marginal notes. The prologue and his answer to the abbot's first paper, especially the latter, are pieces of good writing. I have been more minute in the narrative of this dispute than its merits deserve, because no ac- count of it has hitherto appeared, the tract itself being so ex- ceedingly rare as to have been seen by but few for a long period. § Another priest who defended the Roman Catholic cause at this time was Ninian Wingate. He had been schoolmaster of Linlithgow, from which situation he was removed by Spots- wood, superintendent of Lothian, on account of his devoted at- * Crawford's Peerage of Scotland, p. 75. t " Auo'ustus 22 — Monasterio Crucis regalis obitus Beati Quintini Kenne- dii abbatis, Comitis Cassilii fratris, qui adiniranda constantia sex aniiis totis, cum hseresi nascente, et jam contirmatacontlixit, ad extremum lento veneno consumptus, corruptoque sanguine excessit." Dempsteri Menologium Scot- orum, p. 20. Bononite, 1622. J S(;e Calendar, by " M. Adam King, profeseur of philosophie and Mathi- matikis at Paris," prefixed to a Scottish translation of Canisius's Catechism, printed in 1587. ^ Knox gives merely a general notice of this dispute in his Historie, p. 318. Keitli, who was very industrious in collecting whatever referred to the ecclesiastical history of that period, could not obtain a copy of the print- ed disputation, and had heard of but one imperfect copy. History, App. 255. J'he only copy known to exist at present is in tlie library of Alex- ander Boswell, Esq, of Auchinleck. — Since the publication of tiie first edi- tion of this Life, Mr. Boswell has printed a small impression of this unique, oeino- an exact far, simile of the original edition for the gratincalioii of llio surious. [See Britisii Reformers, vol. IX. edition of Board of Publication. \ LIFE OF JO M N KNOX. '249 tacbmeiit to popery. In the month of February 1562, he sent to Knox a writing, consisting of eighty-three questions upon the principal topics of dispute between the Papists and Protestants, which he had drawn up in the name of the inferior clergy, and laity, of the Catholic persuasion in Scotland. To some of these, particularly the questions which related to the call of the Pro- t' ^*ant ministers, the Reformer returned an answer from the pul- pii, and Wingate addressed several letters to him, complaining that his answers were not satisfactory. These letters, with ad- dresses to the queen, nobility, bishops, and magistrates of Edin- burgh, Wingate committed to the press, but the impression being seized in the printer's house (according to Bishop Lesley), the author made his escape, and went to the Continent.* Knox intended to publish an answer to Wingate's questions, and to defend the validity of the Protestant ministry ; but it does not appear that he carried his design into execution.! In the beginning of 1563, Knox went to Jedburgh, by appointment of the General Assembly, to investigate a scandal which had broken out against Paul Methven, the minister of that place, who was suspected of adultery. Methven was found guilty, and excommunicated. J Having fled to England, he sent a letter to the General Assembly, professing his willingness to submit to the discipline of the Church, but requesting that the account of his process should be deleted from the records of the Church. The Assembly declared that he might return with safety to his native country, and that he should be admitted to public repentance, but refused to erase the process from their minutes. § He afterwards returned to Scotland j and a severe and humiliating penance was prescribed to him. He was en- * Lesley, apud Keith, p. 501. App. 22:^. Lesley speaks of a dispute be- tween Knox and Wingate, but that historian is often incorrect in his details. I'he dispute between the doctors of Aberdeen and the ministers, which topish cleriry, against which Wingate inveighs as keenly as any reformer. His .-econd book con- cludes with this exclamation, " Och, for mair paper or pennyis !" Wingate translated several works of the Fathers into the Scottish language, some of which are mentioned by him in his Tractatis. Keith, App. 226, 227. He was made abbot of a Scottish monastery at Ratisbon. Mackenzie's Lives, vol. iii. p. 149. t See Note CCC. I Knox, Historie, pp. 323, 324. Keith, 522. h Keith, p. 538. G2 250 LIFE OF JOHN KNJX. joined to appear at the church-door of Edinburgh, when the second bell rang for public worship, clad in sackcloth, bare- headed and barefooted ; to stand there until the prayer and psalms were finished, when he was to be brought into the church to hear sermon, during which he was to be " placeit in the public spectakell above the peiple." This appearance he was to make on three several preaching-days, and on the last of them, being a Sabbath, he was, at the close of the sermon, to profess his sorrow before the congregation, and to request their forgiveness ; upon which he was again to be " clad in his awin apparell," and received into the communion of the Church. He was to repeat this course at Dundee and at Jedburgh, where he had officiated as minister.* Methven went through a part of this humbling scene, with professions of deep sorrow ; but being overwhelmed with shame, and despairing to regain his lost reputation, he stopped in the midst of it, and again re- tired to England.! Prudential considerations were not wanting to induce the reformed Church of Scotland to stifle this affair, and to screen from public ignominy a man who had acted a distinguished part in the late reformation of religion. But they refused to listen to these ; and by instituting a strict scrutiny into the fact, and inflicting an exemplary punishment upon the criminal, they " approved themselves to be clear in this matter," and effectually shut the mouths of their Popish adversaries. The mode of public repentance enjoined on this occasion was appointed to be afterwards used in all cases of aggravated im- morality.f There was nothing in which the Scottish reformers approached nearer to the primitive Church than in the rigorous and impartial exercise of ecclesiastical discipline, the relaxation of which, under the Papacy, they justly regarded as one great cause of the universal corruption of religion. While they rejected many of the ceremonies which were introduced into the worship of the Christian Church during the first three cen- tin-ies, they, from detestation of vice, and a desire to restrain it, did not scruple to conform to a number of their penitential re- gulations. In some instances they might carry their rigoui against offenders to an extreme ; but it was a virtuous extreme, compared with the dangerous laxity, or rather total disuse of discipline, which has gradually crept into almost all the Churches which retain the name of reformed ; even as the scrupulous delicacy with which our forefathers shunned the society of those who had transgressed the rules of morality is to be preferred to modern manners, by which the vicious obtain t-asy admission into the company of the virtuous. * Bulk of the Universal Kirk, p. 23. Keith, 559, 560. t Knox. Historie, p. 398. t See Note DDD. LIFE OF JOHN K N C .< . 251 'Twas hard, perhaps, on here and there a wa, ' Desirous to return, and not received: But was an wholesome rigour in the main, And taught the unblcmishtd to preserve with care That purity, whose loss was loss of all. But tiow — yes, now, We are become so candid and so fair. So liberal in construction, and so rich In Christian charity, (good-natured age!) That they are safe, sinners of either sex, Transgress what laws they may. t'owper's Task. B. ii: In the month of May the queen sent for Knox to Locnieven. The Popish priests, presuming upon her avowed partiaUty to them, and her secret promises of protection, had of late become more bold ; and, during the late Easter, masses had been openly celebrated in different parts of the kingdom. Repeated procla- mivtions had been issued against this practice by the queen in council, but none of them were carried into execution. The gentlemen of the west country, who were the most zealous Protestants, perceiving that the laws were eluded, came to the resolution of executing them, without making any application to the court, and apprehended some of the offenders by way of example. These decided proceedings, which were calculated to defeat the scheme of policy which she had formed, gave great offence to her majesty ; but finding that the signification of her displeasure had not the effect of stopping them, she wished to avail herself of the Reformer's influence for accom- plishing her purpose. She dealt with him very earnestly for two hours before sup- per, to persuade the western gentlemen to desist from all inter- ruption of the Catholic worship. He told her majesty, that if she would exert her authority in executing the laws of the land, he could promise for the peaceable behaviour of the Pro- testants ; but if she thought to elude them, he feared there were some who would let the Papists understand that they should not offend with impunity. " Will ye allow, that they shall take mi/ sword in their hands ?" said the queen. " The sword of jus- tice is God's ," replied the Reformer with equal firnmess, " and is given to princes and rulers for one end, which, if they trans- gress, sparing the wicked and oppressing the innocent, they who, in the fear of God, execute judgment where God has commanded, offend not God, although kings do it not." Having produced some examples from Scripture to shew that criminals might be punished by persons who did not occupy the place of supreme rulers, he added, that the gentlemen of the West were acting strictly according to law ; for the act of par liament gave power to all judges within their bounds, to searcli for and punish those who should transgress its enactments. He ' oncluded with inculcating a doctrine which has seldom been 252 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. very pleasing to piL ices : " It shall be profitable to your majesty to consider what is the thing your grace's subjects look to re- ceive of your majesty, and what it is that ye ought to do unto them by mutual contract. They are bound to obey you, and that not but in God : ye are bound to keep laws to them. Ye crave of them service : they crave of you protection and defence against wicked doers. Now, madam, if you shall deny your duty unto them (which especially craves that ye punish malefactors), think ye to receive full obedience of them ? I fear, madam, ye shall not." The queen broke off the conver- sation with evident marks of displeasure. Having imparted tlie substance of what had passed between them to the Earl of Murray, Knox meant to return to Edin- burgh next day without waiting for any further communica- tions with the queen. But a message was delivered to him at an early hour in the morning, desiring him not to depart until he had again spoken with her majesty. He accordingly met her at a place in the neighbourhood of Kinross, where she took the amusement of hawking. This interview was very different from that of the preceding evening. Waiving entirely the sub- ject on which they had differed, she conversed with him upon a variety of topics, with the greatest familiarity and apparent confidence. Lord Ruthven (she said) had offered her a ring ; but she could not love that nobleman. She knew that he used enchantment ; * yet he had been made a member of her privy council ; and she blamed secretary Lethington for procuring his admission into that body. Knox excused himself from saying any thing of the secretary in his absence. " I understand," said she, introducing another subject of discourse, " that ye are appointed to go to Dumfries, for the election of a superintendent to be established in these countries." He answered in the affirmative. " But I understand the Bishop of Athenst would be superintendent." " He is one, madam, that is put in elec- tion." " If you knew him as well as I do, you would not pro- mote him to that office, nor yet to any other within your kirk." Knox said that the bishop deceived many, if he did not fear God. " Well, do as you will ; but that man is a dangerous * Comp. Knox, Historie, 327. with Keith, Append 125. t In Knox's Historie, it is prmted Cnlhenis, by mistake, instead of \thenis. The person referred to is Alexander Gordon, brother to George, Earl of Huntly, wlio was slain at Corrichie in 15.2. Scarcely any Scottish prelate ever occupied so many different sees, or occupied them for so short a time. He was Bisliop of Caithness, Archbishop of Glasgow, Bishop of the Isles, and Bishop of Galloway. When lie was deprived of the see of Glas- gow, the pope, as a recompense, created him titular x^rchbisliop of Athens. Gordon's Geuealonrical History of the Earldon of Sutherland, pp. Ill — 12, 137. 290. Keith's Scottish Bishops, pp. 1C8, 153, IjC, 17.">. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. '253 Knox wished to take his leave of her majesty, but she pressed him to stay. " I have one of the greatest matters that have touched me, since I came into this realm, to open to you, and I must have your help in it," said she, with an air of con- descension and confidence as enchanting as if she had put a ring on his finger. She then entered into a long discourse with him concerning a domestic difference between the Earl and Countess of Argyle. Her ladyship, had not, she said, been so circumspect in every thing as could have been wished, but still she was of opinion that his lordship had not treated her in an honest and godly manner, Knox said that he was not un- acquainted with the disagreeable variance which had subsisted between that honourable couple, and, before her majesty's ar- rival in this country, had effected a reconciliation between them. On that occasion, the countess had promised not to complain to any creature before acquainting him ; and having never heard from her on that subject, he had concluded that there was nothing but concord between her and his lordship. " Well," said the queen, " it is worse than ye believe. But do this much ybr my sake, as once again to put them at unity, and if she behave not herself as she ought to do, she shall find no favour of me ; but in anv wise let not my lord know that I have request- ed you in this matter." Then introducing the subject of their reasoning on the preceding evening, she said, " I promise to do as ye required : I shall cause summon all offenders ; and ye shall know that I shall minister justice." " I am assured, then," said he, " that ye shall please God, and enjoy rest and tranquillity within your realm, which to your majesty is more profitable than all the pope's power can be." Upon this he took his leave of the queen.* This interview exhibits one part of Mary's character in a very striking light. It shews how far she was capable of dissembling, what artifice she could employ, and what con- descensions she could make, when she was bent on accomplish- ing a favourite object. She had formerly attacked the Refor- mer on another quarter without success, and was convinced that it was vain to think of working on his fears ; she now resolved to try if she could soothe his stern temper by flattering his vanity, and disarm his jealousy by strong marks of confi- dence. There is reason to think that she partly succeeded in her design. For, though he was not very susceptible of flattery, and must have been struck with the sudden change in the queen's views and behaviour, there are few minds that can altogether resist the impression made by the condescending familiarity of persons of superior rank ; and our feelings, on * Knox, Ilistorie, pp. avJO— 3-28. 22 254 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. such occasions, chide as uncharitable the cold suspicions suggested by our judgment. In obedience to her majesty's request, he wrote a letter to the Earl of Argyle, which was not very pleasing to that nobleman. From deference to the opinion which she had expressed, he inquired more narrowly .nto the conduct of the Bishop of Galloway, and finding some grounds of suspicion, postponed the election. And the report which he gave of the queen's gracious answer operated in her favour on the public mind.* But if his zeal suffered a temporary intermission, it soon kindled with fresh ardour. On the 19th of May, the Arch- oishop of St. Andrews, and a number of the principal Papists, were arraigned, by the queen's orders, before the Lord Justice General, for transgressing the laws ; and, having come in her majesty's will, were committed to ward. But this was merely a stroke of policy, to enable her the more easily to carry her measures in the parliament which met on the following day ; and, accordingly, the prisoners were set at liberty as soon as it was dissolved.! This was the first parliament which had been held since the queen's arrival in Scotland ; and it was natural to expect that their first business would be to ratify the treaty of peace made in July 1560, and the establishment of the Protestant religion. If the acts of the former parhament were invalid, as the queen had repeatedly declared, the Protestants had no law on their side ; they held their rehgion at the mercy of their sovereign, and might be required at her pleasure, to submit to Popery, as the religion which still possessed the legal establishment. But so well had she laid her plans, such was the eff'ect of her insin- uating address, and, above all, so powerful was the temptation of self-interest on the minds of the Protestant leaders, that, by general consent, they passed from 'this demand, and lost the only favourable opportunity which presented itself, during the reign of Mary, for giving a legal security to the reformed reli- gion, and thereby removing one principal source of national fears and jealousies. An act of oblivion, securing indemnity to those who had been engaged in the late civil war, was indeed passed ; but the mode of its enactment virtually implied the in- validity of the treaty in which it had been originally embodied ; and the Protestants, on their bended knees,J supplicated, as a \ oon from their sovereign, what they had formerly won with their swords, and repeatedly demanded as their right. The other acts made to please the more zealous reformers were * Knox, Historie, pp. 327—429. t Ibid. 330—334. I Spotsw>^, 188. " We are very much obliged to the information of A.rchbisho[: Spotswood " for this, says honest Keith. History, 240 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 255 expressed with such studied and glaring anabiguity, as to offer an insult to their understandings.* Our Reformer was thunderstruck when first informed of the measures which were in agitation, and could scarcely believe that it was seriously intended to carry them into execution. He immediately procured an interview with some of the lead- ing members of parliament, to whom he represented the danger of allowing that meeting to dissolve without obtaining the rati- fication of the acts of the preceding parliament, or at least those acts which established the Reformation. They alleged, that the queen would never have agreed to call them together, if they had persisted in these demands ; but that there was a prospect of her being soon married, and on that occasion they would ob- tain all their wishes. In vain he reminded them that poets and painters had represented Occasion with a bald hind-head ; in vain he urged, that the event to which they looked forward would be accompanied with difficulties of its own, which would require all their skill and circumspection. Their determination was fixed. He now perceived the full extent of the queen's dissimulation ; and the selfishness and servility of the Protestant leaders aff'ected him deeply. So hot was the altercation between him and the Earl of Mur- ray on this subject, that an open rupture ensued. Knox had long looked upon that nobleman as one of the most sincere and steady adherents of the reformed cause ; and therefore felt the greater disappointment at his conduct. Under his first irritation he wrote a letter to Murray, in which, after reminding him of his condition when they first became acquainted in London,! and the honours to which he had been raised by Providence, he solemnly renounced friendship with him, as one who prefer- red his own interest and the pleasure of his sister to the advance- ment of religion, left him to the guidance of the new counsellors * Act. Pari. Scot. ii. St^fi— 8. Knox, m\. Keith, 240. j- I have not been able to ascertain the time at which the acquaintance between the Earl of Murray and the Reformer commenced. It was prob- ably soon after Knox came hito England, in the reign of Edward VI. A Popish writer has mentioned their meeting and grafted upon it the calumny, current among the party, that the earl had formed the ambitious project of wresting the crown from his sister, and placing it on his own hi3ad. " Jo- hann Kmnox deceavit him," says he, "in S. Paules kirk in Londone, bring- and him in consait, that God had chosen liim extraordinarilic as ane Josias, to be king of Scotland, to rute out idolatrie, and to plant the liclit of tiie new evangel : quhair they convenit in tiiis manner, That the prior of St. Androis, Erl of Murray, sould mentene the new Klias againis the pricste- of Bael (tor sua blasphemouslie he namitthe pricstes of Ciirist Jesus). And tho neu Elias sould fortifie the new Josias, be procuring the favour of the people againis lesabel, blaspheming maist impudentlie the quenis M." Nicol Burne's Disputation, p. 15H. Knox was at least better acquainted with Scripture history than to make Josias contemporary with Elias and Jesabel 256 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. whom he had chosen, and exonerated him from all future con- cern in his affairs. This variance, which continued nearly two years, was very gratifying to the queen, and to others who dis- liked their former familiarity, and who failed not (as Knox in- forms us) to " cast oil into the flame, until God did quench it by the water of affliction."* Before the dissolution of the parliament, the Reformer em- braced an opportunity of disburdening his mind in the presence of the greater part of the members assembled in his church. After discoursing of the great mercy of God shewn to Scotland, in marvellously delivering them from bondage of soul and body, and of the deep ingratitude which he perceived in all ranks of persons, he addressed himself particularly to the nobility He praised God that he had an opportunity of pouring out the sor- rows of his heart in the presence of those who could attest the truth of all that he said. He appealed to their consciences, if he had not, in their greatest extremities, exhorted them to de- pend upon God, and assured them of preservation and victory, provided they preferred the divine glory to their own lives and secular interests. " I have been with you in your most despe- rate temptations (continued he, in a strain of impassioned elo- quence) ; in your most extreme dangers I have been with you. St. Johnston, Cupar-moor, and the Craggs of Edinburgh,! are yet recent in my heart ; yea, that dark and dolorous night where- in all ye, my lords, with shame and fear, left this town, is yet in my mind ; J and God forbid that ever I forget it ! What was, 1 say, my exhortation to you, and what has fallen in vain of all that ever God promised unto you by my mouth, ye yourselves yet live to testify. There is not one of you, against whom was death and destruction threatened, perished : and how many of your enemies has God plagued before your eyes ! Shall this be the thankfuhiess that ye shall render unto your God, to betray his cause when you have it in your hands to establish it as you please ?" He saw nothing (he said) but a cowardly de- sertion of Christ's standard. Some had even the effrontery to say that they had neither law nor parliament for their religion. They had the authority of God for their religion, and its truth was independent of human laws ; but it was also accepted within this realm in public parliament, and that parliament he would maintain to have been as lawful and as free as any par- liament that had ever been held within the kinardom of Scotland. * Knox, Historie, p. 331. t Referring to the critical circumstance in which the lords of the Congre- gation had been situated at these places, when the queen recent threatened to attack them witli superior forces. See above, pp. 16/, 170, 177. I See above, p. 196. LIFE OF JOHxN KxNOX. 257 In the conclusion of his discourse, he adverted to the n ports or her majesty's marriage, and of the princes who courtea her hand ; and (desiring the audience to mark his words) he predic- ted the consequences which would ensue, if ever the nobility consented that their sovereign should marry a Papist. Protestants, as well as Papists, were offended with the free dom of this sermon, and some who had been most familiar with the preacher now shunned his company. Flatterers were not wanting to run to the queen, and inform her that John Knox had preached against her marriage. After surmounting all opposi- tion to her measures, and managing so successfully the haughty and independent barons of her kingdom, Mary was incensed to think that there should yet be one man of obscure condition wlio ventured to condemn her proceedings ; and as she could not tame his stubbornness, she determined to punish his teme rity. He was ordered instantly to appear before her. Lord Ochiltree, with several gentlemen, accompanied him to the palace; but the superintendent of Angus, Erskine of Dun, was the only person allowed to go with him into the royal pres- ence. Her majesty received him in a very different manner from what she had done at Lochleven. Never had prince been han- dled (she passionately exclaimed) as she was; she had borne with him in all his rigorous speeches against herself and her uncles — she had sought his favour by all means — she had offer- \'d unto him audience whenever he pleased to admonish her; •' and yet," said she, " I cannot be quit of you. I vow to God I shall be once revenged !" On pronouncing these words with great violence, she burst into a flood of tears, which interrupt- ed her speech. When the queen had composed herself, Knox proceeded calmly to make his defence. Her grace and he had (lie said) at different times been engaged in controversy, and he never before had perceived her offended with him. When it should please God to deliver her from the bondage of error in which she had been trained up, through want of instruction in the truth, he trusted that her majesty would not find the lib- erty of his tongue offensive. Out of the pulpit, he believed, tew had occasion to complain of him; but there he was not his own master, but was bound to obey Him who commanded him to speak plainly, and to flatter no flesh on the face of the earth. " But what have you to do with my marriage ?" demanded the queen. He was proceeding to state the extent of his com- mission as a preacher, and the reasons which led him to touch on that delicate subject ; but she interrupted him ty repeathig her question, " What have you to do with my marriage .' Or what are you in this commonwealth ?" — '• A subject born with- 22* H2 258 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. in the same, madam," replied the Reformer, piqued by the lasi question, and by the contemptuous tone in which it was proposed. « And albeit I be neither earl, lord, nor baron in it, yet has God made me (how abject that ever I be in your eyes) a profitable member within the same. Yea, madam, to me it appertains no less to forwarn of such things as may hurt it, if I forsee them, than it doth to any of the nobility ; for both my vocation and conscience require plainness of me. And, therefore, madam, to yourself I say that which I spake in public place. Whenso- ever the nobility of this realm shall consent that ye be subject to an unfaithful husband, they do as much as in them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish his truth from them, to betray the freedom of this realm, and perchance shall in the end do small comfort to yourself." At these words, Mary began again to sob and weep with great bitterness. The superintendent, who was a man of mild and gentle spirit, tried to mitigate her grief and resentment ; he praised her beauty and her accomplishments; and told her that there was not a prince in Europe who would not reckon himself happy in gaining her hand. During this scene, the severe and inflexible mind of the Reformer displayed itself. He continued silent, and with unaltered countenance, until the queen had given vent to her feelings. Pie then pro- tested, that he never took delight in the distress of any creature ; it was with great difficulty that he could see his own boys weep when he corrected them for their faults, and far less could he rejoice in her majesty's tears ; but seeing he had given her no just reason of otfence, and had only discharged his duty, he w-as constrained, though unwillingly, to sustain her tears, rather than hurt his conscience, and betray the commonwealth by his silence. This apology inflamed the queen still more ; she ordered him instantly to leave her presence, and to wait the signification of her pleasure in the adjoining room. There he stood as " one whom men had never seen ;" all his friends. Lord Ochiltree ex- cepted, being afraid to shew him the smallest countenance. In this situation he addressed himself to the court ladies, who satin their richest dress in the chamber: "0 fair ladies, how plesing war this lyfe of yours, if it sould.ever abyde, and then, in the end, that ye might pas to hevin with all this gay gear ! But fye upon that knave Death, that will come widder we will JY not !" Having engaged them in conversation by a mixture of seriousness and raillery, he passed the time, till the superin- tendent came, and informed him that he was allowed to go home until her majesty had taken farther advice. The queen insisted to have the judgment of the Lords of Articles, whether the words he had used in the pulpit were not actionable ; but «he was p'>rsuaded by hor counsellors to abandon the idea of a i.IFE OF JOHN KNOX. 259 prosecution. "And so that stornie quietit in appearance, hot nevir in the hart."* No expressions are sufficiently strong to describe tlie horror which many teel at the monstrous inhumanity of Knox, in re- maining unmoved, wiiile •' youth, beauty, and royal dignity,"! were dissolved in tears before him. Enchanting, surely, must the charms of the Queen o . Scots have been, and iron-hearted the Reformer, who could resist the impression of them, when they continue to this day to exercise such a sway over the hearts of men, that even grave and serious authors, not addicted to the language of gallantry and romance, protest, that tliey cannot read of the tears which she shed on this occasion, with- out feeling an irresistible inclination to weep along with her. There may be some, however, who, knowing how much real misery there is in the world, are not disposed to waste their feelings unnecessarily, and who are of opinion, that there was not much to commiserate in the condition of the queen, nor to reprobate in the conduct of the Reformer. Considering that she had been so fortunate in her measures, and had found the no- bility so ready to gratify all her wishes, the passion by which she suffered herself to be transported was extravagant, and her tears must have been those of anger more than of grief. On the other hand, when we consider that Knox was at this time deserted by his friends, and stood almost alone in resisting the will of a princess, who accomplished her measures chiefiy by caresses and tears, we may be disposed to form a more favour- able idea of his conduct and motives. We behold not, indeed, the enthusiastic lover, mingling his tears with those of his mis- tress, and vowing to revenge her wrongs ; nor the man of nice sensibilit}^, who loses every other consideration in the gratifica- tion of his feelings ; but we behold, what is more rare, the stern patriot — the rigid reformer — who, in the discharge of his duty, and in a public cause, can withstand the tide of tenderness as well as the storm of passion. There have been times when such conduct was regarded as the proof of a superior mind ; and the man who, from such motives, " hearkened not to the wife of his bosom, nor knew his own children," has been the object, not of censure, but of admiration, in pagan as well as sacred story' Fertur pudicae conjugis osculum, Parvosque natos, ut capitis minor, Ab se removisse, et virilem Torvus huiiii posuisse vultum. * Knox Historie, pp. 332— 3M. t These are the words of IMr. Hume, who holds a distinguished place among the writers who have excited prejudices against our Reformer on the score of cruelty to Mary. The reader will find some remarks on tlie state- ments of that able but artful historian in Note EEE. '261) LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. While Knox lay under the displeasure of the court, and ha'li " fond enousfh to catch at and force such thinn's upon his readers."' But Knox did not write this part of the History ; the Htlli book having been compiled after his deatli, and not being' found in old MSS. See Advertisement, prefixed to the edition of his Historic, Edin. 17'-V2. It must be confessed, however, that Spotswood's account of this affair is inaccurate in a number of particulars. David Buchanan says, that the king had " cast the psalme book in tlie fire," which was the cause of Knox's denunciation against him. Life of Knox prefixed to History of the Reformation. ■( Records of Town Council, 23d August 1565. Keith, .547. t Knox, Historie, p. 381. 5 Ibid. p. 389. 11 See Note III. 286 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. be translaied from Edinburgh to their city. They claimed a right to him, as he had commenced his ministry among them : and they inight think that the dissensions in which he was in- volved with the court would induce him to prefer a more retired situation. But their petition was refused.* This Assembly imposed on him several important services. He was commissioned to visit the churches in the south of Scot- land, and appointed to write " a comfortable letter" to encou- rage the ministers, exhorters, and readers, throughout the king- dom, to persevere in the discharge of their functions, which many of them were threatening to abandon, on account of the non-payment of their stipends ; and to excite the people among whom they laboured to relieve their necessities.! He had for- merly received an appointment to draw up the Form of Excommunication and of Public Repentance. J And he was now required to compose a Treatise of Fasting. The Assem- bly, having taken into consideration the troubles of the country, and the dangers which threatened the whole Protestant interest, had appointed a general fast to be kept through the kingdom. The form and order to be observed on that occasion they left to be drawn out by Knox and his colleague ; and as nothing had been hitherto published expressly on this subject, they were authorized to explain the duty, as well as to state the reasons, which at that period called for this solemn exercise. This treatise does credit to the compilers, both as to matter and form. It is written in a perspicuous and nervous style. In the grounds assigned for fasting, the critical state of all reformed churches, the late decree of the council of Trent for the extirpa- tion of the Protestant name, the combination of the Popish princes for carrying it into execution, and the persecutions suffered by their brethren in different countries, are all held forth as a warning to the Protestants of Scotland, and urged as calls to repentance and prayer. The following may serve as a specimen : — " Supposing, we say, that wee had none of these foresaid causes to moove us, yet is there one which, if it moove us not to humiliation, wee show ourselves more than insensible. For now is Satan so enlarged agairvst Jesus Christ, and so odious is the light of his gospel unto * Keith, 562. f Keith, 538. :|. This appointment was laid upon him in June 1563. Keith, 525. He does not seem to have executed it till 15t)7, which is the date subjoined to a prayer at the end of the treatise. Then follows a postscript : " 'J'his booke is thought necessary and profitable for the Church, and commanded to be printed by the Generall Assemblie." The order for printing it seems to liave been first given by the Assembly in 1568, and renewed in 1571, Psahns in meeter, &< (coniinonly called Knox's Litursry,) printed by Andio Hart, A. 1611, pp. 1'8 (.7. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 76 , 7 i7. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. '2S7 tnc Romaine antichrist, that to suppresse it in one province, reahiie, or nation, he thinketh it notliing, unlesse that, in all Eu- rope tiie godly, and such as abhorre the papisticall impietie, be tlierewith also utterlie destroyed, and so rased from the face of the earth, that no memory of them shal after remaine. If any thinks that suche crueltie cannot fall into the hearts of men, we send them to be resolved of those fathers of the last councel of Trent, who, in one of their sessions, have thus concluded : All Lutherans, Calvinists, and such as are of the new religion, shall utterly be rooted out. The beginning shall be in France, by con- ducting of the Catholike king, Philip of Spaine, and by some of the nobilitie of France ; which matter (they say) put in exe- cution, the whole power of both, together with the pope's armie, and force of the Duke of Savoy and Ferrar, shall assault Geneva, and shall not leave it till that they have put it to sacke, saving in it no living creature. And with the same mercie shall so many of France as have tasted of the new religion be served. From thence expedition shall be made against the Germanes, to reduce them to the obedience of the apostolike seate. And so shall they proceed to other realmes and nations, never ceasing till that all be rooted out that will not make homage to that Romane idoll. How fearefuU a beginning this conclusion and determination had, France will remember moe ages than one. For how manie, above a hundredth thousand men, women, babes, virgines, matrones, and aged fathers suffer- ed, some by sworde, some by water, some by fire, and other torments, the verie enemies themselves are compelled to acknow- ledge. And albeit that God of his mercie in part disappoynted their cruell enterprises, yet let us not thinke that their will is changed, or their malice asswaged. No ; let us be assured, that they abide but opportunitie to finish the worke that cruelhe against God, against his trueth, and the true professors of the same, they have begunne, the whisperings whereof are not se- creete, neither yet the tokens obscure. For the tralfike of that dragon now with the princes of the earth, his promises and flattering enticements, tende to none other ende, but to inflame them against Jesus Christ, and against the true professours of his gospel. For who can thinke that the pope, cardinals, and horned bishops, will oflTer the greatest portion of their rents, for sustaining of a warre, whereof no commoditie should redound (as they suppose) to themselves?" Having quoted that part ol" the decree of the council which relates to the assessment imposed on the clergy, for carrying on this holy war, the compilers of the treatise add : " But let us hear their conclusion : France and Ger- manic (say they) being by these meanes so chastised, abased, and broug^it to the obedience of the holy Romane Church, the fathers doubt not but time shall provide both counsell and •288 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. conimoditie, that the rest of the reahiies about may be reduced to one flocke, and one apostolike governour and pastour. — But some shall say, they are yet far from the end of their pur- pose, and therefore wee neede not be so fearefull nor so troubled. We answere, the danger may be nearer than we beleeve, yea, perchance a part of it hath bene nearer to our neckes than we have considered. But how so ever it be^ seeing that God of his raercie hath brought foorth to light their cruell and bloodie counsell, in which we neede not to doubt but still they continue, it becummeth us not to be negligent or slouthful."* Strong as their apprehensions were, the danger was nearer to them than they imagined. The most zealous and powerful of the Protestant nobles being exiled, the queen determined to carry into execution the design of which she had never lost sight ; and while she amused the nation with proclamations against altering the received religion, and tantalized the minis- ters with offers of more adequate support, was preparing for the speedy restoration of the Roman Catholic worship. No means were left unattempted for gaining over the nobility to the ancient religion. The king openly professed himself a con- vert to it, and officiated in some of its most superstitious rites. The Earls of Lennox, Cassilis, and Caithness, with Lords Montgomery and Seton, followed his example.t The friars were employed to preach at Holyroodhouse, and, to gain the favour of the people, endeavoured to imitate the popular method of the Protestant preachers.! In the beginning of February 1566, a messenger arrived from the Cardinal of Lorraine, with a copy of the Catholic league for extirpating the Protestants, and instructions to obtain the queen's subscription to it, and to urge the propriety of adopting the most rigorous measures against the exiled noblemen. Mary scrupled not to set her hand to the league.§ Previous to this, it is said that she was inclined to yield to the intercessions made in behalf of the exiles ; but if ever she felt such a disposition, it is certain tliat^ * Treatise of Fasting, in Knox's Liturgy, p. 157 — 160. edit. 1611 ; and in Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 661 — 664. i" Robertson, Append. No. 14. Keith, Append, pp. 165, 167. Knox, o89 —391. I The friars were so little esteemed, that they soon wearied of )}reaching. They boasted that they would dispute witli the Protestant ministers ; but when the commissioners of the General Assembly waited on their majesties, and requested that this might be granted in their presence, the queen re- plied, that " sche wald not jeopard her religioun upon sick as were tbare present ; for sche knew weill enouch, that the Protestants wer more learn- ed." Knox, Historie, p. 391. 5 Keith, p. 326. Append. 167. Melvil's Memoires, 63, 64. Robertson, Append. No. 14. LIFE OF J O M \ K N O X . 289 f'oni the arrival of this embassy, the door of mercy was shut. Mm'ray and his associates were immtdiately summoned to ap- pear before the parUament which wai to meet on the twelfth of March. The lords of the Articles were chosen according to the queen's pleasure ; the Popish eccKssiastics were restored to their place in parliament ; and the altars to be erected in St. Giles's Church, for the celebration of the Roman Catholic wor- ship, were already prepared.* 13ut these measures, when ripe for execution, were blasted, in consequence of a secret engagement which the king had en- tered into with some of the Protestant nobles. The first effect produced by this engagement was the well known assassination of Rizzio, the unworthy favourite of the queen, who was the principal instigator of tlie measures against the Protestant reli gion and the banished lords, and had now incurred the jealousy of the king, as well as the contempt of the nobility and the hat- red of the people. To have removed this minion from her majesty's counsels and presence by legitimate means would have been meritorious ; but the manner in which it was accom- plished was equally inconsistent with law and humanity, and fixes a deep stigma on the characters of those who perpetrated the deed.t A complete change on the state of the court succeeded this event. The Popish counsellors fled from the palace ; the exiled lords returned out of England ; and the parliament was pro- rogued, without accomplishing any of the objects for which it had been assembled. But Mary soon persuaded the weak and uxorious king to desert the noblemen whom he had made the instruments of his revenge, to retire with her to Dunbar, and to issue a proclamation, disowning his consent to the late attempt ; by which he exposed himself to the contempt of the nation, without regaining her affection. Having collected an army, she returned to Edinburgh, threatening to inflict the most ex- * Knox, :i9'2, ."^94. Keith, Append. 126, The queen's letter to the Arch- bishop of Glasgow, apiid Keith, 331. Goodall and Blackwood, apud Robert- son, ii. 145. Lond. 1809. t The noblemen wished to bring Rizzio to a public trial ; but the king' would not wait for this, and determined that he should be seized in the queen's presence, although she was big with child, that he miglit upbraid iier for the wrongs which he had suffered. Keith, App. 121, 122. Robert- son, iii. 318. App. No. 1.5. Douglas of Lochleven, who was engaged in the combination against Rizzio, says, that it was their purpose to have " punist him be order of justice ; hot men proponit and God disponit udir wais, be sic extraordinar means, quhilk truly my aune hart aborit quhan I saw him ; for I never consontit that he suld haiff been usit by [beside] justice, nather was it in ony nobellman his mind." Speaking of Rizzio's influence, Douglas says, "I causit offer to him, gif he vvald stay the Erie of Murray's forfaltour, he suld haiff "i thowsand pundis Scottis; his answer was, 20 thowsand ane* that wer all alik ; it wald not be." MS. papers of the Laird of Lochleven. 25 M2 290 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. emplary A'^ngeance on all who had been accessory to the mur- der of her secretary, and the indignity shown to her person. She found herself, however, unable to resume her former plans ; and, while the conspirators against Rizzio were forced to flee to England, the Earl of Murray, and the other lords who had opposed her marriage, were allowed to remain in the country, and soon after pardoned. When the queen returned to Edinburgh, Knox left it, and retired to Kyle. There is no reason to think that he was privy to the conspiracy which proved fatal to Rizzio. But it is pro- bable that he had expressed his satisfaction at an event which contributed to the safety of religion and the commonwealth, if not also his approbation of the object of the conspiracy.* At any rate, he was sufficiently obnoxious to the queen on other grounds ; and as her resentment, on the present occasion, was exceedingly inflamed, it was deemed prudent for him to withdraw.! Having, at last, " got quit" of one who had so long been troublesome to her, Mary was determined to prevent his return to the capital. The town council and inhabitants, who had formerly refused to acquiesce in his suspension from preaching for a short time, exerted themselves to obtain his restoration ; and powerful intercession was made in his behalf by many of the nobility and gentry. But the queen was deaf to all entreat- ies. She was even unwilling that he should find a refuge with- in the kingdom, and wrote to a nobleman in the west country, with whom he resided, to banish him from his house. J It does not appear that he returned to Edinburgh, or, at least, that he resumed his ministry in it, until the queen was deprived of the government. Being banished from his flock, he judged this a favourable opportunity for paying a visit to England. Parental affection increased the desire which he had long felt to accomplish this journey. His two sons had been lately sent by him into that * King James VI. having found great fault with Knox for approving of the assassination of Rizzio, one of the ministers said, " that the slaughter of David (Rizzio), so far as it was the work of God, was allowed by Mr. Knox, and not otherwise." Cald. MS. ad. ann. 1591. Knox himself does not, however, state this qualification, when he mentions the subject incidentally. Historic, 8'i. Robertson, ii. 161 — 2. t Knox, Historic, 395. Answer to Tyrie, A. iiij. I Letter from Archbishop Grindal to Bullinger, 17th August 1566 : Strype's Grindal, Append. 20. Letter from Bishop Parkhurst, written in December 1566: Burnet's Hist, of Reform, iii. Append. No. 91. In the Assembly which met in June this year, Craig desired that " John Carnes, who had read prayers and exhorted four years and more in Edinburgh, and had Weill profited, might be 'oyned with him as colleague in the kirk of Edmburgh, in respect he was lone.'' Keitli, 560. LIFE OF JOHx\ KNOX. 291 kingdom, to reside with some of their mother's relations, and to obtain their education in the EngUsh seminaries. Having pro- cured the safe-conduct of EUzabeth, he applied to the General Assembly, which met in December 1566, for their permission to remove. This was readily granted by them, upon condition of his returning against the time of their next meeting in June. The Assembly likewise gave him a most ample and honourable testimonial, in wliich they describe him as " a true and faithful minister, in doctrine pure and sincere, in life and conversation in our sight inculpable," and one who " has so fruitfully used that talent granted to him by the Eternal, to the advancement of the glory of his godly name, to the propagation of the king- dom of Jesus Christ, and edifying of them who heard his preaching, that of duty we must heartily praise His godly name, for that so great a benefit granted unto him for our utility and profit."* Knox was charged with a letter from the General Assembly to the bishops and ministers of England, interceding for lenity to such of their brethren as scrupled to use the sacerdotal dress enjoined by the laws. The controversy on that subject was at this time carried on with great heat among the English clergy. It is not improbable that the Assembly interfered in this busi- ness at the desire of Knox, to whom the composition of the letter was committed.! He could not have forgotten the trou- ble which he had himself suffered on a similar ground, and he had a high regard for many of the scruplers. This interposi- tion did not procure them any relief Though the superior clergy had been more zealous to obtain it than they were, Eliza- beth was inflexible, and would listen neither to the supplications of her bishops, nor to the advice of her counsellors. Knox's good opinion of the English queen does not seem to have been im- proved by this visit.l He performed one important piece of public service before undertaking this journey to England. On the 23d of Decem- ber, the queen granted a commission, under the privy seal, to the Archbishop of St. Andrews, restoring him to his ancient jurisdiction, which had been abolished in 1560, by act of par- * Keith, 56. t Ibid. 5^55, 566. K lox, 402, 403. Spotswood, 198, 199. The letter was subscribed by "John Dividson, for James Nicoldson, writer and clarke of the church of Edinborcugh." Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker, Append. p. 88. I Speakiflg of Engknd, he says, " And yet is sche that how rigneth over thame nether gude Pn)testant, nor yet resolute Papist; let the world juge quhilk is the third." Historie, p. '277. By comparing this with p. 2 )9, it appears that it was w itten by him in 1567, and consequently after his re- turn from England. 292 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. liarnent.* This step was taken, partly to prepare kx the re- storation of the Popish religion, and partly to facilitate another dark design which was soon after disclosed. The Protestants could not fail to be both alarmed and enraged at this daring measure. Moved by his own zeal no less than by the advice of his brethren, the Reformer addressed a circular letter to the principal Protestants in the kingdom, requesting their immediate advice on the measures most proper to be adopted on this occa- sion, and enclosing a copy of a proposed supplication to the queen. This letter discovers all the ardour of the writer's spirit, called forth by such an alarming occurrence. After mentioning the late acts for the provision of the ministry,! by which the queen attempted to blind them, he says, " How that any such assignation, or any promise made thereof, can stand in any sta- ble assurance, when that Roman antichrist, by just laws once banished from this realm, shall be intrusted above us, we can no ways understand. Yea, farther, we cannot see what assu- rance can any within this realm, that hath professed the Lord Jesus, have of life, or inheritance, if the head of that odious beast be cured among us. As from the beginning we have neither spared substance nor life, so mind we not to faint unto the end, to maintain the same, so long as we can find the con- currence of brethren ; of whom (as God forbid) if we be desti- tute, yet we are determined never to be subject to the Roman antichrist, neither yet to his usurped tyranny ; but when we can do no farther to suppress that odious beast, we mind to seal it with our blood to our posterity, that the bright knowledge of Jesus Christ hath banished that Man of Sin, and his venomous doctrine, from our hearts and consciences. Let this our letter and request bear witness before God, before his Church, before the world, and before your own consciences.''^ The suppli- cation of the General Assembly to the lords of the privy coun- cil, on the same subject, also bears marks of the Reformer's pen.§ During the time that Knox was in England, that tragedy, so well known in Scottish history, was acted, which led to a com- plete revolution in the government of the kingdom, and, con- trary to the designs of the principal actors, threw the power wholly into the hands of the Protestants. Mary's affection for * Reg. Seer. Sig. lib. xxxv. f. 99. Laing's History of Scotland, vol. i. 75, 76, 2d edit. This historian has refuted the charges of forgery which Whitaker had brought against Knox and Calderwood on this head. Ibid. pp. 78, 79. t Keith, pp. 561, 562. The occurrence which had taken place helps to ex- plain the coldness with which the Assembly receive ' the infornation o' these acts in their favour. Ibid. p. 563. I Cald. MS. apud Keith, 556—7. 5 Ibid. 567—8. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 293 her husband, which had cooled soon after their marriage, was, from the time of Rizzio's assassination, converted into a fixed hatred, which she was at little pains to conceal. The birth of an heir to the crown prodnced no reconciliation between the royal parents; the king was not allowed to be present at the baptism of his own son, and was treated with such marked dis- respect, even by the servants, that he abandoned the court, and siiut himself up in his father's house. In proportion as the queen's mind was alienated from her husband, the unprincipled Earl of Bothwell grew in her favour. He engrossed the wlioie management of public affairs, was loaded with honours, and treated by her majesty with every mark of personal regard and atfection. In these circumstances, the neglected, unhapj)y king, was decoyed to Edinburgh, lodged in a solitary dwelling at the extremity of the city, and murdered on the morning of the 10th of February 1567; the house in which he lay being blown up with gunpowder. It would be unsuitable to the nature of the present work to enter into the controversy respecting the authors of this mur- der, which has been agitated with uncommon keenness from that day to the present time. The accusation of the Earl of Murray as a party to the deed, is destitute of all proof, and utterly incredible. It was at first circulated with the evident de- sign of turning away the public mind from the real perpetra- tors ; it was insinuated, and afterwards directly brought forward, in the conferences at York and Westminster, as a retaliation upon him for the charge which he exhibited against the queen; and it is now kept up only by the most blind and bigoted of her partisans. That Bothwell was the prime contriver and agent in the murder, cannot admit of a doubt with any impartial and judicious inquirer. And that Mary was privy to the design, and accessory to its execution by permission and approbation, there is, I think, all the evidence, moral and legal, which could reasonably be expected in a case of this kind. The whole of her behaviour towards the king, from the time that she brought him from Glasgow till she left him on the fatal night ; the re- missness which she discovered in inquiring into the murder ; the shameful manner in which she suffered the farce of Bothwell's trial to be conducted; the glaring act (which struck the whole of Europe, and even her own friends, with horror) of taking to lier bed, with indecent haste, tlie man who was stigmatized as the murderer of her husband ; and the manner in which she refused to defend herself, and broke off the conference to which she had agreed, as soon as the charge of accession to the mur- der was brought against her, — afford the strongest presumptions of her guilt ; and, when taken in conned '.on with the direct ev- idence arising from letters and deposit! ns, would have been 25* 294 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. sufficient long ago to shut the mouths f any but the defenders of Mary Queen of Scots.* Knox was absent from Edmburgh at the time of the queen's marriage with Bothwell ; but his colleague ably supported the honour of his place and order on that occasion, when the whole nobiUty of Scotland preserved a passive and disgraceful silence. Being required by both the parties to publish the banns, Craig reluctantly complied, after taking the advice of his session ; but at the same time, he protested from the pulpit, on three several days, and took heaven and earth to witness, that he abhorred and detested the intended marriage as unlawful and scandalous, and solemnly charged the nobility to use their influence to pre- vent the queen from taking a step, which would inevitably cover her with infamy, and involve her in ruin. Being called befoie the council, and accused of having exceeded the bounds of his commission, he boldly replied, that the bounds of his commis- sion were the word of God, good laws, and natural reason, to all of which the proposed marriage was contrary. And Both- well being present he charged him with the crime of adultery, the precipitancy with which the process of divorce had been carried through, and the suspicions entertained of collusion between him and his wife, of his having murdered the king, and ravished the queen, all of which would be confirmed if they carried their purpose into execution.! The events which followed in rapid succession upon this in- famous marriage — the confederation of the nobility for reveng- ing the king's death, and preserving the person of the infani prince ; the flight of Bothwell ; the surrender and imprison ment of Mary ; her resignation of the government ; the coro nation of her son ; and the appointment of the Earl of Murray * Those who wish to see the proof of these assertions, may consult Mr. Hume's History of the period, with the Notes; Dr. Robertson's, with his Dissertation ; and especially Mr. Laing's Dissertation on the subject. This last writer has examined the point with great calmness, accuracy, and acute- ness, has established the genuineness of the letters to Bothwell, and cleared the whole evidence from the objections and cavils of the fantastical Whita- ker, a late author,.who has equalled any of his predecessors in prejudice, and exceeded all of them in the illiberal and virulent abuse with which he has treated the most respectable of his opponents. The principal writers who in modern times have undertaken the defence of Mary, are Goodall, Tytler, Stuart, and Whitaker. ] Buik of the Universal Kirk, pp. 81, 87, 108. Anderson's Collections, ii. 278 — 28;]. Knox, 4115, 403. Spotswood, 202, 203. Craig gave in a narra- tive and defence of his conduct to the General Assembly, 30th Dec. 1567 ; but it was not until the 6th July 1569, that the Assembly overtook the for- mal consideration of that affair, when they declared that " he had done the dewtie of a faithfull minister." LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 295 as regent during his minority, are all veil known to the readers of Scottish history. Knox seems to have returned to his charge at the time thai the qneen fled with Both well to Dunlrar. He was present in the General Assembly which met at Edinburgh on the 25th of June, and was delegated by them to go to the west country, and endeavour to persuade the Hamiltons, and otliers who stood alool from the confederated lords to join with them in settling the distracted affairs of the country, and to attend a general convention of the delegates of the churches, to be held on the 20th of July following.* In this negotiation he was unsuccess- ful. But the convention was held, and the nobles, barons, and commissioners of boroughs, who were present, subscribed a number of important articles, with reference to religion and the state of the nation.! On the 29th of July 1567, the Reformer preached the sermon at the coronation of James VI. in the parish church of Stir- ling.| He objected to the ceremony of unction, as a Jewish rite abused under ihe Papacy ; but it was deemed inexpedient, on the present occasion, to depart from the accustomed ceremo- nial. It was therefore performed by the bishop of Orkney; the superintendents of Lothian and Angus assisting him to pkice the crown on the king's head.§ After the coronation, Knox, along with some others, took instruments, and craved extracts of the proceedings.il When the queen was confined by the lords in the castle oi Lochleven, they had not resolved in what manner they should dispose of her person for the future. Some proposed that she should be allowed to leave the kingdom; some that she should be imprisoned during life ; while others insisted that she ought to be capitally arraigned. Of this last opinion was Knox, with almost all the ministers, and the great body of the people. * Keith, 574, 577. Knox, 410. t Keith, 581—583. Knox, 411. Spotswood, 209, 210. I Knox, 412. Buchanan calls it luculentam concionem. Hist. lib. xviii. Oper. torn. i. p. 366. ^ ('aid. MS. ii. 67, 68. Anderson's Collections, ii. 249. One author says that Knox was employed in puttinj^ the crown on the king's head. " Diade- ma Joannis Knoxii manibus capiti reg-io impositum." Archibaldus Simso- nus, Annates Eccles. Scotican. p. 9. MS. in the possession of 'i'hoinas Thomson, Esq, II Keith, 4:59. Keith expresses his surprise at Knox's taking instruments in the name of the estates, as he " could properly belong to no estate at all." Hist. p. 4KI. But the record does not say that he took instruments in tlie name of the e.-tates. It is evident tliat he acted in the name of the Church, which was considered as having an interest in the transaction, as, by one clause of tiie coronation oath, the king engaged to maintain tlio reformed religion, and tiie privileges of the Protestant Church. Ibid. p. 438. 296 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. The chief ground upon which they insisted for thiS, was not her maladministration in the government, or the mere safety and peace of the conmionwealth ; which were tlie reasons upon which the parhament of England, in the following century, proceeded to the execution of her grandson. But they founded their opinion upon the personal crimes with which Mary was charged. Murder and adultery, they reasoned, were crimes to which the punishment of death was allotted by the law of God and of nations. I'rom this penalty persons of no rank could plead exception. The ordinary forms of judicial procedure made no provision for the trial of a supreme magistrate, be- cause the laws did not suppose that such enormous crimes could be committed by him ; but extraordinary cases required ex- traordinary remedies, and new offences gave birth to new laws There are examples in Scripture of the capital punishment of princes, nor are precedents of it wanting in the history of Scotland.* Upon these grounds, Knox scrupled not publicly to maintain, that the estates of the kingdom ought to bring Mary to a trial : and, if she was found guilty of the murder of her husband, and an adulterous connection with Bothvvell, that she ought to be put to death. Throkmorton, the English ambassador, held a conference with him, with the view of mitigating the rigour of this judgment ; but though he acquiesced in the resolution adopted by the nobility to detain her in prison, he retained his own sentiments, and, after the civil war was kindled by her escape from confinement, repeatedly said, that he considered the nation as sufiering for their criminal lenity.t Though the Earl of Murray, after his return from banish- ment, had been pardoned, and re-admitted to his place in the privy council, he did not regain the confidence of her majesty. Perceiving the ruinous tendency of the course on which she was bent, and despairing of being able to prevent it by his ad- vice, he declined taking any active part in the management of public alfairs, and appeared very seldom at court. Soon after the king was murdered, he obtained liberty to leave the king- dom, and retired to France, where he remained till recalled by a message from the confederated lords, after Mary had sub- scribed the instruments by which she resigned the crown, and appointed him regent during the minority of her son. Having arrived in Scotland, he was formally invested with the regency, on the 22d of August 1567. No sooner was he confirmed in the government, than he exerted himself with great zeal and * Keith, 421, 422, 423. Throkraorton's Letters, 14th and 18th July. Rob- ertson, Append. No. 21. " The women," says the ambassador, " be most fijrious and impudent against the |ueen, and yet the men be mad enough." t Cald. MS. ii. 73. Bannatyne s Journal, p. 113. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 297 prudence to secure the peace of the kingdom, and settle the affairs of the Church. A parliament being summoned to meet in the middle of December, he, with the advice of the privy- council, previously nominated certain barons, and commission- ers of boroughs, to consult upon and digest such overtures as were proper to be laid before that assembly. With these he joined Knox, and four other ministers, to assist in matters which related to the Church. This committee met in the be- ginning of December, and sat until the opening of the parlia- ment. The record of their proceedings, both as to civil and ecclesiastical alFairs, has been preserved ; and, as many of their propositions were not adopted by the parliament, it is valuable as a declaration of the sentiments of a number of the most able men hi the kingdom.* On the 15th of December, Knox preached at the opening of the parliament, and exhorted them to begin with the affairs of religion, in which case they would find better success in their other business. The parliament ratified all the acts which had been passed hi 1560, in favour of the Protestant religion and against Popery. New statutes of a similar kind were added. It was provided, that no prince should afterwards be admitted to the exercise of authority in the kingdom, without taking an oath to maintain the Protestant religion ; and that none but Protestants should be admitted to any office, with the exception of those that were hereditary or held for life. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction, exercised by "the assemblies of the Church, was formally ratified, and commissioners appointed to define more exactly the causes which came within the sphere of their judg- ment. The thirds of benefices were appointed to be paid at first hand to collectors nominated by the Church, who, after paying the stipends of the ministers, were to account to the ex- chequer for the surplus. And the funds of provostries, pre- bendaries, and chaplainries, were appropriated to maintain bur- sars in colleges.! In the act ratifying the jurisdiction of the Church, Knox was appointed one of the commissioners for drawing out the parti- cular points which pertained to ecclesiastical judgment, to be presented to next meeting of parliament. The General Assem- bly, which met about the same time, gave him a commission, along with some others, to act for them in this matter, and, in general, to consult with the regent and council on such ecclesi- astical questions as might occur after their dissolution. He was also appointed to assist the superintendent of Lothian in his * See Note KKK. + Act. Pari. Scot i i. pp. 14—25. Cald. MS. ad ann. 1567. N2 298 LIFE OF J O [1 N KNOX. visitation, and afterward to visit the churches in Kyle, Carnck, and Cunningham.* During the regency of Murray there were no jars between the Church and the Court, nor any of those unpleasant com- plaints which had been made at every meeting of the General Assembly before that period, and which were renewed under the succeeding regents.t All the grievances of which they complained were not, indeed, redressed ; and the provision made by law was still inadequate for the support of such an ecclesias- tical establishment as the nation required, includi)ig the semina- ries of education. But the regent not only received the ad- dresses of the General Assemblies in a " maimer very different from that to which they had been accustomed ;" but shewed a disposition to grant their petitions, whenever it was in his power. It was chietly through his influence that the favour- able arrangement concerning the thirds of benefices was made ; and he endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to obtain the con- sent of parliament to the dissolution of the prelacies, and th- appropriation of their revenues to the common fund of the Church. J Our Reformer had now reached the pomt from which he could take a calm and deliberate view of the bustling scene through which he had passed, and of the arduous struggle which he had been so long engaged in, and had at length brought to a happy termination. Papal superstition and tyranny were suppressed and abolished by law ; the Protestant religion was established ; the supreme government of the na- tion was in the hands of one in whose wisdom and integrity he had the greatest confidence ; the Church was freed from many of those grievances under which she had hitherto groaned, and enjoyed the prospect of obtaining the redress of such as still re- * Cald. ut supra. Keith, 585, 586. f Dr. Robertson says, that the regulation respecting- the thirds, made by the parliament in December l-i67, did not produce any considerable change in the situation of the clergy, and speaks of them as still " groaning under ex- treme poverty, unable to obtain any thing but fair words and liberal pro- mises." History of Scotland, ii. 2.50, 31"2. London, 1809. But the law wliich gave power to the collectors appointed by the Church to uplift the thirds, and to pay the stipends, be ore any thing was allowed to the court, was certainly a very considerable benefit. The Church herself viewed it in tliis lieht. Calderwood says, that " the ministers were now refreshed with the allowance made by last parliament." MS. ad ann. 1.567. And the Assembly, in their letter inviting Willock 'o return from England, express- ly say, "Our enemies, praised be God, ae dashed; religion established; sufficient provision made for ministers," Sic. Keith, -".90. The account which I have given in the text is, I think, supported by the register of tlie five General Assemblies which were held during the regency of Murray. I Letter from the Regent to the General Assembly, ult. June, 1.j69 in Appendix. Buik of Universal Kirk, pp. 4'5 — 47. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 299 inained. The work on wliich his heart had been so < rdently set for such a long period, and for the success of which he had so ">ften trembled, had prospered beyond his utmost expectation. He now congratulated himself on the prospect of being released from all burden of public affairs, and of spending the remainder of his days in religious meditations, and in preparation for that event of whose near approach he was daily admonished by the increasing infirmities of his body.* He even secretly cherished the wish of resigning his charge in Edinburgh, and of retiring to that privacy from which he had been drawn at the com- mencement of the Scottish Reformation, Speaking of the congregation of which he had been pastor at Geneva, he says, in one of his confidential letters, " God comfort that dispersed little flock, among whom I lived with quietness of conscience and contentment of heart ; and amongst whom I would be content to end my days, if so it might stand with God's good pleasure. For, seeing it hath pleased his majesty, above all men's expectations, to prosper the work for the performing whereof I left that company, I would even as gladly return to them, if they stood in need of my labours, as ever I was glad to be delivered from the rage of mine enemies. I can give you no reason that I should so desire, other than that my heart so thirsteth."t But " the way of man is not m himself." Providence had allotted him further trials of a public nature ; he was yet to see the security of the reformed religion endangered, and the coun- try involved in another civil war, even more distressing than the former, inasmuch as the principal persons on both sides were professed Protestants. From the time that the queen was imprisoned, and the go- vernment transferred to the young prince under the regency of xMurray, a considerable number of the nobility had withheld their approbation of these proceedings. The Popish party were decidedly attached to Mary, and inimical to a revolution, which crushed the hopes which they had all along cherished of accomplishing the restoration of the ancient religion. Others, though professed Protestants, were induced by various motives to oppose the new government. Argyle was at this time alien- ated from Murray by a family quarrel. J The house of Hamil- ton followed that line of narrow and interested policy which they had adopted on former occasions of a similar kind. They \vere jealous lest the late settlement of the crown should in- validate the right of their chief, the Duke of Chastelherault, to * Cald. MS. ii. 108. t Letter to John Wood, 14th of February, 1-568 ; Cald. MS. ii. 91. I Thrnkmorton to Elizabeth. '^'M August 1567 : Keith, 4.50. 300 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. the succession ; and they were offended that the regency which they considered as due to him, should liave been con- ferred on Murray.* No governor can gratify the expectations of all ; and some of those who were early friends of the regent or had contributed to his advancement, thought that they were not sufficiently rewarded. The very means which he found it necessary to employ, to restore tranquillity and order to the kingdom, created him enemies. During the late confusions, many parts of the country had fallen into a state of anarchy ; and the northern counties and the borders presented nothing but scenes of rapine and bloodshed. It was impossible to repress these disorders without making severe examples of the most guilty; and the turbulent and licentious naturally sought the overthrow of a government by which they felt themselves overawed and restrained.! But the abilities of the regent enabled him to overcome these difficulties ; and he was daily receiving submissions from the most powerful of the opposite party, when, on the 2d of May 156S, the queen escaped from her confinement in Lochleven. The discontented nobles im- mediately joined her standard, and, having mustered a large force, avowed their determination to restore her to the exercise of that authority which she had renounced by constraint. This formidable insurrection was defeated by the promptitude of the regent ; and, in consequence of the battle of LangsidCj Mary was driven into England, and her party broken. Eliza- beth having procured herself to be chosen umpire between the two parties, the conferences were protracted during so long a period, and the conduct of the English court was so equivocal and contradictory, that the friends of Mary were encouraged to renew their attempts to restore her by force of arms. But al- though the Duke of Chastelherault returned from France with a large sura of money contributed by the Popish princes, and came into Scotland in the character of lieutenant of the queen,± the regent, by his vigilance, and his vigorous measures, prevented * Throkmorton's letters of 14th, 16th, 18th, and 19th July 1567 ; Robert- son, Append. No. 21. Laing, ii. Appen. No. 81, p. 125. Keith, p. 423. The protestation taken at the coronation of James VI. by Arthur Hamilton of Meriton, in the name of the duke, is confined to the pointof his succession to the crown, and does not allude, in the slightest degree, to the right of the queen. Keith, 437. Of the same strain was the protest \thich was intend- ed to have been made at the parliament held in December 1567 ; a copy of which, and a minute of a conversation on the subject between the regent and Arthur Hamilton, are preserved among the Hamilton MSS. t Buchanan, Oper, i. 346. Keith, 407. I Spotswood, 216. Letter, Knox to Wood, 10th September 1568, pub- 'ished in the Appendix. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 80l any insurrection, and preserved the Kingdom in tedience lo the young king's authority. Despairing to accomplish their darhng object during his life, the partisans of Mary resolved to cut off Murray by private means. During the year 1568, two persons were employed to assassinate him ; but the design was discovered and pre- vented.* This did not hmder new machinations. Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a nephew of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, undertook to perpetrate the deed. He was one of the prison- ers taken at the battle of Langside ; but, after being arraigned, condennied, aim brought out to execution, he had his life given him by the regent, and was soon after set at liberty along witli the other prisoners. t It is said that he was actuated by re- venge, on account of an injury which he had received, by de- taining one of his forfeited estates, or by the cruel manner in which his wife had been dispossessed of it.+ Whetiier this was really the case, or whether it was afterwards alleged to diminish the odium of his crime, and turn it away from his party, can- not perhaps be now certainly determined. But it does not ap- pear that any part of the regent's conduct towards him was such as to afford the slightest alleviation of a crime, in the commission of which he burst the ties of gratitude, as well as of humanity and justice. On the other hand, there is ample proof that he was incited to make the attempt by the political party with which he was connected.§ Having formed his res * The Hist, of James the Sext, p. 48. Birrel's Diary, 17 in Dalyell'a Fragments of Scottish History. Laing, ii. 269. See also Letter, Knox to Wood, 10th September 1568, ut supra. t Hist, of King James the Sext, pp. 43, 63. I This story is related in very different ways. One account makes the revenge to turn solely upon the treatment of liis wife, who, expecting to be allowed to remain in her house of Woodislie, was " uncourtouslie and un- mercifullie put thairfra, all her gudis tane fra hir, and schoc left stark naked. The gentilwoman, quhat for grief of mynd and exceeding cald, that schoe had then contractit, conceaved sic madness as was almost incredible." His- torie of King James the Sext, p. 74. Spotswood's account is different. He says, that Bothwellhaugh had redeemed his life by yielding up the lands of Woodhouselie, which were given to the Justice-Clerk, and he refusing to part with them, Bothwellhaugh " made his quarrel to the regent [/'. e. re- venged himself upon the regent], who was most innocent, and had restored him to life and liberty." Spotsw. Hist. 233. Crawfurd, in his Memoirs of the affairs of Scotland, p. 140, 1st edit, says, that " Murray sent some officers to take possession of the house, who not only turned the gentlewoman out of doors, but," &c. This is the authority which has been relied upon by all those writers who have charged the regent with cruelty in this transaction ; yet it is now discovered that the interpolation of Murray's name m this place is one of those forgeries by which that work is disgraced from begin- ning to end. Hist, of King James the Sext, preface, and p. 74. ) This is clear from many considerations. Within a few days after thf 26 302 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. ohition, he deliberately followed the regent in his progress to Glasgow, Stirling, and Linlithgow ; and, finding an opportunity in the last of these places, shot him through the body with a musket-bail. The wound proved mortal, and the regent died the same evening. While some of his friends, who stood round his bed, lamented the excessive lenity which he had shown to his enemies, and particularly to his murderer, he replied, with a noble and Christian spirit, that nothing would ever make him repent of an act of clemency.* The consternation which is usually produced by the fall of a distinguished leader, was absorbed in the deep distress which the tidings of the regent's murder spread through the nation. The common people, who had experienced the beneficial effects of his short administration, to a degree altogether unprecedent- ed in the country, felt as if each had lost a father, and loudly demanded vengeance upon the authors of the parricide. Many who had envied or hated him during his life, were now forward to do justice to his virtues. Those who had not been able to conceal their satisfaction on the first intelligence of his death, became ashamed of the indecent exultation which they had so imprudently expressed. The Hamiltons were anxious to clear themselves from the imputation of a crime which they saw to be universally detested. They dismissed the murderer, who was glad to escape from ignominy by condemning him- self to perpetual banishment. The only one of his crimes for which the Archbishop of St. Andrews afterwards expressed contrition before his execution, was his accession to the mur- der of the regent.t Nor were these feelings confined to Scot- land ; the sensation was general through England, and the expressions of grief and condolence from that country evin- ced the uncommon esteem in which he was held by all ranks. regent's assassination, his secretary, Mr. John Wood, was murdered in Fife. Anderson's Col. iii. 84. The house in which Bothwellhaug-h concealed him- self, while he committed the murder, belonged to the Archbishop of St. An- drews, who acknowledged that he was privy and accessory to the deed. Historie of King James the Sext, p. 117. 'J he horse on which the mur- derer escaped belonged to John Hamilton, Abbot of Arbroath, one of the duke's sons. Cald. ad ann. l.)70. He rode immediately to Hamilton, where he was " received with great applause." Ibid. Nay, grounds are not wanting for strong suspicion, that Maitland, and even Kircaldy of Grange, who had long been the bosom friend of the regent, was acquainted with the conspiracy against his life. Ibid. Bannatyne's Journal, p. 429. Bu- chan. i. ;384. * Cald. ut supra. Buchanani Oper. i. 385. Spotswood, 233. t Bannatyne, p. 121. " To the thrid head" (his participation in the mur- ier of the regei t) tlie archbishop "answerit thus: Tiiat he not only knew hail ', and wald lot stopp it, hot rather furtherit tiie deed thairof, quhilk he LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 303 It was the happiness of the regent, that, in his youth, he fell into the '^ompany of men, who cultivated his vigorous un- derstanding, gave a proper direction to his activity, and instil- led into his mind the principles of religion and virtue. His early adoption of the reformed sentiments, the steadiness with which he adhered to them, tiie uniform correctness of his mor- als, his integrity, sagacity, and enterprising but cool courage, soon placed him in the first rank among those who embarked in the struggle for the reformation of religion, and the main- tenance of national liberties, and secured to him their cordial and unbounded confidence. The honours which Mary, confer- red on him were not too great for the services which he per- formed ; and had she continued to act by his advice, those measures would have been avoided which brought on her ruin. He was repeatedly placed in a situation which would have tempted the ambition of persons possessed of far inferior abili- ties ; yet he shewed no disposition to grasp at the supreme authority. When he accepted the regency, it was in compli- ance with the decided and uncorrupted choice of the acting majority in the kingdom, pointing him out as the person for occupying that high station ; and his conduct, in one of the most delicate and embarrassing situations in which a governor was ever placed, shewed that his comitrymen were not mista- ken in their choice. He united, in no ordinary degree, those qualities, which are rarely combined in the same individual, and which form the character of an accomplished prince. Excel- ling equally in the arts of war and peace, he reduced the coun- try to obedience by his military skill and valour, and preserved it in a state of tranquillity and order by the wise and impartial administration of justice. Successful in all his warlike enter- prises, he never once tarnished the laurels of victory by cruelty or unnecessary rigour to the vanquished. He knew how to maintain the authority of the laws, and to bridle the licentious, by salutary severity, and at the same time to temper the rigour of justice by the interposition of mercy. He used to sit person- ally in the courts of judicature, and exerted himself to obtain for all the subjects an easy and expeditious decision of litigated repentit, and askit God mercie for the same." Hist, of .Tames the Sext, p. 117. " Jhon Hamilton, Bishop of Sanctandros, enemie to tliy kirk and to the kingis autoritie, confessit at his daith of the knawledge of Erie of Morray res^ent's murther, and that he myg-ht haif stayit the same gift' he plesit." MS. Papers of the Laird of Lochleven. Yet an autiior, in the nineteenth century, can write of this deed in the following- terms : — " The heiress of Woodhouselie fell a sacrifice to the corrupt tyranny of the regent Murray. Her husband, Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, put the guilty tyrant to death as ' base-born Murray rode through old Linlithgow's crowded town.' " Chalmers's Caledonia, ii. 571. 304 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. causes. His hospitality, his unostentatious charity, his uncom- mon Hberality to the learned, and the anxiety he shewed to confer his favours in the manner least calculated to hurl their feelings, have been celebrated by one who had the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with these amiable traits of his character.* Nor has the breath of calumny, which has attempted in many ways to blast his reputation, ever insinuated that he oppressed or burdened the public, durhig his regency, in order to enrich himself or his family. Add to all these qual- ities, his exemplary piety, the only source of genuine and exal- ted virtue. His family was so regulated as to resemble a church rather than a court. Not a profane or lewd word was to be heard from any of his domestics. A chapter of the Bible was always read at table after dinner and supper ; and it was his custom on such occasions, to require his chaplain, or some learned man present, to give his opinion upon the passage, for his own instruction and that of his family. " A man truly good," says Archbishop Spots wood, " and worthy to be ranked among the best governors that this kingdom hath enjoyed, and, therefore, to this day honoured with the title of The Good Regent."t This may perhaps be deemed by some readers an improper digression.' But though it had been less connected with the subject of this work than it is, and though the familiarity and co-operation between the regent and the Reformer had been less intimate and cordial than they really were, I could not have denied myself the satisfaction of paying a small tribute to the memory of one of the greatest men of his age, who has been traduced and vilified in a most unjustifiable manner, and whose character has been drawn with unfavourable, and, in my opinion, with mifair colours, by the most moderate and inipartial of our historians. All that I have attempted, is to sketch the more prominent features of his character. That he was faultless, I am far from wishing to insinuate; but the principal charges which have been brought against him, I consider as either irrelevant, or unproved, or greatly exaggerated. That his exaltation to the highest dignity in the state which a subject could enjoy, produced no unfavourable change on his temper and behaviour, is what none can be prepared to affirm, but I have not seen the contrary established. The confidence which he reposed in his friends was great, and he was in- clined to pay much deference to their advice ; but that he be came the diipe of worthless favourites, and fell by listenmg to their flattery, and refusing to hearken to wholesome advice, and not by the treachery of his friends and the malice of his enemies, * Buchanan. Oper. i. 385. t History. 234. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 305 aie assertions which have been repeated upon the authority of a single witness, unsupported by facts, and capable of being dis- proved.* The regent died on the evening of Saturday, the asd of Jan- uary 1570; and the intelligence of his murder was conveyed early next morning to Edinburgh. It is impossible to describe the anguish which the Reformer felt on this occasion. The loss of a noble and endeared friend was the least evil which he had to deplore. Of all the Scottish nobility, he placed the greatest confidence in Murray's attachment to religion ; and his conduct after his elevation to the regency, had served to heighten the good opinion which he formerly entertained of him. He looked upon his death as the greatest calamity which could befall the nation, and as a forerunner of many evils.t Wher the shock produced by the melancholy tidings had subsided, the first thought that rushed into his mind was, that he had himself been the instrument of obtaining, from his clemency, a pardon to the man who had become his murderer ; a thought which naturally produced a very different impression on him from what it did on the mind of the dying regent, j In his sermon that day, he introduced the melancholy sub- ject ; and after saying, that God in his great mercy raised up pious rulers, and took them away in his displeasure, on account of the sins of a nation, he thus poured out the sorrows of his heart : " 0 Lord, in what misery and confusion found he this realm ! To wliat rest and quietness now by his labours, sud- denly he brought the same, all estates, but especially the poor commons, can witness. Thy image, 0 Lord, did so clearly shine in that personage, that the devil, and the people to whom he is prince, could not abide it ; and so to punish our sins and our ingratitude (who did not rightly esteem so precious a gift). thou hast permitted him to fall, to our great grief, in the hand of cruel and traitorou^ murderers. He is at rest, 0 Lord ; w( are left in extreme misery. ''"§ Only a few days before this, and after the plan of the mur * See Note LLL. t Smetoni Responsio ad Hamiltonii Dialogum, p. 116. \ " Upon the 22 of Mali, the Sherife of Linlitha^ow, the Laird of Inner- week, James Hamilton of Bothelhaugh, and six others, were put to an as- syse ; their hands bound ; and pardoned at the request of Mr. Knox, whereor he sore ropented ; for Bothwelhaugh killed the regent shortlie after." Cald. MS. ad ann. lo6S. !} Cald. MS. ii. 150. He is said to have added this to his usual prayers after dinner and supper. But in a volume of Calderwood's History, in the .\dvocates' Library' in Edinburgh (wliich has been transcribed more early, than anv copy which I have seen), these words are scored out; and it is introduced as the prayer which he offered up in public, on the day on which he was informed of the regent's death. 26 * 0 2 30G LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. der was fully concerted, Gavin Hamilton, Abbot of Kilwinning, applied to Knox to intercede with the regent in behalf of some of his kinsmen, who were confined for practising against the government. He signified his readiness to do all in his power for the reUef of any of that family who were willing to own the authority of the king, but entreated the abbot not to abuse him by employing his services, if his relations intended to do any mischief to the regent ;* for " I protest," said he "before God, who is the only witness now betwixt us, that if there be any thing attempted, by any of that surname, against the per- son of that man, in that case I discharge myself to you and them for ever." After the assassination, the abbot sent to de- sire another interview ; but Knox refused to see him, and de- sired the messenger to say, " I have not now the regent to make suit unto for the Hamiltons."t At this time there was handed about a fabricated account of a pretended conference held by the late regent with Lord Lind- say, Wishart of Pittarrow, the tutor of Pitcur, James Macgill, and Knox ; in which they were represented as advising him to set aside the young king, and place the crown on his own head. To give it the greater air of credibility, the modes of expression peculiar to each of the persons were carefully imitated in the speeches put into their mouths. The evident design of circu- lating it at this time, was to lessen the odium of the murder, and the veneration of the people for the memory of Murray ; but it was universally regarded as an impudent and gross for- gery. The person who fabricated it was Thomas Maitland, a young man of talents, but corrupted by his brother the secretary, who had previously engaged himself to the queen's party, and was suspected of having had a deep hand in the plot for assas- sinating the regent.J On the day on which the weekly conference was held in Ed- inburgh, the same person slipped into the pulpit a schedule, con- taining words to this effect : " Take up now the man whom you accounted another God, and consider the end to which his am- bition hath brought him." It was Knox's turn to preach that day. On entering the pulpit he took up the paper, supposing it to be a note requesting the prayers of the congregation for a sick person, and having read it, laid it aside without any appar- ent emotion. But towards the conclusion of his sermon, after deploring the loss which the Church and commonwealth had recently sustained, and declaring the account of the conference, which had been circulated, to be false and calumnious, he said * Great appriihensions of this were entertained by the regent's friends. Bannatyne, 428 — 9. t Cald. MS. id ann. 1570. t Ibid. ii. 151—157. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 307 that there were person5 who rejoiced at the treasonable murder, and scrupled not to make it tlie subject of their merriment ; and particularly, there was one present who had thrown into the pulpit a paper exulting over an event which was the cause of grief to all good men : " that wicked man, whosoever he be, shall not go unpunished, and shall die where there shall be none to lament him." Maitland, after he went home, said to his sis- ter, that the preacher was raving, when he spake in such a man- ner of a person who was unknown to him; but she, suspecting that her brother had written the line, reproved him, saying with tears, that none of that man's denunciations were wont to prove idle. Spotswood (who had his information personally from the mouth of that lady) says, that Maitland died in Italy, " having no known person to attend him."** On Tuesday the 14th of February the regent's corpse was brought from the palace of Holyroodhouse, and interred in the south aisle of the collegiate Church of St. Giles. Before the funeral, Knox preached a sermon on these words, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Three thousand persons were dissolved in tears before him, while he described the vir- tues of the regent, and bewailed his loss.t Buchanan paid a tribute to the memory of his deceased patron, by writing the inscription placed on his monument, with that expressive sim- plicity and brevity which are dictated by genuine grief J A convention of the nobility was held after the funeral, at which it was resolved to avenge his death ; but different opinions were entertained as to the mode of doing this, and the commons com- plained loudly of the remissness with which the resolution was prosecuted. The General Assembly, at their first meeting, testi- fied their detestation of the crime, by ordering the assassin to be publicly excommunicated in all the chief towns of the kingdom, and by appointing the same process to be used against all who should afterwards be convicted of accession to the murder.§ * Spotswood, p. 234. Mackenzie labours to discredit the archbishop's narrative of this affair. Lives of Scottish Writers, iii. 195, 196. But what- ever opinion we may form about the prediction, it cannot be doubted that Spotswood had the best means of information respecting the facts which lie relates. Nor has Mackenzie any other authority for what he says about the death of Maitland than the archbishop's. t Cald. MS. ii. 157. I The inscription, engraved on brass, is yet preserved ; and a copy of it will be found in Note MMM. But Buchanan has, in his History, reared to the regent " a monument more durable than brass," which will preserve his memory as long as the language in which it is written shall continue to be understood, and as long as a picture taken from life shall be preferred to the representations of fancy or of prejudice. Nor has he neglected *jo celebrate him in his verses. Epigram, lib. ii. 29, iii. 7, 9, 18. § Spotswood, 235. 308 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. During the sitting of the convention, Knox received aniuiibei of letters from his acquaintances in England, expressive of their high regard for the character of the regent, and their sorrow at so grievous a loss.* One of these was from Christopher Good- man, and another from John Willock, who either had not com- plied with the invitation of the General Assembly, or had again returned to England.! The other letters were from English- men, who had no immediate connexion with Scotland. Dr. Laurence Humphrey J urged Knox to write a memoir of the de- ceased. Had he done this, his intimate acquaintance with the regent would, no doubt, have enabled him to communicate many particulars of which we must now be content to remain ignorant ; but though he had been disposed to undertake this task, the state of his health would have prevented its execu- tion. The grief which he indulged on account of this mournful event, and the confusions which followed it, preyed upon his spirits, and injured his health.§ In the month of October, he had a stroke of apoplexy, which affected his speech to a consid- erable degree. On this occasion his enemies exulted and circu lated the most exaggerated tales respecting his disorder. The report ran through Scotland and England, that John Knox would never preach or speak more, — that his face was turned into his neck, — that he was become the most deformed creature * Cald. ut supra. t A late author has very wantonly attempted to load the memory of this excellent man with a capital crime. He gives the following extract from the Paper OtRce, 22d April 1590 : — " Twa men, the ane namyt Johnne Gib- sone, Scottishman, preacher, and the other Johnne Willokis, now baith lying in prison at Leicester, were convicted by a jury of robbery." The last of these convicts, says he, was " the reforming coadjutor of Knox." Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman, p. 207. What evidence has the author for saying so ! Nothing but the sameness of the name ! Just as if a person, on reading in the public papers of one George Chalmers who was convicted of a robbery (no unlikely thing) should immediately take it into his head that this was, and could be, no other than the author of the Life of Ruddiman, and Cale- donia ! It is evident that the second convict was no preacher, else this designation would have been added to his name, as well as to that of the first. It is probable that Willock, who was a preacher as early as 1540, was not alive in 1590 : it is utterly incredible that he should then liave been in a condition to act as a robber. But it is paying too much regard to such a charge to bring exculpatory proof. I In the copy of Cald. MS. belonging to the Church of Scotland, the name is written Winfrid ; but in the copy in the Advocates' Library, it is Uinfrede. The person meant is evidently Dr. Laurence Humphrey (Um- fredius) Professor of Divinity, and Head of one of the colleges, in the Uni- versity of Oxford. This learned man was a puritan, but enjoyed the pa- tronage of Secretary Cecil. Strype's Annals, i. 421, 430 — 432. 5 Smetoni Respons, ad ?Tamilt. p. 116. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 309 ever seen, — that he was actually dead ;* a most uuequivocai proof of the high consideration in which he was held, wliich our Reformer received in common with other great men of his age.t * Bannatyne's Journal, p. 54. Cald MS, ii. 206. Bannatyne, says, " the disorder was a kynd ofapoplexia, called by the phisitiones resolutione ;" probably a more gentle stroke of the disorder, attended with relaxation of the system. t In 1556, Calvin was suddenly seized in the pulpit with a fever, which confined him to his bed for a considerable time, and from which it was not thought he would recover. On hearing this, tlie Popish clergy of Noyon, his native city, met, and rather prematurely gave public thanks to God for his death. Melch. Adam. Vita\ E.xter. Theol. p. 93. — " Plusieurs grands hommes (says Senebier) ont partage cet honneur avec Calvin, et ont eu comme lui, la satisfaction de connoitre la profonde estime qu' on avoit conciu; pour eux." Histoire Litteraire de Geneve, tom, i. p. 228. Luther, havmg received in 1545 a copy of an account of his own death, printed at Naples, caused it to be reprinted with this note : " I, Doctor Martin Luther, atte.-t that I received this frantic fable on this 21st of March, and am delighted be- y 3nd measure to understand that the devil and his spawn the pope and pa,- p 3tSy hate me so heartily." Seckendorf. Hist. Lutheran, lib. iii. p. 581. 310 LIFE OF JOHN KNOt. PERIOD IX. FROM OCTOBER 1570, WHEN HE WAS STRUCK WITH APOPLEXY, TO HIS DEATH, IN NOVEMBER 1572. Those who flattered themselves that the Reformer's disorder was mortal were disappointed ; for he was restored to the use of his speech, and was able, in the course of a few days, to re- sume preaching, at least on Sabbath days.* He never recover- ed, however, from the debility which was produced by the apoplectic stroke. The confusions which he had augured from the death of the good regent soon broke out, and again spread the flames of civil discord through the nation. The Earl of Lennox, who was the natural guardian of his grandson, was advanced to the regency ; but he was deficient in the talents which were requisite for so difficult a station, and the knowledge of his weakness embolden- ed and increased the party which was attached to the queen. The Hamiltons openly raised her standard, and were strength- ened by the influence and abilities of Maitland. William Kir- caldy of Grange, whom Murray had made governor of the cas- tle of Edinburgh, after concealing his defection for some time under the flag of neutrality, declared himself on the same side, and became a principal agent in attempting to overturn that government which he had been so zealous in erecting. Mait- land's tergiversation surprised nobody ; but the defection of Kircaldy was deeply felt by those with whom he had been so long associated. It proved a source of the keenest distress to Knox, The acquaintance which they had formed in the castle of St. Andrews,! grew into intimacy during their confinement in the French galleys ; and Knox could never forget the services which Kircaldy performed during the subsequent struggle for reformation, and continued to the last to cherish the hope * Bannatyne's Journal, p. 55. t James Kircaldy of Grange was restored to his lands, &c. at the request md special desire of Henry II. of France, by letters under the signet and privy seal of Queen Mary, dated at Paris, ^Rth February 1556. William Kircaldy of Grange, son and heir to the former, was restored by letters dated the lath of February 1501. Reg. Seer. Sig. Lib. xxxi. f 16. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 31 L that he was at heart a friend to religioi.. Under the influence of these feelings, he spared no pains in endeavouring to prevent him from renouncing his fideUty to the king, and afterwards to reclaim him from his apostasy. But in both attempts he was unsuccessful. In the end of the year 1570, he was personally involved in a disagreeable quarrel with Kircaldy, One of the soldiers belong ing to the castle having been imprisoned by the magistrates on a charge of murder, the governor sent a party from the garrison, who broke open the tolbooth, and carried off the prisoner. In his sermon on the following Sabbath, Knox condemned this riot, and violation of the house of justice. Had it been done by the authority of a bloodthirsty man, or one who had no fea^ of God, he would not, he said, have been so much moved at it ; but he was affected to think that one of whom all good men had formed so great expectations, should have fallen so far as to act such a part ; one too, who, when formerly in prison, had refused to purchase his own liberty by the shedding of blood.* An erroneous and exaggerated report of this censure being conveyed to the castle, the governor, in a great rage, made his complaint, first to Knox's colleague, and afterwards formally to the kirk-session, that he had been calumniated as a murderer, and required that his character should be vindicated as publicly as it had been traduced. Knox, understanding that his words had been misrepresented, embraced the first opportunity of tixplaining and vindicating them from the pulpit. On a sub- sequent day, Kircaldy, who had absented himself from church nearly a whole year, came down to St. Giles's accompanied with a number of the persons who had been active in the murder and riot. Regarding this as an attempt to overawe the author- ities, and set public opinion at defiance, the Reformer dwelt particularly, in his discourse, upon the sinfulness of forgetting benefits received from God, and warned his hearers against confiding in the divine mercy, while they were knowingly trans- gressing any of the commandments, or proudly defending their transgression. Kircaldy was much incensed at this admonition, which he considered as levelled at him, and made use of very threatening language in speaking of the preacli^r. The report spread that the governor of the castle was become a sworn enemy to Knox, and intended to kill him. Upon this, several noblemen and gentlemen of Kyle and Cunningham sent a letter to Kircaldy, in which, after reminding him of his former appear- ances for religion, and mentionitig the reports which had reached their ears, they warned him against doing any * See above, p. 60. 312 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. thing to the hurt of that man, whom " God had made the first planter and chief waterer of his church among them," and protested that " his death and hfe were as dear to them as their own."* Knox was not to be deterred from doing what he considered to be his duty. He persisted in warning his hearers to avoid all participation with those who prevented the punishment of atrocious crimes, by supporting the pretensions of the queen, and who exposed the reformed religion to the utmost hazard, by opposing the king's authority. When the General Assem- bly met in March 1571, anonymous libels were thrown into the house where they were sittmg, and placards affixed to the church doors, accusing him of seditious railing against their sovereign, the queen, refusing to pray for her welfare and con- version, representing her as a reprobate whose repentance was hopeless, and uttering imprecations against her. One of the placards concluded with a threat that, if the Assembly did not restrain him by their authority from using such language the complainers would themselves apply a remedy to the evil " with greater unquietness." The Assembly having, by public intimation, required the complainers to come forward and sub- stantiate their charges, another anonymous writing appeared, promising that accusers should not be wanting against next As- sembly, if the preacher continued his offensive speeches, and was " then law-byding, and not fugitive, according to his ac- customed manner." Several of his friends dealt with him to pass over the.se unau- thenticated libels in silence, but he refused to comply with this advice considering that the credit of his ministry was implicated. Accordingly, he produced them in the pulpit, and returned a particular answer to the accusations which they contained. That he had charged the late queen with the crimes of which she had been notoriously guilty, he granted, — that he had railed against her, he denied ; nor would they be able to substantiate this charge against him, without at the same time proving Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other inspired writers, to have been rail ers. " From them he had learned plainly and boldly to call wickedness by its own terms, a fig, a fig, and a spade, a spade." He never called the queen reprobate nor said that her repent ance was impossible ; but he had affirmed that pride and re pentance could not remain long together in one heart. He had prayed, that God, for the comfort of his Church, would oppose his power to her pride, and confound her and her assistants in their impiety : this prayer, let them call it imprecation or exe- iration as they pleased, had stricken, and would yet strike, * Bannatyne's Journal, pp. 67 — 87. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 313 A^hoever supported her. To the charge of not praying for tlie queen, lie answered, " I am not bound to pray for her in tliis place, for sovereign to me she is not ; and I let them understand that I am not a man of law that has my tongue to sell for sil- ver, or favour of the world."* What title she now had, or ever had to the government, he would not dispute ; the estates had deprived her of it, and it belonged to them to answer for this : as for him, he had hitherto lived in obedience to all lawful authority within the kingdom. To the threatening against his life, and the insinuation that he might not be " law-byding, but fugitive," against next Assembly, he replied, that iiis life was in the custody of Him who had hitherto preserved him from many dangers, that he had reached an age at which he was not apt to flee far, nor could any yet accuse him of hav- ing left the people committed to his charge, except at their own command. After these answers, his enemies fled, as their last resort, to an attack upon his Blast of the Trumpet, and accused him of inconsistency in writing against female government, and yet praying for Queen Elizabeth, and seeking her support against his native country. This accusation he also met in the pulpit, and refuted with great spirit. After vindicating his consisten- cy, he concluded in the following manner : — " One thing in the end I may not pretermit, that is, to give him a lie in his throat that either dare or will say, that ever I sought support against my native country. What I have been to my country, albeit this unthankful age will not know, yet the ages to come will be compelled to bear witness to the truth. And thus I cease, requiring of all men that has to oppose any thing against me, that he will do it so plainly as I make myself and all my doings manifest to the world ; for to me it seems a thing most unreasonable, that in my decrepit age, I shall be com- pelled to fight against shadows, and howlets that dare not abide the light."t The conduct of our Reformer at this period affords a striking display of the unextinguishable ardour of his mind. Previous to the breakhig out of the late disturbances, he had given up at- * Crawford in his Memoirs of Scotland (p. 186, Edin. anno 1706), among other things disgraceful to our Reformers, says that they openly avowed on this occasion, "That lo pray for, or forgive our rual or reputed enemies, was no part of a Christian's duty." It is sufficient to say, that there is not one word of this in the " authentick MS.." from which he profesess that his Memoirs were " faithfully published." See History and Life of King James the Sext, pp. 11:^, 114. The public are under great obligations tr Mr. Malcolm Laing, for exposing this literary forgery, which had continued 60 long to impose upon our most acute and industrious historians. t The accusation and defence mav be seen at full length in Bannatyre'a Journal, pp. 190—210. 27 Pa 314 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. tendance on church courts. He never went abroad except oi: Sabbath-day, to preach in the forenoon. He was so debihta- ted as to be unable to go to the pulpit without assistance.* He had weaned his heart from the world, and expressed his resolu tion to take no more part in public affairs. In answer to a letter of his esteemed friend, Sir William Douglas of Lochleven, who had informed him of an intended attempt on the castle of St Andre-A's by Archbishop Hamilton, and requested his good offices for :?3rtain preachers, we find him, on the 31st of March 1570, writing as follows : — " How such troublers may be stayed in their enterprises, I commit to God, to whose counsels I com- mit you in that and all other causes worldly, for I have taken my good-night of it ; and therefore bear with me, good sir, al- beit I write not to the superintendent of Fife in the action that ye desire, t" But whenever he saw the church and common- wealth seriously in danger, he forgot his infirmities and his re- solutions, and entered into the cause with all the keenness of his more vigorous days. Whether the public proceedings of the nation, or his own conduct, were arraigned, — whether thr attacks upon them were open or clandestine, he stood prepared to repel them, and convinced the adversaries, that they could not accomplish their designs without opposition, as long as he Was able to move or speak.J His situation became very critical in April 1571, when Kir- caldy received the Hamiltons, with their forces, into the castle. Their inveteracy against him was so great, that his friends were obliged to watch his house during the night. They pro- posed forming a guard for the protection of his person when he went abroad ; but the governor of the castle forbade this, as implying a suspicion of his own intentions, and offered to send Melvil, one of his officers, to conduct him to and from the church. " He wold gif the woulf the wedder to keip," says Bannatyne. Induced by the importunity of the citizens, Kir- caldy applied to the duke and his party for a protection to Knox ; but they refused to pledge their word for his safety, be- cause " there were many rascals and others among them who loved him not, that might do him harm without their know- ledge." § Intimations were often given him of threatenings * Bannatyne, p. 77. t Letter to the Laird of Lochleven, in the Appendix. I The lively interest w^hich he continued to take in public affairs, is appa- rent from the letters of his correspondents. Captain Crawford of Jordanhill sent him, at his desire, a minute account of the taking of Dumbarton castle, with an inventory of the arms, ammunition, and provisions, which were found 'n it. Bannatyne, 123. There are also two letters to him from Alf^xander Hay, clerk of the privy council, informing him of the most importav* trans- actions in England, and on the Continent. Ibid. 294 — 302. 5 Bannatyne, 132 — 3, 145. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 315 against his life ; and one evening a musket-ball was fired in at his window, and lodged in the roof of the apartment in which he was sitting. It happened that he sat at the time in a differ- ent part of the room from that which he had been accustomed to occupy, otherwise the ball, from the direction it took, must have struck him.* Alarmed by this occurrence, a deputation of the citizens, accompanied by his colleague, waited upon him, and renewed a request which they had formerly made, that he would remove from Edinburgh, to a place where his life would be ill greater safety, until the queen's party should evacuate the town. But he refused to yield to them, apprehending that his enemies wished to intimidate him into flight, that they might carry on their designs more quietly, and then accuse him of cowardice. Being unable to persuade him by any other means, they had recourse at last to an argument which pre- vailed. They told him that if he was attacked, they were deter- mined to risk their lives in his defence, and if blood was shed in the quarrel, which was highly probable, they would leave it on his head. Upon this he consented to remove from the city " sore against his will." t He left Edinburgh on the fifth of May 1571, and crossing the Frith at Leitli, travelled by short stages to St. Andrews, which he had chosen as the place of his retreat. J His pulpit was filled by Alexander Gordon, Bishop of Galloway, who preached and prayed in a manner more acceptable to the queen's party than his predecessor, but little to the satisfaction of the people, who despised him on account of his weakness, and disliked him for supplanting their favourite pastor.§ A number of the most respectable inhabitants were driven from the capital by violence, while others were induced to quit it, and retire to Leith, that they might not be understood as even practically submitting to the queen's authority. The Church of Edinburgh was for a time dissolved. The celebration of the Lord's Supper was sus- pended. And, whereas formerly scarce a day passed without some public exercise of religion, there was now, during a whole week, " neither preaching nor prayer ; neither was there any * Cald. MS. ad ann. 1572. Life prefixed to History, anno 1644. t Bannatyne, 144—146. I Ibid, Historie of King' James the Sext. p. 12^1 5 Keith's Scottish Bishops, 166. The principles upon which the bishop vindicated the authority of the queen, and the duty of praying- for her in the pulpit, show the strong and universal opinion entertained of her guilt at that time. He did not venture to insinuate her innocence, althoug-h the town was full or armed men, who were enlisted under her banners. Bannatyne, .81, 182. 316 LIFE OF JOHxN KNOX. sound of bell heard in all the town, except the ringing of the cannon."* The kingdom was now subjected to all the miseries of civil war and intestine faction. In almost every part of the country- there were adherents to the king and to the queen, who exas- perated each other by reciprocal reproaches and injuries. The regent fortified Leith, while the queen's party kept possession of the castle and town of Edinburgh. As the two armies lay at a small distance from one another, and neither of them was sufficiently strong for undertaking to dispossess the other, they were daily engaged in petty skirmishes ; and several acts of disgraceful retaliation, which rarely happen in the open field, were committed on both sides. The evidence which the ^[ueen's friends gave of their personal antipathy to the Refor- mer, clearly shewed that his life would have been in imminent danger, if he had remained among them. An inhabitant of Leith was assaulted 'and his body mutilated, because he was of the same name with him. A servant of John Craig, being met one day by a reconnoitring party, and asked who was his master, answered, in his trepidation, Mr. Knox ; upon which he was seized, and, although he immediately corrected his mis- take, they desired him to " hold at his first master," and drag- ged him to prison. Having fortified St. Giles's steeple to over- awe the inhabitants, the soldiers baptized one of the cannons by the name of Knox, which they were so fond of firing, that it burst, killed two of the party and woimded others, t They cir- culated the most ridiculous tales respecting his conduct at St. Andrews. John Law, the letter-carrier of that city, being in the castle of Edinburgh, " the ladie Home and utheris wald neidis thraip in his face, that" John Knox " was banist the said toune, becaus that in the yarde he had reasit sum Sanctis, amongis whome thair came up the devill with hornis, which when his servant Richard sawe, [he] ran woode, and so died."t Although he was now free from personal danger, Knox did not find St. Andrews that peaceful retreat which he had ex- pected. The friends of Kircaldy, and of Sir James Balfour,§ resided in the neighbourhood, and the Hamiltons had their re- lations and partisans botli in the university and among the ministry. These were thorns in the Reformer's side, and made * Bannatyne, 144, 169, 170. Hist, of King James the Sext, 123, 124. Knox's Epistle to his Brethren of the Church of Edinburgli, now dispersed. Streveling, 1.571. t Bannatyne, 154, 240, 322. I Bannatyne, 309, 310. " Gif this had been their first inventit lie," says the same Richart, " I wald never have blackit paper for it," 5 See above, p. 57. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 317 his situation very uneasy, as long as he resided an.. \g them. Having left Edinburgh, because he could not be permitted to disburden his conscience, by testifying against the designs of ])o.rsons whom he regarded as conspirators against the legal government of the country, and favourers of a faction who in- tended nothing less than the overthrow of the reformed religion, it was not to be expected that he would preserve silence on this subject at St. Andrews. Accordingly, in the discourses which he preached on the eleventh chapter of Daniel's prophecy, he frequently totk occasion to advert to recent transactions, and to inveigh against the murder of the late king, and of the regent. This was very grating to the ears of the opposite faction, particularly to Robert and Archibald Hamilton, the former one of the ministers of the city, and the latter a professor in one of the colleges. Irritated by the censures which Knox pro- nounced against his kinsmen, Robert Hamilton attempted to injure his reputation, by circulating in private that it did not become him to exclaim so .loudly against murderers ; for he had seen his subscription, along with that of the Earl of Murray, to a bond for assassinating Darnley at Perth. When this came to the Reformer's ears, he immediately wrote a letter to Hamilton, desiring him to say, whether he was the author of the slander- ous report. Not recefving a satisfactory answer, he communi- cated the matter to Douglas, rector of the university, and Ruth- erford, provost of St. Salvator's College, requesting them to converse with their colleague on the subject, and to inform him, that if he did not give satisfaction for the slander which he had propagated, a complaint would be lodged against him before the Church. Upon this he came to Knox's room, and denied that he had ever given any ground for such a scandal- ous surmise.* Archibald Hamilton being complained of for withdrawing * Bannatyne. 380 — 3. Goodall, after relating tliis story, attempts, but with his usual imbecility of argument, to deduce from it, that Murray had really conspired to murder Darnley, and that Knox was one of his accom- plices, "They all talk of it," says he, "as a known uncontroverted matter of tact. And Knox's waving all prosecution, and hushing up the business, is more than a tacit acknowledgment tliat he was in tlie plot, and a sub- scriber." E.\amination. i. 211. According to this doctrine, if a person shall rest satisfied with a private apology for a slander which a weak and irritable man had imprudently circulated to his prejudice, and if he shall decline a public prosecution, this must be regarded as good proof of his guilt, and of the truth of the report ! With respect to Murray having conspired ao-ainst Darnley at the time of his marriage, it is true that such a thing- was reported ; but it is not mentioned in the proceedings against that nobleman, nor is there the least allusion to it in any of the proclamations which the cpieen issued ajj-ainst liini, although Murray publicly accused Darnley of a plot against his life. If the court iiad credited that report, and possessed any evidence of its trutl , it will not be easy to account for tliis silence. 27 * 31S LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. from Knox's sermons, and for accusing him of intolerable rail- ing, endeavoured to bring the matter under the cognizance of the masters of the university, among whom he possessed con- siderable influence.* Knox did not scruple to give an account of his conduct before the professors for their satisfaction ; but he judged it necessary to enter a protest, that his appearance before them should not invalidate the liberty of the pulpit, nor the authority of the regular church courts, to which, and not to any university, the judgment of religious doctrine belonged.! This incident accounts for the zeal with which he expresses himself on this subject, in one of his letters to the General Assembly ; in which he exhorts them, above all things, to pre- serve the Church from the bondage of the universities, and not to exempt them from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or allow them to become judges of the doctrine taught from the pulpit. J The military operations during the civil war were chiefly distinguished by two enterprises, which claim our notice from the influence which they had upon the affairs of the Church. The one was the taking of Dunbarton Castle, which was sur- prised, on the 2d of April 1571, by a small party of the regent's forces, led by Captain Crawford of Jordanhill. Archbishop Hamilton having fallen into the hands of the captors, was soon after condemned, and ended his life on the gibbet. The execu- tion of prisoners, although chargeable with crimes which merit death, is ordinarly avoided in civil contests, because it produces reprisals from the opposite party ; but in every other respect the fate of Hamilton is not a subject of regret or of censure. Of all the queen's adherents, his motives for supporting her cause ap- pear to have been the most unworthy ; and his talents and rank in the Church ought not to be pleaded in extenuation of the vices which stained his private character, or the crimes of which he had b.-cii gniity.^ The death of Hamilton gave oc- * Archibald Hamilton, a short time after this, left Scotland ; and going' to France made a recantation of the Protestant religion. As an evidence of the sincerity of his conversion to popery, he published De Confusione Calvin- ianoe Sectce opud Scotos Dialog us ; a book which I have frequently referred to, and which strikingly exemplifies the adage, Omnis apostata osor acerri- mus sui ordinis. In the copious abuse of Knox with which it teems, we are reminded of the present quarrel. Thomas Smeton, principal of the Univer- sity of Glasgow, published an elegant and masterly answer to this Dialogue. Hamilton replied in a work entitled, Calvinianoe Confusinnis Denwnstratio; Parisiis, 1581. Of this treatise, which is rarer than his first, specimens will be found in the notes at the end of this volume. t Hamiltonii Dialog, p. 61. Smetoni Responsio ad Hamiltonii Dialogum, pp 9G, 91. Bannatyne, 383—385. 4 Bannatyne, 364. 6 Archbi;^i;Dp Spotswood is displeased that a bishop, and one of his prede- '•esBors in the see of St. Andrews, should have suffered so disgraceful a LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 319 casion to a change in the ecclesiastical government, of which J shall speak immediately. An enterprise equally bold with Crawford's but less success- ful, was pLinned by Kircaldy. While the Regent Lennox was holding a parliament at StirUng, which was numerously attend ed, a party of soldiers suddenly entered the town early on the morning of September 3, 1571, seized the regent and the nobil ity who were along with him, and carried them away prisoners. Tiie alarm having been given, the Earl of Mar sallied from the castle, and with the assistance of the townsmen, dispersed the assailants, and rescued the noblemen.* But this was not ac- complished without the loss of the regent, who was slain by the orders of Lord Claud Hamilton, in revenge for the death of the Archbishop of St. Andrews. Lennox was succeeded in the regency by the Earl of Mar, a noblemen of great moderation, who, during the short time that he held that office, exerted himself to restore peace to the kingdom, and brought the negotiations for this purpose very near to a successful termi- nation. During these transactions the courtiers were devising a scheme for securing to themselves the principal part of the ecclesiasti- cal revenues, which led to an alteration of the policy of the Church. We have repeatedly had occasion to notice the aver- sion of the nobility to the Book of Discipline, and the princi- pal source from which the aversion sprung. While the Earl of Murray administered the government, he prevented any new enroachments upon the rights of the Church ; but the suc- ceedmg regents were either less friendly to them, or less able to check the avarice of the more powerful nobles. Several of the richest benefices having become vacant by the death or by the forfeiture of the Popish incumbents who had been permitted punishment. History, p. 252. Even Dr. Robertson seems to have felt the esprit du corps on this occasion. It is surprising that this accurate historian should say, that the accusations against Hamilton, as " accessory to the mur- der both of the king and regent were supported by no proof," and that his enemies, by " imputing to him such odious crimes," merely " sought some colour" for the sentence which they pronounced against him. History of Scotland, ii. :3:i4. Hamilton confessed his accession to the regent's murdir. See above, p. :^02. As the record of the trial has not been preserved, we cannot determine what evidence was brouglit forward ; but there are good grounds for believing that he was also concerned in the murder of tlie kinf. Keith, 4 17. Spotswood, 252. * Dr. Robertson seems to regret the failure of this expedition, and says, that if Kircaldy's plan had succeeded, it would have "restored peace to Ills country." History of Scotland, ii. 339. It would certainly liave given a very dangerous blow to the king's party ; but it is not easy to conceive liow It could have produced a desirable or lasting peace, when we consider the dispositions of the great body of the nation, the situation of the queen, and the tenipf r and views of her adherents. 320 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. to retain them, it was necessary to determine in what mannei they should be disposed of. The Church had uniformly re- quired that their revenues should be divided, and applied to the support of the religious and literary establishments ; but with this demand the courtiers were as much indisposed to comply as ever. At the same time, the secularization of them was deemed too bold a step ; nor could laymen, with any shadow of consistency, or by a valid title, hold benefices which the law declared to be ecclesiastical. The expedient resolved on was, that the bishoprics and other rich livings should be presented to certain ministers, who, previous to their admission, should make over tlie principal part of the- revenues to such noblemen as had obtained the patronage of them from the court. This plan, which was concerted under the regency of Lennox, was carried into execution during that of Mar, chiefly by the influence of the Earl of Morton. Morton having obtained from the court a gift of the arch- bishopric of St, Andrews, vacant by the execution of Hamilton, entered into a private agreement respecting its revenues with John Douglas, rector of the university, whom he presented to that see. At the meeting of parliament in Stirling, August 1571, the commissioners of the General Assembly protested against this transaction ; but through the interest of Morton, Douglas, though not yet elected, was admitted to a seat in par- liament, and the new scheme for seizing on the ecclesiastical livings was confirmed, notwithstanding the warm remonstrances of the ministers of the Church, and the strenuous opposition of the more zealous and disinterested barons.* Bishoprics and other great benefices were now openly conferred on noblemen, on persons totally unqualified for the ministry, and even on mi- nors. Pluralities were multipUed ; the ecclesiastical courts were hindered in the exercise of their jurisdiction ;t and the collectors of the Church were prohibited from gathering the thirds, until some new regulation was adopted for supplying the necessities of the court. J These proceedings having created great dissatisfaction through the nation, the regent and council called an extraordinary as- sembly of superintendents and other ministers to meet at Leith in January 1572, to consult about an order which might prove more acceptable. Through the influence of the court, this con- vention consented that the titles of archbishop, and other ecclesi- astical dignitaries should be retained ; that the bounds of the ancient dioceses should not be altered during the king's minor ity ; and that qualified persons from among the ministers should * Ban?iatyne, 246, 250, 255, 257, 260, 285. \ See Note NNN. t Ibid. 253, 278, 312, 367. Cald. MS. ii. 284, 295. LIFE OF JOHN KNGK. 321 ht advanced to these dignities. They, howevei allotted no sreater pc^wer to archbishops and bishops than to superintend- ents, with whom they were to be equally subject to the As- semblies of the Church.* These regulations were submitted to the ensuing General Assembly at St. Andrews, but as that meeting was thinly attended, it came to no determination re- specting them. The Assembly held at Perth, in August 1572, resumed the subject, and came to the following resolution : — That the regulations contained certain titles, such as archbishop dean, archdean, chancellor, and chapter, which savoured of Po- pery, and were scandalous and offensive to their ears ; and that the whole Assembly, including the commissioners which had met at Leith, unanimously protested that they did not approve of these titles, that they submitted to the regulations merely a;( an interim arrangement, and that they would exert themselves to obtain a more perfect order from the regent and council. t Such was the origin and nature of that species of Episcopacy which was introduced into the Reformed Church of Scotland during the minority of James VI. It was disapproved of by the ministers of the Church ; and on the part of the courtiers and nobility, it does not appear to have proceeded from predi- lection to hierarchical government, but from the desire which they felt to obtain possession of the revenues of the Church. This was emphatically expressed by the name of tulchan bish- ops,+ which was commonly applied to those who were at that time admitted to the qfRce. Knox did not fail from the beginning to oppose these en- croachments on the rights and property of the Church. Being unable to attend the General Assembly held at Stirling in .Au- gust 1571. he addressed a letter to it, warning the members of the new contest which he foresaw they would have to maintain, and animating them to fidelity and courage. "And now. brethren," says he, " because the daily decay of natural strength threateneth my certain and sudden departing from the misery of this life, of love and conscience I exhort you, yea, in the fear of God, I charge and command you, that ye take heed unto yourselves, and to the flock over which God hath placed you pastors. Unfaithful and traitorous to the flock shall ye be be- fore the Lord Jesus Christ, if, with your consent directly, ye * Records of Privy Council, January 16, 1.571. Cald. MS. ii. 310— :3-2.=j. Calderwood, De Reg. Eccl. Scotic. relatio, p. 8, anno 1618; and Epist. Philad. Vind. apud Altare Damasc. pp. 727—7-29. Lugd. Batav. 1708. Petrie, part ii. pp. 'M2 — :{74. t Buik of the llniversal Kirk, p. o-i. Matthew Crawford's History of the Church of Scotland, MS. vol. i. p. 80. I A tulchan is a calf's skin stulfed with straw, set up to make the cow pive her milk freelv. Q2 322 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. sufter unworthy men to be thrustinto the ministry of the Church under whatever pretence it shall be. Remember and judge be fore whom we must make our account, and resist that tyranny as ye would avoid hell-fire. This battle will be hard, but in the second point it will be harder ; that is, that with the like up- rightness and strength in God, ye gainstand the merciless de- vourers of the patrimony of the Church. If men will spoil, let them do it to their own peril and condemnation, but communi- cate ye not with their sins, of whatsoever estate they be, by consent nor by silence ; but with public proclamation make this known unto the world, that ye are innocent of robber}^, where- of ye will seek redress of God and man. God give you wis- dom and stout courage in so just a cause, and me an happy end."* In a letter which he afterwards wrote to Wishart of Pittarrow, he also expresses himself in a strain of honest but keen indignation at the avarice of the nobility.t It has been insinuated that Knox gave his approbation to the resolutions of the convention at Leith to restore the episco- pal office ; and the articles sent by him to the General Assembly, in August 1572, have been appealed to as a proof of this. But all that can be fairly deduced from these articles is, that he de- sired the conditions and limitations agreed upon by that conven- tion to be strictly observed in the election of bishops, in opposi- tion to the granting of bishoprics to laymen, J and to the sim- oniacal pactions which the ministers made with the nobles on receiving presentations. Provided one of the propositions made by him to the Assembly had been enforced, and the bishops had been bound to give an account of the whole of their rents, and either to support ministers in the particular places from which they derived these, or else to pay into the funds of the Church the sums requisite for this purpose, it is evident tjiat the mer- cenary views both of patrons and presentees would have been defeated, and the Church would have gained her object, the use of the episcopal revenues. The prospect of this induced some honest ministers to agree to the proposed regulations, at the con- vention held in Leith. But it required a greater portion of dis- interested firmness than falls to most men, to act upon thisprin- * Buik of the Universal Kirk, p. 5.3. Cald. MS. ii, 280, 281. Petrie, part li. 370. Spotsvv. 2.58. -Collier says, that, in Knox's Letter to the Assembly at Stirling, " there are some passages not unbecoming a person of integrity and courage." Hist. ii. 533. Those who are acquainted with the spirit of this historian, will think this high praise from such a quarter. t See this Letter in the Appendix. I One glaring instance of this had just taken place, in giving the bisho{>- -'c of Ross to Lord Methven. Bannatyne, 366. Robertson's History of Scotland, ii. 358, 351 Lll E OF JOHN KNOX. 323 ciple ;* and the nobles were able to find, even at that period, a sufficient number of pliant, needy, or covetous ministers to be the partners or the dupes of their avarice. Though our Reformer was of opinion, that, in certain cir- cumstances of the Cliurch, a power might be delegated to some ministers to inspect the congregations within a particular dis- trict, and accordingly recommended the appointment of super- intendents at tlie first establishment of the Reformation in Scotland, yet he did not allow of any class of office-bearers in the Clmrch, under whatever name, who were superior either in office or in order to ministers or presbyters. His sentiments were not more favourable to diocesan Episcopacy in his latter, than they had been in his earlier days. Writing to a corres- pondent in England, in the year 1568, he says, "■ I would most gladly pass through the course that God iiath appointed to my labours, giving thanks to his holy name, for that it hath pleased his mercy to make me not a lord-bishop, but a painful preacher of his blessed evangel." t In his correspondence with Beza. he had informed him. of the government established in the Scottish Church ; and at this very time he received a letter from that reformer, congratulating him that he had banished the order of bishops, and admonishing him and his colleagues to beware of suffering it to re-enter under the deceitful pretext of preserving unity.J He had an opportunity of publicly de- claring his sentiments on this subject, at the installation of Douglas as Archbishop of St Andrews. Having preached as usual on Sabbath, February 13. 1572, the Earl of Morton, who was present, desired him to inaugurate Douglas ; but he posi- tively refused, and pronounced an anathema against both the donor and the receiver of the bishopric. The Provost of St. Salvator's College having said that Knox's conduct proceeded from disappointment, because the bishopric had not been con- ferred on himself, he, on the following Sabbath, repelled this invidious charge. He had refused, he said, a greater bishopric than that of St. Andrews, which he might have had by the favour of greater men than Douglas had his :§ what he had spoken was for the exoneration of his conscience, that the * I have read somewhere (though I cannot at present find my authority) that Robert Pont, when offered a bishopric, took the advice of the General Assembly as to accepting it, and professed his readiness to apply its runds to the support of the ministry within the diocese. t Letter to Mr. John Wood, Feb. 14, 1-568, in the Appendix. I In this letter, Beza commends Knox for establishing, not merely the purity o*' doctrine in the Scottish Church, but also discipline and good order, without which th^ tbrnier could not be preserved for anv tiine. Beza Epistol. Tlieol. ep. Ixxxix. pp. 344 — 3.55, edit. 157'^. 5 Meaning Edward VI. of England and his council. See above, pp 74, 75. 324 LIFE OF JOHN K.\OX. Charch of Scotland might not be subject to that order, especi ally after a very different one had been settled in the Book of Discipline, subscribed by the nobility, and ratified by parlia- ment. He lamented also that a burden should have been laid upon an old man, which twenty men of the greatest ability could not sustain.* In the General Assembly held at St. And- rews in the following month, he not only entered a protest against the election of Douglas,t but also " opponed himself directly to the making of bishops."+ While he was engaged in these contests, his bodily strength was every day sensibly decaying. Yet he continued to preach, although unable to walk to the pulpit without assistance ; and, when warmed with his subject, he forgot his weakness, and electrified the audience with his eloquence. James Melville, afterwards minister of Anstruther, was then a student at the College, and one of his constant hearers. The account which he has given of his appearance is exceedingly striking ; and, as any translation would enfeeble it, T shall give it in his own words. " Of all the benefits that I had that year [1571], was the coming of that maist notable profet and apostle of our na- tion, Mr, Johne Knox, to St. Andrews, who, be the faction of the queen occupeing the castell and town of Edinburgh, was compellit to remove therefra, with a number of the best, and chusit to come to St. Andrews. I heard him teache there the prophecies of Daniel, that simmer and the wintar following. 1 had my pen and my little buike, and tuke away sic things as 1 could comprehend. In the opening up of his text, he was moderat the space of an half houre ; but when he entered to application, he made me so to grew § and tremble, that I could not hald a pen to wryt. He was very weik. I saw him, every day of his doctrine, go hulie and fear,]] with a furring of mar- ticks about his neck, a staffe in the ane hand, and gude, godlie Richart Ballenden, his servand, halden up the uther oxter, IF from the abbey to the parish kirk, and, by the said Richart, and another servand, lifted up to the pulpit whar he behovit to lean at his first entrie ; hot, ere he haid done with his sermone, he was sa active and vigorous, that he was lyk to ding the pulpit in blads,** and file out of it." tt * Bannatyne, 321, 325, 375. Cald. MS. ii. 269, 338, 340. Douglas, after he was made bishop, was continued in his offices of rector of the university, and provost of St. Mary's College. James Melville says, that he was, " a good upright-hearted man, but ambitious and simple ; ' and that Knox spoke against him " hot sparinglie, because he loved the man." MS. Diary, p. 27. t Bannatyne, 331. \ Melville's MS. Diary, p. 26. J i. e. thrill. || i. e. slowly and warily. IT i. e. arm-pit. ** i. e. it appeared as if he would beat the pulpit in pieces. ft Melville s Diary, pp. 23, 28. It is not without reason that I have addei LIFE OF JOHxN KNOX. 325 The persons with whom the Reformer was most famiUar at St. Andrews, were the Professors of St. Leonard's College, who often visited him at his lodging in the abbey. This college was distinguished by its warm attachment to the doctrines of the Reformation, which it had embraced at a very early period ; * wliile the two other colleges were disaffected to the authority of the king, and several of their teachers suspected of leaning to Popery. The Reformer was accustomed to amuse iiimself by walking in St. Leonard's Yard, and to look with peculiar com- placency on the students, whom he regarded as the rising hope of the Church. He would sometimes call them to liim, and bless them, and exhort them to be diligent in their studies, to attend to the instructions of their teachers, and imitate the good examjile which they set before them, to acquaint themselves with God, and with the great work which he had lately perfor- med in their native country, and to cleave to the good cause These familiar advices, from a person so venerable, made a deep impression on the minds of the young men. He even condescended to be present at a college exercise performed by them at the marriage of one of their regents, in which the siege and taking of Edinburgh Castle was dramatically represented. 1 During his stay at St. Andrews, he published a vindication of the reformed religion, in answer to a letter written by Tyrie, a Scottish Jesuit. The argumentative part of the work was finished by him in 1568 ; but he sent it abroad at this time, with additions, as a farewell address to the world, and a dying testi- mony to the truth which he had long taught and defended.! the above explanation of some phrases in this extract, as the reader will per- ceive from the following version of it, by a modern French writer, in the Journal des Debats : — " A presbyterian fanatic named Knox, stirred up the people by his violent preaching. Nothing proves the coarseness of that people so much, as the ascendency which such a madman possessed over them ; old and broken down, and so helpless, as to be hardly able to crawl along, he was raised to his pulpit by two zealous disciples, where he began his sermon with a feeble voice, and slow action ; but soon heating himself by the force of his passion and hatred, he bestirred himself like a mad- man ; he broke his pulpit, and jumped into the midst of his auditors (sautoit au milieu des auditeurs), transported by his violent declamation, and v-ords still more violent." For this morceau I am indebted to the Editor of " The Poetical Remains of Mr. John Davidson, Edinburgh, 1829." * See above, p. 34. t See Note 000. + Tyrie published a reply to this, under the title of "The Refutation of ane Answer made by Schir Johne Knox to ane Letter, send be James Tyrie to his vmquhyle brother. Set fijrth be James Tyrie, Parisiis, 157.'^. Cvm Privilegio." H. fol. .57. 12mo. It includes Tyrie's first letter, and Knox's answer^ but not the other papers originally printed along with that answer. " Mr. Knox," says Keith, " makes some good and solid observations, from which, in my opinion, the Jesuit (in his reply) has not handsomely extricated himself" History, Append p. 255. 28 326 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Along with it he pubUshed one of the religious le ters which h^ had formerly written to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Bowes ; and, in an advertisement prefixed to this, he informs us that she had lately departed this life, and that he could not allow the oppor- tunity to slip of acquainting the public, by means of this letter, with the intimate Christian friendship which had so long sub- sisted between them. The ardent desire which he felt to be released by death from the troubles of the present life, appears in all that he wrote about this time. " Weary of the world," and " thirsting to de- part," are expressions frequently used by him. The dedication of the above-mentioned work is thus inscribed : — " John Knox, the servant of Jesus Christ, now wearie of the world, and day- lie luiking for the resolution of this my earthly tabernakle, to the faithful that God of his mercie shall appoint to fight after me." In the conclusion of it, he says," Call for me, deir breth- ren, that God, in his mercy, will pleis to put end to my long and panefuU battel. For now being unable to fight, as God sum- tymes gave strength, I thirst an end befoir I be more trouble- sum to the faithfuU. And yet, Lord, let my desyre be moder- ate be thy Holy Spirit." In a prayer subjoined to the dedica- tion, are these words : " To thee, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit. For I thirst to be resolved from this body of sin, and am assur- ed that I shall rise agane in glorie ; howsoever it be that the wicked for a tyme salltrode me and others, thy servandes under their feit. Be merciful, 0 Lord, unto the kirk within this realme ; continew with it the light of thy evangell ; augment the number of true preicheris. And let thy mercifull providence luke upon my desolate bedfellow, the fruit of hir bosome, and my two deir children, Nathanael and Eleazar.* Now, Lord, put end to my miserie." The advertisement " to the faithful reader," dated at St. Andrews, 12th July 1571, concludes in the follow- ing manner: — "I hartly salute and take my good night of all the faithful of both realms, earnestly desyring the assistance of their prayers, that, without any notable slander to the evangel of Jesus Christ, I may end my battel ; for, as the worlde is wearie of me, so am I of it." * Tyrie, in his reply, scoifs at this amiable expression of piety ; and in doing so, the Jesuit discovers that he was as great a stranger to conjugal and parental feelings, as he was to the rules of logic. " He (Knox) sais, that of tuay propositionis quhilkis ar verray trew, I collect ane conclusione maist false and repugnant to all veritie. Ane Dialectitian wald answer that Schir Johne Knox hes nocht weill considderit the rewlis of Dialectik, to affirme ane fals conclusion to follow of trew premissis. Botbecaus I knaw his greit occupationis, and solicitude he hes of his wyf and childrine, that he culd nocht take tent to sic trifflis, I will pas this with silence." Refutation, Ml gupra, fol. 4, a. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 327 Tlie General Assembly being appointed to meet at Perth on the 6th of August, he took his leave of them in a letter, along witli which he transmitted certain articles and questions which he recommended to their consideration. The Assembly return- ed him an answer, declaring their approbation of his propositions, and their earnest desires for his preservation and comfort.* The last piece of public service which he performed at their request, was to examine and approve of a sermon which had been late- ly preached by David Ferguson, minister of ])unfermline. His subscription to this sermon, like every thing which proceeded from his mouth or pen about this time, is uncommonly striking : " John Knox, with my dead hand, but glaid heart, praising God, that of his mercy he levis such light to his kirk in this desola- tion."t From the rapid decline of his health, in the spring of 1572, there was every appearance of his ending his days at St. An- drews ; but it pleased God that he should be restored once more to his flock, and allowed to die peaceably among them. In con- sequence of a cessation of arms, agreed to in the end of July, between the regent and the adherents of the queen, the city of Edinburgii was abandoned by the forces of the latter, and se- cured from the annoyance of the garrison in the castle. As soon as the banished citizens returned to their houses,j: they sent a deputation to St. Andrews, with a letter to Knox, expres- sive of their earnest desire " that once again his voice might be heard among tiiem," and entreating him immediately to come to Edinburgh, if his health would at all permit ; for, said they, " loath we are to disease or hurt your person any ways, but far loather to want you."§ After reading the letter, and conver- sing with the commissioners, he expressed his wiUingness to re- turn, but under the express condition, that he should not be * Bannatyne, 364—369. Cald. ii. 355, 366. f " Ane sermon prechit before the regent and nobilitie upon a part of the third chapter of Malachi (verses 7, 12), in the kirk of Leith, at the time of the General Assemblie, on Sonday the 13 of Januarie, Anno Do. 1571. Be David Fergusone, minister of the evangel! at Dunfermline. Imprentit at Sanctandrois, be Robert Lekpreuik, Anno Do. MDLXXII." The dedica- tion to the regent Mar is dated 20th August 1572. J Previous to the cessation of arms, the banished citizens (who had taken up their residence chiefly in Leith) entered into a solemn league, by which they engaged, " in the fear of God the Father, of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holie Spirit, tackand to witness his holie name," that they would, with their lives, lands, and aroods, promote the ffospel professed among them, maintain the authority of the king and regent, assist and con- cur with others against their enemies in the castle, defend one another if attacked, and submit any variances which might arise among themselves to brotherly arbitration, or to the judcfment of the town-council. Bannatyne, 3rjl_:?64. 5 Bannatyne, 370—373. 325 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. urged to preserve silence respecting the conduct of those who held the castle ; " whose treasonable and tyrannical deeds he would cry out against, as long as he was able to speak." He, therefore, desired them to acquaint their constituents with this, lest they should afterwards repent of his austerity, and be ap- prehensive of ill-treatment on his account. The commissioners assured him, that they did not mean to put a bridle in his mouth, but wished him to discharge his duty as he had been accus- tomed to do. He repeated this intimation, after his arriA^al at Edinburgh, to the principal persons of his congregation, and received the same assurance from them, before he would resume preaching.* On the 17th of August, to the great joy of the queen's faction, whom he had overawed during his residence among them, the Reformer left St. Andrews, along with his family. He was accompanied so far on his journey by the prmcipal persons of his acquaintance in the town, who sorrowfully took their leave of him, in the prospect of seeing his face no more. Being obliged by his weakness to travel slowly, it was the 23d of the month before he reached I^eith, from which, after resting a day or two, he came to Edinburgh. The inhabitants enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing him again in his own pulpit, on the first Sabbath after he arrived; but his voice was now so enfeebled that he could not be heard by the half of the congregation. Nobody was more sensible of this than himself He therefore requested his session to provide a smaller house, in which he could be heard, if it were only by a hundred persons ; for his voice, he said, was not able, even in his best time, to extend over the multitude which assembled in that large church, much less now when he was so greatly debilitated. This request was readily complied with by the session.! During his absence, a coolness had taken place between hi colleague and the parish, who found fault with him for tempo- rizing during the time that the queen's party retained possession of the city. In consequence of this, they had nmtually agreed to separate, J After preaching two years in Montrose, Craig removed to Aberdeen, where he acted as visitor of the churches in Buchan and Mar ; and was afterwards chosen minister to the royal household, a situation which he held until his death in 1600, at the advanced age of eighty-eight.§ Being deprived of * Bannatyne, 372, 373. t Ibid. pp. 373, 385. Smetoni Respons. pp. 117, 118. I Ibid. 150, 370. 5 Spotswood, 464. When informed that his majesty had made choice of Cra'.g, the General Assembly, July 1580, " blessed the Lord, and praised the King for his zeal." Row, Hist, of the Kirk, 47. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 329 both tl.eir pastors, and having no prospect that Knox, although lie sliould return, would be capable of performing the public service among them, the kirk-session of Edinburgh had in- structed their delegates to the General Assembly lately held at Perth, to petition that court for liberty to choose from the min- istry a colleague to the Reformer. The Assembly granted tlieir request, and ordained any minister (those of Perth and Dundee excepted} who might be chosen by Knox, the superintendent of Lothian, and the church of EdinlDurgh, to comply with their mvitation, and remove to the capital.* When the commis- sioners came to St. Andrews, they fomid the superintendent along with Knox, and having consulted with them, it was agreed to nominate and recommend James Lawson, sub-prin- cipal of the university of Aberdeen, a man eminent for his piety, learning, and eloquence.t Perceiving, on his return to Edin- burgh, that he could not long be able to endure the fatigue of preaching, and that he was already incapacitated for all other ministerial duties, Knox was extremely solicitous to have this business speedily settled, lest the congregation should be left " as sheep without a shepherd," when he was called away. The session and the superintendent having sent letters of invi- tation to Lawson, the Reformer wrote him at the same time, urging his speedy compliance with their requests. This letter is very descriptive of the state of his mind at this interesting period. " All worldlie strenth, yea ewin in thingis spirituall, decayes and yet sail never the work of God decay. Belovit brother seeing that God of his mercie, far above my expectatione, has callit me ones againe to Edinburgh, and yet that I feill nature so decayec, and daylie to decay, that I luke not for a long con- tinewance of my battell, I wald gladlie anes discharge my con- science into your bosome, and into the bosome of utheris, in whome 1 think the feare of God remanes. Gif I hath had the habilitie of bodie, I suld not have put you to the pane to the whilk I now requyre you, that is, anes to visite me, that we may conferre together on heavinlie thingis ; for into earth there is no stability, except the kirk of Jesus Christ, ever fightand vnder the crosse, to whose myghtie protectione I hartlie commit you. Of Edinburgh the vii of September 1572. Jhone Knox. " Haist, leist ye come too lait." ± In the beginning of September, intelligence reached Edin- * Smetoni Respons. 118. Bannatyne, 370. t Smeton, ut supra. Bannatyne, :372. James Melville thus describes Lawson : — " A man of singular learning, zeal, and eloquence, whom I never hard preache hot he meltit my hart with teares." MS. Diary, 23. See r Iso iVote PP, at the end of the/vclume. I Bannatyne. ']&(i. •* R2 330 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. burgh, that th) Admiral of France, the brave, the generous, the pious Coligni, was murdered in the city of Paris, by the orders of C harles IX. Immediately on the back of this, tidings arrived of that most detestable and unparalleled scene of barbarity and treachery, the general massacre of the Protestants throughout that kingdom. Post after post brought fresh accounts of the most shocking and unheard-of cruelties. Hired cut-throats and fanatical cannibals marched from city to city, paraded the streets, and entered into the houses of those that were marked out for destruction. No reverence was shown to the hoary head, no respect to rank or talents, no pity to tender age or sex. Infants, aged matrons, and women upon the point of their delivery, were trodden under the feet of the assassins, or dragged with hooks into the rivers ; others, after being thrown into prison, were instantly brought out and butchered in cold blood. Seventy thousand persons were murdered in one week. For several days, the streets of Paris literally ran with blood. The savage monarch, standing at the windows of the palace, with his courtiers, glutted his eyes with the inhuman spectacle, and amused himself with firing upon the miserable fugitives who sought shelter at his merciless gates.* The intelligence of this massacre (for which a solemn thanks- giving was offered up at Rome by order of the popet) produced the same horror and consternation in Scotland as in every other Protestant country.:}: It inflicted a deep wound on the exhausted spirit of Knox. Besides the blow struck at the reformed body, he had to lament the loss of many individuals, eminent for piety, learning, and rank, whom he numbered among his acquaintance. Being conveyed to the pulpit, and summoning up the remainder of his strength, he thundered the vengeance of Heaven against "that cruel murderer and false traitor, the King of France," and desired Le Croc, the French ambassador, to tell his master, that sentence was pronounced against him in Scotland, that the divine vengeance would never depart from him, nor from his house, if repentance did not ensue; but his name would remain * Menioires de Sully, torn. i. 16. Paris, 1664. Brantosme Memoires apjcl Jurieu, Apologie pour la Reformation, torn. 420. Smetoni Respons. ad Hamilt. Dial. p. 117. Bannatyne's Journal, pp. 388 — 395. t The papal bull for the jubilee may be seen in Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker. Append. No. 68, p. 108. I Tlie reg-ent Mar issued a proclamation on this occasion, summoning a general convention of deputies from all parts of the kingdom, to deliberate on the measures proper to be adopted for defence against the cruel and trea sonable conspiracies of the Papists. Bannatyne, 397 — 411. Strype has inserted the preamble, and one of the articles, of a supplication presented by this convention to tiie regent and council. Annals, ii. 180, 181. This may be compared with the more full account of their proceedings, m Bannatynr; 106—41. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 3.31 an extcratiou to posterity, and none proceeding from his loins should enjoy his kingdom in peace. The ambassador com- plained of the indignity offered to his master, and required the regent to silence the preacher ; but this was refused, upon which he left Scotland.* t Lawson having received the letters of invitation, hastened to Edinburgh. He had the satisfaction to find that Knox was still able to receive him ; and, having preached to the people, gave universal satisfiction. On the following Sabbath, the 21st of September, Knox began to preach in the Tolbooth Church, which was now fitted up for him. He chose for the subject of his discourses, the account of our Saviour's crucifixion, as re- corded in the twenty-seventh chapter of the gospel according to Matthew, a theme with which he had often expressed a wish to close his ministry. On Sabbath, the 9th of November, he presided at the installation of Lawson as his colleague and suc- cessor. The sermon was preached by him in the Tolbooth Church; after which he removed, with the audience, to the large church, where he went through the accustomed form of admission, by proposing the questions to the minister and peo- ple, addressing an exhortation to both, and praying for the divine blessing upon their connection. On no former occasion did he give more satisfaction to those who were able to hear him. After declaring the respective duties of pastor and people, he protested, in the presence of Him to whom he expected soon to give an account, that he had walked among them with a good conscience, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in all sincerity, not studying to please men, nor to gratify his own affections ; he praised God, that he had been pleased to give them a pastor in his room, when he was now unable to teach ; he fervently prayed, that any gifts which had been conferred on himself might be augmented a thousand fold in his successor ; and, in a most serious and impressive manner, he exhorted and charged the whole assembly to adhere steadfastly to the faith which they had professed. Having finished the service, and pronounced the blessing with a cheerful but exhausted voice, he descended from the pulpit, and leaning upon his staff and the arm of an attendant, crept down the street, which was lined with the au- dience, who, as if anxious to take the last sight of their beloved pastor, followed him until he entered his house, from which he never again came out alive. t On Tuesday following, the 11th of November, he was seized * Bannatyne, 401, 402. I Snietoni Responsio, 11*^. The liouse which the Retbrmer possessed ia ■• 'i.ited near the bottom of the Hisjh Street, a little below the Fountain wolL 'r,i.,.e three words are inscribed on the wall, HKOi;, Deus, God. 332 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. with a severe cough, which greatly affected his breathing,* When his friends, anxious to prolong his life, proposed to call in the assistance of physicians, he readily acquiesced, saying thai he would not neglect the ordinary means of health, although he was persuaded that death would soon put an end to all his sor- rows. It had been his ordinary practice to read every day some chapters of the Old and New Testament ; to which he added a certain number of the Psalms of David, the whole of which he perused regularly once a-month. On Thursday the 13th, he sickened, and was obliged to desist from his course of reading; but he gave directions to his wife and his secretary, Richard Bannatyne, that one of them should every day read to him, with a distinct voice, the seventeenth chapter of the gospel ac- cording to John, the fifty-third of Isaiah, and a chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. This was punctually complied with during the whole time of his sickness ; and scarcely an hour passed in which some part of Scripture was not read in his hearing. Besides the above passages, he, at different times, fixed on certain Psalms, and some of Calvin's French sermons on the Ephesians. Thinking him at times to be asleep, when they were engaged in reading, they inquired if he heard them, to which he answered, " I hear, (I praise God) and understand far better ;" words which he uttered for the last time, within four hours of his death. The same day on which he sickened, he desired his wife to discharge the servants' wages : and wishing next day to pay one of his men-servants himself, he gave him twenty shillings above his fee, saying, " Thou wilt never receive more from me in this life." To all of them he addressed suitable exhortations to walk in the fear of God, and as became Christians who had lived in his family. On Friday, the 14th, he rose from bed at an earlier hour than usual ; and thinking that it was Sabbath, said, that he meant to go to church, and preach on the resurrection of Christ, upon which * As it is unnecessary to repeat the quotations, the reader may be informed, once for all, that the Account of the Reformer's last illness and death is taken from the following- authorities : — " Eximii viri .Toannis Knoxii, Scoticanae Ecclesiae instauratoris. Vera extremse vitae et obitus Historia," published by Thomas Smeton, principal of the university of Glasgow, at the end of his '' Responsio ad Hamiltonii Dialogum. Edinburgi, apud Johannem Rosseum. Pro Henrico Charteris. Anno Do. 1579. Cum Privilegio Kegali :" — "Jour- nal of the Transactions in Scotland, (Annis) 1570 — 1573, by Richard Ban- natyne, secretary to John Knox," 41:3 — 429, edited from an" authentic MS. by J. Graliam Dalyell, Esq. Anno 180B : — Spotswood's History, pp. 2f God.' That man's so\il is dear to me, and I would not liavc it perish, if I could save it." The ministers midertook to exe- cute this commission; and going up to the castle, thoy obt-ained an interview with tlie governor, and delivered their message. He at first exhibited symptoms of relenting, but having con- sulted apart with Maitlami, he returned, and gave them a very unpleasant answer. This being reported to Knox, he was mucii grieved, and said, that he had been earnest in prayer for that man, and still trusted that his soul would be saved, although his body should come to a miserable end.* After his interview with the session he became much worse ; his difficulty of breathing increased, and he could not speak without great and obvious pain. Yet he continued still to receive persons of every rank, who came in great numbers to visit him, and suiTered none to go away without advices, which he uttered with such variety and suitableness as astonished those who waited upon him. Lord Boyd, coming into his chamber, said, " I know, sir, that I have offended you in many things, and am now come to crave your pardon." The answer was not Jieard, as the attendants retired and left them alone ; but his lordship returned next day in company with Drumlanrig, and Morton. The Reformer's private conversation with the latter was very particular, as afterwards related by the earl himself. He asked him, if he was previously acquainted with the desing to murder the late king. Morton having answered in the negative,! he said, " Well, God has beautified you with many benefits, which he has not given to every man ; as he has given you riches, wisdom, and friends, and now is to prefer you to the government of this realm. J And, therefore, in the name of God, I charge you to use all these benefits aright, and better in * After the castle surrendered, and Kircaldy was condemned to die, Lind- say attended him at his earnest desire, and received much satisfaction from conversation with him. When he was on the scaffold, he desired tlie min- ister to repeat Knox's last words respecting him, and said that he hoped they would prove true. James Melville had this information from Lindsay. MS Diary, pp. 29, 30. See also Spotswood, 266, 272. t Morton afterwards acknowledged tliat he did know of the murder ; but e.xcused himself for concealing it. " The quene," he said, " was tlie doare tharoof;" and as for the king, he was '^' sic a bairne, that there was nothing tauld him but he wad reveill it to hir agane." Bannatyne, 494, 497. I The regent Mar died on the 29th of October preceding. The nobility were at this time assembled at Edinburgh to choose his successor, a.id it was- understood that Morton would be raised to that dignity. He was elected regent on tlie day of Knox's death, Bannatyne, 41L 412, 427. The author of the Historie of King James the Sext says, that the regent died Octobe> 18, and adds, " efter him dyed John*" Knox in that same nioneth," p. 197 But he has mistaken the dates. 336 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. time to come than ye have done in times bypast ; first to God's glory, to the furtherance of the evangel, the maintenance of the Church of God, and his ministry ; next for the weal of the king, and his realm and true subjects. If so ye shall do, God shall bless you and honour you ; but if ye do it not, God shall spoil you of these benefits, and your end shall be ignominy and shame." * On Thursday, the 20th, Lord Lindsay, the Bishop of Caith ness, and several gentlemen, visited him. He exhorted them tn continue m the truth which they had heard, for there was no other word of salvation, and besought them to have nothing to do with those in the castle. The Earl of Glencairn (who had often visited him) came in with Lord Ruthven. The latter, who called only once, said to him, "If there be any thing, sir, that I am able to do for you, I pray you charge me." His reply was " I care not for all the pleasure and friendship of the world." A religious lady of his acquaintance desired him to praise God for what good he had done, and was beginning to speak in his commendation, Avhen he interrupted her. " Tongue ! tongue ! lady ; flesh of itself is over-proud, and needs no means to esteem itself." He put her in mind of what had been said to her long ago, " Lady, lady, the black one has never trampit on your fute ;" and exhorted her to lay aside pride, and be clothed with humility. He then protested as to himself, as he had often done before, that he relied wholly on the free mercy of God, mani- fested to mankind through his dear Son Jesus Christ, whom alone he embraced for wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctifi cation, and redemption. The rest of the company having taken their leave of him, he said to Fairley of Braid, " Every one bids me good-night ; but when will you do it ? I have been greatly indebted unto you; for which T shall never be able to recom- pense you ; but I commit you to one that is able to do it, to the eternal God." On Friday the 21st, he desired Richard Bannatyne to ordei his cotfin to be made. During that day he was much engaged in meditation and prayer. These words dropped from his lips at intervals : " Come, Lord Jesus. — Sweet Jesus, into thy hand I commend my spirit. — Be merciful, Lord, to thy Church, which thou hast redeemed. — Give peace to this afflicted com- monwealth.— Raise up faithful pastors who will take the charge of thy Church. — Grant us. Lord, the perfect hatred of sin, both by the evidences of thy wrath and mercy. In the midst of his * Morton gave this account of his conference with the Reformer to tlie ministers who attended him before his execution. Being asked if he had not found Knox's admonition true, he replied, " 1 have fand it indeid." Morton'd Con^ssion. Bannatyne, 508, •''09. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 337 meditations, he often addressed those who stood by, in such sentences as tliese : — " 0 serve the Lord in fear, and death shall not be terrible to you. Nay, blossed shall death be to those who have felt the power of the death of the only begotten Son of God." On Sabbath the 23d (which was the first day of the national fast), during the afternoon sermon, after lying a considerable time quiet, he suddenly exclaimed, " If any be present, let them come and sec the work of God." Thinking that his death was at hand, ]3annatyne sent to the Church for Johnston of Elphing- ston. When he came to the bedside, Knox burst out in these rapturous expressions : — " I have been these two last nights in meditation on the troubled state of the Church of God, the spouse of Jesus Christ, despised of the world, but precious in the sight of God. I have called to God for her, and have committed her to her head, Jesus Christ. I have fought against spiritual wick- edness m heavenly things, and have prevailed. I have been ir heaven, and have possession. I have tasted of the heavenly joys where presently I am." He then repeated the Lord's prayer and the creed, interjecting devout aspirations between the articles of the latter. After sermon, many came to visit him. Perceiving that he breathed with great difficulty, some of them asked, if he felt much pain. He answered, that he was willing to lie there for years, if God so pleased, and if he continued to shine upon his soul tlirough Jesus Christ. He slept very little ; but was em- ployed almost incessantly either in meditation, in prayer, or in exhortation. " Live in Christ. Live in Christ, and then flesh need not fear death. — Lord, grant true pastors to thy Church, that purity of doctrine may be retained. — Restore peace again to this commonwealth, with godly rulers and magistrates. — Once, Lord, make an end of my trouble." Then, stretching his hands towards heaven, he said, "Lord, I commend my spirit, soul, and body, and all, into thy hands. Thou knowest, O Lord, my troubles : I do not murmur against thee." His pious ejaculations were so numerous, that those who waited on him could recollect only a small portion of what he uttered ; for seldom was he silent, when they were not employed in reading or in prayer. Monday, the 24th of November, was the last day that he spent on earth. That morning he could not be persuaded to lie in bed, but, though unable to stand alone, rose between nine and ten o'clock, and put on his stockings and doublet. Being con- ducted to a chair, he sat about half an hour, and then was put to bed again. In the progress of the day, it appeared evident that his end drew near. Besides his wife and Bannatyne, Campbell of Kinyeancleuch, Johnston of Elphingston, and Dr. 29 S2 338 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX Preston, three of his most intimate acquaintance, sat by turns at his bedside. Kinyeancleuch asked him il' lie had any pain. " It is no painful pain, but such a pain as shall soon, I trust, pu£ end to the batde. I must leave the care of my wife and chil- dren to you," continued he, " to whom you must be a husband in my room." About three o'clock in the afternoon, one of his eyes failed, and his speech was considerably atfected. He de- sired his wife to read the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, " Is not that a comfortable chapter ?" said he. when it was finished. " 0 what sweet and salutary consola- tion the Lord has afibrded me from that chapter !" A little after he said, " Now, for the last time, I commend my soul, spirit, and body (touching three of his fingers), into thy hand, 0 Lord." About five o'clock, he said to his wife, " Go, read where I cast my first anchor ;" upon which she read the seven- teenth chapter of John's Gospel, and afterwards a part of Cal- vin's sermons on the Ephesians. After this he appeared to fall into a slumber, interrupted by heavy moans, during which the attendants looked every mo- ment for his dissolution. But at length he awaked, as if from sleep, and being asked the cause of his sighing so deeply, re- plied,— " I have formerly, during my frail life, sustained many contests, and many assaults of Satan ; but at present he hath assailed me most fearfully, and put forth all his strength to de- vour, and make an end of me at once. Often before has he placed my sins before my eyes, often tempted me to despair, often endeavoured to ensnare me by the allurements of the world ; but these weapons were broken by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and the enemy failed. Now he has attacked me in another way : the cunning serpent has laboured to persuade me that I have merited heaven and eternal blessed- ness by the faithful discharge of my ministry. But blessed be God, who has enabled me to beat down and quench this fiery dart, by suggesting to me such passages of Scripture as these : — ' What hast thou that thou hast not received ? — By the grace of God I am what I am : — Not I, but the grace of God in me.' Upon this, as one vanquished, he left me. Wherefore I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ, who has been pleased to give me the victory ; and I am persuaded that the tempter shall not again attack me, but, within a short time, I shall, with- out any great pain of body or anguish of mind, exchange this mortal and miserable life for a blessed immortality through Jesus Christ." He then lay quiet for some hours, except that now and then he desired them to wet his mouth with a little weak ale. At ten o'clock, they read the evening prayer, which they had delayed beyond the usual lour, from an apprehension that he was asleep LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 3JJ9 After this exercise was c ncluded, Dr. Preston asked him it" lie had heard the prayers. " Would to God," said he, " that you and all men had lieard them as I have heard them ; I praise God for that heavenly sound." The doctor rose up, and Km- yeancleugh sat down before his bed. About eleven o'clock, he gave a deep sigh, and said, " Now it is come." Bannatyne immediately drew near, and desired him to think upon those comfortable promises of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which he liad so often declared to others ; and, perceiving that he was speech- less, requested him to give them a sign that he heard them, and died in peace. Upon this he lifted up one of his hands, and, sighing twice, expired without a struggle.* He died in the sixty-seventh year of his age, not so much oppressed with years, as worn out and exhausted by his extra- ordinary labours of body and anxieties of mind. Few men were ever exposed to more dangers, or underwent greater hardships. From the time that he embraced the reformed re- ligion till he breathed his last, seldom did he enjoy a respite from trouble ; and he emerged from one scene of difficulty and danger, only to be involved in another still more distressing. Obliged to flee from St Andrews to escape the fury of Cardinal Beatoun,he found a retreat in East-Lothian, from whicli he waa hunted by Archbishop Hamilton. He lived for several years as an outlaw, in daily apprehension of falling a prey to those who eagerly sought his life. The few months during which he enjoyed protection in the castle of St Andrews, were succeeded by a long and rigorous captivity. After enjoying some repose in England, he was again driven into banishment, and for five years wandered as an exile on the Continent. When he re- turned to his native country, it was to engage in a struggle of the most perilous and arduous kind. After the Reformation was established, and he was settled in the capital, he was in- volved in a continual contest with the court. When he was relieved from this warfare, and thought only of ending his days in peace, he was again called into the field ; and although scarcely able to walk, was obliged to remove from his flock, and to avoid the fury of his enemies by submitting to a new banishment. He was repeatedly condemned for heresy, and proclaimed an outlaw ; thrice he was accused of high treason, and on two of these occasions he appeared and underwent a trial. A price was publicly set on his head; assassins were employed to kill him ; and his life was attempted both with the * "Manum itaque, quasi nouas vires jamjam moriturus concipiens, coelum vereus erigit, duobusque emissis suspiriis, e mortali corpore emiofrauit, citra vUam aut pedum aut alianim partium corporis motum, vt potius dormire quam ocoidisse videretur.' Smetoni Responsio p. I'S-i- 340 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. pistol and the dagger. Yet he escaped all these perils, ano finished his course in peace and in honour. No wonder that he was weary of the world, and anxious to depart ; and with great propriety might it be said, at his decease, that " he rested from his labours." On Wednesday, the 26th of November, he was interred in the churchyard of St. Giles.* His funeral was attended by the newly elected regent, Morton, by all the nobility who were in the city, and a great concourse of people. When his body was laid in the grave, the regent emphatically pronounced his eulo- giuni in these words, " There lies he, who never feared the face of man." t The character of this extraordinary man has been drawn in opposite colours, by different writers, and at different times. And the changes which have taken place in the public opinion about him, with the causes which have produced them, form a subject neither uncurious, nor unworthy of attention. The interest excited by the revolutions of Scotland, eccle- siastical and political, in which he acted so conspicuous a part, caused his name to be known throughout Europe, more exten- sively than those of most of the reformers. When we reflect, that the Roman Catholics looked upon him as the principal instrument in overthrowing their religious establishment in this country, we are prepared to expect that writers of that per- suasion would represent his character in an unfavourable light ; and that, in addition to the common charges of heresy and apostasy, they would describe him as a man of a restless, turbu- lent spirit, and of rebellious principles. We will not even be greatly surprised though we find them charging him with whoredom, because, being a priest, he entered into wedlock, once and a second time ; and imputing his change of religion to a desire of releasing himself from the bonds by which the Popish clergy were professionally bound to chastity. But all this is nothing to the portraits which they have drawn of him, in which, to the violation of all credibility, he is unblushingly epresented as a man, or rather a monster, of the most profligate * Cald. MS. ad ann 1572. Bannatyne, 429. Spotswood, 267. The area of the Parliament Square was formerly the churchyard of St. Giles. Some think that he was buried in one of the aisles of his own church. The place where the Reformer preached is that which is now called the Old Church. It has, however, undergone a great change since his time. The space now occupied by the pulpit and the greater part of the seats, was then an aisle , and the church was considerably more to the north of the building than at present. The small church fitted up for him a few weeks before his death is called by Bannatyne, the Tolbooth. Whether it was exactly that pari of the building now called the Tolbooth Church, I do not know. + Some verses to the Reformer's memory may be seen in Note PPP. LI I E OF JOHN KNOX. 341 character who gloried in depravity, who avowedly indulged in the most vicious practices, and upon whom Providence fixed the most evident marks of reprobation at his death, which was accompanied with circumstances that excited the utmost horror in the beholders.* This might astonish us, did we not know, from undoubted documents, that there were at that time a class of writers, who, by inventing or retailing such malignant caluimiies, attempted to blast the fairest and most unblemished characters among those who appeared in opposition to the Church of Rome ; and that, absurd and outrageous as the accu- "sations were, they were greedily swallowed by the numerous slaves of prejudice and credulity. The memory of no one was loaded with a greater share of this obloquy than our Reformer's. But these accounts have long ago lost every degree of credit ; and they now remain only as a proof of the spirit of lies or of strong delusion, by which these writers were actuated, and of the deep and deadly hatred which they had conceived against the object of their calumny, on account of his strenuous and successful exertions in overthrowing the fabric of papal super- stition and despotism. Knox was known and esteemed by the principal persons among the reformed in France, Switzerland, and Germany. We have had occasion repeatedly to mention his friendship with the reformer of Geneva. Beza, the successor of Calvin, was also personally acquainted with him ; the letters which he wrote to him abound with expressions of the warmest regard, and highest esteem ; and, in his Images of Illustrious Men, he after- wards raised an affectionate tribute to our Reformer's memory This was done, at a subsequent period, by the German biogra- pher, Melchior Adam, the Dutch Van Heiden, and the French La Roque. The late historian of the literature of Geneva, (whose religious sentiments are very different from those of Calvm and Beza,) although he is displeased with the philippics which Knox sometimes pronounced from the pulpit, says, that '' he immortalized himself by his courage against Popery, and his firmness against the tyranny of Mary ; and that though a violent, he was always an open and honourable, enemy to the Catholics." t The affectionate veneration in which his memory continued to be held in Scotland after his death, evinces that the influence which he possessed among his countrymen during his life was not constrained, but founded on the high opinion which they entertained of his virtues and talents. Bannatyne has drawn his character in the most glowing colours ; and, although allow * See Note QQQ. f Senebier, Hist. Lit. de Geneve, i. 377. Of) - 342 LIFE OF .)OHN KNOX. ances must be made for the enthusiasm with which a favourite servant* wrote of a beloved and revered master, 3^et, as he Hved long in the Reformer's family, and was himself a man of re- spectability and learning, his testimony is by no means to be disregarded. In a speech which he delivered before the Gene- ral Assembly in March 1571, when, in his master's name, he craved justice against the calumnies circulated by the queen's party, he said, " It has pleased God to make me a servant to that man John Knox, whom I serve, as God bears me witness, not so much in respect of my worldly commodity, as for that integrity and uprightness which I have ever known, and pre- sently understand, to be in him, especially in the faithful admin- istration of his office, in teaching of the word of God : and if I understood, or knew that he was a false teacher, a seducer, a raiser of schism, or one that makes division in the Church of God, as he is reported to be by the former accusations, I would not serve him for all the substance in Edinburgh."! And, in his journal, after giving an account of Knox's death, he adds : — " In this manner departed this man of God : the light of Scotland, the comfort of the Church within the same, the mirror of godliness, and pattern and example to all true minis- ters, in purity of life, soundness of doctrine, and boldness- in re- proving of wickedness ; one that cared not the favour of men, how great soever they were. What dexterity in teaching, bold- ness in reproving, and hatred of wickedness was in him, my ignorant dulness is not able to declare, which if I should preist to set out, it were as one who would light a candle to let men see the sun ; seeing all his virtues are better known and notified to the world a thousand fold than I am able to express." § Principal Smeton's character of him, while it is less liable to the suspicion of partiality, is equally honourable and flattering. "^ I know not," says he, " if ever so nuich piety and genius were lodged i)i such a frail and weak body. Certain I am, that it will be difficult to find one in whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit shone so bright, to the comfort of the Church of Scotland. None spared himself less in enduring fatigues, bodily and men- tal ; none was more intent on discharging the duties of the pro- vince assigned to him." And again, addressing his calumniator * The reader should observe, that the word servant, or servitor, was then used with greater latitude than it is now, and in old writings often signifies the person whom we call by the more honourable names of clerk, secretary, or man of business. As the drawing of the principal ecclesiastical papers, and the cvimpiling of the history of public proceedings, were committed to our Reformer, from the time of his last return to Scotland, he kept a person of this description in his family, and Bannatyne held the situation. t Journal, 104, 105. t J. e. labour. 5 Bannatyne, 427, 429. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 343 Hamilton, he says, " This ilhistrioiis, I say ilkistrious Mn'vant of God, John Knox, I sliall clear from your feigned acci.sations and slanders, by the testimony of a venerable assembly rather than by my own denial. This pious duty, this reward of a well- spent life, all its members most cheerfully discharge to their ex- cellent instructor in Christ Jesus. This testimony of gratitude they all owe to him, who, they know, ceased not to deserve well of all till he ceased to breathe. Released from a body exhausted in Christian warfare, and translated to a blessed rest, where he has obtained the sweet reward of his labours, he now triumphs with Christ. But beware, sycophant, of insulting him when dead ; for he has left behind him as many defenders of his repu- tation as there are persons who were drawn by his faithful preaching, from the gulf of ignorance to the knowledge of the gospel." * The divines of the Church of England, who were contem- porary with Knox, entertained a great respect for his cliaracter, and ranked him along with the most eminent of their own re- formers.t I have already produced the mark of esteem which Bishop Bale conferred on him, and the terms of approbation in which he was mentioned by Dr. Fulke, one of the most learned of the English divines in the sixteenth century.J Aylmer, in a work written to confute one of his opinions, bears a voluntary testimony to his learning and integrity.§ And Ridley, who stickled more for the ceremonies of the Church than any of his brethren in the reign of Edward VI. and who was displeased with the opposition which Knox made to the introduction of the English liturgy at Frankfort, expressed his high opinion of him, as " a man of wit, much good learning, and earnest zeal." |( Whatever dissatisfaction they felt at his pointed reprehension of several parts of their ecclesiastical establishment, the English dignitaries, under Elizabeth, rejoiced at the success of his exer- tions, and without scruple expressed their approbation of many of his measures, which were afterwards severely censured by their successors. Ti" I need scarcely add, that his memory was held in veneration by the English Puritans. Some of the chief * Smetoni Resp. ad Hamilt. Dial. pp. 95. 115. t Calf hill's Answere to the Treatise of the Crosse ; Preface to the Readers, fol. 18, a Lond. 15B5. This writer was cousin to Toby Matthews, Arch- bishop of York ; and in tlie Convocation wliich met in 1572, 8at as a repro- eentitive of the clergy of London, and the canons of O.xtbrd. Strype, An- nals, i. 289, 292—3. I See above, p. 153, and note N. 5 Harborowe for Faithful and Trewe Subjects, B. B. 2. C. C. 2. Strype's Life of Aylmer, p. 238. II Strype's Life of Grindal, pp. 19, 20. H Burnet, vol. ii. Appendix, part iii. B. vi. pp. 351, 352 344 LIFE OF JOHN KiNOX. men among them were personally acquainted with him during his residence in England and on the Continent ; and others of them corresponded with him by letter. They highly esteemed his writings, sought for his manuscripts with avidity, and pub- lished them with testimonies of the warmest approbation.* Towards the close of the sixteenth century, there arose another race of prelates, of very different principles from the English reformers, who began to maintain the divine right ol diocesan Episcopacy, with the intrinsic excellency of a ceremo- nious worship, and to adopt a new language respecting other reformed churches. Dr. Bancroft, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first writer among them, who spoke disre- spectfully of Knox,t after whom it became a fashionable prac- tice among the hierarchical party. This was resented by the ministers of Scotland, who warmly vindicated the character of their Reformer,^ at the expense of incurring the frowns and resentment of their sovereign. Though educated under the greatest scholar of the age, and one who was a decided friend to popular liberty, James, in spite of the instructions of Buchanan, proved a pedant, and cowardice alone prevented him from be- coming a tyrant. His early favourites flattered his vanity, fos- tered his love of arbitrary power, and inspired him with the strongest prejudice against the principles and conduct of those men who, during his early years, had been the instruments of preserving his life, and supporting his authority. To secure his succession to the English crown, he entered into a private correspondence with Bancroft, and concerted with him the scheme of introducing Episcopacy into the Church of Scotland. The Presbyterian ministers incurred his deep and lasting dis- * In a dedication of Knox's " Exposition of the Temptation of Christ," John Field, the publisher, says : " If ever God shall vouchsafe the Church so greate a benefite ; when his infinite letters, and sundry other treatises shall be gathered together, it shall appear what an excellent man he was, ind what a wonderful losse that Church of Scotland susteined when that ivorthie man was taken from them. If, by yourselfe or others, you can pro- ;ure any other his writings or letters here at home, or abroad in Scotland, oe a meane that we may receive them. It were great pittic that any the least of his writinges should be lost ; for he evermore wrote both godly and diligently, in questions of divinitie, and also of church policie; and his letters being had togeather, would togeather set out an whole historic of the churches where he lived." t In a sermon preached by him at Paul's Cross, before the Parliament of England, Feb. 9, 1588, on 1 John iv. 1, printed in 1588, and reprinted ir 1636 He enlarged on the subject in two posterior treatises, the one en- titled. " Dangerous Positions ; or Scottish Genevating, and English Scotti- zing;" the other "A Survey of the Pretended Holy Discipline." I Jolm Davidson, minist'^r first at Libberton, and afterwards at Preston- mns, answered Bancroft in a book entitled, "Dr. Bancroft's Rashness in kayling against the Church of Scotland ;" printed at Edinburgh, 1590. Llth OF JOHN KNOX. 345 pleasure by tlieir determined resistance to this design, and by the united and firm opposition which they made to the illegal and despotic measures ot^ his government. He was particularlv displeased at the testimony which they publicly bore to tlie characters of Knox, Buchanan, and the regent Murray, who "could not be defended," he said, "but by traitors, and sedi- tious theologues." Andrew INIelville told him that they were the men who had set the crown on his head, and deserved bet tzi of him than to be so traduced. James complained thai Knox had spoken disrespectfully of his mother ; to which Patrick Galloway, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, replied, "If a king or a queen be a murderer, why should they not be called so .'"' Walter Balcanquhal, another minister of the city, having, in one of his sermons, rebuked those who disparaged the Reformer, the king sent for him, and in a passion protested that " either he should lose his crown, or Mr. Walter should recant his words." Balcanquhal " prayed God to preserve his crown ; but said, that if he had his right wits, the king should have his head, before he recanted any thing he spake." * James carried his antipathies to the Presbyterian Church and reformers along with him to England, and he found it an easy matt(;r to infuse them into the minds of his new subjects. Incensed at the freedom which Buchanan had used in his his- tory of the transactions during the reign of Mary, he had, before leaving Scotland, procured the condemnation of that work by an act of parliament. And now he did not think it enough that he had got Camden's history of that period manufactured to his mind, but employed agents to induce the French historian, De Thou, to adopt his representations ; and because that great man scrupled to receive the royal testimony respecting events which happened before James was born, or when he was a child, in opposition to the most credible evidence, his majesty was pleased to complain that he had been treated disrespectfully.! Charles I. carried these prejudices even further than hisfotherhad done. During his reign, passive obedience, arminianism, and semi- popery, formed the court religion ; Calvinism and presbytery were held in the greatest detestation, and proscribed both as political and religious heresies. In the reign of the second Charles, the court, the bench, the pulpit, the press, and the stage, united in loading Presbyterians with every species of abuse, and in holding them forth as a gloomy, unsocial, tur- * Cald. MS. ad an. 1570 ; quarto copy in Advocate's Library, vol. ii. pp. 260, 261. t De Thuani Histor. Successu apud Jacobum I. Mag-. Brit. Regem ; Thuani Hist. totn. vii. pars v. edit. Buckley, 1733. Laing's Hist of Scot- land, i. 228—241. 2d edit. T2 340 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. biilent, and fanatical race. And a large share of these col tumeUes uniformly fell on the head of Knox, who, it wa. alleged, had brought the obnoxious principles of the sect from Geneva, and planted them in his native country, from which they had spread into England. The revolution was eflected in England by a coalition of parties of very different principles, some of which were not of the most liberal kind. Though this event abated the force of the prejudices alluded to, it by no means removed them ; and a considerable time after it took place, the great, the fashionable, and even the learned, among the English, regarded the Scots as only beginning to emerge from that inelegance and barbarism which iiad been produced by the peculiar sentiments of Knox and his followers. The great body of his countrymen, however, continued long to entertain a just sense of the many obligations which they were under to Knox. After the government of the Church of Scotland was conformed to the English model, the Scottish pre- lates still professed to look back to their national Reformer with sentiments of gratitude and veneration ; and Archbishop Spots- wood describes him as " a man endued with rare gifts, and a chief instrument that God used for the work of those times." * For a considerable time after the revolution, the Presbyterians of Scotland treated with deserved contempt the libels which English writers had published against him ; and blushed not to avow their admiration of a man to whose labours they were indebted for an ecclesiastical establishment, more scriptural and more liberal than that of which their neighbours could boast. The Union first produced a change in our national feelings on this subject. The short-lived jealousy of English predominance, felt by many of our countrymen on that occasion, was succeed- ed by a passion for conformity to our southern neighbours; and so fond did we become of their good opinion, and so eager to vsecure it, that we were disposed to sacrifice to their taste and iheir prejudices, sentiments which truth, as well as national .lonour, required us to retain and cherish. Our most popular writers are not exempt from this charge ; and even in works professing to be executed by the united talents of our literati, the misrepresentations and gross blunders of which English writers had been guilty in their accounts of our Reformation, and the false and scandalous accusations which they had brought against our reformers, have been generally adopted and widely circulated, instead of meeting with the exposure and reproba- tion which they so justly merited. The prejudices entertained against our Reformer by the friends of absolute monarchy, were taken up, in all their force, * History, -261. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 347 subsequently to the Revolution, by the adheret;ts of the Stuarl family, whose religious notions, approximatirjg very nearly to the Popish, joined with their slavish principle respecting non- resistance to kings, led tliem to disapprove of almost every inea- sure adopted at the time of the Reformation, and to condemn the whole as a series of disorder, sedition, and rebellion against lawful authority. The spirit by which the Jacobitish faction was actuated, did not become extinct with the family which had so long been the object of their devotion; and while they trans- ferred their allegiance to the house of Hanover, they retained those principles which had incited them repeatedly to attempt Its expulsion from the throne. The alarm produced by that revolution which of late has shaken the thrones of so many of the princes of Europe, has greatly increased this party ; and with the view of preserving the present constitution of Britain, prin- ciples have been widely disseminated, which, if they had been generally received in the sixteenth century, would have per- petuated the reign of Popery and arbitrary power in Scotland. From persons of such principles, nothing favourable to our Re- former can be expected. But the greatest torrent of abuse pom-ed upon his character, has proceeded from those literary champions who have come forward to avenge the wrongs, and vindicate the innocence, of the peerless and immaculate Mary. Queen of Scots ! Having conjured up in their imagination the image of an ideal goddess, they have sacrificed to the object of their adoration all the characters, which, in that age, were most estimable for learning, patriotism, integrity, and religion. As if the quarrel which they had espoused exempted them from the ordinary laws of controversial warfare, and conferred on them the absolute and indefeasible privilege of calumniatino- and defaming at pleasure, they have pronounced every person who spoke, wrote, or acted against that queen, to be a hypo- crite or a villain. In the raving style of these writers, Knox was " a fanatical incendiary — a holy savage — the son of vio- lence and barbarism — the religious Sachem of religious Mo- hawks." * I cannot do justice to the subject without adverting here to the influence of the popular histories of those transactions writ- ten by two distinguished individuals of our own country. The political prejudices and sceptical opinions of Mr. Hume are well known, and appear prominently in every part of his liistory of England. Regarding the various systems of religious belief * Whitaker's Vindication of Queen Mary, passim. The same wnior designs Buclianan " a serpent — daring calumniator — leviathan of slander— the second of all human forgers, and the first of all human slanderers." Dr Robertson he calls "a disciple of the old school of slander — a .iar — and one for whom bedlam i; no bedlam." 348 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. and worship as distinguished from one another merely by dif- ferent shades of falsehood and superstition, he has been led, by a strange but not inexplicable bias, almost uniformly to show the most marked partiality to the grosser and more corrupt forms of religion ; has spoken with greater contempt of the Pro- testants than of the Roman Catholics, and treated the Scottish with greater severity than the English reformers. Forgetting what was due to the character of a philosopher, which he was so ambitious to maintain in his other writings, he has acted as the partisan and advocate of a particular family ; and, in vin- dicating some of the worst measures of the Stuarts, has done signal injustice to the memory of the most illustrious patriots of both kuigdoms. Though convinced that the Queen of Scotland was guilty of the crimes laid to her charge, he has laboured to screen her from the infamy to which a fair and unvarnished statement of facts must have exposed her character, by fixing the attention of his readers on an untrue and exaggerated re- presentation of the rudeness of Knox and the other reformers by whom she was surrounded, and by absurdly imputing to their treatment of her the faults into which she was betrayed. No person who is acquainted with the writings of Dr. Robert- son will accuse him of being actuated by such improper mo- tives. But the warmest admirers of his History of Scotland cannot deny, that he has been misled by the temptation of making Mary the heroine of his story, and of thus interesting his readers deeply in his narrative, by blending the tender and romantic with the more dry and uninteresting detail of public transactions. By a studious exhibition of the personal charms and accomplishments of the queen, by representing her faults as arising from tlie unfortunate circumstances in which she was placed, by touching gently on the errors of her conduct, while he dwells on the cruelty and the dissimulation of her rival, and by describing her sufferings as exceeding the tragical distresses which fancy has feigned to excite sorrow and commiseration, he throws a veil over those vices which he could not deny ; while the sympathy which his pathetic account of her death naturally awakens in the minds of his readers, effaces the im- pressions of her guilt which his preceding narrative had pro duced. However amiable the feelings of the author might be, the tendency of such a representation is evident. The Disser- tation on the murder of King Henry has, no doubt, convinced many of Mary's accession to the perpetration of that deed ; but the History of Scotland has done more to prepossess the public mind in favour of that princess, than all the det'ences of her most ■jealous and ingenious advocates, and consequently, to excite prejudir^e against her opponents,, .who, on the suppositioii of her LIFE OF JOHN KMOX. 349 guilt, acted a most meritorious part, and are entitled, in other respects, to the gratitude and veneration of posterity. The increase of infidehty and indifference to religion in mo- dern times, especially among the learned, has contributed, in no small degree, to swell the tide of prejudice against our Re- former. Whatever satisfaction persons of this description may express or feel at the reformation from Popery, as the means of emancipating the world from superstition and priestcraft, they naturally despise and dislike men who were inspired with the love of religion, and in whose plans of reform the acquisition of civil liberty, and the advancement of literature, held a subordi- nate place to the revival of primitive Christianity. Nor can it escape observation, that prejudices against the characters and proceedings of our reformers are now far more general than they formerly were among those who still profess to adhere to their doctrine and system of church government. Impressed with a high idea of the illumination of the present age, and entertaining a low estimate of the attainments of those which preceded it ; imperfectly acquainted with the enormity and extent of the corrupt system of religion which existed iu this country at the era of the Reformation ; inattentive to the spirit and principles of the adversaries with whom our reformers were obliged to contend, and to the dangers and difficulties with which they had to struggle, — they have too easily lent an ear to the calumnies which have been circulated to their prejudice, and rashly condemned measures which will be found, on examina- tion, to have been necessary to secure and to transmit the in- valuable blessings which we now enjoy. Having given this account of the opinions entertained re- specting our Reformer, I shall endeavour to sketch, with as much truth as I can, the leading features of his character. That he possessed strong natural talents is imquestionable. Inquisitive, ardent, acute ; vigorous and bold in his conceptions, he entered into all the subtilties of the scholastic science then in vogue ; yet, disgusted with its barren results, sought out a new course of study, which gradually led to a complete revolution in his sentiments. In his early years he had not access to that finished education which many of his contemporaries obtained in foreign universities, and he was afterwards prevented, by his unsettled and active mode of life, from prosecuting his studies with leisure ; but his abilities and application enabled him in a great measure to surmount these disadvantages, and he remained a stranger to none of the branches of learning which in that age w^re cultivated by persons of his profession. He united, in a high degree, the love of study, with a disposition to active em- ployment. The truths which he discovered, he felt an irresisii- ble impulse to impart to others, for which he was qualified bv 30 350 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. a bold, fervid, and impetuous eloquence, singularly adapted lo arrest the attention, and govern the passions of a fierce and un- polished people. From the time that he embraced the reformed doctrine, the desire of propagating it, and of delivering his countrymen from the delusions and thraldom of Popery, became his ruling pas- sion, to which he was always ready to sacrifice his ease, his mterest, his reputation, and his life. An ardent attachment to civil liberty held the next place in his breast to love of the re- formed religion. That the zeal with which he laboured to ad- vance these objects, was of the most disinterested kind, no candid person who has paid attention to his life can doubt for a moment, whatever opinion may be entertained of some of the means which he employed for that purpose. He thought only of advancing the glory of God, and promoting the welfare of his country. Intrepidity, independence, and elevation of mind, indefatigable activity, and constancy which no disappointments could shake, eminently qualified him for the hazardous and difficult post which he occupied. His integrity was above the suspicion of corruption ; his firmness proof equally against the solicitations of friends and the threats of enemies. Though his impetuosity and courage led him frequently to expose himself to danger, we never find him neglecting to take prudent pre- cautions for his safety. The confidence reposed in him by his countrymen, shows the high opinion which they entertained of his sagacity as well as of his honesty. The measures taken for advancing the Reformation, were either adopted at his sugges- tion, or sanctioned by his advice ; and we must pronounce them to have been as wisely planned as they were boldly executed. His ministerial functions were discharged with the greatest assiduity, fidelity, and fervour. No avocation or infirmity pre- vented him from appearing in the pulpit. Preaching was an employment in which he delighted, and for which he was quali- fied, by an extensive acquaintance with the Scriptures, and by the happy art of applying them, in the most striking manner, to the existing circumstances of the Church and of his hearers. His powers of alarming the conscience, and arousing the pas- sions, have been frequently celebrated ; but he excelled also in unfolding the consolations of the gospel, and in calming the breasts of those who were agitated by a sense of guilt, or suffer- ing under the ordinary afflictions of life. When he discoursed of the griefs and joys, the conflicts and triumphs, of genuine Christians, he described what he had himself known and expe- rienced. The letters which he wrote to his familiar acquaintances breathe the most ardent piety. The religious meditations in w lich he spent his last sickness, were not confined to that period of his 1 % ; they had been his habitual employir "^t from the LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 351 time that he .vas brouglit to the knowledge of tlie truth, and liis solace amidst all the hardships and perils tlu'ougli which he had passed. With his brethren in the ministry he lived in the utmost cor- diality. We never read of the slightest variance between him and any of his colleagues. While he was dreaded and hated by the licentious and profane, whose vices he never spared, the religious and sober part of his countrymen felt a veneration for him, which was founded on his unblemished reputation, as well as his popular talents as a preacher. In private life, he was beloved and revered by his friends and domestics. He was subject to the illapses of melancholy and depression of spirits, arising partly from natural constitution, and partly from the mala- dies which had long preyed upon his health; which made him (to use his own expression) churlish, and less capable of pleasing and gratifying his friends than he was otherwise disposed to be. This he confessed, and requested them to excuse ;* but his friendship was sincere, affectionate, and steady. When free from this morose atfection, he relished the pleasures of society, and, among his acquaintances, was accustomed to unbend his mind, by indulging in innocent recreation, and in the sallies of wit and humour, to which he had a strong propensity, notwith- standing the graveness of his general deportment. In the course of his public life, the severer virtues of his character were more frequently called into exercise ; but we have met with repeated instances of his acute sensibility ; and the unatfected tenderness which occasionally breaks forth in his private letters, shows that he was no stranger to any of the charities of human life, and that he could " rejoice with them that rejoiced, and weep with them that wept." Most of his faults may be traced to his natural temperament, and to the character of the age and country in which he lived. His passions were strong ; he felt with the utmost keenness on every subject which interested him ; and as he felt he expressed himself, without disguise and without atiectation. The warmtli of his zeal was apt to betray him into intemperate language ; his inflexible adherence to his opinions inclined to obstinacy ; and his independence of mind occasionally assumed the appearance of haughtiness and disdain. In one solitary instance, the anxiety which he felt for the preservation of the great cause in which he was so deeply interested, betrayed him into an advice which was not more inconsistent with the laws of strict morality, tlian it was contrary to the stern uprightness, and undisguised sincerity, which characterized the rest of his conduct. A stranger to com- * See Extracts from his Letters to " Mrs. Locke, 6th April 1559," and to " A Friend in England, 19th August 1569;" publislied in the Appendix. 352 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. plimentary or smooth language, little concerned about the man ner in which his reproofs were received, provided they were merited, too much impressed with the evil of the offence to think of the rank or character of the offender, he often " uttered his admonitions with an acrimony and vehemence more apt to irritate than to reclaim." But he protested, at a time when persons are least in danger of deception, and in a manner which should banish every suspicion of the purity of his motives, that, in his sharpest rebukes, he was influenced by hatred of vice, not of the vicious ; that his great aim was to reclaim the guilty, and that in using those means which were necessary for this end, he frequently did violence to his own feelings. Those who have charged him with insensibiUty and inhu- manity, have fallen into a mistake very common with superfi- cial thinkers, who, in judging of the character of persons who lived in a state of society very different from their own, have pronounced upon their moral qualities from the mere aspect of their exterior manners. He was austere, not unfeeling ; stern, not savage ; vehement, not vindictive. There is not an instance of his employing his influence to revenge any personal injury which he had received. Rigid as his maxims respecting the execution of justice were, there are numerous instances on record of his interceding for the pardon of criminals ; and, unless when crimes were atrocious, or when the welfare of the state was in the most imminent danger, he never exhorted the execu- tive government to the exercise of severity. The boldness and ardour of his mind, called forth by the peculiar circumstances of the times, led him to push his sentiments on some subjects to an extreme, and no consideration could induce him to retract an opinion of which he continued to be persuaded ; but his be- haviour after his publication against female government, proves that he satisfied himself with declaring his own views, without seeking to disturb the public peace by urging their adoption. His conduct at Frankfort evinced his moderation in religious differences among brethren of the same faith, and his disposition to make all reasonable allowances for those who could not go the same length with him in reformation, provided they abstain- ed from imposing upon the consciences of others. The liberties which he took in censuring from the pulpit the actions of indi- viduals of the highest rank and station, appear the more strange and intolerable to us, when contrasted with the reserve and timidity of modern times ; but we should recollect that they were then common, and that they were not without their utility, in an age when the licentiousness and oppression of the great and pov/erful often set at defiance the ordinary restraints of law. In contemplating such a character as that of Knox, it is not LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 353 the man so much as the reformer, that ought to engage our attention. Tlie talents which are suited to one age and station would be altogether unsuitable to another; and the wisdom dis- played by Providence, in raising up persons endowed with quali- ties singularly adapted to the work which they have to perform for the benefit of mankind, demands our particular consideration. We must admire tiie austere and rough reformer, whose voice once cried in the wilderness, wlio was clothed with camel's hair, and girt about the loins with a leathern girdle, who came neither eating nor drinking, but, laying the axe to the root of every tree, warned a generation of vipers to ilee from the wrath to come, saying even to the tyrant upon the throne, " It is not lawful for thee." And we must consider him as fitted for "serving the will of God in his generation," according to his rank and place as well as his Divine Master, whose advent he armounced, wlio '' did not strive, nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets, nor break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax." To those who complain, that they are disappointed at not find- ing, in our national Reformer, courteous manners, and a wni- ning address, we may say, in the language of our Lord to the Jews concerning the Baptist: " What went ye out into the wil- derness for to see ? A reed shaken with the wind ? What went ye out for to see ? A man clothed in soft raiment ? Be- hold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. But what went ye out for to see ? A prophet ? Vea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." To the men of this generation, as well as to the Jews of old, may be applied the parable of the children sitting in the market-place, and call- ing one to another, saying, " We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept." Disati'ection to the work often lurks under cavils against the instruments by which it is carried on ; and had Knox been softer and more yielding in his temper, he would have been pronounced unfit for his office by the very persons who now censure his harshness and severity. "But wisdom is justified of all her children." Before the Reformation, superstition, shielded by ignorance, and armed with power, governed with gigantic sway. Men of mild spirits, and of gentle manners, would have been as unfit for taking the field against this enemy, as a dwarf or a child for encountering a giant. What did Eras- mus in the days of Luther ? What would Lowth have done in the days of Wicklitfe, or Blair in those of Knox ? It has been justly observed concerning our Reformer, that " tliose very qualities which now render his character less amiable, fitted him to be the instrument of Providence for advancing the Reforma- tion among a fierce people, and enabled him to face danger, and surmount opposition, trom which a person of a more gentle 30* U2 354 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. spirit would lave been apt to shrink back." * Viewing nis character in t/Js light, those who cannot regard him as an amia- ble man, may, without hesitation, pronounce him a great Re- former. The most disinterested of the nobility, who were embarked with him in the same cause, sacrificed on some occasions the public good to their private interests, and disappointed the hopes which he had formed of them. The most upright of his asso- ciates in the ministry relaxed their exertions, or suffered them- selves at times to be drawn into measures that were unsuitable to their station, and hurtful to the reformed religion, Goodman, after being adopted by the Church of Scotland, and ranked among her reformers, yielded so far to the love of country as to desert a people who were warmly attached to him, and return to the bosom of a less pure Church, which received him with coldness and distrust. Willock, after acquitting himself honoura- bly from the commencement of the interesting conflict, withdrew before the victory was completely secured, and, wearied out with the successive troubles in which his native country was involved, sought a retreat for himself in England, Craig, being left without the assistance of his colleague, and placed between two conflicting parties, betrayed his fears by having recourse to temporizing measures. Douglas, in his old age, became the dupe of persons whose rapacity impoverished the Protestant Church. And each of the superintendents was, at one time or another, complained of for neglect or for partiality, in the dis- charge of his functions. But from the time that the standard of truth was first raised by him in his native country, till it dropped from his hands at death, Knox never shrunk from danger — never consulted his own ease or advantage — never entered into any compromise with the enemy — never was bribed or frightened into cowardly silence ; but, keeping his eye singly and steadily fixed on the advancement of religion and of liberty, supported throughout the character of the Re- former of Scotland. Knox bore a striking resemblance to Luther in personal in- trepidity and in popular eloquence. He approached nearest to Calvin in his religious sentiments, in the severity of his manners, and in a certain impressive air of melancholy which pervaded his character. And he resembled Zuinglius in his ardent attach- ment to the principles of civil liberty, and in combining his exer tions for the reformation of the Church with uniform endeavours to improve the political state of the people. Not that I would place our Reformer on a level with this illustrious triumvirate. There is a splendour which surrounds the great German re * Robertson Hist, of Scotland. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 355 former, partly arising from the intrinsic heroism of lis character, and partly reilected from the interesting situation in which his long and doubtful struggle with the court of Rome placed him in the eyes of Europe, which removes him at a distance from -all who started in the same glorious career. The Gcnevese reformer surpassed Knox in the extent of his theological learn- ing, and in the unrivalled solidity and clearness of his judgment. And the reformer of Switzerland, though inferior to him in masculine elocution, and in daring courage, excelled liim in self-command, in prudence, and in that species of eloquence which steals into the heart, convinces without irritating, and governs without assuming the tone of authority. But although " he attained not to the first three," I know not, among all the eminent men who appeared at that period, any name which is so well entitled to be placed next to theirs as that of Knox, whether we consider the talents with which he was endowed, or the important services which he performed. There are perhaps few who have attended to the active and laborious exertions of our Reformer, wlio liave not been insen- sibly led to form the opinion that he was of a robust constitu- tion. This is, however, a mistake. He was of small stature, and of a weakly habit of body;* a circumstance which serves to give us a higher idea of the vigour of his mind. His por- trait seems to have been taken more than once during his life, and has been frequently engraved. t It continues still to frown in the antechamber of Queen Mary, to whom he was often an ungracious visiter. We discern in it the traits of his character- istic intrepidity, austerity, and keen penetrati-^n. Nor can we overlook his beard, which, according to the custom of the times, he wore long, and reaching to his middle ; a circumstance which I mention the rather, because some writers have gravely assured us, that it was the chief thing which procured him reverence among his countrymen.! A Popish author has informed us, that he was gratified with having his picture drawn, and has expressed much horror at tliis, seeing he had caused all the images of the saints to be broken.§ * " Haud scio an unquam — majus ingenium in fragili et imbecillo cor- pusculo collocarit." Smetoni Respons. ad Dialog. Hamilt. p. 115. t A print of him, cut in wood, was inserted by Beza, in his Icones. There is another in Verheideni Imagines. See also Grainger's Biographical His- tory of England, i. 164. I Henry Fowlis, apud Mackenzie's Livesof Scottish Writers, ii. 13'3. The learned Fellow of Lincoln College had perhaps discovered that the magical virtue which the Popish writers ascribed to Knox, resided in his beard.^ 5 "Audivi mente captos hereticos Scotos co etiam insaniiE aliquando venisse, quod sceleratissimi, atque omnium literarum iraperitissimi nebuloni^ Knox, possimi, haeretici, qui omnes imagines sanctorum frangi priecepera' 356 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. One charge against him has not yet been noticed. He has been accused of setting up himself for a prophet, of presuming to intrude into the secret counsel of God, and of enthusiastically confounding the suggestions of his own imagination, and the effusions of his own spirit, with the dictates of inspiration, and immediate communications from Heaven. Let us examine this" accusation a little. It is proper, in the first place, to hear his own statement of the grounds on which he proceeded in many of those warnings which have been denominated predictions. Having, in one of his treatises, denounced the judgments to which the inhabitants of England exposed themselves, by re- nouncing the gospel, and returning to idolatry, he gives the fol- lowing explication of the warrant which he had for his threat- enings. "■ Ye would know the groundis of my certitude. God grant that, hearing thame, ye may understand, and steadfastlie believe the same. My assurances are not the mervalles of Merlin, nor yit the dark sentences of prophane prophesies ; but the plane treuth of Godis word, the invincibill justice of the everlasting God, and the ordinarie course of his punismentis and plagis frome the beginning, are my assurance and groundis. Godis word threatneth destructioun to all inobedient ; his im- mutabill justice must requyre the same ; the ordinarie punish- ments and plaguis schaw exempillis. What man then can ceise to prophesie?"* We find him expressing himself in a similar way, in his defence of the threatenings which he uttered against those who had been guilty of the murder of King Henry and the Regent Murray. He denies that he had spoken " as one that entered into the secret counsel of God," and insists that he had merely declared the judgment which was pronounced in the divine law against murderers, and which had often been exemplified in the vengeance which overtook them, even in this life.t In so far then his threatenings, or predictions (for so he repeatedly calls them), do not stand in need of an apology. Though sometimes expressed in absolute or indefinite language, it is but fair and reasonable to understand them, like similar declarations in Scripture, as implying a tacit condition. There are, however, several of his sayings which, perhaps, imaginem suam non tam fabricari passum fiiisse, quam jam fabricatam non parum probasse." Lainga;us de Vita et Moribus Heeretic. pp. 65, 6.\ The same writer tells us, as a proof of Calvin's vain-glory, that he allowed hia picture to be carried about on the necks of men and women, like that of a God ; and that when reminded that the picture of Christ was as precious as his, he returned a profane answer ; " Fertur eum hoc tantum respondisse, Qui huic rei invidet crepet medius." Ibid. * Letter to the Faithfull in London, Newcastell, and Barwick; in MS Letters, p. 113. f Bannatyne 11, 112, 420, 421. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 357 cannot be vindicated upou these principles, and wl ^ch he hnn- 6elf seems to have rested upon different grounds.* Of this kind are the assurances which he expressed, from the beginning of the Scottish troubles, that the cause of the Congregation would ultimately prevail ; his confident hope of again preaching in iiis native country and at St. Andrews, avowed by him during his imprisonment on board the French galleys, and frequently re- peated during his exile ; with the intimations which he gave respecting the death of Thomas Maitland and Kircaldy of Grange. It cannot be denied that his contemporaries considered these as proceeding from a prophetic spirit, and have attested that they received an exact accomplishment. Without entering on a particular examination of these instances, or venturing to give a decisive opinion respecting any of them, I shall confine myself to a few general observations. The most easy way of getting rid of this delicate subject is to dismiss it at once, and summarily to pronounce that all preten- sions to extraordinary premonitions, since the completing of the canon of inspiration, are unwarranted, and that they ought, with- out examination, to be discarded, and treated as fanciful and visionary. Nor would this fix any peculiar imputation on the character or talents of our Reformer, when it is considered that the most learned persons of that age were under the influence of a still greater weakness, and strongly addicted to the belief of judicial astrology. But I doubt much if this method of deter- mining the question would be doing justice to the subject. Esf vericulum, ne, aut neglectis his impia fraude, ant susceptis anili superstitione, ohligeiiiurA On the one hand, the dispo- sition which mankind discover to pry into the secrets of futu- rity, has been always accompanied with much credulity and superstition ; and it cannot be denied, that the age in which Knox lived was prone to credit the marvellous, especially as to the infliction of divine judgments on individuals. A judicious person, who is aware of this, will not be disposed to acknow- ledge as preternatural whatever was formerly regarded in this light, and will be on his guard against the illusions of imagina- tion as to impressions which may be made on his own mind. Nor would it be difficult to produce instances in which writers of a subsequent age, through mistake, or imder the influence of prepossession, have given a prophetical meaning to words, which originally were not intended to convey any such idea. Biit, on the other hand, is there not a danger of running into scepticism, and of laying down general principles which may * See the Epistle to the Reader, prefixed to his Sermon, Append, to His- tory, p. 113. Edin. 1644, 4to. t Cicero de Divinat, lib. i. 4. 358 LIFE OF JOHNKNOX. lead us obstinately to contest the truth of the best authenticated facts, if not also to limit the operations of Divine Providence ? This is the extreme to which the present age inclines. That there are instances of persons having had presentiments as to events which afterwards did happen to themselves and others, there is, I think, the best reason to believe. Those who laugh at vulgar credulity, and exert their ingenuity in accounting for such phenomena on ordinary principles, have been exceedingly puzzled with some of these facts — a great deal more puzzled than they have confessed ; and the solutions which they have given are, in some cases, as mysterious as any thing included in the intervention of superior spirits, or in preternatural and divine intimations.* The canon of our faith, as Christians, is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments ; we must not look to impressions or new revelations as the rule of our duty ; but that God may, on particular occasions, forewarn persons of some things which shall happen, to testify his appro- bation of them, to encourage them to confide in him in circum- stances of peculiar difficulty, or to serve other important pur- poses, is not, I think, inconsistent with the principles of either natural or revealed religion. If to believe this be enthusiasm, it is an enthusiasm into which some of the most enlightened and sober men, in modern as well as ancient times, have fallen. t The reformers were men of singular piety ; they were exposed to uncommon opposition, and had uncommon services to per- fortn ; they were endued with extraordinary gifts, and why may we not suppose that they were occasionally favoured with ex- traordinary premonitions, with respect to certain events which concerned themselves, other individuals, or the Churcli in gene- ral ? But whatever intimations of this kind they received, they * This is acknowledged by one who had attempted this more frequently, and with greater acuteness, than any of them. " De tels faits, dont runivcra est tout plein, embarrassent plus les esprits forts qu'ils ne le temoignent." Bayle, Dictionnairo, Art. Maldonat, Note G. What he says, elsewhere, of dreams, may be applied to tills subject ; " they contain infinitely less mystery than the multitude believe, and a little more than sceptics believe ; and" those who reject them wholly, give reason either to suspect their sincerity, or to charge them with prejudice and incapacity to discern the force of evidence." Ibid. Art. Majus, Note D. t " Setting aside these sorts of divination as extremely suspicious," says a modern author, who was not addicted to enthusiastic notions, " there remain predictions by dreams, and by sudden impulses, upon persons who v ere not of the fraternity of impostors; these were allowed to be sometime? preter- natural by many of the learned pagans, and cannot, I think, be disproved, and should not be totally rejected." Dr. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 93. See also pp. 45, 77. Lond. 180-5. The learned reader may also consult the epicrisis of Witsius on this question ; the whole disser- tation, intended chiefly tc expose the opposite extreme, is well entitled to a perusal. Miscellanea Sa ra, tom. i. p. 891. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 359 never proposed them as a rule of action to tlienise]v(!s or others, nor rested the authority of their mission upon these, nor ap pealed to them as constituting any part of the evidence of those doctrines which they preached to the world. Our Rsformer left behind him a widow and five children. His two sons were born to him by his first wife, Marjory Bowes. We have already seen, that, about the year 15G6, they went tt) England, where their mother's relations resided. They received their education at St. John's college, in the university of Cam- bridge ; their names being enrolled in the matriculation-book only eight days after the death of their father. Nathanael, the eldest of them, after obtaining the degrees of bachelor and mas- ter of arts, and being admitted fellow of the college, died in 1580. Eleazer, the youngest son, in addition to the honours attained by his brother, was created bachelor of divinity, ordained one of the preachers of the university, and admitted to the vicarage of Clacton-Magna. He died in 1591, and was buried in the chapel of St. John's college.* It appears that both sons died without issue, and the family of the Reformer became extinct in the male hue. His other children were daughters by his second wife. The General Assembly testified their respect for his memory by assigning his stipend, for the year after his death, to his widow and three daughters, and this appears to have been continued for .some time by the regent Morton, who, though charged with avarice during his administration, treated them with uniform attention and kindness.t Margaret Stewart, his widow, was afterwards married to Sir Andrew Kerof Fadoun- side, a strenuous supporter of the Reformation. J The names of his daughters were Martha, Margaret, and Elizabeth. § The first was married to JamxCs Fleming, a minister of the Church of Scotland ;|| the second, to Zachary, son of the celebrated Robert Pont ;ir and the third to John Welch, minister of Ayr. Mrs. Welch seems to have inherited no inconsiderable portion of her father's spirit, and she had her share of similar hardships. Her husband was one of those patriotic ministers who resisted the arbitrary measures pursued by James VI. for overturning * Newcourt's Repert. Londin. ii. 154. Communications from Mr. Thomaa Barker, apiid Life of Knox, prefixed to Historie of the Reformation, edit. 1732, pp. xli. xlii. t Melville's MS. Diary, p. 39. See also Note RRR. t Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, p. 522. 5 The Testament of John Knox, in the Appendix. II He was the grandfather of Mr. Robert Fleming, minister in London, and author of the well known book, The Fulfilling of the Scriptures. But Mr. Robert's father was of a different marriage. Fleming's Practical Dis course on the Death of King William, preface, p. 14. Lond. 1702. ^ Seo \ote SSS. 360 LIFE OF JOHN KiNOX. the government and liberties of the Presbyterian Church ol Scotland. Being determined to abolish the General Assembly- James had, for a considerable time, prevented the meetings of that court by successive prorogations. Perceiving the desigr of the court, a number of the delegates from synods resolved to keep the diet which had been appointed to be held at Aberdeen in July 1605. They merely constituted the Assembly, and ap- pointed a day for its next meeting, and being charged by Lau- rieston,the king's commissioner, to dissolve, immediately obeyed; but the commissioner, having ante-dated the charge, several of the leading members were thrown into prison, Welch and five of his brethren, when called before the privy council, declined that court, as incompetent to judge the offence of which they were accused, according to the laws of the kingdom ; on which account they were indicted to stand trial for treason at Linlith- gow. Their trial was conducted in the most illegal and unjust manner. The king's advocate told the jury that the only thing which came under theif cognizance was the fact of the declina- ture, the judges having already found that it was treasonable ; and threatened them with an -'assize of error," if they did not proceed as he directed them. After the jury were empannelled, the justice-clerk went in and threatened them with his majesty's displeasure, if they acquitted the prisoners. The greater part of the jurors being still reluctant, the chancellor went out and consulted with the other judges, who promised that no punish- ment should be inflicted on the prisoners, provided the jury brought in a verdict agreeable to the court. By such disgrace- ful methods, they were induced, at midnight, to find, by a ma- jority of three, that the prisoners were guilty, upon which they were condemned to suffer the death of traitors.* Leaving her children at Ayr, Mrs. Welch attended her hus- band in prison, and was present at Linlithgow, with the wives of the other prisoners, on the day of trial. When informed of the sentence, these heroines, instead of lamenting their fate, praised God who had given their husbands courage to stand to the cause of their Master, adding, that, like him, they had been judged and condemned under the covert of night.t The sentence of death having been changed into banishment, she accompanied her husband to France, where they remained * Matthew Crawfurd's History of the Church of Scotland, MS. vol. i. 2.58 — 283. Thte Reformation of Religion in Scotland, written by Mr. John Forbes, MS. pp. 131 — 151. The copy of this last work, which is in my pos- session, was transcribed "ex Authoris autographo," in the year 172(i. The author was one of the condemned ministers. His narrative properly begins at the year 1'80, but is chiefly occupied in detailing the transactions which preceded and followed the Assembly at Aberdeen. t Row's MS. Historie, pp. ill, 122. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 361 for sixteen years. Mr. Welch applied himself with such assidu- ity to the acquisition of the language of the country, that he was able, in the course of fourteen weeks, to preach in French, and was chosen minister to a Protestant congregation at Nerac, from which he was translated to St. Jean d'Angely, a fortified town in Lower Charente. War having broken out between Lewis XTIL and his Protestant subjects, St. Jean d'Angely was be- sieged by the king in person. On this occasion, Welch not only animated the inhabitants of the town to a vigorous resistance by his exhortations, but he appeared on the walls, and gave his assistance to the garrison. The king was at last admitted into the town in consequence of a treaty, and being displeased that Welch preached during his residence in it, sent the Duke d'Es pernonwith a company of soldiers, to take him from the pulpit. When the preacher saw the duke enter the church, he ordered liis hearers to make room for the marshal of France, and de- sired him to sit down and hear the word of God. He spoke with such an air of authority that the duke involuntarily took a seat, and listened to the sermon with great gravity and atten- tion. He then brought Welch to the king, who asked him how he durst preach there, since it was contrary to the laws of the kingdom for any of the pretended reformed to officiate in places where the court resided. " Sir," replied Welch, " if your ma- jesty knew what I preached, you would not only come and hear it yourself, but make all France hear it ;" for I preach not as those men you use to hear. First, I preach that you must be saved by the merits of Jesus Christ, and not your own ; and I am sure your conscience tells you that your good works will never merit heaven. Next, I preach, that, as you are king of France, there is no man on earth above you ; but these men whom you hear, subject you to the pope of Rome, which I will never do." Pleased with this reply, Lewis said to him, " He bien, voiis serez mon ministre ;" * and addressing him by the title of Father, assured him of his protection. And he was as good as his word ; for St. Jean d'Angely being reduced by the royal forces in 1621, the king gave directions to De Vitry, one of his generals, to take care of his minister, in consequence of which, Welch and his family were conveyed, at his majesty's expense, to Rochelle.t * "Very well ; you shall be my minister." t History of Mr. Jolm Welch, pp. 31 — 33. Edinburgh, 1703. Character- istics of Eminent Ministers, subjoined to Livingston's Life : Art. John Welch. Mr. Livingston received his account of the above transactions in France, from Lord Kenmure, who resided in Mr. Welch's house. The author of the History of Welch, says, that he received his information from the personal acquaintances of that minister. That work was drawn up by Mr. James Kirk) on, who married a descendant of Kno.x, and consequently a relation of 31 V2 362 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. Having lost his health, and the physicians informing him that the only prospect which he had of recovering it, was by return- ing to his native country, Mr. Welch ventured, in the year 1622, to come to London. But his own sovereign was incapable of treating him with that generosity which he had experienced from the French monarch ; and, dreading the influence of a man who was far gone with a consumption, he absolutely refused to give him permission to return to Scotland. Mrs. Welch, by means of some of her mother's relations at court, obtained access to James, and petitioned him to grant this liberty to her hus- band. The following singular conversation took place on tliat occasion. His majesty asked her, who was her father. She replied, "John Knox." — "Knox and Welch !" exclaimed he, " the devil never made such a match as that." — " It's right like, sir," said she, " for we never speired* his advice." He asked her how many children her father had left, and if they were lads or lasses. She said three, and they were all lasses. " God be thanked !" cried the king, lifting up both his hands ; " for an they had been three lads, I had never bruikedt my three king- doms in peace." She again urged her request, that he would give her husband his native air. " Give him his native air !" replied the king, "give him the devil!" — " Give that to your hungry courtiers," said she, offended at his profaneness. He told her at last, that if she would persuade her husband to sub- mit to the bishops', he would allow him to return to Scotland. Mrs. Welch, lifting up her apron, and holding it towards the king, replied, in the true spirit of her father, " Please your ma- jesty, I'd rather kepj his head there. "§ Welch was soon after released from the power of the despot, and from his own suff"erings. "This month of May 1622," says one of his intimate friends, " we received intelligence of the Mrs. Welch. See the article concerning Knox's descendants in Additions. The life of Welch contains an account of an extraordinary occurrence relating to the first Lord Castlestewart, (ancestor of Lord Castlereagh,) who, when a young man, lodged with Mr. Welch in France. * Asked. t Enjoyed. J Receive. 5 1 met with the account of this conversation in a MS. written by Mr. Robert Traill, minister in London, entitled, " An Accompt of several pas- sages in the lives of some eminent men in the nation, not recorded in any history." It is inserted in the heart of a common-place book, containing notes of Sermons, &c. written by him when a student of divinity at St. An- drews, between 16.59 and 10f>8. He received tlie account from aged per- sons, and says, that the conference between King .lames and Mrs. Welch " is current to this day in the mouths of many." I have since seen the same story in Wodrow's MS. Collections, vol. i. Life of Welch, p. 27, Bibl, Coll. Glass. James stood in great awe of Mr. Welch, who often reproved liim foi his habit of profane swearing. If he had, at any time, been swearing in a public place, he would have turned round, and asked if Welch was near Traill's MS. i. anpra. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 3G3 death of that holy servant of God, Mr. Welch, one of the fathers and pillars of that church, and the light of his age, who died at London, an exile from his native country, on account of his opposition to the re-establishment of episcopal government, and his firm support of the presbyterian and sy nodical discipline, received and established among us ; and that after eighteen years' banishment — a man full of the Holy Spirit, zeal, charity, and incredible diligence in the duties of his office." The death of his wife is recorded by the same pen. " This month of Janu- ary 1625, died at Ayr, my cousin, Mrs. Welch, daughter of that great servant of God, the late John Knox, and wife of that holy man of God, Mr. Welch, above mentioned ; a spouse and daugh- ter worthy of such a husband, and such a father." * The account of our Reformer's publications has been partly anticipated in tlie course of the preceding narrative. Though his writings were of great utility, it was not by them, but by his , personal exertions, that he chiefly advanced the Reformation, and transmitted his name to posterity. He did not view this as the field in which he was called to labour. " That I did not in writing communicate my judgment upon the Scriptures," says he, "' I have ever thought myself to have most just reason. For, considering myself rather called of my God to instruct the igno- rant, comfort the sorrowful, confirm the weak, and rebuke the proud, by tongue and lively voice, in these most corrupt days, than to compose books for the age to come (seeing that so much is written, and by men of most singular erudition, and yet so little well observed), I decreed to contain myself within the bounds of that vocation whereunto 1 found myself especially called." t This resolution was most judiciously formed. His situation was very different from that of the first Protestant reformers. They found the whole world in ignorance of the doctrines of Christianity. Men were either destitute of books, or such as they possessed were calculated only to mislead. The oral instructions of a few individuals could extend but a small way ; it was principally by means of their writings, which cir- culated with amazing rapidity, that they benefited mankind, and became not merely the instructors of the particular cities and countries where they resided and preached, but the reformers of Europe. By the time that Knox appeared on the field, their translations of Scripture, their judicious commentaries on its dif- ferent books, and their able defences of its doctrines, were laid * Obituary of Robert Boyd of Trochrig, in Wodrow's MS. Collections, vol. V. pp. 1 15, 148. Bannatyne Miscellany, vol. i. pp. 291, 29'). See Mrs. Welch's Testament, in the Appendix. 1 Preface to his Sermon, apud History, p. 113. Edin. 1644. 364 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. open to the English reader.* What .vas more immediately- required of him was to use the peculiar talent in which he ex celled, and, " by tongue and lively voice," to imprint the doc trines of the Bible upon the hearts of his countrymen. When he was deprived of an opportunity of doing this during his ex- ile, there could not be a more proper substitute than that which he adopted, by publishing familiar epistles, exhortations, and admonitions, in which he briefly reminded them of the truths which they had embraced, and warned them to flee from the abominations of Popery. These could be circulated and read with far more ease, and to a far greater extent, than large treatises. Of the many sermons preached by him during his ministry, he published but one, which was extorted from him by peculiar circumstances. It affords a very favourable specimen of his talents; and shows, that if he had applied himself to writing, he was qualified for excelling in that department. He had a ready command of language, and expressed himself with great per- spicuity, animation, and force. Though he despised the tinsel of rhetoric, he was acquainted with the principles of that art, and when he had leisure and inclination to polish his style, wrote with propriety, and even with elegance. Those who have read his Letter to the Queen Regent, his Answer to Tyrie, or his papers in the account of the dispute with Kennedy, will be satisfied of this. During his residence in England, he ac- quired the habit of writing the language according to the man- ner of that country ; and in all his publications which appeared during his lifetime, the English and not the Scottish orthogra- phy and mode of expression are used.t In this respect, there is a very evident difference between them and the vernacular writings of Buchanan. His practical treatises are among the least known, but most valuable, of his writings. In depth of religious feeling, and in power of utterance, they are superior to any works of the same kind which appeared in that age. The thoughts are often original, and always expressed in a style of originality, pos- * Tliose who have not directed their attention to this point cannot easily conceive to what extent the translation of foreign theological books into our language was carried at that time. There was scarcely a book of any celebrity published in Latin by the continental reformers, that did not appear in an English version. Bibliographers, and the annalists of printing, are /ery defective in the information which they commucicate on this branch. t It is to this that Ninian Winget refers in one of his letters addressed to Knox. " Gif ye, throw curiositie of novationis, hes forzet our auld plane Scottis, quhilk zour mother lernit zow, in tymes coming I sail MTytt to zow my mynd in Latin, for I am nocht acquyntit with zour Southero^^n." KeitJi, Append. 254. LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. 365 sessing great dignity and strength, without affectation or ex- travagance.* The freedoms which have been used in the republication of such of his works as are best known, have contributed to injure his Hterary reputation. They were translated into the language commonly used in the middle of the seventeenth century, by which they were deprived of the antique costume which they formerly wore, and contracted an air of vulgarity which did not originally belong to them. Besides this, they have been re- printed with innumerable omissions, interpolations, and altera- tions, which frequently affect the sense, and always enfeeble the language. The two works which have been most read, are the least accurate and polished, in point of style, of all his writings. His tract against female government was hastily published by him, under great irritation of mind at the increas- ing cruelty of Mary Queen of England. His History of the Reformation was undertaken during the confusions of the civil war, and was afterwards continued by him at intervals snatched from numerous avocations. The collection of historical mate- rials is a work of labour and time; the digesting and arranging of them into a regular narrative require much leisure and undi- vided attention. The want of these sufficiently accounts for the confusion that is often observable in that work. But, notwith- standing this, and particular mistakes from which no work of the kind can be free, it still continues to be the principal source of information as to ecclesiastical proceedings in that period , and although great keenness has been shown in attacking its authenticity and accuracy, it has been confirmed, in all the lead- mg facts, by an examination of those ancient documents which the industry of later times has brought to light.t His defence of Predestination, the only theological treatise of any extent which was published by him, is rare, and has been seen by few. It is written with perspicuity, and discovers his controversial acuteness, with becoming caution, in handling that delicate question. A catalogue of his publications, as complete as I have been able to draw up, will be found in the notes.! * Knox's practical writings have been lately collected and reprinted. This, so far as it may have arisen, even indirectly, from what I have done in illus- trating the events of his life, I regard as one of the most pleasing fruits of my labour; nor do 1 regret (though I did regret it) that the work has issued from the press of London, mstead of Edinburgh. t See Note TTT. I See Note UUU. It may be proper to notice that our Reformer's writings hac the honour of" being marked in the Index Expurgatorius of Rome. "Joannes Chnoxu? Scotus" occurs in Index Librorum Prohibitorum, p. 49 Rothomagi, 1625. 31 * 366 LIFE OF JOHN KNOX. I have thus attempted to give an account of our national Re former, of the principal events of his life, his sentiments, writings) and exertions in the cause of religion and liberty. ' If what I have done shall contribute to set his character in a more just light than that in which it has been generally represented, a. d to correct the erroneous views of it which have long been preva« lent ; or if it shall tend to elucidate the ecclesiastical history of the eventful period in which he lived, and be the means of illus- trating the superintendence of a wise and merciful Providence, in the accomplishment of a revolution of all others the most in- teresting and beneficial to this country, I shall not think any labour which I have bestowed on the subject to have been thrown away, or unrewarded. NOTES. Note A. page 17. Place of Knox's Birth, and his Parentage. — Althoug i the question respecting Knox's birtii-place is not of very great impo;tance, I sliall state the authorities for the different opinions which are entertained on the subject. Beza, who was contemporary, and personally acquainted, with our Reformer, designs him "Joannes C'noxus, Scotus, Giffordiensis," evi- dently meaning that he was a native of the town of Gifibrd. Icones, seu Imagines lllustrium Virorum, Ee. iij. an. 1580. Spotswood, who was born in 1565, and could receive information from his father, and other persons intimately acquainted with Knox, says that he was "born in Gifford within Lothian." History, p. 265, edit. 1677. David Buchanan, in his Memoir of Knox, prefixed to the edition of liis His- tory, and pubhshed in 1644, gives the same account; which has been followed in the Life written by Matthew Crawfurd, and prefixed to the edition of the History, 1732; and by Wodrow, in his MS. Collec- tions, respecting the Scottish Reformers, in Bibl. Coll. Glas. In a Genealogical Account of the Knoxes, which is in the possession of the family of the late Mr. James Knox, minister of Scoon, the Reformer's father is said to have been a brother of the family of Ranferlie, and " proprietor of the estate of Gifford." Scott's History of the Scottish Reformers, p. 94. On the other hand, Archibald Hamilton, who was his countryman, as well as his contemporary and acquaintance, says that Knox was born in the town of Haddington : "Obscuris natus parentibus in Had- intona oppido in Laudonia." De Confusione Calvinianae Sectae apud Scotos Dialogus, fol. 64, a. Parisiis, 1577. Another Scotsman, who wrote in that age, says that he was born near Haddington ; " prope Haddintonam."" Laingaeus De vita, et moribus, atque rebus gestis Fiereticorum nostri temporis, fol. 113, b. Parisiis, 1581. Dr. Barclay, late minister of Haddington, advanced an opinion which reconciles the two last authorities, (although it is probable that he never saw either of them,) by asserting that our Reformer was born in one of the suburbs of Haddington, called the Giffordgate. Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland, pp. 69, 70. 367 368 NOTES. The testimony of Archibald Hamilton, is not altogether without weight ; lor, although he has retailed a number of gross falsehoods in the woi'k referred to, there does not appear to be any reason for sup- posing that he would intentionally mislead his readers on such a cir- cumstance as the birth-place of the Reformer, But I consider Spots- wood's statement as going far to set aside Hamilton's; lor, as the archbishop could scarcely be ignorant of it, and as he fixes Knox's birth at a different place, it ^s reasonable to suppose that he had good reasons for varying from a preceding authority. The grounds of Dr. Barclay's opinion are, that, according to the tradition of the place, the Reformer was a native of Haddington ; that the house in which he was born is still pointed out in the Giffordgate; and that this house, with some adjoining acres of land, belonged for a number of generations to a family of the name of Knox, who claimed kindred with the Re- former, and who lately sold the property to the Earl of Wemyss. I acknowledge that popular tradition may be allowed to determine a point of this nature, provided it is not contradicted by other evidence. In the present case, it is not altogether free from this objection. As the sons of the Reformer died without issue, there is no reason to think that the family which resided in the Giffordgate was lineally descended from him. Still, however, the property might have be- longed to his elder brother, which is consistent with the supposition of his being born in the house which tradition has marked out. But I have lately been favoured with extracts from the title-deeds of that property, now in the possession of the Earl of Wemyss, extending from the year 1598 downwards, which are not favourable to that sup- position. On the 18th of February, 1598, William Knox in Moreham, and Elizabeth Schortes his wife, were infeft in subjects in Nungate (of Haddington,) by virtue of a crown charter. This charter contains no statement of the warrants on which it proceeded, further than the lands formerly belonged to the Abbey of Haddington, and were an- nexed to the crown. Having communicated the names of the persons mentioned in the first charter and subsequent deeds to the Reverend Mr. Scott of Perth, with a request to be informed, if any such names occur in the genealogy of the Knox family which belonged to the late Mr. Knox, mmister of Scoon, I was favoured with an answer, saying, that neither the name of William Knox at Moreham, nor that of any other person answering to the description in my letter, is to be found in that genealogy. But, further, the charter expressly states, that the lands in question belonged to the Abbey of Haddington, and, as they must have been annexed to the crown subsequently to the Reforma- tion, they could not be the property of the family at the time of our Reformer's birth. The tradition of his having been born in the Gif- fordgate is therefore supported merely by the possibility that his pa- rents might have resided in that house while it was the property of the Abbey. In opposition to this, we have the authorities already mentioned in support of the opinion that he was born in the village of Gifford. With respect to the parentage of our Reformer, David Buchanan says that his " father was a brother's son of the house of Ranferlie." Life, prefixed to History of the Reformation, edit. 1644. In a conver- sation with the Earl of Both well, Knox gave the following account of his ancestors : " My Lord," said he, " my great grandfather, gudeschir and father, have served your Lordchip's predecessours, and some of them have dyed under their standards; and this is a pairt of the obli- gatioun of our Scottish kindness." Historie of the Reformatioun, p. 306, edit. 1732. Matthew Crawfurd says, that "these words seem to import that Mr. Knox's predecessors were in some honourable station NOTES. 369 under the Earls of Bothwell, at that time the most powerful family in Eiast-Lothian." Life of tlie Author, p. ii. prefixed to Historic, edit. 1732. Ttie only thing which I would inler from his words is, that his ancestors had settled in Lothian as early as the time of his great- grandfather. I do not wish to represent the Reformer as either of noble or of gentle birth, and cannot place much dependence on the Hssertion in the preceding note, which makes his fether " proprietor of the estate of Gifford." John Davidson, in the poem written in com- mendation of him, says. First he desceiidit hot of lineage small, As commonly God usis for to call The sempiU sort his summoundis til expres. At the same time, the statement given by some authors of the mean ness and poverty of his parents is not supported by good evidence and can in part be disproved. Dr. Mackenzie says the'Reformer wa- " the son of a poor countryman, as we are informed by those whi, knew him very well: his parents, though in a mean condition, put their son to the grammar-school of Haddington; where, after he had learned his grammar, he served for some time the Laird of Langnid- drie's children, who being sent by their parents to the university of St. Andrews, he thereby had occasion of learning his philosophy." Lives of Scottish Writers, vol. iii. p. 1 II. As his authorities for these assertions, the Doctor has printed on the margin, " Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Bailie, and many others ;" Popish writers, who, regardless of their own character, fabricated or retailed such stories as they thought most discreditable to the Reformer, many of which Mackenzie him- self is obliged to pronounce " ridiculous stories, that are altosrether improbable," p. 132. "Dr. Bailie" was Alexander Bailie, a Benedic- tine monk in the Scottish monastery of Wirtsburgh ; and, as he pub- lished the work to which Mackenzie refers in the year 1628, it is ridi- culous to talk of his being well acquainted with either the Reformer or his father. Hamilton, (the earliest authority,) instead of supporting Mackenzie's assertions, informs us, as far as his language is intelligi- ble, that Knox was in priest's orders before he undertook the care of children : " quo victum sibi pararet magis quam ut deo serviret (Sim- onis illius magi hue usque sequutus vestigia) presbyter primum fieri de more, quamvis illiteratus, turn in priwatis asdibus puerorum in vul- garibus Uteris formandorum curam capere coactus est." De Ponfu- sione Calv. Sectae, p. 64. The fact is, that Knox entered into the family of Langniddrie as tutor, after he had finished his education at the university; and so late as 1.547, he was employed in teaching the young men their grammar. Historic, p. 67. Note B, p. 18. Of Knox's Academical Education. — I have been a good deal puz- zled on the subject of the academical studies of our Reformer. De- pending on the testimony of the earliest and most credible writers, I stated, in the former editions of this work, that he studied, and took the degree of Master of Arts, at St Andrews. After a minute exami- nation, however, I was unable to find his name in the records of that university. Still I did not feel warranted to drop the account which I had given on such respectable authority, and contented myself with mentionins'the unsuccessful result of my investigations. But when en- ffaffed in examining the records of the university of Glasgow with a W2 370 NOTES. view to anot ler work, I accidentally met with evidence which con- vinces me thai the common statement is erroneous. Knox was educa- ted at the university, not of St Andrews, but of Glasgow. In the " Annales Universitatis Glasguensis," the name "Johannes Knox" occurs among the Incorporati, or those who were matriculated, in the year 1522. In coming to the conclusion that this was our Re- 'brmer, I do not rest simply on his name occurring in the record. This opinion is contirmed by the two following circumstances. 1. The time answers to that at which he might be supposed to have entered the university ; for in 1522, he was seventeen years of age. 2. John Major was at that time Principal of the university of Glasgow ; and all the ancient accounts agree that Knox studied under that celebrated profes- sor.— This circumstance may perhaps account for the mistake into which the old writers have fallen on this subject. They appear to have been ignorant of the fact that Major taught at that time in Glas- gow ; and being informed that Knox studied under him, they conclu- ded that he did so at St Andrews, where that professor was known to have resided for many years. I take this opportunity of filling up a blank in the life of Major. Dempster, Dupin, and other writers, mention that, after being made Doctor of Divinity in 1505, he taught for some years at Glasgow, but that, owing to the confusions of his native country, he removed from it to Paris. I will not take upon me to say that this account is erro- neous ; but I have not been able to discover the name of Major in the records of the university of Glasgow at that period. Upon Major's return from France, the above-mentioned authors represent him as going directly to St Andrews. But from the subsequent extracts it will appear that he went first to Glasgow, and for several years held the situation of Principal and Professor of Divinity in the university of that city. In the old Register entitled " Annales Universitatis Glasguensis," are the following minutes relating to Major. The last of them contains the matriculation of Knox. " Electio Rectoris. " Congregatione generali alme Universitatis Glasguen. Citatione previa, &c. Die tertio mensis Novembris anno Dni. millesimo quin- gentesimo decimo octavo, &c. " Eodem die — Incorporati sub dicto Dno.Rectore Egregius vir Magr, Johannes Majoris Doctor Parisiensis ac principalis regens Collegie et pedagogii dicte Universitatis Canonicusque Capelli regie, ac Vicarius de Dunlop, &c." (43 names follow.) ' There is no farther mention made of Major until 1521, when the fol- ' lowing minute is found ; " Electio Rectoris. "Congregatione generali, &c. In festo sanctorum Marthirum Cris- pini et Crispiniani, anno Domi. millesimo quingentesimo vicesimo pri- mo. Pro Electione novi Rectoris — In quaquidem Congregatione Electi fuerunt tres Intrantes, viz. Magr. Mattheus Steward Decanus facultatis Johannes Majoris Theologie Professor, et nationis Albanie nullus intor- fuit, et Willmus.CrechtounCanonicus Glasguensis — Q.ui remoti, matu- raaue deliberatione orehabita, unanimi eorum consensu, Venerabilem St egregiurn Virum Jacobum Steward Preposltum ecclesie Collegiate de Dunbertane, absentem tanquam prese item, in Rectorem elegerunt et electum pronunciarunt. Q,ui postea inc.inatus supplicationibus suppos- NOTES. 371 itorum hujus modi onus in se acceptavit. Insuper in eadem Congrega- tione electi I'uerunt quatuor Ueputati ad consulendum et assistendum dicto Dno. rectoi'i in omnibus et singulis causis per ipsum tractandis, viz. Magri. Johannes Majoris predictus, Wiilnis. C'liiiciitoun, Johannes Raid, Jacobus A'eilsoun — Xecnon Electus fuit in bursariuin discretus vir Magr. Mattheus Reid, Magr. schole grainmaticalis. Et in promo- torem Magr. Andreas Smyth. Et in Procuratorem Magr. Nicholaus Witherspuyne. " Die xxiiij me isis Maij anno Dni. millesimo quingentesimo xxij. " Congregatione generali Universitatis Glasguen. facta loco Capitu- J^ari ecclesie metropolitane ejusdem die xxiiij mensis maij Anno Dni. Millesimo quingentesimo xxij, per Venerabilem Virum Mgrm. Jacobum Steward Prepositum ecclie Collegiate de Dunbertane ac Rectorem dicte Universitatis, Presentibus Ibidem Honorabilibus Viris, Magistris Johanne Majore, theologie professore, thesaurario Capelle regie tstirlin- gensis, Vicarioque de Dunlop, ac Principali regente dicte CoUegie, Jo- hanne Doby Canonico Glasguensi ac prebendario de Ancrum, Jacobo Neilson Vicario de Colmanel, Johanne Spruele Vicario de Dundonald, Jacobo Lyndesay secundai'io regente, aliisque patribus, Magistris, Stu- dentibus, ac suppositis, inibi Congregatis — In quaquidem Congrega. tione Idem Dnus. Rector Exposuit et Declaravit, &c. " Electio Rectoris. " Congregatione generali alme Universitatis Glass. Citatione previa per edictum publicum in Valvis ecclesie metropolitane affixum, Cele- brata loco Capitulari ejusdem. In festo Sanctorum Marthirum Crispin! et Crispiniani, Anno Dni. Millesimo quingentesimo Vicesimo secundo. Pro electione novi Rectoris. In quaquidem Congregatione electi fue- runt tres Intrantes, eoquod nullus nationis albanie extunc interf'uit, viz. Mgr. Thomas leiss Canonicus Dunblanensis, Johannes Majoris Prin- cipalis regens, et Johannes Reid Vicarius de Campsy — Q,ui remoti, ma- tura et digesta deliberatione prehabita, unanimi eorum Consensu, Venerabilem et egregium Virum Mgrm. Jacobum Steward prepositum Ecclesie Collegiate de Dunbertane, absentem tanquam presentem, in rectorem Continuarunt, elegerunt, et pronunciarunt — Q-ui postea sup- plicationibus magistrorum inclinatus hujus modi onus in se acceptavit. Insuper in eadem Congregatione electi fuerunt tres Deputati ad as- sistendum et consulenduni dicto Dno. Rectori in omnibus et singulis causis dicte Universitatis per eundem tractandis, viz. Prescript! mag- istri, Johannes Majoris, Johannes Reid, et Mgr. Mattheus Steward Vicarius de Mayboile, et Continuatus fuit in bursarium Mgr. Mattheus Reid. Necnon electus fuit in procuratorem et promotorem Universita- tis Mgr. Nicholaus Vitherspuyne Vicarius de Straithawane — Incorpora- ti sub dicto Dno. Rectore, Andreas Cottis Alexr Dikke Johannes hereot Adam Kyngorne Nigellus Campbal Nigellus forguissone Willmus Steward Johannes huntar Johannes Hamyltoun Jacobus Mosman Johannes Knox Dnus Johannes Keyne presbiter Archibaldus Langsyd Patricius letryg Civis Glass." In the records of the university of Grlasgow, Major is uniformly callei! Johannes Majoris. It appears from ^r Lee's extracts, published in f hf 372 NOTES. second edition of Dr. Irving's Memoirs of Buchanan, (p. 373,) thai Major was incorporated into the university of St Andrews on the 9th of June 1523. He is there designed " Doctor Theologus Parisiensis, et rhesaurarius C'apellffi Regiae ;" and in an instrument of seisin, belonging to that seminary, he is styled " Vicarius de Dunloppie Glasg." — Some may perhaps Ije inclined to suppose that Knox followed Major to St Andrews, and attended his lectures, though not formally incorporated into that university ; and consequently that the old writers had some foundation for their statement on this head. But if this was the case, it is not very probable that the truth of it can be now ascertained. I have only to add, that I cannot perceive, from the records of Glasgow, that Knox took any degree there, which confirms the doubt that I have already expressed on that subject. Note C, p. 20. Of the Early State of Grecian Literature in Scotland. — In this note I shall throw together such facts as I have met with relating to the introduction of "the Greek language into Scotland, and the progress which it made during the sixteenth century. They are scanty; but I trust they will not be altogether unacceptable to those who take an interest in the subject. In the year 1522, Boece mentions George Dundas as a good Greek scholar. He was master of the Knights of St John in Scotland, and had, most probably, acquired the knowledge of the language on the Continent. "Georgius Dundas grecas atq; latinas literas apprime doctus, equitum Hierosolymitanorum intra Scotorum regnum magis- tratuni multo sudore (superatis emulis) postea adeptus." Boetii \ itae Episcop. Murth. et Aberdon. fol. xxvii. b. It is reasonable to suppose that some other individuals in the nation acquired it in the same way; but Boece makes no mention of Greek among the branches taught at the universities in his time, although he is minute in his details. Nor do I find any other reference to the subject previous to the year 1534, when Erskine of Dun brought a learned man from France, and em- ployed him to teach Greek in Montrose, as mentioned in that part of the Life to which this note refers. At his school, George Wishart, the martyr, must have obtained the knowledge of the language, and he seems to have been assistant or successor to his master. The bishop of Brechin (William Chisholm,) hearing that Wishart taught the Greek New Testament in Montrose, summoned him to appear before him on a charge of heresy, upon which he fled the kingdom. This was in 1538. Petrie, part ii. p. 182. It is likely that Knox was taught Greek by Wishart after the return of the latter from England. Buchanan seems to have acquired the language during his residence on the Con- tinent. Epist. p. 25. Open edit. Rudd. Lesley says, that James V. during his progress through the kingdom, in 1540, came to Aberdeen, and among other entertainments which were given him, the students of the university "recited orations in the Greek" and Latin tongue, composed with the greatest skill" — " Ora- tiones in Greca Latinaque lingua, sum.mo artificio instructse." Les- Iseus de rebus gestis Scotorum, lib. ix. p. 430. edit. 1675. Wnen we consider the state of learning at that period in Scotland, there is reason for suspecting that the bishop's description is highly coloured, yet as he entered that university a few years after, we may conclude from it 'hat some attention was at that time paid to the study of Greek in Aberdeen. It might have been introduced by Hector Boece, the learned principal of that university. If the king was entertained with NOTES. 373 the great learningof the students of Aberdeen, the English ambassadoi was no lesrf diverted, in the very same year, with tlie ignorance which our bisliops discovered ol' tlie Greeiv tt)ngue. Tlie ambassador, wlio was a sciiolar as well as a statesman, liad caused his men to wear on their sleeves the following (^reek motto MONfi anakt] aotaet.'i, "I serve the king only." This the Scottish bishops, whose knowledge did not extend beyond Latin, j-ead jMunachulus, •' a little monk," and thereupon circulated the report that the ambassador's servants were monks, who had been taken out of the monasteries lately suppressed in England. To counteract this report, Sadler was obliged to furnish a translation of the inscription. " It appeareth (says he) they are no good Grecians. And now the effect of my words is known, and they be well laughed at for their learned interpretation." Sadler's Letters, i. 48, 49. Ed'inburgh, 1809. In a debate which occurred in the Parlia- ment which met in 1543, individuals among the nobility and otJier lay members discovered more knowledge of Greek than all the ecclesiasti- cal bench. Knox, Historie, 34. Foreign writers have been amused with the information, that many of the Scottish clergy atfirmed, " that Martin Luther had lately com- posed a wicked book called the New Testament ; but that they, for their part, would adhere to the Old Testament." Perizonii Hist. Seculi xvi. p. 233. Gerdesii Histor. Reform, tom. iv. p. 314. Buchanani Oper. i. 291. Ignorant, however, as our clergy were, they were not more illiterate than many on the Continenl. A foreign monk, de- claiming one day in the pulpit against Lutherans and Zuinglians, said to his audience: "A new language was invented sometime ago, called Greek, which has been the mother of all these heresies. A book is printed in this language, called the New Testament, which contains many dangerous things. Another language is now forming, the He- brew ; whoever learns it immediately becomes a Jew." No wonder, after this, that the commissioners of the senate of Lucern should have confiscated the works of Aristotle, Plato, and some of the Greek poets, which they found in the library of a friend of Zuinglius, concluding that every book printed in that language must be infected with Lutheran- ■«m. J. von. Mullers Schw. Gesch. Hess, Life of Ulrich Zuingle, p. 213. To return to the seminary at Montrose: it was kept up, by the pub- lic spirit of its patron, until the establishment of the Reformation. Some years before that event, the celebrated linguist, Andrew Mel- ville, received his education at this school, under Pierre de Marsiliers, a Frenchman. And he had made such proficiency in Greek, when he entered the university of St Andrews, about the year 1559, that he was able to read Aristotle in the original language, " which even his mas- ters themselves understood not." Life of Andrew Melville, p. 2, in Wod- row's MS.S. Bibl. Coll. Glas. vol. i. and James Melville's Diary, p. 32. For, although the logics, ethics, &c. of Aristotle, were then read in the colleges, it was in a Latin translation. " The regent of St Leonard's," says James Melville, "tauld me of my uncle Mr. Andro Melvill, whom he knew, in the time of his cours in the new collag, to use the Greik logicks of Aristotle, quhilk was a wonder to them, he was so fyne a scholar, and of sic expectation." MS. Diary, p. 25. By the First book of Discipline, it was provided, that there should " be a reader of Greek" in one of the colleges of each university, who " shall compleat the grammar thereof in three months," and " sliall in- terpret some book of Plato, together with some places of the New Tes- tament, and shall compleat his course the same year." Dunlop's < 'on- fessions, ii. 553. The small number of learned men, the deficiency of funds, and the confiisions in which the country was afterwards involve 1, prevented, in a great degree, the execution of this wi!=.e mea- 32 374 NOTES. sure. Owing to the last of these circumstances, 5ome learned Scot* men devoted their talents to the service offoreigr. seminaries, instead of returning to their native country Buchanani Epist. pp. 7, 9, 10,'^3. One of these was Henry Scrimger, celebrated tor his Grecian literature. Some particulars respecting him may be seen in Senebier, Hist. Liter, de Geneve, torn. i. art. Scrimger. See also Teissier, Eloges. torn. iii. 383 — 365. Leide, 1715. On account of the scarcity of preacliers, it was also found necessary to settle several of the learned men in towns which were not the seat of a university. Some of these undertook the instruction of youth, along with the pastoral inspection of their par- ishes. John Row taught the Greek tongue in Perth. See Note PP. The venerable teacher, Andrew Simpson, (see p. 19,) does not appear to have been capable of this task; but he was careful that his son Pat- rick should not labour under the same defect. He was sent to the university of Cambi'idge, in which he made great proficiency ; and after his return to Scotland, taught Greek at Spot, a village in East Lothian, where he was minister for some time. Row's MS. p. 96 of a copy in the Divinity Lib. Edin. It is reasonable to suppose, that this branch of study would not be neglected at St Andrews during the time that Buchanan was principal of St Leonard's college, from 1565 to 1570. Patrick Adamson, to whom he demitted this office, and whom he recommended for his " literature and sufficiency," (Buch. Op. i. 10,) was not then in the kingdom; and the state of education languished for some time in that university. James Melville, who en- tered it in 1570, gives the following account. "Our regent be goud, and teacheth us the a, b, c, of the Griek, and the simple declinationis, but went no farder." MS. Diary, p. 26. Grcecum est, non legitur, was at this time an adage, even with persons who had received a uni- versity education. Row's MS. ut supra. The return of Andrew Melville in 1574, gave a new impulse to literature in Scotland. That celebrated scholar had perfected himself in the knowledge of the languages during the nine years which he spent on the Continent, and had astonished the learned at Geneva by the fluency with which he read and spoke Greek. MS. Diary, ut sup. p. 33. He was first made Principal of the university of Glasgow, and afterwards removed to the university of St Andrews. Such was his celeljrity, that he attracted students from England and foreign countries, whereas formerly it had been the custom for the Scottish youth to go abroad for their education. Spotswood, with whom he was no favourite, and Calderwood, equally bear testimony to his profound knowledge of this language. Soon after Melville, Thomas Smeton, another Greek scholar, returned to Scotland, and was made Principal of the university of Glasgow. I may mention here, although it belongs to the subject of typography, that there ap- pear to have been neither Greek nor Hebrew types in this country in 1579, when Smeton's Answer to Archibald Hamilton was printed; for blanks are left for all the phrases and quotations in these languages, which the author intended to introduce. In my copy of the book, a number of the blanks have been filled up with a pen by the author's own hand. Note D, p. 21. Of Major's Political Sentiments. — The following are some of the passages from which the account of these, given in the text, has been drawn. Similar sentuiients occur in his History of Scotland ; but as =t has been insinuated that he, in that work, merely copied Boece, I ehall quote from his other writings, which are more rarely consulted. NOTES. • 375 " Ad policiam regalem non requiritur quod rex sit supra omin's sui regni tain regulanter quaui casualiter — sed sat est quod lex sit supra unuiuquemlibet, et supra totum regaum regulai'iter, et regiium sit supra euiu casualiter et in aliquo eveatu." Agaia, " Similiter ia regao : et m toto populo libero est supreaia foatalis potestas iaabrogabilis \ in rage vero potestas mysterialis [mi/usteriulis /] houesto niiaisterio. Et sic aliquo niodo sunt duo potestates ; sed quia una ordiaetur propter aliaui, potest vocari una elFectualiter, et casu quo regnuai rex ia ty- rauaidem coavertat et etiani incorrigibilis, potest a populo deponi, taaquaai a superiore potestate." Expos. Mattli. fol. 71, a. c. Paris. 1518. To the objection urged against this principle from the metaphorical designation of head given to a king, he answers : " Non est oauiino simile inter caput verum et corpus verum, et inter caput mysticum et corpus mysticum. Caput veruai est supra reliquam parteai sui corpo- ris, et tamen nego regem esse majoris potestatis quam reliquaai par- teai sui regai, &.c. Ibid. fol. 02, b. " Rex utilitateai reipublicai dissi- pans et everteas iacorrigibilis, est deponeadus a coauriunitate cui praeest. Rex noa habet I'obur et auctoritatem aisi a regno cui libere prieest." Ibid. fol. 69, c. Speaking of the excision of a corrupt aiem- ber from the humaa body, ia illustratioa of the treataieat of a tyraat, he says : "Cum liceatia totius corporis veri tollitur hoc meaibrum ; etiani facultate totius corporis mystici, tu, tamque minister comitatis, potes hunc tyranaum occidere, dum est licite condempnatus." Tert. Sentent. fol. 139, c, d. Paris. 1517. Note E, p. 23. Concerning' the Popish Ordination of Knox. — Some have hesitated to admit that Knox was in priest's orders in the Church of Rome : I think it unquestionable. The fact is attested both by Protestant and Popish writers. Beza says, " Cnoxius, igitur, (ut maaifeste appareat totuai hoc admirabile Domiai opus esse,) ad Joaaais illius Majoris, celeberrimi inter Sophistas nominis, veluti pedes in Sanctandreae oppido educatus, atque adeo Sacerdos factus, apertaque celebri schola, quunx jam videretur illo suo preeceptore nihil inferior Sophista futurus, lucem tamea in tenebris et sibi et aliis acceadit." Icones lllustr. Viror. Ee. iij. (_"omp. Spotswood's History, p. 265. Lond. 1677. Ninian Wiaget, in cer- tain letters sent by him to Knox in the year 1.561, says, "Ye renunce and estemis that ordiaatioua null or erar wikit, be the quhilk some- tyme ye war callit Schir Johne." And again: " We caa persave, be your awin allegiance, na power that ever ye had, except it quhilk was gevin to you in the sacrament of ordination, beauctoritie of priesthed. Ciuhilk auctoritie give ye esteme as nochtis, be reasoun it was gevin to you (as ye speik) by ane Papist Bishope," &c. Wiazet's Letteris and Tractatis : Keith Append, pp. 212, 213. Winget's drift was to prove, that Knox had no lawful call to the ministry ; consequently, he would not have mentioned his Popish ordination, if the fact had not been well known and undeniable. Nicol Burne, arguing on the same point, allows that Knox had received the order of priesthood from the Rom- ish Church. Disputation concerning the Controversit Headdis of Re- ligion, p. 123. Paris, 1581. And in a scurrilous poem against the min Isters of Scotland, printed at the end of that book, he calls him, that fals apostat priest, Enemie to Christ, and mannis salvation. Your maister Knox. S7j 'NOTES. The objection of the Roman CathoHcs to the legahty of our Reform- er's vocation, was, that although he had receivecf the power of order, he wanted that of jurisdiction ; these two being distinct according to the canon Jaw. " The powere of ordere is not sufficient to ane man to preache, hot he man have also jurisdictione over thame to whom he preaches. Johann Kmnox resavit never sic jurisdictione fra the Ro- man Kirk to preache in the realme of Scotland ; thairfoir suppoise he receavit from it the ordere of priestheade, yet he had na pouar to preache nor to lauchfulJie administrat the Sacramentes." Kicol Burne's Disputation, p. 128. Note F, p. 27. Number of Scottish Mo7iks. — We have no good Mnnasticon of Scot- land ; and it is now impossible to ascertain the exact number of regu- lar clergy, or even religious houses, that were in this country. The best and most particular account of the introduction of the different monastic orders from England and the Continent, is contained in the first volume of Mr. Chalmers's Caledonia. Dr. Jamieson, in his History of the Ancient Culdees, lately published, has traced, with much atten- tion, the measures pursued for suppressing the ancient monks, to make way for the new orders which were immediately dependent upon Rome. In Spotswood's Account, published at the end of Keith's Cata- logue of Bishops, 170 religious houses are enumerated ; but his account is defective. Mr. Dalyell, upon the authority of a MS., has stated the number of the monks and nuns in this country, as amounting only to 1114, about the period of the Reformation. Cursory Remarks prefixed to Scottish Poems of the IGth century, vol. i. pp. 38, 39. Edin. 1801. Taking the number of monasteries according to Spotswood's account, this would allow only seven persons to each house on an average, a number incredibly small. It will be still smaller, if we suppose that there were 260 religious houses, as stated by Mr. Dalyell in another publication. Fragments of Scottish History, pp. 11,28. In the year 1542, there were 200 monks in Melrose alone. Ibid. The number in the abbey of Dunfermline seems to have varied from 30 to 50. Dal- yell's Tract on Monastic Antiquities, p. 13. And Paisley, Elgin, and Arbroath, were not inferior to it in their endowments. In general it may be observed, that the passion for the monastic life appears not to have been on the increase even in the early part of the 16th century. But if we would form an estimate of the number of the monks, we must allow for a great diminution from 1538 to 1559. During that period, many of them, and especially the younger ones, embraced the reformed opinions, and deserted the convents. Cald. MS. i. 97, 100, 151. When the monastery of the Greyfriars at Perth was destroyed in 1559, only eight monks belonged to it. Knox, His- torie, p. 128. Note G, p. 29. Of the Corpse-present. — This was a forced benevolence, not due by any law, or canon of the Church, at least in Scotland. It was demand- ed by the vicar, and seems to have been distinct from the ordinary dues exacted for the interment of the body, and deliverance of the soul from purgatory. This perquisite consisted, in country ))a rishes, of the best cow which belonged to the deceased, and the uppermost cloth or covering of his bed, or the finest of his body-clothes. It has l^eec NOTES. 377 suggested, that it was exacted on pretext of dues which the person might liave tailed to pay during liis lifetime. But whatever might afterwards be made the pretext, 1 think it most probable that the clergy borrowed the hint tiom the perquisites common in frudal times. The " cors-presant kow" answers to the " hereyield horse," which was paid to a landlord on the death of his tenant. The uppermost cloth seems to have been a perquisite belonging to persons occupy mg ditlerent offices. When Bishop Leslie was relieved from the Tower of London, a demand of this kind was made upon him. " The gentleman-porter of the Tower," says he, " retained my satin gown as due to him, because it was my uppermost-cloth when I entered in the Tower." Negotia- tions, in Anderson's ("ollections, iii. 247. The corpse-present was not confined to Scotland. We find the English House of Commons complaining of it, in 1530. Fox, 907, edit. 159G. It was exacted with great rigour in Scotland ; and if any vicar, more humane than the rest, passed from the demand, he gave an un- pardonable offence to his brethren. Lindsay of Pitscottle's Hist. p. 151, folio edit. Edin. 1728. Fox, 1153. It was felt as a very galling oppression, and is often mentioned with indignation in the writings of Sir David Lindsay. Schir, be quhat law, tell me quharefor, or why, That ane vickar suld tak Ira me three ky ? Ane for my father, and for my wyfe ane uther, And the third kow he tuke for Maid my mother. They half na law, exceptand consuetude, Quhilk law to them is sufficient and gude. ******* And als the vicar, as I trow, He will nocht fail to tak ane kow. And upmaist claith, thocht babis thame ban, From ane pure selie husbandman; Quhen that he lyis for til de, Having small bairnis twa or thre, And hes thre ky withoutin mo, The vicar must have ane of tho. With the gray cloke that happis the bed, Howbeit that he be pureleye cled ; And gif the wyfe de on the morne, Thocht all the babis suld be foriorne. The uther kow he cliekis away, With liir pure cote of roplock gray ; And gif, within twa days or thre, The eldest chyld happuiis to de. Of the third kow he will be sure, Quhen he hes all then under his cure, And father and mother baith ar deid, Beg mon the babis, without remeid. Chalmers's Lindsay, ii. 7, 8, iii. 105. When the alarming progress of the new opinions threatened the overthrow of the whole establishment, the clergy professed their wil- lingness to remit, or at least to moderate this shameful tribute. But they did not make this concession until a remonstrance on the subject was presented by a nimiber of persons who were attached to the Ro- man Catholic faith. This remonstrance was laid before the Provincial Cotmcil in 1553 — 9, and contains the following article, which serves to corroborate the strong statement which the poet has given of the rigour of the clergy in extorting these benevolences. " irem, Because yat ye corps presentes, kow, and finest claith, and the silver commonlie callit the kirk richts, and Pasch offrands, quhilk is taken at Pasch fra men and women for distribution of ye sacraments of ye blessit body and blud of Jesus Christ, were at ye beginning but as offrands and .32 * X2 ^ 378 NOTES. gifts, at the discretion and benevolence of the givar nly ; and now be distance of tym, ye kirkmen usis to compell men t*. ye paying yarof be authority and jurisdiction, sua that yai will not only fulminat yar sentence of cursing, but als stop and debar men and women to cum to ye reddy using of ye sacraments of haly kirk, quhile yai be satisfiet yarof with all rigor : quhilk thing has na ground of )'e law of God, nor halie kirk, and als is veray sclandrous, and gives occasion to the puir to murmur gretymly againes ye state ecclesiastick for the doing of ye premissis ; and therefore it is thocht expedient yat ane reformation be maid of ye premissis, and that sic things be na mair usit in tymes to cum within this realm, at ye least yat na man be compellit be author- ity of haly kirk to pay ye premissis ; but yat it shall onlie remain in the free will of the giver to gif and offir sic things be way of almous, and for uphalding of ye priests and ministers of the halie kirk, as his conscience and charitie moves him to : and quhair ye curatis and min- isters forsaids, has not eneuch of yar sustentation by the saids kirk richts, that ye ordinaries every man within his awin diocesie take order, that the persons and uplifters of ye other deutys peiieining to the kirk, contributs to yar sustentation effeirindlie." VVilkins, Concilia Magnae Eritanniae, tom. iv. p. 208- Upon this, the council came to the following curious resolution on the subject : That to " take away the murmurs of those who spoke against mortuaries," when any person died, his goods, after paying his debts, should be divided into due portions, (debitas partes,) and if the dead's part, (defuncti pars) [see Note X] did not exceed ten pounds Scots, the vicar should compound for his mortuary and upper- most cloth by taking forty shillings ; if it was under ten pounds, and not below twenty shillings, that he should compound according to the above proportion, (pro rata quadraginta solidorum de decern libris ;) but if it was under twenty shillings, that the vicar should make no de- mand. With respect to barons and burgesses, and all persons whose portion exceeded ten pounds, the old custom was to remain in force ; and the ordinary remedy was to be used against those who should make wrong inventories; ?'. e. they should be subjected to excommuni- cation and its penalties. With respect to pasrh-offei-ings, and small tithes, the council decreed, that "for avoiding popular murmur, especi- ally at the time of Easter," the vicars should, a little before Lent, in the month of February, settle (or, make an agreement, rationem ineant) with their parishioners for their small tithes, both personal and mixed, and also for other offerings due to the Church (aliis quoque oblation- ibus ecclesiae debitis ;) and that there should be no exactions during Easter, although spontaneous oblations might still be received at that time. Can. Concil. 21. and 32: Wilkins, Concil. ut supra, pp. 214,216. It appears from this, how very cautious the clergy were in their plans of reform, and how eagerly they clung to the most illegal and Invidious claims, at the very time when they were in the utmost dan- ger of being deprived of all their usurped prerogatives and possession.s. Lord Hailes's words need explication, when he says that " the 32d canon [of this council] abolishes oblations at East( r." Provincial Councils, p. 40. 1 need scarcely add, that all these exactions were abolished at the establishment of the Reformation. " The uppermost claith, corps- present, clerk maile, the pasche-offering, teind-aile, and all handlings upaland, can neither be required nor received of good conscience." First Book of Discipline, p. 48. Printed anno 1621. Dunlop's Confes- sions, ii. 563. iN O T E S . 379 Note H, p. 34. Scottish Martyrs, and Prosecutions for Heresy. — We are indebted to John Fox, the industrious English martyrologist, for a great part of the facts respecting our countrymen who suffered for the reformed doctrine. John Davidson, minister of Prestonpans, composed, in La- tin, an account of Scottish Martyrs, which, if it had been preserved, would have furnislied us with more full information respecting them. Calderwood, however, had the use of it, when he compiled his history. A late author has said, that "most of those martyred seem to have been weak illiterate men ; nay, they appear even to have been defi- cient in intellect." Cursory Remarks, prefixed to Scottish Poems of 16th century, i. 24. I must take it for granted, that this author had not in his eye Patrick Hamilton, whose vigorous understanding dis- covered truth in the midst of darkness worse than Cimmerian, who obtained the praises of Luther, Melancthon, and Lambert of Avignon, and of whom a modern historian has said, that he received "the eter- nal fame of being the proto-martyr of the freedom of the human mind." Nor George VVishart, whose learning, fortitude, and mild benevolence, ■ have been celebrated by writers of every description. But even among those who suffered, from Hamilton to VVishart, there was scarcely one who was not above the ordinary class, both as to talents and learning. Henry Forrest, who suffered at St Andrews in 1530, for possessing a copy of the New Testament, and affirming that Patrick Hamilton was a true martyr, had been, though a young man, invested with the orders of Bennet and Colet. Fox, 895. Knox, 19. Spots wood, 65. David Straiton was a gentleman, and brother to the Laird of Lauris- ton. He was instructed in the Protestant principles by John Erskine of Dun, who had newly arrived from his travels. In 1534, he was committed to the flames at Greenside, in the neighbourhood of Edin- burgh. His fellow-sufferer, Norman Gourlay, was in secular orders, and "a man of reasonabell eruditioun." He had been abroad, and had married upon his return, which was the chief offence for which he suffered. "For," says Pitscottie, "they would thole no priest to marry, but they would punish, and burn him to the dead; but if he had used then ten thousand whores, he had not been burnt." His- tory, pp. 150, 152. Fox, 896. Knox, 21, 22. Spots wood, 66. In 1538, two young men of the most interesting characters suffered, with the greatest heroism, at Glasgow. The one was Jerom Russel, a cor- delier friar, "a young man of a meek nature, quick spirit, and of good letteris ;" the other was a young gentleman of the name of Kennedy, only eighteen years of age, and " of excellent ingyne for Scottische poetry." Knox, 22. Spotsw. 67. Keith, 9. During the same year, five persons were burnt on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh: Robert Forrester was a gentleman ; Sir Duncan Simson was a secular priest ; Beveridge and Kyllor were friars. The last of these had (according to the cus- tom of the times) composed a tragedy on the crucifixion of Christ, in which he painted, in a very lively manner, the conduct of the Popish clergy, under that of the priests. Ibid. The other person who suffered at that time was Thomas Forrest, commonly called the Vicar of Dollar. I shall add some particulars respecting this excellent man, which are not to be found in the com- mon histories. He was of the house of Forret, or Forest, in Fife, and his father had been master-stabler to James IV. Afler acquiring the rudiments of crrammar in Scotland, he was sent abroad by the kind- ripss of a noblewoman, and prosecuted his education at Cologne. Re so NOTES. turning to his native countiy, he was admitted a canon regular in the monastery of St Colni's Inch. It happened that a dispute arose be- tween the abl^ot and the canons, respecting the allowance due to them, and the latter got the book of foundation to examine into their rights. With the view of inducing them to part with it, the abbot gave them a volume of Augustine's works, which was in the monastery. " Oh, happy and blessed was that book to me," did Fonest often say, '• by which 1 came to the knowledge of the truth !" Having applied himself to the reading of the scriptures, he was the means of conver- ting a number of the young canons : " but the old bottles," he used to say, " would not receive the new wine." The abbot frequently ad- vised him to keep his mind to himself, else he would incur punishment. " I thank you, my lord," was his answer, " ye are a friend to my body, but not to my soul " He M^as afterwards admitted to the vicarage of Dollar, in which situation he rendered himself obnoxious to his breth- ren, by his diligence in instructing his parish, and his benevolence in freeing them from oppressive exactions. When the agents of the pope came into his bounds to sell indulgences, he said, " Parishioners, I am bound to speak the truth to you ; this is but to deceive you. There is no pardon for our sins that can come to us, either from pope or any other, but only by the blood of Christ." He composed a short cate- chism. It was his custom to rise at six o'clock in the morning, and study till mid-day. He committed three chapters of the Bible to mem- ory every day, and made his servant hear him repeat them at night. He was often summoned before the Bishops of Dunkeld and St And- drews. These facts were communicated by his servant Andrew Kirkie, in a letter to John Davidson, who inserted them in his account of Scottish martyrs. Cald. MS. i. 99, 100, 151. An amusing account of the vicar's examination before the Bishop of Dunkeld may be seen in Fox, 1153 ; and an interesting account of his trial, in Pitscottie, 150 — 152. But both these authors are wrong as to the time of his martyrdom, the latter placing it in 1530, and thefor- mer in 1540, instead of 1538. Fox says, that three or four men of Stirling suffered death at the same time, because they were present at the marriage of " the vicar of Twybode, [Tullybody,] near Stirling, and did eat flesh in Lent, at the said bridal." P. 1154. In consequence of a more diligent search into our ancient records, made since the former editions of this work appeared, I have discov- ered a number of additional facts respecting those who suffered for the reformed opinions in Scotland. I think it best to give these in the form, and in the order, in which they occur in the several records that I have consulted. It appears that the prosecutions for heresy from 1534 to 1540 were numerous. How many poor persons suffered during that period it is impossible to ascertain, as the names of those only who possessed property have a place in the documents to be quoted. The following extracts are taken from the books kept by the lord treasurer, and preserved in the Register House, under the title of "Compot. Thesaur." The dates will be sufficient to guide those who wish to consult the original document.* Anno 1534. Item, for 16 sergis to thame to turss that was accusit of heresy lOs. 8d. Item, (Sept. 1536.) to James Bissat, mr. to pas with lettres to the * In an early part of the Record, is the following entry : — Item, the liih of November, (1516,) to Margaret Cornewle for i bnk takin fra her and geven to my 1. of Sane *'idros, . . . 33Z. NOTES. 3S1 provost and bailies of Dunde and Sanct Johneatoun to scrche and seik Joliii BJacat and Cieorge Lowjtt [Lovell .'J suspect of hanging uf tiie image of Sanct Francis, and to liis wage . , . 20ti. Item, 28. (May, J 537.) to Cudde George, mr. to pas to summon the men of Aire, to compeir befoir the Lordis, anent the geir of tlieme quliilk was convict of heresy 20^. Aimis 1537, 1538. Et (onerat se) de 41. integre compositionis bonorum eschaetorum quondam Andreae Alexandersoun, justilicat. pi'D crimine lieresis. Et de 14/. ijs. Sd. integre compositionis bonorum eschaetorum Gil- bert! Wedderburno, et Johannis Patersoun, burgen. de Dunde, perti- nent, domino llegi, ratione quod ipsi convicti llierint per judicium ecclesi^, de crimine heresis eiisd. vendit. Annis 1538, 1539. Et (onerat se) de 10/. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum escl)aetorum Tliome Kyd, Roberti Patersone, Alexandri W'annand, et Johannis Patersone, commoran. in oppido de Dunde, abiurat. de certis criminibus heresios eisdem concess. de mandato domini regis. Et de 6/. 13s. 4d. in completam solutionem bonorum eschaetorum quondam domini Duncani Symsone capellani condemnati et ad mortem justificati pro certis criminibus heresios concess. Jacobo Menteith. Et de 20/. in completam solutionem compositionis vnius tenement! jacen. infra burgum de Dunde, pertinen. domino Regi per decessum David Straitoun in Q,uhitstoun, justificati ad mortem pro certis crimi- nibus heresios concess. Dauid Game et Mariote Erskyn. Et de G/. 13s. 4rf. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum eschaetorum Roberti Cant, abiurati de certis ci'iminibus heresios concess. dicto Roberto. Et de 20/. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum eschae- torum Walter! Cowsland, burgensis de Striueling, abiurat! de simil!- bus criminibus concess. dicto Waltero. Et de 3/. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum eschae- torum Johannis Robesone, pauperis, abiurati certis criminibus heresios eidem concess. Et de 20/. in completam solutionem compositionis unius partis bono- rum eschaetorum Jacobi Rollok, burgensis de Dunde, condampnati de certis criminibus heresios concess. David Rollok, eius fratri. Et de 40s. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum eschae- torum magistri Johannis Wedderburn, convict, de certis criminibus heresios concess. Henrico Wedderburn eius fratri. Et de, &.C. Margarete Jamesone in Tulybody, condampnate de certis criminibus heresios concess. Jacobo Murray, servitori domini regis. Et de, &c. Henrici Carnys, incole de Leith, fugitiui et condamp- nati de certis criminibus heresios concess. uxori et prolibus eiusdem de mandato domini Regis. Et de, &c. Willielrai Clerk fugitiui et condampnati de certis crimi- nibus heresios concess. Alexro. Urrok de Sillebanke. Et de, &.C. Willielmi Foster abiurati do certis criminibus heresios concess. Johanni Covvane et Jonete Tenand, eius sponse. Item, idem onerat se de 40/. in completam solutionem compositionis bonorum eschaetorun-. domini Thome < *okla\v, curati de Tulybody, condampnati de certis criminibus heresios concpss. Jacobo Murray, seruitori domini regis. Marche (1538-9.) Item, deliuerit to Archibald Heriot, messinger, to pass and serche thair gudis, quhilkis war obiurit and declarit iieri- tikis in Edinburt and Striueling 6* 382 NOTES. Item, denuerit to Johnne Pateisone Pursevant — to pass to Dunde, and serche James Rollokis gudis, and Maister Johnne Wedder- burn 20s. Annis 1539, 1540. (Non onerat se, &c.) Nee de 10/. in completam solutionem composltionis bonorum eschaetorum mag-istri Henrici Henderson convict, de crimine heresies ab antiqiio concess. Jacobo )^>annattyne, ex eo quod dominus rex remisit eandem summam dicto Jacobo, in compensatione suorum laborum in officio thesaurarie. Anno 1542-3. Item, the 21st day of Marche, g-even to William rhampney, messing-er, passand with Jottres to proclame the act anent the having of the New Testament in Inglis in the Westland 40s. Similar lett<>rs to the Magistrates of Dundee, Aberdeen, Elgin, For- res, and Inverrw?ss ; and to Lanark, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton. Item, the 2Sth day of Marche, geven to Johnne Cob, messinger, passand to Dumferraeling and Perth, to proclame twa letteris tuiching the having of the Scripture in Inglis, and with ane clois writting to the erle of Argyle 22s. Item, the 20th day of Februar, gevin to Carrick pursuivant, passand with lettres to proclame in Sanctandrois and Cowper the act tuiching the doing of devyne service, and lettres raisit thereupon . 22s, Annis 1543-1546. Et (onerat se) de 200/. composltionis bonorum eschaetorum Jacobi Huncan et Robert! Cant, convict, pro disputa- tione in Sacris Scripturis contra tenorem acti parliamenti, concess, Cristine Pipar. ■ Willielmi Anderson convict, ut supra ob causani suprascriptam, concess. Cristine Kerss, sponse dicti \\ illielmi. Et de 200/. composltionis remissionis concess. Johanni Elder,* bur- gensi de Perth, pro disputatione in Sacris Scripturis contra tenorem acti parliamenti. Et de 40/. composltionis remissionis concess. Laurencio Pillour, pro predicta causa.* Item, the 12th day of Januar 1543-4, after the aggreance maid be- twixt my lord governour and the saidis lordis, convenit in Leith, aganis his grace hyrit liiij cart hors quhilk past agane to Striviling with the said artalze, and fra Striviling to Sanct Johnstoun, Dunde, for punissing of certane hereticks within the said townes, and paid the saidis hors eight days wages, &c. January 20. At my lord governoris departing toward Sanct John- estoun, for punishment as said is. Item, (16 March 1545-6,) to summons the laird of Ormistoun to underly the law in Edinburgh, the 12th day of Aprile nixt to cum, for resetting of Maister George Wischeart, he being at the home, &c. and for breaking ward. Item, 28th May, (1546.) to ane boy to pas to my lord Argyle with ane closit writting of my lord governours, to shew the slaughtar of the Cardinal 8s. November 24, 1546. For copying of the gret cursing raisit upon Normond Leslie, laird of Grange, and their complices, for the slauchter of my lord Cardinall, quhilk copie was sent to thame in the castell 5s. December. For summonding Jonet Monnypennie, dochter of the laird of Pitmilly, for remaining in the castle, and assisting Leslie and his complices. December 1 548. Summons of treason against the laird of Pitmilly, and Mr. Henry Balnaves. January 1551-2. Item, for the Inglis bukis to my lord governour * Comp. Knox, Historie, p. 40 NOTES. 383 viz. ano perraphrasis upoun the Evangelistis, and ane New Testament, and Hopper on the ten L'onunandementes . . . o/. ioa. The extracts which follow are from the Register of Privy Seal, and contain giants of property winch had been confiscated by sentences of the ecclesiastical courts for iieresy, but which was afterwards be- stowed on certain individuals upon their paying a composition to the royal treasury. Ane letter maid to Andro, lord Vciiiltre, of the gift of all eschete gudis movabill and vnmovabill, als wele of the by run malis of parroehe clerkschi|)|)is, as vtherwais pertenyng to vmqll Walter Stewart, sone to the said lord, and pertenis to our souerane lord, be resoun that the said Walter was abiurit of heresy, etc. At Linlithgow, the 29th day of December, the yeir of God 1537 yeris 201. [Reg. Sec. Sigilli, lib. xi. f 51.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to James Annand, George Annand, Robert Ander- soun, Johnne Flescheour, and Alexander Flescheour, b\n-ges of Dunde, makand mentioun that thai ar convict be ane sentence of the spirituale juge of heresy, of the quhilk thai wer dilatit and abiurit, quharthrow all thare gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, pertenis, and suld pertene, to our souei'ane lord, be resoun of eschete. And for thair gude, trew, and thankfull seruice, done be thame to his hienes, and compsitioun pait be tharae to his thesaurer, his grace hes remittit and forgevin to thame the eschete of all thair gudis, movabill and vnmova- bill, and hes quitclamit and dischargit thaim thairof, and all that may follow tliairvpoun, foreuer. And als his grace, of his speciale grace, autorite riall and kinglie power, hes rehabilit the saidis personis to stand in prief and witness, and to vse and exerce all lefull dedis in jugement, and outwith siclik and als frelie in all thingis, as thai myt haue done befor the tyme that thai wer convict of the said heresy, and incurrit thairthrow notam infamie. And hes restorit, reponit, and reintegrate thame to thai'e gude fame, heritage, landis, gudis, and warldie honouris, in all, and be all thingis, as thai wer befor the tyme thai wer convict of the said heresy, without ony reproche, murmur, detractioun, or blasphematioun, to be maid, said, or done to thame thairthrow, in word or deid, in onywys in tyme coming, «&c. At Edinburgh, the 17th day of July, the yer of God 1538 yeris, lUO/. Lib. xii. f. 23.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Dauid Wod, in the craig, his airis and assignais, of the gift of all gudis, movable and vnmovable, quhilkis pertenit to James Hay, burges of Dunde. And now ar decernit be ane sentence of the spirituale juge, to pertene to our souerane lord be resoun of eschete for heresy, of the quhilk he wes dilatit, &c. At Edinburgh, 27th day of July, the yeire of God forsaid (1538.) [Lib. xii. f 3.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Maister Laurence Young, his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, qlkis per- tenit to vmqll Andro Alexandersoun, and now pertenyng to our sou- erane lord be resoun of eschete, throw being of the said vmqle Andro convict of heresy, and justifyit to the deid for the samyn, with power, &c. At Stirlinsr, the 23d day of August, the yeir of God 1538 yeris 41. [Lib. xii. f 19.] Ane letter maid to Gilbert Wedderburn, and Johne Patersoun, bur- gesses of Dunde, in forme aboue writtin, &c. At Linlithgow, the 8th day of September, the yer forsaid. 13/. 6«. 8d. [Lib. xii. f. 23.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Richart Rollok, burges of Dunde, in forme follow ing: James be the grace of God king of Scottis, to all and sindry our 384 NOTES. officiaris, liegis, and subditis, quhani it efferis, quhais knawiege thir our letters sal cum, greting. tforsamekle as Richart Roliok, burges of our burgh ot'Dunde, wes dilatit of certane poyntis of heresy, and was abiurit and convict thi'of, quharthrow all his landis and gudis, &c. &c. [as above,] in tyme cuming. Q,uharfore we charge straitlie, and com- raandis you, all and sindry our officiaris, liegis, and subditis Ibrsaidis, that nane of you tak apoun hand to do or attempt ony thing in contrar, violatioun, or breking of this our remit, and discharge, rehabilitatioun, restitutioun, and reintegratioun, in ony wyse in tyme cuming, vnder all the hieast pane, charge, and offence, that ye, and ilk. ane of you, may committ and inrin aganis our maiestie in that part, dischargeing you, all our officiaris present and tocum, of all intrometting, poynding, dis- trinyeing, and vptaking of the said Richartis gudis, as our eschete for the causs forsaid, and of your offices in that part, be thir our letteris for euer. tSubscriuit with our hand, and vnder our priue sele, at Abirbrothok, the 13th day of October, the yere of God 153S yeris. [Lib. xii. f 33, b.] Subscript per Regem. Ane letter maid to Thomas Kyd, Robert Patersoun, Alexander Van- nand, and Johne Duncane, burges of Uunde, in forme of the letter befor writtin, &c. At Linlithgow, the last day of September, the yer of God 1538 yeris. 10^. [Lib. xii. f. 33.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to maister Johne Porterfeild, his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, als weile of the birun proffittis of parroche-clerkschippis, as vtheris quhilkis per- tenit to vmqll Walter Stewart, sone to Andro, lord Vchiltre, and throw his abiuratioun of heresy, pertenyng to our souerane lord be resoun of eschete, &c. At Edinburgh, the r3th day of December, the yeire of God 1538 yeris. [Lib. xiii. f. 18.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to the said James (Murray,) his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of the gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, quhilkis pertenit to Sr. Thomas Coklaw, curat of Tulibody, and now to our souerane lord, throw being of the said Sr. Thomas abiurit of heresy, &c. At Linlithgow, the 17th day of Januar, the yer of God 1538 yeris. 40/. [Lib. xii. f. 94.] Per Signaturam. Presentatio Alexandri Scott, super prebenda capeJle regie Striuilin- gen. nuncupat. are quam Dominus Johannes Lambert prius habuit nunc vacan. ob inhabilitatem. ipsius Domini Johannis, ex eo quod ipse de suis ordinibus, sacerdotalibus, degradatus, extitit ad presenta- tionem domini regis, et collationem episcopi Candidecase et capelle regie pleno jure spectan. &c. Apud Edinburgh, vltimo Februarij, anno predict (1538.) [lb. f 71.] , Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to James Menteith, his airis and assignais, of the gift of the eschete of all gudis, quhilkis pertenit to vmqll Sir Duncan Symsoun, chaplane, and pertenyng to our souerane lord be resoun of eschete, throw justifying of the said Sr. Duncane to the deid for cer- tane crymes of heresy, imput to him, &c. At Edinburgh, the first day of Marche, the yer forsaid (1538.) 6/. 13^. 4cl. except takis and sted- ingis. [Lib. xii. f 76.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Robert Cant, burges of Edinburgh, of the gift of his avne eschete guidis pertenyng to the king be resoun forsaid, &c. At Linlithgow, the 6th day of Marche, the yer forsaid (1538.) 6/. 13*. 4d [lb. f. 80.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Walter Cowsland, burees of Striuiling, of the gift of his avne gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, pertening to the kingis grace be resoun of eschete throw being of the said Robert abiurit of heresy, &c. At Linlithgow, the aucht day of Marche, the yer forsaid (1538.) [lb. f. 80.] Per Signaturam. Preceptum carte Davidis Gardin, burgen. de Dunde, et Mariote NOTES. 385 Erskin, sue sponse super toto et integro illo tenemento, cum pertinen. jacen. intra predictum burguin, ex parte boreali vici vulgo Murray gait eiuscieui auncupat. inter terras hereduni quondam Joliannis Barie ex parte oriental! et terras lieredum quondam Roberti Ramsay ex occidentali. Quodquidem terre tenementum quondam Dauid Stratoun perprius liereditarie pertinuit-et nunc Regi pertinet ratione eschaete ob lieresis punctus per ipsum commiss. de quibus accusatus et ad mortem justiticatus extitit, &c. Apud Linlithgow, decimo die mensis Maj-tij, anno domini 1538. [Lib. xiii. f. 26.] Per Signetum. Ane letter maid to Martyne Ballesky, renunceand to him the eschete of all his gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, and quitclamand and dis- chargeand him thairof, pertening to our souerane lord throw cumin in will of the said Martyne befor the justice, for breking of our soue- rane lordis proclamatioun, in having and vsing, efter the making thairof, of certane Inglis bukis contenit in the samyn, &c. At Linlith- gow, the 12th day of Marche, the yer forsaid (1538.) 250/. [Lib. xii. f 81.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Maister James Foulis of Colintoun, clerk ol register, his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all and sindry the gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, landis, rentis, possessionis, rever- sionis, dettis, obligationis, and contractis, with the advocatioun and donatioun of the chaplanrie foundit at Sanct Francis altar, within the college kirk of Sanct Gele, in Edinburgh, with all richt of the patron- age thairof, and all vther richtis quhatsumever quhilkis pertenit to Johne Broun, burges of Edinburgh, and now pertenis to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete throw being of the said Johne dilatit, accu- sit, and abiurit of certane crymes and poyntis of heresy, as in the pro- ces and sentence led, deducit, and gevin aganis him thairupon at niair lenth, is contenit, with power, &c. At Linlithgow, the 13th day of Marche, the yeire of God 1538 yeiris, 100/. [lb. f. 83.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Andro Cunnynghame, sone to William Cun- nynghame, knyt, maister of Glencarne, amittand and forgevand to the said Andro his eschete goods, movabill and vnmovabill, pertenying to oar souerane lord, be resoun of eschete throw being of the said Andro abiurit of heresy before the spirituale jnge, as the sentence gevin thairupoun beris, &c. At Linlithgow, the 15th day of Marche, the yer of God, 1538. [Lib. xiii. f 3. b.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Dauid Rollok, burges of Dunde, his airi.s and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of the eschete of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, heretages, dettis, takkis, stedingis, cornis, cattale, money, gold, siluer, jowellis, and vtheris quhatsumever quhilkis per- tenit to James Rollok, burges of the said burgh, except the said James part of ane wynd-myln Hand within Dunde and now pertening to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete throw being of the said James fugityve fra the law for certane poyntis of heresy imput to him, &c. At Linlithgow, the 22d day of Marche, the yer for.said (1.538.) 20/, [Lib. xii. f 87, b.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Johnne Cowane, burges of Striueling, and Jonet Tennent, his spous, thare airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, landis, heretages, cornis, catale, tak- kis, stedingis, dettis, obligationis, jowellis, sovmes of money, and vtheris quhatsumever quhilkis pertenit to William Forester, sone and apper- and are to Johne Forester, burges of the said burgh,, and now per- tenying to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete throw abiuration of the said William for certane poyntis of heresy confessit !)e him in iu£rement, &c. At Linlithgow, the 24th day of Marche, the yer of God 1538 yeris. 0/. [Lib. xiii. f 40.] Per Signaturam. Preceptum carte Johannis Domini Erskin super vna domo cum per- 33 Y2 386 NOTES. tinen. jacen. ex \v\vte australi vici publici burgi tie Striueiing inter vinellam pretorij eiusdem ex parte oriental! etc. Uuequidem domus quondam Roberto Forester perprius hereditarie peitinuit, et nunc regi pertinet ratione escliaete ob nonnulla heresis crimina per dictum quondam Robertum commiss., etc. Apud Linlithgow 24to die mensis Martij, anno, &c. 1538. [Lib. xiii. f. 14.] ^ Per Signetum. Ane letter maid to Richard Carmichaell, remittand to him his eschete gudis pertenying to our souerane, throw being of the said Richard abiurit of heresy^ &,c. At Linlithgow, the 25th day of Marche, the yer of God 1539 yeris. [Lib. xii. f 87.] Per signaturam. Ane letter maid to Walter Scrymgeour of Glaswell his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all and haile the takkis and asseda- tionis quhilkis James Rollok, burges of Dunde, had of the common myln and wynd-myln of the said burgh of Dunde, now fallin and cumin into our souerane lordis handis, be resoun of eschete for cer- tane crymes of heresis committit be the said James, and he adjugit and condamnit thairintill, as the process led thairupon at mair lenth pro- portis, with power, &c. At Linlithgow, the 28th day of Marche, the yeir forsaid (1539.) [Lib. xii. f. 93.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to James Murray, maister of aile seller, his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, dettis, takkis, stedingis, sovmes of money, and vtheris quhatsumever, quhilkis pertenit to^Margarete Jamesoun in Tulibody, and now per- tenying, or onywis sail happin or may pertene to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete, throw non fulfilling of certane pennance ordanit to be done be hir be the ordinar, for certane crymes of heresy com- mittit be hir, of the quhilkis scho wes convict in jugement, &c. At Stirlinsr, the aucht day of Aprill, the yer forsaid (1539.) 6/. 13a\ 4d. [Lib. xii. f 93.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Charlis, James, Robert, George, Johnne, Andro, Archibald, Helene, Margaret, Elizabeth, Isabell, and Agnes Carnis, sonis and dochteris to Henry Carnis in Leith, yair airis and assignais, ane or ma, off the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, dettis, takkis, schip, obligationis, sovmes of money, and vtheris gudis quhat- sumever quhilkis pertenit to the said Henry, and now decernit to per- tene to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete for heresy, of the quhilk the said Henry was abiurit be ane sentence gevin be the spirit- uale juge aganis him for the samyn, &c. At Stirlms-, the 8th day of Aprile,"the yer forsaid (1539.) 10/. 12^. [Lib. xii. f. 94.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Alexander Orrok of Silliebawke, his airis and assignais, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, cornis, cat- ale, dettis, takkisV stedingis', money, gold, siluer, and vtheris gudis qu- hatsumever quhilkis pertenit to William Clerk, clerk of the schip callit the Barge, and now pertenying to our souerane lord, be resoun of eschete throw being of the said William convict of here.sy, &c. At Stirling, the 8th day of Aprile, the yeire forsaid (1539.) 10/. [Lib. xii. f 94.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to James Lovell, of the gift of his awne escWete gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, pertenying to our souerane lord throw being of the said James abiurit of heresy, &c. At Sanctandros, the 1 1th day of May, the yer forsaid (1539.) [Lib. xiii. f 4.] Ane letter maid to Johnne Henry, his airis and assignais, ane or ma, of the gift of all gudis, movabill and vnmovabill, quhilkis pertenit to Johnne Cameroun, burges of Perth, and now pertening to our soue- rane lord, be resoun of eschete throw being of the said Johne declarit heretyke, etc. At Sanctandros, the 26th day of May, ye yer forsaid fl539.) [Lib. xiii. f 26.] Per Signaturam. NOTES. 3S7 Ane letter maid to Johne Stewart, sone to Henry, Lord Methven. reiiabilland liim to stand in preif" and witness, and to exerce all lefull dedis in jugement, and outwitli, and als frelie, in all tliingis as he niyt have done befor the tynie he was convict of heresy, etc. At Edin- burgh, the 2"2d day of Februare, the yerforsaid (1539.) [Lib. xiii. f. 65, b.j Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Oliuer Sinclar and his assignais, ane or maa, of the gift of all gudis, movable and vnmovable, dettis, takkis, obliga- tionis, sovmes of monay, and vtheris gudis quhatsumever quhilkis per- tenit to Sir David Huchesone, prouest of Rosling, and now pertening, or ony wise sal happin or may pertene to ws, throw being of the said Sir Dauid abiurit of certane poyntis of heresy, of the quhilkis he was dilatit, and ane sentence of the spirituale juge gevin aganis liim tliair- upoun, as the same proportis, with power to the said Oliuer and his assignais, ane or maa, to intromet and tak vp ye saidis eschcte gudis, etc. At Edinburt the 13th day of August, the yer foirsaid (1540.) [Lib. xiv. f 8, b.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid to Maister Williame Arthur, citinare of Sanctan- dross, his airis and assignais, of the gift of the e.scheit of all gudis, movable and vnmovable, dettis, takkis, steiddingis, rowmes, posses- sions, teyndis, cornis, catale, actiones, obligationis, sowmes of money, and vtheris gudis quhatsumevir, quhilkis pertenit to George Wyn- chister, cietinar of the said ciete, and now pertening to oure souerane lady, and being in hir hienes handis be resoun of escheit throw tlie said Georgeis noncomperance before ane maist revei^and fader in God, Johnne, Archbishop of Sanctandros, his juge ordner, to half vnderlyne the law for certane crymes of herisie quhairof he wasdilaittit and con- vict of the samyn, and yairfore declarit heretick, as at mair length is contenit in the sentence and proces led and gevin aganis him thair- vpone, with powar, &c. At Edinburh. the 14th day of September, the yeir of God, ane thousand, fyve hundreith, and fyfty yeiris. [Lib. xxiv. f 24, b.] Per Signaturam. Ane letter maid, makand mentioun, That yair was ane pretendit sentence of auld gevin againis Johnne Boirthwikt of Ciueray, knyt, declaring him to be ane allegit heretike, as the said sentence beiris, quhilk was gevin aganis him in his absence, without ony defence maid be him, and he yairby allegit to be depriuit of all honour, and dis- possessit of all his landes, rowmes, and possessionis ; Nochttlieles, oure souerane lady, of hir auctorite royal, speciall grace, and fauour, rehab- illis the said Johnne, and restoiris him to all his landis, heretages, takkis, stedingis, rowmes, and possessionis, and to all and sindrie his gudis, movable and vnmovable, quhatsumevir, and to his honour, fame, and dignitie ; and reponis him agane in the same estait he was in befoir the leding and deducing of the said pretendit sentence aganis him, sua that he may peaceabillie brouk, joys, occupy, labour, and manure his landis, rowmes, takis, stedingis, and possessionis, intro- met and vptak the malis, fermes, proffittis, and dewiteis yairof, off all yeiris and termes bigane, restand vnpayit sin the geving and dedu- ceing of the said pretendit sentence aganis him, and gif neid be, to convene, call, follow, and persew tiie detenaris yairof, befoir (juhat- sumeuir juge or jugeis, spirituale or temporale, vnto the final! end and recovering of the samin vpoun yame, and to stand in jugement, beir witnes. and frelie vse and exerce all manner of offices or vther publict efferis in hir common weill, in jugement, and outwith, and joys and brouk siclike priuilegeis as h(' did, or myt have done, befoir the leding and deduceing of the said pretendit proces aganis him, siclike as the samyn had nener bene gevin or pronnnceit, &c. ^Vith inhiliitioun in the samyn to all anr sindrie our souerane lady's liegis and subdittia 3SS NOTES. baith spiritual] and temporall, of quhatsumeuir auctoritie or dignitie yai be of, that nane of thaine tak vpoun hand to molest, truble, or in- vaid the said Johnne in his person, fame, landis, gudis, or possessionis, for quhatsumevir caus or actioun bigane ; or to detract, bakbyte, sclander, or defame him, in ony manner of way, vnder all hieast pane, and charge, and offence. That thai and ilk ane of thame may commit and inryn aganis her maiestie, in that parte, &c. At Sanctandrois, the last day of Februare, the yeir of God 1562 yeiris. [Lib. xxxi. f 79, b.] Per Signaturam.* Ane letter maid makand mention that thair wes ane pretendit sen- tence gevin and pronunceit againis James Hamiltoun of Kincavill, of lang tyme begane in his absence, for null defence, declaring him to be ane allegeit heretike, as the pretendit sentence gevin thairupone buir ; be the quhilk, he was allegit to be depryvit of all honoure, fame, and dignitie, and dispossessit of all his landis, heretages, rowmes, posses- sionis, teyndis, and vtheris pertening to him, quhilk pretended de- crete and sentence the said James hes gotten retretit and reducit, with all that followith thairupoune: Thairfore oure said souerane ladie, of her auctorite royall, speciale grace and favoure, rehabillis the said James, and.restoris him to all his landis, &c. [in similar terms with the preceding.] At Edinburgh, the fift day of Merche, the yeir of God, 1563 yeris. [Lib. xxxi. f. 35, b.] Per Signaturam. Note I, p. 34. Protestant Exiles from. Scotland. — I have not reckoned it necessary to insert in this work those particulars respecting Scottish reformers before Patrick Hamilton, which have been repeatedly published in the Life of Andrew Melville. The reader may consult vol. i. pp. 8, 418 — 421 of the second edition, of that work. In this note, I shall state a fe-w facts respecting those eminent men who were obliged to forsake their native country subsequently to Hamilton's martyrdom, in conse- quence of having expressed sentiments favourable to the Refor- mation. Gawin Logic, who, in his important station of rector of St Leonard's College, was" so useful in spreading the reformed doctrine, drew upon himself the jealousy of the clergy. More decided in his sentiments, and more avowed in his censure of the prevailing abuses, than the sub-prior of the abbey, (who maintained his situation until the estab- lishment of the Reformation,) Logic found it necessary to consult his safety by leaving the country in 1533. Cald. MS. i. 82. I have not seen any notice of him after this. Robert Logie, a kinsman of Gawin, was a canon regular of Cambuskenneth, and employed in instructing the novices. Having embraced the reformed sentiments, he, in 1538, fled into England, and became a preacher there. Thomas Cocklaw, parish priest of Tullibody, seems to have accompanied him, and was also employed as a preacher in England. Ibid. p. 97. Alexander Seaton was confessor to James V. The cause of his flight from Scotland, his letter to the King, and his retiring to Eng- land, are recorded in our common histories. Fox (p. 1000) informs us that he was accused of heresy before Gardiner, bishop of Winches- ter, in 1541, and induced to recant certain articles which he had preached. Spotswood (p. 65) speaks of " the treatises he left behind him," and, among others, his " Examination by Gardiner and Bon- ner," from whichit appears that "he never denied an^r point which * Comp. Bannatyne Miscellany, vol. i. p. 253 — 263. NOTES. 3S9 formerly he taught." Fox had not seen this. We learn from another quarter, tiiat, after his trial, he continued to preach the trutlis for which he had bet i accused. Bale says that he died in 1542, in the family of Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, who retained him as his chaplain. Script. Brytan. Post. Pars. p. 224. Alexander Aless was a canon of the metropolitan church of St An- drews. His conversion to the Protestant faitli was very singular. Being a young man of quick parts, and well versed in scholastic the- ology, and having studied the Lutheran controversy, lie undertcjok to reclaim Patrick Hamilton from heresy, and held several conferen- ces with him for this purpose. But, instead of making a convert of Hamilton, he was himself staggered by the reasoning of that gentle- man. His doubts were greatly strengthened by the constancy with which he saw the martyr adhere to his sentiments to the last, amidst the scorn, rage, and cruelty of his enemies. Alesii Praefat. Comment, in Joannem: Jacobi Thomasii Orationes, pp. 307, 308. Lipsia? 1737. Bayle, Dictionnaire, Art. Ales. A short time after this, he delivered a Latin oration before an ecclesiastical synod, in which he censured the vices of the clergy, and exhorted them to diligence and a godly life. This was enough to bring him under the suspicion of heresy, and he was thrown into prison, from which after a year's continement, he made his escape, and, getting into a vessel which lay on the coast, eluded his persecutors. He escaped in 1532. Cald. MS. i. 76. On leaving his native country, Aiess went to Germany, where he was virulentlj' attacked by Cochlaeus, whom the Scots bishops hired to abuse him.* On the invitation of Lord Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer, he came to England in 1535, and was appointed Professor of Theology in the university of Cambridge. But he had scarcely commenced his lectures, when the Patrons of Popery excited such opposition to him that he resolved to relinquish his situation. Having, at a former period of his life, applied to medical studies, he went to Dr. Nicol a celebrated physician in London, and, after remaining with him for some years, commenced practice, not without success. In 1537, Lord Cromwell having met him one day accidentally on the street, carried him to the convocation, and persuaded him to engage without preparation, in a dispute with the bishop of London on the subject of the sacraments ; of which Aless has given a particular ac- count in one of his publications. De Authoritate Verbi Dei Liber Alexandri Alesii, contra Episcopum Lundinensem, p. 13 — 31. Argen- torati, apud Cratonem Mylium, An. M.D.XLII. Archbishop Parker calls him, " virum in theologia perdoctum." In 1.540, he returned to Germany, was made Professor of Divinity at Leipsic, assisted at seve- ral public conferences, and wrote many books, which were much esteemed. Strype's Cranmer, pp. 402, 403. Bayle, Diet, ut supra. He died on the 17th of March, 1565, in the 6.5th year of his asre. (Vita Alex. Alesii, in Observ. Select, vol. v. p. 443. Halae Magd. 1702.) Bi- shop Bale was personally acquainted with him, and has enumerated his works. Ut supra, p. 176. John Fife fled from St. Andrews, accompanied Aless to Germany, and shared in his honours at Leipsic. " Francofurti ad Viadrum, Scotus quidam Joannes Fidelis, Theologiae Doctor et Professor fuit ; et anno 1551 rectoratum Academia3 gessit, ut in Actis Lipsiensibus Eruditorum anno 1684, p. 386, notatum est. Sed dubitari vix debet, Fidelem ilium eundem fuisse qui Fife, sive Fief, dicebatur, cum ea vox feudum signiti- cet, ad quod alludit nomen Fidelis." Seckendorf Hist. Luth. lib. iii. sec. * In the Treasurer's Accomptg, under the year 1.534, is the following entry :— " Item, to ane servand of Cocleus, quhilk brot fra his maister ane bulk intitulat . tc his reward, . . . . lOi 33* 390 NOTES. 25. Fife returned to Scotland, acted as a minister, and lied in SL Leonard's College, soon after the establishment of the Reformation. Cald. MS. i. 78. Knox, 20. Strype's Cranmer, 403. John Macbee, known on the continent by the name of Dr. Macca- baeus, fled to England in 1532, and was entertained by Bishop Shax- ton. He afterwards retired to Denmark, and was of great use to Christian III. in the settlement of the reformed religion in his domi- nions. He was made a professor in the university of Copenhagen. Gerdesii Historia Evang. Renovat. iii. 417 — 425. The Danish mon- arch held him in great esteem, and, at his request, wrote to Q,ueen Mary of England, in behalf of his brother-in-law. Miles Coverdale, bishop of Exeter, and the venerable translator of the Bible, who was released from prison through his importunity. Bale, ut supra, p. 226. Fox, 1390. Maccabteus was acquainted with the Danish and German languages, and assisted in the translation of the Bible into Danish (according to Luther's first German translation,) which was printed in folio atCopenhagen, in 1550, by Ludov. Diest, accompanied with a marginal index, parallel places, and plates. Maittaire, apud Chal- mers's Lindsay, i. 82. Gerdes. Hist. torn. iii. Praefatio, * * 3. An edi- tion of Lindsay's " Monarchie" bears on the title-page, that it was " imprintit at the command and expensis off Dr. Machaba?us, in T'ap- manhouin." But the editor of Lindsay insists, that this is " a decep- tions title-page." Ut supra, 80, 8 1 . That Maccabaeus was alive in 1 5.57, appears from the following passage of a Danish literar}'' work: "In facultate Theologica, Doctores creati sequentes in Academia Hafniae Ao. 1557, a D. Joli. Maccabeo, M. Nic. Hemmingius Theolog. Profes- sor," &c. Albert Thura, Idea Histor. Literar. Danorum, p. 333. Hamburgi, 1723. This writer (p. 274) mentions " Annot. in Matth- aeum" as written by him, but does not say wliether it was a MS. or a printed book. Bale mentions another work of his, entitled, " De vera et falsa Religione." Ut supra, p. 226. Those who have access to the Bibliotheca Danica, will find some of his writings inserted in that work. Part v. and viii. Gerdes. iii. 417. Among the MSS. bequeathed by Archbishop Parker to Corpus Christi College, is " De conjugio sa- cerdotum, an liceat sacris initiatis contrahere matrimonium; affirmatur autore Johanne Macchabeo Scoto." We learn from Bale, that Maccabaeus was well born ("praeclara familia;") and that, having discovered from his infancy a strong pro- psnsity to learning, his parents provided him with the best teachers. But I have an additional piece of information to communicate, which cannot fail to be gratifying to some readers : The proper name of this divine was neither Maccabaeus nor Macbee, but Macalpine, and he belonged to the noble and celebrated Clan Alpine. In what degree of kindred he stood to the noted Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, and whether he was obliged to change his name on account of the outrage vs^hich caused that chieftain and his whole clan to be proclaimed rebels, I can- not determine, as I have met with no northern Scald, or Gaelish bard, who has touched on these circumstances. But the following are my authorities for the statement which I have given: "Ad docendas sac- ras literas accersivit [Danniae Rex] Johannem Maccabaeum, proprio nomine Macalpinum, Scotum, virum doctrina et pietate gravem, Re- g'.que ac bonis omnibus modestia longe carissimum. Vinding. Des- cript. Acad. Hafnite, p. 71 — 73. "Reliquerat is, qui ex nobili et anti- qiia Macalpinorum in Scotia familia ortum trahebat, Religionis erga, Scotiam, et migraverat Witcbergam, atque ibi cum Luthero et Me- lanchthone familiaritatem contraxerat. unde Hafniam vocatus Aca- demiae prfaeuit per annos sedecim, mortiuis d. 6. Deremb. 15.57." Gerdes. iii. p. 417. See also the verses on Maccabaeus in Supplement, NOTES. 39 1 Macdowal repaireel to Holland, and was so much esteemed, that he was raised, though a stranger, to the chief magistracy in one of its borouglis. Knox, 20. John Mackbray, or Macbrair, a gentleman of Galloway, fled to Eng- land about 1 538, and at the death of Edward \^[. retired to Frankfort where he preached to the English congregation. Troubles at Frank- ford, pp. 13, 20, 25. Spotswood, 97. He afterwards became paster of a congregation in Lower Germany, and wrote an account of the forma- tion and progress of that church Balei Scriptores M. Urytan. p. 22i:i. On the accession of Elizabeth, he returned to England, and olhciated as a preacher in that country. He is called "an eminent exile," in. Strype's Annals, i. 130. Grindal, p. 26. On the 13th of November, 15Gti, he was inducted to the vicarage of St. Nicholas, in Newcastle, and was buried there on i\ovember IG, 1584. Dr. Jackson complains, that "Mackbray, Knox, and Udale, had sown their tares in New- castle." Heylin speaks in the same strain. Brand's Hist, of New- castle, p. 303. Bale (p. 229) mentions several works of Mackbray, and says that he " wrote elegantly in Latin." Spotswood also men- tions some of his works. Ut supra. The causes of Buchanan's imprisonment and escape from Scotland, and his reception and employments on the Continent, may be found in other publications which are accessible to the reader. See Irving's memoirs of Buchanan, and Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman. Some facts which have not been fully stated by his biographers, will be found in a subsequent part of this work. James Harrison was a native of the south of Scotland, and liberally educated, says Bale. He seems to have gone to England at a period somewhat later than the others mentioned in this note. He wrote a treatise, "De regnorum unione," in which he warmly recommended to his countrymen the advantages of a union with England. It was dedicated to the Duke of Somerset, in 1547. Bale (p. 225) gives the first words of it, " Comminiscens, ut soleo per ocium ;" and calls it " elegans ac mellitum opus." Robert Richardson was a canon of the monastery of Cambusken- neth, and fled to England in 1538. Cald. MS. i. 97. I suppose he is the person who is called " Sir Robert Richardson, priest," in Sadler's Letters. He was sent into Scotland in 1543, by Henry VIIF. with a recommendation to the regent Arran, who employed him in preaching through the kingdom, along with Guillaume and Rough. When the regent apostatized from the reformed cause, he withdrew his protec- tion from Richardson, who was obliged to flee a second time into England, to escape the cardinal's persecution. Sadler's State Papers, i. 210, 217, 344. Note K, p. 36. Influence of Poetry in promoting the Beformation. — As the influence which the poets and satirists of the age had upon the Reformation, is a subject curious in itself, and to which little attention has been paid, the followingf illustrations of what has been generally stated in the text, may not be unacceptable to some readers. Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio, and other Italian writers, by descanting on the ambition, luxury, and scandalous manners of the clergy, had contributed greatly to lessen the veneration in which they had been long held, and to pro duce in the minds of men a conviction of the necessity of a reforma- tion. "There was," says John Gerson. chancellor of the university of Paris, " one called Johannes Meldinensis, who wrote a book callei? 392 NOTES. the Romaiint of the Rose, which book, if I only had, and that there were no more in tlie world, 1 would rather burn it than take five hundred pounds for the same; and if I thought the author thereof did not repent of that book before he died, I would no more pray for him, than I would for Judas that betrayed Christ." Catal. MSS. in Adv. Lib. The writings of Chaucer, and especially those of Langland, had the same effect in England. When the religious struggle had actually commenced, and become hot, a diversion, by no means inconsider- able, was made in favour of the reformers by the satirists and poets of the age. A pantomime, intended to degrade the court of Rome and the clergy, was acted before Charles V. at the Augsburg assembly. Lud. Fabricius de Ludis Scenicis, p. 231. Gerdesii Historia Evangel. Reno vat. torn. ii. Docum. No. vii. p. 48. In 1524, a tragedy was acted at Paris, in the presence of Francis I. in which the success of Luther was represented, and the pope and cardinals were ridiculed, by kind- ling a fire, which all their elTorts could not extinguish. Jacob. Bur- chard, de Vita Ulrici Hutteni, pars ii. 293, pars iii. p. 296. Gerdes. Hist. iv. 315. As late as 1561, the pope's ambassador complained to the queen mother of France, that the young king, Charles IX. had assisted at a show, in which he had counterfeited a friar. Letters of the cardinal de St. Croix, prefixed to Aymons, Synodes Nationaux de France, tom. i. p. 7 — 11. In Switzerland, Nic. Manuel wrote certain comedies of this description in the year 1522, which were published under the title of Fastnachts Spielen, at Berne, in 1525. Gerdes. ii. 451. There were similar compositions in Holland. Brand's Hist, of the Reformation, i. 127,128. Lond. 1720. And also in England. Bur- net's Hist, of the Reform, i. 318. Nasmith, Catal. Libr. Manuscr. Col leg. Corporis Christi, p. 93. In Scotland, the same weapons were employed in attacking the Church. The first Protestant books circulated in Scotland came chiefly from England. Mr. Chalm.ers has mentioned " the very first reforming treatise which was, probably, written in Scotland," com- piled by " Johne Gau," and printed at Malmoe in Sweden, anno 1533. We would have been still more obliged to the learned author, if he had given us some idea of its contents, instead of dismissing it with the flourish, " Had all been like this !" which, whether he meant to apply to the elegance of the printing, or the orthodoxy of the senti- ments, it is difficult to say. Caledonia, ii. 616. Calderwood seems to eay that books against popery began to be printed in this country in 1543. MS. ad h. ann. But, previously to that period, the reformed sentiments were diffused by metrical and dramactic writings. The satire of Buchanan against the Franciscan friars, for which lie was thrown into prison, was elegant and pungent, but, being written in Latin, it could be felt only by the learned. The same may be said as to his " Baptistes." But a passion for Scottish poetry had been lately produced in the nation by the compositions of some of our ingenious countrymen, and this now began to be improved by the friends of the Reformation. Kennedy and Kyllor distinguished themselves in this line. See above, p. 379 Kyllor's Scripture drama was exhibited he- fore James V. at Stirling, about the year 1535; and the most simple perceived the resemblance between the Jewish priests and the Scottish clergy, in opposing the truth, and persecuting its friends. Knox, 22. Soon af>er this, Alexander, Lord Kilmaurs, wrote his Epistle from the Hermit of Lareit to the Greyfriars. Ibid. 24, 25. James Stewart, son of Lord Methven, composed poems and ballads in a similar strain, after the death of the vicar of Dollar; and Robert Alexander, advo- cate, published the earl of Errol's "Testament," in vScottish metre, which was printed at Edinburgh, Cald. MS. i. 103. James Wedder NOTES, 393 burn, son of a merchant in Dumlee, converted the history of the be- heading ot John tile Baptist intcj a dramatic form, and also the history of tlie tyrant Dionysius, whicli woi'e acted at Dundee. In botli of these, the Popish religion was attacked. Cald. MS. ad an. 1540. Dal- yell's Cursory Remarks, p. 31. But the poet wiio had the greatest influence in promoting the Re- formation was Sir David Lindsay. His " Satyre on the three Estates," and his '' Monarchies," liad tliis for their principal ol^ject. The former was acted at Cupar in Fife, in the year 1535: at Linlithgow, before the king and queen, the court, and country, in 1510; and at Edinburgh, oelbre the queen regent, a great part of the nobility, and a vast num- ber of people, in 1554. Chalmers's Lindsay, i. 60, 61. Row says, that it was also acted " in the amphitheatre of St. Johnstoun." MS. History of the Kirk, p. 3. It exposed the avarice, luxury, and profligacy of the religious orders ; the temporal power and opulence of the Ijishops, with their total neglect of preaching; the prohibition of the reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue; the extolling of pardons, relics, &c. In his " Monarchies," composed by him at a subsequent period, he traced the rise and progress of the papacy, and has discovered a knowledge of history, and of the causes that produced tiie corruption of Christianity, which would not disgrace any modern author. The poems of Lindsay were read by "every man, woman, and child." Row has preserved an anecdote, which serves to illustrate their influ- ence, and the manner in which the reformed sentiments were propa- gated at that period. Some time between 1550 and 155S, a friar was preaching at Perth in the church where the scholars of Andrew Simson attended public worship. In the course of his sermon, after relating some of the miracles wrought at the shrines of the saints, he began to inveigh bitterly against the Lutheran preachers who were going about the country, and endeavouring to withdraw the people from the Ca- tholic faith. When he was in the midst of his invective, a loud hissing arose in that part of the church where the boys, to the number of three hundred, were seated, so that the friar, abashed and afli-ighted, broke off his discourse, and fled from the pulpit. A complaint having been made to the master, he instituted an inquiry into the cause of the disturbance, and to his astonishment found that it originated with the son of a craftsman in the town, who liad a copy of Lindsay's "Monarchies," which he had read at intervals to his schoolfellows. When the master was about to administer severe chastisement to him, for the tumult which he had occasioned, and also for retaininir in his possession such a heretical book, the boy very spiritedly replied, that the book was not heretical, requested his master to read it, and pro- fessed his readiness to submit to punishment, provided any heresy was found in it. This proposal appeared so reasonable to Simson, that he perused the work, which he had not formerly seen, and was convinced of the truth of the boy's statement. He accordingly made the best excuse which he could to the magistrates for the behaviour of his scholars, and advised the friar to abstain in future from extolling miracles, and from abusing the Protestant preachers. From tiint time Simson was friendly to the Reformation. MS. Historie of the Kirk, pp. 3, 4. In every Protestant country, a metrical version of the Psalms, in the vernacular language, appeared at a very early period The French version, begun by Clement Marot, and completed by Beza, contributed much to the spread of the Reformation in France. The Psalms were sung by Francis I. and Henry II. and by their courtiers. The Catholics flocked for a time to the assemblies of the Protestants to listen to their psalmody. Bayle, Dictionnaire, art. Marot, Notes N Z2 394 NOTES. O, P. At a later period, Cardinal C'hastillon proposed to the Papa. ambassador, as the best method for checking the progress oi" heresy, that his holiness should authorize some " good and godly" songs to be sung by the French, " cantar alcune cose in lingua Francese, le quali pero fossero parole buono et sante, et prima approvate de sua Beati- tudine." Lettres de St. Croix: Aymons, ut supra, tom. i. pp. 7, 9, H. It has been said, that there was a Scottish version of the Psalms a*' a very eai'ly period. Dalyell's Cursory Remarks, p. 35. It is more certain, that before the year 154G, a number of the Psalms were trans- lated in metre ; for George Wishart sung one of them in the house of Ormiston, on the night in which he was apprehended. Knox, Historic, p. 49. The two lines quoted by Knox answer to the beginning of the S3Cond stanza of the 5Ist Psalm, inserted in Scottish Poems of the 16th Century, p. 111. They were commonly sung in the assemblies of the Protestants, in the year 1556. Knox, 96. John and Robert Wedderburn, brothers to the poet of that name mentioned above, appear to have been the principal translators of Ihem. Cald. MS. i. 108, 109. The version was not completed; and at the establishment of the Reformation, it was supplanted in the churches by the version begun by Sternhold and Hopkins, and finished by the English exiles at Geneva. But the most singular measure adopted for circulating the reformed opinions in Scotland was the composition of "gude and godly ballates, changed out of prophaine sanges, for avoyding of sinne and harlotrie." John and Robert Wedderburn were the chief authors of this work also. Cald. ut supra. Row's Hist, of the Kirk, p. 4. The title sufficiently indicates their nature and design. The air, the measure, the initial line, or the chorus of the ballads most commonly sung by the people at that time, were transferred to hymns of devo- tion. Unnatural, indelicate, and gross as this association appears to us, these spiritual songs edified multitudes in that age. We must not think that this originated in any peculiar depravation of taste in our reforming countrymen. Spiritual songs constructed upon the same principle, were common in Italy. Roscoe's Lorenzo de Medici, i. 309. 4to. At the beginning of the Reformation, the very same practice was adopted in Holland as in Scotland. " The Protestants first sung in their families and private assemblies, the psalms of the noble lord of Nievelte, which he published in 1540, ut homines ab amatoriis, baud raro obscoenis, aliisque vanis canticis, quibus omnia in urbibus et vicis personabant, avocaret. Sed quia modulationes vanarum cantionum (alias enim homines non tenebant) adhibuerat," &c. Gisberti Voetii Politica Ecclesiastica, tom. i. p. 534. Amstaelod. 1663, 4to. Florimond de Remond objected to the psalms of Marot, that the airs of some of them were borrowed from vulgar ballads. A Roman Catholic version of the Psalms in Flemish verse, printed at Antwerp by Simon Cock, in 1540, has the first line of a ballad printed at the head of every psalm. Bayle, Diet. art. Marot. Note N. The spiritual songs of Colletet, although composed a century after our '•Godly Ballates," were constructed on still more exceptionable models. "Et moy, Monsieur," says Mons. Jurieu, "je vous feray voir, quand il vous plaira, lescantiques spirituels de Colletet imprimes a Paris, ches Antoine de Rafle avec privilege du Roy, de Tan 1660. Livre curieux, oiJ vous trouveres des Noels sur le chant de ce vaude- ville infame qui commence, Ilfuut chanter une histoire de la femme (Tun manant, &c. le reste est un conte scandaleux autant qu'il y en ait dans le Satyricon de Petrone. Vous en trouveres un aut]'P sur I'air de ces paroles libertines d'une char son de I'opera: A Quoy bon tant de raison, dans tin bel aage. NOTES. 3 Un autre sur ce vaudeville impudent : AlUs V0U8 . , ... Cn galant lout nouveaii, i^c. Des le temps de Henri II. parce que toute la Cour cihantoit les Pseau- mes de Marot, le Uaidinal de Lorraine jugea que, pour arrester un si grand desoi'dre, il seroit tres ediliaat de faire tourner des odes d'Horace en rime Francoise, pour nourrir la piete de cette cour si de- vote." Apologie pour les Relbrmateurs, &-c. torn. i. 1 29. 4to. A Rot- terdam, 1683. Note L, p. 41. Of George Wishart. — The following graphic description of this in- teresting martyr is contained in a letter written by a person who had been one of his pupils at Cambridge, and transmitted by him to John Fox, who inserted it in his work, p. J 155. edit. 1596. "About the yeare of our Lord, a thousand, five hundreth, fortie and three, there was, in the universitie of Cambridge, one Maister George Wischart, commonly called Maister George of Bennet's Colledge, who was a man of tall stature, polde headed, and on the same a round French cap of the best. Judged of melancholye complexion by his phisiognomie, black haii'ed, long bearded, comely of personage, well spoken after his country of Scotland, courteous, lowly, lovely, glad to teach, desirous to learne, and was well traulled, hauing on him for his habit or clothing, neuer but a mantell frise gowne to the shoes, a blacke Millian fusfain dublet, and plaine blacke hosen, course new canuasse for his shirtes, and white falling bandes and cuffes at the hands. All the which apparell, he gaue to thepoore, some weekly, some monethly, some quarterly, as hee liked, sauing his Frenche cappe, which hee kept the whole yeere of my beeing with him. Hee was a man modest, temperate, fearing God, hating couetousnesse : for his charitie had neuer ende, night, noone, nor daye : hee forbare one meale in three, one day in four foi^the most part, except something to comfort nature. [\\'hen accused, at his trial, of contemning fasting, he replied, ' My Lordis, 1 find that fasting is commend it in the Script ur. — And not so only ; bot I have leirnit by experience, that fasting is gude for the healthe and conservation of the body.' Knox, CO.] Hee lay hard upon a pouffe of straw : course new canuasse sheetes, which, when he changed, he gaue away. Hee had commonly by his bedside, a tubbe of water, in the which (his people being in bed, the candle put out, and all quiet) hee used to bathe himselfe, as 1, being very yong, being assured offen, heard him, and in one light night discerned him. Hee loved me tenderly, and 1 him, for my age, as effectually. Hee taught with great modestie and grauitie, so that some of liis people thought him seuere, and would haue slain him, but the Lord was his defence. And hee, after due correction for their malice, by good exhortation amended them, and he went his way. O that the Lord had left him to mee his pooro boy, that hee might haue finished that he had begunne ! For in his religion he was, as you see heere in the rest of his life, when he went into Scotland with diuers of the nobilitie, that came for a treaty to King Henry the eight. His learning was no less siitiicient than his desire, alwayes prest and roadie to do gooil in that hee was able, both in the house priuately, and in the schoole publickely, pro- fessing and reading divors authours. "If I stiould declare his loue to mee and all men, ) is charitie to the 396 NOTES. poore, in giuing, reli suing, caring, helping, prouiding, yea infinitely studying how to do good unto aiJ, and hurt to none,"l sliould sooner want words than just cause to commend him. "All this I testifie, with my whole heart and trueth, of this godly man. Hee that made all, gouerneth all, and shall iudge all, knoweth 1 speake the throth, that the simple may be satisfied, the arrogant con- founded, the hypocrite disclosed. rtysf Emery Tylney." A particular account of VVishart's trial and execution was published in England, apparently soon after tlie assassination of Beatoun. This very rare little book does not appear to have been seen by any of the writers who have mentioned it. The following account is taken from a copy, belonging to Richard Heber, Esq. who communicated it to me v/ith that liberality for which he is so eminently distinguished. The general title is, "The tragical death of Dauid Beato. Bishoppe of sainct Andrewes in Scotland ; Whereunto is ioyned the martyrdom of maister George Wyseharte gentleman, for whose sake the aforesay- ed bishoppe was not longe after slayne. Wherein thou maist learne what a burnynge charitie they shewed not only towardes him : but vnto al suche as come to their handes for the blessed Gospels sake." On the next leaf begins, " Roberte Burrant to the reader," being a preface extending to 12 leaves, ending on B. iiiii. Afler this is the following title of the Tragedy or Poem : " Here folio weth the Tragedy of the late moste reuerende father Dauid, by the mercie of God Car- dinal! and archbishoppe of sainct Andrews. And of the whole realme of Scotland primate, legate and chauncelor. And administrator of the bishoprich of Merapois in Fraunce. And comendator perpetual! of the abbay of Aberbrothoke, compiled by sir Dauid Lindsaye of the mounte Knyghte. Alias, Lione, kyng of armes. Anno 1546. Ultimo IViaii. The wordes of Dauid Beaton the cardinal! aforesaied at his death. Alas alas, slaye me not, I am a priest." The poem begins on the reverse, and ends on the first page of C. vii. On the back of that leaf is, — " Tlie accusation of maister George Wysehart gentleman, who suffered martyrdome for the faith of Christ Jesu, at S. Andrewes in Scotland the first day of Marche. In the yere of our Lorde, 1 546, wyth the articles which he was accused of, and his swete answeres to the same, wherunto are ioyned his godly orations and praiers. — With most tendre affection and unfeyned" herte considere," &c. The narrative ends on the first page of F. vi. with these words, " complayning of thys innocent lambes slaughter." — "Imprinted at London, by John Day, and William Seres, dwellynge in Sepulchres parish at the signe of the Resurrection, a little aboue Holbourne conduiet. Cum gracia et priuilegio ad imprimendum solum." In eights. The tragedy of Beatoun is printed in small, and the account of Wishart's trial in large black letter. The date of printing is not mentioned. Those who have fixed on the year 1546, have been infiuenced by the occurring of this date on the title of the tragedy, which evidently refers to the time of Beatoun's death. It is probable, however, from some expressions in the preface, as well as from other considerations, that it was printed soon after that event. Fox has embodied the whole account of Wis- hart's trial in his Acts and Monuments, pp. 1154—1158, " Ex Histor. Impressa" Knox has transcribed it from Fox. Historic, p. 72. Wishart had travelled on the Continent. Knox, 56. Lesly, p. 458. Buchanan calls him Sophocardius, supposing his name to be Wise- heart, a mistake which has been corrected by an intelligent foreign historian, who says that the original name was Guiscard, a name common in France, from which country the Wisrhards (for so Knox writes it) originally came to Scotland. Gerdesii Hist. Reformat, tom. NOTES. 39 .V. p. 314. See also Ruddiman's Propriorwn nominiim Interpretation subjoined to Buchanan's History. Tiie following extract from the records of the city of Bristol has been obligintrly sent me by Theodore Laurance, Esq. "30 Heliry \'1II. That this yere the 15 Maya Scot named George Wysard sett furth his lecture in St. Nicholas Church of Bristowe the most blasphemous heresy that ever was herd, openly declarying that Christ's mother hath not nor coulde merite for him nor yett lor us, wicli heresy brought many of the commons of this towne into a greate error and dyvers of theym were persuaded by that hereticall lecture to heresy. 'Whereupon the said stitt' necked Scot was accused by Mr. John Kerne deane of the said diocese and soon after he was sent to the moost reverend father in God the archebishop of Can- terbury bifore whom and others, that is to signifie, the bishops of Bathe, Norwhiche, and Chichester, with others, as doctors and he bifore theym was examyned convicted and condemned in and upon the detestable heresy above mentioned, whereupon he was ejnoyned to bere a fagot in St. Nicholas Church aforsaid and the parishe of the same the 13 July, and in Christe church the 20 July abovesaid following, which was duely execute! in the time aforesaid. This is extracted from the " Mayor's Kalendar," a vellum manuscript book of great antiquity, which is usually produced at the swearing in of the mayor, as it has a drawing of that ceremony, and refers to some old customs observed on the occasion. I have no doubt that the person referred to is George Wishart, the Scottish martyr. The facts related happened on the year after he left Scotland. In the course of that year John Lambert suffered martyrdom for denying transubstantiation, and Henry VIII. was using the severest measures against the Protestants. The circumstance of George Wysard having recanted what he had taught respecting the Virgin, Is not sufficient to discredit this supposition." Whether hfs recantation proceeded from fear, or from his being entangled by the sophistry of his judges, any stain which it affixed to his character was completely effaced by the fortitude and constancy with which he afterwards suffered. The following is the title of a very rare book, which appears to have been written by George Wishart during his travels on the Continent, and printed after his death. " The Confescion of the fayth of the Sweserlandes. " This Confescion was fyrste wrytten and set out by the ministers of the churche and congregacion of Sweuerland, where all godlyness is i-eceyued, and the word hadde in most reuerence, and from thence was sent vnto the Emperours maiestie, theri holdynge a grayt coun- sell or parliament in the yeare of our Lord God 1537, in the moneth of February. " Translated out of Laten by George Vsher, a Scotchman, who waa Durned in Scotland, the yeare of oure Lorde 1546." Note M, p. 45. Of Knox's Language respecting the Assassination of Cardinal Bea- toun. — Mr. Hume has, not very philosophically, inferred the savage- ness of Knox's temper from the evident satisfaction with which he wrote of Cardinal Beatoun's assassination ; and in this judgment he has been followed by several writers. If to express satisfaction at cuttinir off one who was regarded as a public enemy be viewed as an infallible mark of cruelty, we must pronounce this verdict upon many who were never before suspected of such a disposition. The manner f!4 398 NOTES. in which the Christian fathers expressed themselves, respecting the death of the persecutors of the Church, is not unknown. See Julian the Apostate, chap. vii. viii. in Works of the Rev. fcamuel Johnston, pp. 22 — 24. Bayle, Critique General de I'Histoire du Calvinisme, p. 295, Even the mild and philosophic Erasmus could not refrain from declar- ing his joy at the violent death of two of the most learned and eminent Reformers. "Bene Jiabet," says he, "quod duo Coryphcei perierunt, Zuinglius in acie, Uecolampadius paulo post febri et apostemate. Q,uod si illis favisset Hv^/aA/ic, actum est de nobis." Epist. 1205 ; Jortin's Life of Erasmus, ii. 28. feir Walter Scott, in his Cadyow Castle, (See Lyrical Pieces,) has lately exerted all his poetic powers to invest Ham- ilton of Bothwellhaugh with the character of a hero, in assassinating the Regent Murray, a person who is no more to be compared to Car- dinal Beatoun, than "Hyperion to a Satyr." I know the apology that will be made for the poet (although 1 think he might have found, in this, and in some other instances, a subject more worthy of his muse ;) but what shall we say of the historian who narrates the action of Bothwellhaugh "approvingly," celebrates the "happy pencil of the poet" in describing it, and insults over the fall of Murray, by quoting a sarcastic line from the poem, in the very act of relating his death : Chalmers's Caledonia, ii. 571. Yet the same writer is highly displeased that Sir David Lindsay, in his Tragedy of Beatoun, has " no burst of indignation" at the cardinal's murder; and twice in the same work he has related with triumph, that, on the margin of one edition of Knoxs History, the part which James Melvin acted in that scene is called a " godly fact." And he pronounces the assassination of Beatoun to be " the foulest crime which ever stained a country, except perhaps the similar murder of Archbishop Sharpe, within the same shire, in the subsequent century, by similar miscreants." Chalmers's Works of Lindsay, vol, i. 34, 35, ii. 231. How marvellously does prejudice distort the judgment even of learned men ! And how surprising to find the assassination of two sanguinary persecutors represented as more criminal than the murder of the geAerous Henry IV. the patriotic Prince of Orange, and the brave and pious Coligni ! There are not a iew persons who can read in cold blood of thousands of innocent per- sons being murdered under the consecrated cloak of authority, but who " burst into indignation" at the mention of the rare fact (occurring once in a century) of a person, who goaded by oppression and reduced to despair, has been driven to the extremity of taking vengeance on the proud and tyrannical author of his own and his country's wrongs. I mention these things to show the need which certain writers have to look at home, and to judge of characters and actions with a little more impartiality, or at least consistency. Honest Keith, whose personal feelings do not appear to have been violent, has expressed with much simplicity the feehngs of his party, in the reflections which he makes on the cardinal's assassination. ' What might have proved (says he) to be the issue of such proce- lure [Beatoun's severe measures against the Reformers,] had lie en- joyed his life for any considerable time, I shall not pretend to judge; Only this seems to be certain, that by his death the reins of the governmicnt were much loosened ; and some persons came to be con- siderable soon after, who probably, if he had lived, had never got the opportunity to perpetrate such villainies under tlie cloak of religion, as 'tis certain they did ; he being at least no less a statesman than a clergyman." History, p. 45. This language needs no commentary ; and'lhe callousness to the interests of (I say not the Reformation, for that is entirely out of the question, but) humanity, implied in tho prospect that Keith takes of the cruelties which the Protestants must NOTES. 399 have suffered from the cardinal, if his life had been spared, is far more reprehensible than any satisfaction which Knox expressed at liis death. "It is very horrid," says Hume, "but at the same time somewhat amusing, to consider the joy, alacrity, and pleasure which that histo- rian [Knox] discovers in his narrative of this assassination." History, of England, vol. vi. chap. iv. Mr. Hume makes a partial apology for Knox by the description which he gives of his own feelings; while he allows that wliat, in tiie main, excites horror, may produce some amusement. It is well known that there are writers who can treat the most sacred subjects with a levity bordering upon profaneness. Must we at once pronounce them profane ? And is nothing to be set down to the score of natural temper inclining them to wit and humour ? The Reformer rejoiced at the deatli of Beatoun ; and even those who could not approve of the act of the conspirators, were hap- py that he was taken away. As for the Cardinal, we grant, He was a man we weell might want, And we'll forget him sone; And yet I think, the sooth to say, Although the lown is weell away, The deed was foully done. The pleasantry which Knox has mingled with the narrative of bis death and burial is unseasonable and unbecoming. But it is to be imputed, not to any pleasure which he took in describing a bloody scene, but to the strong propensity which he felt to indulge his vein of humour. Those who have read his History with attention, must have perceived that he is not able to check this, even on very serious occasions. I shall at present refer to one instance only. None will doubt that his mind was deeply affected in relating the trial and exe- cution of his esteemed friend, and revered instructor, George Wishart. Yet, even in the midst of his narrative of this event, he could not abstain from inserting the truly ludicrous description of a quarrel which arose on that occasion between the Archbishops of St Andrews and Glasgow; for which he apologizes thus: — "Gif we interlace mer- rines with ernest matters, pardone us, gude reidare, for the fact is sa notable that it deserves lang memorie." Historie, p. 51. Note N, p. 57. Knox in the French Galleys. — The following curious notice as to this event in our Reformer's life, will form an appropriate introduction to the extracts referred to in the text. It has been preserved oy the learned Dr. Fulke, and is given as an answer to a Popish writer, who had said, in the way of detraction, " Knokes was a galley slave three yeares." — "The more wicked," replies Fulke, "those Papistes which betrayed him into the galley. The master whereof was glad to be rid of him, because he never had good successe, so long as he kept that holy man in slaverie, whotne also in danger of tempest, though an errant Papiste, he would desire to commend him and his galley to God in his praiers." T. Stapleton and Martiall (two Popish heretics) confuted. Bv D. Fulke, master of Pembroke-hall, in Cambridge, p. 116. Lond. 1530. I shall give Knox's own account of his feelings on that occasion from the MS. copy of his Treatise on Prayer in my possession, pre 400 NOTES. serving the original language, which is altered in the printed edition. Those who have access to the latter can compare the two. " 1 uiene not," says he, " that any man, in extreamitie of trubill, can be without a present dolour, and without a greater feir of trubill to follow. Trubill and feir are the very spurris to prayer. For when man, compassit about with vehement calamities, and vexit with con- tinewall solicitude, having by help of man no hope of deliverance, with soir oppressit and punissit hart, feiring also greater punisment to fol- low, from the deip pit of tribulation, doith call to God for comfort and support, such prayer ascendeth into Godis presence, and returneth not in vane." Having illustrated this from the exercise of David, as described in the 7th psalm, he proceeds, " This is not written for David onlie, but for all such as sail suffer tribulatioun to the end of the world. For I, the wryter hereof, (lat this be said to the laude and prais of God allone) in angusche of mynd, and vehement tribulatioun and afflic- tioun, called to the Lord, when not only the ungodlie, but evin my faithfull brother, ye and my awn self (that is, all natural understand- ing) judgeit my cause to be irremedeable ; and yit in my greatest calamitie, and when my panis wer most cruell, wold his eternall wis- dome that my handis suld wryt far contrarie to the judgement of car- nail reasone, whilk his mercie hath proved trew. Blessit be his halie name* And therefore dar I be bold in the veritie of Godis word, to promeis that, notwithstanding the vehemencie of trubill, the long con- tinewance thairof, the desperatioun of all men, the feirfulness, danger, dolour, and angusche of our awn hartis, yit, yf we call constantlie to God, that, beyound expectatioun of all men, hie sail dely ver." pp. 52 — 54. After showing that prayers for temporal deliverance ought always to be offered up with submission to the divine will, that God often delays the deliverance of the body while he mitigates the dis- tress of the spirit, and sometimes permits his saints "to drink, before the maturity of age, the bitter cupe of corporall death, that thairby they may receave medicine, and cure from all intirmitie," he adds : "Albeit we sie thairfoi'r no appeirand help to our selves, nor yit to otheris afflictit, lat ws not ceis to call, (thinking our prayeris to be vane;) for whatsoever cum of our bodeis, God sail gif unspeakabill comfort to the spreit, and sail turne all to our comodities beyound ouj awn expectatioun. The caus that I am so lang and tedious in this matter is, for that I knaw how hard the batell is between the spreit and the flesche, under the heavie cros of afflictioun, whair no warldlie defence, but present death dois appeir. I knaw the grudging and murmuring complaints of the flesche; I knaw the anger, wrath, and indignatioun, whilk it consaveth aganis God, calling all his promissis in doubt, and being readie every hour utterlie to fall from God: aganis whilk restis onlie faith provoking us to call ernistlie, and pray for assistance of Godis spreit, whairin if we continew, our maist dis- perat calamiteis sail hie turn to gladnes, and to a prosperous end.f To thee, O Lord, allone be prais ; for with experience I wryt this, and speak." MS. Letters, pp. 65, 66. The edition was printed most probably in England, (Rome is on the title-page,) during the persecution, from a MS. sent by Knox from Dieppe, and so incorrectly, that it is often impossible to make sense of it. The following are specimens :—" Diffysed," fol. 2. "difficil," MS.— "A pure word of God," fol. 2, "a puritie allowit of God," MS.— "Consent." fol. 3, "conceat," MS.— "May any other Jesus Christ, * The words in Italics are not in the printed copies. t The printed copies, instead of " end," have " fyne ;" a word sometimes used in tlie MS. Letters. NOTES. 401 3xcept I, in these wordes, make intercession for sinners'! fol. II. " May any other (.lesus Christ except) in these wordes niaii interces- sion for sinners 1" MS.; the transcriber having mistaken the con- cluding mark of parenthesis for the pronoun. — "Carkese "sJepe," fol. 16, "carleslie slepeth," MS. In quoting Isa. Ixiv. 5. the printed edition has employed a word which I have not seen in any old version of the Bible. "Thou art crabbid, i) Lord, because we have sinned," fol. 4: and again in verse 9, "Be not crabbid, O Lord, remember not our iniquities for ever." In the MS. it is angrie, in both instances, h- fol. 16, is a greater variation : " For with such as do aleage that God may not chaunge his sentence, and our prayers therefore to be vayne, can I no wyse agree." Instead of this the MS. has, " whilk thing if we do unfeanedlie, he will revoke liis wrath, and in the middis of his furie think upon mercie." There are similar variations between the MS. and the printed copies of most of his other tracts. They show that the MS. which I possess has not been transcribed from these copies according to a custom very common in that age. Note O. p. 59. Extracts from Balnaves's Co'.fession oj Faith, or Treatise on Jus- .'ijicatiun. — In reading the writings of the first reformers there are two things which must strike our minds. The first is the exact con- formity between the doctrine maintained by them respecting the jus- tification of sinners, and that of the apostles. The second is the sur- prising harmony which subsisted among tliem on this important doc- trine. On some questions respecting the sacraments, and the external government and worship of the Church, they ditfered; bat upon the article of free justification, Luther and Zuinglius, Melanchthon ana Calvin, Cranmer and Knox, spoke the very same language. This was not owing to their having read each other's writings, but because they copied from the same diVine original. The clearness with which they understood and explained this "great truth is also very ooserv- able. More learned and able defences of it have since appeared ; but I question if it has ever been stated in more scriptural, unequivocal, and decided language, than in the writings of the early reformers. Some of their successors, by giving way to speculation, gradually lost sight of this distinguishing badge of the Reformation, and landed at last in ArminianisnV, which' is nothing else but the Popish doctrine in a Protestant dress. Knox has informed us, that his design, in pre- paring for the press the treatise written by Sir Henry Balnaves, was to give, along with the author, his "confession of the article of justifi- cation therein contained." I cannot, therefore, lay before the reader a more correct view of our Reformer's sentiments upon this funda- mental article of faith, than by quoting from a book which was revised and approved by him. Having given the philosophical definition of justice or righteousness, and explained what is meant by civil and ceremonial justice, the au- thor proceeds as follows: — "The justice of the lawe morall or Moses's lawe, which is the lawe of God, exceedeth and is far above the other two justices. It is the perfite obedience required of man, according to all the works and deeds of the same ; not only in external! and out- ward deeds, but also with the inward affections and motions of the hart, conforme to the commandement of the same (saying,) Thou shalt love thy Lord God with all thy hart, with all thy mind, with all thy power and strensfh, and tiiy neighbour as tliyseife. Tiiis is no other thintj but thf^ lawe of nature, prented in the hart of man, in the be- .S4 * A3 402 NOTES. ginning , ncnve made patent by tlie mouth of God to man, to utter liis sin, and to make liis corrupted nature more patent to himselle. And . so is tlie lawe of nature and the law of Moses joyned together in a knot; which is a doctrine leaching all men a perhte rule, to know what he should do, and what he should leave undone, both to God and his neighbour. Tae justice of the lawe, is to fulfill the lawe ; that is, to doo the perfite workes of the lawe as they are required, from the bottome of the hart, and as they are declared and expounded by Christ; and whosoever transgresseth the same, shall never be pro- nounced just of the lawe. But there was never man that fulfilled this lawe to the uttermost perfection thereof, except only Jesus Christ. Therefore, in the lawe can we not find our justice, because of the deedes of the lawe no flesh shall be made just before God." pp. 57, 58. "For transgression of the commandment of God, our tbrefather Adam was exiled and banished forth of paradise, and spoiled of the integrity, perfection, and all the excellent qualities, dignities, and god- lie vertues, with which he was endued by his creation, made rebel!, and disobedient to God in his owne default. And therefore he might not fulfill the lawe to the perfection as the same required. For the lawe remaining in the owne perfection, just, holye, and good, requireth and asketh the same of man, to be indeed fulfilled. But all men pro- ceeding from Adam, by natural propagatfon, have the same imperfec- tion that hee had ; the which corruption of nature resisteth the will and goodness of the lawe, which is the cause that wee fulfill not the same, nor may not of our power and strength, through the infirmitie and weakness of our flesh, which is enemie to the spirit, as the apostle saith." pp. 79, 80. " Notwithstanding, after the fall of man, remained with our first parents some rest and footsteppes of this lawe, knowledge, and vertues, in the which he was created, and of him descended in us; by the which of our free will and power, we may do the outward deeds of the lawe, as is before written. This knowledge deceaved and be- guiled the philosophers ; for they looked but to the reason and judge- ment of man, and could not perceave the inward corruption of nature, but ever supponed man to bee clean and pm-e of nature, and might, of his own free will and naturall reason, fulfill all perfection. And when they perceaved the wickedness of man from his birth, they judged that to be by reason of the planete under whom he was borne, or through evill nourishing, upbringing, or other accidents, and could never consider the corrupted nature of man, which is the cause of all our wickednes ; and therefore they erred, and were deceaved in their opinions and judgements ; but the perfite Christian man should looke first in his corruption of nature, and consider what the law requireth of him, in the which he findeth his imperfection and sinnes accused, (for that is the office of the lawe, to utter sinne to man, and giveth him no remedy,) then of necessitie is he compelled either to despaire or seek Christ, by whom he shall get the justice that is of value before God, which can not be gotten by any lawe or workes, because b}' the deedes of the lawe no flesh shall be justified before God." pp. 81 — 83. _" This proposition of the Holy Spirite is so perfite, that it excludeth (h'ye will understande the same right) all the vaine foolish arguments of sophistrie made by the justifiers, of themselfes, which perverte the words of S. Paule (as they doo the other Scriptures of God) to their Derversed sence and mind ; saying, that the apostle excludeth by these wordes the workes of the law ceremonial, and not the deeds of the lawe of nature, and morall lawe of Moyses. The which shameless sayings are expressly evacuat by the wordes of the apostle, insomuch thai no man of righteous judgement can deny, but shall feel the same NOTES 40: as it were in their liands, by this probation. The lawe speaketh to all, that is, accuseth all men that are under the lawe. All men are under the lawe of nature, of the lawe of Moyses, therefore the apostle speaketh of the lawe of nati.re, or the lawe of Moyses, and of all men which he comprehendeth under Jewe and Gentill, as he proveth by his argumentes in the lirst and second chap, to the Romans, and con- cludeth in the third chap, all men are sinners. If all men bee sinners, none is just ; if none bee just, none fuitill the lawe ; if none fulfill the lawe, the lawe can pronounce none just; therefore concludeth he, that of the deedes of the lawe no lieslie shall be fonde just befi)re God. The same is proved by David in the 130 Psalme. Here ye see by the words of the apostle, he intends to prove and declare all men sinners ; that is, to stoppe all men's mouths, and to dry ve them to Christ by the accusation of the lawe. No lawe may make or declare all men sin- ners, and subdue the whole world to God, but the lawe of nature and Moyses ; therefore, under that word (lawe) the apostle comprehendeth the lawe morall, and not the lawe ceremonial only." pp. 84, 85. " But think not that I intende through these assertions to exclude good workes ; no, God forbid, for good workes are the gift of God, and his good creatures, and ought and should be done of a Christian, as shalbe showen hereafter at length in their place; but in this article of justification, yee must either exclude all workes, or els exclude Christ from you, and make your selfes just ; the which is impossible to do. Christ is the end of the lawe (unto righteousness) to all that beleeve, that is, Christ is the consummation and fulfilling of the lawe, and that justice whiche the law requireth ; and all they which beleeve in him, are just by imputation through faith, and for his sake are re- pute and accepted as just. This is the justice of faith, of the which the apostle speaketh, Rom. the 10 chapter: therefore, if ye wilbee just, seeke Christ, and not the lawe, nor your invented workes, which are lesse than the lawe. Christ shall have no mixtion with the lawe, nor workes thereof, in this article of justification ; because the lawe is as contrarie to the office of Christ, as darknes to light, and is as farre different as heaven and earth. For the office of the lawe is to accuse the wicked, feare them, and condemne them, as transgressors of the same ; the office of Christ is to preache mercy, remission of sinnes, freely in his bloode through faith, give consolation, and to save sin- ners ; for hee came not into this world to call them which ar just, or think themselves just, but to call sinners to repentance." pp. 100, 126, 127, 128. " This faith which only justifieth and giveth life, is not idle nor re- maineth alone; nevertheless, it alone justifieth, and then it works by charitie ; for unfained faith may no more abyde idle from working in love, than the good tree may from bringing foorth her fruite in due time; and yet the fruite is not the cause of the tree, nor maketh the tree good, but the tree is the cause of the fruite ; and the good tree bringeth forth good fruite, by the which it is knowen goode ; even so it is of the faithfull man, the workes make him not faithfull nor just, nor yet are the cause thereof; but the faithfull and just man bringeth forth and maketh good workes, to the honour and glorie of God, and profit of his neighbour, which beare witnesse of his inward faith, and testify him to be just before man." pp. 131, 132. In the following part of the treatise, the author shows at large, that the doctrine of gratui- tous justification does not release Chiistians from obligation to per- form good works, and inculcates the duties incumbent upon them in the different spheres of life in which they may be placed. C'onfessicn cf Faith , conteining how the troubled man should seeke refuge at hif 404 NOTES God; compiled by M. Henry Balnaves of Halhill,* and one of th.^ Lords of Session of Scotland, being a prisoner within the old pallaice Qf Roane, in the year 1548. T. Vautrollier, Edin. 1584 Note P, p. 66. Extracts from Knox^s Defence before the Bishop of Durham.— Since the publication of the first edition of this Life, I have seen a copy of this Defence in print. Its title will be found in the catalogue of Knox's works. (See Note UUU at the end of the volume.) The print- ed edition agrees more exactly with the MS. in my possession than any of his other works which I have had the opportunity of compar- ing. The extracts given in this note are continued in their original form, to preserve the orthography of the MS. which constitutes almost the only difference between it and the printed edition. " The fourt of Apryle, in the yeir 1550, wasappoyntit to JohneKnox, preacher of the halie evangell of Jesus C'hryst, to gif his confessioun why hie affirmed the mes idolatrie ; whilk day, in presence of the con- sale and congregatioun, amangis whome was also present the bi schope of Duram and his doctors, on this manner hie beginneth. " This day I do appeir in your presence, honourabill audience, to gif a reasone why so constantlie I do affirme the mes to be, and at all tymes to half bene, idolatrie and abominatioun before God ; and be- caus men of great eruditioun, in your audience, affirmed the contra- rie, most gladlie wold I that heir thay wer present, either in proper persone, or els by thair learnit men, to ponder and wey the causis moveing me thairto : for unles I evidentlie prufe myne intent be God- dis halie scriptures, I will recant it as wickit doctrine, and confes my self maist worthie of grevous punishment. How difficil it is to pull furth of the hartis of the pepill the thing whairin opinioun of holines standeth, declareth the great tumult and uprore moveit aganis Paule by Demetrius and his fellowis, who by idolatrie gat great vantage, as our priestis have done be the mes in tymes past. The pepill, I say, heii'ing that the honor of thair great goddes Diana stude in jeopardie, with furious voces cryit, ' Great is Diana of the Ephesians ;' — and heir- unto wer thay moveit be lang custom and fals opinioun. I knaw, that in the mes hath not onlie bene estemit great holines and honoring of God, but also the ground and fundatioun of our religioun : so that, in opinioun of many, the mes taken away, thair resteth no trew wir- schipping nor honoring of God in the erth. The deiper hath it persit the hartis of men yatit occupyith the place of the last and misticall supper of our Lord Jesus. But yf I sal, be plane and evident scrip- tures, prove the mes, in hir mair honest garment, to half been idola- trie befoire God, and blasphemous to the death and passioun of Chryst, and contrarie to the supper of Jesus Chryst, than gude hope have I, honorable audience and belovit brethrene, that the feir, love, and obe- dience of God, who in his scriptures hath spokin all veritie necessarie for oure salvatioun, sail move yow to gif place to the same. O Lord eternal ! move and governe my toung to speak the veritie, and the * A charter of confirmation was granted to Mr. Henry Balnaves and Christian Scheves, his spouse, of the lands of " Ester CuUessy vocat. Halhill," on the 10th of Au- gust, 1538. Reg. Seer. .Sigil. lib. 13. f. 20. On the lith of May, 1562, a letter under the privy seal was granted to Mr. Henry Balnaves of Halhill, restoring him to his lanes honours, &c. of which he had been deprived " for certane allegit ■. rymes of lese majestic imput to him.' Ibid. lib. 31. f 16 NOTES. 40.5 nartis of thir p-jpill to understand and obey the same." MS. Letters, pp. 1,2. In pioof of his position, he laid down and defended two syllogisms. The lirst is thus stated: "All wirst-hipping, lionoring, or sei'vice in- ventit by tlie brane of man in the religioun of God, witiiout iiis awn expres commandement, is idolatrie : the mes is inventit, by the brane of man wittiout any commandement of God : tliairlbir it is idolatrie." Tlie second syllogism is tlms framed : "All honoring or service of God, whair- unto is addit a wickit opinioun, is abominatioun : unto the mes is addit a wickit opinioun : thairfoir it is abominatioun." pp. 3, 21. In support of the major proposition of his first syllogism, he argues from 1 Sam. xiii. 11—14. XV. 22, 23. Deut. iv. 2. xii. 8, 32. 1 (Jor. xi. 23. Take the following as a specimen : — " We may not think ws so frie nor wyse that we may do unto God, and unto his honour, what we think expedient. No : the contrarie is commandit by God, saying, ' Unto my word sail ye ad nothing, nothing sail ye deminische thairfrome, that ye might ob- serve the preceptis of your Lord God.' Whilk wordis ar not to be un- dei'stand of the decalogue and law moral onlie, but of statutis, rytes, and ceremonyis; for equall obedience of all his lawis requyreth God. And in witnis thairof, Nadab and Abihu offiring strange fyre, whairof God had geven unto thame na charge, wer instantlie, as thay offirit, punissit to death by fyre. — In the punisment of theis two afoirsaid is to be observit, that Nadab and Abihu wer the principal priestis nixt to Aron thair father, and that they were comprehendit neither in adul- terie, covetusnes, nor desyre of warldlie honor, but of a gud zeall and simpill intent wer making sacrifice, desyreing no profit of the pepill thairby, but to honor God, and to metigate his wraith. And yit in the doing of this self same act and sacrifice wer they consumit away with fyre ; whairof it is plane, that nether the preeminence of the per- sone or man that maketh or setteth up any religioun without the ex- press commandment of God, nor yet the intent whairof hie doith the same, is acceptit befoir God: for nothing in his religioun will hie ad- mit without his awn word, but all that is addit thairto doith hie abhor, and punisseth the inventoris and doeris thairof, as ye haif hard in Na- dab and Abihu." pp. 6, 7. The following extracts will exemplify the irony with which he treated the Popish tenets: "Jesus (Jhryst sayeth, "I will lay upon yow none other burdene than I haif alreadie ;' and, 'that whilk ya haif observe diligentlie.' O God eternal ! hast thow laid none uther burdene upon ouV backis than Jesus Chryst laid be his wordl Then who hath burdenit ws with all theis ceremonyis? prescrybid fasting, compellit chastitie, unlawfull vowis, invocatioun of Sanctis, and with the idolatrie of the mes ] The divill, the divill, brethrene, inventit all theis burdenis to depress imprudent men to pcrditioun." p. 10. Speak- ing of the canon of the mass, he says, " I will preve, that thairin is indigest, barbarous, folische congestioun of wordis, imperfectioiin of sentences, ungodlie invocationis, and diabolicall conjurationis. And tills is that holie canon whois autoritie precelleth all scriptures! O! it was so holie it might not be spoken planelie as the rest, but .secreitlie it behoved to be wiiisperit ! That was not evil devysit ; fir yf all men had hard it, sum wold have espyit the vanitie thairof — Thay say, Hoc est enim. corpus meum. I pray thame schew, whair find Wv.xy eniml ( ) ! heir mak thay a great matter; and heir lyeth a .secreit mistorie, and hid operatioun! For in fyve wordis conceaved the virfjin Marie, say thay, when sche conceavit the Sone of God. What yf sche had spo- ken sevin, ten, or twentie words? or what yf sche had spokin thrie' Suld thairby the determinat consalle been impedit ? But, O 406 NOTES. papists! is God a juglar? Useth he certane noumer of wordis in performing his intent .'" pp. 18, 19. fiuintin Kennedy, abbot of Crossraguel, in an Oration, composed by him in 1561, made some remarks on Knox's book against the Mass. " Shortly," says he, " will we call to remembrance a notable syllogis- me (or argument) sett furth be ane famouss preachour, cailit John Knox, in his sermon againis the mess, in manner as efter Ibllowis." And having quoted the first syllogism, as already expressed in this note, he answers : " As to the first part of his syllogisme, quhar he dois affirme all worschipping of God inuentit be the brayne of manne without express command of God to be ydolatrie, it is als falss as Goddis wourd is trew; for quhy'] did not Abel, Abraham, Noe, and diuerse vtheris of the aulde latheris, inuent meanis and ways to the worschipping of God, without expres commande of God, and wes ac- ceptable to the Lord God, as the Aulde Testament techis wsl Did not Cornelius centurio in likewise inuent meanis and ways to the worschipping of God, without expres commande of God, quhilk wes acceptable to God, as the New Testament plainly teachis ws ? Thus ma we clearlie persaue that this wickit syllogisme aboue rehersit is express againis the Scripture of Almychtie God, bayth Aulde Testa- ment and New. Secundlie, to preve his fals and wickit syllogisme, impropirlie caillis he to remembrance the Scripture of Almychti God, quhare mentione is maid how King Saule made sacrifice unto God of his owne brayne, and wes nocht acceptable to the Lorde God. Mark this place of the scripture, and it salbe easely persavit that it is all wayis impropirlie appliit ; for quhy, his syllogisme makis mentione of the worschipping of God inuentit be the brayne of manne, without ex- pres commande of God ; and this place of Scripture testifeis plainly of the worschipping of God inuentit be the brayne of manne, express contrar to the commande of God. And sua may we clearlie vnderstand that this first part of his syllogisme differis far fre the testimonie of Scripture, adducit be him for confirmatione of the samin ; bicaus thair is ane grete difference betuix the worschipping of God inuentit be manne,"without express commande of God, and the worschipping of God inuentit be manne, express contrar to the commande of God; the ane may neuer stand with the Scripture ; the vther aggreis with the Scripture, bayth Aulde Testament and New, as I half all reddy declarit." In fine the abbot insists that Saul " committit na ydolatrie," for " albeit the Scripture dois affirme that stubborness is as the wicketnes of ydol- atrie nochttheles stubbornes is nocht ydolatrie." Ane Oratioune set furth be Master Q,uintine Kennedy, Commendatour of Crosraguell, ye zeir of Gode 1561, pp. 5—8. Edinburgh, 1812. Note a. p. 67. Changes on the English Liturgy. — In the Communion-Book, as set forth in 1548, the words pronounced by the minister at delivering the bread were, " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul into everlasting life ;" and at the delivery of the cup, " The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee preserve," &c. As altered in the corrected Prayer Book of Edward VI. the words pronounced were, 'Take and eat this in re- membrance that Christ died for thee ; and feed on him in thy heart by faith — Drink this in remembrance Christ's blood was shed for thee, and be thankfiil." A rubric was also added, to be read at the cele- bration of the communion, declaring that, although the posture of kneeling was retained to signify our humble and grateful acknow- NOTES. 407 ledgment of the benefits of Christ, and to prevent pn fanatlon and disorder; yet " no adoration is intended or ought to be done, either to the sacramental bread and wine tliere bodily received, or unto any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood; for Ihe bread and wine retained their natural substances, and Christ's natural body was in heaven, and could not be in more places than one at the same time." Collier, ii. 310: Records, i\o. 70. In the settlement of religion, at the commencement of Elizabeth's reign, the old form of words at delivering the elements was superin- duced upon the new, which, like the patching of old and new cloth in a garment, marred the whole, and pleased neither Protestants nor Papists; and tiie rubric, explanatory of kneeling, was thrown out. At the restoration of Charles II. " the Church thought fit," says Collier, "to condescend so far as to restore the rubric of King Edward's reign," to please " some people either of weak judgments or conten- tious humours.*' A piece of condescension, with which the historian pretty plainly intimates his dissatisfaction. In the liturgy, which was attempted to be imposed upon the Scottish Church in 1(337, all the qualifications and explications in the last prayer-book of Edward VI. were completely excluded, and various expressions, postures, and gestures, favourable to the Popish notions and superstitions, were un- blushingly borrowed from the mass-book. But the rulers of the Church in the three kingdoms were then posting fast to Rome, when they were overturned in their mad career. Note R, p. 78. Sentiments of English Jleformers 7'especting the government and worship of the Church. — I shall endeavour to compress the body of evidence which can be produced for the conformity between the pri- vate sentiments of the English reformers respecting worship and church-government, and those of Knox, along with the reformers of Switzerland and Geneva. Hooper, in a letter dated Feb. 8, 1550, in- forms Bullinger that " the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Rochester, Ely, St. David's, Lincoln, and Bath, were sincerely bent on advancing the purity of doctrine, agreeing in all things with the Helvetic churches," Burnet, iii. 201. Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, in a letter to Gualter, Feb. 4, 1573, fervently exclaims, "O! would to God, would to God, once at last, all the English people would in good earnest propound to themselves to follow the Church of Zurich as the most absolute pattern." Strype's Annals, ii. 286. 342. Cranmer expressed his opinion formally in writing, that "the bish- ops and priests were at one time, and were no two things, but both ONE OFFICE in the beginning of Christ's religion." — " The Bishop of St. David's, my lord elect of Westminster, Dr. Cox, Dr. Redman, say that at the beginning they were all one." Collier, ii. Records, No. 49. Burnet, i. Append, pp. 223 — 225. Thirteen bishops, with a great num- ber of other ecclesiastics, subscribed this proposition, " that in the New Testament there is no mention made of any degrees or distinc- tions in orders, but only of deacons or ministers, and of priests or bish- ops." Burnet, ut supra, p. 324. Cranmer says, " In the New Testa- ment, he that is appointed a bishop or a priest needeth not consecra- tion, by the Scripture, for election or appointment thereto is suffi- cient."' And of the same judgment was the Bishop of St David's. Ibid. 228, 230. Latimer and Hooper maintained the identity of bish- ops and presbyters, by divine institution. Voetii. Polit. Ec( les. torn ii. p 837 This was "also the opinion of Pilkington, Bishop of Dur 408 NOTES. -ham. Treatise on the burning of St Paul's, apud Cald. Altare Uam- ascenum, p. 204. Bishop Jewel assents to it in his Answer to Har- ding, p. 121. And on the accession of Elizabeth, he expressed his hope, that "the bishops would become pastors, labourers, and watch- men, and that the great riches of bishoprics would be diminished and reduced to mediocrity, that, being delivered from regal and courtly pomp, they might take care of the flock of Christ." Burnet, iii. 288. In the same year. Dr. Aylmer addressed the right reverend bench in these terms: "Come off, you bishops, a wa}'- with your superfluities, yield up your thousands, be content with hundreds, as they be in other reformed churches, where there be as great learned men as you are. Let your portion be priestlike and not princelike. Let the queen have the rest of your temporalities and other lands to maintain these war- res which you procured, and your mistresse left her; and with the reste builde and found scholes thorow out the realme : that every parishe church may have his preacher, every city his superintendent, to live honestly and not pompously; which will never be onles your landes be dispersed and bestowed upon many which now feedeth and fatteth but one. — I would our countryman Wicliefe's boke which he wrote, De Ecclesia, were in print, and there should you see that your wrinches and cavillations be nothing worthie. It was my chaunce to happen of it in ones hand that brought it out of Bohemia." An Harbo- rowe for Faithful and Trew Subjects, sig. O, 4. Cranmer expressed himself in a similar strain respecting the " glorious titles, styles, and pomps," which were come into the c:hurch through the working of the spirit of Diotrephes, and professed his readiness to lay thenT aside. Strype's Cranmer, Append, p. 20. Burnet, iii. 105. Append, p. 88. In fact, the title of bishop was very generally disused in common speech during the reign of Edward VI. and that of superintendent substituted in its place. And this change of style was vindicated by Ponet, Bishop of Winchester, in an answer which he published to a Popish writer. Strype's Memorials of the Reformation, ii. 444, 445. It was proposed by Cranmer to erect courts similar to the kirk-ses> sions and provincial synods afterwards introduced into the Scottish Church. Burnet, iii. 214. Reformatio Leg. Eccles. cap. 8, 10. He ardently wished the suppression of prebendaries, "an estate," he said, " which St. Paule, reckoning up the degrees and estates allowed in his time, could not find in the Church of Christ." Burnet, iii. Ap- pend, pp. 157, 158. All the Protestant bishops and divines in the reign of Edward VI. were anxious for the introduction of ecclesiasti- cal discipline. Dr. Cox (Oct. 5, 1552) complains bitterly of the opposi- tion of the courtiers to this measure, and says, that, if it was not adopted, "the kingdom of God would be taken away from them." Latimer's Sermons, fol. cix. b. Lond. 1570. Strype's Memor. of the Reform, ii. 366. Repository of Orig. p. 150. Cranmer and his colleagues were far from, being satisfied with the purity of the last T'ommon Prayer Book of Edward ; and the primate had drawn up one which is said to have been "an hundred times more perfect." Troubles at Franckfort, p. 50. He and Ridley in- tended to procure an act for abolishing the sacerdotal habits ; " for they only defended their lawfulness, buf not their fitness." Burnet's Letters respecting Switzerland, &c. p. 52. Rotterdam, 1686. When Grindal was appointed to the bishopric of London, he "remained under some scruples of conscience about some things, especially the habits and certain ceremonies required to be used of such as were bishops For the reformed in these times," says Strype. " generally went uj)on the ground, that, in order to the complete freeing of tie Church of Christ from the errors and corruptions of Rome, eve) y NOTES. .JOS usage and custom practised by that apostate and idolatrous Cliurch siiould be abolished, — and tliat the service of God siiouid be most simple, stript of all that show, pomp, and appearance, that had been customarily used before, esteeming all that to be no better than super- stitious and anti-christian." Life of Grindal, p. 28. Horn and others had the same views and scruples. " By the letters," says Bishop Bur- net, "of which i read the originals, [in the archives of Zurich,] it ap- *^ears, that the bishops preserved the habits rather in compliance with ne queen's inclinations, than out of any liking they had to them; so far were they from liking, that they plainly expressed their dislike of khem." Burnet's Letters, ut supra, p. 5L Before they accepted the office, they endeavoured to obtain the abrogation of the ceremonies ; and when the act enjoining them passed, they were induced to com- ply chiefly by their fears that Papists or Lutherans would be put into their places. Strype's Annals, i. 175. Burnet, ii. 376, and his Sermon on Ps. cxlv. 15, preached before the House of Commons, Jan. 1688. Cox writes to BuUinger, 5th May, 1551, "I think all things in the church ought to be pure and simple, removed at the greatest distance from the pomps and elements of the world. But in this our church what can I do in so low a station 1" Strype's Memor. of the Reform, ii. 305. Burnet, iii. 202. Jewel, in a letter to Martyr, Nov. 5, 1559, calls the clerical habits "a stage-dress," (vestis scenica,) to which those alone were attached who " had nothing else to recommend them to the people, but a comical dress," — " stipites sine ingenio, sine doctrina, sine moribus, veste saltern comica volebant populo commendari." He engages that no exertions of his should be wanting to banish utterly these ridiculous trijies, "ludicris ineptiis," and relics of the Amorites, as his correspondent (he says) had well designed them. And, at a period still later, (Feb. S, 1566,)he writes to BuUinger, that he " wished that the very slightest footsteps of popery might be removed out of the church and minds of men ; but the queen would at that time suffer no change in religion." Burnet, iii. Append, p. 291. ii. Append, p. 351. Strype's Annals, i. 174. Grindal and Horn wrote to Zurich, that they did not approve of, but merely suffered, kneeling in the eucharist, and sign- ing with the cross in baptism, with some other ceremonies, hoping that they would speedily obtain their abrogation. Burnet, ii. 310, 314. As to Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, Pilkington of Durham, and Sands of Worcester, the non-conformists bear testimony, that these prelates discovered the greatest zeal in endeavouring to procure their abroga- tion. Ibid. iii. 316. The most respectable of the clergy in the lower house were of the same sentiments with the bishops on this subject. In the year 1562, the abrogation of the most offensive ceremonies was, afler long reasoning, put to the vote in the convocation, and carried by a majority of those present, but, when the proxies were included, there was found a majority of one for retaining them. The argu- ments used by Archbishop Parker's chaplains to prevail upon the house to agree to this, derived their chief force from their being un- derstood to be the sentiments of the queen. Burnet, ii. Append, pp. 319, 320. Strype's Annals, i. 298—300. From these facts (and a collection much more ample could easily De made) the reader will see who were the first puritans, and how very dilferent the sentiments of the English reformers were from those of their successors. Those good men who had the direction of ecclesi- astical affairs in the reign of Edward VI. thought it most prudent to proceed gradually and slowly, in removing the abuses, and correct- ing the evils, which had overspread the Church ; and to indulsre the people for a season with those external forms to which they had been habituated, that t.-.ey misht draw them more easily from their super 35 " B2 no NOTES. stitious notions and practices, and in due time perfect the reformatif r, to the satisfaction of all. The plan was plausible; but its issue was very ditferent from what was intended by those who proposed it. Nor was this unforeseen by persons who wished well to the Church of England. After the bishops had resolved to rest satisfied with the establishment which they obtained, and felt themselves disturbed by the complaints of the puritans, (as they were afterwards called,) they endeavoured to engage the foreign divines on their side; and having, by partial representations, and through the respect entertained for the government of England, obtained letters from them somewhat favourable to their views, they employed these to bear down such as pleaded for a more pure reformation. Whitgift made great use of this weapon in his controversy with Cartwright. Bishop Parkhurst wrote to Gualter, a celebrated Swiss divine, cautioning him on this head, adding, that he had refused to communicate some of Gualter's letters to Wfiitgifl; because, "if any thing made for the ceremonies, he presently clapped it into his book and printed it." Strype's Annals, li. 286, 287. But these divines had formerly delivered their unbiassed judgment, disapproving of such temporizing measures. Cranmer having signified to theGenevese Reformer, that he "could do nothing more profitable to the church, than to write often to the king," Calvin wrote a letter to the archbishop in 1551, in which he lamented the procrastination used, and expressed his fears, that "a long winter would succeed to so many harvests spent in deliberation." Epist. p. 62; Oper. torn. ix. Strype's Cranmer, p. 413. Peter Martyr, in June, 1550, gave it as his opinion, that "the innumerable corruptions, infi- nite abuses, and immense superstition, could be reformed only by a simple recurrence to the pure fountain, and unadulterated original principles." And the prudential advice, that as few changes as pos- sible should be made, he called "a device of Satan, to render the re- gress to Popery more easy." Burnet, iii. Append, p. 200. Gualter, in a letter dated Jan. 16, 1559, says, that such advices, though "ac- cording to a carnal judgment full of modesty, and apparently condu- cive to the maintenance of concord," were to be ascribed to " the pub- lic enemy of man's salvation;" and he prophetically warns those who suffered abuses to remain and strengthen themselves in England, that "afterwards they would scarcely be able to eradicate them by all their efforts and struggles." Ibid. iii. 273. Append, p. 265. Fuller says, that the English Reformers " permitted ignorant people to retain some fond customs, that they might remove the most danger- ous and destructive superstitions ; as mothers, to get children to part with knives, are content to let them play with rattles.'''' Very good ; but if children are suffered to play too long with rattles, they are in great danger of not parting with them all their days. Note S, p. 79. Plan of Edivard VI. for advancing the Reformation of the Church of England. — A plan of improvements in the English Church, which Edward VI. drew with his ovi^n hand, may be seen in Strype's Me- morials of the Reformation, ii. 341 — 343. He was desirous of the esscablishment of ecclesiastical discipline, but sensible that the incum- bent bishops were in general of such a description as to be unfit for its exercise. " Some for papistry," says he. " some for ignorance, some for their ill-name, some for all these, are men unable to execute disripline." Accordingly, he adds, "as for discipline, I would wish no authority given generally to all bishops ; but that commission be given to thpse NOTES. 411 of the best sort of them to exercise it in ;neir dioceses." King Ed- ward's Remains. Burnet, ii. Records, p. G9. Omitting otiier proofs of his intentions, 1 shall produce the decisive one of" his conduct towards the foreign churches settled in London under the inspection of John A Lasco. A Lasco was a Polish noble- man, who had forsaken his native country from love to the reformed religion. In his youth, he enjoyed the friendship of Erasmus, who, in one of his letters, passes a high encomium on him. " Senex, juvenis convictu, factus sum melior; ac sobrietatem, temperantiam, verecun- diam, linguae moderationem, modestiam, prudentiam, iiitegritatem, quam juvenis a sene discere debuerat, a juvene senex didici." ta-asmi Epist. lib. 28, ep. 3. He was oliered two bishoprics, one in his native country, and another in Hungary ; but he rejected both, and, retiring into Friesiand, became pastor of a Protestant congrejiation at Embden. CJerdes. Hist. Reform, iii. 145 — 150. The Protestant churclies in the Low Countries being dissipated in consequence of the troubles pro- duced by the Interim, he came to England at the pressing invitation of Cranmer, and was chosen superintendent of the German, French, and Italian congregations erected in London, which consisted of be- tween 3000 and 4000 persons. Strype's Cranmer, pp. 234 — 241. Gerdes. ut sup. pp. 150, 235. A Lasco afterwards published an account of the form of government and worship used in these congregations, which greatly resembled that which was introduced into Scotland at the establisliment of the Reformation. The affairs of each congregation were managed by a minister, ruling elders, and deacons ; and each of these offices was considered as of divine institution. Ut infra, fol. i. G, b. 11. The in- spection of the different congregations was committed to a superin- tendent, " who was greater only in respect of his greater trouble and care, not having more authority than the other elders, either as to the ministry of the word and sacraments, or as to the exercise of eccle- siastical discipline, to which he was subject equally with the rest" — "Cestu}'' est appelle, au preuilege du Roy, Superintendant, lequel est plus grand que les autres, seulement en ce qu' il a plus de peine et de soing que tous les autres, non seulement au gouuernement de toute I' Eglise, mais aussy a la defendre cGtre les effortz de tous ses aduer- saires, et a retenir vn consentement vnanime de tous, aux differens de la doctrine. D'avantage 11 n' a point plus d' autorite que les autres Ancies, au Ministere de la parole, et des sacremens, et en I' usage de la discipline de 1' Eglise, a la quelle il est subiect cume tous les autres. Et comme il a soing des autres au cause de son Ministere, parielle- ment il se soubmet au soing des autres, en 1' obeissance de la parole de Dieu, et obseruation de la discipline." Ut infra, fol. i. b. It is pro- per, however, to mention that A. Lasco, although he allows no supe- riority of office or authority to superintendents, considers that they were of divine appointment, and that Peter held this rank among the apostles. "Premierement que la Ministere de Superintendant, ou In- specteur, est vne ordonnance diuine en 1' Eglise de Christ, instituee du Seigneur lesus Christ etre les Apostres mesmes : quad il commanda a Pierre specialement, de confirmer ses autres freresen la foy. Kt non pas qu' il luy ait donne autorite sur les autres Apostres: comme le Pape de Rome songe : mais qu' il failloit retenir en 1' Eglise vne puis- sance egalle de tous les Apostres, auec Pierre per vng certain ordre d' une solicitude, des vns pour les autres: ainsy que tres bien I' enseigne sainct Ciprian martyr. Et aussy nous voyons manifestement. qu' un mesme Ministere est egalement attribue a tous les Anciens de I' Eglise qui sont nommez Inspecteurs, et en Grec Euesque.s. .\ous entendons aussy lean et faques auoir tel honneur que Pierre en I' Eglise de leru- 412 NOTES, salem. Mais a fin qu' il y ait quelque ordre, en vn mesme gouuerne ment Ecclesiastique, entre tous les Anciens, et que tout soil taict par ordre et iionnestement, ii le faut commencer a vn. Or pour ce qu'"' y a bien a faire de quelz, on doit comencer le gouuernement en toute i'Eglise; ores que tous les Anciens ayent vne mesme puissance." Toute la forme et maniere de Ministere Ecclesiastique en 1' Eglise des estragers, dressee a Londres en Angleterre. Par M. Jean a Lasco, Baron de Polonie. Traduit de Latin en Francois et imprimee par Giles Clematius. 1556, fol. 8, b. 9, a. Imposition of hands was used in the ordination of superintendents, ministers, ruling elders, and deacons. Ibid. fol. 27, 31, 35. The communicants sat at the Lord's table, and A Lasco spends a number of pages in proving that this posture is prefer- able to kneeling. Fol. 80 — 88. In fine, he says, " We have laid aside all the relics of Popery, with its mummeries, and we have studied the greatest possible simplicity in ceremonies." Ibid. fol. 79, b. Notwith.s*,anding these sentiments, and these pieces of disconfor- mity to the practice of the Church of England, A Lasco was held in the greatest esteem, and warmly patronized, not onlj' by Cranmer, but also by the young king, who granted him letters patent, erecting him and the other ministers of the foreign congregations into a body corporate. The patent runs in these terms : " Edward, &c. We being specially induced, by great and weighty considerations, and par- ticularly considering how much it becomes Christian princes to be animated with love and care of the sacred gospel of God, and apos- tolical religion, begun, instituted, and delivered by Christ himself, without wliich policy and civil government can neither subsist long nor maintain their reputation, unless princes and illustrious persons whom God hath appointed for the government of kingdoms, do first of all take care that pure and uncorrupted religion be diffused through the whole body of the commonwealth, and that a Church, instituted in truly Christian and apostolical doctrines and rites, be preserved, &c. with this intent and purpose, that there may be an uncorrupted inter- pretation of the holy gospel, and administration of the sacraments, ac- cording- to the word of God, and Apostolical observance, by the minis- ters of the Church of the Germans, &c. we command and strictly charge the mayor, &c. that they permit the said superintendent and ministers, freely and quietly to enjoy, use, and exercise their own pe- culiar ecclesiastical discipline, notwithstanding that they do not agree with the rites and ceremonies used in our kingdom," tfcc. The patent may be seen at large in Burnet, ii. Records, p. 202. Rut the ulterior design which the king intended to accomplish by the incorporation of this church, is what 1 have particularly in view. This is explicitly stated by A Lasco, in a book which he published in 1555. In his dedication of it to Sigismund, King of Poland, he says, " When I was called by that king, [Edward VI.] and when certain laws of the country stood in the way, so that the public rites of divine worship used under popery could not immediately be purged out (which the king himself desired ;) and when 1 was earnest for the foreign churches, it was at length his pleasure, that public rites of the English churches should be reformed by degrees, as far as could be got done by the laws of the country ; but that strangers, who were not strictly bound to these laws in this matter, should have churches granted unto them, in which they should freely regulate all things ivholly according to apos- tolical doctrine and practice, without any regard to the rites of the country; that by this means the Enfflish churches also might be ex- cited to embrace the apostolical purity, by the unanimous consent of all the estates of the kingdom. Of this project, the kine himself, from his great piety was both the chief author and the defender. For, altl.ough NOTES. 4 It was almost universally acceptable to the king's council, and the Archbishop ot" Canterbury proniotied it with all his niiglit, there were not wanting some who took it ill, and would have opposed it, had not his Majesty checked them by his authority, and the reasons which he adduced for the design." Again, in the Appendix to the same book, p. 049, he says, " The care of our Church was committed to us chiefly with thi^ view, that in the ministration thereof, we should follow the rule of the divine word and apostolical observance, rather than any rites of other churches. Jn line, we were admonished, both by the king himself, and his chief nobility, to use this great liberty granted to us in our ministry, rightly and faithfully, not to please men but for the glory of God, by promoting the reformation of his worship." The fol- lowing are the original words of the author : — "Cum ego quoque per Regem ilium vocatus essem : et leges quaedam patriae obstarent, quo- minus public! potissimum cultus divini ritus sub papismo usurpati (pro eo ac rex ipse cupiebat) repurgari protinus possent ; ego vero peregrinorum ecclesiis sedulo instarem, ita demum placuit, ut ritus publici in Anglicis Ecclesiis per gradus quosdam (quantum per leges patrias omnino liceret) repurgarentur : Peregrinis vero hominibus (qui patriis hac alioqui in parte legibus non usque adeo tenerentur) ecclesiae concederentur in quibus omnia libere, et nulla rituum patri- orum habita ratione (juxta doctrinam duntaxit atque observationem apostolicam) instituerentur, ita enim fore, ut Anglices quoque ecclesice ad puritatem apostolicam amplectendam unanimi onmium regni or- dinum consensu excitarentur. Eijus vero consilii rex ipsemet (pro sua pietate) praecipuus non autor tantum, sed etiam propugnator fuit. Etsi enim id in senatu regio omnibus propemodum placeret, ipseque Can- tuariensis archiepiscopus rem omnibus modis promoveret ; non dee- rant tamen qui id moleste ferrent, adeoque et reluctaturi fuerint huic instituto regio, nisi rex ipse, non tantum authoritate sua restitisset: sed productis etiam instituti hujus rationibus conatus eorum repres- sisset." De Ordinatione Ecclesiarum peregrinarum in Anglia. F.pist. Dedicat. p. 649. Larger extracts from this work may be seen in Voeti! Politica Ecclesiastica, tom. i. 420 — 422. * Had Mr. Gilpin been acquainted with these facts, he would have spoken with a little more moderation and respect concerning this ac- complished reformer, than he has done in the following passage. " By the favour ofEdward VI. he was allowed to open a church for the use of his own persuasion. But he made on!)'- a bad use of this indulgence ; interfering very impertinently in the controversies then on foot." Gilpin's Lives of Latimer and Gilpin, p. 243, Lond. 1780. Writers who, .ike tiilpin, deal in abridgments, should be very cautious and sparing in the reflections which they make on characters, as they are apt to mislead their readers, without furnishing them with the facts which would serve to correct their mistakes. Note T, p. SO. Chaplains of Edtvard VI. — The following account of the freedom used by the chaplains of Edward VI. in reproving the vices of the courtiers, is given by Knox, in his " Letters to the Faithful in London," &c. I quote from the MS. "How boldlie thair synis wer rebukeit, even in thair faces, sncheas wer present ran witnes with me. Almost thair wes none that ocrupyit the place [pulpit] but he did prophesie. and planelie speake. the plaguis that ar begun, and assuredlie sail end. Mr. Grindal planelie spak the deth of the kineis maieste, complayning on hishoushald servandisand 3.5* 414 NOTES. officeris, who nether eschameit nor feirit to rail] aganis Godis trew word, and aganis the preaclieris of the same. The godlie and lei'vent man, maister Lever, planelie spak the desolatioun of the commoun weill, and the plaguis whilk suld follow schortlie. Maister Bradfurde (whome God, for Chrystis his Sonis sake, comfort to the end) spared not the- proudest, but boldlie declareit that Godis vengence suld schortlie stryke thame that than wer in autoritie, becaus they abhorrit and lothed the trew word of the everlasting God. And amangis many uther vvillit thame to tak exempill be the lait duck of Somerset, who became so cald in hering Godis word, that the yier befoir his last ap- prehensioun, hie wald ga visit his masonis, and wald not dingyie* himself to ga from his gallerie to his hall for heringof asermone. God punnissit him (said the" godlie preacher,) and that suddanlie; and sail hie spair you that be dowbill mair wickit? No; hie sail not.f VVill ye, or will ye not, ye shall drink the cupe of the Lordis wrath. Judicium domini ! judicium domini ! the judgment of the Lord ! the judgment of the Lord ! lamentabillie cryit hie, with weipping teiris. Maister Had- den most learnedlie opinit the causis of the bypast plagis, affirmyng that the wors were to follow, unless repentance suld schortlie be found. Thir things, and mekill mair 1 hard planelie spokin, efter that the haill counsale had said, they wald heir no mo of thair sermonis ; they wer but indifferent fellowis; ye, and sum of thame eschameit not to call them pratting knaves. But now will I not speik all that I knaw, for yf God continew my lyfe in this trubill, I intend to prepair ane dischefor suche as than led the ring in the gospell , but now thay half bene at the scule of Placebo, andamangis laddis [ladies] hes learnit to dance, as the devill list to pype !" pp. 120, 121, With Knox's representation exactly agrees the affecting " Lamen- tation for the change of religion in England," composed in prison by Bishop Ridley, in which he names our countryman, along with Lati- mer, Lever, and Bradford, as distinguishing themselves by the faith- fulness and boldness with which they censured the vices which reigned at court. I would willingly make extracts from it, but must refer the reader to the paper itself which he will find inserted at large in the account of the bishop's trial and martyrdom, by Fox, p. 1614 — 1620. Edit. anno. L596. Grindal was an exile during the reign of Mary, and, under Eliza- beth, was made successively Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas Lever was a very learned man, and Master of St. John's College, Cambridge. He was Knox's colleague at Frankfort. Upon the accession of Elizabeth, he was ad- mitted to a prebend in the cathedral of Durham, but was afterwards deprived of it on account of non-conformity. He seems to have been allowed to preach through the country, and, in 1577, died Master of Sherburn Hospital. Some of his sermons are in print. Troubles of Franckfort. pp. 13—28. Strype's Parker, p. 212. App. 11. Grindal, 170. Annals, iii. 512 — 514. Hutchinson's Durham, ii. 594. John Bradford was in prison when Knox wrote the above account of him, and was soon after committed to the flames. James Haddon had been chaplain to the Duke of Suffolk, and went to Strasburg at the death of Edward VI. He was chosen, along with Knox, to be one of the ministers of the English Church at Franckfort, but declined accepting the office. Troubles of Franckfort, 13, 16, 23. Strype's Annals, ii Appen \. p. 46. • t. e. deign: n the printed copies it is "disease himself." t The printed opies are unintelligible here. NOTES, Note U, p. 82. Tlic Cor.fession or Prayer, composed and used by Knox, after the deatti of Edward VI. and the accession of Mary, shows tlie state of liis mind at that crisis, and refutes the unfounded charees of the Popish, and of some Episcopal writers, that he was guilty of stirring up rebel- lion against the queen. I extract it from his treatise on Prayer, printed in 1554, which is now exceedingly rare. " Omnipotent and everlasting God, father of our Lorde Jesus Chryste, who be thy eternal providence, disposeth kingdoms as best seameth to thy wisdom, we acknowledge and confesse thy judgmentis to be righteous, in that thou hast taken from us, for our ingratitude, and for abusinge of thy most holy word, our native king, and earthly com- forter. " Justly may thou poure forth upon us the uttermoste of thy plagues; for that we have not knowen the dayes and tymos of our merciful visitacion. We have contempned thy worde, and de- spised thy mercies. We have trangressed thylawes: fbr deceitfully have we wrought everie man with our neighbours; oppression and violence we haVe not abhorred ; charitie hath not appeared among us, as our profession requireth. We have little regarded the voices of thy pi'ophets; thy threatnings we have esteemed vanitie and wynd: so that in us, as of ourselfis, restis nothing worthy of thy mercies. For all are found frutless, even the princes with the prophets, as withered trees apt and mete toe be burnt in the fyre of thy eternal displeasure. But, O Lord, behold thy own mercy and goodness, that thou may purdge and remove the most filthy burden of oure most horrible offences. Let thy love overcome the severitie of thy judgmentis, even as it did in geving to the world thy onely Sonne Jesus when all man- kynde was lost, and no obedience was lefte in Adam nor in his sede. Regenerate our hartes, O Lord, by the strength of the Holy Ghost. Convert thou us, and we shall be converted. Work thou in us un- feigned repentance, and move thou our hartes too obey thy holy lawes. Behold our trobles and apparent destruction ; and stay the sword of thy vengeaunce, before it devoure us. Place above us, O Lord, for thy great mercies sake, such a head, with such rulers and magistrates, as feareth thy name, and willeth the glory of Christ Jesus to spred. Take not from us the light of thy euangely, and suffer thou no papistrie to prevail in this realme. Illuminate the harte of our soveraigne ladye, quene Marie, with prignant gifts of thy Holy Ghoste. And inflame the hartes of her counsayl with thy trew fear and love. Represse thou the pryde of those that wolde rebelle. And remove from all hartes the contempte of the worde. Let not our enemies rejoyce at our destruc- tion ; but loke thou too tiie honor of thy own name, O Lorde, and let thy gospell be preached with boldnes in this realme. If thy justice must punish, then punish our bodies with the rodde of thy mei-cy. But, O Lord, let us never revolte nor turne backe to idolatrie agayne. Mytigate the hartes of those that persecute us, and let us not faynte under the crosse of our Saviour ; but assist us with the Holy Ghoste, even to the end." Note V, p. 99. Call and Invitation to Knox from, the English Congregation at Franrkfort. — " We haue receiued letters from oure brethren off Strausbrough, but not in suche sorte and ample wise as we looked for, wheruppon we assembled together in the II. Goaste we hope, and haue with one voice and consent chosen yow so particulerly to be one 416 NOTES. off the ministers off our congregation here, to preache vnto vs the most liuely vvorde off God, accordinge to the gift that God hathe giuen you, for as much as we haue here throughe the merciful goodnes off God acharche to be congregated together in the name off Christe and be all off one body, and also beinge of one natio, tonge, anc countrie. And at this presente, hauing neede off suche a one as yow we do desier yow, and also require yow in the name off God not tc deny vs, nor to refuse theis oure requests, but that yow will aide, helpe, and assiste vs with your presence in this our good and godlie enterpiise, which we haue take in hand to the glorie off God and the profit off his congregation and the poore sheepe off Christ dispersed abroad who withe your and like presences, woulde come hither and be of one folde, where as nowe they wander abroad as loste sheepe, without anie gide. We mistruste not that yow will ioifully accepte this callinge. Fare ye well from Franckford this 24. off September. " Your louinge brethern, lohn Bale Edmond Sutton lohn Makebraie. William VVhittingham Thomas wood Mighell Gill Thomas Cole lohn Stanton lohn Samford William Williams William Walton lohn Wood George Chidley Jasper swyft Thomas Sorby William Hammon lohn Geofrie Anthony Cariar Thomas Steward lohn Graie Hugh Alforde." A Brieff Discours off the Troubles begonne at Franckford in Ger- many Anno Domini 1554. Abowte the Booke of Common prayer and Ceremonies. Pag. xix. xx. Printed 1575. Note W. p. 105. Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione quererites ? Knox was accused by the English exiles of High Treason, because he charged Queen Mary with cruelty, and said that the Emperor was as great an enemy to Christ as Nero. But his accusers, it might easily be shown, used stronger language on this subject than ever he did. Mr. Strype informs us that the Protestants who felt and outlived the persecution of Mary, used the very worst epithets in speaking of her character. Memorials of the Reform, iii. 472. We need no other proof of this than the Oration composed by John Hales, and pro- nounced by a nobleman before Q,ueen Elizabeth, at her entrance upon the government. Speaking of the late persecution under Mary, the orator exclaims, "O cruelty! cruelty ! far exceeding all crueltys coir>- mitted by those ancient and famous tyrants, and cruel murderers, Pharaoh, Herod, Caligula, Nero, Domitian. Maximine, Dioclasian, Decius; whose names for their cruel persecution of the people of God, and their own tyranny practised on the people, have been, be, and ever shall be in perpetual hatred, and their souls in continual tor- ments in hell." The late Queen he calls " Athalia, malinnuti Mary, unnatural loom.an ; no, no woman, but a monster, and the Dt-vil of hell, covered with the shape of a woman.^' See Works of the Rev. Samue.' Johnston, p. 144. Nor did they speak in more civil terms of foreign princes. Take NOTES. 417 for an example, the invective of Aylmer against the French king, Henry II. *' Is he a king or a devil, a Christian, or a Lucifer, that bi his cursed confederacie so encourageth the Turke ! Oh ! wicked catife and (ierebrand of hell, which, for th' increasing of his ponipe and vayn glory, (which he shall not long enjoy,) wil betray Christ and his cross, to his mortal enemy. Oh, foolisli Germains! which see not their own undoing, which conspire not together with the rest of Christian prin- ces to pull such a traytour to God, and his kingdom, by the eares out of France, and hang him against the sonne a drying. The devill hath none other of his sede nowe but him, to maintain both the spiritual and the temporall antichryste, the Pope and the Turke. Wherefore seeing he hath forsaken God, lyke an apostata, and sold himself to the devil, let us not doubte but God will be with us against him, whenso- ever he shall seek to wrong us; and I trust he will now, in the latter age of the worlde, show his myght in cuttynge of this proude Holo- fernes' head by the handes of our Judith. Oh ! blessed is that man that loseth his lyfe against such a Termagaunt ! Yea, more blessei^ shall they be that that "spend their lyves against him than against hi/, great maister, the Turke: for the Turke never understode the cros.3 of Christ; but this Turkish apostata is named a devellis name, Chris- tianissimus, and is in the very heart of Christendome, and lyke a traiterous Saracene, is Christ's enemy." Harborowe for Faithfull Subjects, Q. I. Strasborowe, 1559. I do not find Collier, nor other high-church historians, quoting or commenting upon such language. On the contrary, Aylmer is praised by them for " his handsome pen," while every opportunity is taken to inveigh against the virulence of our Reformer. We may safely chal- lenge them to prove that he ever indulged in language so intemperate, or so disrespectful to princes, as that which I have just quoted. NoteX, p. 113. Canons of Scottish Councils. — " When a house is in flames,'" says Lord Hailes, " it is vain to draw up regulations for the bridling of joists or the sweeping of chimneys." Such was the situation of the Popish Church in Scotland, when the clergy began to speak of reforming abuses. The 21st canon of the council which met in 1549, ordains that there should be a reader of theology in each cathedral church, whose lectures should be attended by the bishop and canons, "si vo- luntas fuerit;" and also a lecturer on canon law. The 22d canon de- crees that there should be a lecturer on theology in each monastery. Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 52. The 26th canon enjoins the rectors of uni- versities to see that the students are well instructed in Latin grammar and in logic. The 28th appoints the ordinaries to call all the curates within their bounds before them, to examine them anew, and to reject those who are found insufficient for their office. The last eight ca- nons were intended to regulate the consistorial courts. Ibid. pp. 53, 58, 59. To the I4th canon of the council which sat in 1 551-2, we owe the establishment of our parochial registers of proclamation of banns and baptisms. After renewing former statutes against clandestine marriages, and in favour of proclamation of banns of marriage, the canon goes on to enact, " Ut sinLMili cnrati deinceps haheant regist- rum, in quo nomina infantum baptizatorum inscribantur, una curn nominibus personarum, qu?e talium baptizatorum parentes cnmmuni' ter habentur el reputantur. nee non compatrum et commatrnm, cum die, anno, mense, adscriptis etiam dnohus testibiis notent ; quod etiam ipsum in bannorum proclamationibus servetur, quas prssens conven- es 418 NOTES. tio in e(;clesiis parochialibus tarn viri quam mulieris respective, si di- versarum fuerint parochiarum, fieri niandat; quae equidem registra inter pretiosissima ecclesiae jucalia conservari vult et praecipit, quod- que decani in suis visitationibus desuper diligentem indaginem faciant, et deficientes ad commissarios referant, ut graviter in eosdem ani- madvertatur." VVilkins, ut sup. pp. 71, 72. The 6th canon enacts regulations respecting testaments. On this subject, the following quotation, fi-om the proceedings of a council in 1420, will serve to explain the canon which modified the exaction of mortuaries, mentioned in p. 377. The clergy of each diocese reported on oath to the council, " That the practice was first to pay the dehts of the deceased, and then to divide his effects into three equal por- tions, whereof one was given to his widow, and one to his children: That the executors bestowed the remaining third in payment of lega- cies, and for the soul of the deceased (pro exequiis et anima defuncti:) That of this third or dead's part (defuncti pars) the executors were wont to pay, or to compound with the ordinary, at the rate of five per cent for the expense of confirmation." Chartulary of Moray, apud Lord Haile"s Prov. Councils, p. 23. Besides the five per cent claimed by the bishop, we have already seen that the vicar had twenty per cent, even according to the mitigated arrangement, before any legacy was paid. No mention is made of the case of a person leaving neither wife nor children ; and there it was, says Lord Hailes, " that the clergy reaped their harvest." He might have added the case of persons d3ing intestate, to whom the bishops had the power of naming execu- tors. That was the golden age of the clergy, when they were under no necessity of instituting processes for augmentation from unexhausted teinds, or of count and reckoning to recover the use of funds destined to their support ! NoteY, p. 113. Of the Catechism commonly called Archbishop Hamilton's. — Very different and discordant accounts have been given of this book. My account is taken from the catechism itself, compared with the canon of the council which authorized its use. The title is as follows : — "The Catechisme, That is to say, ane comone and catholik instruc- tioun of the christin people in materis of our catholic faith and reli- gioun, quhilk na gud christin man or woman suld misknaw: set furth be ye maist reuerend father in God Johne Archhischop of sanct And- rous Legatnait and primat of ye kirk of Scotland, in his prouincial counsale haldin at Edinburgh the 26th day of Januarie the zeir of our Lord 1551, with the aduise and counsale of the bischoippis and other prelatis, with doctours of Theologie and Canon law of the said realme of Scotland present for the tyme^ — S. Aug. libro 4 de trinitate, cap. 6. — Contra rationem nemo sobrius, contra scripturam nemo christianus, contra ecclesiam nemo pacificus senserit. — Agane reasone na sober man, agane scripture na christin man, agane the kirk na peaceabil or quiet man will iudge, or hald opinoun." On the back of the title are two copies of Latin verses, " Ad Pivm Lectorem." The title, preface by the archbishop, and " table of materis," are on thirteen leaves. The catechism begins on folio i. and ends on folio ccvi, after which there are three pages of errata, on the last of which is the following colophon. OO" " Prentit at Sanct Androus, be the command and ex- pesis of the maist reuerend father in God, Johne Archhisohop of sanct Androus, and primat of ye hail kirk of Scotland, the 29th day of Au gust, the zeir of our Lord 1552." NOTES. 419 The archbishop's epistle addressed to " Personls, Vicars, and Cu- rattis," prefixed to the catechism, inlbrnis us of its design and use. " First to your awin erudition. — Secundly, According to the decreit maid in our prouincial counsale, our will is that ye reid ye saymn catechisme diligently, distinctly, and piaaily, ilk ane of yow to your awin parochianaris for thair comon instructioun and spiritual edihca- tioun in the word of God. necessarie of thame to be knawin." The canon of the council provides that it be read " omnibus doniinicis et festivis," which is thus explained in the close of the archbishop's epistle : " Euerilk Sonday and principal halydai, quehn yair commis na pre- cheour to thame to schaw thame the word of God, to haue yis cate- chisme usit and reid to yame in steid of preching, quhil [until] God of his gudnes prouide ane sufficient nowmer of catholyk and abil pre- cheouris, quhiik sal be within few yeiris as we traist in God." As it is entitled a catechism, was printed in the vulgar language, is said to be designed for the instruction of the people, and no prohibition of its use is mentioned in the book itself, we might be apt to conclude, that it was intended to be circulated among the people, and to be pro- miscuously read ; and accordingly several writers have represented the matter in this light. But that this was very far from being the de- sign of those who approved and set it forth, is placed beyond all doubt by the directions which the council gave respecting it, both to the archbishop and to the clergy. " Cujus quidein libri exemplaria omnia, ubi excusa fuerint, prssentari ipsi reverendissimo mandat et ordinat praesens concilium, ut ipse singulas tam suis ecclesiasticis, quam aliis singulis locorum ordinariis, quot cuique diocesi pro rectorum, vica- riorum, ac curatorum numero et multitudine sufficere videntur, eis tribuat ; reliqua vero apud ipsum reverendissimum remaneant, et firma custodia serventur, prout tempus et necessitas posfVilaverint, disper- tienda. Caveant vero ipsi rectores, vicarii. et curati, ne sua exem- plaria secularibus quibusque indiscrete communicent, nisi ex judicio, concilio, et discretione sui ordinarii ; quibus ordinariis licebit nonnullis probis, gravibus, bonse fidei, ac discretis viris laicis, ejusdem catechismi exemplaria communicare, et lis potisimum, qui videbuntur potius suce instructionis causa, quam curiositatis cujuscunque eadem expetere."' Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 72. Lord Hailes had therefore reason for saying (in opposition to Mackenzie's tale to the archbishop allowing "theped- lers to take two pennies for their pains in hawking it abroad") that the council " uses as many precautions to prevent it from coming into the hands of the laity, as if it had been a book replete with the most pesti- lent heresy." Provincial Councils, p. 36. It would have been impru- dent to insert the proiiibition in the book itself, copies of which, not- withstanding all their precautions, would come into tiie hands of im- proper persons ; but the canon of the council remained the rule for regulating the clergy in the use of it. Nor is there any thing in the catechism which is inconsistent with the canon, or which implies that it was to come into the hands of the people. It is all along supposed that they were to be instructed by hearing, not by reading it. This is particularly evident from the concluding address. " O Christin pepil, we exhort yow with all diligence, heir, understand, and keip in your remembrance, the haly wordis of God, quhiik in this present catechisme are trewly and catholykly exponit to your .spiritual edification." And again : " Gif ye persaif be frequent heiring heirof your self spiritually instruckit mair than ye haue bein in tymes bygane, geue the thankis thairof only to God." If any of the hearers presumed to move any controversy respecting the passage read from the catechism, they were to be delivered over to the inquisitors, and no clergyman was allowed to answer their 420 NOTE^ questions, or to enter into any dispute with them on the si Dject, un- , less ne had a written licence for this from his bishop. "Hoc tamen proviso, ut non liceat cuiquam auditorum super lectis, aut modo quo supra recitatis, controversiam ipsi rectori seu vicario seu curato movere. Et si aliquis id attentare praesumpserit deferatur inquisitori- bus haereticce pravitatis ; nee vicissim licebit ulli rectori, vicario, seu curato, nisi ad hoc ipsum (specialiter habita consideratione ipsius qualilicationis) fuerit ab ordinario loci ei facultas concessa in scriptis, ullis controversias et quaestiones hujusmodi moventibus desuper re- spondere, aut disputationes ingredi, sed mox respondeatur, se hujus- modi disputationis resoiutiones ad ipsos ordinarios remittere, et hoc sub poena privationis ab hujusmodi officio seu beneficio." Wilkins, ut supra, p. 73. The catechism consists of an explication of the ten commandments, the apostles' creed, the seven sacraments, the Lord's prayer, and the Ave Maria. Lord HaiJes has animadverted on Keith for saying that the author shows " his wisdom and moderation in handsomely eviting to enter upon the controverted points;" and he has given extracts from it asserting the doctrine of transubstantiation, the propriety of withholding the cup from the laity, and of prayers to the saints. Prov. Councils, pp. 35, 36. I may add, that the use of images in wor- ship, purgatory, prayers for the dead, the removal of original sin by baptism, the sinlessness of concupiscence after baptism, the mystical signification of the ceremonies practised in that ordinance, — the exor- cism, or blowing upon the child at the church door, and making the sign of the cross on its brow and breast, putting salt into its mouth, anointing its nostrils and ears with spittle, and its breast and back with oil, with the application of chrism to the forehead, the clothing of it with the cude, or white linen cloth, and putting a lighted torch or candle into its hand ; these, with other doctrines and ceremonies of the Popish Church, are all taught and vindicated. At the same time, while the opinions peculiar to Popery are stated and defended, there is an evident design of turning away the attention of the people from these controversies, by reminding them of their duty to "belief as the haly catholic kirk beliefis ;" and a great part of the book is occupied in declaring duties and general doctrines about which there was no dispute between Papists and Protestants. Considerable art is also used in introducing some of the most exceptionable articles of Poper)' under the cover of unquestionable truths. Thus, on the question, "duhat things suld move us to belief the word of God"!" The first reason which is given is, " Ye eternal and infallible veritie of God, fra whom na lesing may procede, na mair than myrknes may cum fra the cleir schenand sonne." But how gradually and artfully are the people led away from the Scriptures in what follows! " The secund thing that suld moue us to belief the word of God, and to knaw quhilk is the worde of God, quhilk are the haly bukis quharin the word of God is contenit, and quhat is the trew sense of the same bukis, is ye consent and authoritie of our mother the haly kirk, fia the apostils tyme hitherto, and specially quhen it is lawfully gadderit be the Haly Spirit in ane general counsel, quhairof sainct Augustine sals thus : — 'I wold nocht gif credence to the euangel. except that the universal kirk warnis me sa to do.' And tharfor lair thir twa lessonis. The ane is, quhatsaeuir the haly spirit reuelis and schawls to us, other in the bukis of haly scripture, or in ye determinatiouns and dejinitiouns of general counsellis, lawfully gadderit for the corroboracion and main- tenans of our faith, we suld belief ye same to be trerv word of God, and thairto gyf ferme credence as to the verite that is infallible. The NOTES. 421 second lesson, ye that ar simple and unleirnit men and wemen suld expressly beliel" al the artickils of" your Ciede, as for all uthir hie mis- lenes and matteris of tiie scripture ye aucht to belief generally as the kirk of God beleifiis. And this faitlj is sufficient to yow, for the per- fectioun of that faith quhilk ye are bund to haif." Fol. xiv. b. xv. a. A specimen of the same kind occurs on tlie question, How is the true sense of the Scripture to be discerned 1 wliere, after being gravely taught the usefiilness of collating one place with another, and attend- ing to the connection of the passage, tiie people are told that tiiis be- longs to such as have the gilt called interpretutio sermonum, and are then devoutly set down at the feet of the doctors of the Church, and taught implicitly to receive the decisions of councils. "Quharfor, he that will nocht heir, resaif, and obey ye defiinitionis and determina- tionis of lauchful general counsellis concerning materis of our faith, he is noclrt to be accountit a trew C'hristin man, according to the wordis of our Salviour, — 'Gif he will nocht heir the kirk, lat him be to the as ane infidele, unchristinit, and ane publican.' Thus ye haif quha is ane herityk, and how he brekis the first command." Fol. xviii. b. xix. b. As all who question the infallible decisions of the Church are pro- nounced guilty of a breach of the first commandment, the Roman Ca- tholics are, with no less ease, exculpated from a breach of the second, by the insertion of a convenient parenthesis. The I'eader will observe, that, according to a division of the law first countenanced by Augus- tine, and of which the Popish Church is extremely fond, the first and second commandments are thrown into one, and, to make up the number, the tenth is split into two; although the compilers of the cate- chism found it impracticable to keep to this last division in their ex- plication. The following is their enunciation of the first command- ment: " I am ye Lord thi God, quhilk hais brocht ye fra the land of Egj'pt, fra the house of bondage. Thow sail haif no other goddis but me, thou sal nocht make to thee {as gods) ony grauit j'^mage, nother ony simiUtudeofony thing that is in the heuinabone, or in ye erd beneth, nor of ony thing yat is in the watter under the erd. Thow sal nocht adore yame, nor worschip yame {as goddis.'") Fol. xii. a. It is fair, however, to hear the explication which the authors of the catechism give respecting images. " Ar ymages aganis the first command ] Na, sa thai be well usit. Q,uhat is the rycht use of ymages ! Imagis to be made na haly writ forbiddis (sais venerabil Bede) for the sycht of thame, specially of the crucifixe, giffis greit compunction to thame quhilk behaldis it with faith in Christ, and to yame that are unletterat, it geffis a quik re- membrance of ye passion of Christ. Salomon in tyme of his wisdom, nocht without the inspiration of God, made ymages in ye temple. Mosyes the excellent prophet and trew seruand of God, made and ereckit a brassin ymage of a serpent, (quhilk figurit the lifting vp of our Salwiour Jesus Christ vpon the crosse,) and als, be the cumand of God, causit mak the ymages of twa angellis callit cherubinis, quhilk thing thir twa sa excellet men in wisedome wald neuir haif done, gif the makin of ymages war aganis ye cumand of God. Bot utterly yis command forbiddis to mak ymagis to that effect, that thai suld be adornit and wirschippit as goddis, or with ony godlie honour, ye quhilk sentence is expremit by thir wordis: Non adorabis ea neq ; coles. Thow sail nocht adore yame nor wirschip thame as goddis. Now we suld nocht gif goddis honour, or Christis honour to ony ymage, but to God allanerly, representit be ane ymage." Fol. xxiii. b. In the explication of the fifth article of the Creed, is a particular ac- count of the four p >ces in hell; infernus damnatorum, puerorum, pur- 36 422 NOTES. gandorum, et patrum. The following prot ''is given of our Saviour'a descent into hell, to deliver the saints who had been confined in the last mentioned place until the time of his death. " Also ye same de- lieurace was prophesit to the prophet Osee : Ero mors tua, o mors, ero morsus tuus, o inferne. O dede (says our Saluiour) / sal be thi dede — O hei I sal bite the. The man yat bytes ony thing, he takis part to him, and lattis part remaine behind. Sa our Saluiour passand doune to hell, he fulfyllit this prophesye, takand part of saulis out fra hell svith him, and leiffand part behind him. Q,uhom tuk he with him .' bot thame that was holy and gude, quhilk was haldin thair as preson- aris." Fol. cviii. Upon the whole, this catechism has been written with great care, and the style is by no means bad. It is singular that it should have been so little noticed by the writers of that age, and that 't does not appear who was its compiler. The provincial council '"»i^'x.ribe it merely as " a certain book written in the vulgar and Scottish dialect, — librum quendam vulgari et Scotico idiomate conscriptum;" and having examined and approved of it, they commit to the archbishop, as primate, the care of seeing it printed. As it was printed at his ex- pense, and as his name appears on the title page and colophon, it has been usually called Archbishop Hamilton's Catechism. But there is not the least reason for thinking that the primate would have taken the trouble to compose a book consisting of 411 pages quarto, even although he had been in other respects, qualified for the task. Bale, in his account of Scottish writers, mentions " Joannes Wouram, vel Wy- rem," whom he calls "a canon regular in St. Andrews;" and he as- cribes to him "a catechism in his vernacular language, scripsit in vul- gari sermone catechismum fidei." Scriptores M. Brytanni* Post. Pars, p. 224. I have little doubt that John Winrara, sub-prior of the abbey of St. Andrews, and afterwards superintendent of Fife, is the person to whom Bale refers. Could he be the author of the catechism under consideration ? Though early regarded as favourable to the reformed opinions, Winram did not leave the Popish Church until a very late period ; and his conduct, during the intermediate struggle, was extremely ambiguous, and often contradictory. The clergy fre- quently availed themselves of his talents, and of his reputation with the people, to diminish the odium of their obnoxious measures, or to recommend their partial and inefficient plans of reform. He was em- ployed to preach at the trial of Wishart, and was present at the trials of "Wallace and Mill. Fox, 1 155, 1158, IlGl, edit. 159G. He was a member of the provincial council which met in 1549, and is styled, in the register, " ecclesiae metrop. primitialis, S. Andreae canonicus regu- laris, supprior, theologiae doctor." Wilkins, ut supra, p. 46. That council employed him to draw up the canon intended to settle the ridiculous dispute, which had been warmly agitated among the clergy, whether the Pater Noster should be said to the saints, or to God alone. Comp. Fox, llGl, with Wilkins, 57, 58. And in the council which sat in 1559, he was nominated one of the six persons to whose examination and admonition the Archbishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow submitted their private conduct. Wilkins, p. 209.* Spotswood seems to have confounded this catechism with a smaller treatise called by the people The twa-penny Faith. History, p. 92. This last was set forth by the council which met in 1559. Knox, His- torie, pp. 109, 110. The following extracts from the proceedings of * In a list of books belonging to the university of St. Andrews, Winram's Catechism is entered as a work distinct from that of Hamilton. Life of Andrew Melville, vol. i p. 191. NOTES. 423 that council may, perhaps, throw some light on the history of this publication. The Roman Catholic Remonstrants, in their representa tions to the council, required, "yat yar be an godlie and fruitfull dec- laration set forth in Inglis toung, to be first shevvin to the pepill at all times, quhen the sacrament of the blissit body and blud of Jesus Christ is exhibit and distribut, and sicklyke, when baptism and marriage are solemnizit, in face of halie kirk ; and yat it be declarit to yaim, yat assist at the sacraments, quhat is the effect yarof, and yat it be sperit at yam be ye prist ministrant, gif yai be reddy to resave the sanien ; with sick utheris interogatories, as ar necessar for instructing of the poynts of men's salvation, and requires to be answerit unto be all yai, that wald be participant, etc. and yir things to be done before ye using of ye ceremony of haily kirk," etc. Wilkins, ut supra, pp. 207, 208. The following canon of the council seems to contain the answer to this petition. "Insuper ut populus Christianus sacramentorum ecclesise verum effectum, vim ac usum facilius ac commodius intelli- gere valeat, statuit hoc praesens concilium quasdam. cafholicas exhor- tationes, easque succinctas declurationes sacramentorum baptismi, sacrosanctae eucharistia), extremae unctionis, matrimonii, auctoritate hujus concilii edendas, et inferius inserendas, quas singuli parochi, vel alii presbyteri eorundem sacramentorum legitimi ministri, ipsa sacra- menta ministraturi, singulis suam propriam et debitam exhortationem prajmittant, et publice et distincte recitent, et legant singuli curati et vicarii, dum sacrse missaj sacrificium diebus dominicis et aliis majori- bus festis sunt celebraturi, infra scriptam exhortationem ; et ejusdem sacrificii declarationem publice in ecclesia similiter legant, quo popu- lus christianus majori pietatis effectu rebus divinis assistat, et inter- sit," &c. Wilkins, ut supra, p. 213. These Exhortations and Declara- tions were not inserted in the MS. from which Wilkins copied. I am inclined to think that they were published, and that they formed what was called, in derision, The two-penny Faith. Comp. Buchanani Open i. 312. Note Z, p. 127. Knox^s Letter of Instruction to the Protestants of Scotland during^ his absence. — In the first edition I printed this letter in the Appendix as an unpublished paper. I have since discovered a printed copy; but as it is exceedingly rare, and as the letter itself is so valuable, I shall insert it in this place. " To his brethren in Scotland efter hie had bene quyet among fhame. The comfort of the haiJe Gaist for salutatioun. "Not sa mekill to instruct you as to leave with you, dearlie belovit brethren, sum testimony of my love, I have thought gud to communi- cate with you, in theis few lynis, my weak consall, how I wald ye suld behave yourselves in the middis of this wickit generatioun, tuiching the exercis of Godis maist hailie and sacred word, without the whilk, nether sail knawledge incres, ffodlines apeir, nor fervencie continew amang vow. For as the word of God, is the begyning of lyfe spi- ritual], without whilk all flesche is deid in Godis presence, and the lanterne to our feit. without the bryghtnes whairof all the posteritie of Adame doith walk in darknes, and as it is the fundament of faith, without the whilk na man understandeth the gud will of God, sa is it also the onlie organe and instrument whilk God useth to strenthin the weak, to comfort the afflictit, to reduce to mercie be repentance sic as have sliddin, and finallie to preserve and keip the verie lyfe of the saule in all assaltis and temtationis, and thairfoir yf that ye desyr 424 NOTES. your knawledge to be incressit, your faith to be confirmit, your con- sciencis to be quyetit and comfortit, or finallie your saule to be preser- vit in lyfe, lat your exercis be frequent in tlie law of yoiu" Lord. God; despys not that precept whilli Moses, (who, be his awn experience had Jearnit what comfort lyeth within tiie word of God,) gave to the Isralitis in theis wordis: ' Theis wordis whilk 1 command the this day salbe in thi hart, and thou sal exercis thi children in thame, thou sal talk of thame when thou art at home in thi hous, and as thou walkest be the way, and when thou lyis doun, and when thou rysis up, and thou sail bind thame lor a signe upon thi hand, and thay salbe paperis of remem- brance betwene thi eis, and thou sail write thame upon the postis of thi hous and upon thi gatis.' And Moses in another place conunari- dis thame to ' remember the law of the Lord God, to do it, that it may be Weill unto thame, and with thair children in the land whilk the Lord sail gif thame ;' meanyng that, lyke as I'recpient memorie an 1 I'epetitioun of Godis preceptis is the middis whairby the leir of God, whilk is the begynning of all wisdome and lilicitio, is keipit recent in mynd, sa as negligence and oblivioun of Godis benetiiis ressavit the first grie of defectioun fra God. Now yf the law, whiik he leasone ol our weakness can wiik nathing but wraith and anger, was sa effectual that, rememberit and rehersit of purpois to do, it brought to the pepill a corporall benedictioun, what sail we say that the glorious gospell of Chryst Jesus doith wirk, so that it be with reverence intreatit! St Paule calleth [it] the sueit odour of lyfe unto thois that said resaif lyfe, borrowing his similitude fra odoriferous her bis or precious ungue- mentis, whais nature is the mair thay l^e touchit or moveit to send furth their odour n:^air pleasing and delectabill : even sic, deir breth- ren, is the blissit evangell of oure Lorde Jesus; for the mair that it be intreatit, the mair comfortable and mair plissant is it to sic as do heir, read, and exercis the sam, I am not ignorant that, as the Isralitis lothit manna because that everie day thay saw and eat but ane thing, sa sum thair be now a dayis (wha will not be haldin of the worst sort) that after anis reading sum parcellis of the Scriptures do convert thame selves altogether to prophane autors and humane letteris, be- caus that the varietie of matteris thairin conteanyit doith bring with it a daylie delectatioun, whair contrairwys within the simpill scrip- tures of God, the perpetuall repititioun of a thing is fascheous and werisome. This temptatioun I confess may enter in Godis verie elect for a tyme, but impossibill is it that thairin thay continew to the end: for Godis electioun, besydis othir evident signis, hath this evir joynit with it that Godis elect ar callit from ignorance (I speik of thois that ar cumin to the yeris of knawledge) to sum taist and feilling of Godis mercie, of whilk thay ar never satisfeit in this lyfe, but fray tyme to tyme thay hunger and thay thirst to eat the breid that descendit fra the heavin, and to drink the watter that springeth into lyfe everlast- ing, whilk thay can not do but be the meanis of faith, and faith luketh ever to the will of God revealit be his word, sa that faith hath baith her begynning and continewance be the word of God ; and sa I say that impossibill it is that Godis chosin children can despys or reiect the word of their salvatioun be any lang continewance, nether yit loth of it to the end. Often it is that Godis elect ar haldin in sic bond- age and thraldome that they can not have the breid of lyfe brokin un- to them, neither yit libertie to exercis thame selves in Godis halie word, but th*^n doith not Godis deir children loth but maist gredilie do thay co\^et the fude of thair saulis ; then do they accuse thair firmer negligence, then lament and bevvail thay the miserable affilctioun of thair brethren, and than cry and call thay in thair hartis (and opinlie NOTES. 426 whair tliay dar) for frie passage to the gospell. Tliis Iiungir and thrist doith argue and prule the Jyfe of their saulis. Uut git' sic men as having Ubertie to reid and exercis lliaine selves in (Jodis iialie scripture, and yet do begin to wearie because Ira tynie to tynie tliay reid but a [one] thing, J ask, wiiy weirie thay not also everie day to drink wyne, to eat bread, everie day to beliaJd the i)ryglitnes ol the sone, and sa to use the rest of Godis creatures whilk everie day do keip tiiair awn substance, cours, and nature! Tiiay sail anser, 1 trust, because sic creatures have a strenth as oft as thay ar usit to e.vpeil hungir and quenche thrist, to restoir strenth, and to preserve the lyte. O miserabill wreachis, wlia dar attribut niair power and strenth to tlie corruptible creatures in nurisching and preserving the mortal! karcass, than to the eternall word of (Jod in nurissnient of the saule whilk is immortal ! To reasone with thair abominable unthank- fulnes at this present it is not my purpois. But to yow, deir brethrene, I wryt my knawledge, and do speik my conscience, that sa necessarie as meit and drink is to the preservation of lyfe corporall, and so ne- cessarie as the heit and bryghtnes of the sone is to the quicknying of the herbis and to expell darknes, sa necessarie is also to lyfe everlast- ing, and to the illuminatioun and lyght of the saule, the perpetuall meditation, exercis, and use of Godis halie word. . "And thairfoir, deir brethrene, yf that you luke for a lyfe to cum, of necessitie it is that ye exercise yourselves in the buke of the Lord your God. Lat na day slip over without sum comfort ressavit fra the mouth of God. Opin your earis, and hie will speak evin pleasing thingis to your hart. Clois not your eis, but diligentlie let thame behald what portioun of substance is left to yow within your fatheris testament. Let your toungis learne to prais the gracious gudness of him wha of his meir mercie hath callit you fra darkness to lyght and fra deth to lyfe. Neither yit may ye do this sa quyetlie that")^e will admit na witnessis; nay, brethren, ye are ordeynit of God to reule and governe your awn housis in his trew feir, and according to his halie word. Within your awn housis, I say, in sum cassis ye are bishopis and kingis, your wyffis, children, and familie ar your bishop- rik and charge; of you it sal be requyrit how cairfullie and diligentlie ye have instructit thame in Godis trew knawledge, how that ye have studeit in thame to plant vertew and to repress vyce. And thairfoir, I say, ye must mak thame partakeris in reading, exhortation, and in making commoun prayeris, whilk 1 wald in everie hous wer usit anis a day at leist. But above all things, deir brethren, studie to practis in lyfe that whUk the Lord commandis, and then he ye assurit that ye sail never heir nor reid the same without frute: and this mekill for the exercises within your housis. " Considdering that St. Paul callis the congregatioun the bodie of Chryst, wheirof everie ane of us is a member, teaching ws thnirhy that na member is of sufficience to susteane and feide the self without the help and support of any uther, I think it necessarie that for the conferrence of scriptures, assemblies of brethren be had. The order thairin to be observit, is expressit be sanct paule, and thairfoir 1 need not to use many wordis in that behalf; onlie willing that when ye convene, (whilk I wald wer anis a week,) that your bogynning suld be fra confessing of your offences, and invocatioun of the sproit of the Lord Jesus to assist yow in all your godlie interprysis ; and than lat sum place of scripture be planelie and distinctlie red, samekill as sail be thocht sufficient for a day or tyme, whilk endit, gif any brother have exhortation, interpretatioun, or dout, lat him not feir to speik and move the same, sa that he do it with moderatioun, either to edifie or ti") be edifeit. And heirof I dout not but ereat profit sail schortlie 36 * D3 ^ 426 NOTES. onsew, for first be heiring, reiding, and conferring the scrij ;n-es in the assemblie, the haill bodie of the scriptures of God salbeciim fa- miliar, the judgement and spreitis of men salbe tryit, thair pacience and modestie sallbe knawin, and finallie thair giftis and utterance sail appeir. Multiplicatioun of wordis, perplexit interpretatioun, and wil- fiilnes in reasonyng is to be avoydit at all tymes and in all places, but chieflie in the congregatioun, whair nathing aucht to be respectit except the glorie of God, and comfort oredificatioun of our brethrene. Yf any thing occur within the text, or yit arys in reasonyng, whilk your judgementis can not resolve, or capacities aprehend, let the same be notit and put in wryt befoir ye depart the congregatioun, that when God sail offir unto yow any interpreter your doutis being notit and knawin, may have the mair expedit resolutioun, or els that when ye sail have occasion to wryt to sic as with whome ye wald commu- nicat your judgementis, your letteris may signifie and declair your unfeaned desyre that ye haue of God and of his trew knawledge, and thay, I dout not, according to thair talentis, will endeuour and bestow thair faithfull labors, [to] satisfie your godlie petitionis. Of myself I will speak as I think, 1 will moir gladlie spend xv houris in communi- catting my judgment with yow, in explainyng as God pleasis to oppin to me any place of scripture, than half ane hour in any other matter besyd. " Farther, in reading the scripture I wald ye suld joyne sum bukis of the aid and sum of the new Testament together, as genesis and ane of the evangelistis, exodus with another, and sa furth, euer ending sic bukis as ye begyn, (as the tyme will suffer,) for it sail greitly comfort yow to heir that harmony and weiltunit sang of the halie spreit speik- ing in oure fatheris frome the begyning. It sail confirme yow in theis dangerous and perrellous dayis, to behald the face of Christ Jesus his loving spous and kirk, from Abell to him self, and frome him self to this day, m all ageis to be ane. Be frequent in the prophetis and in the epistillis of St. Paul, for the multitude of matteris maist comfortable thairin conteanit requyreth exercis and gud memorie. Lyke as your assemblis aucht to begyn with confessioun and invocatioun of Godis halie spreit, sa wald I that thay wer never finissit without thanksgiv- ing and commoun prayeris for princes, rulers, and maiestratis, for the libertie and frie passage of Chrystis evangell, for the comfort and delyverance af our afflictit brethrene in all places now persecutit, but maist cruellie now within the realme of France and Ingland, and for sic uther thingis, as the spreit of the Lord .Tesus sal teache unto yow to be profitable ether to your selues, or yit to your brethren whairso- eur thay be. If this, or better, dear brethrene, I sail heir that ye exer- cise your selues, then will I prais God for your great obedience, as for thame that not onlie haue ressavit the word of grace with gladnes, but that also with cair and diligence do keip the same as a treasure and Jewell maist precious. And becaus that I can not expect that ye will do the contrarie, at this present I will vse na threatenyngis, for my guid hoip is, that ye sail walk as the sonis of lyght in the middis of tins wickit generatioun, that ye salbe as starris in the nyght ceas- sone, wha yit ar not changeit into darknes, that ye salbe as wheit amangis the kokill, and yit that ye sail not change your nature whilk ye haue ressavit be grace, through the fellowschip and participatioun whilk ye haue with the Lord Jesus in his bodie and bind. And final- lie, that ye salbe of the novmber of the prudent virginis, daylie renew- ing your lampis with oyle, as thai that pacientlie abyd the sflorious aparitioun and cuming of the Lord Jesus, whais omnipotent spi-eit ►•ule and instruct, illuminat and comfort your hartis and myndis in all sissaltis, now and euer. Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus rest NL r E8 -127 with yow. Remember my weaknes in your daylie prayeris, the 7 of July 1557. Your brother vnfeaned Johnne Knox." MS. Letters, p. 352—359. Note AA, p. 131. William IVhittingham, the successor of Knox at Geneva, was the son of William Whittingham, Esq. of Holmeside, in the county of Chestei. He was born anno 1524, and educated at Oxford, where he was held in great reputation for his learning. On the accession of Q,ueen Mary, he went first to Frankfort, and afterwards to Geneva, where he married Catherine, the sister of John Calvin. He was one of the translators of the Geneva Bible, and composed several of the metrical psalms published at the same time, which have his initials prefixed to them. He fell under the displeasure of Glueen Elizabeth, on account of a commendatory preface which he wrote to Christopher Goodman's book on Obedience to Superior Powers, in which, among other free sentiments, female government was condemned. But he enjoyed the protection of some of her principal courtiers. In 1560, he accompanied the Earl of Bedford on an eml)assy to France, and, in 1562 and 1563, acted as chaplain to the Earl of Warwick, dur- ing the defence of Havre de Grace. That brave nobleman was at a loss for words to express his high esteem of him. In a letter to Cecil, Nov. 20, 1562, Warwick writes : — " 1 assure yow, we may all here thinck our selves happy in having soch a man amongest us as Mr. Whyt- tingham is, not only for the greate vertues in him, but lykevvise for the care he hath to serve our mistris besydes : wherfore, in my opyii- ion, he doth well deserve grete thankes at her majesties handis." And in a letter written by him, July 24, 1563, when he was in daily expectation of an assault by the French, he says to his brother, Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester: — "My deare brother, for that I had, in my letter to the quene's majesty, forgot my humblest thancks for the behalff of my deare frinde Mr. Whittingam, for the great favour it hath pleased her to shew him for my sake : I besetch yow therefore do not forget to render them unto her majesty. Fare- well, my deare and loving brother, a thousand tymes, and the Lord send you well to do." Forbes, State Papers, ii. 207, 418, 487. In 1 563, Whittingham was made Dean of Durham, which seems to have been the favour for which Warwick was so grateful to Eliza- beth. I have already mentioned (p. 48) that an unsuccessful attempt was made to invalidate the ordination which he had received at Ge- neva. On that occasion, Dr. Hutton, Dean of Yorke, told Archbishop Sandys, that Whittingham " was ordained in a better manner than n'^en the archbishop himself;" and the Lord President said, he could lot in conscience agree to " allow of the Popish massing priests in our ministry, and to disallow of ministers made in a Reformed Church." Whittingham never conformed fully to the English Chnrcii, and ilied in 1579. ' Hutchinson's History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, ii. 143—152, 378. Note BB, p. 145. Aylmer^s Sentiments respecting the English Constitution. — The \-\e\v which Aylmer has given of the English constitution is very differ- ent from that which Mr. Hume has laboured to establish, l)y dwelling upon some arbitrary measures of the house of Tudor. As his work 428 NOTES. is seldom consulted, I may be excused for inserting a few extracts from it on this subject. It will be seen that he carefully distinguishes between the principles of the constitution, and those proceedings which were at variance with them. " But if this be utterly taken from them [women] in this place, what maketh it against their government in a politike weale, where neither the woman nor the man ruleth, (if there be no tyrants,) but the laws. For, as Plato sa.iih, lUi civitaii paratuiu est exitium ubi magistrutus legibus imperat, et non leges magistratui : That city is at the pit's brinke, wherein the magistrate ruleth the lawes, and not the lawes the magistrate." And a little afterwards: "Well; a woman may not reigne in Englande. Better in Englande, than any where, as it shall wel appere to him that, with out affection, will consider the kind of regimen. Whyle I confer ours with other (as it is in itselfe, and not mained by usurpacion,) I can find none either so good or so indifferent. The regemente of Eng- lande is not a mere monarchic, as some for lacke of consideracion thinke, nor a mere oligarchic nor democracie, but a rule mixed of all these, wherein ech one of these have or should have like authoritie. The image whereof and not the image, but the thinge in dede, is to be sene in the parliament hous, wherein you shall find these 3 estats; the king or queue which representeth the monarche, the noblemen which be the aristocratic, and the burgesses and knights the democratcie. — If the parliament use their privileges, the king can ordain nothing without them: If he do, it is his fault in usurping it, and their fault in permitting it. Wherefore, in my judgment, those that in king Henry the VIlI.'s dales would not grant him that his proclamations should have the force of a statute, were good fathers of the countrie, and worthy commendacion in defending their liberty. Wold God that that court of late dales had feared no more the farceness of a woman, than they did the displeasure of such a man. Then should they not have stouped, contrary to their othes and alledgeaunce to the crowne, against the privilege of that house, upon their marye bones to receive the devil's blessenge brought unto them by Satan's apostle, the cardi- nal. God forgeve him for the doing, and them for obeying ! But to what purpose" is all thisl To declare that it is not in England so daungerous a matter to have a woman ruler, as men take it to be. — If, on thother part, the regement were such as all hanged upon the king's or quene's wil, and not upon the lawes written ; if she might decre and make lawes alone, without her senate ; if she judged offences according to her wisdom, and not by limitation of statutes and laws ; if she might dispose alone of war and peace; if, to be short, she wer a mer monarch, and not a mixed ruler, you might peradventure make me to fear the matter the more, and the less to defend the cause." Harborowe for Faithfull and Trew Subjects. H. 2 & 3. Note CC, p. 146. Female Supremacy. — " Our countryman, John Knox, has been much censured for want of civility and politeness to the fair sex ; anJ par- ticularly for sounding a first and second ' blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women.' He was indeed no milksop cour- tier, who can sacrifice the public weal to the punctilios of politeness, or consider the interests of nations as a point of gallantry. His rea- sons for the abolition of all female government, if they are not entirely convincing, may be allowed at least to be specious: and might well be indulged as a harmless speculative opinion in one who was dis- posed as he wa"« to make no bad use of it in practice, and to give all Nl TES. 429 dutiful respect to wnomsoever the will of God and the comn.onwealth had assigned tlie sovereign power. JBut though the point may be conceded in regard to secular government, in ordering of which the constitutions and customs and mere pleasure of communities may be allowed to establish what is not morally evil; it will not follow that the essential order and positive law of the spiritual kingdom may also be sported with, and subverted. Let the English, if they please, admit a weak, fickle, freakish, bigoted, gallantish or imperious woman, to sway the sceptre of political dominion over millions of men, and even over her own husband in the crowd, to whom at the altar she had previously vowed obedience, they shall meet with no opposition from the Presbyterians; provided they do not also authorize her to lord it, or lady it, over their faith and consciences, as well as over their bodies, goods, and chattels. "By the laws of the Romish Church, no female can be admitted to a participation of clerical power. Not so much as the ancient order of deaconesses now remains in her. Her casuists have examined and debated this thesis. Whether a woman may have the degree of doctor of divinity conferred upon her; and have determined it in the negative.* But of the philosophical dignity they are not quite so jealous. Helen Lucrecia Piscopia Cornaca, of famous memory, once applied for her degree in divinity in an Italian university; but Cardinal Barbarigo, Bishop of Padua, was far from being disposed to grant it; so that this learned lady was obliged to content herself with a doctorate in philo- sophy, which, with universal applause, was actually conferred upon her, June 25, IG/S.f But the English climate savours nothing of this Italian jealousy ; nor are the divines in it so niggardly of their hon- ours. We do not hear, indeed, that they have formally matriculated any ladies, in the universities, or obliged them, by canon, or act ot parliament, to take out degrees, either in law, in philosophy, or divi- nity, to qualify them for ecclesiastical preferment, (even the highest pinnacle of it ;) though their laws hold males utterly unqualified for holding any lucrative place in the church, or in ecclesiastic courts, without these: Nor can a man be admitted to the lowest curacy, or be fellow or student in a university, until he have learned and digested all the articles, homilies, canons, rubrics, modes, and figures of the Church of England, as he cannot even be sergeant or exciseman, til] he understand perfectly the superior devotion of kneeling above sit- ting. But it is very possible, though they do not bear the learned titles, the ladies may know as much of learning and divinity, as those who do. And though they may not receive ordination on Ember- week for the inferior orders, yet it is enacted and provided, that one of their number may be raised at once per sa/tum, not only above all the peers and peeresses, but over all the graduates, reverend dignita- ries, and mitred heads in the kingdom. This solemn inaugurating unction once applied, then cedite Romani, doctores, cediff "-raij. Hence- forward, as the Q,ueen of Sheba came from the uttermost end of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and to have every enigma and hard question solved, so must every master, doctor, heads of univer- sities, every diocesan and metropolitan, however wise, have recourse to their queen, by reference or appeal, with every difficult question, and every learned and deep controversy, and be responsible to hei for their every decision. How flattering a constitution this to woman- kind— if they be indeed so very fond of precedence and rule, as i:3 commonly said! She must have an unreasonable and unbounded * Carol. Rinaldinij. Mntlh. Analil. art. pars 3lia. t NoHVell. de la Repuhl de Lett. lf)85. 430 NOTES. ambition indeed wliom this will not content ; though she should not be also further told in plain terms, that she is a goddess, and in her office superior to Christ ; as some court-clergymen have ventured to affirm of their visible head." — A Historico-Politico-Ecclesiastical Dis- sertation on the Supremacy of Civil Powers in Matters of Religion, particularly the Ecclesiastical Supremacy annexed to the English Ci-own ; by Archibald Bruce, Minister of the Gospel, pp. 46 — 50. Ed- inburgh, 1802. Note DD, p. 148. Of the Form of Prayer used in Scotland at the beginning of the Re- formation.— It is natural to inquire here what is meant by the " bulk of comon prayeris," which the Protestants, in 1557, agreed to use, or which was afterwards followed in their public worship. Was it the common prayer-book of Edward VI. or was it a different one] This question was keenly canvassed, after the Revolution, by the Scottish Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Mr. Sage, the most able champion of the Episcopalians, insisted that it was the English liturgy, and en- deavoured to prove that this was, during, " at least, seven years, in continued practice in Scotland," i. e. from 1557 to 1564. Fundamental Charter of Presbytery Examined, pp. 95 — 101, 349, 2d edit. Lond. 1697. Mr. Anderson, minister of Dumbarton, who was the most acute advocate of Presbytery, answered this part of the Fundamental Charter, and adduced a number of arguments to prove that it was the liturgy, not of Edward VI. but of the English Church at Geneva, of which Knox was minister, which was used in Scotland from the time that Protestant congregations were formed in this country. The Countreyman's Letter to the Curat, pp. 65 — 77, printed in 1711. I shall state a few facts, without entering into reasoning. Mr. Anderson says, that he had in his possession a copy, in Latin, of the liturgy used in the English Church at Frankford, the preface of which bears dato the 1st of September, 1554. He adds, that J;his had been translated from English into Latin; and that the prayers in it are exactly the same with those which are found in the Order of Geneva, afterwards adopted by the Scottish Church ; only there are some additional prayers in the latter accommodated to the circumstances of Scotland. Ibid. p. 64. This must have been the form of worship agreed on by the exiles immediately after their arrival at Frankfort. Troubles of Franckford, p. 7. Before the end of that year, the form of worship ob- served by the Genevan Church was printed in English. Ibid. p. 27. In the beginning of the following year, the form afterwards used by the English Ciiurch at Geneva was composed, which differed very little from that which was first used at Frankfort. Ibid. p. 37. This was printed in the beginning of 1556. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 401. It is not unlikely that Knox,"in his visit to Scotland, in 1555, would carry with him copies of the two former liturgies, and that he would send copies of the latter, on his return to Geneva. After all, I think it extremely probable, that copies of the liturgy of Edward VI. were still more numerous in Scotland at that time, and that they were used by some of the Protestants at the besrinning of the Reformation. This appears from a letter of Cecil to Throkmorton, 9th July, 1559. " The Protestants be at Edynborough. They offer no violence, but dissolve relijriose howsees ; directyng the lands thereof to the crowne, and to ministery in the chirch. The parish churchees they delyver of altars and imagees, and have receved the service of the r'harch of Ensland, accordyng to King Ei^vvard's Borke." Forbes's State Papers, i. 155. NOTES. 4 Another thing which inclines me to think that the English liturgy was in the eye ot tiiose who made the agreement in Dec. J 557 is, tiiat they mention tlie reading of" tlie lessonis of tiie New and Aiild Testament, conforine to the ordour of the Bulk of ("onimoun-Prayeris." Ander- son gives a quotation from the preface to the Kranktbrt liturgy, in which the compilers vindicate themselves against the objectitm, that they had omitted the reading of the gospels and epistles, by saying that they read in order not only these, but all the books of Scripture. And he insists that by the " lessonis of the New and Auld Testament," our reformers meant no more than the reading of tlie Scriptures in general. This reply does not appear to me satisfactory. But though the Scottish Protestants, at that time, agreed to make use of the prayers and Scripture-lessons contained in the English liturgy, it cannot be inferred from this, that they approved of it with- out limitations, or that they meant to bind themselves to all its forms and ceremonies. The contrary is evident. It appoints lessons to be read from the Apocrypha ; but they expressly confined their reading to " the lessons of the New and Old Testament." A great part of the English liturgy can be read by a priest only; but all that they proposed to use could be performed by " the mostqualifeit in the parochin," pro- vided the curate refused, or was unqualified. I need scarcely add, that, if they had adopted that liturgy without qualification, their invita- tion to Knox must have come with a very bad grace. It mu.st have been to this purpose, (to use Mr. Anderson's words,) " Pray, good Mr. Knox, come over and help us; and for your encouragement against you come, you shall find the English liturgy, against which you preached in Scotland, against which you declared before the counsel of England, for opposing which you were brought in danger of your neck at Francford ; this English liturgy you shall find the authorized form of worship, and that by an ordinance of our making." The Countreyman's Letter, ut supra, p. 69. We can trace back the use of the Book of Common 0)'der, (or, Order of Geneva,) by the Church of Scotland, from the year 1564. The General Assembly, Dec. 26, 1564, ordained " that everie minister, exhorter, and reader sal] have one of the Psalme Bookes latelie printed in Edinburgh, and use the order contained therein in prayers, marriage, and ministration of the sacraments." Keith, 538. This refers to the edition of the Geneva Order and Psalms, which had been printed during that year by Lepreuik. " In the general! assemblie convened at Edinr. in Dec. 1562, for printing of the psalmes, the kirk lent Rob. Lickprivick, printer, tva hundreth pounds to help to buy irons, ink, and papper, and to fie craftesmen for printing." Reasons for con- tinuing the use of the old metrical Version of the Psalms, p. 232, of a MS. (written in 1632) belonging to Robert Graeme, Esq. advocate. But although this was the firstedition of the book printed in this country, it had been previously printed both at Geneva and in Eng- land; and was used in the Church of Scotland. For in the assembly which met in Dec. 1562, it was concluded, "that an uniforme Order sould be keeped in ministration of the sacraments, solemnization of marriage, and burial of the dead, according to the Booke of Geneva." Keith, 519. Petrie, part ii. p. 233. Nor was it then introduced for the first time ; for the Abbot of Crossrafruel, in a book set forth by him in 1561, mentions it as the established form of prayers at the time he wrote. " I will call to remembrance, says he, " the sayings ofquhilkis ar written to the redar, in thair bake callit the forme ofprayeris, as eftir followis, viz. 'As for the wourdis of the Lordis supper, we rehers thaim nocht bicaus thai sulde change the substance of the breid and wine, or that the repetitione tharof, with the entent of the sacrificear, 432 NOTES. sulde make the sacraments (as the papists falslie belevis.") Ane Ora* tioime be Master Q,uintine Kennedy, p. 15, Edin. 1812. The passage quoted by Kennedy is in the Book of Common Order. Dunlop, ii. 454. The First J3ook of Discipline, framed in 1560, expressly approves of the Order of Geneva, which it calls '■'our Book of Common Order," and mentions its being " used in some of our churches," previous to that period. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 520, 548, 583. From these facts it is evident that, although the Scripture lessons and the prayers in the English liturgy were at first used by some of the Scottish Pro- testants, yet they never received that book as a whole ; that the Order: of Geneva was introduced among them before ^e establishment ofi the Reformation; and that it became the universal form of worship as soon as a sufficient number of copies of it could be procured. If any other evidence of this were necessary, I might produce the testimony of Sir Francis Knollys, the English ambassador. When queen Mary fled into England, in 1568, she feigned her willingness to give up with the mass, and to adopt the English Common Prayer Book, provided Elizabeth would assist her in regaining her crown. Lord Herries having made this proposal in her name. Sir Francis replied, "that, yf he meant thereby to condempne the form and order of common prayer now used in Skotland, agreeable with divers well reformed churches, — or that he meant to expel all the learned preachers of Skotland, yff" they would not return back to receave and wayr cornered capes and typpets, with surpless and coopes, which they have left by order con- tynually since their first receavyng of the gospel into that realme ; then he myght so fyght for the shadow and image of religion that he myght bring the body and truth in danger." Anderson's Collections, vol. iv. part i. pp. 110, 11 1. As this subject has been introduced, I may make an observation or two respecting the form of prayers used in the Church of Scotland at the beginning of the Reformation. What has been called Knox's Liturgy, was the Book of Common Order, first used by the English Church at Geneva. It contains forms of prayers for the dilTerent parts of public worship; and this is the only resemblance which it bears to the English liturgy. But there is this important difference between the two : in the English, the minister is restricted to the repetition of the very words of the prayers; in the Scottish, he is left at liberty to vary from them, and to substitute prayers of his own in their room. The following quotations will exemplify the mode of the latter. " When the congregation is assembled at the hours appointed, the minister useth one of these two confessions, or like in effect.'''' — "The minister after the sermon useth this prayer following, or such like" Similar declarations are prefixed to the prayers to be used at the celebration of baptism and of the Lord's Supper. And at the end of the account of the public service of the sabbath this intimation is subjoined : "It snail not be necessarie for the minister daylie to repeat all these things Defore mentioned, but, beginning with some manner of confession, to proceed to the sermon, which ended, he either useth the prayer for all estates before mentioned, or else prayeth as the Spirit of God shall move his heart, framing the same according to the time and matter which he hath entreated of" Knox's Liturgy, pp. 74, 83, 86, 120 Edin. 1611. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 417, 421,^426, 443, 450. And at the end of the Form of Excommunication, it is signified, "This order may be enlarged or contracted as the wisdome of the discreet minister shall think expedient ; for we rather shew the way to the ignorant, than prescribe order to the learned that cannot be amended." Dunlop, ii. 746. The Scottish prayers, therefore, were intended as a help to the ignorant, not as a restraint upon those who could pray without a set x\ O T E S . 4 form. The readers and exhorters commonly used them ; but even they were encouraged to perform the service in a ditierent manner. Knox's Liturgy, p. 189. Dunlop, ii. t394. Note EE, p. 151. Of the Petitions preseiited by the Protestants to the Queen liegent. — The petition which Sir James Sandilands presented, in the name of his brethren, contained five requests. 1. That, as by the laws of the land, they had, after long debate, obtained liberty to read tne Scrip- tures in their native language, it should also be lawful for them to u.se, publicly or privately, "comoun prayaris in our vulgar toung." 2. That if, in the course of reading the Scriptures in their assemblies, any difficulty occurred, it should be lawful for any "qualifeit persone in knawledge" to explain it, subject to the judgment of "the maisl godlie and maist learnit within the realme." 3. " That the holy sacra- ment of baptisme may be used in the vulgar toung," accompanied with instruction to the parties and to the Church. 4. " That the sacra- ment of the Lordis Supper, or of his most blessed body and blude, may likewise be ministrate in the vulgar toung, and in both kindis." And lust /y, ''that the wicket, slanderous, and detestabill lyif of Pre- latis, and of the stait ecclesiastical, may be so reformed that the pepill by thame have not occasioun, as of mony dayis they have had, to contempe their ministrie and the preiching, whairof they should be messengers ;" and to remove suspicion of interested motives in mak- ing thisrequest, they add, " we ar content that not only the reulls and preceptis of the New Testament, but also the wryttings of the ancient Fatheris, and the godly approved lawis of Justiniane, decyde the con- troversie that is betwix us and thame." Knox, Historic, pp. 120, 121. Spotswood (p. 119) omits the article respecting baptism, and intro- duces another: " that the election of ministers should be according to the manner used in the primitive Church." See also Buchanani Oper. i. 311. This petition discovers great moderation on the part of the Protes- tants. Historians differ as to the precise time at which it was pre- sented. Spotswood (p. 108) places his account of it afler the martyr- dom of Mill. And the writer of the Historic of the Estate of Scotland from 1559 to 1566 (p. 1) says that it was presented in July, 1558. On the contrary, Knox (pp. 120, 122) places it before the death of Mill. It is highly probable that the Protestants petitioned the queen regent both before and after that event, and that on both occasions they em- ployed Sir James Sandilands as their representative. In this light I have represented the matter in the text. But I am inclined, upon the whole, to consider Knox's statement as the most correct. He had the best opportunity of ascertaining the fact. This was the part of his history which was first written by him, soon after his arrival in Spot- land, when the transaction must have been fresh in the recollection of all his associates. There is no reference in the petition to the illegal execution of Mill, which would scarcely have been omitted, if it had previou.sly taken place. The obiection urged by Keith, from the clause in the petition whicli supposes that the queen was married, does not appear to have great weight. The parliament, in December. 1557, had asreed to the solemnization of the marriage; their commissioners had sailed for France, in February, to be present at the ceremony, wnich was appointed to take place on the 24th of April. In these cir- cnmstances. the Prntestaiits might, without any impropriety, reouest that thev should be allowed liberty to u.se the common pravers in the 37 E3 434 NOTES. vulgar tongue, to the end that they might " be induced, in fervent and oft prayers, to commend unto God— the queen our soverane, hir hon- orabill and gracious husband," &c. Keith is wrong when he says that Knox has fixed the execution of Mill "to the 8th of April, which was above two weeks before the queen's marriage." History, p. 80, note. Knox says he was put to death "the twentie aucht day of Aprylle," which was four days after the marriage. Historie, p. 122. After the martyrdom of Mill, the Protestants renewed their applica- tion to the regent, with a warm remonstrance against the cruelty of the clergy. Knox, Historie, p. 122. As the padiament held in No- vember, 1558, was approaching, they delivered another petition to her, desiring that it should be laid before the meeting of tihe estates. In this they requested, that the laws, by which the clergy justified their severe and cruel proceedings against them, should be abrogated, or suspended until the pi'esent controversies in religion were regularly determined ; or, if this could not be granted, that the clergy should not act as judges, but be obliged to sustain the character of accusers before a temporal judge, and that the same mode of defence should be granted to persons accused of heresy as in other criminal processes. Being persuaded by the promises of the regent to desist from laying this petition befoi'e that meeting of parliament, they substituted a pro- testation ; in which they declared that, having waived urging their petitions from regard to the state of public affairs, they should not be liable to any penalties for using that liberty to which they had a just title, and for which they had frequently petitioned, and that, if any tumult was excited by religious differences, or by violent attempts to reform those abuses in religion which were become intolerable, this should not be imputed to them, who had always requested an orderly reformation of these abuses, but to the persons who had resisted every attempt of this kind. Ibid. pp. 122—125. Spotswood, 119, 120. Note FF, p. 158. Dissimulation of the Queen Regent. — I am sensible that my account of the conduct of the queen regent to the Protestants differs from that which has been given by Dr. Robertson. He imputes her change of measures entirely to the overruling influence of her brothers, and seems to acquit her of insincerity in the countenance which she had shown, and the promises which she had repeatedly made, to the Pro- testant leaders. In any remarks which I shall make upon this account, 1 wish to be understood as not detracting in the slightest degree from the merit of his able, accurate, and luminous statement of the plans conceived by the princes of Lorrain. Having mentioned the first symptoms of the regent's alienation from the reformers. Dr. Robe t- son says : " In order to account for this, our historians do little more than produce the trite observation concerning the influence of pros- perity to alter the character and corrupt the heart." I do not know the particular historians to whom he may refer, but those of the Pro- testant persuasion whom I have consulted, impute her change of con- duct, not to the above cause, but to the circumstance of her having accomplished the great objects which she had in view, upon which she no longer stood in need of the assistance of the reformers. Ac- cordinsrly, they charee her with duplicity in her former proceedings with them. Knox, 96, 110, 122, 125. Buchanan, i. 312. ^^potswood, 117, 119, 120. I think they had good reasons for this charge. At a very early pe^riod, she gave a striking proof of her disposition and talent for the deepest dissimulation. I refer to her behaviour in the NOTES. 435 intercourse which she had with Sir Ralph Sadler, in 1543, on which occasion she acted a part not less important than Cardinal Beatoun himsclfi threw tlie ambassador into the greatest perplexity, and com- pletely duped the English monarch. Sadler, i. 84— 88, lUU, 111 — 113, 249 — 253. The governor wanted not reason to say, "as slie is both subtle and wily, so she hath a vengeable engine and wit to work her purpose." It is impossible to read the account of her smooth conduct to the reformers, without perceiving the art with which slie acted. There is also reason lor thinking that she was privy to the execution of Walter Mill, and had encouraged the Archbishop of St. Andrews to take that step Indeed, in his letter to the Earl of Argyle, written a few weeks before that event, tiie archbishop expressly says, that she murmured heavily against him because he did not use severe mea- sures to clieck the progress of iieresy ; and Argyle, in his answer, does not call this in question. Knox, 103, 108. I do not doubt that the regent was precipitated into the most violent measures which she adopted by the counsels of her brothers; and that she remonstrated against tlie impolicy of these, is attested by Castelnau, to whom Dr. Robertson refers as one of his authorities. But I think that she had altered her conduct to the Protestants, and declared her resolution to abet the measures of the clergy against them, previous to the time that she is said to have received these strong representations from France. This appears even from the narradve of Castelnau, who has connected the advice given by the princes of Lorrain with the mission of La Brosse and the Bishop of Amiens, who did not arrive in Scotland until September, 1559, after the civil war was kindled. Jebb, ii. 24G. Keith, 102. Sadler, i. 470. But it will be still more apparent from an examination of the testi- mony of Sir James Melvil, the other authority to whom Dr. Robertson appeals. Melvil says that, after the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis was concluded, Bettancourt was sent into Scotland to procure the ratifi- cation of it by the queen regent ; and that he was charged by the Cardinal of Lorrain to inform her, that the Popish princes had agreed to join in extirpating heresy, and to require that she should imme- diately take steps for suppressing the Scottish Protestants. Mejvil adds, that these instructions, mixed with some threatenings, having been received, the regent " determined to follow them. She, there- fore, issued out a proclamation, a little before Easter, commanding every man, great and small, to observe the Roman Catholic religion." Melvil's Memoirs, pp. 23, 24. Lond. 1683. The proclamation to ob- serve Easter in the Catholic manner is mentioned by all our histori ans as the decisive declaration of the queen's change of measures Now the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis was not concluded until the 2d of April, 1559. Forbes, i. 68, 81. But Easter fell that year on the 29th of March, six days before Battancourt could undertake his jour- ney to Scotland. The proclamation respecting the observance of that festival must, therefore, have been issued some weeks before Bettan- court's arrival. Nay, we know from other evidence, that the breach between the queen regent and the Protestants had taken place on the 6th of March ; for this is the date from which the act of oblivion aft;er- wards granted is reckoned. Keith, 141, 151. There is, therefore, a glaringanachronism in Melvil's narrative; and whatever influence Bettancourt's embassy had in instigating the regent to more violent measures, she had previously take-n her side, and declared her deter- mination to oppose the progress of the Reformation. There are several other mistakes which Sir James Melvil has com- mitted in his narrative of the transactions of this period. Even in the account of his own emba.ssy into Scotland in the reign of Henry II. 436 NOTES and of the speech which the Constable Montmorency made to him on that occasion, he has introduced the constable as mentioning, among his reasons, tlie shipwreck of the Marquis D'Elbeuf, which did not happen till some months after, when the French king was dead. Me- moirs, p. 31. Sadler, i. 417. In my humble opinion, all our historians have given too easy credit to Melvil, both in his statements of fact, and in his representations of character. Note GG, p. 165. Trial of the Reformed Preachers. — July 7, 1558. Item, the said day, to David Lindsay, Rothesay herauld, passand of Edinburgh, with let- teris, to summond George Luvell, David Fergusone, and certain uthe- x'ls personis within the hurt, of Dunde, to tak sourte of thame that thai sail compeir befoir the justice and his deputies in the tolbuith of Edinburgh, the 28th day of Julii instant, for their wrongus using and resting of the Scripture, and disputting upoun erroneous opinions, and eiting of flesche in Lenterone and utheris forbidding tymes, contrair the actis of parliament, 3/. 5s. (Compot. Thesaur.) Feb. fi, 1558-9. Proclamation to St. Andrews, Cowper, Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, charging all and sundrie or. soverane ladies liegis, that nane of thame tak upoun hand to commit, attempt, or do any injurie or violence, disturbe the service usit in the kirkis, strike manneis, or bost priestis, or to eit flesche in Lenterone, under the pane of deid. — Also to Linlithgow, Glasgow, Irvine, Ayr, with siclike letteris. (Compot. Thesaur.) Curia Justiciarie S D N regis et regine, tenta et inchoata in pretorio burgi de Striueling, xo. die mensis Maij, anno, &c. lixo. per Henri- cum Levingstoun, prepositum de Striueling, Justiciarium depu- tatum. Quo die, Georgius Luvell, burgen. de Dunde, per literas S D N regis et regine sepe vocat. ad intrand. Paulum Methwen, Joannes Erskin de Dvne sepe vocat. ad intrand. fratrem Joannem Cristesoun, Patri- cius Murray de Tibbermuir sepe vocat. ad intrand. Willielmum Harlaw, et Robertus Campbell de Kinzeclent. sepe vocat. ad intrand. Joannem VVillok coram justiciario S D N regis et regine, ejusue dep- utatis, dictis die et loco ad subeund legem pro vsurpatione auctorita- tis ministerij ecclesie ad manus suas proprias ipso in ministrum eius- dem minime legitime admisso existen. in festo Pasche, viz. 26to die mensis Martij vltimo elapso et quotidie per spatium trium dierum huJQsmodi festum immediate preceden. atque abhinc continuo suo more sacramentum altaris pluribus S D N regis et regine subditis infra burgos de Dunde, Monthros, aliisque diversis partibus et locis infra vicecomitatus de Foirfare et Kynkardin, eisdem adjacen. a diuinc et laudabili vsu fidelis ecclesie catholice longe diuerso et differente administrando, necnon pro conventione et congregatione hujusmodi subd preceding; and their language is still more clear and express, — "mu tual and reciproque in all tymes coming betwixt the prince and Clod, and also betwixt the prince and faithful people." Buik of the Univer- sal! Kirk, p. 34, Advocates' Library. Keith, 582. See also the pro- clamation of the king's authority, in Anderson's Collections, vol. ii. p. 205. Keith, 441. The right of resistance was formally recognized in the inscription on a coin stamped soon after the coronation of James VI. On one of the sides is the figure of a sword with a crown upon it; and the words of Trajan circumscribed. Pro me; si mereor,in h„e; i. e. Use this sword for me; if 1 deserve it, against me. Cardonells Numisniata Scotise, plate ix. p. 101. Our Reformer's Appellation may be consulted for the proof of what has been asserted (pp. 191, 192) as to his endeavours to repress aristocratical tyranny, and to awaken the mass of the people to a due sense of their rights. See also his Historic, p. 100. The effect of the Reformation in extending popular liberty was very visible in the parliament which met in August, 1560, in which there were representatives from all the boroughs, and a hun- dred lesser barons, " with mony otheris baronis, fre-halderis, and landit men." Keith informs us that, during a space of no less than seventy-seven years preceding, "scarcely had one of the inferior gen try appeared in parliament. And therefore," adds he, " I know'not but it may be deemed somewhat unusual, for a hundred of them to jump all at once into the parliament, especially in such a juncture as the present was." History, pp. 147, 148. The petition presented by the lesser barons, for liberty to sit and vote in the parliament, has this remarkable clause in it : " otherwise we think that whatsomever ordi- nances and statutes be made concerning us and our estate, we not being required and suffered to reason and vote at the making thereof, that the same should not oblige us to stand thereto." Robertson's History of Scotland, Append. No. 4. Liberal principles respecting civil government accompanied the pro- gress of the Reformation. Knox had the concurrence of English bishops in his doctrine concerning the limited authority of kings,"and the lawfulness of resisting them. See above. Note BB, and Note III. And he had the express approbation of the principal divines in the foreign churches. Historic, 363, 366. In the seventeenth century, some of the French reformed divines, in their great loyalty to the Grand Monarque, disclaimed our Reformer's political sentiments, and repre- sented them as proceeding from the fervid and daring spirit of the Scottish nation, or adapted to the peculiar constitution of their gov- ernment. Riveti Castig. in Balzacum, cap. xiii. ^ 14: Oper. tom. iii. p. 539. (Quotations from other French authors are given by Bayle, Diet. Art. Knox, Note E. In the controversy occasioned by the execution of Charles I. our Reformer's name and principles were introduced. Milton appealed to him, and quoted his writings, in defence of that deed. One of Milton's opponents told him that he could produce in his support only a single Scot, " whom his own age could not suffer, and whom all the Reformed, especially the French, condemned in this point." Recii Sanguinis Clamor ad Coelum, p. 129. Hagoe-Comit. 1625; written by Pierre du Moulin, the son. Milton, in his rejoinder, urges with truth, that Knox had asserted, that his opinions were approved of by Calvin, and other eminent divines of the reformed churches. Miltoni Defensio Secunda, p. 101. Long before the controversy respecting the execution of Charles, Milt'"»n"had expressed himself in terms of high praise concerning our Reformer. Arguing against the abuses committed by licensers of the press, he says, " Nay, which is more lamentable, if the work of anjr NOTES. 447 deceased autlior, though never so famous in his lifetime and even to this day, come to their hands for licence to be printed or reprinted, if there be found in his boolc one sentence of a venturous edge, uttered in the height of zeal, (and who knows whether it might not be the dictate of a divine spirit?) yet, not suiting with every low decrepit humour of their own, though it were Knox liimself, the Reformer of a kingdom, that spake it, they will not pardon him their dasii : the sense of that great man shall to all posterity be lost for the fearfidness, or the presumptuous rashness of a prefunctory licenser. And to \\ hat an author this violence hath bin lately done, and in what book of greatest consequence to be faithfully publisht, I could now instanc(!, but shall Ibrbear till a more convenient season." Prose \A'orks, vol. i. p. 311. The tract from which this quotation is made, was lirst pub- lished in 1(344, the year in which David Buchanan's edition of Knox's History appeared; and Milton evidently refers to that work. Note NN, p. 213. I shall, in this note, add some particulars respecting the early practice of the Reformed Church of Scotland, under the following heads : — Of Doctors. — The doctrine of the Church of Scotland, and indeed of other reformed churches, on this head, has not been very uniform and decided. The First Book of Discipline does not mention doctors, but it seems to take for granted what has been stated respecting them in the Book of Common Order, where they are declared to be " a fourth kind of ministers left to the Church of Christ," although the English Church at Geneva could not attain them. Knox's Liturgy, p. 14. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 409, 410. In the Second Book of ETiscip- line, the office of doctor is expressly mentioned as "ane of the twa ordinar and perpetual functions that travel in the world," and " differ- ent from the pastor, not only in name, but in diversity of gifts." The doctor is to "assist the pastor in the government of the kirk, and con- cur with the elders his brethren in all assemblies," but not "to minis- ter the sacraments or celebrate marriage." Dunlop, ii. 773, 774. The Book of Common Order and Second Book of Discipline agree in com- prehending, under the name and office of a doctor, "the order in schooles, colledges, and universities." Ibid. The fact seems to bp that there never were any doctors in the Church of Scotland, except the teachers of divinity in the universities. " Quamvis ecclesia nos- tra," says Calderwood, " post primam reformationem, quatuor agnos- cat ministrorum genera, pastorum, doctorum, presbyterorum, et dia- conorum, tamen doctores alios nondnm habuit quam scholarchas." De Regimine Ecclesiae Scoticanse Brevis Relatio, pp. I, 2. Anno, 1618. Some writers have asserted, that it was as doctors that Buchanan and Andrew Melville sat, and sometimes presided, in the church courts. The Episcopalians having objected, that the Church of Scot- land admitted persons to act as moderators in her assemblies who were in no ecclesiastical office, and having appealed to the instances of the two persons above mentioned, Mr. Baillie gives this answer: "Mr. Melvil was a doctor of divinity, and so long as episcopal perse- cution permitted, did sit with great renowne in the prime chair we had of that faculty: George Buchanan had sometimes, as I have heard, been a preacher at St. Andrews: after his long tra veils he was em- ployed by our church and state to be a teacher to King James and his family: of his faithfulnesse in this charge he left, I believe, to the world good and satisfactory tokens: the eminency of this person was 448 NOTES. so great, that no society of men need be ashamed to ha\re been mode- rated by his wisdome." Historical V'indication, pp. 21, 22. The re- port which Mr. Baillie had heard of Buchanan having been a preacher, probably originated from the divinity lectures which CaJderwood informs us he read with great applause in the university of St. An- drews. " Buchanan and Mr. Melville were doctors of divinity," says Rutherford, in his Lex Rex, pref. p. 5. London, 1G44. Of Readers. — Those employed as readers appear to have often transgressed the bounds prescribed to them, and to have both solemn- ized marriage, and administered the sacraments. Different acts of Assembly were made to restrain these excesses. The General As- sembly, in October, 1576, prohibited all readers from administering "the holie saci-ainent of the Lord, except such as hes the word of ex- hortation." The Assembly which met in July, 1579, inhibited them from celebrating marriage, unless they were found meet by " the com- mission, or synodal assembly." At length, in April. 1581, the order was suppressed. " Anent readers : Forsamekle as in assemblies pre- ceding, the office therof was concludit to be no ordinar office in the kirk of God, and the admission of them suspendit to the present as- semblie, the kirk in ane voyce hes votit and concludit farder, that in na tymes coming any reider be admitted to the office of reider, be any having power within the kirk." Bulk of the Universal! Kirk, in loc. Of ^Superintendents. — The Church of Scotland did not consider superintendents as ordinary or permanent office-bearers in the Church. They are not mentioned in the Book of Common Order. The First Book of Discipline explicitly declares, that their appointment was a matter of temporary expedience, for the plantation of the Church, and on account of the paucity of ministers. Its words are, " Because we have appointed a larger stipend to them that shall be superintendents than to the rest of the ministers, we have thought good to signifie to your honours such reasons as moved us to make difference betwixt teachers at this time." And again: " We consider that if the minis- ters whom God hath endowed with his singular graces amongst us should be appointed to several places, there to make their continual residence, that then the greatest part of the realme should be destitute of all doctrine; which should not onely be the occasion of great mur- mur, but also be dangerous to the salvation of many. And therefore we have thought it a thing most expedient at this time, that from the whole number of godly and learned men, now presently in this realme, be selected ten oi'twelve, (for in so many provinces we have divided the whole,) to whom charge and commandment should be given, to plant and erect kirkes, to set, order, and appoint ministers, as the former order prescribes, to the countries that shall be appointed to their care where none are now." First and Second Books of Discip- line, p. 35, printed anno 1621. Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 538, 539. Archbishop Spots wood has not acted faithfully, if his History has been printed, in this place, exactly according to his manuscript. He has omitted the passages above quoted, and has comprehended the whole two paragraphs from which they are extracted in a short sentence of his own, which is far from being a full expression of the meaning of the compiler. History, p. 158. Lond. 1677. This is the more inexcus- able, as he says that, for "the clearing of many questions which were afterwards agitated in the Church," he "thought meet word by word to insert the same [the First Book of Discipline] that the reader may see what were the grounds laid down at first for the government of the Church." Ibid, p.' 152. He could not be ignorant that the grounds of the appointment of superintendents formed one of the principa questions agit^ited between him and his Anti-Episcopal opponents NOTES. 449 liav° examined the copy of the First Book of Discipline, inserted in an old MS. copy of Knox's Historic, and find that it exactly agrees with tlie quotations winch 1 liave made from the editiuiis pnohslied in 1621, and by Dunlop. Dr. Robertson has been misled by tlie archbishop. " On the lirst introduction of his system," says he, " Knox did not deem it expedient to depart altogether from the ancient Ibrm. Instead of bishops, he proposed to establish ten or twelve superintendents in different parts of the kingdom." As his authority for this statement, lie refers solely to the mutilated account in Spotswood. Hist, of Scot- land, ii. 42, 43. Lond. 1609. Mr. Laing, from an examination of the oiiginal documents, has given a more accurate account, and pro- nounced the appointment of superintendents to have been a "tempo- rary expedient." History of Scotland, vol. iii. pp. 17, 18. Lond. 1804. The superintendents were elected and admitted in the same manner as other pastors. Knox, 2G3. They were equally subject to rebuke, suspension, and deposition, as the rest of the ministers of the Church In the examination of those whom they admitted to the ministry, they were bound to associate with them the ministers of the neighbouring, parishes. They could not exercise any spiritual jurisdiction without the consent of the provincial synods, over which they had no nega- tive voice. They were accountable to the General Assembly for the whole of their conduct. The laborious task imposed upon them is what few bishops have ever submitted to. " They must be preachers themselves;" they are charged to "remain in no place above twenty dales in' their visitation, till they are passed through their whole bounds." They " must thrice everie week preach at the least." When they return to their principal town of residence, " they must likewise be exercised in preaching;" and having remained in it "three or foure monthes at most, they shall be compelled (unless by sicknesse they be retained) to re-enter in visitation." Dunlop, ii. 542. De Regimine Eccles. Scotican. Brevis Relatio, pp. 5, 6. Epistolae Philadelphi Vindi- ciaj contra calumnias Spotswodi: Altare Damascenum, pp. 724 — 727. Lugd. Batav. 1708. In the last mentioned tract (of which Calderwood was the author) the difl'erence between the Scottish superintendents and Anglican bishops is drawn out under thirteen heads. Spots- wood's treatise is entitled, Refutatio Libelli de Regimine Ecclesiae Scoticanaj. Lond. IG20. The visiters, or conimissioners of provinces, exercised the samf power as the superintendents; the only difference between them waa, that the former received their commission from one Assembly to an- other. Altare Damascenum, p. 727. But these commissions appear sometimes to have been granted for a longer period ; for one of Robert Pont's titles was T'ommissioner of Murray. Perhaps, in this case, a commissioner differed from a superintendent, merely in not being obliged to have his stated residence within the bounds of the province committed to his inspection. Of the weekly Exercise, or Prophesying. — This was an exercise on the Scriptures, intended for the improvement of ministers, the trial of the gifts of those who might afterwards be employed in the service of the Church, and the general instruction of the people. It was to be held in every town " where schools and repaire of learned men are." For conducting the exercise, there w-as an association of the ministers, and other learned men, in the town and vicinity, called "the company of interpreters." They alternately expounded a passage of Scrip- ture: and others who were present were encouraged to deliver their sentiments. After the exercise was finished, the constituent members of the association retired, and delivered their judfrment on the dis- courses which had been delivered. Books of Discipline, ut supra, pp. 3S* G3 45o NOTES. 50 — 62. Dunlop, ii. 587 — 591. After tlie erection of regular presbyt* ries, this exercise formed an irapoitant part of their employment; and ^t every meeting, two of tlie members by turns were accustomed tc expound the Scriptures. De Kegimine Eccl. Scot. Brevis Relatio, p. 3. Until lately traces of this ancient practice remained, and there is reason to regret that it has generally gone into desuetude among Presbyterian bodies. Associations of the same kind were formed in England. From 1571 to 1576, they spread through that kingdom, and were patronized by the Bishops of London, VVinton, Bath and W ells, Litchheld, Gloucester, Lincoln, Chichester, Exon, St. David's, by San- dys, Archbishop of York, and by Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury. Several of the courtiers, as Sir Walter Mildmay, Sir Francis Knollys, and Sir Thomas Smith, greatly approved of them ; and, at a future period, they were recommended to King James by Lord Bacon. But they were suppressed by an imperious mandate from Elizabeth. Some interesting particulars respecting their number, regulations, and sup- pression, may be seen in Strype's Annals, ii. 90 — 95, 219, 220, 318 — 324, 486. Life of Grindal, pp. 219—227, 230, 299, 300. Life of Parker, 460 — 462. They were formed on the model of the Scottish Exercises, and in their regulations, the very words of the First Book of Disci- pline are sometimes used. A species of ecclesiastical discipline was joined with them in some dioceses. I also observe a striking resem- blance between the directions given by Bishop Scambler for the cele- bration of the Lord's Supper, and the mode which was then used in Scotland, particularly as to the circumstances of two communions oi ministrations on the same day, and the early hour of the service. Strype's Annals, ii. 91, compared with Scott's History of the Scottish Reformers, p. 192. Keith has given a quotation from the MS. copy of Spotswood's His- tory, in which the archbishop signifies, that at the time of the compila- tion of the First Book of Discipline, several of the reformed ministers wished to retain the ancient polity, after removing the grosser cor- ruptions and abuses, but that Knox overruled this motion. Keith, 492. But there is no trace, in the authentic documents of that period, of any diversity of opinion among the Scottish reformers on this head. The supposition is contradicted by Row, (see above, p. 210,) and by their own language. Dunlop, iii. 518. Knox's Historie, 282. It is probable that the archbishop's story had its original at a later period, when the design of conforming the Church of Scotland to the Eng- lish model began to be entertained. I am not inclined to give much more credit to another tale of Spotswood, respecting a message which Archbishop Hamilton is said to have sent to Knox by John Brand. History, 174. Keith, 495. Note 00, p. 215. Sentiments of the Reformed Ministers respecting- Tithes and the Property of the Church. — These are laid down in the First Book of Discipline, chap. v. and viii. Dunlop, ii. 533—538, 562—568. Consid- erable light is also thrown upon them by the private writings of that period. The reformed ministers did not regard tithes as of divine right, nor think that it was sacrilegious in every case to apply to secu- lar purposes those funds which had been originally set apart to a reli- gious use. But they held that, by the Christian as well as the Jewish law, a competent subsistence was appointed to be made for the minis- ters of relierion ; that it is incumbent on a nation which has received the true religion to make public provision for the outward mainten- ance of its ordinances; that the appropriation of the tenth part of NOTES. 461 property U r this jiiirpose is at least recommended by primeval usage, by the sanction ot'divine wisdom in tiie Jewisli constitution, and by the laws and practice of C'liristian empires and kingdoms; that pro- pei'ty which had been set apart and given for religious ends could not justly, or without sacrilege, be alienated, as long as it was needed for these purposes; and that though many of the donors might have had the support of superstitious observances immediately in their eye, still it was with a view to religion that they made such gifts. In as far as it should appear that the ecclesiastical revenues weie super- abundant and unnecessary, they were willing that the surplus should be applied to the common service of the stale. To illustrate their sen- timents on this subject, and the manner in which they complained of the alienation of churcli property, I shall add a few extracts from some of their writings which are not commonly consulted. My first extracts shall be from Ferguson's sermon, to which our Reformer set his hand a little before his death. Having given an account of the law of Moses, the ordinance of the New Testament, and the practice of the primitive church, he adds, "Ye se, then, that the ministers of the primitive kirk (that levit befbir princes wer Chris- tianes and nurishers of the kirk, as it was propheseit) werna beggaris, suppois they wer no lordis that aboundit in superfluous welth, as the papis bischoppis did ; bot had sufficient asweill for the necessitie of thair owin families, as for the help of uther Christianes that now and then, as occasiones servit, repairit to thair housis. Q,uhen the tyme come foirspokin bi David (Ps. Ixviii. and cii.) that kingis and empe- reouris, and thair kingdomes, suld serve the Lord, and bring gifles unto him," they, " following his example that only is wyse, ordainit be thair authoritie, that thetiendis sulde serve to the same use in the tyme of the gospell." — "Our youth aucht also to be nurischit and maintenit at" the schuillis, and thairoutof eflerward might spring preicheris, counsellouris, physiciounis, and all other kinds of learnit men that we have neid of. For the scheulis are the seid of the kirk and common welth, and our ciiildrene are the hope of the posteritie, quhilk being neglectit, thair can nathing be luikit for bot that barba- rous ignorance sail overflow all. For suppois God has wonderfullie, at this time, steirit up priecheris amang us, even quhen darkness and ignorance had the upperhand, he will not do sa heirefter, seeing we have the ordinarie meane to provide them, quhilk gif we contempne, in vane sail we loke for extraordinary proviscioun. Israel was mirac- ulusslie fed in the wildernes with manna, bot how soon thay did eit of the corne of the land of Canaan, the manna ceissit, nouther had they it ony moir, bot levit efterward on the frute of the ground, ordi- narilie labourit with thair handis. I speik to prudent men that may understand and judge quhat I say." After deploring the decayed state of the churches and schools, and the poverty of the ministers, he adds, " I am compellit to speik this, thocht I be als plane as pleasant, and appear to yow as the greatest fule of the rest to stand up heir to utter that quhilk other men thinkis. ^^'eill ; let me be countit a fule for speiking the treuth. I regard not; nouther may 1 spair to speik it, thocht I suld be judgeit in our awin cause to be carryit away with a particular affectioun ; followiner heirin the exampil of our pro- phet Malachie." — " Ye marvel, I doubt not, qnhy ye have not prevailit aganis yone throtcutteris and unnatm-all murtherers within the towne and castell of Edinburgh, specially ye hevinc a maist just actioun, being ma in number, and mair valyeant men, and nathing inferinur to thame in wisdome, cireumspectioun, or ony gud qualiteis, outlier of body or mvnd. Bot ceis to marvel; for the cans qnhy that ye have not )revailit "iganis thame long or now, amang mony uther your 452 NOTES. sinnis quhairwith ye are defylt, is this, that the spuilyie of the pure is in your housis; ye invaid that quhilk our forbearis gave of gude zeii to Goddis honour, and the commoun welth of the kirk ; ye spuilye to your awn private nsis, without outher ryme or resoun, nouther will ye be controllit. This, this, I say, is the chief caus that nathing pros- peris in your handis. I grant that our fatheris, of immoderate zeill (besyde the teindis and necessarie rentis of the kirk,) gp.ve thairunto superfluously, and mair nor aneuch. Q,uhat then is to be done 1 but that the preiciieris of God's word be reasonablie sustenit, seing thair is eneuch and over mekil to do it, the schullis and the pure be weill provydit, as they aucht, and the tempellis honestly and reverently reparit, that the pepill, without injurie of wynd or wedder, may sit and heir Goddis word, and participat of his haly sacramentis. And gif thair restis ony thing unspendit quhen this is done, (as na dout thair wil,) in the name of God, let it be bestowiton the next necessarie affairis of the commoun welth, and not to any mannis private com- moditie."' Ane Sermon preachit befoir the regent and nobilitie — be David Fergussone. B. iv. v. C. Lepruik, 1572. The following extracts are taken from Sermons against Sacrilege by Robert Pont. " From the yeare of our Lorde 1560, unto this pre- sent time, the greatest study of all men of power of this land, hes bene, by all kinde of inventions, to spoyle the kirk of Christ of her patrimo- nie, by chopping and changing, diminishing of rentals, converting of victual in small sumes of money : setting of fewes within the availe, long tackes uppon tackes, with two or three liferentes, with many twentie yeares in an tack, annexationes, erectiones of kirk-rents in temporall livings and heritage, pensiones, simple donationes, erecting of new patronages, union of teindes, making of new abaties, commen- dataries, priors, with other papistical titles, which ought to have no place in a reformed kirk and countrie ; with an infinite of other cor- rupt and fraudfull waies, to the detriment and hurte of the kirke, the schooles, and the poore, without any stay or gaine-calling. " Treuth it is, parliaments have been conveened, and acts have bene made, for providing ministers of competent livinges ; for reparahng of parish kirkes, for trayning up the youth in schooles of theologie.) It hath bene also promised, and subscribed in writte, by a great parte of the nobilitie, that the poore labourers of the grounde, should have an ease and reliefe of the rigorous exacting of their teindes : and many other good thinges have been devised, tending to the advancement of the glorie of God, and establishing of Christ his kingdome. Amongst us, namely, in time of the governemente of that good regente (whome for honoures cause 1 name) who, although he could not doe all that hee would have done, (having so manie hinderances and enemies,) yet his dooings might have been a perfite patterne of godlinesse to the reste of the nobilitie, to make thame bene content to live uppon their owne rentes, and to cease from robbing and spoyling the patri- monie of the kirke.'" Having proposed the objection, that the Leviti- cal law of Moses is abrogated, and that therefore his authorities from the Old Testament had no force under the gospel, he adds : " I auns- v^ ere concerning these lands or annual rentes, out of landes delated and given to the kirke, that although the Leviticall lawe, with the ceremonies thereof, concerning the outwarde observation, hath taken an ende, and is fulfilled in ChVist ; yet the substance of the policie, concerning interteinment of the service of God, and uphold of religion, still remaines. And it is no lesse necessarie, that the ministerie of God amongst us be mainteined ; and that sufficient provision be made to serve other godlie uses, whereunto the kirke-rentes ought to be applyed, nor it was that the priestesand levites shoulde bene upholder NOTES. 453 in the time of the olde law. And as to the holiiiesse or unhoHnes of these landes and revenjes: albeit in their owne nature (as 1 said in the former sermon) they be like other earthly possessiones ; yet, in so far as they were applyed to an holy use, they may wel be called holy possessions and rents, as the kirk is holy, to whose use they are ap- pointed. I will not deny but the teindes might be possibly changed, in other meanes of sutiicient provision for the kirke, if such godly zeale were now amongst men, as was of olde time. But in so fane as we see the plane contrarie, that men are now I'eadier to take away, than ever our predecessors were to give; it were a foolish thing to loose the certaine for the uncertaine, and that which is never likely to come to passe." Font's Sermon's against Sacrilege. B, 8. C, 2. C, 6. E, 6. Woldegrave, 1599. It appears from the following extract, that Pont undertook this work at the desire of the General Assembly. "July 3, 1591. Mr. Robert Pont is ordained to writ against sacrilege, and show his travells to the next assembly." Matthew Crawfurd's MS. History of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p. 161. Note PP, p. 216. Of John Bow, and the introduction of Hehreio Literature into Scot- land. — The following notices of Row's employment at Rome are furnished by a very curious and valuable manuscript in the possession of Thomas Thomson, Esquire. Besides papal bulls relating to bishop- rics and benefices in Scotland about the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury, it contains a number of important documents as to the corres- pondence between the Scottish primate and the Roman court, to- gether with accounts of receipts and disbursements by the agent at Rome for the Earl of Arran, governor of Scotland, John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, and Gavin and Claud Hamilton. John Row was employed as their procurator. In "Ane Recollectioun of my lord of Sanct Andros missives to my lord of Kilwinning," (MS. p. 324,) is the following article: — " And is content M. Johne Row was put in charge of his 1 [ordship's] affairs in Rome, 11 Martii, 15.54." In "Ane memoir of all things left wt. M. Johne Row be Gavin, commendator of Kilwinning, at his departing of Rome, 20 mesis Martii, 1555," (MS. p. 240,) is the following:— "Item, appointed wt. M. Johne Row for the provestrie of Kirkfield, ^nd caus M. Alexr. Forres send his mandat to ratify the 20/. pension reservit to the said M. Jhone." In a variety of letters to the pope, " concerning my lord d uckis bairnis, my lord archbishope of Sanctandros, bischope Argile, my lord Kilwinn- ing self, and utheris thair frends," to cardinal Sermonet. "regni Scotiae promotori,"and toother membersof the sacred college,from John, Arch- bishop of St. Andrews, Gavin, coadjutor to the archbishop, James Earl of Arran, and Mary dowager queen and regent of the kingdom; written during the years 1555 and 1556, and inserted in the same manuscript, John Row is recognized and recommended as "procurator for the see of^ St. Andrews." At the close of the book is a table of ciphers, with an explanation, to which this title is prefixed, " Ciphre send be my 1. of Sanct andros of Edr. 13th May, 15.5.5, to M. Johne Row in Rome." One great object of the negociation with Rome, in which Row was employed, was the obtaining of a confirmation and extension of the powers formerly granted to the Archbishop of St. Andrews as primate and legatus nuius o" Scotland, from which Gavin Dunbar, late Arch 454 NOTES. bishop of Glasgow, had procured an exemptio. In support of his claim, the primate urges, that "there had always been a gieat number of heretics in the diocese of Glasgow ;" that its proximity to England "gave easy ingress and egress to persons of bad manners and opin- ions;" that various scandals and enormities, such as "'the burning of the images of God and tiie saints, the contempt of prelates, the beat- ing of priests and monks, and the eating of forbidden meats," were committed within its bounds, and that the archbishop could not sup- press these evils in his diocese, and at the same time hindered the primate from exerting his power for this purpose. The following passage, in one of the informations presented to the court of Rome throws light on the fate of two individuals whom we have already (pp. 110,391) had occasion to mention. "Insuper cum magna pars dioe Glasguen. nuper fuerat heresibus infecta, et tam durante vita dicti quondam Gavini vltimi archiepiscopi Glasguen. quam sede va- cante, maxima scandala contra Catholicam fidem perpetrabantur. nee in potestate sedis Glasguen. et suorum sufFraganeorum erat eorum potentie resistere. Sed D. Archiepiscopus Sancti andree modern us metropolitano ac jure prouinciali eandem diocesin visitavit, et repur- gavit malis hominibus heresiarchis. In cuius testimonium ipse sua propria persona expugnavit locum de Ochiltre, et inde inuito domino ejusdem detrusit ad carceres et vincula quendam apostatani nomine Machnnre heresiarcham, et eiusdem fautores gravibus penis mulc- tauit. Et similiter alterum VaUasiwm nuncupatum in sua heresi per- seuerantem in eadem diocesi Glasguen. natum hereticas opiniones profitentem publica omnium regni ordinum prelatorum conuentione de heresi conuictum et condemnaium curie tradidit seculari ad comhur- endum. Et ita curavit heresis pestem puniri quod sedes Glasguen. minime potuit facere, que res cum sic notissima probation! vlteriori non multum indigens que si esset necessaria omnibus Scotis Rome satis innotescit." [MS. fol. 179, comp. fo. 1S5— 187.] Row left Rome on the 20th of May, and arrived in Scotland on the 29th of September, 1558. The following is the account of his conver- sion from Popery given by his son. Being in Cleish, the house of the gentleman who had detected the imposture at Musselburgh, (see p. 201,) the young man who was said to have been cured of blindness, was brought into his presence, where he " played his pavie," by " flyp- ing up the lid of his eyes, and casting up the white." While Row was confounded at this discovery, the gentleman addressed him very seriously : " Weill, Mr. John Row, ye are a great clergyman, and a sreat linguist and lawyer, but I charge you, as you must answer to the gieat God at the last day, that ye do not now hold out any light that God offers you, but that ye will, as soon as ye come to yoifr study, close the door upon you, and take your Bible, and seriouslj' pray to God that ye may understand the Scriptures. — Read the 2d ch. of the 2d epistle to the Thessalonians ; and if ye do not see your mas- ter, the pope, to be the great antichrist who comes with lying wonders to deceive the people of God, (as now he and his deceiving rabble of clergy in Scotland have done lately at Musselburgh,) ye shall say Squire Meldrum has no skill." Row, Historic of the Kirk, p. 356; copy of the MS. transcribed in 1726. After conference with several of the reformed ministers, and particularly Knox, he made formal abjura- tion of popery. "Ipse Nuncius," says his grandson, "nassa evangelii irretitus, ejus pura, pia, pathetica praedicatione inescatus, pontificiis syrtbus, famigerati Knoxi opera, extractus est." Hebrew lingufe Insti- tutiones, a M. Joa. Row, epist. dedic. A. 3, b. Glasgu-ae, 1644. In the beginning of the year 1560, he was admitted minister of Kinneuchar in Fife, where he married Margaret Beatoun, a daughter of the laird NOTES. i55 of Balfour. Row's Historie, ut supra. Before the end of that year hv. was translated to Perth. Knox, 2oG. Keith, 498. His son informs us that he was born at Row, a place situated between Stirling and Uum- blane, and which belonged to the family. That he was an author appears from the testament of Thomas Bassinden, printer in Edin- burgh, wlio died on the 1 8th of October, 1577, and the inventory of whose goods contains the following lines: — "Item, ane iVI. Johne Rowis signes of the sacramontis, price 12c/." During iiis residence in Italy, Row had acquired the knowledge ol' the Greek and Hebrew languages. The latter was at that time almost entirely unknown in Scotland, and he immediately began, at the re- commendation of his brethren, to teach it. The grammar-school of Perth was then the most celebrated in the kingdom, and noblemen and gentlemen were accustomed to send their children thither for their education. Many of these were boarded with Row, who in- structed them in Greek and Hebrew. As nothing but Latin was spoken by the boys in the school and in the fields, so nothing was spoken in Row's house but French. The passages of Scripture read in the family before and after meals, if in the Old Testament, were read in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, and English ; if in the New Testament, they were read in Greek, &c. Hisson John, when he was between four and five years old, was taught the Hebrew charac- ters, before he knew the English letters; and at eight years of age he read the Hebrew chapter in the family. When he went to the newly erected university of Edinburgh, his uncommon acquaintance with the Hebrew language attracted the particular notice of the learned and amiable Principal Rollock. Row's Historie, 372 — 375. Hebreae Ling. Institut. ut supra. Row gave instructions to the master of the grammar-school in the Greek tongue, by which means it came to be afterwards taught in Perth. And, in 1637, his grandson, John Row, became rector of that school, in which he taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. This produced the following encomiastic verses by John Adamson, principal of the college of Edinburgh. Perthana quondam Latialis linguae schola Laude cluebat, flieratque unius iabri; Nunc est trilinguis, Latio jungens Graeciam, Et huic Palsestinam; omniiini Unguis loquens. O ter heatam te nunc Perthanam scholam! O ter beatum Rollum rectorem tuum! Per quern juventus, barbarise procul habitu, Rudis et tenella primulis labellulis Solymas, Athenas, et Romam scite sonat. About the year 15G7, James Lawson (afterwards Knox's successor at Edinburgh) returned from the Continent, where he had studied Hebrew. The professors of St. Andrews prevailed on him to give lessons in that language in their university. Life of Lawson, p. 2, in Wodrow's MS. ("'ollections, vol. i. Bibl. Coll. Glas. As he was made sut>principal in the university of Aberdeen, in I5r39, it is to be pre- sumed that he would also teach that language there. Lawson, after his settlement in Edinhnrgii, patronized the interests of literature in this city. It was chiefly by his exertions that the buildinfrs for the high-school were completed in 1578. His intentions were to have it erected into an university, or at least to make it srhnia il/ii.tlris, with classes of logic and philosophy. The books destined for the library were kept in his house, previous to the foundation of the college. Crawtiird's History of the University of Edinbm-cli, pp. in, 20. It is jnnecessary to say any thing iiere of the influence which Andrew 456 NOTES. Melville exerted on the promotion of Oriental literature in this coun- try. Thomas Smeton, who succeeded IVIeJville as principal of the university of Glasgow, was a Hebrew scholar, as appears from his answer to Hamilton's Dialogue. Those who held the situation of prin- cipal in the universities at that time were accustomed to teach such branches of learning as were most neglected. Note aa, p. 217. Of George Buchanan. — As every thing relating to this scholar must be interesting to the learned, I shall add a few notices of him which have been hitherto overlooked. The following entries in the treasurer's accounts refer to the period during which he was tutor to James Stewart, abbot of Melrose and Kelso, an illegitimate son of James V. " Anno 1536. Item, the 16th day of februar, be the kingis gracis pre- cept and speciale cGmand, to Maister George Balquhanan and Andro Mylin, seruandis to lord James, to be thame twa gownis, xi elnis pareis blak, price of the elne 32^. Summa. 17/. 12.s., &c. &c. " Augt. 1537. Item, to Maist. George Buchquhanan, at the king's command, 20/. [July 1537.] " Item, for vi elnis paris blak to be Maister George Balquhanan ane gown, price of the elne 36s. Summa. 10/. 16jj." [Compt. Thesaur.] From the manuscript belonging to Thomas Thomson, Esq., quoted in the preceding note, it appears that an absolution was procured at Rome, for George Buchanan, by the regent Arran and the Archbishop of St. Andrews ; and that his brother Patrick was appointed tutor to the regent's children at Paris. In an accompt entitled " The archden of Sanctandros memo, of expenses In Rome," (MS. p. 141,) is the fol- lowing article: — [1553.] " Item, for M. George Balquhananes absolution, crowns 9." In the papers of Gawen, commendator of Kilwinning, (MS. pp. 204, 206, 235, 325,) are the following articles :— " Item, given to M. Patric Balquhannan to ane gud compt, 24 July, 1554, 500 franks. " And I half left with M. Patric Balquhannan in ane steil box 500 crownis, 1 Rois nobilis, and xiv Hary nobilis. Parisiis, 28th July, 1554. "Memoir of the geir left with Maister Patrik Bawquhenan the 27th day of July, anno 1554 at my departyng to Chattelleraut, &c. " And to tak sikernes at M. Patric Balquhanan suld serve my lordis bairnis, and quitclame his pension quhen he war benefitit 26. 15.54." The following extracts from the treasurer's accounts refer to the "ear 1568, when Buchanan accompanied the Regent Murray to Eng- land, to justify the charges against Mary (iueen of Scots. " Item, the said day [^7 May] to ane boy passand of Stirriling, wt. clois writtings of my lord regent g. to the lard of Buchquhannane, and Maister George Buchquhannane being baith in .Sanctandr. 4^. "June 26th. Item, the said day to ane boy passand of Edinbiu'gh to Sanctandrois wt. ane clois writting of my lord regent g. to Maister George Buchquhannane, 5s. " Item, the said 27th day of August, be my lord regentis grace spe- ciale command, to Maister George Buchquhanane .5 elns 2 quarteri? of fyne blak veluote, ye eln 71. Summa. 38/. \0s. " Item, to him ane sleik of chamlot of silk, 22/. " Itein, 2 elnis 2 quarteris of Londoun claith, the eln 4/. 10*. Summa, 1 2i. Is. 6d. [Compt. Thesaur.] NOTES. 457 As his inipiisonment in Portugfal, and his release from confinement, ftave been iiuperlectjy related, 1 sliail iiere insert two accounts of them, which have escaped the notice of his biograpliers. Principal Snieton's account, which was most probaijiy derived from Buchanan himself is the following. " Vivit adhuc," says he in his answer to Hamilton, "et utinam diu vivat, orbis terrarum, non Scotiai tantum, decus (..iEORGiua BucHANANus ; queui inepte facerem, si a rabidi canis latraiu delendere conarer, extra omnem ingenii aleam omnium judicio constitutum. Q,uod de abjurata ab eo haeresi adscribis, impudentissimum est men- dacium, Hamiltoni. Duplici quidem de causa in vciiB religionis sus- picionem in Lusitania venit; turn quod Serapliici ordinis mysteria in Franciscano suo apertius reuelasset: turn quod in priuato colloquio discipulis quibusdam dixisset, videri sibi Augustinum transubstantia- tionis figmento non prorsus fauere. In carcerem conicctus causam capitis perorauit. F'ranciscanum se regis sui iussu scripsisse; nee quicquam in eo esse quod vllum fidei Christianae dogma conuellat. Versus quosdam memoriter pronuntiare iussus (nam nemo ibi libellum habebat) memoriae iacturam causatus est. De transubstantiatione res- pondit; non alia se quam Augustini verba recitasse, ex cap. 1(3. lib. 3. de Doctrina Christiana. Q,uae sic habent. ' Si prajceptiua locutio est, aut flagitium aut facinus vetans, aut vtilitatem aut beneficentiam iubens, non est figurata : Si autem flagitium aut facinus videtur inhere, aut vtilitatem auf beneficentiam vetare, figurata est. Nisi manducau- eritis, inquit, carnem filij hominis et sanguinem biberitis, non habebitis vitam in vobis: facinus vel flagitium videtur inhere. Figura est ergo, praecipiens passioni Domini esse communicandum, et suauiter atque vtiliter recondendum in memoria, quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa et vulnerata sit.' Haec, inquit, si ha^resim sapiunt, prius Augustinum damnate ; quod vt feceritis, haud sequum tamen erit, vt ego alienae culpae pognas luam. Ergo cum n^c ratione, nee testimonio cuiusquam conuinci posset, iudicum calculis absolutus in Galliam redijt; tanto bonarum litterarum damno, vt ipsemet postea Lusitaniae Rex amantis- simis eum scriptis reuocarit. Sed frustra. Summo enim Dei beneficio ex crudelissimis inquisitorum manibus liberatus, in discrimen se ite- rum conjicere noluit : cum in Gallia praesertim, omnium quae sub sole sunt regionum humanitate, optimarum artium studijs et doctorum numero prima, opim^'e illi, et admodum honorificaj conditiones defer- rentur. Sed Buchananum singularis animi candor, et in omni genere perspecta virtus satis per se defendet." Smetoni, Responsio ad Viru- lentum Arch. Hamiltonii Dialogum, Edinburgi, 1579, pp. 8^, 90. I sliall add the accoimt which Archibald Hamilton gives of this aflfair, in his reply to Smeton, although the judicious reader will l>e of opinion that no credit is due to such a writer, especially when his tes- timony is flatly contradicted by that of Smeton, and of Buchanan him- self "Tamillud quidem contra regis Scotorum integritatem, quam hoc contra Hyspanorum niaxquam satis laudatam in fXdimnandis hfereticis severitatem, malitiose confictum, et utrumque longe falsissi- mum est. Neque enim Jacobus Quintus, in tenenda atque asserenda fide C'atholica princeps null! omnium secundus, tarn impuro et procaci pasquillo, auctorem se unquam dedisset : neq; theologorum gravissi- ma censura, tam impiam athei poetae dicacitatem impune abire per- misisset : et ut prioris mendacii falsitas illustrium dominorum Askein et Levinffston publico testimonio evicta tunc fuit, quando legatione apud Gal'os functi, regis nomine haereseos convictnm Iluchananum Hyspanorum legato detulerunt: ita ducentorum qui non disputationem sed snpplicem lachrymantis deprocationem audiverunt, sententiis, alterius illins figmenti vanitas coargui potest, sin illae non satia fortiter premunt quod longe a nobis absint, et nostrorum horn 39 H.S 4 58 xNOTES. inum, quod rei gestae non interfuerunt narratio digi.a fide minus videatur: publice tamen urbis commentarii, in quos res gestae referri solent, auctoritate vacare non debent, qui aperte adliuc testa- buntur non Augustini testimonio. cap. 17. libri tertii de doctrina C'liris- tiana, sed Psalmographi versum, psalmo vigesimo quarto, snbsidio ei tunc fuisse: duni ad Cardinalis pedes provolutus, flebili voce, verba ista proferebat (delicta juventutis mese et Ignorantias ne memineris, Domine) earn recantationis formulam, ab eo tunc tempoi'is usurpatam, ad eum sane finem obitei- attigi, ut tandem Scotia intelliireret, quam gravem et constantem nunc patriarcham in religione sequitur : dum levis poetae et aiijurati hagretici paradoxa omnia pro certissimis spi- ritiis sancti oraculis habet." Calvinianae T'onfusionis Demonstratio.- - per Archibaldum Hamiltonium, p. 252, b. 253 a. Parisiis, 1581. Note RR, p. 218. Of David Ferguson, and the cultivation of the Scottish Language. — I have said in the text, that the reformers, while they exerted them- selves to revive the knowledge of the learned languages, did not neglect the improvement of their native tongue; and that, among others, David Ferguson, minister of Dunfermline, distinguished him- self in this department. It appears, from a document already pro- duced, (Note GG,) that he belonged originally to Dundee. Though "not graduated in a college," he was very far from being illiterate, and was much admired for the quickness of his wit and good taste, as well as for his piety — "elegantis ingenii et magnfe pietatis virum," says Smeton, Responsio ad Hamilt. Dialog, p. 92. Row's Coronis to his Historie. p. 314 of copy in Divinity Lib. Edin. The sermon which he preached at Leith before the regent and nobility, and afterwards published, (see above, p. 327.) is a proof of this; and had it not been a sermon, would most probably have been republished before this time, as a specimen of good Scottish composition. Extracts from it maybe seen in Note OO." John Davidson, then one of the regents at St. An- drews, celebrated the success of the author in refining his vernacular language, in the following Latin lines, which are prefixed to the sermon : — Graecia mellifluo quantum det Nestoris on, Aut Demostheneo debeat eloquio ; [psi facundo quantum (mihi crede) parenti Attribuat linguae turba togata suae ; Nos tibi, Fergusi, tantum debere fatemur, Scotanam lingiiam qui reparare studes. Sermonem patrium ditas ; inculta vetusta Horret qua longe barbariemque fugas ; Adde etiam, neque abest facundis gratia dictis, Respondet verbis materia apta tuis. Quod satis ostendit nobis tua concio praesens, Qua niiiil in lucem doctius ire potest. Besides this sermon, Ferguson was the author of a collection of Scottish Proverbs, and of an Answer to the Rejoinder, which the Jesuit Tyrie made to Knox. That abusive writer, James Lains, calls this last work "a barbarous, and Scotican epistle," and rails ag-ainst its author as an is-norant sutor and glover, who knew neither Hebrew, nor Greek, nor Latin. As for himself, although a Scotsman, Laing tells ns. that he thouffht it beneath him to write in a language which was fit only for barbarians and heretics. " Tres sunt linguae elegantes NOTES. 459 ct ingenucB, Hebraica, Graeca, et Latina, quae nobilibus principibus — suntdignae: cteteias linguas, cum sint bailiaraj, baibaris et lutreticis tanquain piopnis relinquo."' De Vita lla^ieticorum, Dedic. p. ult. et p. 31. Paris, lobl. Aotwitlistanding tliis writer's boasting of i)is litera- ture, and the opportunities wliicli he takes to display it, he did not know the top tVoni the bottom of a Hebrew letter, if we may judge from his book, p. 94, b. Laing's objection to the literature of Fergu- son may, howevei", be tliought as solid as that whicii another Popish writer lias brought against his morals, by accusing him oi using pepper instead of salt to his beef. "At hi quibus carnem accendant iriitent- que, novas artes quotidie excogitant ;" and on the margin, he says, "Exempio est David Ferguson ad macerandas carnes bubulas pipere pro sale utens."' Hamilton, de Confus. Calvinianae t^ectae, p. 76. But to do justice to Hamilton, it is proper to mention, that pepper was at that time so high priced as to be a morsel only for a pope or a cardi- nal, and very unht for the mouths of barbers, cobblers, &c. of which rank he tells us the reformed preachers generally were. Principal Smeton, alter saying that Ferguson had reared a numerous family on a very moderate stipend, adds : — " Undenam ergo illi, amabo te, tan- tum piperis ad carries quotannis macerandas quantum sexcentis apud nos aureis nummis nemo unquam compararit?" Smetoni Responsio ad Hamilt. p. 95. The truth is, there was too much salt and pepper in the writings of Ferguson for the Papists. A number of Ferguson's witty sayings are recorded by his son-in- law, John Row. James VI. who resided frequently at Dunfermline, used to take great delight in his conversation. " David," said James to him one day, " why may not I have bishops in Scotland as well as they have in England ]" — " Yea, Sir," replied Ferguson, " ye may have bishops here; but remember ye must make us all bishops, else will ye never content us. For if ye set up ten or twelve lowns over honest men's heads, (honest men will not have your antichristian pre- lacies,) and give them more thousands to debauch and mispend than honest men have hundreds or scores, we wil never al be content. We ar Paul's bishopis. Sir, Christ's bishopis; ha'd us as we are."— " The d — 1 haid aills you," replied James, " but that ye would all be alike; ye cannot abide ony to be abone you." — "Sir!" said the min- ister, "do not ban." Row's Coronis to his Historic of the Kirk, p. 314. Ferguson seems to have amused himself with some of those incidents which were generally reckoned ominous. The king having once asked him, very seriously, what he thought was the reason that the Master-of-G ray's house shook during the night, he answered, "Why should not the devil rock his awin bairns'!" Having met at St. An- drews along with other commissioners of the church, to protest against the inauguration of Patrick Adamson as archbishop of that see, one came in and told them, that there was a crow "croiiping" on the roof of the church. "That's a bad omen," said he, shaking his head, "for inauguration is from avium garritu, the raven is omnimodo a black bird, and it cries corrupt, corrupt, corrupt." Row's Historic, p. 40. It may not be improper to insert here the inscription on the tomb of John Row, the historian to whom I have so often been indebted, who was the third son of the learned minister of Perth, and married Grizzej, daughter to David Ferguson of Dunfermline. It is on his monimient in the churchyard of f'arnock. " Hie jacet M. Jo. Row, Pastor hujus Ecclesiae fidelissimus. Vixit acerrimus veritatis et foederis Scoticani assertor, Hierarrhia? pseudo- episcopalis, et Romanorum rituum, cordicitiis nsor, in frequent! sym- mystaruni apostasia cubi instar constantissimus. — Duxit < Jricellidam Fergusonam, cum qua annos 51 conjunctissime vixit. Huic occlesia 460 NOTES. annos 54 praefuit. Obiit Junij 26to, anno domini 1646. ^Etatis 78 Obiit et ilia January 30mo, 1659." Note SS, p. 218. Order of Procedure at thejirst Meetings of the General Assembly. — The first appointment of a moderator was in December, 1563. "It was proponit to tlie haill assemblie yat ane moderator suld be ap- pointit for avoyding confusioun in reasoning." Buik of the Universal Kirk, p. 8. The Assembly which met at Perth, August, 1572, ordained, as a perpetual law, that no person, of whatever estate, take in hand to speak without licence asked and given by the moderator, that mo- deration should be kept in reasoning, and silence when commanded by the moderator, under pain of removal from the Assembly, and not to re-enter during that convention, ibid. p. 55. In July 1568, to cor- rect evils, " be reason of the pluralitie and confusion of voices," it was enacted, that none should have power to vote but superintendents, commissioners appointed to visit kirks, ministers " brought with yame, presented as habile to reasone, and having knowledge to judge," and commissioners of burghs, shires, and universities. The ministers were to be chosen at the synodal convention of the diocese, by con- sent of the rest of the ministry and gentlemen that shall convene at the said synodal convention; commissioners of burghs by "the coun- sell and kirk of their awn townes." — " None to be admitted without sufficient commission or wreit." And to prevent a monopoly of power, they were to be changed from Assembly to Assembly. Ibid, p. 38. The Assembly, March"l569 — 70, settled the following order of procedure. After sermon and prayer by the former moderator, 1. A new moderator to be chosen. 2. Superintendents, commissioners, &c. to be tried. First, the superintendents being removed, inquiry was made of the ministers and commissioners of their bounds if they had any charges to lay against them as to neglect of duty, &c. If any charge was brought, it was examined, and sentence passed. The same order was observed in the trial of the other members of Assem- bly. 3. The case of penitents and persons under censure to be con- sidered. Lastly, The business left undecided by last Assembly, or brought before the present, to be taken up. Ibid. p. 47 Note TT, p. 219. Epistolary Correspondence between Knox and Calvin. — In a letter dated 28th August, 1559, Knox requests Calvin's opinion on the two following questions. 1. Whether bastards, the children of idolaters and excommunicated persons, should be admitted to baptism, before their parents gave satisfaction to the church, or they themselves were able to require it? 2. Whether monks and Popish priests, who nei- ther serve the church, nor are capable of serving it, although they have renounced their errors, ought to have the annual rents of the church paid to them ! Knox had maintained the negative on the last question. The letter is said to be written raptim. " Plura scribere vetat febris qua crucior, laborum moles qua premor, et Gallorum bom- bardae, qui, ut nos opprimant, appulerunt." (Comp. Historie, p. 161.) Calvin, in a letter dated Nov. 8, 15.59, answers, that it was his opinion, and that of his colleagues, on the first question, That the sacrament of baptism was not to be administered to those who were without the church, nor to an> n^thout proper sponsors; but the promise (upop NOTES. 461 wnich tlie right was founded) was not confined to the posterity in the first degree : and therefore those who were descended from godly pa- rents were to be viewed as belonging to the church, altliough their parents, or even grand-parents, had become apostates, and sue j chil- di-en w°i-e not to be refused baptism, provided persons appeared as sponsors, engaging for their religious education. " Adde quod alia est nunc renascentis ecclesiae ratio, quam rite formatae et compositai." (Comp. Dunlop, ii. 573.) On the second question, he says, That al- though those who performed no service in the church had not a just claim to be supported by its funds, still, as the Popish clergy had l.'^ought themselves under engagements in times of ignorance, and had consumed a part of their lives in idleness, it seemed harsh to de- prive them of all support. He therefore advises a middle course to be adopted. ( 'alvini Epistoke et Responsa, pp. 516 — 520. Hanoviaj, 1597. Ibid. pp. 201, 202, in Open torn. ix. Amstaelod, 1067. From another letter of Calvin to Knox, dated April 23, 1501, it ap- pears tliat the Genevese Reformer had been consulted by our coun- trymen on some other points of considerable difficulty, — most proba- bly those questions on which the nobility and the ministers differed. He wrote them accordingly, but soon afterwards was applied to a second time for his opinion on the same subject, as his first letter had miscarried. Knowing that his judgment was not altogether agreeable to some of his correspondents, he suspected that they wished to draw from him an answer more favourable to their own sentiments, and expressed his dissatisfaction at such conduct. Knox, who appears to have been employed in the correspondence, was grieved at this sus- picion, and vindicated himself from the imputation. Calvin, in his letter, apologises for his severity, and assures him that he never enter- tained any suspicion of his integrity. " Te vero dolose quicquam egisse, neque dixi, neque suspicatus sum. Ac mihi dolet, quod exci- derat ex ore meo, sic in animum tuum penetrasse, ut putares nialae fidei aut astutiae, a qua te remotum esse judico, fuisse insimulatmn. Facessat igitur metus ille vel cura." In both letters, Calvin signifies his high satisfaction at the wonderful success of the Reformation in Scotland. The conclusion of the last is expressive of the unaffected piety of the writer, and his warm regard for his correspondent. " Hie versamur inter multa discrimina. Una tantum ccelestis prajsidii fiducia nos a trepidatione eximit : quanvis non simus metu vacui. Vale, exi- mie vir, et ex animo colende frater. Dominus tibi semper adsit, te gubernet, tueatur, ac sustentet sua virtute." Ut supra, pp. 504 — 566, et in alter, edit. p. 1.50. These are the only parts of the correspondence between Calvin and our Reformer which have been published ; but Mons. Senebier, the librarian of Geneva, has informed us that there are a number of Knox's letters to Calvin preserved in the public librar}' of that city. Histoire liitteraire de Geneve, torn. i. p. 380. During his residence at Geneva, Knox became acqtiamted with Reza, who then acted as professor of Greek in the neighbouring city of Lausanne, from which he was translated to Geneva, upon the erec- tion of the university there, the same year in which our Reformer returned to Scotland. An epistolary correspondence was afterwards maintained between them. Two letters of Reza to Knox, the one dated June 3, ISOf, the other April 12. 1,572, are inserted in Episitol. Theolosr. Bezce, pp. 33.3—330, 344— 340. of the first edition; and pp. 304—307, 314—316, of the second edition, Genevan, 1.57.5. Roth of them evince the writer's ardent regard for our Reformer, and his hijrh opinion of our reformation. The first letter is inscribed, " To .John Knox, the Restorer of the Gospel of God in Scotland," and begins 39* 462 NOTES. with these words: "Gratiam et pacem tibi, mi frater, omnibusque vestris Sanctis ecclesiis opto a Deo et Patre Domini nostri Jesu Christi, cui etiam gratias ago assidue, turn de tanta ipsius in vos beneficentia, turn de vestra singulari in asserendo ipsius cuitu constantia et aninii fortitudine. Euge, mi frater, qiiam recte illud quod disciplinam simul cum doctrina conjungitis ! Ubsecro et obtestor ut ita pergatis, ne vobis idem quod tam multis eveniat, ut qui in limine impegerint, pro- gredi non possint, imo etiam interdum ne veJint quidem, quod longe misserrimum est." The second letter, which behoved to be received by Knox only a few months before his death, could not fail to be gr^i- tifying to him, even although he had then taken a formal " farewell df the world." It is addressed " To his dearest Brother and Colleague," and begins in the following lofty strain of affection: " Etsi tanto ter- rarum et maris ipsius intervallo disjuncti corporibus sumus, mi Cnoxe, tamen minime dubito quin inter nos semper viguerit, et ad extremum vigeat, summa ilia animorum conjunctio, unius ejusdemque spiritus fideique vinculo sancita." Note UU, p. 220. Evidence of Queen Mary's design to restore the Roman Catholic Relig-ion in Scotland. — The reader who doubts that this was her uni- form object from the time that she left France, may consult the follow- ing authorities. Throkmorton's Conference with Mary, in Knox, Historie, 275 — 277. Keith, History, 164— 167. Life of Bishop Lesley, in Anderson's Collections, i. 4, iii. 9. The letters of the Cardinal de St. Croix, (ambassador from the pope to the court of France,) extracted from the Vatican library, afford a striking demonstration of the inten- tions of the queen. St. Croix writes to Cardinal Borromeo, that the grand prior of France (one of Mary's uncles) and Mons. Danville had arrived from Scotland on the 17th November, (1561,) and had brought information, that the queen was going on successfully in surmounting all opposition to her in that kingdom. Being informed one day that some heretics had extinguished the candles on her altar, she repaired to the chapel, and having ascertained the fact, commanded a baron, one of the most powerful and most addicted to Lutheranism, to re- light the candles, and place them on the altar: in which she was in- stantly obeyed. After relating another instance of her spirited con- duct against the magistrates of a certain borough who had banished the Popish priests, the cardinal adds : — " by these means she has acquired greater authority and power, for enabling her to restore the ancient religion ;" "con che acquesta tutta via maggior autorita et forze, per posser restituer en quel regno 1' antica religione." Aymon, Synodes Nationaux des Eglises Reformees de France, torn. i. pp. 17, 18. Note XX, p. 222. I Sanguinary spirit and principles of Roman Catholics. — Bayle, Commentaire Philosophique, tome i. pref xiv. part ii. chap. v. pp. 343, 347, anno 16S6, and his Critique Generale de I'Histoire du Calvinism^, pp. 486, 501 — 519. Hume's History of England, vol. vii. chap. i. p. 24. Lond. 1793, 12 mo. Robertson's History of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 62, 143, 3.52. Lond. 1809. " Les Papistes," says Bayle, in a treatise in which he pleads for tol- eration on a werv extensive basis — " Les Papistes eux-memes sont les NOTES. 4G3 premiers en ce pais-ci a crier qu' il n'y a rien de plus injuste que de vexer la conscience. Pensee ridicule en leur bouche ! et non seule- ment ridicule, niais traitresse, &c. ?. e. The Papists tlieniselves are the fast in this country [Britain] to exclaim that there is nothing more unjust than to distress conscience. A sentiment ridiculous in tlieir mouth! and not only ridiculous, but treacherous, and marked with that dishonesty which tliey have uniformly discovered for so many ages. For they would not fail, in three years, to burn and butcher all who refused to go to mass, if they acquired the power, and could avail themselves of the baseness of a sufficient number of court para- sites, men of veivil souls, and unworthy of the Protestant name which they bear, to overturn the fundamental barriers which so salutarily restrain the royal power." Commentaire Philosophique, pref pp xiii. xiv. The sentiments contained in the following passage are now become so antiquated and unintelligible, that I shall not risk my credit by venturing to translate it. " Les malheurs qui sont arrivez a. nos freres de France tourneront, comme il y a apparence, a notre profit. II nous ont remis dans la necessaire defiance du Papisme, il nous ont fait voir que cette fausse religion ne s'amende pas par le long age, qu' elle est toujours, comme au tems jadis, animee de 1' esprit de fourbe et de cruaute, et que malgre la politesse, I'honnetete, la civilite, qui regne dans les manieres de ce siecle plus qu'en aucun autre, elle est toujours brutale et farouche. Chose etrange! tout ce qu'il y avoit de grossier dans les mceurs de nos ancestres s'est evanouit; a cet air rustique et sauvage des vieux tems a succede par toute 1' Europe ( 'hretienne une douceur et une civilite extreme. II n'y a que le Papisme qui ne se sent point du changement, et qui retient toujours son ancienne et hab- ituelie ferocite. Nous nous imaginions nous autres Anglois, que c' etoit une bete apprivoisee, un loup et un tigre qui avoil oublie son naturel sauvage ; mais Dieu merci aux Convertisseurs de France, nous nous sommes desabusez, et nous savons a qui nous aurions a faire si notre sort etoit entre leurs mains. Pesons bien cela et consid- erons quel malheur nous pendroit sur la tete, si nous laissions croitre le Papisme dans ce bien heureux climat. Je ne veux pas que cela nous porte a faire aucunes represailles sur les papistes ; non, je deteste ces imitations; je souhaite seuloment qu' ils n' aquierent pas la force d'executer sur nous ce qu'ils savent faire." Ibid. pp. xv. xviii. xix. Note YY, p. 233. The following extracts from the Records of the Town Council of Edinburgh, show the attention which they paid to the support and accommodation of their minister. May 8, 15G0. The provost, bailies, and council ordain the treasurer to pay the sum of 40/. Scots for furnishing of the minister, John Knox, in his household; and because he had been furnished on David For- rester's expenses since his coming to this town, for the space of fifteen days, ordains to receive David's accompts, and make payment. " Penultimo Octobris, 1560. The quhilk day, the provost, baillies, and counsaill ordainis James Barroun to pay to John Knox the soulme of sax scoir pounds of the reddiest money of the solmes being in his hands, and sicklyk the soulme of 20/." This last sum seems to have been allotted for repairs on his house. " 12th Dec. ISHO. The provost, baillies, and counsill ordanis James Barroun (dean of guild of last year) to pay and deliver to John Knox, minister, the soume of fiftie pound foi supporting of his charges, and that incontinent after the sight heirot 464 NOTES. and gif it beis funden that the said James be superexpendit, after tht making of his accompt, precepts shall be given in maist strait forme, commanding the treasurer to mak hmi gud and thankfull payment of his liaill sLiperexpensis, within aught days nixt thairafter." From the minutes of Dec. 22, 1560, April 5, and May 28, 15G1, it appears that his fixed stipend was 200/. a year; for 50/. is ordered, each time, "for his quarter payment" or "dues." On Dec. 14, 1560, it was agreed that his iiouse rent should afterwards be " paid at the rate of fifteen merks a-year." "Penultimo Octobris, [1561.] The samine day the provost, baillies, and counsail ordanis the dene of gyld, with all diligence, to mak ane warm stuydye of dailies to the minister, Johne Knox, within his hous, abone tiie hall of the same, with lyht and wyndokis thereunto, and all uther necessaris : and the expenciss disbursit be him salbe allowit to him in his accomptis." — "January, 1561, (?'. e. 1562,) the provost, bail- lies, and counsale, understanding that the minister Jhone Knox, is requyrit be the hale kirk to pass in the partis of Anguss and Mearnys, for electing of ane superintendent thare, to the quhilk they themselfs hes grantit, thairfoir ordains Alexander Guthrie, dene of gild, to pass in companie with him, for furnishing of the said ministeris charges, and to deburse and pay the same of the readeast of the townis gudis in his handis, quhilk salbe allowit in his accomptis : And further haist the said minister hame, that the kirk hear be not desolait." To these extracts respecting Knox, I may add one from the sau.e records respecting Willock, who officiated in his place as minister of Edinburgh during the civil war. "29 August, 1560. The counsaill ordains their treasurer to deliver to John Willock twenty-two crownes of the sone for recompense of the greit traveill sustenit be him this haill yiere bygane, in preching and administring the sacramentis with- in tins burgh, and ordanis ane member of the counsail to thank him for his greit benevolence, and for the greit travaill forsaid." Previous to this, they had remunerated John Cairns, with whom Willock had lodged. In the text I have mentioned, that, after the arrangement made by the privy council respecting the thirds of benefices, Knox seems to have received part of his stipend from the common fund. The ex- tracts which Keith has given from the books of assignation mention only two allowances made to him. " To John Knox, minister, wheat 2 c[ha]ders,] bear* 6 c. meal o. oates 4 c." Whether this was for the year 1563, or not, Keith does not say. He adds in a note, "For the year 1568, I see 333/. 6s. 8d. given to Mr. Knox." History, Appendix, 188. His stipend at the time of his death will be stated in Note QQ,Q,. Keith has inserted, from the books of assignation, the prices of the principal articles of living at that time, from which an ideaof the value ofmonevmaybe formed. Ibid. 189. The following are a specin.en. In Fyfe,'Lothian, Merse, and Teviotdale, for 1573, wheat, 26/. I3s. 4rf. the chalder; bear, 21/. 6s. 8d; meal, 16/.; oats, 20 merks. Or, ac- cording to another account, without expressing any county, wheat 1/. theboll; bear, 1/. 13s. 4c/.; meal the same; oats, lOs.; malt, 2/. ; rye, and pease and beans, the same; mairts of Aberdeen, 21. 13*. 4cZ. the piece; sheep, 9s.; poultry, 4s. the dozen; geese, Is. the piece cl)eese, 6." Bd. the stone, * i. e. barlev- x^OTES. 465 Note ZZ, p. 234. Protoco. — James Nicolson. Pro Johanne Knox. Knox''s Protest in the affairs of the Earl of Angus. — Vigesimo quarto die mensis Octobris, anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo sexagesimo primo, in presence of me notair, and witnesses vnder- writtin, Comperit Jolinne Knox, minister of Edinburgli, and thair being requyrit be George Dowglas, sone naturail to vmquhile Archi- bald erie of Angus that last deceissit, to deliuer agane to him the letter of renunciatioun maid be the said George of the landis, lurdschip, and baronie of Abirnethy, and regalite thairof, with the maner, places, mylnis, multuris, woddis, fischingis, tennentis, tennandriys, service of free tennentis, aduocationis, donationis, and rychtis of patronages of the kirkis, benefices, collegis, and probandarys thairof, &c., in lav- ouris of Archibald, now erle of Angus, of the daitt at Edinburgh, the 24th day of Junij the zeir of God 1500 threscoir ane zeiris; and con signit and putt be him in the handis of the said Johnne, in hoip of ag greance to half bene dressit betuix him the said erle and his tutouris Ansuerit, that he granted the resaving of the said lettir, vnder condi- tioun foirsaid; and that he had bestowit his faithful! laubouris besyde the travellis tane zairin be diuers noble men to half had that mater aggreit. Be quham thair wes diuers reasonable ofTeris made to the said George, quhilkis he hes refusit, and thairfoir protestit gif that his refuis turne heirefter to his a win damnage, that the said Johne be in- nocent thairof Testifiand to the said George, in his awin presence and ouris, and also befoir God, that the offer maid is mair reasonablr nor he belevis the said George is able to half ony profFet or gaynes vtherwyis thairbi. And thairupoun the said Johnne deliuerit to the said George his said lettir of renunciatioun, of the daitt foirsaid, vnder his seill and subscriptioun, quhilk the said George confessit and re- cognoscit to be the same quhilk he deliuerit, togidder also with his seill in lead, quhilkis the said George resavit and dischargit the said Johnne thairof Quhairupoim the said Jon. askit instrumentis. Done in maister James M'gillis study, at 6 houris at even, or thairbi. Pre- sent thairat the said Maister James clerk of regri. ; Maister George Hay vicare of Eddilstoune; Adam Wauchop, and I James Nicolson. J. Nicolson. Note AAA, p. 238. Minutes of the Town Council of Edinburgh respecting a second Minister. — "10th April, 1562. The same day the coimsale, under- standing the tedious and havip labours sufferit be the minister, Jhone Knox', in preiching thrise in the oulk, and twise on the Sounday, or- dains with ane consent to solist and persuade Maister Jhone Craig, presentlie minister of the Ganongait, to accept upoun him the half chargis of the preaching of the said kirk of Edinburgh for sic gud deid as they can agree on." That this measure was not carried into effect for some time after, appears from the following act of council. " 18th June, 1563. After lane reasoning upon the necessities of min- isters, finds that there salbe ane ufher minister elected be the provost, baillies, and counsale, dekynes and elderis of this burgh, and addit to Johne Knox, minister." From the same act and subsequent mca- 13 466 NOTES. sures, it is evident that the want of necessary funds was the cause ot the delay. For the council resolved, that •* for susteaning of thame baith, togidder with Johne Cairns reider," the deacons sliould jiieet with the trades and the merchants, to see what they would be willing to give. The reports made to the council bore that, if they would fix a particular stipend, the trades were willing to pay a fifth part of it, according to old custom. But although Craig had not been translated from the Canongate, he seems to have performed a part of the duty in Edinburgh; for, in the same month, 1 find the council appointing a number of persons " to go amang the faithfull who had communicate," and make a collection for " Johnne Craig and Johnne Cairns, who had received nathing for a lang time." This expedient they were obliged afterwards to repeat. On the 26th September, 1561, the council had agreed to give " to John Cairns, lector of morning prayeris, 100 merks a-year, in tyme to cum." Records of Town Council. Note BBB, p. 242. Writings of Qumtin Kennedy and George Hay. — Keith has inserted a letter which Kennedy wrote to the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the correspondence between him and Willock, in 1559. He has also given large extracts from his Compendious Tractive. History, Append, pp. 193 — 203. The following quotations may be added, for verifying the statement which I have made in the text. Having quoted John v. 39, Kennedy says, "Marke (gud redare) the Scripture to occupy the place of ane wytnes, and not the place of ane juge." A, iv. In a subsequent part of the work, he endeavours to qualify what he had stated respect- ing the church being judge of all matters in religion. " We never say in all our lytil tractive, that the kirk is juge to the Scripture, bot yat the kirk is juge to discern quhilk is the trew Scripture of God, and to mak manifest to the congregation the trew understandyng of the samyn." Ibid. H, v. This explication does not much mend the mat- ter ; for certainly he who has the power of calling what witnesses he pleases, and of putting what sense he pleases upon their testimony, is to all intents and purposes the judge of the witnesses, and of their evidence. Having mentioned that there were persons "swa religious and clean fyngerit, that thair wil na thyng perswade thaim without testimony of Scripture," he adds, "All Christin men havand ane gen- erale understanding of the articles of our faith (conforme to the under- standing that the kirk hes teacheit ws) ; the ten commandements, the prayer of the Lord callit the Pater noster, it suffices to thame tc quhame it does not appertene of thair office nor vocatioun, to occupy the place of the prechairis or techeairis in the congregatioun. As to the sacramentis, and all uther secretis of the Scripture, stand to the juge- ment of thy pasture, (without curious ressoning or cersing of the secretis of Godis word,) quha beiris thy burding in all materis doutsum abone thy knawledge, conforme to the saying of the apostle, 'Obey unto your superioris,' «S6C. And in cais they be negligent, ressave doctryne ■ of the kirk, as the tyme teicheis ws. Be this way (quhilk is conforme to Godis word and all veritie) it sail be asie to all men, quhat place or estait in the congregatioun that ever he occupy, to beir his awin bur- ding." Ibid. D,' vii. Another work of Kennedy has lately been printed, from a MS. in the Auchinleck library, under the following title: — " Ane oratioune in ^auouris of all thais of the Gongregatione, exhortand thaim to aspy ^ow wonderfullie thai ar abusit be thair dissaitful prechouris, set furth be master Q,uintine Kennedy, Commendatour of Corsraguell, ye ?eir NOTES. 457 of (iode 1561." Edinburgh, 1812. Perhaps this oration was printed in the year mention k1 in the title, although no copy is now to he found, and was one of " his books," referred to by tiie abbot in his dispute with Knox. I have already given extracts from this book, pp. 406, 431. It concludes in the following manner: — " Quharfor, with all my hart exhortis, prays, and but mercie appellis thar pestilent prech- eouris," [on tlie margin, "Knox, Willock, W inrame, Gudmane, Dowg- lasse, Heriot, Spottiswoode, and all ye rest."] " puffiit vp with vane glore, quiiilkis rackinnis thaimseltis of gretar knawlege nor C'hi-istis haill kirk, cuniand but authoritie, subuertand, subornande, and cir- cumuenande the simple peple, cersande thair pray like the deuillis rachis, barkand bauldly like bardis, aganis the blissit sacrament of the altare, the sacrifice of the mess, and all vther godlie ordinance of Jhesus Christ and his kirk, to preiss their wittis and inginis, and to streik all thair pennis in my contrar, makande the congregatioun and all vtheris to vnderstande, gif I do propirly, truely, and godly, or nocht, invey againis thair deuillische doctrine and doyingis. Fail- yeande thairof, recant, for schame, recant (ye famouse precheouris) and cum in obedience to the kirk of God, quhilk ye haue stubbornlie misknawin this lang time bypast, (and that nocht without grete dan- gere to your avne saulis and mony vtheris,) thairfor recant, in tyme recant, as ye lufe your saluation, and cry God mercie: To quaham, with the Sone and Haly Gaist, be prayse, honour, and glore, for ever ande ever. Amen. Progenies viperarum fugite a ventura ira, nam securis ad radicem arboris posita est, penitentiam agite. Matth. iii." In his dispute with Knox, the abbot mentions his "books," and he refers particularly to a book which he had published in 1561, on the sacrament of the mass. There is in the library of Alexander Bos- well, Esq. of Auchinleck, a MS. by the abbot, entitled, " Ane familiar commune and ressoning anent the misterie of the sacrafice of the mess, betwixt twa brether, master Glintin Kennedy, commendator of Crosraguell, and James Kennedy of . In the yeir of God ane thousand, five hundred, three scoir ane yeir." It was answered by George Hay, in a work entitled, " The Confutation of the Abbote of Crosraguels Masse, set furth be Maister George Hay. Imprinted at Edinburgh by Robert Lekpreuik, 1563." The dedication is inscribed, " To the most noble, potent, and godlie Lord James Earle of Murray." This is the book to which Winzet alludes on the margin of his Buke of Questionis, where he says, "Mr. George Hay, fy haist zow to recant." Keith, Append, pp. 236, 246. I have been favoured with the sight of a copy of this rare tract, belonging to Richard Heber, Esq. Ii would seem that the abbot's treatise was not printed, but that copies of it had been transcribed, and industriously circulated through the country in manuscript ; for Hay repeatedly makes the supposition that there might be variations in the different copies, and on one occa- sion confesses that he could not read a passage in the copy which he used. "Followeth, another objection made by James. Alwayes," says he, "all ze wha vses the Masse, dois not (this (not) is not in the text, that is come to my handes, but because the sentence requiieth it, I haue added it) as Christ did in the latter supper," &c. He grves another quotation from the abbot in the following manner: " Trewly, brother, and ze he sa scrupulus Scripturares, that ze will nothing but (but is not in my text) as T'hriste did, towards the vse of the Sacra- mentes, ze will subuert our halie Faith, and commend our awin doinges,* (so I ride it) (our owen doinges or commonly I can not teil * It is probable that the words which puzzled Hay should be read, and condemn your avAn doinges. 46S NOTE«. which should be red, or if there be any other thing yet,) for quhair finde ze that Christe euer appoint-ed ane man to be baptised," &c. Fol. 36, b. 37, a, b. The following account of the abbot's talents and acquaintance with the Fathers may serve as a specimen of Hay's style. " Trew it is, that before this boke of the abbote of Crosraguel's was set furth and published, sindrie and diuers were the opinions of men concerning it. For the sorte of them that be comonly tearmed Papistos, aduersaries to all trew religion, thoght in verie deid that they should receaue such a comfort, yea, such a gun as no munition myght withstand, no strengthe resiste, nether yet any maner of force repel. They were encuraged by the brute and fame of the man, who onely wolde ap- peare in these tymes to haue dexteritie of ingyne, helped and auanced by long progress of tyme spent in good letters, yea, ad besydes the Scriptures of God, will also appeare to haue the conference, judgment, and authoritie of the ancient Fathers and councils, which it may seme to the reader that he feadeth (not unlyke the nyne Muses) in his bosome. I my self hauing hade some tymes credit and acquentence of the man, ioked for some what that might haue troubled the cGs- ciences of waiklinges, and of such as stayed them selues vpon a glis- tering and semely ymagination of mans heart, rather then upon the written and reueiled treuth, by the spirite of God. For it was not vnknawen to me how familiare he hath bene with the scolastike sophisters, their thornie questions, and scabrus conclusions, yea and some of the ancient doctors, whose writinges, what by ignorance of tyme seduced, what by affection carryed away, I thought wel he should wreist to his vngodly opinion." Fol. 3, a. Having pointed out a false quotation, which the al^bot had made from Chrysostom, Hay adds, " Hereby it is easy to perceaue how vainely ye ascribe such reading of the ancientes vnto your self, as in your writinges ye take vpon you, that ye will seme in the eyes of the people, to be the onely he in this realme versed in antiquitie. And now to say my judgment frely, I truste ye haue no works of such men as ye draw your autho- rities out of, but onely hath, I can not tell what lytle scabbed treaties of Eccius, Cochleus, Hosius, Stanislaus youre new start up Campion, and of such others of your factio, and taketh out of them such thinges as ye think may sei'ue to your wicked and blasphemus purpose. What credite now, or what authoritie oght to be given to such places, as thou draweth out of the doctors, who belyke neuer hath sene there workes, nether yet knoweth to what purpose they speak, if they speak of their owne mynde, or of their aduersaries, whither they speak by an interrogation or conclusiuelj', and determinatly, whither they speak WrpfioiiK'.iu* that is excessiuely, to extoll the dignitie of the mater theyJiaue in hand (which is not rare in this author) or simplie. Thus the text it self is to be considered, that it that preceadeth being con- ferred with it that followeth, the mynde and sentence of the author may be knowen perfytlie. Not that I will hereby damne yong men, who ether excluded by tyme, or els lacking bookes, muste giue credite to good authorities, but in this man who will seme to be an other Anacharsis inter sordidos Scythas, it is intollerable, who is seques- trate frome the common societie of men, and trauell in the common wealth, hauing not else to do, but that he hath inioyned to him self, that is to ly by a pleasing bray, and cast in stones to trouble the faire and cleare rinning watter." Fol. 18, b. 19, a. Lepreuik, in an advertisement to the reader, apologizes for his want of Greek characters, which he was forced to have supplied by manu * The Greek word is inserted with a pen NOTES. 469 script. Heibert's edit, of Ames, p. 1487. Tiiis fact illustrates what I have mentioned in p. 374. Herbert questions Ames's statement, that tliey liad no Hebrew or Greek types in Scotland in 15? 9, and he ap- peals to a book printed "at Edinburgh, be Leighe Mannenby, anno Domini 1578," in which Cireek characters are Ibund. Ibid. pp. 1499, 1500. But this cannot overthrow Ames's statement, which is correct; for the imprmt of that book is undoubtedly fictitious, as no such Scot- tish printer as "Leighe Mannenby" seems to have ever existed. Note CCC, p. 249. Ordination of Reformed Ministers. — In the prologue to the " Rea- soning betwixt Jo. Knox and the abbot of Crossraguell," Knox adverts to the cavils of the papists against the validity of the call of the re- formed ministers, and intimates his intention of returning an answer to the questions on this head which had been proposed to him by Ninian Winget, ihe '■'■ Procutour for the Papists^ There are some general remarks on this subject in his answer to Tyrie's Letter, but I do not think that he ever published any thing professedly on the point. There is a ridiculous tale told by a Popish writer concerning a pre- tended convention held by the reformed ministers in Scotland to de- termine in what manner they should proceed in the admission of min- isters. Willock proposed as a weighty difficulty, that if they used imposition of hands, or an)'' other ceremony commonly practised in the church, they would be asked to show, that they themselves had been admitted by the same ceremonies, and thus the lawfulness of their vocation would be called in question. ".Tohann kmnox ansuerit maist resolutlie, ' Buf, buf, man, we ar anes entered, let se quha dar put us out agane;' meaning that thair was not sa monie gunnis and pistollis in the countrie to put him out as was to intrud him with vio- lence. Sua Johann kmnox, to his awin confusion, entered not in the kirk be ordinar vocatione or imposition of hand is, but be imposition of ' bullatis and pouldir in culringis and lang gunnis;' sua ye mister not to trubill you farder in seiking out of Johann kmnox vocatione." — This story "I understude," says the author, " of ane nobil and hon- ourable man, quha can yit beir witnes gif I lea or not." He took care, however, not to give the name of the nobleman. Nicol Burne's Dis- putation, p. 129. Parise, 1531. Note DDD, p. 250. Strictness and Impartiality of Discipline. — The form of satisfaction enjoined in the case of Methven, was appointed for all who should be excommunicated for murder, adultery, incest, or other aggravated crimes. The murderer was to bear in his hand *' the same or lyke weapoun whairwith the murther was committed." Bulk of the Univ. Kirk, p. 38. Other rules observed in cases of discipline. may be seen in Knox's Liturgy, pp. 55 — 67, edit. 1611, and in Dunlop's Confessions, ii. 704 — 756. Impartiality, as well as severity, distinguished the disci- pline of those times. " Gryt men offending in syc crymes as deserves seckclaith, they suld receave the same als weill as the pure. — Na su- perintendant nor commissioner, with advyce of any particular kirk of yair jurisdiction, may dispense with the extreamitie of sackcloth, prescrivit be the actes of the general! discipline, for any peruniall sum or paine adpios usus." Bulk of the Univ. Kirk, August, 1573. Dun- lop, i'. 753. This was not a mere theoretic proposition. For, in 1563, 40 470 NOTES. we find tlie lord treasurer making public satisfaction, (Keith, 245, 529;) in 1567, the C^ountess of Argyle, (Buik of tlie Univ. Kirk, p. 37;) and in 1563, the Bishop of Orkney, (Anderson's Collections, ii. 234.) Let not our modern fashionables and great ones be alarmed at hearing of such things. Those days are gone, and will not, it is likely, soon return. The parliament, or the magistracy of particular burghs, enacted punishments of a corporal kind against certain crimes which were ordinarily tried in the church courts. Some of these existed before the Reformation, and some of them were posterior to it ; but the in- fliction as well as the enacting of them, pertained to the civil magis- trate. Knox, p. 269. In the minutes of several kii'k-sessions, how- ever, the sentences inflicting them are found recorded along with censures properly ecclesiastical. The following extract accounts for this in part. " What you bring" (says Mr. Baillie, in his answer to Bishop Maxwell) "of pecuniary mulcts, imprisonments, banishments, jogges, cutting of haire, and such like, it becomes neither you to charge, nor us to be charged with, any such matters : No church assembly in Scotland assumes the least degree of power, to inflict the smallest civil punishment upon any person ; the Generall Assembly it selfe hath no power to fine any creature so much as in one groat: It is true, the lawes of the land appoint pecuniary mulcts, imprisonment, joggs, pillories, and banishment for some odious crimes, and the power of putting these lawes in execution is placed by the parliament in the hands of the inferior magistrates in burroughs or shires, or of others to whom the counsel table gives a speciall commission for that end ; ordinarily some of these civiTl persons are ruling elders, and sit with the eldership : So when the eldership have cognosced upon the scan- dall alone of criminall persons, and have used their spirituall censures only to bring the party to repentance, some of the ruling elders, by virtue of their civill office or commission, will impose a mulct, or send to prison or stocks, or banish out of the bounds of some little circuit, according as the act of parliament or counsell do appoint it. But that the eldership should imploy its ecclesiastick and spirituall power for any such end, none of us doe defend. That either in Scotland or any where else in the world the haire of any person is commanded to be cut by any church judicatory for disgrace and punishment, is (as I take it) but a foolish fable. That any person truely penitent is threat- ened in Scotland, with church censures for non-payment of monies, is in the former category of calumnies." Historical Vindication of the Government of the Church of Scotland, pp. 17, 18. Lond. 1646. I have in my possession (extracted from the records of a kirk session) a commission, granted in 1701, by the sheriff-depute of Berwickshire, constituting one of the elders session-bailie, for executing the laws atrainst profan^ness, agreeably to an act of parliament authorizing the appointment of such an officer in parishes within which no ordinary magistrate resided. I may add the following quotation from another able and strenuous assertor of the presbyterian discipline and government. " Ubi origi- nalis causa excommunicationis est delictum violans jura et libertates ecclesiae, &c. When the original cause of excommunication is an ofl^ence violating the rights and liberties of the church, either in the way of loss being sustained or injur}'- being done, I confess that the assistance of the secular arm may he implored, and the guilty person may be forced to repair the loss and to give civil satisfaction ; or even if the person already excommunicated shall testify adispsition tn disturb the relisrious service, or to violate the rights and liberties of .he church. But where no loss or injury to the rights and liberties of NOTES. 471 tJie church arises from the oflTonce or from the contumacy, but scandal alone is given, 1 know not whetiier any person is to beiorced to what is called penitential satisfaction, by imploring tiie assistance of the secular arm. For as the church has no coactive power in herself, so neither ought she to use it indirectly to extort confessions wliich are constrained, and consequently counterlieit." t'alderwood, Altare Da- niascenum, pp. 312 — 3. edit. Lugd. Bat. 1708. Note EEE, p. 260. Mr. Hume's misrepresentations of the behaviour of the Reformers to Queen Mary. — The whole account which this historian has given of the conduct of the Protestant clergy towards Mary, from her arrival in Scotland until her marriage with Uarnley, is very remote from sober and genuine history. It israther a satire against the Reformation, wiiich he charges with rebellion; against the Presbyterian Church, whose genius he describes as essentially productive of fanaticism and vulgarity; and against his native country, the inhabitants of which, without exception, he represents as overran with rusticit}^ strangers to the arts, to civility, and the pleasures of conversation. History, Reign of Eliz. chap. i. near the close. " 11 n'est rien de plus facile quand on a beaucoup d'esprit, et beaucoup d'experience dans I'art de faire deslivres, que de composer uneHistoire satyrique, des meme (aits qui ont servi a faire une Eloge. Deux lignes supprimees, ou pour ou contre, dans Texposition d'lm fait, sont capables de faire paroistre un homme ou fort innocent, ou Ibrt coupable: et comme par la seule transposi- tion de qtielques mots, on peut faire d'un discours fort saint un dis- cours impie ; de meme par la seule transposition de quelques circon- stances. Ton pent faire de Taction la plus criminelle, Taction la plus ver- tueuse." Bayle, Critique Generale de THistoire du Calvinisme, p. 13, 2de edition, 1683. To this charge the historian of England has ex- posed himself on more than one occasion. 1 cannot here expose all his misstatements in the passage to which I have referred. He keeps out of view the fixed resolution of the queen to re-establish the Romish religion, with all the perils to which the Pro- testants were exposed. He artfully introduces his narrative, by placing her proclamation against altering the Protestant religion before the symptoms of popular discontent at her setting up of mass; whereas the proclamation was issued after these, and would never have ap- peared, had it not been found necessary to allay the apprehensions of the people. Knox, 285. Keith, 504, 505. As a proof that the preachers " took a pride in vilifying, even to her face, this amiable princess," he gives extracts from an address to her by the General Assembly, with- out ever hinting that this was merely a draught or overture; that every offensive expression was erased from it before it was adopted by the assembly; and that, when the address was presented by the superintendents of Lothian and Fife, the queen said, " Here are many fair words; 1 cannot tell what the hearts are." Knox, 315. Mr. H. goes on to say : " The ringleader in all these insults on Majesty, was John Knox. — His usual appellation for the queen was Jezebel.'" This is a mistake. Neither in his sermons, nor in his prayers, nor in con- versation, did he give this appellation to Mary, so long as she was queen ; but always honoured her before the people, as well as in her own presence, even when he lamented and condemned her errors. Afterwards, indeed, when for her crimes (of which no man was more convinced than Mr. H.) she was removed from tiie Ln>veinment, and he no loneer acknowledged her as his sovereign, he did apply this 472 NOTES. name to her. It is so far from being true, that " the whole life of Mary was, from the demeanour of these men, filled with bitterness and sorrow," or that she " was curbed in all amusements by the absurd severity of these reformers," that she retained her " gaiety and ease," until, by her imprudent marriage with Darnley, she with her own hand planted thorns under her pillow ; while the preachers were most free in their sermons, she enjoyed all manner of liberty ; her mass was never taken from her ; she was allowed to indulge her " feasting, finery, dancing, balls, and whoredom, their necessary attendant ;" nor was she ever interrupted in these amusements, except when her own hus- band deprived her of her favourite Italian fiddler, a loss for which she afterwards took ample vengeance. It is ditficult to conceive how one acquainted with the history of that period, and the character of the queen, could impute the "errors of her subsequent conduct" to the " harsh and preposterous usage which she met with" from the refor- mers. Nor can there be a greater satire upon the general character of Mary, (previous to her first marriage,) than to say that "she found every moment reason to regret her leaving that country, from whose manners she had, in her early youth, received the first impressions." It is well known, that the court at which she received her education was most dissolute ; and the supposition that she carried away the innocent polish and refinement of their manners, without contracting their criminal contagion, is not only incredible, but contradicted by the confessions of her friends. Memoires de Chastelnau, augmentez par J. le Laboureur, Prieur de Juvigne, tom. i. p. 528. A Bruxelles, 1731. I have no desire, however, to dip into this subject, or to drag to light facts unfavourable to that unhappy princess ; although the un- warranted and persevering attacks which have been made upon worthy men, in order to reconcile the "future conduct" of Mary with " the general tenor of her character," would justify far greater freedom.s than have been lately used in this way. " We are too apt to figure to ourselves the reformers of that age, as persons of impolitic and inflexible austerity." This is the remark of one who was much better acquainted with their history than Mr. Hume. Lord Hailes, Historical Mem. of the Provincial Councils of the Scottish Clergy, p. 41. Comp. Knox, Historic, p. 310. See also Note OOO. Mr. Hume's object, in the passage on which I have animadverted, was to blacken the reformers, rather than to exalt the queen, of whose character he had at bottom no great opinion. " Tell Goodall," says he, in a letter to Dr. Robertson, "that if he can but give up Q,ueen Mary, I hope to satisfy him in every thing else ; and he will have the pleasure of seeing John Knox, and the reformers, made very ridicu- lous." Indeed, Mr. Hume confessed to his confidential friends, that he had, in his History, drawn the character of that princess in too fa- vourable colours. " I am afraid," says he to the same correspondent, "that you, as well as myself, have drawn Mary's character with too great softenings. She was undoubtedly a violent woman at all times.'''' Stewart's Life of Robertson, pp. 37, 38. Note FFF, p. 260. Proceedings of Town Council in a slander against Knox. — " I8mo Junii, 1563. — The samyn day, in presence of the baillies and counsale, compent Jhone Gray, scribe to the kirk, and presentit the sup[)lira- tione following, in name of the haill kirk, hering that it was laitlie cummen to thair knawledge bi the report of fiythfnll brethei-ins, that NOTES. 473 within tliir few dayis Eufame Dundas, in the presence of ane multi- tude, liad spokin divers injurious and sclandarous wordis baith of the docti'irie and niinisteris. And in especial] of Jlionne Knox, minister, sayand, that witliin few dayis past, the said Jhonne Knox was appre- hendit and tane furth of ane kiliogye with ane commoun hure; and that he had bene ane commone harlot all his dayis. Q,uhairfore it was maist huniblie desyrit that the said Eufame myt be callit and ex- aminat upone the said supplicatione, and gif the wordis abone written, spoken hi hir, myt be knawin or tryit to be of veritie, that the said Jhonne Knox myt be punist with all rigour without favour: other- wyse to tak sic ordour with hir as myt stand with the glory of God, and that sclander myt be takin from the kirk. As at niair length is contenit in the said supplication. Q,uhilk beand red to the said Eu- fame personallie present in judgment, scho denyit the samyn, and Fry- day the 25 day of Junii instant assignit to hir to here and see witness producit for preving of the allegiance abone expremit, and scho is warnyt apud acta." Records of Town Council of Edinburgh, of the above date. The minute of the 25th contains the account of the proof which Knox's procurator led to show that Eufame Dundas had uttered the scandal which she now denied, and the appointment that the parties should be " warnit literatorie to hear sentence given in the said ac- tion." I have not observed any thing more respecting the cause in the minutes, and it is probable, that the Reformer, having obtained the vindication of his character, pi'evailed on the judges not to inflict punishment on the accuser. Note GGG, p. 261. Calumnies of the Popish writers against Knox and other Refor- mere. — "C'estrendre sans doute," says Bayle, " quelques services a la meraoire de Jean Knox, que de fair voir les extravagances de ceux qui ont dechire sa reputation." And, having referred to the gross and extravagant slanders" of one writer, he adds, "this alone is a suffi- cient prejudice against all which the Roman Catholic writers have pub- lished concerning the great Reformer of Scotland." Diet. art. Knox. If Mons. Bayle could speak in this maimer upon a quotation from one author, what conclusion shall we draw from the following quotations? The first writer who attacked Knox's character after his death, was Archibald Hamilton, whose hostility against him was inflamed by a personal quarrel, as well as by political and religious considerations. (See above, p. 318.) His book shows how much he was disposed to recommend himself to the Papists, by tiirowing out whatever was most injurious to his former connections, But there were too man}'' alive at that time to refute any charge which might he brought against the Reformer's moral character. Accordingly, when he aimed the most envenomed thrust at his reputation, Hamilton masked it under the name of an apprehension or surmise. Having said, tliat, on the death of Edward VI. "he fled to Geneva with a noble and rich lady," ("which, by the by, is also a falsehood,) he adds, in a parenthesis, "qua simJL et filia matris pellice familiariter usus fuisse putuhaiur.'' De Confusione Calviniante Secta?, p. 05, a. Parisiis, 1577. In 1579, Principal Smeton published his answer to Hamilton's book, in which he repelled the charges which he had brought against Knox, and pronounced the above mentioned surmise a malicious calunmy, for which the accuser could not adduce the slightest proof and which was refuted bv the spotless character which the Reformer had main- 40* K3 474 NOTES. tained before the whole world. Smetoni Responsio ad Virulent. Dial Hamiltonii, p. 95. Edinb. 1579. It now behoved Hamilton either tc retract or to prove his injurious insinuation. But how did he act in his reply to Smeton ! Under the pretence of repeating what he had said in his former book, he introduces a number of other slanders against Knox's character, of which he had not given the most distant hmt before; and (incredible to be told!) he absolutely avers, that he had formerly specified all these crimes, and condescended upon the places, times, and other circumstances of their commission; although, m his former publication, he had not said one word on the subject except the general surmise which I have quoted above ! ! ! " Pueri- tiam prematura venere et pollute insuper patris thoro infamem notavi. Inde adolescentiam perpetuis assuetam adulteriis designavi. Post hanc maturioris aetatis apostasin, &c. descripsi : res ipsas ut gestae erant retuli : loca, tempora, et reliquas omnes circumstantias notavi^ Calvinianae Confusionis Demonstratio, contra maledicam Ministrorum Scotioe responsionem ; per Archibaldum Hamiltonium, in Sancta Christ! Ecclesia Presbyterurn. p. 253, Parisiis, 1581. Than this what can be a stronger mark of one who has "made shipwreck of faith and a good conscie'nce," who " is subverted and sinneth, being condemned ofhimself!" After this we cannot wonder at his casting off all shame, and asserting, — " Itane vero in maledictis ducitis, quae impurus homu- cio non vno, aut paucis, sed multis, et fere dicam omnibus attestanti- bus, designavit ! patris thorum infami incestu pollutum, et tot com- missa adulteria, quot in sedibus, intra quas admittebatur, relicta vesti- sia etmmnii recrtunt Laudonienses oinnes nobiles, juxta et ignobiles." iJt supra, p. 253, b. We are not left to impute these slanders to personal malice, or to the miserable shifts of an unprincipled individual, who, having rashly committed himself by advancing a falsehood, attempts to maintain his credit by bold assertions and fresh calumnies. For, in the very same year in which Hamilton's last work appeared, we find another Popish author writing in the following terms: "Johne Kmnox your first apostej, quha caused ane young woman in my Lord Ochiltreis place fal amaist dead, because sche saw his maister Satthan in ane black mannis likenese with him, throuche ane bore of the dure: quha was also ane manifest adulterare bringand furth of Ingland baith the mother and the dochter whom he persuadit that it was lesum to leve her housband, and adhere unto him, making ane fleshe of himself, the mother, and the dochter, as if he wald conjoyne in ane religione, the auld synagogue of the Jeuis with the new fundat kirk of the Gentiles." In another place he introduces the account of his second marriage with these words : " That renegat and perjurit priest schir Johane Kmnox, quha efter the death of his first harlot, quhilk he mareit in- curring eternal damnation be breking his vou and promise of chasti- tie, quhen his age requyrit rather that with tearis and lamentations he sould have chastised his flesh and bewailit the breaking of his vou, as also the horribil incest with his gudmother in ane killogie of Had- dinsrtoun." Burne's Disputation concerning the Controversit Headdis of Religion, pp. 102, 143. Parise, 1581. But Burne, and even Hamil- ton, were outstripped in calumny by that most impudent of ali liars, James Laing, who published in Latin an account of the lives and manners of the heretics of his time. There are few pages of his book in which he does not abuse our Reformer; but in (what he calls) his Life, he has exceeded any thing which was ever dictated either by personal malice, or by religious rancour. " Statim," says he, "ab initio suae pueritiae omni genere turpissimi facinoris infectus fuit. Vi.x excesserat jam ex ephebis, cum patris sui uxorem violarat, suam no- NOTES. 175 \\?rcam vitiarat, et cum ea, cui reverentia potissimum adhibend. lue- rat, nefarium stupruin fecerat." His bisliop having, forsootli, called him to account for these crimes, he straiglitway became infiained with the utmost hatred to the Catholic religion. " Deinde non modo cum profanis, sed etiam cum quibuscunque sceleratissimis, perditissimis, et potissimum omnium hcereticis est versatus, et quo quisque erat imma- nior, sceleratior, crudelior, eo ei carior et gratior fliit. — i\e unum qui- dem diem sceleratissimus haereticus sine una et item altera meretrice traducere potuit. — Continue cum tribiis meretricibus, quae videbantur posse suifiicere uni sacerdoti, in Scotia convolat. — Ceteium hie las- civus caper, quern assidue sequebatur lasciva capella, partim perpe- tuis crapulis, partim vino, lustrisque ita confectus fuit, ut quotiescunq. conscendere suggostum ad maledicendum, vejjm precandum [vel im- precandum !] suis, opus erat illi duobus aut tribus viris, a quibus ele- vandus atq. sustentandus erat." De Vita et Moribus atque Rebus Gestis Hcereticorum nostri temporis. Authore Jacobo Laingseo Scoto Doctore Sorbonico, fol. 113, b. 114, a, b. 115, a. Parisiis, 1581. Cum Privilegio. Nor were such accounts confined to that age. In the beginning of tJie following century, they were repeated by John Hamilton. FaciL' Traictise, contenand ane infallible reul to discern trew from fals religion, p. 60. Louvain, 1600. In 1623, an English writer refers to James Laing's work for an authentic account of Knox's private life. The Image of bothe Churches, Jherusalem and Babell, by P. D. M. p. 131. Tornay, 1623. And as late as 1628, we find Father Alexander Baillie retailing, in the Englisii language, all the gross tales of his predecessors, with additions of his own, in which he shows a total disregard to the best-known facts in the Reformer's life. " Jhon Knox,"' says he, " being chaplane to the laird of Balvurie, and accused for his vices and leecherie, was found so guiltie and cul- pable that to eschevie the just punishment prepared for him, he pre- sently fled away into Ingland." He afterwards says, that Knox, afler the death of his second wife, [that is, twenty years at least after his own death,] "shamefiilly fell in the abominable vice of incestuous adultery, as Archib. Hamilton and others doe witnesse;" and as a proof that Knox reckoned this vice no blot, Baillie puts into his mouth a gross defence of it, in the very words which Sanders, in his book against the Anglican Schism, had represented Sir Francis Brian as using in a conversation with Henry VIII. Baillie's True Information of^the Unhallowed Offspring, Progress, and Impoison'd Fruits of out Scottish-Calvlnian Gospel and Gospellers, pp. 14, 41. Wirtsburgh 1628. It is evident that these outrageous and contradictory calumnies have been all erafted upon the convicted lie mentioned in the preceding note, and on the malignant insinuation of Archibald Hamilton. The characters of the foreign reformers were traduced in the very same manner by the Popish writers. Those who have seen Bolsec's Lives of Calvin and Beza, or others written in the same spirit, must be suffi- ciently convinced of this. Will it be believed that, in the middle of the seventeenth century, a book should have been published under the name of Cardinal de Richlieu, in which it is asserted that "Calvin being condemned for acts of incontinency, which he had carried to the utmost extremity of vice, [ses incontinences, qui le porterent jus- ques aux dernieres extreraitez du vice,] retired from Noyon (his na- tive city) and from the Roman church, at the same time?" And that this should have been published after the cardinal himself had ex- amined the registers of Noyon. which stated flicts totally inconsistent with the supposition of such a thing having ever been imputed to him 1 La Defence de Calvin, par Charles Drelincourt, pp. 10, 1 1, 33. Geneve, 476 NOTES. 1667. Our countrymen of the Popish persuasion were careful to retail all the calumnies against the foreign reformers, and they do so in a manner peculiar to themselves. Nicol Burne most seriously asserts that Luther was begotten of the devil, as to his carnal as well as his spiritual generation; and in order to prove that this was not impossilDle, he advances the most profane argument that ever pro- ceeded from the mouth or pen of a Christian. Disputation, p. 141. The same thing is asserted by James Laing. De Vita Haeretic. fol. 1, b. In a pretended translation into Scots of a poem written by Beza in his youth, (which the Roman Catholics, after he left their commu- nion, were careful to preserve from oblivion,) Burne has unblushingly inserted some scandalous and disgraceful lines, for which he had not the slightest warrant from the original. Disputation, pp. 103, 104. John Hamilton says, that " Calvin did ane miracle to mak ane quik man ane deid, quhilk miracle was done in Geneve to ane Brulaeus of Ostune, with whome he contractit for a piece of money to fenzie him- self deid, and to ryse to lyfe at his prayers, when he sulde chope thryse upon his biere: bot the compagnion forgot to ryse again, whilk come to Calvin's schame." Facile Traictise, p. 412. But the following narrative is still more marvellous and lest his readers should doubt its truth, the author prays them to " suspend thair judgement, quhill they spere [until they inquire at] the maist affectionat Protes- tantis of Scotland quha has bene in Geneve. Surelie," continues he, "I ressavit the treuth of this be honorable gentilmen of our countrie, quha confessit to me before gud vitnes, that the devil gangis familiar- lie up and down the town, and speciallie cumis to pure and indigent men quha sells thair saullis to him for ten sous, sum for mair or less. The money is verie plesant quhen they ressave it ; bot putting hand to thair purse, quhen they vald by thair denner, thay find nathing but uther stane or stick." Hamilton's Catholik and Facile Traictise, fol. 50, b. Paris, 1581. Laing, in his Life of Calvin, (of which Senebier has justly said, '• that itVould be impossible to believe that such a libel had been written, if it were not to be seen in print,") has raked together all the base aspersions which had been cast upon that re- former, and has spent a number of pages in endeavouring to show that he was guilty of stealing a sum of money. De Vita Heeret. fol. 76, b. — 79, b. Of Buchanan, whom he calls " homo sacrarum literarum imperitissimus, simulque impudentissimus," he relates a number of impieties, of which this is the last; "plurimi etiam narrant ilium mis- errimum hominem quondam in sacro fonte, quo infantes aqua bene' dicta ablui solent, adsit reverentia dictis, oletum fecisse." Ibid. fol. 40, a. One example more, and I have done. " Te admonerem de quo- dam impio haeretico sacerdote Davidson, quem audivi his jam multis annis publice cum quadam meretrice scortatum esse, quam fertur peperisse prima nocte, qua cum ilia dormivit, quod hie doctores medici pro magno miraculo habent; cum vix mulieres ante nonum mensem, vel octavum parere soleant." Ibid. fol. 36, b. 37, a. Persons must have had their foreheads, as well as their consciences, "seared with a hot iron," before they could publish such things to the world as facts. Yet Laing's book was approved, and declared worthy cf publication, by two doctors of the university of Paris. Its grossest slanders against the Scottish reformers were literally copied, and cir- culated through the Continent as undoubted truths, by Reginaldus, Spondanus, Julius Breigerus, and many other foreign Popish authors. Each of these added some fabrication of his own; and one of them is so ridiculously ignorant as to rail against our Reformer by the name of Noptz. Bayle, Dictionnaire, art. Knox, Note G. Archibald Hamil- ton's two works had the same respectable recommendations with NOTES. - 77 Laing's book, and one of them is decJared to be " veiy orthodox, and worthy of being ushered into the ligiit for the profit of tiie Church." And John Hamilton was chosen tutor to two cardinals, appointed pro- fessor of philosophy in the Koyal College of Navarre, elected by the students of the German nation in Paris, to the cure of the parish of St. Cosmus and Damian, presented to it by the university, and confirmed in it by the parliament ; and, in fine, was chosen rector of the univer- sity of Paris ! 1 ! So eager were foreigners to load with jionours the most bigoted and fanatical of our Popish refugees. Sketch of the Life of Jo^n Hamilton, pp. 2, 3, written by Lord Hailes. I know that it was common in that age for controversial writers of all descriptions to indulge themselves in a coarseness of invective against their antagonists, which would not be tolerated at present: but this is quite a different thing from what 1 have given examples of in this note. With respect to the complaints which Protestant writers made of the profligacy of the Popish clergy, the truth of these is incon- testably established by the testimony of Roman Catholic authors, and by the public documents of their own Church. Nor do I wish to in- sinuate that all the Popish writers were of the same description with those whom I have quoted, or that there were not many Roman Catholics, even at that time, who disapproved of the use of these dishonourable and impoisoned weapons; but the great number of such publications, the wide circulation which they obtained, and the length of time during which they continued to issue from the Popish presses, demonstrate the extent to which a spirit of lying and defamation was carried in the Roman Church. Petty dabblers in antiquity, and flippant orators, who have read a general history of those times, or a modern Roman Catholic pamphlet, must be allowed to repeat the trite maxim, of faults on both sides, and to conceal their ignorance under the veil of mode- ration, by representing these faults as equal ; but I aver that no can- did person, who is duly acquainted with the writings of that period, will pretend to account for the above-mentioned calumnies, by im- puting them to a spirit of asperity and prejudice common to both parties. Note HHH, p. 270. Popish accounts of Knox's second marriage. — "Heaving laid aside al feir of the panis of hel, and regarding na thing the honestie of the warld, as ane bund sklave of the Devil, being kendillit with an un- quenshible lust and ambition, he durst be sua bauld to enterpryse the sute of marriage with the maist honorahil ladle, myladie Fleming, my lord duke's eldest dochter, to the end that his seid, being of the blude royal, and gydit be thair father's spirit, might have aspyrit to the croun. And because he receavit ane refusal, it is notoriouslie l witli the urgent request of our Reformer, he came to Scotland. When tiie lords of the t'ongregation chose him one of the council lor matters of religion, the Eaii of Arran endeavoured to appease the resentment which the English queen still entertained against him. Sadler, i. 51U, 511, 532. In 15(32, the Earl of Warwick repeatedly interceded for him, and lor his being recalled from Scotland ; " of wiiom," says he, " I have heard suche good commendation both of the lord James of Scotland and others, that it seemeth great pitie, that our countrye suld want so worthy and learned an instrument." Forbes's State Papers, ii. 235. Calvin urged Goodman not to leave Scotland until the Refor mation was completely established. Epistolae, p. 566. , Hannovia?, 1597. When he did return to his native country in 1565, it was with great difficulty that he was received into favour, notwithstanding the friends he had at court. He was obliged to make a recantation of the offensive doctrines in his publication. He protested and professed that " good and godly women may lawfully govern whole realms and nations ;" but he qualified and explained, rather than recanted, what he had taught respecting the punishment of tyrants. Strype has in- serted the document in his Annals, i. 126; but he has certainly placed it under the wrong year. Collier calls it " a lame recantation." Eccl Hist. ii. 440. In 1572, Goodman subscribed, in the presence of the queen's ecclesiastical commissioners, a more ample protestation of his obedience to Elizabeth. Strype's Annals, ii. 95, 96. He was also harassed on account of his non-conformity to the English ceremonies. Life of Grindal, 170. Life of Parker, 325, 326. Knox corresponded with him after he left Scotland ; and Calderwood has preserved a letter which he wrote to him in 1571, in which he alludes to the troubles which he understood his friend was exposed to. MS. ii. 270. Goodman accompanied Sir Henry Sidney to Ireland, when he was sent to subdue the Popish rebels in that country. Troubles at Franck- ford, p. 196. In 1580, he resided at Chester, from which he sent his salutations to Buchanan. Buchanani Epistolae, 30, 31. Oper. edit. Rud. He died at Chester, in 1601, according to verses to his memory in Supplement. Goodman's book was quoted, but for very different purposes, by Bancroft, (Dangerous Positions, b. ii. chap, i.) and by Milton, (Tenure of Magistrates : Prose Works by Symmons, vol. iii. p. 196.) Goodman was not the only person belonging to the English Chtn-ch who published free sentiments respecting civil government. About the same time with his book, there appeared another work on that subject, entitled, "A Short Treatise of Politique Pouuer, and of the True Obedience which Snbjectes owe to Ivynges." Its author was Dr. John Ponet, bishop, first of Rochester, and afterwards of Win- chester, under Edward VI. Ames, iii. 1.594. He discusses the ques- tions respecting the origin of political authority, its absolute or limited nature, the limits of obedience, and the deposition and piuiishment of tyrants. "This book," says Strype, "was not over favourable to princes. Their rigours and persecutions, and the arbitrary proceed- ings with their peaceable subjects in those times, put them upon exam- ining the ex-tent of their power, which some were willing to curtail and straiten as much as they could. This book was printed. again ir 480 NOTES. the year 1642, to serve the turn of those times." Memorials of the Reformation, iii. 328, 329. In the second edition of the work, it is said to have been originally published in 1556. Collier (who was a keen Tory) calls it "a most pestilent discourse." He wished to believe that Bishop Ponet was not the author, but it is evident from what he says, that he could see no reason for departing from the common opinion. History, ii. 363. Ponet was a superior scholar. He read the Greek Lecture in the University of Cambridge about 1525, and was among the first who adopted the new method of pronouncing that language introduced by f^ir Thomas Smith. He also wrote several books on mathematics and other subjects, which were greatly esteemed. Strype's Life of Sir Thomas Smith, pp. 26, 27. Ames, Typ. Antiq. i, 599. ii. 753, 1146. iii. 1587. Note KKK, p. 297. The proceedings of the committee appointed to prepare overtures to the parliament, Dec. 1567, are to be found in Robertson's Records of the Parliament of Scotland, and Act. Pari. Scot. vol. iii. Almost the only ecclesiastical propositions of the committee which were not adopt- ed by the parliament, were such as related to the patrimony of the church. I shall extract one or two respecting the commonwealth, which did not obtain a parliamentary sanction. " Als it is thocht ex- pedient tiiat in na tymes cuming ony women salbe admitit to the publict autoritie of the realme, or function in publict government within ye same." On the margin, opposite to this, is written, " Fund gude;" which is expressive, as I understand it, of the committee's approbation of the motion. As Knox, at a period subsequent to this, declared from the pulpit that he had never "entreated that argument in publict or in privat" since his last arrival in Scotland, (Bannatyne's Journal, p. 117,) it appears that this motion had been made by some other member of the committee. The late misconduct of Q,ueen Mary must have had a great effect in inclining them to give this advice. The 23d article does great honour to the enlightened views of the movers. It proposes that all hereditary jurisdictions throughout the kingdom should be abolished. On the margin is written, " Apprevit," and farther down, " Supercedis." A long time elapsed, before this measure, so necessary to the salutary administration of justice, was adopted in Scotland. The 30th article also is of great importance, as intended to prevent delay of justice, by shortening processes. The following was a proposed sumptuary law: "Item, that it be lauchfull to na wemen to weir abone yair estait except howres." On the mar- gin of this is written, "This act is verray gude." Act. Pari. Scot, vol. iii. pp. 38 — 40. Robertson's Rec. of Pari. pp. 795, 798. The ministers appointed on this committee, were "Maister Johne Spottiswood, Maister Johne Craig, Johne Knox, Maister Johne Row, and Maister David Lindsay." it "will be observed that our Reformer is the only one who has not " Maister" prefixed to his name. This title was expressive of an academical degree. It was commonly given in that age to Masters of Arts, as well as Doctors of Law, and in their subscriptions they put the letter M, or the word " Maister," before their names. NOTES. 4S1 Note LLL, p. 305. Hemurks on Dr. Robe7'tson''s character of the Regent Murray. — I am not moved witli the unfavourable representations which the parti- sans of Mary have given of Murray, nor am I surprised at the cold manner in which Mr. Hume has spoiven of him ; but 1 confess that it pains me to think of the way in which Dr. Robertson has drawn his character. The faint praise which lie has bestowed on him, the doubt whicli he has thrown over his moral qualities, and the unqualified censures which he has pronounced upon some parts of iiis conduct, have, I am afraid, done more injury to the regent's memory, than the exaggerated accounts of his adversaries. History of Scotland, vol. ii. 315, 31(i Lond. 1809. Having said this much, it will be expected that 1 shall be more particular. In addition to those qualities which "even his enemies allow him to have possessed in an eminent de- gree," Dr. R. mentions his humanity, his distinguished patronage of learning, and impartial administration of justice. " Zealous for reli gion," he adds, " to a degree which distinguished him even at a time when professions of that kind were not uncommon." This is what every person must allow, but it certainly is far from doinir justice to this part of the regent's character. His professions of religion were uniformly supported in all the different situations in which he was placed; his strict regard to divine institutions was accompanied with the most correct and exemplary morals; his religious principle tri- umphed over a temptation which proved too powerful for almost all the Protestant nobility. (See above, p. 452.) When there exist such proofs of sincerity, to withhold the tribute due to it is injurious not only to the individual, but to the general interests of religion. After bearing a decided testimony to the "disinterested passion for the liberty of his country," which prompted Murray to oppose the perni- cious system of the princes of Lorrain, and the "zeal and affection" with which he served Mary on her return to Scotland, the historian adds: — "But, on the other hand, his ambition was immoderate; and events happened that opened to him vast projects, which allui'ed his enterprising genius, and led him to actions inconsistent with the duty of a subject." That his ambition was "immoderate" does not, I think, appear from any evidence which has been produced. Dr. R. has de- fended him from the charge as brought against him at an earlier period of his life, and we have met with facts that serve to corroborate the defence. (See p. 433.) The " vast projects" that opened to him must he limited to the attainment of the regency; for I do not think that Dr. R. ever for a moment gave credit to the ridiculous tale, that he designed to set aside the young king, and seat himself upon the throne. His acceptance of the regency cannot be pronounced " inconsistent with theduty of a subject," without determining the question. Whether the nation was warranted, by the misconduct and crimes of Mary, to remove her from the government, and to crown her son. "Her bold- est advocates," says Mr. Laing, " will not venture to assert, that, on the supposition of the fact being fully proved, that she was notori- ously guilty of her husband's mm-der, she was entitled to be restored." History of Scotland, i. 137. second edition. Murray was fully satis- fied of her guilt before he accepted the regency. Never was any person raised to such a high station with less evidence of his having ambitiously courted the preferment. Instead of remaininir in the coimtry to turn the embroiled state of affairs to his personal adv^an- tage, he, within two months after the miu'der of the king, left Scot- land, not clandestinely, but after having asked and obtained leave. 41 L3 482 NOTES. And whither did he retire ] Not into England, to concert measures witli that court, or the more easily to carry on a correspondence with the friends whom he had left behind him; but into France, where his motions could be watched by the friends of Mary. Ibid. pp. 59 — 61. The association for revenging the king's murder, and for preserving the young prince, the surrender of Mary, and her imprisonment in Lochleven, followed so unexpectedly and so rapidly, that tiiey could not have proceeded from his direction. Nay, there is positive evi- dence that the lords who had imprisoned Mary, so far from having acted in concert with Murray, were suspicious that he would coun teract their designs. " As yet theys lordes wyll not suffer Mr. Nycho- las Elveston, sent from the L. of Murrey, to have access to the quene, nor to send my L. of Murrey's letter unto her." Throkmorton's Let- ters to Cecil, and to Elizabeth, 16th July, 1567, apud Laing's History of Scotland, ii. Append. No. 13, pp. 121, 126. When he returned to Scotland, he found that the queen had executed formal deeds resign- ing the government, and appointing him regent during the minority of her son, and that the young prince was already crowned. Hume, vol. V. note K. " His treatment of the queen, to whose bounty he was so much indebted, was unbrotherly and ungrateful." To the charge of ingra- titude, I can only reply, by repeating what I have said in the text, that all the honours which she conferred on him were not too great a reward for tne important services which he had rendered her. How often have persons been celebrated for sacrificing parental as well as brotherly affection to the public good! The probable reasons for Murray's interview with the queen in Lochleven have been stated by Mr. Lainof. History, i. 119 — 121. Were I to speak of what was in- cumbent on him as a Christian brother with the view of bringing her to a just sense of the iniquity of her conduct, I would use language which, I am afraid, would not be understood by many readers, and which many professed Christians seem to forget, when they talk on this subject. Any exertions which were necessary to save his sister's lifp were not wanting on the part of Murray. To restore her to the government, or even, as matters then stood, to restore her to liberty, he was not bound by any ties either of a public or private kind. Had he amused her with the hopes of this, he might have escaped the charge of harshness, but his conduct would have been more un- brotherly. " But he deceived and betrayed Norfolk with a baseness unworthy of a man of honour." To this harsh censure 1 oppose the ophiion of Mr. Hume, who will not be suspected of partiality to the regent. "Particularly," says he, in a letter to Dr. Robertson, written after the publication of his History of Scotland, " I could almost undertake to convince you that the Earl of Murray's conduct with the Duke of Norfolk was vo way dishonourable." Stewart's Life of Robertson : History, i. 1 58. See also, in confirmation of this, " Part of a letter from the Earl of Murray to L. B." inserted in vol. ii. Appendix, No. xxxiii. "His elevation to such unexpected dignity [the reader will observe that it was unexpacted] inspired him with new passions, with haughti- ness and reserve : and instead of his natural manner, which was blunt and open, he affected the arts of dissimulation and refinement. Fond, towards the end of his life, of flattery, and impatient of advice, his creatures, by soothinsr his vanity, led him astray, while his ancient friends stood at a distance, and predicted his approachina- fall." T'er- tainly the facts stated by Dr. Robertson in the preceding part of hig narrative, do not prepare the mind of his reader for these charges. AOTES. 483 The severity of the regent's virtues had, indeed, been mentioned, and it had been asserted that his deportment had become distant and haughty. The authority of Sir James Melvil was referred to in sup- port of t lis statement; and 1 am satisfied that it was upon his testi- mony chiefly that the historian proceeded, when he gave tlie above account of Murray's conduct during tiie latter part of his life. 1 sub- mit to the reader the following remarks on the degree of credit due to the authority of iMelvil. In the first place, there is every reason to think, either that Melvil's Memoirs have been unfaithfully published by the editor, or that the narrative which the author of them has given of affairs, from the queen's marriage with Both well to the death of the Earl of Murray, is incorrect and unfaithful. I shall not take it upon me to determine which of these is the most probable supposition, but am of opinion that either the one or the other must be admitted. The charge which was brought against Q,ueen Mary of participation in the murder of her husband, with all the proofs produced in support of it, is suppres- sed, and studiously kept out of view in the Memoirs. There is not one word in them I'especting the celebrated letters to Both well, al- though they formed the grand vindication of the regent and his friends. The same inference may be drawn from the ridiculous account given of the appearance made by the regent before the commissioners at York, when he presented the nameless accusation against Mary (Me- moirs, 96, 97, Lond. 1683;) an account whicli is completely discredited by the journals of both parties, and which neither Hume or Robertson thought worthy of the slightest regard. It is observable, that Melvil could not be ignorant of the real transaction, as he was present at York; and that the design of this, as well as of the subsequent part of his narrative, is to represent the regent as weakly suffering himself to be duped and misled by designing and violent counsellors. Mr. Laing has adverted to both of these things as discreditable to the Me- moirs. History, ut supra, i. 118. I shall produce only one other in- .stance of the same kind. Speaking of the queen's marriage with Both well, Melvil says : " I cannot tell how nor by what law he parted with his own wife, sister to the Earl of Huntly." Mem. 80. Is it cred- ible, that one who was in the midst of the scene, and acquainted even with the secrets of state at that time, could be ignorant of that which was proclaimed to all the world? If it should be alleged that Melvil, writing in his old age, might have forgotten this glaring fact, (the excuse commonly made for his inaccuracies.) I am afraid that the apology will detract as much from the credibilit)' of his Memoirs as the charge which it is brought to repel. 2. In estimating the degree of regard due to the censures which Melvil has passed on the regent's conduct, we must keep in view the political course which he himself steered. Sir James appears to have been a man of amiable dispositions, whose mind was cultivated by the study of letters; but those who have carefully reail his memoirs must, I think, be convinced that his penetration was not great, and that Ills politics were undecided, temporizing, and inconsistent. He was always at court, and always tampering with those who were out of court. We find him exposing himself to danger b}' dissuading his mistress from marrying Bothwejl, and yet countenancing the marriage by his presence; acting as an agent for those who had imprisoned tlie queen, and yet intriguing with those who wished to set her at liberty ; carrying a common message from the king's lords to the Earl of Murray upon his return out of France, and yet secretlv conveying another messaee tending to counteract the design of the former: sup- porting Murray in the regency, and yet trafficking with those who 484 xN O T E S . wished to undermine his authority. I do not call in question the goodness of his intentions in all this: I am willing to believe that a desire for the peace of the country, or attachment to the queen, in- duced him to go between, and labour to reconcile, the contending parties. But when parties are discordant — when their interests, or the objects at which they shoot, are diametrically opposite, to perse- vere in such attempts is preposterous, and cannot fail to foster and increase confusions; Who believes that the Hamiltons were disposed to join with the king's party] or that the latter, when unassured of the assistance of England, were averse to a junction with the former! Yet Melvil asserts both of these things. Mem. 85, 86, 90. Who thinks that there was the smallest feasibility in what he proposed to the re- gent as "a present remedy for his preservation!" or believes that Mai|:land would have consented to go into France and Kircaldy to deliver up the castle of Edinburgh! The regent heard him patiently; he respected the goodness of the man ; but he saw that he was the dupe of Maitland's artifices, and he followed his own superior judg- ment. For rejecting such advices as this (and not the religious pro- verbs, and political aphorisms, which he quoted to him from Solomon, Augustine, Isocrates, Plutarch, and Theopompus) has Melvil charged him with refusing the counsel of his oldest and wisest friends. Mem. 102—104. 3. What were the errors committed by the regent which precipita- ted his fall! There are two referred to by Melvil, — the imprisonment of the Duke and Lord Herries, and the accusation of Maitland and Balfour. Mem. 100, 101. In vindication of the former step, I have only to appeal to the narrative which Dr. Robertson has given of that affair. Vol. ii. p. 266 — 209. With respect to the latter. Sir James Balfour was "the most corrupt man of that age," (ibid. p. 367,) and Maitland was at that time deeply engaged in intrigues against the regent, ibid. p. 307. There is not a doubt that both of them were accessory to the murder of Darnley, (Laing, i. 28, 135, ii. 22:) they were arrested and accused at this time at the instance of Lennox, and in consequence of the re- cent confession of one of Both well's serv^ants ; and Maitland was pre- served by the queen's friends assembling in arms for his rescue, which compelled the regent to adjourn his trial. Ibid. ii. 37. Appendix, No. 28, pp. 298-9. 4. Who were the unworthy favourites by whose flattery and evil counsel the regent was led astray! Dr. Robertson mentions "Cap- tain Crawford, one of his creatures.'''' This is the same person whom he afterwards calls "Captain Crawford of Jordanhill, a galUmt and enterprising officer," who distinguished himself so much by the sur- prise of the castle of Dumbarton. History, ii. 307, 331, comp. Laing, ii. 297, 293 ; and Douglas's Baronage of Scotland, 429. Morton, Lind- say, Wishart of Pittarow, Margill of Rankeillor, Pitcairn, Abbot of Dunfermline, Balnaves of Hallliill, and Wood of Tilliedavy, were among the regent's counsellors. 5. Who were his old friends who lost his favour! They could be no other than Balfour, Maitland, Kircaldy, and Melvil himself Of the two former I need not say a word. Kircaldy of Grange was a brave man, and had long been the intimate friend of the regent; but he was already corrupted by Maitland, and had secretly entered into his schemes for restoring the queen. Robertson, ii. 307. Of Melvil I have already spoken ; nay, he himself testifies that the regent continued to the last to listen to his good advices. " The most part of these sen- tences, (says he,) drawn out of the Bible, I used to rehearse to him at several occasions, and he tank better ivitli these at my hands, who he hieiv had no by-end, than if they had proceeded from the most iarned NOTES. 4S5 philosopher. Therefore, ut Iiis desire, I promised to put them in writ- ing, to give him them to keep in iiis pcjcket ; but he was slain before J could meet with liim.' Mem. iU4. How this is to be reconciled with other assertions in the Memoirs, I leave otliers to determine. It required no great sagacity in the ancient friends of the regent to " pre- dict his approaching fall," when repeated attempts had already been made to assassinate him, and when some of then) were privy to the conspiracy then lorming against his life ; and it says little for their an- cient friendship, that they "stood at a distance," and allowed it to be carried into execution. There are three honourable testimonies to the excellence of the re- gent's character, which must have weight with all candid persons. The first is that of t.ie great historian De Thou. He not only examined the histories which both parties had published of the transactions in Scotland, which made so much noise through Europe, but he carefully conversed with the most intelligent and candid Scotsmen, Papists and Protestants, whom he had the opportunity of seeing in France. When that part of his history which embraced these events was in the press, he applied to his friend Camden for advice, acquainting him that he was greatly embarrassed, and apprehensive of displeasing King James, who, he understood, was incensed against Buchanan's History. " 1 do not wish (says he) to incur the charge of imprudence or malignity from a certain personage who has honoured me with his letters, and encouraged me to publish the rest of my history with the same can- dour and regard for truth." Camden, in reply, exhorted him to study moderation, and told him the story which he had received from his master, imputing the disturbances in Scotland chiefly to the ambition of Murray. Durand, Histoire du XVI. Siecle, torn. vii. contenant la Vie de Monsieur De Thou, pp. 226 — 231. But notwithstanding the re- spect which he entertained for Camden, and the desire which he felt to please James, De Thou found himself obliged, by a sacred regard to truth, to reject the above imputation, and to adopt in the main the nar- rative of Buchanan. I shall quote, from his answer to Camden, the character which he draws of Murray. Having mentioned the accu- sation brought against him, of ambitiously and wickedly aiming at the crown, he says, '• This is constantly denied by all the credible Scots- men with whom I have had opportunity to converse, not even excf-pt- ing those who otherivise ivere great enemies to Murray on a religious account; for they affirm, that, religion apart, he was a man without AMBITION, WITHOUT AVARICE, INCAPABLE OF DOING AN INJURY TO ANY ONE, DISTINGUISHED BY HIS VIRTUE, AFFABILITY, BENEFICENCE, AND INNOCENCE OP LIFE ; and that had it not been for him, those who tear his memory since his death, would never have-attained that authority which they now enjoy." — " Res ipsa loquitur: nam demus, quod ab diversa tra- dentibus jactatur, Moravium ambitione ardentem scelerate regnum ap- petisse, quod tamen constanter neganf omnes fide digni Scoti, quos- cunque mihi alloqui contigit, etiam ii quihus alioqni Moravius ob re- ligionis causam summe invisus erat; nam virum fuisse aiehant, extra i-eligionis causam, ab omni ambitione. avaritia, et in quenquam injuria alienum, virtute, comitate, beneficentia, vita? innocentia, pra^stantem ; et qui nisi fuisset, eos, qui tantopere mortuum exagitant, hodie minime rerum potituros fuisse." Epistolae de Nova Thuani Histor. Editione Paranda. p. 40, in torn. i. Thuani Histor. et tom. vii. cap. v. p. 5. Buckley, 173.3. A second testimony of a very strong kind in favour of the regent is that of Archbishop Spotswood. He must have conversed with many who were personally acquainted with Murray: he knew the unfavour- able sentiments which James entertained respecting him, which had 41* 486 NOTES. been published in Camden's Annals; and he had long enjoyed the fa- vour of that monarch ; yet, in his history, he has drawn the character of the regent in as flattering colours as Buchanan himself has done The last testimony to which I shall appeal is the Vox Pojjuli, strongly expressed by the title of The Good Regent, which it imposed on him, and by which his memory was handed down to posterity. Had he elated by prosperity, become haughty and reserved, or, intoxicated with flattery, yielded himself up to unprincipled and avaricious fa- vourites, the people must soon have felt the effects of the change, and vvould never have cherished his name with such enthusiastic gratitude and unminsfled admiration. Note MMM, p. 307. Inscription to the memory of the Regent Murray. — The regent's monument is yet entire and in good order. It stands in that part of St Giles, now called the Old Church, (the former aisle having been taken into the body of the church when it was lately fitted up,) at the back of the pulpit, on the east side. At the top is the figure of an eagle, and below it " 1570," the date of the erection of the monument. In the middle is a brass plate, on which the following ornaments and inscrip- tions are engraved: — The funily arms, with the motto "Salus per Christum," (Salvation through Christ :) On one side of the arms, a female figure with a cross and Bible, the word " Religio" above, and below " Pietas sine vindice luget," (Piety mourns without a defender ;) on the other side, another female figure, in a mourning posture, with the head reclining on the hand, the word, " Justicia" above, and below " Jus exarmatum est," (Justice is disarmed.) Underneath Is the fol- lowing inscription, composed by Buchanan : — 23 Janvarii 1569. jacobo • 9t0vart0 ' moravia * comiti ' scotiie * P'ROREGI • VIRO • .ffiTATIS * SViE " LONGE * OPTIMO * AB • INIMICIS • OMNIS ' MEMORIjE * DETERRIMIS * EX • INSIDIIS • EXTINCTO • CEV • PATRI * COMMVNI • PATRIA • MOERENS ' POSVIT ' The verses in which Buchanan celebrated the regent are accessible to every scholar. The following lines are less known : — Jacobus Stoartus, Moraviae Comes, Prorex pro Jacobo vi. rem Scoticam feliciter gessit, purae Religionis assertor acerrimus. Ab aemulis Limnuchi ex insidiis glande trajectus, magno omnium desiderio moritur ad d. xxili. Janu- arii, Anno Christi 1570. Ter tiia dictnrus cum dicere singula conor, Ter numeri, et numeros destituere soni. Nobilitas, animus, piobitas, sapieniia. virtus. Consilium, imperium, pectora sancta, fides, Cuncta mihi simul haec instant certamine magno. lit sibi, sic certant viribus ista meis; Ipsi adeo Aonides cum vellent dicere aedunt Sponte sua numeris, haec, Buchans.. ic, tuis. Johannis Jon.=toni Heroes, pp. 31, 32. • Lugduni Batavorum, 1603. NOTES. 487 Knox, among others, warned the regent of the designs which his ene- mies had formed against his life. " When the Mr. of Grahame (says Bannatyne) come and drew him to Dumbartane, he [Knox] plainlie said to tlie regent then, that it was onlie done for a trane be that meanis to cut him off, as it came to pas; also when he was in Stirveling, being returned tiou) Dumbartane, lie sent me to my ladie the regentis wyfe, tuo sundrie tymes, and desyrit her to signihe my lord her husband, tliat lie suld not come to Lynlytligow. So that gif his counsall had bene followed, he had not died at that tyme. And my ladie the last tyme sent Mr. Jhone Wood, to desyre him to avoid Lynlythgow. But Ixod thought vs not worthy of sic a rewlare above vs, and also he wald thereby have the wickitnes of vthers knawin, whilk then was hid; and therefore did God then tak him fra us. But lat the Hamiltonis, the Lard of Grange, with the rest of that factione, lay their compt and recken thair advantage and wining since." Bannatyne's Journal, pp. .428,429. The intrepidity of Murray prompted him to despise these prudential admonitions, and defeated the precaution of his friends. Mr. Scott has, by a poetical licence, introduced the Reformer at present at Linlithgow, to grace the regent's fall. From the wild border's humbled side, In haughty triumph marched he, While Knox relax'd his bigot pride, And smiled the traitorous pomp to see. Ballads and Lyrical Pieces, p. 52. Edin. 1810. Note NNN, p. 320. Sentiments of Scottish Reformers on the difference between civil and ecclesiastical authority. — I may subjoin a few facts which ascertain the opinion of our reformers, on this subject. — In common with other reformed churches, they allowed that civil rulers have a right to em- ploy their authority for the reformation of religion within their domin- ions, especially when, as was universally the case under the papacy, religious abuses and corruptions affect the state as well as the church, and are interwoven with the civil constitution and administration ; they allowed them a power of making laws for the support and ad- vancement of religion ; and they held that, where a reformed church existed, there might be a co-operation between the civil and ecclesi- astical authorities about certain objects which came under the cogni- zance of both, each of them acting within its own line, and with a view to the proper ends of its institution. But, on the other hand, they maintained that civil and ecclesiastical authority were essentially distinct, and they refused that civil rulers had a supremacy over the church as such, or a right to model her government and worship, and to assume to themselves the internal management of her affairs. The Scottish reformers never ascribed or allowed to civil rulers the same authority in ecclesiastical matters which the English did. In particular, they resisted from the beginninff the claim of ecclesiastical supremacy granted to the English monarchs. On the 7th July, i.^S, " It was delatit and fund that Thomas Bassinden, printer in Edin- burgh, imprintit an bulk, intitulat The Fall of the Jioma7i Kirk, nam- ing our Kiner and Soverane Supreme Head of the Primiiive Kirk — The haill assemblie ordaint the said Thomas to call in agane all the foirsaidis buikis yat he hes sauld, and keip the rest nnsanld, until he alter tlie forsaid title. Attoin", the assemblie appoyntit Mr. Alex. Ar- ijuthnot to revise the rest of the forsaid tractat. and report to the kirk quhat doctrine he finds thairin." Bulk of the Universall Kirk, pp. 38, 488 NOTES. 39. The General Assembly were frequently occupied in settling the bounds between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and in March, 1570, arranged the objects which pertained to the latter under six heads; including, among other things, the judgment of doctrine, ad- ministration of divine ordinances, the election, examination, admission, suspension, &c. of ministers, and all cases of discipline. The follow- ing is the concluding article: "And because the conjunction of mar riages pertaineth to the ministrie, the causis of adherents and divorce- ments aucht also to perteine to thame, as naturallie annexit thairto." Bulk of the Universall Kirk, p. 51. Actes of the General Assemblies, prefixed to the First and Second Booke of Discipline, printed in 1621, pp. 3, 4. On occasion of some encroachments made on the liberties of the church in 1571, John Erskine of Dun, superintendent of Angus and Mearns, addressed two letters to the llegent Mar. They are written m a clear, spirited, and forcible style, containing an accurate state- ment of the essential distinction between civil and ecclesiastical juris- diction, and should be read by all who wish to know the early senti- ments of the Church of Scotland on this subject. See Bannatyne's Journal, pp. 279—290. It has always been a principle of the Presbyterian Church of Scot- land, that the ministers of religion ought not to l3e distracted from the duties of their office by holding civil places. The first General As- sembly (Dec. 1560) agreed to petition the Estates, to " remove minis- ters from civil offices^ according to the canon law." Bulk of the Uni- versall Kirk, p. 2. At the request of the Regent Mar, the assembly, or convention, which met at Leith in January, 1571 — 2, allowed Mr. Robert Pont, on account of his great knowledge of the laws, to act as a Lord of Session. Buikof the Universall Kirk, p. 54. But in March, 1572 — 3, the Regent Morton having laid before them a proposal for appointing some ministers Lords of Session, the Assembly " votit throughout that naine was able nor apt to bear the saides twa charges." They therefore prohibited any minister from accepting the place of a senator; from this inhibition they, however, excepted Pont. Ibid. p. 56. In 1584, Pont resigned his place as a Lord of Session, or rather was deprived of it, in consequence of the act of parliament passed that year, declaring that none of the ministers of God's word and sacraments "in time cuming sail in ony waies accept, use, or admin- istrat ony place of judicature, in quhatsumever civil or criminal causes, nocht to be of the Colledge of Justice, Commissioners, Advocates, court Clerkes or Notaris in^'ony matteris (the making of testamentes onely excepted.)" Skene's Acts, fol. 59, b. Edinburgh, 1597. Lord Hailes's Catalogue of the Lords of Session, p. 5, and note 34. The name of Pont often occurs in the account of ecclesiastical trans- actions during the remainder of the sixteenth century. The writer of Additional Notes to Lord Hailes's Catalogue of the Lords of Ses- sion, calls him by mistake, " the first presbyterian minister of the West Kirk." p. 8. Edinburgh, 1798. William Harlaw preceded him in that situation, (Keith, 498,) and continued to hold it in August, 1571. See Letter to him from the duke and Huntly, in Bannatyne's Journal, 217. Pont was also commissioner of Murray, and provost of Trinity College, Edinburgh. Upon the death of the Earl of March, James VI. offered him the Bishopric of Caithness, but he declined accepting it. Keith's Scottish Bishops, 129. He was the author of several publica- tions, besides the sermons against Sacrilege, repeatedly mentioned. The time of his death, and his age, appear from the following in scription on his tombstone, in St. Cuthbert's churchyard: NOTES. 489 ILLE EGO, ROBERT US rONTA- NUS IN HOC I'ROPE SACRO CHRI3TI QUI FUERAM PASTOR GREGI3 AUSPICE CHRISTO ^TERN.E HlC RECUBANS EX- SPECTO RESURGERE VIT^, OBIIT DIEM JET. 81, MEN- a'« 8 MAII, A. 0. 1606.* Note 000, p. 325. Particulars respecting- Knox's residence at St. Andreivs. — The fol- .owing particulars are extracted from the MS. Diary of Mr. James Melville. "Ther wer twa in St. Androis wha war his aydanl heirars,and wraitt his sermons, ane my condiscipule, Mr. Andro Young, minister of Uumblane, who translated sum of them into Latin, and read thame in the hall of the collnafe insteid of his orations." The other was a servant of Mr. Robert Hamilton, but with what view he took notes Melville could not say. Diary, p. 28. — " Mr. Knox wald sum tymes cum in, and repast him in our colleage yeard, and call vvs schollara unto him and bliss ws, and exhort ws to knaw God, and his wark in our countrey, and stand be the guid cans, to use our tyme weill, and learn the guid instructiones and follow the guid example of our mais- ters. Our haill collag [St. Leonard's] maisters and schollars war sound and zelus for the guid cans, the uther twa colleges not sa." p. 23. " This yeir in the moneth of July, Mr. Jhone Davidsone, an of our regents, maid a pley at the marriage of Mr. Jhone Colvin, quhilk I saw playit in Mr. Knox presence, wharin, according to Mr. Knox doctrine, the castle of Edinburgh was besieged, takin, end the captin, with ane or twa with him, hangit in effigie." p. 24. This seems to have been an exercise among the students of the university. The following extract shows that the fine arts were not then uncultivated, and that the professors and students attended to them in their recrea- tions. " I lernit singing and pleying on instrumentis passing weill, and wald gladlie spend" tyme, whar the exercise thairof was within the collag; for twa or thrie of our condisciples pleyed fellin weill on the virginals, and another on the lute and githorn. Our regent had also the pinalds in his chalmer, and lernit sum thing, and I efter him." Melville adds, that his fondness for music was at one period, in danger of drawing away his attention from morn important studies, but that he overcame the temptation, p. 25. I may add an extract from the same Diary, relating an incident in the life of one who entertained a high respect for Knox, and after- wards became a distinguished minister in the church. " The order of four kirks to a minister, then maid by the erie of Morton, now maid regent, against the quilk Mr. Johne Davidson, an of the regents of our collag, made a bulk called The Conference betvjixt the Clark and the Courtier ; for the quhilk he was summoned befor the Justice Air at Haddington this winter (1573) the lest of our course, and banished the countrey." p. 24. This dialogue, which is in verse, contains the following lines : — * History of the Church and Parish of St. Cuthbert, or West Kirk of Edinburgh, p 38. Ediu. 1829. M3 490 NOTES. Had gude John Knox not yit bene deid, It had not cum unto this heid: Had thay myndit till sic ane steir, He had maid hevin and eirth to heir. The General Assembly, in October 1577, presented a supplication to the Regent Morton, requesting him to allow Mr. Davidson to return home from England. Bulk of the Universall Kirk, p. 70. The editor of Davidson's "Poetical Remains (lately printed) has furnished some interesting information concerning the author. I am indebted to him for correcting a mistake into which I had fallen in the Life of Melville. Davidson returned to Scotland during the lifetime of the regent, though not until his fall. Hume of Godscroft, in his account of Mor- ton's behaviour before his execution, says, " There he embraced Mr. John Davidson, and said to him. You wrote a book, for which I was angry with you ; but I never meant any ill to you, — forgive me. Mr. Davidson was so moved herewith, that he could not refrain, from weep- ing." History of the House of Douglas and Angus, ii. 279, 12mo. Note PPP, p. 340. Verses to the memory of Knox — Beza has inserted no verses to the memory of our Reformer, in his Icones, id est, VercB Imagines Viro- rum Doctrina simul et Pietate flliistrium, published by him in Latin, anno 1580. But of this work, a French version was published under the title of Les Vrais Pourtraits des Hommes Illustres en Piete et Doc- trine. Geneve, 1581, 4to. In this translation are inserted original verses on Knox, &c. Irving's Memoirs of Buchanan, 234. Having never seen this translation, I cannot say whether the verses which it contains coincide with those which I am about to quote. Jacobus Verheiden published " Prasstantium aliquot Theologorum, qui Romae Antichristum oppugnarunt. Effigies, quibus addita eorum Elogia, librorumque Catalog!. Hag. Comit. 1602." A new edition of this was published by Fredericus Roth-Scholtz, under the title of "Jacobi Verheidenii Hagae-Comitis Imagines et Elogia, &c. Hagae- Comitum, 1725." In this work the following lines are placed under the portrait of Knox : — Scottorum primum te Ecclesia, Cnoxe, docentem, Audiit, auspiciisestque redacta tuia, Nam te caelestis pietas super omnia traxit, Atque Reformatae Religionis amor. To the account of his life and writings, in the same work, is added an Epigram in Greek and in Latin, which, according to a common practice in such compositions, consists of a play upon his name, and that of his country, in the way of contrast ; representing Knox as driving the nocturnal crows, or srotiran sophists, from Scotland. As the au1!hor informs us that the Batavian youth amused themselves in makinof these epigrams, and thinks that some of them will amuse the readerti shall not withhold this specimen in both la.iguages. Nuvrcpi'^af, VKicrd; KdpaKag, Kai vvKra a'peyyii AXXa r£ X'lyp'HM? c/ici'yci aXfJiVafCOf, Owrtof n'ev KNOHOi: Svomcou; ii'OpfjOVi re (TO^iaroj Ev Sicori'r) -rrarpri eV^oXs Xaf<7r(5/i£i'Of« NOTES. 491 iVocturnos corvos, noctem obscuramque, volantcs Mures, Aurora et cetera dira I'ugat: Sic Cnoxvs Scoiicos simul obscurosiiue sophistas Ex Scotica luceiis ejicit hic pairia. Verheideiiii Imagines et Klogia, pp. 69, 70. Hagae-Coinituni, 17-25. Davidson's Poem, and Johnston's Verses, to the memory of Knox will be found in the Supplement. Note aaa, p. 341. Popish account of Knox's death. — The slanders propagated by the Popish writers against our Reformer's character have been stated in Note GGG. After the specimen there given, it will not be expected that I shall dwell upon the equally extravagant and incredible narra- tives which they circulated concerning the manner of his death. I shall, however, translate the substance of Archibald Hamilton's account, the original picture from which so many copies were afterwards taken. " The opening of his mouth," he says, " was drawn out to such a length of deformity, that his face resembled that of a dog, as his voice also did the barking of that animal. The voice failed from that tongue, which had been the cause of so much mischief, and his death, most grateful to his country, soon followed. In his last sickness, he was occupied not so much in meditating upon death, as in thinking upon civil and worldly affairs. When a number of his friends, who held him in the greatest veneration, were assembled in his chainber, and anxious to hear from him something tending to the confirmation of his former doctrine, and to their comfort, he, perceiving that his death approached, and that he could gain no more advantage by the pretext of religion, disclosed to them the mysteries of that Savoyan art (Subaudicce disciplince, magic) which he had hitherto kept secret; confessed the injustice of that authority which was then defended by arms against the exiled queen; and declared many things concerning her return, and the restoration of religion after his death. One of the company, who had taken the pen to record his dying sayings, thmk ing that he was in a delirium, desisted from writing, upon which Knox, with a stern countenance, and great asperity of language, began to upbraid him : ' Thou good-for-nothing man ! why dost thou leave off writing what my presaging mind foresees as about to happen in this kingdom ? Dost thou distrust me 1 Dost thou not believe that all which I say shall most certainly happen .' But that I may attest to thee and others how undoubted the thin.irs which I have just spoken are, go out all of you from me, and I will in a moment confirm thorn by a new and unheard-of proof They withdrew at length, though reluctantly, leaving only the lighted candles in the chamber, and soon returned, expecting to witness some prodigy, when they found the lights extin- guished, and his dead body lying prostrate on the ground." Hamilton adds, that the spectator.s, after recovering from their astonishment, replaced the dead body in the bed, and entered into an agreement to conceal what they had witnessed; but God, unwilling that such a document should be unknown, disclosed it, " both by the amnnuensis himself [Robertus Kambe! a Pinkincleugh,] soon nfter taken ofl by a similar death, and by others who, although unwillincly, made clear confessions." De Confusione Calvin. Sectag apud Scotos, fol. 66, 67. Those who have not access to the work itself will find the original words extracted, although with some slight inaccuracies, by M.ic kenzie. Lives of Scottish Writers, iii. 131, 132. "All the rest of the 492 NOTES. Romish writers," says Macl the fourth book so late as 1571. Ibid. p. 338. The fifth book in the pt mted history is not found in any of the ancient MSS. It was added b- Da- vid Buchanan, but whether he published it from an old MS. o. -com- piled it himself, cannot now be ascertained. The history was composed by one person, (Preface, ut siiprc » and there is no reason for doubting that Knox was the author. In ; 'etter which he wrote on the 23d of October, 1559, he mentions the fpsign of publishinfr it. Keith, Append p. 30. The English ambassado Ran- dolph says in a letter to Cecil, dated Edinburgh, 23d Septembe, 1 5rO 496 NOTES. "1 have tawlked at large with Mr. Knox concernynge hys iiLstorie. As raykle as ys wrytten thereof shall be sent to your honour, at the comynge of the Lord's embassadors by Mr. John Woode: He hath wrytten only one booke. If yow lyke that, he shall contynue the same, or addle onie more. He sayethe, that he must have farther helpe than is to be had in this counlrie, for more assured knouledge of thyngs passed, than he hath hymself, or can com bye here: yt is a worke not to be neglected, and greatly to be wyshed that yt sholde be well handled." Life of the AuUior, p. xliii. prefixed to Knox's His- torie, edit. 1732. From a letter written by Knox to Mr. John Wood, and dated Feb. 14, 15G8, it appears that he had come to the resolution of withholding the history from the public during his life. See Appen- dix. The important light in which he considered the work, appears from the way in which he expressed himself in April, 1571, when he found that the state of his health would not permit him to finish it. "Lord, provyde for thj"- flocks trew pastouris; rease thou up the spretis of some to observe thy notable workis, faythfuUie to commit the same to writ, that the prosperities [posterities] to come may praise thy holie name, for the great graces plentyfullie powred foorth upon this vnthankful generatione. Jhone Knox trusting end of trawell." Bannatyne's Journal, p, 129. He did not, however, desist altogether from the prosecution of the work. It appears from two letters of Alexander Hay, clerk to the privy council, written in December, 1571, that the Reformer had applied to him for papers to assist him in the continuation of his history. The papers which Hay proposed to send him related to the years 1567 — 1571, a period which the printed history does not reach. Bannatyne, pp. 294 — 302. The following petition, presented by Bannatyne to the first General Assembly which met after our Reformer's death, with the act of As- sembly relating to it, gives the most satisfactory information respect- ing the history. " Unto your Wisdoms humbly means and shows, I, your servitor Richard Bannatyne, servant to your umquliill most dear- est brother John Knox of worthy memory : That where it is not un- known to your wisdoms, that he left to the kirk and town of Edin- burgh his history, containing in effect the beginning and progress of Christ's true religion, now of God's great mercy established in this realm; wherein he hath continued and perfectly ended at the year of God 1.564. So that of things done sinsyne, nothing be him is put in that form and order that he has put the former. Yet not the less there are certain scrolls and papers, and minuts of things left to me by him, to use at my pleasure, whereof a part were written and sub- scribed by his own hand, and another be mine at his command, which if they were collected and gathered together, would make a sufficient declaration of the principal things that have occurred since the end- ing of his former history, at the year foresaid; and so should serve for stuff" and matter, to any of understanding and ability in that kinde of exercise, that would apply themselves to make a history, even unto the day of his death. But for so meikle as the said scrolls are so intacked and mixed together, that if they should come in any hands not used nor accustomed with the same, as I have been, they should altogether lose and perish : And seeing also I am not able, on my own costs and expenses, to, apply myself and spend my time to put them in order, which would consume a very longtime; much less am I able to write them, and put them in register, as they require to be, without your wisdoms make some provision for the same: Wherefore I most humbly request your wisdoms, That I may have some reason- able pension appointed to me by your wisdoms discretion, thaf thereby I may be more able to await and attend upon the samine: U^t these NOTES. 497 things, done by that servant of God dear to you all, si )uld perish and decay, which they shall do indeed, if they be not put in register, which I will do willinglie, if your wisdoms would provide, as said is. And your wisdoms answer," vS:c. To this supplication the Assembly gave the following answer : — "The Assembly accepted the said Richard's offer, and request the kirk of Edinburgh, to provide and appoint some learned men, to support Richard Bannatyne, to put the said history, that is now in scrolls and papers, in good form, with aid of the said Richard. And because he is not able to await thereon, upon his own expences, appoints to him the sum of forty pounds, to be payed of the 1572 years crope, be the collectors under-written, viz. the collector of Lothian, Fife, Angus, and the West, Galloway, and Murray, every one of them to pay six pound thirteen shillings four pennies of the said crope; and it shall be allowed to them in count, they bringing the said Richard's acquittance thereupon." Life of the Author, pp. xliv. xlv. prefixed to Historie, edit. 1732. Book of Univ. Kirk, p. 56. It is probable that the deficiency of the funds of the church pre vented the publication of tiie history during Morton's regency; and the change of politics after James assumed the reins of government into his own hands, precluded all hope of its being allowed to be printed in Scotland. An attempt was made to have it printed in Eng- land ; but after the work had proceeded so far, the press was stopped. This appears from the following extract from Calderwood's MSS " February, 1586, Vaultrollier the printer took with him a copy of Mr. Knox's History to England, and printed twelve hundred of them ; the stationers, at the archbishop's command, seized them the 18 of Feb- ruary; it was thought that he would get leave to proceed again, be- cause the council perceived that it would bring the Queen of Scots in detestation." Calderwood's MS. apud Life of Knox, p. 45, prefixed to edition of Historie, Edinburgh, 1732. Bishop Bancroft also men- tions it in the following terms, " If you ever meet with the History of the Church of Scotland penned by Mr. Knox, and printed by Vaul trollier, read the pages quoted here in the margent." Bancroft's Sur vey, (originally printed in 1593,) republished in 1663, p. 37. Copies of this imperfect edition were allowed to go abroad, and are still to be met with. In 1644, David Buchanan published his edition of Knox's History at London in folio, which was reprinted the same year at Edinburgh in quarto. The editor prefixed a preface concerning the antiquity of the Scots, and a Life of Knox, both of which were writ- ten by himself He modernized the language of the history ; but not satisfied with this, he also altered the narrative, by excluding some parts of it, and by making numerous interpolations. It appears from the passage formerly quoted from Milton, (see p. 446,) that attempts were made to suppress, or at least to mutilate, this edition ; but the passage is so obscure, that we cannot learn from what quarter these attempts were made. At last, a genuine and complete edition of the history was printed in 1732, from a manuscript belonging to the uni- versity of Glasgow, compared with several other manuscripts of undoubted antiquity. Those who wish to know the great difl"erence between this edition and that of David Buchanan, may consult Mr. Wodrow's letter, inserted at large in the Life of the Author, pp. xlvi — li. prefixed to the Historie, edit. 1732, and partially inserted in Nicol- son's Scottish Historical Library, pp. 132 — 141. Lond. 1736. All the editions of the history lately published are mere copies of Buchanan's spurious and interpolated one. This d'^diiction of facts may serve to clear the subject of the Histo- ry from the difficulties in which it has been involved. That Knox 42* N3 49S NOTES. was ihe author of the first four books, as they "are printed in the edi- tion 1732, is beyond all reasonable doubt. After the publication of that edition, it is mere perverseness to endeavour to discredit the au- thenticity or genuineness of tiie History, by insisting on the altera- tions and interpolations of David Buchanan. To infer that he was not the author of the History from the difference between its style and that of his undoubted works, is quite conjectural. The historical and the didactic styles are different in themselves; and when we con- sider the intervals at which the History was composed, the numerous avocations which distracted the author's attention, and the multipli- city of facts which it was requisite for him to collect and investigate, we will not be surprised to find this work inferior, in point of lan- guage and arrangement, to those tracts which he composed on single topics, and which, having the sentiments at his command, he was left at liberty to -arrange and to adorn. The facts which I have produced tend also to corroborate the credibility of the History, as they evince that, however negligent as to points of inferior consideration, the author was most active and laborious in searching for materials, and in procuring, when it was at all possible, original and authentic docu- ments. And such was his character for integrity, that 1 am persuaded there are few, if any, who believe that he would insert, as a fact, any thing of whose truth he was not fully convinced. Note UUU, p. 365. Catalogue of Knox's tvritings. — The following catalogue of the Re- former's works will, I trust, be found more correct and complete than any one which has hitherto appeared The titles have been accu- rately copied from the books themselves, when I could possibly pro- cure them, and at the end of each I have mentioned where a copy may be seen. For the titles of such as I have not seen, I have had recourse to the best authorities, as marked after each article. 1 have also noticed those of which there are copies in the MS. volume in my possession. 1. " An admonition, or warning, that the faithfull Christians in Lon- don, Newcastel, Berwycke, and others, may avoide God's vengeance both in thys life and in the life to come. Compyled by the servaunt of God, John Knokes." A cut of truth, poor woman, handcuffed and fastened in the stocks, with a halter about her neck, held by Tyrannye on the one hand, while Crueltye, with a cornered cap, is threatening her with a rod on the other. Beneath the cut, "The persecuted speaketh, I fear not death, nor passe not for bands: Only in God put I my whole trust, For God will requyre my blod at your hands, And this I know, that once dye I must, Only for Chryst, my lyfe if I give : Death is no death, but a means for to leyve." Under these verses, in ancient writing, "John Frythe boke Red and send yt agayne." E, in eights. " From Wittonburge by Nicholas Dorcastor. Anno m.d.lhh. the viii of May. Cum privilegio ad impri- mendum solum." W. H. (Ames by Herbert, p. 1576,) sixteens. C'omp. Tanneri Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p. 460. See above, p. 9.5, notf. 2. " A faythful admonition made by John Knox, unto the professours of God's truthe ii England, whereby thou mayest learne howe Gode wyll have his c.i trche exercised with troubles, and how he defendeth NOTES. 499 .1 in the same. Esaie ix. After all this shall not the Lordes wrath ceasse, but yet shall hys hande be stretched out styll. Ibidem. Take hede that the Lorde roote thee not out both heade and tayle in one daye." On the back of title: "The epistle of a banyshed manne out of Leycestershire, sometime one of the preachers of Goddes worde there, to the Christen reader wysheth health, deliveraunce, and feli citie." " Imprynted at Kalykow the 20 daye of Julii, 1554. Cum gratia et privilegio ad Imprimendum solum." French black letter, extends to I, and makes 63 lea\-es. Advocates' Library. A copy of this in MS. Vol. 3. "A godly letter sent to the faythefull in London, Newcastell, Bar- wyke, and to all other within the realme of Englande, that love the coming of our Lord Jesus, by Jhon knox. Matth. x. He that con- tinueth unto the ende shall be saved. Imprinted in Rome, before the Castel of S. Aungel, at the signe of Sainct Peter. In the rnoneth of July, in the yeare of our Lord 1554." D, 28 leaves, Fr. black letter. Advocates' Library. A copy in MS. Vol. 4. " A confession and declaratio of praiers added thereunto, by Jhon Knox, minister of christes most sacred Evangely, upon the death of that moste famous king Edward the VI. kynge of Englande, Fraunce, and Ireland, in which confession, the sayde Jhon doth accuse no less hys owne offences, than the ofiences of others, to be the cause of the awaye takinge of that most godly prince, now raininge with Chryst whyle we abyde plagues for our unthafulnesse. Imprinted in Rome, before the Castel of S. Aungel, at the signe of Sainct Peter. In the moneth of July, in the yeare of our Lorde, 1554." C, 19 leaves. Fr. black letter. Advocates' Library. The " Confession" inserted in Note U. The " Declaration of Praiers" is in MS. Vol. See Note N. Another edition was licensed in 15S0. See Ames, p. 1 146. 5. " The copie of a letter sent to the ladye Mary dowagire, regent of Scotland, by John Knox, in the yeare 1556. Here is also a notable sermon, mayde by the sayde John Knox, wherein is evydentlye proved that the masse is and alwayes hath been abhominable before God, and Idolatrye. Scrutamini Sn-ipturas.'' H, extends to 64 leaves, 16mo. Black letter. No year or place of printing. A copy of this rare book, which belonged to the late Duke of Roxburghe, is now in the Advocates' Library. Ames (p. 1587; introduces this book as printed in 1556, but without alleging any authority; and (p. 1834) he speaks of the Sermon against the Ma'ss as printed in 1550, for which he quotes T. Baker's Maunsell, p. 101. Both the tracts contained in this book are in MS. Vol. 6. "Ane exposition upon the syxth Psalme of Dauid, wherein is declared hys crosse, complayntes, and prayers, moste necessarie too be red of all them, for their singular comforte, that vnder the banner of Christe are by Satan assaulted, and feel the heauye burthen of synne, with \vhich they are oppressed. O^The paciente abydinge of the sore afflicted was neuer yet confounded." Ends on the reverse of the last leaf of F. On G begins, "A comfortable Epistell sente to the afflicted church of Chryst,"exhortynge the to beare hys crosse with paciece, lokyng eury houre for hys commynge agayne to the greate comfort and consolacion of hys chosen, with a prophecy of ye destruction of the wycked. Whereunto is joyned a most wholesome counsell, howe to behaue ourselues in the myddes of thys wycked generacion touching the daily exercise of God's most holy and sacrec" worde. Wrytten by the man of God, J. K." 500 xN O T E S . A copy of this very rare collection of tracts, which ilso belongec to the late Duke of Roxburghe, is now in the Advocates' Libraiy. It wants two or three leaves at the close, — ending with I, 5. Black letter, i6mo. (All of these are in MS. Volume. "The " wholesome counsell" is inserted in Note Z.) In the same volume, and print- ed with the same type, are two tracts by " Gracious Menewe," the first on " Auricular Confession," and the second, " Of the Com- munion in both kyndes." It has been conjectured that Knox wrote these under a lictitious name. 7. " The copie of a lettre delivered to the laidie Marie, regent of Scotland, from Johne Knox minister of Goddes worde, in the yeare of our Lord 1556, and nowe augmented and explained by the author in the yeare of our Lord 1558." Device: two arches, one narrow, the other broad ; over the narrow one is a crown of laurel, over the broad one flames of fire, with this motto about them, "Enter in at the streit gate : for wide is the gate, and brode is the waye, that leadeth to de- struction, Matth. vii." Printed at Geneva, by James Pollain, and Antonie Rebul. m.d.lvui. D, extends to 28 leaves. Rom. letter, 16mo. Advocates' Library. 8. " The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstruous Rege- ment of Wemen. Veritas temporis filia. m.d.lvhii." 56 leaves, Rom letter. Advocates' Library. 9. " The Appellation of Johne Knoxe from the cruell and most un- just sentence pronounced against him by the false bishoppes and clergie of Scotland, with his supplication and exhortation to the nobil- itie, estates, and cGmunalitie of the same realme. Printed at Geneva M.D.LVUI." The Appellation is addressed " To the nobilitie, and estates of Scotlad" only; the epistle, " To his beloved brethren the cGmunal- itie of Scotlad," annexed, begins at folio 47, and concludes at folio 59, " Be witnesse to my appellation. — From Geneva the 14 of July, 1.558. Your brother to commaunde in godliness, John Knoxe." On the back of which leaf begins : "An admonition to England and Scotland to call them to repentance, written by Antoni Gilby." On the back of leaf 78, " Psalme of David xciii turned into metre by W. Kethe," ends on the first page of folio 80 — Rom. letter, 16mo. Advocates' Library. It is a mistake to suppose that " Antoni Gilby" was a fictitious name assumed by Knox. Gilby was a member of the English Church at Geneva. (See p. 124.) Ames mentions several publications by him. See also Tanneri Bibliotheca, p. 318. 10. "The copie of his [John Knox's] epistle, sent unto Newcastle, and Barwick. [This was, perhaps, another edition of No. 3.] Also a brief exhortatione to Englande for the speedy embracing of Christes gospell, heretofore, by the tyranny of Mary, suppressed. Print, at Geneva, 15.59." Maunsell, p. 65. With a catalogue of Martyrs, ]6mo, Ames, p. 1600. Comp. Tanner, p. 460. 11. "An Answer to a great number of blasphemous cauillations written by an Anabaptist, and Adversarie to Gods eternal Predestina- tion ; and confuted by lohn Knox, minister of Gods worde i'l Scotland : Wherein the Author so discouereth the craft and falshode :if that sect, that the godly knowing that error, may be confirmed in the jrueth by the euident worde of God. Prov. xxx. There is a generatio that are pure in their own cuceit, and yet are not washed from their filthiness. Printed by John Crespin, m.d.lx." Rom. letter, 454 pages. Advocates' Library. Another edition was licensed 1580; and it was again printed in 1.591. See Ames, pp. 1 196, 12.54. 1263. 12. "Heir followeth the coppie of the reasoning which was betuix the Abbote of Crossraguell and John Knox in Mayboil concerning the Masse, in the yeare of God, a thousand five hundreth thre scoir and NOTES. 501 two yeares. Apocalips xxii. For I protest, &c. Imprinted at Edin- burgli by Robert Lekpreuik, and are to be solde at his iious, at the netiier bow. Cum privilegio, 15(33." The running title is "The rea- soning betwix Jo. Knox and the abliotte of Crossraguell." In tlie library of Alexander Boswell, Esq. of Auchinleek. See above, p. 248. 13. "A sermon preached by John Knox, minister of Ciirist Jesus, in the publique audience of the church of Edenbrough, within the realme of Scotland, upon Sunday the 19 of August, 15G5. For the which the said John Knoxe was inhibite preaching for a season, 1 Tim. iv. The time is come that men cannot abyde the sermon of veritie nor holsome doctrine. To tliis is adjoyned an exortation unto all thefaithfull within the sayde realme, for the releife of such asfayth- fully trauayle in the preaching of Gods word. Written by the same John Knoxe, at the conmiandment of the ministrie aforesaid." (.'on- sists of 49 leaves; and II more, " Of the superintendents to the faith- ful." No name of place, nor printer. Sixteens. Ames, pp. 1488 — 89. Tanner, p. 460. 14. " To his loving brethren whome God ones gloriously gathered in the church of Edinburgh, and now are dispersed for tryall of our faith, &c. Johne Knox. Imprented at Striviling be Robert Lekpreuik. Anno Do. m.d.lxxi." Rom. letter, 4 leaves, 16mo. Advocates' Li- brary. 15. "An Answer to a letter of a Jesuit named Tyrie, be Johne Knoxe. Proverbs xxvi. Answer not a foole according to his foolishness least thou be lyke him : answer a foole according to his foolishness least he be wise in his owe cGseat. " The contrarietie appearing at the first sight betwix thir twa sen- tecis, stayit for a tyme baith heart to meditate and hand to wryte any thing, cGtrair that blasphemous letter. But when with better mynd, God gave me to considder, that whosoever opponis not him self bouldly to blasphemy and manifest leis, differis lytill fra tratouris: cloking and fostering, so far as in them ly, the treasoun of traitouris, and dampnable impietie of those, against whome Gods just vengeance mon burne without end, enless spedie repentace follow : To quyet therefore my owne conscience, I put hand to the pen as followeth : — Imprentit at Sanctandrois be Robert Lekpruik, Anno Do. 1572." "Jhone Knox, the servand of Jesus C'hrist, now wearieof the world, and daylie luiking for the resolution of this my earthly tabernakle, to the faithful," &.c. 3 pages. Then a prayer in 3 pages, which con- cludes, "Now, Lord, put an end to my miserie. At Edinbiu'gh the 12 day of March, 1 565." On next page begins " An Answer, &c. At the end, " Of Edinburgh the 10 day of August, anno do. 1568." Next, "to the Faithfull Reader" — ends " For as the worlde is wearie of me : so am I of it. Of Sanctandrois the 12 of Julii 1.572. Johne Knox". — "Followeth the letter as it past from my hand at Diep the 20 Julii 1554. To his loving mother," &c. (This letter is in MS. Vol.) In all 45 leaves. Rom. letter. Advocates' Library. 16. " A Fort for the Afflicted. Wherein are ministered many nota- ble and excellent remedies against the stormes of tribulation : Written chiefly for the comforte of C'hristes little flocke, which is the small number of the faithfull, by John Knoxe. John xvi. 23." This is an exposition upon the 6th Psalm. It has prefixed, an epistle " To the Religious Reader, by Abr. Flemming." — " To his beloved mother, J. K. sendeth greeting in the Lorde."" At the end is " A comfortable epistle sent to the afflicted churche of Christ, exhorting them to bear his crosse with patience, (S:c. Written at Deepe 31 May, 1.554." F. 4, in e-ghts. W. H. CAmes. p. 1 118.) Tanner (p. 460) says it was printed 502 NOTES. " Lond. 1 580." This is another edition of the firrt two tracts described in No. 6. 17. Sermon on Ezekiel ix. 4, printed anno 1580. See a Catalogue of Writers on O. and N. Testament, p. 107. Lond. 1663. 18. "A Notable and Comfortable exposition of M. John Knoxes upon the fourth of Matthew, concerning the tentations of Christ. First had in the public church, and aflenoards written for the comfort of cer- taine private /r/e/ic/s, a7id noiv published in print for the benefit of all that fear God. At London printed by Robert Waldegrave for Thomas Man, dwelling in Paternoster Row, at the signe of the Talbot." Ad- vocates' Library. In MS. Vol. The words in Italics are supplied, the copy being torn in these places. The book is dedicated by ".Tohne Fielde," the publisher, to the " vertuous and my very godly friend Mres. Anne Provze of Exe- ter," who was the widow of" M. Edward Derring," a celebrated non- conformist. Field was also a noted puritan. See Bancroft's Dan- gerous Positions, b. iii. chap. 1 — 5. Field had received the MS. from Mrs. Prouze. At the end of the dedication is, " London the first day of the first moneth in the year 1583." The book consists of 24 leaves. 19. " The Historic of the Church of Scotland." Imperfect, beginning with page 17. "By these articles which God of his merciful provi- dence causeth the enemies of his truth to keep in their registers, &c." and ending with M m, p. 560. "For we judge it a thing most con- trarious to reason, godlynes, and equitie, that the widow and the chil- dren of him who in ;" being part of " the fift head" of the First Book of Discipline. 8vo. Advocates' Library. This edition is very rare, and none of the copies which have been seen are more complete than that which has been just described. See above, p. 495. It is unnecessary to give the title of David Buchanan's edition, printed in 1644 at London, in folio, and reprinted the same year at Edinburgh in quarto. — The genuine and complete edition of the His- tory was published in folio, under the following title: — " The Historic of the Reformatioun of Religioun within the Realm of Scotland, conteining the manner and be quhat persons the lycht of Christis Evangell has been manifested unto this fealine, after that horribill and universal defection from the treuth, whiche has come by the means of that Romane Antichryst. Together with the Life of Johne Knoxe, the author, and several curious pieces wrote by him ; particularly that most rare and scarce one entitled, The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Reg-iment of Women, and a large Index and Glossary. Taken from the original manuscript in the Uni- versitj'' Library of Glasgow, and compared with other ancient copies. Edinburgh : Printed by Robert Fleming and Company, 1732." The life was written by Mr. Matthew Crawfurd. See last Note. Besides the above publications, which were all undoubtedly com- posed by our Reformer, there are others ascribed to him upon more dubious grounds. Bale, in his Scrip. Mag. Brit. post. pars. art. Kno.vus, and Verheiden and Melchior Adam, upon his authority, appear, in several instances, to have given different names to the same tract. They mention among his printed works, " In Genesin Conciones.' We know that he preached sermons on Genesis at Franckfort, (see p. 102,) and it is not unlikely that he continued to do so at Geneva. Per- haps Bale, hearing of these, might think that they were published. Bishop Tanner has enumerated among his works, " Exposition on Daniel, Malburg. m.d.xxix. 8vo." Bibliotheca, p. 460. As he mentions the place and year of printing, more credit is due to his account: but there is evidently a mistake in the year, for Knox had not at that time Degun to write. It may, however, be an error of the press for a later NOTES. 503 year. We have seen (p. 317) that he preached on Daniel at St. An- drews. During the reign of Queen Mary of England, a book was puolished, with this title, " The Huntyng of the Roniysh Vouife," &c. Of this tract a new edition was printed in the beginning of Ehzabeth's reign, under the title of " The Hunting of the Fox and the Wolfe, i)ecause they make hauocke of the sheepe of ("iirist .lesus.'' This edition is introduced with a preface by an anonymous author, " To a! my (aith- ful Brethren in ( hrist Jesu, and to all other that labour to weede out the weedes of poperie," &c. The writer of the preface is very severe against the relics of Popery retained in the worship of the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity. " My good fathers and deare Brethren, who are first called to ye battel to strive for God's glory and the edificatiu of his people, again.ste the Romish reiiques, and rags of Antichriste, I doubt not but that you will courageouslye and constatly in Christ, rap at the.se rages of God's enemies, and that you will by this occasiu race vp many as great enormities, that we al know and labour to race out al the dregs and remnats of transformed poperie, that are crept into England, by too much lenitie of the that will be named the Lords of the clergie," &c. This preface has been ascribed to our Reformer. " .^"o far," says Herbert, " as one may be allowed to •guess at the author by the style, &c. I am inclined to believe this ad- dress was written by John Knox, who for magnanimity, courage, and zeal for God's glory, was at least equal to any of our reformers." This surmise is in some measure supported by the cut of Truth, &c. at the end of this tract; the same as prefixed to that author's Admonition or warning, &c. at p. 1576, except only the name of Sutleti being here given to the figure there inscribed Crueltye. Herbert's edition of Ames, pp. 1005,^1606. I have not introduced into this catalogue the Form of Excommuni- cation, which was wholly, nor the Treatise of Fasting, which was chiefly, composed by Knox, nor any other of the public papers in which he had a hand, but which were published in the name of the General Assembly. In an epistle to the reader, contained in his answer to Tyrie, Knox mentions that he had beside him a collection of letters which he had written to Mrs. Bowes, and which the state of his health alone pre- vented him from publishing. It also appears from Field's dedication prefixed to Knox's Exposition of the fourth of Matthew, (see p. 344,') that a number of our Reformer's manuscripts were in circulation in England as well as Scotland. I have in my possession a manuscript volume, containing tracts and letters written by him between 15.50 and 1558. This is unquestionably the identical volume which for- merly belonged to the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, (author of the History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland,) and described imder the name of the Quarto volume of MSS. in Crawfurd's Life of Knox, pp. 5.3, 54, prefixed to the edition of his Historie published in 1732. It consists of 518 pages, including the contents. On the leaf at the be- ginning of the volume is this title; "The epistles of Mr. John Knox, worthy to be read because of the authority of the wryter, the solidity of the matter, and the comfortable Christian experience to be found therein. Edr. 22 feb. 1683. H. T. m. p." Below, in a hand consider- ably older, are these words: "This booke belong'd somtyme to Mar- garet Stewart, widow to Mr. Knox, afterwards married to the knierht of fawdoncsyde. Sister shee was to James Earl of Arran." Then follow the six tracts desribed by Mr. Crawfurd, in the place above referred to. At the beginning of the Letters, in a hand older than the farmer, and the same with that in which the Letters themselves are 504 NOTES. written, is this title: "Certane epistillis and letters of ye servand of God, Joiine Knox, send from dyvers places to his friendis and faniilia- ris in Jesus (Jhiyst." On the margin of the tracts are several short notes by the transcriber, referring to his own times, such as this, " our case at this day in Scotland, 1603." This ascertains the date of their transcription ; and I think it highly probable that they were copied by Mr. John Welch, a son-in-law of the Reformer, one of whose letters is inserted on some blank leaves in the middle of the volume. The letters have evidently been written by the same person, (although the hand appears older;) and, on the margin of a treatise at the end of them, " 1603" occurs. Margaret Stewart, the Reformer's relict, was alive about the end of the sixteenth century ; but whether the manuscript in my possession belonged to her, or be considered as a transcript from hers, there can be no doubt of its antiquity and genuineness. I have found, upon examination, that all the six tracts in the beginning of the volume have been published; but as the manu- script is more correct than any of the printed editions which I have seen, I have generally followed it in the extracts which I have given from these tracts. The letters are forty-three in number, besides the letter to the queen regent, the Discourse on the temptation of Christ, and the Additions to the Apology of the Parisian Protestants, which are in- serted among them. Three of the letters also have been published, and are noticed in Nos. 6 and 15 of this Catalogue; the remainder, as far as I can learn, never appeared in print. They consist chiefly of religious advices to the friends with whom he corresponded ; but a number of facts and allusions to his external circumstances are inter- spersed. Mr. Wodrow possessed another volume of Knox's MSS. in folio, which is described by Crawfurd, Life, p. 53, ut supra. It con- tains nothing additional to what I have mentioned in this Note. In a letter, addressed to Mr. Robert Durie, from Sedan, 24th May, 1616, Andrew Melville says : " I left with my lufing and faithful gossep, your father-in-law, Mr. Knox's letters. I wish them to be furthcuming." APPENDIX CONSISTING OP LETTERS WRITTEN BY KNOX, AND OTHER PAPERS, HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. No. 1.* [From MS. Letters, p. 243.] The firste letter to his mothir in law, mestres Bowis. Rycht deirlibelovit mother in oure Saviour Jesus Chryst, when I call to mind and revolve with myself the trubillis and afflictionis of Godis elect frome the begyning (in whiche I do not forget yow) thair is with- in my hart tuo extreme contraries ; a dolour almaist unspeakabill, and a joy and comfort whiik, be mannis sences, can not be comprehendit nor understand. The cheif caussis of dolour be two; the ane is the remembrance of syn, whilk I daylie fell! remanyng in this corrupt na- ture, whiik was and is sa odious and detestabill in the presence of oure hevinlie father, that by na uther sacrifice culd or myght the same be purgeit, except by the blude and deth of the onlie innocent sone of God. When I deiplie do considder the caus of C'hrystis deth to half bene syn, and syn yit to dwell in all fiesche, with paule I am compellit to sob and grone as ane man under ane heavie burdene, ye, and sum- tymes to cry, O wreachit and miserabill man that I am, wha sail dely- ver me fra this bodie of syn ! The uther caus of my dolour is that sic as maist gladlie wald remane togidder, for mutual comfort ane of an- other, can not be sufferit sa to do. Since the first day that it pleasit the providence of God to bring yow and me in familiaritie, I have al- wayis delytit in your company ; and when labours wald permit, ye knaw. I have not spairit houris to talk and commoun with yow, the frute whairof I did not than fullie understand nor porcoave. But now absent, and so absent that by corporal presence nather of ws can re- save comfort of uther, I call to mynd how that oflymes when, with dolo- rous hartis, we half begun our talking, God hath send trreit comfort unto baithe, whilk now for my awn part I commounlie want. The exposicion of your trubillis, and acknawledging of your infirmitie * The first five Nos. are religious loiters: the rest contain historical matter. 505 43 03 500 APPENDIX. war first unto me a verie mirrour and glass whairin I beheld my self sa ryciitlie payntit furth, that nathing culd be mair evident to my awa eis. And than the searching of the Scriptures for Godis sueit promis- sis, and for his mercies frelie givin unto miserable offenderis, (for his nature delyteth to schevv mercie whair maist miserie ringeth,) the col- lectioun and applying of Godis mercies, I say, wer unto me as the; breaking and handilling with my awn handis of the maist sweit and delectabill ungumentis, whairof Iculd not but receave sum comfort be thair naturall sweit odouris. But now, albeit I never lack the pre- sence and plane inage jf ray awn wreachit infirmitie; yet seing syn sa manifestlie abound in al estatis, I am compellit to thounder out the threattnyngis of God aganis the obstinat rebellaris, in doing whairof (albeit as God knaweth I am no malicious nor obstinat synner) 1 sum- tymes am woundit, knawing myself criminal! and giltie in many, ye in all (malicious obstinacie laid asyd) thingis that in utheris I repre- hend. Judge not, mother, that I wrait theis thingis debassing my self otheris way1s than I am ; na ; I am wors than my pen can expres. In bodie ye think I am no adulterer : lat sa be ; but the hart is infectit with fouU lustis, and will lust albeit I lament never sa mekill. Exter- nallie I commit na idolatrie ; but my wicked hart luffeth the self, and camiot be refranit fra vane imaginationis, ye, not fra sic as were the fountane of all idolatrie. I am na mankiller with my handis; but I help not my nedie brother sa liberallie as I may and aucht. I steill not hors, money, nor claithis fra my nychbour; but that small por- tioun of warldlie substance I bestow not sa rychtlie as his halie law requyreth. I bear na fals witnes agains my nychbour in judgement Dr utherwayis befor men ; but I speik not the treuth of God sa boldlie as it becumeth his true messinger to do. And thus in conclusioun thair is na vyce repugnyng to Godis halie will, expressit in his law, whairwith my hart is not infectit. This mekill writtin and dytit befoir the resait of your letteris, whilk I ressavit the 21st of June. They war unto my hart sum comfort for dyvers caussis not necessar to be rehersit, but maist (as knaweth God) for that I find ane congruence betwixt ws in spreit, being sa fer dis- tant in bodie. ffor wihen that digestlie I did avys with your letter, I did considder that I myself was complenyng evin the self sam thingis at that verie instant^moment that I resavit your letter. Be my pen ffrom a sorrowful hart I culd not but brust forth and say, " O Lord, how wonderfull ar thi workis ! how dois thou try and prufe thi chosen children as gold by the fyre ! how canest thou in maner hyd thi face fra thy awn spous, that thi presence efter may be mair delectabill ! Jiow canest thou bring thi sainctis lowe, that thou may carie thame to glorie everlasting ! how canest thou suffer thi Strang faithful messin- geris in many thingis yit to wressill with wreachit infirmitie and fe- bill weakness, ye and sumtymes permittis thou thame horribillie to fall, partlie that na flesche sail have whairof it may glorie befoir the, and partlie that utheris of smaller estait and meaner giftis in thi kyrk myght resave sum consolatioun, albeit thay find in thame selves wickit motions whilk they are not abill to expell !" My purpois was, befoir I ressavit your letter, to have exhort it you to pacience and to fast adhering to Godis promisis, albeit that your flesche, the divill, and uther your enemyis, wald persuad you to the contrare ; for, by the artis and subteliteis that the adversarie useth aganis me, I not only do conjecture, but also planelie dois sie yeour assaltis and trubill. And sa lykwys, in the bowellis of Chrystis mercie, maist ernistlie I beseik you, by that infirmitie that ye knaw remaineth in me, (wars I am than I can wryt,) pacientlie to beir. albeit that ye half not sic per- fection as ye wald, and albeit also your motionis be sic as be maist APPENDIX. 50. \y]e and abominabill, yet not to sorrow abuf measure. Gif I to w horn God hes gevin greatter giftis (I wryt to his prais) be yit sa wr.ippit into miserie, that wliat 1 wald 1 can not do, and what I waki not, that with sainct paule, 1 say, 1 daylie ye everie hour and moment 1 devys to do, and in my hart, ficht 1 never sa fast in the contrarie, 1 perform and do, — gif sic wreachit wickitnes remane in Godis chief ministeris, what wonder albeit the same remane in yow ! Gii" Goe glorie of my heavenlie father through Jesus Christ,) 'Thou hes suffer- It great troubill for professing of ( hrystis treuth, God hes done great thingis for the, delyvering the fra that maist cruell hondape, [s-alleis : on the margin,] hie has placeit the in a maist honourabill vocatioun, and thy labours ar not without frute; thairfoir thou aucht rejos and gif prais unto God.' O mother this was a suptill serpent wha this culd pour in vennoume, I not perceaving it; but blissit be my God wha 512 APPENDIX. permittit me not to sleip lang in that estait. I drank schortlie efler this flatterie of myself a cupe of contra poysone, the bitternes whairof doith yit sa remane in my breist, that whatever I have sufferit, or pre- sentlie dois I reput as doung, yea, and my self vi^orthie of dampnation for my ingratitude towardis my God. The lyke, mother, myt. have cumin to yow, gif the secreit brydall of afflictioun did not refrane vane cogitationis ; but of this I have written to yow mair planelie in my other letteris. And this I commit you to the protectioun of the omni- potent for ever. Yours at his power, Johne Knox No. V. [MS. Letters, pp. 335-6.1 To his Sister. The spreit of God the father, be Jesus Chryst, comfort and assist yow to the end. Amen. Touching the sonis of Jacob, who cruellie, contrar to thair so- lempned promeis and othe, did murther and slay the citisens of Sic- hem ; whasa ryghtlie marketh the scriptures of God sail easelie espy thame maist grevouslie to have offend it. ITer albeit the transgression of the young man was haynous befoir God, yit wer thay na civill maiestratis, and thairfoir had na autoritie to punis. And farther, thay committit treasone, and in sa fer as in thame was blasphemit God and his halie name, making it odious to the nationis about, seing thay under pretence of religioun, and of ressaving them in leage with God and with the pepill, did disceatfullie as also cruellie destroy the haill citie suspecting na danger. Albeit sum laboureth to excus thair syn be the zeall thay had that thay myght not suffer thair sister to be abu- sit lyke ane harlot, yit the spreit of God speiking in thair awn father, efter lang advysement, in the extreamitie of his deth, utterlie dampneth thair wickit act, saying, " Semioun and Levi, brethren, &c. lat not my saule entir in thair consall, nor yit my glorie into thair company, for in thair furie thay killit a man, and for thair lust destroyit the citie, cursit is thair heit or rage, for it is vehement, and thair indignatioun, for it is intractable, I sail dispers thame in Jacob, and scatter thame abrod in Israeli." Heir may ye espy, sister, that God dampneth thair het displeasure and cruell act, as maist wickit and worthie of punis- ment. But perchance it may be inquyrit, why did God suffer the men that had professit his name be reseaving the sign of circumsitioun sa unmercifullie to be entreatif? 1 myght answer, God sufferis his awn in all ageis be the ungodlie to be cruellie tormentit. But sic was not the case of thir men, whom na doubt the justice of God faund crymi- nall and worthie the deth. ffor thay did abus his sacramentall signe, receaving it nether at God's commandement, nor having any respect to his honour, nor to the advancement of his name, nor yit trusting in his promissis, nor desyreing the incres or multiplicatioun of Goddis pepill, but onlie for a warldlie purpois, thinking thairby to have attay- nit riches and ease, be joynyng thameselves to Godis pepill. And sa the justice of God faund thame worthie of punisment, and sa pei-mittit thame justlie on his part to be afflictit and destroyit be the ungodlie, whilk is a terribill exempill to sic as in caus of religioun mair seikis the profit of the warld nor eternall salvatioun. But hereof na mair. Thus brieflie and rudlie have I writtin unto yow, becaus I remember myself anis to have maid yow a promeis sa to do, and everie word of the mouth of the faithful! (yf sa impeid not God) aught to be keipit APPENDIX. 513 And now rest in Chryst. After this I think ye sail rasave na mair oi my handis. In haist with sair iriibillit hart. Yours as ever in godlines, [Anno J 553.] Johne Knox No, VI. Letter op John Knox to John Fox. (See p. 143.) (British Museum. Harl. MSS. 416, 34. 5 70.) An Original. Indorsed ' To his louinge brother master fox be these delyuered at Basill." The mightie comforth of the holie ghost for salutation. Dearlie beloued brother, albeit at the dePture of this our brother from whom I receaved yor. loving and frendlie Ire. my selue could writ nothing be reasoneof the euill disposition of my bodie, yit becaus I could not suffer him to depert without som remembrance of my deu- tie to you, I vsed the help of my left hand, that is of my wief, in scribb- ling these fewe lynes vnto you, as touching my purpose and mynd in tlie publishing the first blast of the trompet. W hen the secreates of all hartes shalbe disclosed, that shalbe knowe wch. now by manye can not be perswaded, to wit, that therin I nether haue sought my selue, nether yit the vain prase of men. my rude vehemencie and inconsidered affirmations wch. may appear rather to procead from coler then of zeal and reason, I do not excuse, but to haue vsed anye other tytle more plausible, therby to haue allured the world by any art, as 1 never purposed so do I not yit purpose, to me it is ynewgh to say that black is not whit, and mans tyrannye and foolishnes is not goddes perfite ordinance, wch. thinge I do not so much to correct comon welthes as to delyuer my own conscience, and to instruct the consciences of som semple who yit I fear be igno- rant in that matter, but ferther of this I delay to better opportunytie. Salut yor. wief and dowghter hartlie in my nam. the grace of our lord Jesus Christ rest wt. you now and euer. from geneva the 18 of May, 1558. Your brother to power, Johne Knox. I yor. sister the writer herof saluteth you and yor. wief most hartlie thanking hir of hir loving tokens wch. my mother and I receaued from Mrs. Kent. No. VII. [Cald. MS. Vol. i. p. 427.*] Extract of a Letter from John Knox to Mrs. Anne Locke. (See p. 171.) The queen and her counsell made promis that no person with m Sanct Johnston, neither yet of these that assisted them, should be troubled for any thing done either in religion, either yet in down cast ing of places, till the sentence of the estates in Parliament had decidea * The followint; letters from Calderwood have been corrected by comparing difTerent copies. The style has evidently been modernized. P3 5i4 APPENDIX. the controversie, and that no bands of French souldiers should be left behhid the queen and counsell in the town, and that no idolatrie should be erected, nor alteration made within the town. But after she had obtained her desire, all godlie promises were forgotten; for the Sunday next after her entering, mess was said upon a dyeing table, (for ye shall understand all the alters were prophaned ;) the poor professors were oppressed ; when children were slain, she did but smile, excusing the tact be the chance of fortune ; and at her de- parture, she left 400 souldiers, Scottismen, but paid by France, to dan- toun the town. She changed the provist, and exiled all godlie men. This crueltie and deceit displeased many that befoir assisted her with their presence and counsell ; and among others, the earl of Argyle and the prior of Sanct Andrews left [her,] and joined themselves to the congregation openly, whilk as it was displeasing to her and to the shaveihngs, so it was most comfortable and joyfull to us, for by their presence were the hearts of many erected from desperation. At their commandment I repaired to them at St. Andrewis, wher consultation being had, it was concluded that Christ Jesus should there be openlie preached, that the places and monuments of idolatrie should be re- moved, and superstitious habits changed. This reformation was be- gun the ]4th of June. In the meantime came the bishop of St. An- drewis to the towne, accompanied with a great band of warriours, and gave a strate commandement, that no preaching should be made by me, who was both brunt in figure and horned, assuring the lords that if they suffered me to preach that twelve haquebuts should lyght upon my nose at once. O burning charitie of a bloodie bishop ! But as that boast did little affray me, so did it more incense and inflamme with courage the harts of the godlie, who with one voyce proclaimed that Christ Jesus should be preached in despite of Sathan, and so that Sabbath and three dayes after I did occupy the publike place in the midst of the doctors who this day are even as dumbe as their idols which wer brunt in their presence. The bishop departed to the Q,ueene, frustrat of his intent, for he had promised to bring me to her either alyve or dead : and incontinent was a new army assembled, and forward they marched against St. Andrews. It was not thought expedient that we should abide them lurking in a town, and so we past to the fields and met them at Couper, where lodging was ap- pointed for the camp, but we prevented them : where we remained upon their coming till the nixt day, when both armies were in sight of other within shot of cannon, and we looked for nothing but the ex- tremitie of batle: not that we intended to pursue, but only to stand in camp where our field was pitched for defence of ourselves. There came from our adversaries ane ambassador desiring speech and com- muning of che lords, which gladlie of us being granted, after long rea- soning the queene offered a free remission of all crymes bypast, sua that they would no furder proceed against friars and abbayes, and that no more preaching should be used publicklie. But the lords and the brethren refused such appointment, declaring that the fear of no mortal creature should cause them betray the veritie known and pro- fessed, neither yet to suffer idolatrie to be maintained in the bounds committed to their charge. The adversaries perceiving that neither threatening, flatterie, nor deceit, could break the bold constancie and godlie purpose of the lords, barons, gentlemen, and commons, who were there assembled to the number of 3000 in on days warning, they were content to tak assurance for eight days, permitting unto us free- dom of religion in the meantime. In the whilk the abbay of Lindores, a place of black monkes, distant from St. Andrewis twelve myles. we reformed their altars overthrew we, their idols, vestments of idola- AFPE.XUIX. 515 trie, and mass books, we burnt in their presence, and commanded them to cast away their monkish habits. Divers chanons of St. An- drewis have given notable conlessions, and have declared themselves manifest enemies to the pope, to the mass, and to all superstition. [Tke7i follou-s ichut is i7istr(e(l, pp. 177,8.] We fear that the tyran- nic of France shall, under the cloak of religion, .seek a plain conquest of us; but potent is God to confound their counsell and to break their force. God move the hearts of such as profes Christ Jesus with us, to have respect to our infancie, and open their eyes to see that our ruin shall be their destruction. ( "ommunicat the contents herof (which 1 write to you, least by divers rumours ye should be troubled and wee slandered) with all faithfull, but especiallie with the afflicted of that little fHock, now dispersed and destitute of these pleasant pastures in which some tyme they fed abundantlie. If any remain at Geneva, let either this same or the double of it be sent unto them, and likeways unto my dear brother Mr. Goodman, whose presence I more thirst for than she that is my own flesh. Will him therefor in the name of the Lord Jesus (all delay and excus set apart) to visit me; for the ne- cessity is great here. If he come be sea, let him be addressed unto Dundie, and let him ask for George Levell, for George Rollok, or Wm. Carmichael. If he come to Leith, let him repair to Edinburgh, and enquire for James Baron, Edward Hope, Adam Fullerton, or for John Johnston, writer, be whom he will get knowledge of me. If my mother and my wife come be you, will them to make the expedition that goodly they can to visit me, or at least to come to the north parts, where they shall know my mind, which now I can not write, being oppressed with hourly cares. This bearer is a poor man un- known in the country, to whom I beseech you show reasonable fav- our and tenderness, touching his merchandize and the just selling thereof Thus, with hearty commendations to all faithfull, I heartily commit you to the protection of the Omnipotent. From Sanct An- drewes the 23d of June 1559. No. VIII. [Cald. I. 522 J To the same. (See p. 196.) Lest that the rumours of our troubles trouble you above measure dear sister, I thought good in these few words to signifie unto yOu that our esperance is yet good in our God, that he for his great name's sake will give such success to this enterprise as neither shall these whom he hath appointed to sigh in this be utterlie confounded, neither yet that our enemies shall have occasion to blaspheme tiie veritie, nor yet triumph over us in the end. We trusted too much, dear sister, in our owne strenth, and especiallie since the erle of Arran and his friends were joyned to our number. Amongst us albo were such as more sought the purse than Christ's glory. " Wee by this overthrow are brought to acknowledge, what is a multitude without the present help of God ! and the hollow hearts of many are now revealed. God make us humble in his eyes, and then I fear not the furie of the adver- saries, who, be ye assured, doe sore rage, so as yet their crueltie must neids crave vengeance from him whose members they persecute. Ouj dear brethren and sisters in Edinburgh and Lothian who lay nearest these bloode thirsty tyrants, are so troubled and vexed that it is a pity to remember their estate. Our God comfort them. We stand univer sally in great fear and yet we hope deliverance. I wrote to you be- fore-to be suitor t some faithfull, that they would move such as have 516 APPENDIX. abundance to consider our estate, and to make for us some provision of money to keep soldiers and our company togetiier. And lierein yet again I cannot cease to move you. I can not well write to any other because the action may seem to appertaine to my own country onlie. But because I trust ye suspect me not of avarice, 1 am bold to say to you that if we perish in this our enterprise, the limits of London will be srraiter than they are now within few years. Many things I have which I would have required for myself, namelj' Calvin oh Isaiah, anf' his Institutions revised. But common troubles cause me to neglect all private business. If ye can find the means to send me the books be- fore written, or any other that be new and profitable, I will provide that ye shall receive the prices upon your advertisemert. My wife saluteth you. Salute all faithfuU heartilie in my name, especiallie those of familiar acquaintance, of whom I crave pardon that I write not, being not so quiet as ye would wish. My onlie comfort is that our troubles shall pass sooner, peradventure, than our enemies look. Grace be with you. From St. Andrews, in haste, the 18th November 1559. Yours known, John Knox. Mr. Guderaan is in the west country in Ayr, who willed me to saluto you in his name as oft as I wrote you. No. IX. [Cald. 1.524.] To the same. (See p. 197.) We shall meet when death shall not dissever. Two letters I have received from you, dear sister, both almost at one time, the one is dated at London the 28th of November, the other of the same place the 2d of December. The letter of the last date 1 first read, which made mention of your trouble be reason of a suddan fire in a lodging near to you; that you had sought all means for our support, as well of those of high as of low degree; but that it was not needfuU that any thing should be sent unto us, because it was sup- posed that the highest would support us; and last, that ye had not re- ceived the answer of your doubts. In your other letters, after your most comfortable discourse of God's providence for his people in their greatest necessitie, ye godlie and trulie conclude that neither could their unworthiness, neither yet their want of things judged necessarie for their preservation, stop his majestie's mercie from them. There- after ye will me to avoid danger, and rather to fight by prayer in some place removed from danger than expose myself to the hazard of battel!, and so ye conclude by praising God's mercie as did Jeremy in his greatest anguish, &.c. What support should come to us be consent of counsel! and authoritie I am uncertain. But suppose it shall be greater than yet is bruted, that ought not to ^tay the liberal hands of the godlie to support us privateiie. For the public support of an army shall not make such as now be superexpended able to serve without private support. I will make the matter more plain be one example. I know one man that s>-e by heirs general. APPENDIX. 527 n CO ^ •S QJ ;^ s o « f ■> L, (I) >. c •-J5 o .2 ■■B a> :-, hn a s_ ca c Stf Soo to "S ^ >i aj 1 r/J k! 3 K Cj be o C_c WE-" (N . " s o' (Si M _ OJ 3 -e 3 N CS o .-, o _ t: ^ O >< 3 O P Si (U O TS rt c o c o M X « s o ■-J irf S2 09 " 03 &H 22 C e RJ ea O csno £*> 3 3 -K C 528 APPENDIX. No. XX. The Testament of John Knox. (From the Commissary Records of Edinburgh.) Ye testamentare & In ventare of the guids geir sowmes of money & dettis Ptenrg to vmqle Johnne Knox muster of ye evangell of Christ Jesus the tyme of his deceis quha deceissit vpoun ye xxiiii day of november The zeir of God 1572 zeiris IFaithfullie maid &, gevin vp be him self vpoun ye xui day of May the zeir of God foirsaid And PtHe be mgaret Stewart his relict quhome wt. Martha mgaret & Elizabeth Knoxis his dochteris he vpoun ye xiii day of Mali in his Lattir will vnderwritten nuTate his executors testa- metaris as the same of the dait foirsaid beiris. In the first the said vmqle Jhonne grantit him to haif xin'"jariJ^i57\ ^^^ ^'^^ tyme foirsaid Tua sylver drinking coupis mkit with J. K. M. on ye ane syde and on the vthir syde with E. B. N. cotening xxv vnces or thairby Tua salt fattis of syluer of xiii vnces vecht and ane half Auchtene sylver spvnes contening XX vnce wecht & a quarter price of the vnce 26s. 8d. Summa ffoureskoir punds of the qlk syluer work abonewritten the airschip is to be deducit and takin of Item the said mgaret ane of the saids executours grantit that the said vmqle Johne had the tyme of his deceis foirsaid in pois ane hundet pundes. Item his buikis alsweill vpoun the Scriptures as vyer Pphane authors wort, vi score and xl. Item in vtensile & domicile the airschip being deducit to the avail of 30/. _ Suma Inventarii. 296/. 6s. 8d. ifollowis the dettis awing to the deid. Item yair wes awing to the said umqle Johnne ye tyme of his deceis foirsaid be Andro lord Stewart of Vchiltree his guidfather the sowme of 80/. of Lent money. Item be Wm. Fiddes baxter 10/. restand awand to the said vmqle Johnne of quheit qlk he ressavit to gif breid for. Item be Agnes Weymes relict of vmqle Andro Mernis cietener of St. An- drois 19/. lis. \\d. for the rest of beir qlk scho ressauit fra ye said vmqle Johnne to mak aill of Item be mgaret Spens Spous to Mr. Robertt Glen 18/. \5s. Zd. for beir qlk scho ressauit fra the said vmqle to delyuer aill of Item restand awand to the said vmqle Johnne the tyme foirsaid for ane pairt of his pensioun qlk he had furth of the kirk of Haddingtoun be the Psones following the victualles underwritten of the zeiris and cropes resive underspecifeit viz. of the crope and zeir of god 1,571 zeiris be James Fiddes for ane pairt of his teyndis of the Nuland hand in the parochin of Haddingtoun Ane boll of quheit ane boll ane firlote beir vjl boUis aitts. be Adame Ethingtoun in Q,uhitrig ane boll of quheit sex bollis aitts price of the boll of quheit the said zeir .50^. price of the boll of beir the said zeir twa mkis. and price of the boll of aittis the same zeir 20.?. Siima 19/. 13s. Ad. Item be the said James Fiddes for his teyndis of the saidis lands of Niiland of the crope & zeir of God 1.572 zeiris ane boll of quheit ane boll ane firlote beir sevin Dollis aittis. Be James Oliphant & Robert Hepburne for yair teyndis of the landis of Stenestoun Hand within the said parochin ye said zeir sex bollis quheit sex bollis beir and xx bollis aittis. be ye said Adame Ethingtoun in Q,uhitrig for his teyndis of the saidis lands the said zeir ane boll of quheit ane boll of beir and sex bollis aittis. Be Johnne gulanis wyfe in Auldersoun for her teyndis yrof of ye zeir foirsaid twa bollis quheit twa bollis beir and viii bollis aittis Price of ye boll of "uheit the said zeir 506\ price of the boll beir ye said zeir twa mkis. and APPENDIX. 623 price of the boll aittis ye same zeir 20:>\ Suimiiu 791. los. id. Item restand awand to the said umqle Johnne the tyme of his deceis foir- said be the Psons following the sowmes of money & victuale under- writtin as for ane Pt of his stipende assignit to him for seruig. in the mristrie of the said crope & zeir of God, 1571 zeiris in the first be Mar- garet Haldane Lady L'oHngtoun (or the lainbes term in the said zeir 33/. 6s. Sd. Be Mr. Robe^rt VV ynrahame collector of P'yfe 32/. 17.s. for ye said vmqie Johnnis victuale of the said pensioun sauld be him the said zeir. Be Robert Beunet thre firlottis quheit Pee of the boll 5iJs. Summa 32^*?. Gd. Item restand awand to the said vmqie Jhonne the victuale and underspecifeit as for ane Pt of his said stipend the crop & zeir of God 1572 zeiris. In the first be VVilliame mchingstoun in Inneresk thre bolhs tua firlottis tua peckis quheit. Be Williame V'ernor yair tua bollis tiia firlottis thre peckis quheit. Be George Forma yair thre bollis tua firlottis tua pectis quheit. Be Robert Dow- glasthre bollis tua firlottis tua peckis quheit. Be Johnne Cranistoun in Monktounhall thre bollis thre firlottis quheit. Be Johne Kerss yair thre bollis ane firlot tua pectis quheit. Be Thomas Thomsoun yair tua bollis tua firlottis tua pectis quheit. Be Adame wricht tua bollis ane firlit quheit. Be VVilliame Johnestoun foure bollis ane firlot quheit. Be Dauid Hill in Inneresk ane boll thre firlotts thre pectis quheit. ex- tenden. to tua chalder quheit price of ye boll of quheit the said zeir 50s. Suma 80/. Be helene Cowtis relict of umqle Richard Pi-estoun of quhithill ane chalder beir. Be Jonet Betoun in Litill Monktoun ellevin bollis beir. Be VVilliame Wauchop of Nudry mschell for the teyndis of the lands of Calcoittis thre bollis beir. Be Johnne Hill of that ilk tua bollis beir. Be the tennentis of the parochin of Kynglassie for.chalderis. beir as followis. Be Johnne Boswall in Gaitmylk ane chalder beir. Williame Swyne yair viii bollis beir. George Tod in Kyninmonth ane chalder beir. Helene Mertyne in Kynglassie and Wm. Boswall hir sone tuelf bollis beir. Wm. Boswall in Stintoun xii bollis beir exten- den. in ye haill to sex chalderis beir price of the boll Grheid tua mkis. Sua ane hundret twentie aucht pundis. Be the tennetis of the paro- chin of Newbirnshyre in Fyffe foure chalder aittis as follows vizt VVilliame Dishingtoun in Ranelery fourtene bollis aittis. Thome Al- cheur yair xiiii bollis beir. Johnne Zoung in the Coittis sex bollis aittis. Be David Sympsoun yair sex bollis aittis and be Andro yair sex bollis aittis. Be David Johnesoun in Monc- turpie aucht bollis aittis. Be Sympsoun foure bollis aittis price of the boll ouerheid 20s. Summa 64Z. Item restand awand to ye said umqle Johnne, the sowmes underspecifeit as for ane Pt of ye sylver of his said stipend of the said zeir of God 1572 zeiris. In the first be James Rig of Carberry for the half teynd of Cowsland 33/. Gs. 8rf. Be lady Edmestoun Spous to Andro Ker of hirsell knyt, for the vyr. half of the teyndis of the lands foirsaids 33/. Gs. 8d. Be the said mgaret. Haldane lady rdynstoun for the teynd of Hailis 66/. 13s. 8d. Be Robert Bennet 33/. 6s': Sd. Be Mr. James Macgill of Rankelor, neyer for his males of the lands of Pinkie for the times of Witsonday and mtymes, In the said zeir of God 1572 zeiris 51/. 6s. 8d. And als resting be him of the males of the landis foirsaids of the zeir of God 1570 zeiVis 45s. 8cZ. Be the executirs of vmqie Gil- bert Edmestoun for the males of the lands of Wowmet of the tme. of mtymes. the said zeir of God 1572 zeiris 22/. 8s. Be Jonet betoun for the males of Litill Monktoun Nyne pundis. Be the said Lady Edmestone and Archibald Prestoun of VVallefeild for the males of Netoun 14/. lis. 6rf. Be James Rig of Garberry for the Maill yrof 20/. Item be of Nudry for the Males of Calcottes 45 R3 530 APPENDIX. thre pundes. Be Robert Douglas in Inneresk for his males 31. 19#. id Be Wni. mchinston thair for his few niaill 27s. lOd. 830/. ]9s. 6d. Summa of the detis abone writtin awing to ye deid Na detis awing be deid Sumraaofyelnventarewt. ye detis ^ , cog/ iq» gj awing to the deid ^ * To be Diuidit in thre Ptis ye ( o-^ . , o o^ deidis pant yrof. extendis to ^ '^'^^' ^'^*- "^ ffoUowis the latter will and legacie. Lord Jesus I comend my troublit spreit in thy Ptectioun and aefence and thy troublit kirk to thy mcie. Becaus I haif had to do wt. dyuers Psonages of the mlistrie qrunto god of his mcie. erectit me wt. in this realrae my dewetie cravis that I sail leva unto thaim now ane testimony of my mynd. And first unto the papistis and to the vnthankfull warld I say that althocht my lyfe hes bene vnto thaim odious and that oftin- times yai haif socht my destruction &. ye destructioun of ye kirk qlk god of his mercie hes plantit within this realme & hes alwayis preservit & kepit the samin fra thair crewale Intprysis zet to yaim I am compellit to say that onles thai spedele repent my departing of this lyfe sajbe to yaim the greatest calamitie that evir zet hes apprehendit yaim. sum small appearance yai may zit haife in my lyfe gif thai haif grace to se-. ane deid man haif I bene almaist yir tua zeiris last bypast And zet i wald that yai suld rypelie considder in quhat bettir estait yai and yair materis stands in yan it hes done befoir and thai haif hard of lang tyme befoir threatnit. bot becaus yai will nocht admit me for aneadminiser, I gif yar ouir to the Judgment of him quha knawis ye hartis of all and will disclose the secretis yairof in dew tyme. And yis far to the pa- pistis. To the faithftiU God befoir his sone Jesus Christ and befoir his halie Angellis I Ptest yat God be my mouth, be 1 nevir sa abiect, hes schawin to zow his trewth in all simplicitie. Nane I haif corrupted, nane haif I defraudit, mchandise haif I nocht maide (to godis glorie I write) of the glorious evangell of Jesus Christ, bot according to the measr of the grace graunted unto me, I haif dividit the sermont of trewth in just Ptis, beatin doun the pryde of the proude In all that did declare yr. rebellioun aganis God, according as God in his law gevis to me zit testimonie, & raising vp the consciences trublit with the knaw- ledge of yr. a win synnis be the declaring of Jesus Christ the strength of his death & the michtie operatioun of his resurrectioun. In the hartis of the faithfull off yis I say I haif ane testimony yis day in my conscience befoir God, how yat evir ye warld rage. Be cGstant yrfoir in doctrine that anis publictlie ze have professit, lat nocht sclandrous dayis draw zow away fra Jesus Christ, nayir lat the prosperitie of the wickit move zow to follow it nor yame. ffor howsoeuer it be yat God appeiris to neglect his awin for ane seasoun, zit he remanis ane Just Judge quha nathir can nor will justifie the wickit. lam nocht ignorant yat mony wald that I suld enter in particulare determinatioun of thir Pnt trubles, to quhome I planelie and simplie aswer yat as I neuir excedit }'e boundis of Goddis scriptures, sua will I nocht do in yis pairt by Godis grace. Bot heirof I am assurit be him quha nathair can dis- save nor be dissavit yat the castell of Edinburt, in the qlk all the mur- thour all the truble & the haill destructioun of yis puir commounweili was Inventit, as our awin eis may witness, by yaim & by yair mate- naria was put in executioun, sail cum to destructioun mantene it quhasa list, The destructioun I say of body &, sauU, except yai repent. I luik not to the mometary prosperitie of ye wicked, ze not althot yai suld APPENDIX. 53\ remane conquerors to the cuing of or. lord Jesus, hot I luik to this sen- tence, that quhasaeur scheddis Innocent bJuid defyles the land and provoikis Godis wrath aganis himself &, the land, vntili his bluid be sched agane be ordor of law to satisfie gods anger. This is nocht the first tyme that ze haif hard this sentence, althot yat mony at all tymes sturrit at sik severitie I zit afferme the same being reddy to entir to gif compt befoir his Maiestie of the stewartship he committit vnto me. I knaw in my death the rumours salbe strange, bot be ze nocht trublit abone measor, belouit in the Lord Jesus. Bot zit agane I say, remane custat in ye trewt, &. he quha of his mcie. send me, conductit me, and prosperet ye work in my hand aganis Sathan will provide for zow abundantlie, quhen yat athir my bluid sail wattir the doctrine taucht be me, or he of his mercie vtherwayis provide to put ane end to yis my battell. My executors I mak constitute &, ordane mgaret Stewart my spous, Martha Margaret &, Elizabeth knoxis my dochteris, and the faithful] to be orsmen. To my tua sones Nathaneell & Eleazare Knoxis I unfeignedlie leif ye same benedictioun yat yairdairest mider Mariorie Bowss left vnto yaim To wit that God for his sone Christ Jesus saik wald of his mercie mak yaim his trew fereris and als up- richt worschippers of him as ony yat euer sprang out of Abrahames loynes, quhairto now as than I fra my trublit hart say amen, ffurther I have delyuerit be Maister Randulphe to Mr. Robert Bowss schereff of the bischoprik &. bruder to ye said Mariorie my vmqle dairest spous ye sowme offyve hundreth punds ofscottis money to ye vtilitie and proffett of my saidis tua sonis. The qlk money is yat pairt of sub- stace yat fell or pertenit to yaim be the deces of Mariorie Bowss yair moder of blissit memory, And augmetit be me as I myt. or may spaii to mak out the said sowme, for I ressavit of yris bot ane hundret merkis sterling, qlk I of my povirtie extendit to fyve hundret punda scottis, and yat in contentatioun of yair bairns pairt of geir qlkis may fall to yar by my deces. Item I leif to my saids tua sones Tua sylver drinking cowpis the ane of thai is mket. J. K. M". on ye ane syde, and on ye vther syde wt. E. B. N. And in like mnner ye toyir wt. the same mk. and leres. The wecht of ye saidis twa cuipis contenand xxii vnce, or yrby., Tua salt fattis of sylver and xviii sylver spvnes, weyand xxxiiii z. and ane qr. vnces, price of ye vnce Orheid 26s. 8d. The qlks cuipis salt fattis &. spvnes I leif in keping to ye said Margaret my spous qil my saidis sones be of the aige of xxi zeiris At ye qlk tyme I ordane & commandis hir to delyver the samr to my saidis sones, or to ony ane of yaim, gif be deces ye vthir faillis. Item I leif also to my saids sones ane pairt of my saidis buikis of ye availl of 30/. And failzeing of my saids sones & thair airis I ordane the foirsaidis fyve hundret punds wt. ye syluer cuips spvnes saltfattis and buikis to return agane as eftir followis. That is to say, ye ane eqiiale half yrof to ye said Mar- garet my spous & my saidis thrie dochteris, And ye vyir half of ye samr to my bruder Williame Knox and his airis quhatsumevir. Item I leif to my said spous Margaret Stewart, ye Aucht hundret merkis qlkis ar laid vpoun the landis of pennymoir quhairn scho is infeft be Andro lord Stewart of vchiltree my fader of law, and failzeing of ye said Margaret I leif ye same to my saids thre dochters & failzeing of thaim I leif the samin to ye said Andro lord Stewart of vchiltrie & his airis quhatsueuir, chairgeing & requyring my said fader of law & his airis, as yai will asuer befoir yat incorruptible Judge ye lord Jesus, yat yai suffer not my said spous &- children to be defraudit or evill payit of the males &, anual rent of the saids lands during the nonre- demptioun of ye samf. Item I lief to paule knox my bruder sonne ane hundreth pundis qlk lyis in wodset upoun Robert Campbellis landis in Kinzeanclewt & quhairin the said paule is ellis infeft, and yat to be 532 APPENDIX. ane help to hald him at ye scuilis. And as concerning ye rest of m> hail) guids quhatsumeuir I lief to be dividit betuix my said sj ous &. my saids thre dochteris, and becaus my said spous man tak the cair of ray saidis dochteris & faithfullie travel) for thair guid nurischment & upbringing, Thairfoir I leif my said spous ye use of yr. geir qll yaibe mareit or cum to perfite aige, at qlk tyme I ordane thaim every ane as the tyme approaches to haif yair awin yat to yaim appertenis. sic subscribitur Johne Knox. Johne Adamesoun witness Rot. Watsoun witness Johne Johnesstoun witness Quotta The quote of yis testament is given gratis be speale com- gratis. mand of my lords Commissaris. No. XXI. The Testament op Mrs. Welch. (Glasgow Testament Register.) The Testament testamentar and Inventar of the guidis, geir, debtis and soumes of money quhilkis pertenit to vmquhile Elizabeth Knox, relict of vmquhile Mr. Johnne Welsche, sumtyme minister at Air, within the pa- rochin yairof, the tyme of hir deceis Q,uha deceist In the moneth of Janu- ar, the zeir of God 1600 tuentie fy ve zeiris, ffaythfullie maid and gevin vp be hir awin mouthe Insafar as concernes the nominatioun of hir execu- touris nominat be hir and legacie vnderwritten, and pairtlie maid and gevin vp be Mr. James Inglis, minister at Daylie, Mr. Josias Welsche hir sone, twa of the executouris nominat be the defunct Insafar as con- cernes the vpgeving of the Inuentar of hir guidis, geir, debtis awand In and Out, As hir latterwill and testament of the daite vnderwrittin mair fullie proportis. Inuentar. Item, the defunct had the tyme foirsald the guidis and geir vnder- written of the availlis, quantities and pryces eftirspecifeit, vizt. the In- sycht of the hous in vtincillis and domicillis with the abuilzement of the defunctis bodie estimat to 380/. Summa of the Inuentar ■ . 380/. Debtis awand In. Item, thair was awand to the defunct the tyme foirsaid, the sowmes of money following : Be the persones eftirspecifeit, viz. Be Robert Wallace, burges of Air, and his cautionneris 2333/. 6s. 8d. Be Johnne Stewart burges yair 666/. I3s. id. Be the Lady Cesnokis and hir sone the laird of Cesnok, 666/. 13.f any of them except Knox, preaching during that time. APPENDIX. 537 two heads, that the word of God might be publiquely preached, and the frenchmen sent forth of the countrie; but lier mind was to drive tyme with them as well appeared. For shee iiad sent ulreadie to france for more men of warr. During this time the Congregation of Edinburgh elected and chose Jolin Knox publiquely in the Tolbooth of Edr. for their minister the 7th of July. At length she [the Q,ueene Regent] took purpose at Dumbarr. by conclusion of the Councell, the 22th of Julij, being assuredly informed that the number of the Congregation wes verie small, should come to Edr. and compell the Congregation to dislodge. And for this purpose they made all readie that night to depart in the morning following. The Lords of the Congregation being advertised hereof (not with- standing their small number) resolved constantly to resist their [the] violence of their adversaries putting their trust in God whose cause they meantyned, preferring the equitie of their cause before the power and strenght of men. In the mean tyme there wes greate feare in the Towne everie man wundering what end and successe the matter should take. Shortly so shoone as the Lords were advertised that the men of war commeing from Dumbar drew neere the Towne, the 25th of June airly in the morning at the sound of the Common Bell where forth of Edr. with soe muney as God had moved their herts to assist them. The whole number of the Congregation exceeded not 1500 men. Which small number being putt in order in the East side of Craigingate, incontinent the horse men being with my Lord Duke and Monsieur D'ossell appeared to them vpon the sands of Leith north west from Lestellrig moveing towards Leith. And as soone as they come neere the East part of "Gouburnes house that wes, they shott from the said place a peece of ordinance which dispersed the said horsemen, but soone after they yielded [?'. e. the Lords of the Congregation retired] themselves, perceaving the whole number approaching, which were about 5000 men, horse and foote. The Congregation stood still in order on the east side of the Craig, and perceaving the adversaries within half a mile they prepared them- selvis to battel!, not mynding [?. e. meaning] to remove out of that place. And albeit the Lordis had desyred the Captaine of the Castell, the Lord Erskin, to be on their side, nevertheless they could not per- suade him to shew them any favour, yet after the Principal! Lords had spoken with him, they sent from the Craigs desyring him that in respect in his conscience he favoured the Evangel!, and that the mat- ter depended fully here vpon, that he would assist them with such help as he might, which thing he refused vtterly, assuring them that, if they would now [notl] take such appointment as they miirht have, he would declare liimselve their enemie, as he had j'romised to the Q,ueene in Dumbarr. In the mean tyme rideing on either side, they began to speake to appoint the matter which wos agreed vpon. [Anno 1560.] it was printed that the English men would be In Scot- land the 25th of IVIarch by land. After my Lord James had finally agreed with the Duke of iVorfoIke vpon all things, he arrived againeat at Pittenweeme the 9th day after his departing. In the meane tyme the Princippalls of the ffrenchmen being informed that the Queenes Armie wes not in readiness to come in before the said day, they tooke a h\sh enterpryse. For the 7th of March, they departed forth of Leith and other places where they had beine in garrisone to the greate de- struction and loss of the Countrie, the number of 2000 sonldiers of the most able and best equipeit, beside 300 Horsemen and marched to- wards Lithgow, where they remained the firs night. All the Countrie wes in a fray, not knowing their purpose vntill the nixt day at night thpy came to Monebeth, and some of them lodged in Kirk in Tillook 538 APPENDIX The Duke being surely advertised that their purpose wes to come to Glasgow, he departed with small company the night before their arriv- ing. There wes in my Lord Duke's Company, the Earles of Arrane, Argyle, and Glencarhe, with their howsholds only, ffor they suspected not nor would not have thought that the ffrenchmen durst at that tyme have taken such an enterprfce. Imediately there wes proclamation made through Cliddesdale and other shires, and likewise privie writ- ings sent by my Lord Duke and the other Lords to their friends and servants. That they should incontinently cumeto him in Hamilton for their defence, and resistance of the ffrenchmen, and because warr [beacons were] brunt upon the highest hills for the same effect. But indeed they gather slowly, so that it appeared planly, if God would have suffered it, the ffrenchmen might easily and without any resist- ance have come vp Clyde, and had done whatever it had pleased them throughout all that Countrie. Not with standing after that they had taken by force the Bpps Castle, and had cruelly hanged a part of the souldiers (Scotts men) that were therein, and had chased the rest that made resistance in the Towne, the second day after ther comeing to Glasgow there came a writing to him [them] from the Q,ueene, con- taining in effect that shee wes surely informed that the English armie was alreadie come from Barwick and within Scotland; wherefore shee wiled them with all possible expedition to returne againe, which they did imediately. The damage which they did wes not so greate as men supposed for they had no tyme sufficient. When the Lords that were at Hamilton were advertised of their departing, my Lord of Arrane with soe many horsemen as were readie, past forward to fol- low the ffrenchmen, pretending that if they had seen sufficient occa- sione to have midled with them. The next day they showed them- selves as the ffrenchmen past by the Callender, but there wes no ap- pearance, ffor there wes no partie. Alwayes they kept them closs together, for they exceeded not 800 men. Soe the ffrenchmen came to Lithgow, where they lay the space of 8 days, and made continuall spoile in all the Countrie about within the space of viii miles. The damage which they did of all especially of cattle, sheepe, and horse wes exceeding great, and likewise killed and tooke diverse men prisoners. Dureing this tyme the Congregation prepared themselves t meet the English armie, and for the same purpose there wes pro- c.amation made in Cliddesdall, ffyfe, Angus, Mernes, and Strathearne. The ffrenchmen being surely advertised that the English armie wes in readinesse they came to Leith the 29 of March, where all things were prepared that were necessare for their defence, and every day they made spoil in the Countrie. No. XXIII. Letter, James V. concerning the progress of the Lutheran opinions in the diocese of Aberdeen, anno 1525.* [Extracted from the Burgh Records of Aberdeen.] Curia ballivorum burgi de Abirden, tenta xviij' die mens! Augusti 1525. Our Soueranis Ires in contrar Luthyr. James, be the grace of God, kinge of Scottis, to our ScherefF of Aber. dene, and his deput, and to our louitts, Schyr Johne ruderfurd knyt, * See p, 38. APPENDIX. 539 and thomas mezeis of Petfothellis, our scherefeys in thit part con- iunctlie and seuerallie specialie constitut, greting, fforsamekill as it is humelie menyt and schewin to ws be ane Reuerend fadei* in god, and our truist consalour, gawyne, bischop of Aberdene, yat quhar syndry strangers ande otheris wtin his diocesy of Aberdene, has bukys of that heretick luthyr and favors his errorys and fals opinionys, in- contrar our act of parliament laitlie mayd in our last parliament, Oure will is heirfor, ande we charge zow straitle and commandis yat incon- tynent thir our Ires sayne ze [make] publick ye sayde act at all places neydfull and tak inquisitione gyfe ony personys be fund in wtin the sayd diocesy of Aberdene, that hes sic bukys, or fauoryssic arorys of the said luthyr, and that ze confisk yr gudes and inbring ye samyn to our wss and profict, efter the forme of the said act, as ze will an- suer yrupoun. ye quhilk to do, we commyt to you coniunctlie and seurlie oure full power be thyr oure Ires deliuering yame to zow deulie execut ande indorset agane to the berar. Geuin vnder our signet, at Edinburgh, ye sevint day of August, and of our regne ye xij zeyr Ex detiberacione dominor. consilii, &c CuVKMV SUPPLEMENT [The first Poem inserted in the Supplement is so exceedingly rare, that the copy from which I have printed is supposed to be unique. It IS valuable as the principal events in our Reformer's life are commem- orated in it, and the leading features of his character delineated, by the pen of one who was personally acquainted with him. As a curi- ous specimen of the Scottish language and versification at the period in which it was composed, the old orthography has been carefully retained. The serious reader will be pleased in tracing the vein of piety which runs through rhymes which must appear to him rude, and sometimes almost unintelligible. — Its author, John Davidson, was a regent, or teacher, in the University of St. Andrews, and afterwards successively minister of Libberton, and of Salt-Preston, now called Prestonpans. I have already referred to several of his other writings. Pp. 344, 379, 489. He also published a Catechism, entitled, " Some Helpes for Young Schollers in Christianity," printed at Edinburgh, by Robert Waldegrave in 1602. And he died about 1608. Note sub- joined to Jameson's edition of his Catechism, 1708. Life of Davidson, in Wodrow's MSS. vol. i. Bibl. Coll. Glas. The Latin Poems which follow are taken from a manuscript in the Advocates' Library, and exhibit traits in the characters of the princi- pal Scottish Martyrs and Reformers, with allusions to several events in their lives, which I have not met with elsewhere. On this account, md also as a specimen of Scottish literature, I have published a selection from the MS. which appears to have been written about the beginning of the seventeenth century. From the corrections with which it abounds, there is reason to think that the copy in the Library had belonged to the author. It likewise contains Latin Poems, entitled "Icones Regum Judce et Israelis." — Tiie author, John Johnston, was a professor of St. Mary's College, in the University of St. Andrews, at the close of the sixteenth, and commencement of the seventeenth, century ; and was the intimate friend and associate of Andrew Mel- ville, the learned principal of that College. He published, "Heroes ex omni Historia Scotica lectissimi. Lugduni Batavorum, 1603." 4to. And also " Inscriptiones Heroicae Regum Scotorum," which were reprinted in " Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum." His verses on Buchanan are inserted in " Poetarum Scotorum Musoe Sacrse," tom. ii. p. 500. It is said that he also published a book on the government of the church by bishops ; but this I have not seen. There is a Life of John- ston, in Wodrow's MSS. vol. ii. Bibl. Coll. Glas.] 540 SUPPLEMENT. 5il ANE BREIF COM- MENDATIOVN OF VPRICHT- nes, in respect of the surenes of the same, to all that walk in it, amplifyit chiefly be that notabill document of Goddis michtie protectioun, in preseruing his maist vp- richt seruand and ferucnt Messinger of Christ- is Euangell, lohne Knox. Set furth in Inglis meter be M. lohne Dauid- sone, Regent in S. Leon- ards College, IT Q,uhairunto is addit in the end ane short discurs of the Estatis quha hes cause to deploir the deith of this Excellant seruand of God. IT PSALME. XXXVII. IT Mark the vpricht man, and behauld the lust, for the end of that man is peace. UIMPRENTIT AT SANCTAN- drois be Robert Lekpreuik. Anno 1573. TO THE MAIST GODLIE, ANCIENT, AND WORTHIE Schir lohne Wischart of Pittarow Knicht, M. Johne Dauid- sone wissis the continuall assistance of the Spreit of God, to the end, and in the end. Considering with myself (maist worthie Knicht) the greit frailtie and vnsureness of all strenthis eirthly qiihatsueuer, qnharin ma lefins: god, vsis to put his traist on the ane part, and the sure fortres and saifgaird of vprichtnes, howbeit destitute of all aide warldly on the vther part: I culd not withhald my pen fro vttering of that praise and commenda- tion of vprichtnes, quhilk in my mynde I had consauit of the same Being chiefly mouit heirunto be the Miraculous (as I may well! call it) and maist wonderfull preseruatioun of that maist notabill seruand of God, and sinceir Preicheour oCChristis Euangell, lohne Knox. Quha being bot of small estimatioun befoir the eyis of the warld, (zit greit befoir God,) was hatit vnto the deith. And that eiiin be Kingis, Q,ueenis, Princes, and greit men of the warld, and finally be all the rabill of Sathanis suddartis («,) in Scotland, Ingland, and France (a) soldiers. 46 542 SUPPLEMENT. Zea, not only was he hatit, and raillit on, bot also persecutit maisi scharply, and huntit from place to place as ana vnworthie of ony so- cietie with man. And althocht thay were michtie and patent, zea, and wantit na euill will, and he on the vther syde ane pure man, alane, and oft tymes without help, or assistance of ye warld, zit was he michtely preseruit, and as in a maist sure saifgard (all the wickits attentis quha thristit nathing mair than his blade being frustrat) con- ducted to an maist quyet, peaciabill and happy end, to the greit aduancement of Goddis glorie, and singulare comfort of his Kirk, and to the Confusioun of Sathan and discufort of all his wickit instrumetis. Thairfor that this sa notabil and euidet ane documet of the louing cair of our god towardis his seruads svld not with him be buryit bot abyde recent in memorie till all the inhabitants of this Realme in all ages to cum, I haue preissit (6) schortly in this lytill paper to mak, as it wer, ane memoriall of the same, and yat in that laguagequhilk is maist comoun to this hail Realme, to the intent that asweill vnleirnit as lernit may be partakeirs of the same. Not that I think my self abill to hand- ill sa worthie ane mater worthelie in ony toung, bot that partly I may schaw my gude will in this matter, and partly to gif occasioun to vtheris, thatbaith hes mair dexteritie in sic thingis, and greiter opportu- nitie of tyme, to intreit the same at greiter lenth. That be calling to mynd this notabill exepill of Godis louing cair towardis vs, we in all thir feirfull dayis (quharin he that seis not tryall approaching neir is destitute of Judgement) may be strenthnit and encourageit to ga ford- wart vprichtly, eurie ane in our awin vocatioun, without declyning outher to the richt hand or the left. And principally that oure watche men faint not, nor begin to iouk (c,) or flatter with the world for feir of Tyranis, bot that they may haue brasin facis, and foirheidis of Iron againis the threitenings of the wickit, cudempning impietie of all per- sounis in plane termis, following the ensapill of this maist zelous ser- uad of God, of quhCe heirtofoir we hau maid mentioun, and that being assurit gif sa thay walk vprichtly in dischargeing of thair office, that thay a r in ye protectioun of the Al michtie. IT And this small frute of my sober trauellis, I haue thocht gude to offer and present to zow (maist worthie Knicht) not sa mekill for that, that I thocht it worthie to be presentit til ony: as that I wald let my gude will and grate (d) mynd, be the same appeir towardis zow, throw quhais procurement I obteinit the benefite of^ that godly and fkithfull (thocht mockit and falsly traducit of the warld) societie, quhairof pre- sently I am participant. For the quhilk I acknawledge me, and my humbill seruice always addettit to zour honour. And howbeit (as I mon confes) na thing can proceid of me that may in ony wayis cor- respond to zour meritis towardis me : zit sal the thankfulnes of mynd at na tyme (God willing) be deficient. Q.uhilk is to be acceptit quhair vther thingis are lacking, in place of greit rewaird. And the rather haue I takin bauldness to dedicate this lytill Treateis vnto zour hon- our, baith becaus I vnderstude, zow euer to haue bene sen zour Chyld- heid, ane vnfenzeit fauourar, and mantenar to zour power of vprichtnes, quhais praise in this lytill Volume is intreatit. And also, that this notabill seruand of God (quhais michtie preseruation, notwithstanding the wickitis rage, to ane quyet end, chiefly mufit me to this busines) was maist belufit of zow quhile he leuit, and yat for yat greit vprightness quhilk ze saw from tyme to tyme maist viuely expres the self in him. And finally, that your honour may be mufit heirby, as ze haue begunne and continewit to this day ane zelous professour of Goddis word, raain- (i) pressed, endeavoured (c) shift. (d) grateful. SUPPLEMENT. 543 tenar of the samin, and lufer of his seruandis : sa ze may perseuer to the end of zour lyfe, without sclander to zour professioun, euer ap- prouing the treuth, and haitting impietie in all persounis, not leaning to warldly wisdome, nor louking for the pleasure of greit men in the A'arld: Sen nane of thir thingis, but only vprichtnes, can outher mak ane pleasand to God, or zit sure in this warld. And sa traisting that •zour honour will accept this my sober otfer (till God grant better occa- sioun of greter) intill gude part, 1 conmiit zow to the protectioun of the Almichtie, that quhen it sail pleis God to tak zow furth of this miserie, ze may end zour lyfe in the sanctificatioun of his haly name. To whom be praise and Glorie, for euer. Amen. From Sanctandrois the XVIII. of February. ANE BREIF COMMENDATIOVN OF VPRICHTNES. SEN that we se men till haue studyit ay Into this eirth sic strengthis to prepair, As micht be saifgaird to thame nicht and day, Quhen ony danger dang thame in dispair, Wald thow gude Reider haue ane sti-ength preclair(e), Maist Strang and stark to rin to in distres, This lytill schedull schortly sail declair How that the surest Towre is vprichtnes. Q,uhilk vprichtnes we may descriue to be : Ane traid of lyfe conforme to Godds command Without all poysoun of Hypocrisie, Or turning to and fra, from hand to hand. Bot stoutly at the word of God to stand, Eschewing alwayis it for to transgres, Not bowing back for thame that contramand. This wayis we may descriue this vprichtnes. For first thair is na Castell, Towre, nor Toun, Nor naturall strenth, as Alexander sayis, Bot nianis Ingyne may vincous and ding doun. As that he had experience in his dayis, Na strenth was sure to theme that was his fais: The Craig in Asia did beir witnes, Howbeit in hicht vnto the sky it rais, It was ouercum for laik of vprichtnes. Euin sa that bailful Bour of Babilone, Na saifgaird was to Darius we reid, Suppois it was ans maist Strang Dongeone, And mony ma I micht declair in deid Bot sic exempellis Foraine nane we neid; Q,uhat surenes fand the Bischopis halynes, Into Dumbartanequhair he pat his Creidl It was not half so sure as vprichtnes. The force of men gif ony will obtend, Kinred, or friends to'^be ane gaird maist Strang, Prouer. 10. 12, 13, 18. Ecclesi. 9. Ps. 25, 27,91, lob. 31. Prouer. 5. Psalm 18. a. Curt. li. 7. Q. Curt. li. 7. Q, Curt. li. 5. leremL 51. Ps. 33, 40. 60 Esai. 31. (e) excellent. 544 SUPPLEMENT. All is bot vane, they can not man defend, ieremi. 17. For quha mair surely into Royat (/) rang, Nor the greit Conquerour his friendis amang *i. Curt.li. 10. Zit was he poysonit, as sum dois express, Intill his Camp quhilk he had led so lang: Than quhat is force of man till vprichtnes7 Riches and rent we ken dois not abyde, Prouer. 11. Bot flittis and fachis (g-) euer to and fra ; Eccles. 5. Than vane it is in thame for to confyde, Job. 11. Sen that we se thame asweiJl cum as ga : Psalm. 49. Thairfoir my friendis sen that the case is sa, 1 Timot. 6. That warldly strength can haue na sickernes, Zephan. I. Sum vther saifgaird surely we mon ha, Ecclesi. 2. Gluhilk is nocht ellis bot only vprichtnes. Nahum. 3. Bot sum perchance that winks mair wylelie, Will say thay wait ane wyle (/i) that I na wist, With iouking thay will jangil (?) craftelie. And on ihair felt will ay licht quhen thay list, Thinking all surenes thairin to consist : Hypocrisie is quent (k) with quyetnes, Bot all begylit thay ar into the mist ; For nathing can be sure but vprichtnes. For quhat become offals Achitophell, For als far as he saw before his neis, 2. Sam. 17. The Scriptures schawls I neid not heir to tell. The lyke of this in mony Historeis, I micht bring furth that to my purpois greis, Psalm. 7. How Hypocrites into their craftynes, Ester. 7. Thame selfis hes trappit with greit misereis, Becaus thay did eschew all vprichtnes. Bot quha sa euar on the vther syde Hes preissit peirtly to leif vprichtlie, Ester. 6. And be the treuth bound bauldly till abyde, Dani. 6. Hes euer had the maist securitie. For thay had God thair buckler for to be, Quhome we mon grant to be ane Strang fortres, Psalm. 76. Of quhome the Deuill can not get victorie, Psalm. 89. Nor all the enemies of vprichtnes. Think weill my friendis this is na fenzeit fair,(Z) 1 Sam. 17. 18. For quha sa list of Dauid for to reid, 19. 20. 21. 22. May se quhat enemies he had alquhair, 29. 33. And zit how surely he did ay proceid; 2 Sam. 2. 3. 5 Becaus he walkit vprichtly in deid. 8. 15. 16. 18. He was mair sure from Saulis cruelnes, 20. Nor gif ten thousand men intill his neid, 1 Sam. 23. Had with him bene syne lac kit vprichtnes. Of sic exempills we micht bring anew, Bot ane thair is that preifis our purpois plane, Of Daniell that Propheit wyse and trew, Dani. 6. How oft was he in danger to be slane ! f?0 know a trick. (0 juggle. (/) royalty. ig) changes situation, (A)-acquainted, or (perhaps) crafty. (t, feigned aflfair. SUPPLEMENT. 545 Into the Lyonis Den he fand na pane ! The three Children the fyre did not oppres. Danl 3. I think this only Historic might gane, To preifhow sure a ToAvre is vprichtnes. Bot zit bccaus exempills fetchit far, Mufis not so muche as thay thingis quhilk we se, I purpois schortly now for to cum nar, Vnto the but (rn) quhair chiefly I wald be: That is to schaw the prufe befoir zour ee Of thir premissis, as all mon confes That hes sene God wirking in this countrie, How ane hes bene preseruit in vprichtnes. It is lohne Knox in deid quhome of I mene. That feruent faithfull seruand of the Lord, Q,uhome I dar bauldly byde at till haue bene, Ane maist trew Preichour of the Lordis word. I rak nathing quhat Rebalds (n) heir record, Q,uha neuer culd speik gude of godlynes. This man I say eschaipit fyre and sword, And deit in peace, in praise of vprichtnes. Bot that this may be maid mair manifest : I will discurs sum thing in speciall, Tuiching this Lamp, on lyfe quhill he did lest. First he descendit bot of linage small; As commaunly God vsis for to call Amos, i. 7 The sempil sort his summoundis til expres. Mark. 1. Sa calling him, he gaue him giflis with all 1. Cor. 1. Maist excellent, besyde his vprichtnes. laca 2. For Weill I wait that Scotland neuer bure, In Scottis leid (o) ane man mair Eloquent. Into perswading also I am sure. Was nane in Europe that was more potent. In Greik and Hebrew he was excellent. And als in Latine toung his propernes. Was tryit trym quhen scollers wer present. Bot thir wer nathing till his vprichtnes. For fra the tyme that God anis did him call, To bring thay joyfull newis vnto this land, Quhilk hes illuminat baith greit and small, He maid na stop but passit to fra hand, Idolatrie maist stoutly to ganestand : And chiefly that great Idoll of the Mes. Howbeit maist michtie enemies he fand, Zit schrinkit he na quhit from vprichtnes. The greuons Galayis maid him not agast, Althochtthe Prelats gold in greit did geif, Oiiir schipburd in the sey him for to cast. He fand sic grace they suflerit him 'to leif. m) butt, or mark, (n) I regard nothing what worthless fellows, &C. (o) tanguafft •in* T3 546 SUPPLEMENT. Zea mairatour they did him not mischief. As thay did his Companzeounis mair and Jes, With pynefull panis quhen thay thair pythis did prei^ God sa prouydit for his vprichtnes. In Ingland syne he did eschaip the Ire, Of lesabell, that Monstour of Mahoun, (p) In Scotland nixt with terrour him to tyre, Thay brint his picture in Edinburgh Toun. Bot sen to Scotland last he made him boun, (g) Q,uhat battell he hes bidden ze may ges, Sen Dagon and thay Deuillls he gart ding doun, In spite of thame that hatit vprichtnes, Thay that hes bene cheif in Authoritie, For the maist part had him at deidly feid, Zit he eschaipit all their crueltie, Howbeit oftymes thay did deuyse his deid. Zea, sum were knawin perfitely be the held Q,uha vndertukc his Dirige for to dres, Zit bauldly be hes baner he abaid. And did not iouk ane ioit from vprichtnes. Bot chiefly anis he was put to ane preace, (r) Q,uhen that the Q.uene of tressoun did accuse him Befoir hir Lords in haly Rudehous place. Quhair clawbacks of the Court thocht till abuse him Sa prudetly this Propheit yair did vse him. Into refuting of thair fulischenes, That all the haill Nobilitie did ruse {s) him And praisit God for his grelt vprichtnes. Q,uhen Quene and Court could not get him couict« Bot sa wer disappointit of thair pray, Thay fry it in furie that he schaipit quick, Zit at the leist to get thair wills sum way, Thay wald haue had him wardit for ane day, In Daueis Towre, zea, for ane hour or les. It was denyit for ocht the Q,uene culd say, Thair micht be sene how sure was vprichtnes. Bot in quhat perrell trow ze he was last, Q,uhen Edinburgh he left with hart full sair, Doubtles na les nor ony that hes past, In spyte thay spak that him thay suld not spair Thay suld him schuit into the pulpit thair Becaus he did rebuke their fylthenes, And mischant {t) murther that infects the air, Zit God preseruit him in vprichtnes. Mony ma dangers nor I can declair. Be seyand land this Propheit did sustene. In France and Ingland, Scotland, heir and thair, Q,uhilk I refer to thame that mair hes bene Intill his company and sic things sene, Bot this far schortly I haue made progress, To preif how God maist surely dois mantene, Sir as continew intil vprichtnes. (p. th=. devil ;) How he suld tend (w) from furie and thair fead, (x) Syne leaue this lyfe with list for all thair plaid, (y) He had ane surer gaird we mon confes, Nor ony warldly strenth that can be maid, Quhilk was nathing but only of vprichtnes. Bot sum may say quhairto suld thow prefer This vprichtnes quhilk thow extolls sa hie Vntil all warldly strenthis that euer wer ! Sen that the contrair daylie we may se, How upricht men ar murtherit mischantlie, As first was Abell with greit cruelnes, Gude lohne the Baptist, and als Zacharie, Zea, Christ him self for all his vprichtnes. Peter and Paul! with mony ma sensyne. And of lat zeiris in Ingland as we knaw. How mony piteously was put to pyne. And now in France that schame is for to schaw. lames our gude Regent rakkin in that raw, (z) Q,uha had rung zit wer not his richteousnes. Sa, I can se nathing sa sone ouirthraw Man in this eirth as dois this vprichtnes. To this I answer into termis schort, Quhen warldly strenth is vincust and maid waist VVith it man tynis liaith courage and comfort, Q,uhen it is tynt qnhairin he pat his traist: Bot quho that deith in vprichtnes dois taist, Sail haue the lyfe that lests with joyfulnes, Sa they ar sure, becaus they ar imbraist Be the Eternall for thair vprichtnes. Bot this sa lichtly we may not pass by: I grant indeed quha preissis vprichtlie To serue the Lord mon first themselfis deny, And na wayis dres to daut (a) thame daintelie Bot thame prepair for troublis Identlie (/;,) For troublis ar the bage they mon posses, Sen Sathan ceisis not continuallie To troubill thame that followis vprichtnes. Gene. 4. Matth. 14. 2 Chron. 24. Matth. 27. Euseb. To. 4. fol. 7. Vide Sleidanum. Prouer. IJ. Prouer. U. Matth. 16. Matth. 16. 2 Timo. 3. Psalm, 34. 1 Pet. 5. lob. 1. Q ihylis harling (c) thame befoir Princes and Kings, Luc. 21. («) without. (t>) confederate. (u-) defend. (x) enmity. (y) plea, controvenf (z) reckon in that rank. (a) cherish. (6) diligently, (c) dragging. 548 SUPPLEMENT. As rauing Rebalds rudelie to be rent, .. Reg. 10. Accusing thame of troubling of all things, 1. Reg. 17. As cankerit Carlis that can not be content, Except all things be done be thair consent : Now scornit, now scurgeit, now bad with bitterness, Matth. 27 Imprissonit, and sindrie fassiounis schent (cZ,) leremi. 38. And sum tymes dreuin to deith for vprichtnes. Act. 12. This is thair lote oftymes I will not lane (e) Into this eirth that vse to be vpricht, Bot quhat of this? my purpois zit is plane: That is, that they are surer day, and nicht, For all this wo, nor ony warldly wicht : For in thair conscience is mair quyetnes In greitest troublis, nor the men of micht Hes in thair Castells, without vprichtnes. For quhen Belshazzer greit King of the Eist, Ane thousand of his Princes had gart call, Drinkand the wyne befoir thame at the Feist, Intill his prydefull Pomp Imperiall : Euin in the middis of this his mirrie hall He saw ane sicht that sank him in sadnes, Q,uhen he persauit the fingers on the wall, Wryting his wrak for his vnvprichtnes. Quhat sail I say ? I need not till insist. To schaw how thay to God that dois Rebell, In thair maist micht can not be haldin blist, For in this warld they do begin thair hell. As Cain did that slew the iust Abel) : Within thair breist thay beir sic bailfulnes. That toung of men can not the teynd part tell, Of inwart torments for vnvprichtnes. Bot thay that walks vprichtly with the Lord In greitest troublis wantis not inwart rest, As'the Apostillis doung (/) for Goddis word, Reioysit that for Christ sa thay were drest; Peter in prisone sleipit but molest ; Paull in the stocks and Sylas with glaidnes. Did sing ane Psalme at midnicht, sa the best Surenes that man can haue, is vprichtnes. Sa be this surenes now I do not mene. That Godds seruands ar neuer tane away. Be cruell men, for the contrair is sene, For God oftymes of his ludgements I say, Letts thame so fall, as thocht befoir the day: To plague the warld for thair vnthankfulnes (iuhilk is not worthie of sic men as thay. Bot I mene this be strenth of vprichtnes. That quhen it plesis God to let thame fall, Thay haue sic inwart comfort without cair. That thay depart with ioy Angelicall, Psalm. 91. Psalm. 118. Dani. 5. Gene. 4. Esai. 66. Prouer. 15. Prouer. 14. Acts. 5. Act. 12. Act. 16. Esai. 3. Heb. II. Acts. 7. 2 Timot. 4. 'd"^ maimed or disgraced. (e) conceal. (/) beat, or scoui SUPPLEMENT. 549 Of lyfe assurit that lestis for eiier mair. And zit sum tynie he dois his seriuinds spair, Esal. 41. To Jet the Tyrannis se his inichtines, lerem. 1. 4. 5. In spyte of thanie, that he can his alquhair Preserue maist surely intill vprichtnes. Q,uhilk we haue sene as we can not deny, Into lohne Knoxis michtie preseruation, Q,uhi]k till our comfort we suld all apply, I mene that ar the Faithfull Cono'regatioun. Sen he departit with sic consolatioun Euen as he leuit, he deit in Faithfulnes, Being assurit in Christ of his Saluatioun, As in the end he schew with vpriclitnes. Sa is he past from pane to pleasure ay, And till greit eis doubtles vntill him sell, Bot for ane plague till vs I dair weill say. As sair I feir we sail heir schortley tell, Schir wink at vice (g) beginnis to tune his bell. Bot on this heid na mair I will digres, That gude men hes mair rest in all perrell Nor wickit in thair welth bot vprichtnes. Then sen alwayis we se that men ar sure Throw vprichtnes quhidder they Hue or die, Psalm. 37 Let all gud Cristianes Imploy thair cure. In thair vocatioun to leif vprichtlie; And chiefly let all preicheouris vvarnit be, That this day God and the gude caus profes, Na wayis to wink at sic Impietie Tit. 1. As chiefly dois withstand all vprichtnes. Taking exempill of this Propheit plane, Q,uhome heir befoir we breuit in this bill, (h) Quha Goddis reuelit will wald neuer lane, Quhen men begouth for to delyte in ill. He wald not wane ane wy (i) for na manis will For to rebuke Erie, Barrone, or Burges, Quhen in thair wickit wayis thay walkit still. Follow this Lamp I say of vprichtnes. Let nouther lufe of friend, nor feir of fais, Mufe zow to mank (k) your Message, or hald bak Ane iot of zour Commission ony wayis: Psalm. 40. Call ay quhite, quhite, and blak, that quhilk is blak, Esai. 5. Ane Gallimafray {I) neuer of them mak: Bot ane gud caus distingue from wickitnes, 2 Timot. 2 This kynd of phrais sumtymes this Propheit jpak, Quhen he saw sum not vsing vprichtnes. In generall do not all things inuolue, Thinking zour selfis dischargeit than to be, 2 Timot. 2. Thocht na manis mynd in maters ze resolue: For (zit till vse this same manis Elogie) (g) Sir Wink-at-vice, an allegorical character. (A) described in this work [i) probnbly, vxiynd ane wee, i. e. swerve a little. (*) cur'ail. (t) a hotch potch 550 SUPPLEMENT. Num. 23, 24 2 Timot. 4. Act. 17. Esai. 58. 1 Timot. 5 To speik the treuth, and speik the ti'ueth trewlie, Is not a thing (jn) (said he) brethren doutles. Thairfoir speik trewly but Hypocrisie, Gif ze wald haue the praise of vprichtnes. Let vice ay in the awin cullouris be kend, But beiring with, or zit extenuatioun, Schawing how heichly God it dois offend, Spairing na stait that maks preuaricatioun : Let it be sene till all the Congregatioun, That ze sic haitrent haue at wicketnes. That ze mon dampne their greit abhominatioun, Q.uha planely feclitis aganis all vprichtnes. Q,uhilk tred of doctrine gif ze anis begin Psalm. 38. I grant the Deuill and warld will be agane zow ; Psalm. 41. The feid of fremmit, and craibii^ of zour kin, (n) First ze sail find, syne terrour to constraine zow To syle the suith, (o) and sunze, (p) I will plane (jq) zow. The Zock is not sa licht as sum dois ges ; Nahum. 1. Bot zit haue ze na dreid quha do disdane zow. Psalm. 31. Sen that zour fortres sure is vprichtnes. Psalm. 34. For pleis it God zour lyfe to lenthen heir, Thocht all the warld aganis zow wald conspyre, Thay sail not haue the power zow to deir, (r) Albeit they rage and rin wod (s) in thair Ire, And gif that God thinks gude be sword or fyre To let zow fall, be ay in reddynes : Being assurit that heuin salbe zour hyre, 2 Timot 4 Because ze end it sa in vprichtnes. Let not the lufe of this lyfe temporal!, Quhilk ze mon lose, but let, quhen ze leist wane, (t) Stay zow to cois (it) with lyfe Celestiall. Q,uhen euer that the chois cumis thame betwene, Christis sentence in zour garden keip ay grene, Q,uha saiiis his lyfe shall lois it not the les. Matth. 16 Q,uhilk euin into this warld hes oft bene sene, Q,ahat gaine is than to deny vprichtnes 1 Than to conclude, sen in thir dangerous dayis Sa mony terrours Tyranis casts befoir zow, Call vpon God to strenthen zow alwayis, That with his haly Spreit he will decoir zow, As he hes done his seruands ay befoir zow. That ze may neuer wink at wickitness, Esai. 51. With Gun & Gainze (v) thocht thay boist to gor zow, Sen that zour Towre sa sure is vprichtnes. IT FINIS. iM. I. D. (OT) one thing. (n) the hostility of strangers, and anger of relations, (o) conceal the truch. (p) anxiety. (?) plainly telL (f) injure (s) run mad. (<) without hinderance, when ye least think. (u) barter. (v) gainze signifies sometimes an engine for throwing weapons, and sometimes the weapon thrown. SUPPLEMENT. 551 ANE SCHORT DISCVRS OF THE ESTAITIS quha hes caus to deploir the deith of this Excellent Seruand of God. rpHOW pure contempnit Kirk of God, -*• In Scotland scatterit far abi'od, Q,uhat leid (a) may let the to lament: Sen baith the Tyger and the Tod, Maist cruellie cummis the to rent. Thow wants ane watcheman that tuke tent, Baith nicht and day that nocb* s-ild noy the, Allace thow wants the Instrument, That was thy Lantrene to conuoy the. Thy lemand (b) Lamp that schew sic licht Was gude lohne Knox, ane man vpricht, Q,uhais deith thou daylie may deploir. His presence maid thy bewtie bricht And all thy doings did decoir: He did him haillie indenoir. Thy richteous actioun to maintene. And libertie to the restoir, Pleading thy caus with King and Haene. He neuer huntit benefice, Nor catchit was with Couatice, Thocht he had offers mony one And was als meit for sic office As outher gellie (c) lok or lohne. His mynd was ay sa the vpon, Thy only weilfair was his welth ; Thairfoir lament sen he is gone, That huikit nathing(cZ) for thy helth. Lament Assemblie General], At thy C'onuentionis, ane and all. For thou wilt mis ane Moderatour, Q,uhais presence mufit greit and small. And terrifeit baith theif and tratour, With all vnrewlie Rubiatour, (e) Thair ionkers durst not kyth thaircure, For feir of fasting in the frateur, (/) And tynsall of the charge thay bure. But now I feir that thow sail se Greit missing of that man to be, {a^ lay or song. (£) shining, bla7ing. (c) good fellow, hon vivant (f/) tViought nothing too much. 'e) ragamuifin, vagabond (/) fratornity, alluding to the fastings of the iriars. 552 SUPPLEMENT. Quhen craftie heidis sail na inair hyae The hurde (_g) of thair hypocrisie, Bot all sinceirnes set asyde, With policie will all things gyde, Thir Balamis birds sair may thow feir: Thairfoir be Godds buke abyde, And to sic bablers giue na eir. Giue strange opiniounis enteris in, Tak tent quha sic thingis dois begin, And with sic matteris mynts to mell ; (h) For Sathan ceisis not fra sin, The Kirk of Christ seiking to quell. Sic folly faill not to refell : For when the reikO^ beginnis to ryse, The fyre will follow as thay tell, Be it not quencheit be the wyse. Bot cheifly murne and mak thy manc, Thou Kirk of Edinburgh allane. For thow may rew by (k) all the rest, That this day thow wants sickin ane. Thy special! Pastour, and the best That ony Kirk had eist or west. He did comfort the in all cair, And the foirwairnd of thy molest, Q,uhairby thow micht thyself prepair. There was na troubill come to the Bot he foirspak it oppinlie, Thocht sum the mater than did mock, Gif he spak suith now thow may se, This day thy held is in the zock, God send the blyithnes of this block. And freith the from thy fais aboue the ; For thow art the maist feruent flock That Scotland beiris, as deid dois proue tin. And giue God sa handills the best, Allace what sail cum of the rest, Except repentance rin and red : It is ane mirrour manifest, Of dule and dolour to be dred, To fall on thame this barret (I) bred. Bot till our purpois to returne, Thocht of this feir thow salbe fred, Zit hes thow mater for to murne. Because that watcheman thow dois want, That the in puretie did plant. And comfortit thy congregatioun : Bot zit thocht he be gane I grant Tlie Lord can send the consolatioun, ^) treasure (h) attempts to meddle. (0 smoke, (*) above. (Z) tro ible, contention. SUPPLEMENT ^^^3 Gif thow giue him dew adoratioun, He will not leaue the comfortless, As alreddy thow hes probatioun. God grant thy Preicheours vprichtnes. IT Ze Lords also that dois frequent The loft in Sanct Geills Kirk lament, That Bogill (?n) thair that ze hard blaw. With quhome quhyles ze wer small content, For the schairp threitnings he did schaw ; Zit thay maid zow sumquhat stand aw, Thocht not so muche as neid requyrlt. This day in graue he 13ns full law, Quhilk langtyme was of him desyrit. For seing all things not go welll, He said thair suld not mis ane reill That suld the cheifest walkin vp. Gif he said suith this day ze fell], Luke gif God hes begun to quhup, Bot thair byds zit ane sowrer Cup, Except zour maners ze amend. The dreggs but dout als ze sail sup : From whilk danger God zow defend. Sanctandrois als not to leif out, His deith thou may deploir but dout, Thow knawis he lude the by the laue,(n) For first in the he gaue the rout Till Antechrist that Romische slaue, Preicheing that Christ did only saue. Bot last, of Edinburgh exprest, Q,uhen he was not far fra his graue, He came to the by all the rest. God grant that thow may thankful! be. For his greit graces schawin to the, In sending the his seruands trew, Amen. Thow heiris na mair of me. Bot Kyle, and Cuninghame may rew Als sair as ony that I schew. To quhome this darling was maist deir; And vther gentill men anew, Q.uhome I haue not reheirsit heir. Than last of all to turn to zow, That wer our brethren, bot not now : God grant agane ze may cum hame, For we suld wis zour well! I vow. As also did this man be Name, Thocht sum said he did zow defame. He prayit to God that ze micht turne. That ze micht schaip Eternall schame; Thairfolr zour part is als to murne. (m) brgle-horn. (n) Thou knowest he loved thee above the ran 47 U3 554 Su PPLElCt ENT. For doutles ho was mair zour freind, Nor thay that winkit, or manteind Zour fulische factioun and vi)fair. In deid that ze suld not susteind, He thunderit threitnings to the air, To terrific zow mair and raair. And rug (o) zow back that ze micht rew : (j») For he knew perseueird ze thair, Ze wer bot schipwrak but reskew. (g) Than all this land thow may lament, That thow lacks sic ane Instrument, Till sum not plesand, zit sa plane, That all the godly was content. Allace his lyke he left not ane. Nor I feir sail not se agane : Bot zit let vs nawayis dispair, For quhy our God dois zit remane, Gluha can and will for his prepair. For thocht his deith we do deploir Zit is he not our God thairfoir : As wickit wardlings wald obtend. Gone is zour God quhairin ze gloir. The leuing God, we mak it kend, Is he, on quhome we do depend, Q,uha will not leaue vs in distres, Bot will his seruands till vs send. Till gyde vs throw this wildernes. Thairfoir letting thir Bablers be, Quhais chief Religioun is to lie, And all Godds seruands to backbyte. Traducing this man principallie: Let thame spew out in thair dispyte, All that thay will be word or wryte. Lyke as him self is into gloir, Sa sail all ages ay recyte Johne Knoxis Name, with greit decoir. 11 FINIS. aVAM TVTVM SIT PROPVGNACVLVM, DEO SINE fiico inseruire, ex mirifica eximii Dei serui ioannis KNOxii, in tranquillum vitse exitum, illusis omnibus impiorum conatibus, conseruatione, & eius exem- plum sequi, monemur. '•^ pull. Cp) repent. (9) but shipwrecked without rescu« S U P P L E M E x\ T . 555 aVEM petiere din crudeles igne tyranni, Saepius & ferro queiii petiere duces; Occubuit (mirum) nullo violatus ab hoste, Exiniius Christi KNUXIVS ille sator. Nam pater ^thereus Regum moderatur habenas, Electosque potens protegit vsque suos. Miiniat hinc igitur nostras tiducia mentes, Ne mors nos tetricis terreat vlla minis. Q,u6q; minus trepidi sistamus tramite recto, Huius ne pigeat viuere more viri. IT FINIS, auod M. L D. EXCERPTA E POEMATIS JOHANNIS JONSTONI QCIBUS TITULI nEPI 2TE*ANaN SIVE DE CORONIS MARTYRUM IN SCOTIA. NECNON PECVLIVM ECCLESI^ SCOTICAN^ ms. in bibl. facult. jurid. edin. a. 6. 42. Patritics Hamiltonus.* Martyr Andreapoli xxviii. Febr. An. Christi 1527 E Caelo alluxit primam Germania lucem, Q,ua Lanus, et vitreis qua fluit Albis aquis. Intulii nine lueem nostrae Dux prsevius orae. O felix terra ! hoc si foret usa duce ! Dira superstitio grassata tyrannide in omnes, Omniaque involvens Cimmeriis tenebris, nia nequit lucem hanc sufferre. Ergo omnis in unam, Fraude, odiis, furiis, turba cruenta coit. • See p. 32. 556 SUPPLEMENT. Igne cremant. Vivus lucis qui fulserat igne, Par erat, ut moriens lumina ab igne daret. Joannes MachabjEvs,* Alpinus, Christianismi in Dania Instaurator, Hafniae Theol. Professoi floruit 1550, teste Balaeo. I. Q,vae tulit in lucem me Scotia, luce frui me Non tulit. Haud mirum : sprevit et ipsa Deum. Anglia vix cepit. Subeuntem Teutonis ora Siiscipiens Ibvit L. . onis in gremio. Lvtheri hie tetigisse datum dextramque Philippi: Cernere et hie Christvm lucidiore die. Me doctore dehinc amplexa est Dania Christvm; Hafnia dat patriani, datque eadem tumulum. Hue vitse cursus : supremi hie meta laboris. Hinc vehor exilii liber in astra metu. Havd jactura gravis, patriae tellure carere : In patria gravior posse carere Deo. II. De Job. Machabaeo Pat re, et Christiano, Filio Patris simillimo. Excedens terris Machabaevs liquerat vno Unius in nato pectoris efRgiem. Filius hanc solam potuit tibi promere : at illvm Mors habet. Ecquis earn reddere nunc valeati Alex. Alesivs-I (Obiit Lipsiae xx. Junij 1565.) Lipsiae Theol. Professor, de se et Joh. Machabaea Sors eadem exilii nobis, vitaeque laborumque, Ex quo nos Christi conciliavit amor. Una salus amborum, unum et 'commune periclum; Pertulimus pariter praestite cuncta Deo. Dania te coluit. Me Lipsia culta docentem Audiit, et sacros hausit ab ore sonos. Qui mea scripta legit, Machabaevm cernat in illis. Alterutrum noscls, noscis utrumque simul. ♦ See p. 390 + See p. 389. SUPPLEMENT. 557 Johannes Rochivs* et Thomas Gulielmivs, Uterque a sacris Jac. Hamiltono Scotie Gubernatori, uterque Caristi nomine Exul; et ille postea Martyr in Anglia, 22 decemb. 1557, Londinj. Postquam iterum premitur redivivi gloria Christi, Et crudelis adhuc omnia Presul agit, Cessimus inviti Invidies, et crudelibus iris. Ah ! faciJis nocuit Principis ingenium. Doctores niiper quae nos adscripserat Aula Deficit: et nostrse spes cecidere simul. Redditur exilium Christi pro munere. Christvs Exul erat : nobis sitne probro exilium 1 Quid si mors adeunda sit I O mors ilia beata Q,ua vitae melior parta corona foret. GeORGIVS SoPHOCARDIVSjf Sive Wys-hartus, Martyr, Andreapoli, Kal. Martii an. 1546. Q,uam bene conveniunt divinis nomina rebus ! Divinae hie Sophioe corque ocul usque viget. Q,ui Patris arcanam Sophiam, caelique recessus Corde fovens, terris Numina tanta aperit. Vnus amor Christvs. Pro Christo concitus ardor Altius humanis Enthea corda rapit. Praeteritis aptans praesentia, jvdicat omnia; Et Ventura dehinc ordine quaeque docet. Ipse suam mortem, tempusque modumque profatur, Fataque Carnifici tristia Sacrilego. Terrificam ad flammam stetit imperterritus. Ipsa Q,uin stupet invictos sic pavefacta animos, Vt vix ausa dehinc sit paucos carpere. Tota Ilicet innocui victa cruore viri est. Johannes Wedderbvrnvs.} Pulsus in exilium, an. 1546. Exul in Anglia moritur 1556. I. Non meriti est nostri, meritas tibi dicere grates, Aut paria, aut aliqua parte referre vicem. Quae meruisse alii vellent, nee posse mereri est : Hasc velle, haec posse, hagc te meruisse tuum est. Sic facis atque canis sacra : sic agis omnia, nil ut Sanctius, et nusquam puribr ulla fides. • See pp. 4&— 7. t See p. 40. J See p. 40. $ See p. 393. 47* 558 SUPPLEMENT. Hinc nullum magis invisum caput hostibus: hinc et Nemo unquam meruit charior esse bonis. Grandius hoc meritura, nil te meruisse fateris, Humanis meritis nee superesse locum. II. De Johanne, Jacobo, et Roberto Wedderbvrno, Fratribcs. Divisvm imperium, per tres, tria Numina, Fratres, Infera quasque vides, quceque superna, canunt. Vos miror potius tres vero nomine fratres, Vosque supra veneror, Numina vana, Deos; Concordes animas, clarissima lumina gentis, Tres paribus studiis, tres pietate pares. Felices qui vos tales genuere pa rentes, Q,uaeque orbi tellus pignora rara dedit. Progenitos Caelo Alectum* dedit inclyta terris: Inde Dei-Donum nomen habere putem. Johannes KNOxvs.f Primus Evangelii Instaurator in Scotia, post superiora cruenta ilia tempora, obiit placide Edenburgi xxiv. ixbris, hora noctis undeci- ma, 1572. I. Hie ille est Scotorum Knoxus Apostolus olim, Cui prior hos ingens Beza dedit titulos: Interpres caeli, vero qui Numine plenus, Plurima venturi praescia signa dedit. Facundum pectus. Libertas maxima fandi. Totus inexhausto flagrat amore Dei. Q.uam pia cura Poll, tam humani meta furoris: Tanto plus victor, quo furit iste magis. Post varios hostes aggressa Calumnia tandem Hoc didicit, nulli nee sibi habere fidem. Herovm Pietas odio est mortalibus. Unum hoc Arguat Heroem hunc coelitus esse datum. II. Cvra Dei: Romae pestis : Mundi horror, et Orel Pernicies: caeli fulmen ab arce tonans. Limite in hoc modico tanti jacet hospitis umbra : Vmbra silet ; tamen est hostibus horror adhuc. * Dundee. t The name of Schir John Knox occurs as a witness to a deed concerning Rannelton Law, dated 8th March, 1511, and preserved in an old volume of Protocols, belonging to the burgh of Haddington. There is good reason to think that our Reformer is the per- son named in that deed, which, in this view, confirms the statement in p. 23, that he waa in jriests orders before he left the Church of Rome. SUPPLEMENT. 559 Johannes Willocvs.* Obiit in Anglia. Cum Patriae implessem donis coelestibus urbes, Mille olim obiiciens mortibus banc animam, Ipsa adeo exultat caeli sic luce sereni, Pene sibi ut caelum, et lux queat esse aliis: Excessi patria laetus tellure, libensque: Vt vicina istis cresceret aucta opibus. Hie etiam sevi caelestia semina verbi ; Gensque pia hie nostram plurima sensit opem. Haec et opes mihi, cumque opibus cumulavit honorea Nee secus ac Patria me Anglia civem habuit Bis eivis gemina in patria : mihi tertia restat ; Possidet haeredem tertia sola suum. ChRISTOPHORVS GvDMANNVS.t Anglus, Ecclesiastes Andreapolitanus : moritur in Cestrensi provincia Angliae an. 1601. Non Ego, ceu credis, Scotis peregrin us in oris Publica nee rerum cura aliena mihi. Hie geniti Christo, hie geritur Respublica Christi: Christi Ego sum. In Christo his sumque ego eongenitus; duin genui hie partem Christo. Patremque Ducemque Et licet, et gaudent me vocitare suum. Quels patriam peperi : non banc : sed quae altera caelo est Hae prior; his dicar qui peregrinus ego: Alterutra jaetent se alii regione profectos. Nomine se jactat utraque terra meo. Johannes Areskinus,! Dunius, Equestri familia ortus, Religionis gravis et eonstans assertor, coneionator nobilis, natus annos Ixxx, moritur xii Martij, 1590. Post tot avos veteres, et tot decora inclyta rerum Surgit Areskino gloria major adhuc : Seilicet ilia Crucis Christi, quae sola perennis: Quae regit una homines, quae facit una deos. Robora consiliis, pietatem miscet utrisque; Et faciendo docet, atque docendo facit. Heroem nullum huic aequarint secula. Nullus Inter avos veteres fama et honore prior. •See pp. 115, 308. t See p. 47a t See p. 116. 560 SUPPLEMENT. Johannes Brabnervs,* Aberdonensis, Ecclesiastes Celurcanusf et Dunensis, moritur an. 1564, postr. Kal. Novembris. Nascendi primam dedit Aberdonia lucem: Ille renascendi munera rettribuit. Vtrum ergo debet Patriae plus, an Patria illi' Mutua sic rerum gratia rite coit. Johannes Vin-ramvs,| 'Jaenobii Augustlnianorum olim Praefectus apud Andreanos, postea in* ter Christi Ministros: obiit senex xxiix, Septemb. 1581. Q,uo te censu hominum, quo te, Vin-Rame, reponam In numero] hie multum est anxia mens animi. Se prodit Pietas, neque turbida Jucis imago est : Spargit enim de se lumina clara sui. duin te aperi tandem manifesto in lumine, Pelle Turbidulos sensus, cumque pudore metus. Cum pietate etenim postquam se nubila miscet Mens iiominum, lucis deperit ille vigor. Gaudet agens Pietas manifesta in luce. Nee ilia Sit Pietas, quae baud pro scit Pietate mori. Johannes Rowivs,5 Ecclesiastes Perthensis, obiit xvi. viiibris an. 1590. Consilio praestans, rebus gravis auctor agendis Praecipuos inter, Lumina prima, Patres, Cognitio varia: immensa experientia rerum. Omnigenam linguam mens praeit ingenii: Exactor disciplinse, vindexque severus, Ipse sibi censor, seque ad amussim habuit: Sancta domns, castique lares, frons laeta, severa. Larga manus miseris, mensa benigna bonis. Vrbis delicium: sancti pia copula amoris: Una fides, fidei publica cura simul Clara viris, cultuque decens, pulcherrima Pertha: Rowivs at Perthae baud ultima fama fuit. • I have not met elsewhere with any notice o( Brebner or Bremner. t i. e. of Montrose. X See pp. 34, 422. 4 See p. 216 SUPPLEMENT 5^1 Jacobvs Lausonivs,* Ecclesiastes Edinburgensis, obiit xii. Octobris an. 1584. Ingenlo felix Lausonivs, ore diserto, Acer judicio, consiliisque gravis. Corpore non magno, mens ingens : Spiritus ardens, Invectumque decus pectoris atque animi. Non tulit Inipietas. Patria migrare necesse est. Mitior in profugum terra aliena fuit. Hospitii cui jura volens vivo ista dedisset, Multa gemens tristi in funere dat tumulum. David FERGVsivs.f Pastor ad Fermilo-dunum, obiit xxiij August! an. 1598 Q.vem non erudiit solers Academia, quern non Finxit Stagira nobilis: Nesciit ille tamen nescire ilia omnia solers, Q,u3e et ista et ilia prodidit, Q,uin Doctore Deo scivit meliora sequutus, Quae et ista et ilia nesciit. Disce hinc quae melius doceas Academia. Tuque Disce hinc Stagira nobilis. Georgivs Haivs. Postqvam animum primis patriae effinxere Camenae Artibus, excepit culta Lvteta sinu. Cecropiis opibus, spoliisque orientis onustus, Intulit in patriam munera opima suam. Ingenium vegetum comitatur gratia linguae Lactea Nectareo verba lepore fluunt. Dum parat excedens locupletes linquere natos, Publica privatis posthabuisse ferunt. Optima sed Pietas patrimont portio. Privis Si nimium indulges, publica rapta ruunt. * See p. 329. t See p. 217. INDEX. Aberdeen, a celebrated granimar school in, 19. Greek early taught n, 372. Reformed doctrine early embraced in, 538. Adamson, Patrick, joins the reformed preachers, 200. Appointed suc- cessor to Buchanan as Principal of St. Leonard's college, 374. Aless, Alexander, embraces the reformed sentiments, and is obliged to leave Scotland, 34, 389. Made Professor at Leipsic, 389. Verses on, 556. Alexander, Robert, advocate, an early favourer of the reformation, 36. Writes the testament of the Earl of Errol in Scots metre, 392. Alex and ersoun, Andrew, a martyr, 381, 383. Anabaptists, Knox's warning against the dangerous principles of, 137-8. Anderson, Robert, convicted of heresy, 383. , William, convicted of heresy, 382. Andrews, St, Knox teaches philosophy at, 23. Reformed opinions spread privately in University of, 38, 389. Knox retires from, 39. Knox's first sermon at, 51. Knox expresses his confident hope of again preaching in, 57. Opposition to Knox's preaching at, 169, 514-15. Knox preaches at, 170. Demolition of monasteries at, ib. Petition for Knox's translation to, 285. Knox retires to, 315. Meets with opposition at, 316. His preaching and exhortations to the students at, 324-25, 439. Knox leaves, 328. , Castle of seized by the conspirators against Cardinal Bea- toun, 42. Retained by them, 43. Knox takes refuge in, 45. Sac- rament of the Supper first dispensed in the Protestant form in, 54. Besieged and taken, 55. -, Prior of. See Stewart, Lord James. Angrus, Earl of, Knox employed in affairs of, 234, 465 Annand, George, convicted of heresy, 383. , James, convicted of heresy, 383. , Dean John, his dispute with Knox and Rough, 50. Arhugkill, a friar his attempt to defend the popish ceremonies against Knox, 53. 563 564 INDEX. Arbuthnot, Alexander, appointed by the General Assembly to revise a suspicious book. 487. Argyle, Countess of, conversation between Knox and the Queen re- specting her, 253. Her public repentance, 470. , old Earl of, Knox preaches in the house of, 125. John Doug- las taken under the protection of, 149, Correspondence between Archbishop Hamilton and, 149-50. -, young Earl of, attends Knox's sermons at Calder-house, 119. Joins the Congregation, 168. Knox employed in removing a vari- ance between him and his lady, 234. Variance between Earl of Murray and, 299. Arran, Earl of, is suspected by the clergy, 37. Made regent of Scot- land, 39. Abjures the reformed doctrine, ib. Resigns the regency to the Queen Dowager, 114. Is made Duke of Chastelherault, ib. See Chastelherault. , Earl of, son to the former, comes to Scotland, and persuades his father to join the Congregation, 186. English ministers wish him raised to the Scottish throne, and married to Elizabeth, 443. Knox employed in removing a feud between Bothwell and, 234. Lunacy of, ib. Articles, of Church of England, Knox employed in revising, 67. Assembly, Classical. See Presbytery. , General, what, 212. The first, 218. Moderator of, when introduced, ib. Approve of Knox's conduct, 269. Employ Knox in drawing up public papers, 286. Their recommendatior of Knox, 291. Give a commission to him, 295. Order the murdeiv,r of Re- gent Murray to be excommunicated in all the churches of the king- dom, 307-8. Their protestation against hierarchical titles, 321. Knox's letter to, ib. His last letter to, 327. Their attention to the widow and daughters of Knox, 359. Order of procedure in, 460. Athole, Duke of, his reason for voting against the Protestant Confes- sion, 206. Augustine, influence of his writings on Knox, 24. Aylmer, John, answers Knox's Blast, 144. Character of his work, 145. His address to the bishops, 408. His invective against the King of France, 417. His sentiments respecting the English constitution, 427. His commendation of Knox, 343. Ayr, a minister early settled in, 179. R Bailhe, Alexander, his' calumnies against Knox and other reformers, 475. Raillies, of Jerviswood, a daughter of Knox married to one of the, 494. Balcanquhal, Walter, defends Knox, 345. Rale, Bishop, dedicates a book to Knox, 153. Balfour, Sir James, his conversation with Knox in the French galleys, 57. Accessory to the murder of Darnley, 484. Ballates, Gude and godlie, 394. Similar compositions in other coun- tries, ib. Ballesky, Martin, forfeited for reading English books, 385. Balnaves. Sir Henrv, of Halhill, an early favourer cf the Reformation, .36, 183, 382, 401. His learning and reputation, 46. Takes refuge in the Castle of St Andrews, ibT Urges Knox to become a preacher, 47. Composes a book on justification in the French prison, 58. Extracts from Knox's dedication to it, 59-60. Extracts from the book, 401-403. 1 N D E X 565 Bancroft, Dr. the first episcopalian who wrote disrespectfully of ^nox 344. Davidson's answer to, ib. Bannatyne, Richard, Secretary to Knox, discovers a MS. of Balnaves, 5S. Knox's request to, at the beginning of his last illness, 336. His character of Knox, 341-2. His petition to the General Assembly 496. Barron, James, 130, 515. Bassinden, Tliomas, General Assembly order a book printed by him to be called in, 487. Beutoun, Cardinal David, archbishop of St. Andrews, appoints assas- sins to kill Knox, 39. Defeats the proposed marriage between Q.ueen Mary and Edward VI. 39. His cruelties to the Reformers, 41. His assassination, 42. Knox's opinion of this, 44, 397. , James, archbishop of St. Andrews, puts Patrick Hamilton to death, 33. James, archbishop of Glasgow, his character of Knox, 121. Dispute between him and Archbishop Hamilton, 160, 453-4. Berwick, Knox preaches at, 63-4. Knox visits, 1 16, 182. Beveridge, , sutlers martyrdom, 34, 379. Beza congratulates Knox on the abolition of Episcopacy, 323. Epis- tolary correspondence between Knox and, 461-2. Bible, English imported into Scotland, 35. Authorized by Pai'liament, 39. Circulation of, 40, 382. , Geneva, Knox one of the translators of, 140. Blacat, John, pursued for heresy, 381. Blast, First, of the Trumpet, 141-4, 153, 155, 180. Knox's explanation to Q,ueen Mary respecting, 225-6. See Aylmer, and Government, Female. Bodlih, Mr. 523. Boece, Hector, principal of the university of Aberdeen, 19. Bonner, Bishop, John Rough put to death by, 55. Barbarity of, 96. Lenity with which he was treated by Elizabeth, 154. Book of Common Order. See Geneva, Order of Bothivell, Earl of, Knox employed to remove a feud between him and young Earl of Arran, 234. Murders the king, 293. Marries the Queen, 294. Borthwick, Lord, his reason for voting against the Protestant Confes- sion, 205. ■ , Sir John, his opinion of the Reformation of Henry VIII. 43. Released from the pains of heresy, 387. Bowes of Streatlam, pedigree of, 526. , Elizabeth, favourable to the marriasre between Knox and her daughter, 68. Letters from Knox to,''117, 121, 505, 509-11, Loses her husband, 124, 179. Farther particulars of, 178, 326, 526. , Marjory, Knox married to, 68, 83. Knox's letters to, inter- cepted, 85. Accompanies her husband to Geneva, 124. Joins her husband in Scotland, 179. Her death, 218. Knox's letters to, 508- 9, 512. Her parentage, 526. , Richard, father of Mrs. Knox, 68. -, Sir Robert, brother to the former, painful interview of Knox with, 83. Boyd, Lord, joins the Congregation, 163. Craves Knox's pardon on his death-bed, 33.5. Brahner, John, verses on, 560. Bradford, John, 67, 80, 414. Braid. See Fair ley. laird of Brechin, early provided with a minister, 179. See Chisholiru ^rist >/, Georffe Wishart preaches at, 397. 48 566 INDEX. Brown, John, convicted of heresy, 385. Buchanan, George, studies under Major about same time with Knox 20. Similarity of their sentiments, 21, 23. Knox's commendation of him, 23. Embraces (he reformed sentiments, and leaves the king- dom, 34. His return to Scotland, 216. His tribute to the Regent Murray's memory, 307. Sits in the General Assembl}- as a doctor, 447. Farther particulars respecting, 456-7. Calumnies of popish writers against, 457, 476. , Patrick, 456. Bucer, Martin, 63. Burne, JXicol, his calumnies against Knox, 474. Against the foreign reformers, 476. Cairns, John, a Reader in Edinburgh, 237, 290, 464. , Henry, convicted of heresy, 381, 386. Caithness, Robert Stewart, bishop of, visits Knox on his death-bed, 336. Calvin, John, high reputation of, 94. Respect of English reformers for, ib. Friendship between Knox and, 94, 99. Character of the English liturgy by, 101. Is displeased with Knox's treatment at Frankfort, 108. Advises Knox to return to Scotland, 131. Diffi- culties which he had met with in establishing ecclesiastical discip- line. 200. Knox's correspondence with, 219, 460. Comparison be- tween Knox and, 354. Cameron, John, convicted of heresy, 386. Campbell of Kineancleugh, accompanies Knox to Ayrsnire, 119. And to Castle Campbell, 125. Is surety for Willock, 163, 436. Attends Knox in his last illness, 337-8. ■ of LouQ ^n. Sir Hugh, 163. Cant, Robert, convicted of heres)% 381, 382, 384 Carmichael, Richard, convicted of heresy, 386. , William, 515. Carsetvell, John, afterwards superintendent of Argyle, joins the re- formed preachers, 200, 211. Cassillis, Earl of, suspected by the clergy, 37. Catalogue of Knox's works, 498. Cecil, correspondence between Knox and, 156, 180, 181, 231. •JhastelherauU, Duke of, Knox warns against his ambitious designs, 139. He joins the Consregation, 186. Knox's freedom in pointing out his faults, 196. Hi's design of excluding Mary from the throne opposed by Knox, 224. He is offended at the regency being con- ferred on Murray, 300. Is made lieutenant for the Q,ueen, 300. Knox's early suspicions of him, 519. See Arran, Earl of Chisholm., William, Bishop of Brechin, persecutes Wishart for teach- ing the Greek New Testament, 372. Christison, John, tried for heresy, 162, 165, 436-7. Church, Protestant, of Scotland, sketch of its form of government an'l worship. 210-14. Danger to which it was exposed from Mary, 221-2. Inadequate provision for the ministers of, 232. Critical state of, 286-8. Improved state of under Murray's regency, 298, 299. Sentiments of, respecting the difference between civil and ecclesiastical authority, 487. Clers-y, Popish, of Scotland, Knox ordained by, 23, 375. Their char acter before the Reformation, 25-30. Persecute the reformers, 30- 34. Instigate James V. to proscribe the Protestant nobles and gen- INDEX. 56 try, 37. Suspect Knox of heresy, 38. Degrade him from the priest- hood, 39. Their politic plan to counteract his preaching at tst. An- drews, 54. Summon Knox before them, 12i, Condemn him as a iieretic, and burn his effigy, 125. Knox's appellation from their sentence, 141. Panic-struck at Knox's return to Scotland, 1G4. Their feeble exertions to counteract the reformation, 200. Their oretended miracle at Musselburgh, 201-2. Their ignorance of jjeek, 373. Their representations of Knox's character, 2tJ0, 312, 473-7. And concerning his second marriage, 2G9, 474-5. See Council, Provincial, and Popery. Clerk, William, convicted of lieresy, 381, 386. Cockburn, John, of Ormiston, places his son under Knox's care, 41 43. Is outlawed, 110, 382. Cocklaw, Thomas, parson of Tullibody, 381, 384, 388. Colville, Robert, of Cleish, his detection of the pretended miracle at Musselburgh, 206, 454. Dolvin, John, 489. Commissioners, see Visiters. Congregation, The, their pacific intentions, 166. Deceived by Q.ueen Regent, 167. First Lords of, 168. Obtain assistance against the Regent from Elizabeth, 182-3. Unfavourable turn in their affairs, 195, 515. Knox reanimates them, 196-7. English army arrives to assist them, 198, 538. Their loyalty, 443-4. See Protestants, Scot- tish. Cornara, Helen, applies for the degree of Doctor in Divinity, 146, 429, Corpsc-prestnt, 29, 386-7. Council, Provincial, of Scottish clergy, acknowledge the corruptions cf the Church, 111. Their canons for reformation, 111-13, 417. Catechism published by their order, 112, 418-23. Application of the Protestants to, 161. Remonstrance by Roman Catholics to, ib. Agreement by Q,ueen Regent and, 162. See Clergy, Popish, and Popery. Privy, of Scotland. Knox an extraordinary member of, 188. Knox tried before, 263, 266. Suspend Knox from preaching for a time, 284. Covenant, Religious, the first in Scotland, entered into by Protestants of Mearns, 120. Another subscribed by the lords, 147. Another by the Protestants of Edinburgh, 327. Coverdale, Miles, Bishop of Exeter, 390, 518. Cowsland, Walter, convicted of heresy, 381, 384. Co.v, Dr. Richard, 101-107. His sentiments concerning ceremonies, 409. Craig, John, account of 236-40. His account of a dispute on resist- ance at Bologna, 278-9. His spirited behaviour at the Q.ueen's marriage with Bothwell, 294. Leaves Edinburgh, 328. Crail, Knox preaches in, 169. Demolition of the monasteries at, 171. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, his zeal in advancing the refor- mation, 6-3. Employs Knox to preach at Berwick, 63. Disposed to carry the reformation of the English Church farther, 407-8, 413. Crichton, of Brui^^ton, 110. Croft, Sir James, Knox's interview with, at Berwick, 181. Employ- ed by Elizabeth to correspond with the Congregation, 182. His reprimand of Knox's proposal, 184. Crossragucll, Abbot of See Kennedy, Quintin. Cuninghame, Andrew, son of the Master of Glencairn, convicted of heresy, 3S5. See Glencairn. Cupar, the forces of the Queen Regent and Congregation meet 8t, 170, 176, 487. Demolition of the Monasteries at, 171. 568 INDEX D. Daniley, Lord, is married to dueen Mary, 281. Displeased at a ser mon of Knox, 284. Professes himself a Papi&t, 288. Is murdered 293. Alleged plot against his lite at Perth, 317. Davidson, John, Account of Scottish Martyrs by, 379. His answers to Bancroft, 344. His Latin verses, 458. Banished by Morton, 439. His poem on Knox, 541. Deacons appointed at an early period of the reformation, 148. In the foreign churches at London, 411. Their office, 211. Number of, in Edinburgh, 237. Delaporte, Mons. Knox acts as colleague to, at Dieppe, 134. Dieppe, in France, Knox on leaving England lands at, 86. He visits, 93,94,95, 116, 125, 131, 153. Discipline, Ecclesiastical, Scottish reformers sensible of its importance, 208. Strictness of, 250. Strictness and impartiality of, in the Church of Scotland, 250, 469-71. Did not include civil punish- ments, 470. , First Book of, Knox one of its compilers, 209-10. Approba- tion of, 210. Its plan, 211. Reasons of the nobility's aversion to, 214. Doctors, their office in the Protestant church, 211, 447-8. Douglas, Bishop Gawin, besieges the cathedral of Dunkeld, 25. , George. See Angus, Earl of. , Hugh, of Langniddrie, Knox tutor to the family of, 39, 41, 43, 45. , John, taken into Argyle's family as chaplain, 149. Preaches under the name of Grant, 151. Presented to the archbishopric of St. Andrews, 320. Knox refuses to inaugurate him, 323. Sum- moned before a provincial council, 535. Dunbar, Gavin, Archbishop of Glasgow, his sermon at Ayr, 26. Re- formers in Diocese, of, 453. Duncan, John, convicted of heresy, 384. Dundas, Euphemia, slanders Knox, 260. , George, an early Greek scholar, 372. Dundee, the first town in which a Protestant congregation was form- ed, 148. Durham, Bishop of See Tonstal. Durie, John, visits Knox in his last illness, 333. E. Edinburgh, Knox preaches privately in, 117. He preaches publicly in, 12 . He is burned in effigy at the cross of, 125. A Protestant Church formed in, 147. Demolition of the monasteries at, 171, 504. Knox chosen minister of, 176, 536. Leaves it, 177. Knox resumes his ministry in, 208. Knox retires from, 290. Knox returns to, 295. Knox forced again to leave, 315. Inhabitants of, enter into a solemn league, 327. Knox arrives at, 328. , Kirk-Session of, number of, 237. Provide a smaller place of worship for Knox, 328. Knox's interview with, on his death- bed, 333-4. , Town Council of, their attention to the support of Knox, 232, 462. Provide him with a colleague, 237, 239. Their proceed- ings respecting a slander against Knox, 260, 472. Remonstrate against the suspension of Knox, 28-5. INDEX. 50:. Edward \\. of England, proposed marriage between dueen ISIary and, 39. Knox made a chajilain to, GG. " Offers Knox a bishopric, 74. His plan for improving the English Church, 79, 410-13. State of his court, 79. Spirited conduct of his chaplains, 80, 413-14. Last sermon of Knox before him, 80. Distress of Knox at his death, 81. Knox's prayer after his death, 415. Elder, John, convicted of heresy, 382. Elaers, Ruling, appointed at an early period of the Reformation, 148. In the foreign churches in London, 41 1. Their office in the Church. of Scotland, 21 1. Eiizabelh, Queen of England, refuses to allow Knox to pass through England, 153. Her impolitic severity to the English exiles at Gen- eva, 154. Her lenity to the Papists, 154. Grants a safe-conduct to Knox's wife, 178. Knox apologizes to her for his Blast, 180. She resolves to assist the Congregation, 182. Sends an army to their assistance, 198. Obtains advantageous terms of peace for them, 199. Her personal aversion to the Scottish war, 442. Knox's opinion of her religious principles, 291. England, State of the Reformation in, under Henry VIII. 42. Knox arrives in, G2. State of religion in, under Edward VI. 62. Popery restored in, 85. Knox leaves, 85. Knox's Admonition to, 96, 104. Persecution in, 96. Exiles from, 97. Knox visits his sons in, 291. Carries a letter to the bishops of, ib. , Church of, Knox's reasons for refusing a fixed charge in, 73 Refuses a bishopric in 74. His sentiments respecting the govern- ment and worship of, 74-5. Private opinions of the reformers of, similar to Knox's, 78, 407-9. -, Privy Council of, employ Knox to preach, 63. Confer on him marks of approbation, 66. Knox honourably acquitted by, 72. Offer Knox the living of All Hallows, 73. They petition Elizabeth to assist the Congregation, 433. Errol, William Earl of, an early friend of the Reformation, SH, 392. £7r5/f)Vie, Lord, attends Knox's sermons, 119. Invites him to return to Scotland, 130. Refuses to assist the Congregation, 176, 537. See Mar, Earl of , John, of Dun, Greek language first patronized by, 20. Re- formed sentiments embraced by, 36. He attends Knox's sermons at Edinburgh, 116. Takes him to Dun, 118. Favours the preach- ers, 151, 436. Made superintendent of Angus and Mearns, 211, 233. Soothes Queen Mary, 258. Her good opinion of him, 283. His letters to Regent Mar, 488. Verses on, 559. Exercise, Weekly, what, 212, 449. Practised in England, 450. Exhort ers, 21 1. Exiles, Scottish, 388-91. Fagi\is, Paul, 63. Fairley of Braid, his attention to Knox during his last illness, 333, 336, Fergusson, David, summoned for heresy, 436. Improves the Scottish lansruasre, 218, 458. Knox's recommendation to his sermon, 327. Extracts from it, 451. His character, 4.58-60. Verses on, 561. Field, John, his commendation of Knox, 344. Fife, John, embraces the reformed sentiments, 34. Account of, 389-90 Fleming, James, marries one of Knox's daughters, 359. Flescheour Alexander, convicted of heresy, 383. Fbrman, Bishop of Murray, says grace before the pope, 27 570 INDEX. Forrest, David, Knox lodges with, 233. , Henry, suffers njartyrdom, 34. Account of, 379. , Thomas, vicar of Dollar, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of 379-80. Forrester, Robert, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379, 386. Foster, (Forester,) William, convicted of heresy, 381, 385. Fox, John, the martyrologist, 101, 106. Disapproves of Knox's Blast, 143. Knox's letter to, 513. France, Knox carried prisoner to, 55. His apology for the persecuted Protestants in, 133. Knox preaches in, ib. Designs of, against Scotland and England, 155. Sends troops to the assistance of the Q,ueen Regent, 179. Persecution against the Protestants in, 234-5. Bartholomew massacre in, 330. Distress of Knox at this, 330. His denunciation against the King of, 330. — — , Galleys olj Knox confined in, 55. His conduct in, 57, 60. Frankfort on the Maine, English exiles obtain a place of worship at, 98. Knox called to be minister at, 99, 415-16. Dissentions about the English liturgy at, 99. Moderation of Knox in these, 100, 101. Knox accused of treason to Magistrates of, 104. Knox leaves, 106 Disputes continue at, 106. Fullerton, Adam, 515. G. Galloway, Bishop of See Gordon. • , Patrick, defends the Scottish reformers, 345. Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, cruelty of, 96. Gau, John, 392. Geneva, Knox visits, 94. He studies at, 97. Is invited to be pastor to the English Church in, 124. Leaves it for Scotland, 131. Re- turns to, 140. Knox obtains the freedom of the city, 152. He leaves it finally, ib. Cherishes the desire of returning to, 299. See Bible. , Church of, Knox did not derive his first ideas of ecclesiasti- cal polity from, 75. Scottish Church differed in some points from, 76. , Order of, its composition, 101. Time of its introduction into Scotland, 431. Difference between it and English liturgy, 432 Worship generally conducted according to it in Scotland, 212. Gifford, Knox supposed to have been born at, 17, 367. Giffordgate. See Haddington. Giiby, Anthony, 101, 124, 143, 500. Glasgou', University of, Knox studies at, 18, 369-70. Extracts from records of, 370-71. Gtencairn, Alexander Earl of, an early friend of the Reformation, 36. The sacrament celebrated by Knox at his house, 119. Presents a letter from Knox to the Q,ueen Regent, 124. Invites Knox to return to Scotland, 130. Remonstrates with the Q,ueen Regent, 163. Comes to the assistance of the Protestants, 167. Visits Knox on his death-bed, 336. Reforms the churches at Glasgow, 536. , William Earl of, father to the former, an early friend of the Reformation, 36. See Cuninghame, Andrew. Glenot chy, laird of, a hearer of Knox, 125. Goodman, Christopher, colleague to Knox at Geneva, 124, 129, 143, 164, 185. Comes to Scotland, 179, 516. An extraordinary member of privy council, 188. Returns to England, 285. Farther account of, .308, 478-9. Knox's letter to, 522. Verses on 559. Gordcri, Bishop of Galloway, one of the Protestant privy counsellors, INDEX. 571 ]SS. Disappointed in his expectations of being made superinten- dent, 252-4. Occupies Knox's pulpit, 315. Vindicates the Q,ueen's authority, ib. Gourlay, Norman, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379. Government, Female, its incongruity when joined with ecclesiastical supremacy, 42S-9. Resolution of a committee of the Scottish par- liament against, 480. See Blust. , Political, influence of the Reformation on, 188-90. Knox's sentiments respecting, 100-93. Grunge, Laird of. See Kircaldy. Greek language, its introduction into Scotland and progress, 19, 20, 372-4, 4G9. " Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, approves of Presbyterian ordina- tion, 49. His sermons before tiie court, 413. Guilhiuine, Thomas, chaplain to the Regent Arran, instructs Knox in the reformed doctrine, 40. Retires into England, ib. verses on, 557. H. TIadding-ton, Knox born in Giffordgate of, 17, 368. Educated at grammar school of, 18. Hadden, James, chaplain of Edward VI., 414. Hamilton, Archibald, his opposition to Knox, 317. His apostasy, 318. His calumnies against Knox, 473. His calumnies against Buchanan, 457. His account of Knox's death, 491. , Gavin, Abbot of Kilwinning, intercourse between Knox and, 306. His negotiations at Rome, 453. , James, of Bothwellhaugh, assassinates the Regent Murray, 301. of Kincavil, James, convicted of heresy, 388. , John, Archbishop of St. Andrews, persecutes Knox, 42. Persecutes the Protestants as enemies to the state, 109-10. His Catechism, 112, 418. His correspondence with the Earl of Argyle, 149. Puts Walter Mill to death, 150. Reconciliation between him and the Q,ueen Regent, 159. Between him and Archbishop Bea- toun, 160. Opposes Knox's preaching at St. Andrews, 169, 514. His sermon, 177. Restored to his jurisdiction by Q,ueen Mary, 291. Accessory to the Regent Murray's murder, 302. Is executed, 318. Correspondence with Rome, 4.53. -, John, a secular priest, his ridiculous stories concerning the reformers, 476. , Robert, his calumny against Knox, 317. , Patrick, reproves the corruptions of the clergy, 32-3. Tra- vels to Germany, 33. Suffers martyrdom in Scotland, ib. Verses on, 555. Harlow, William, preaches in England, 115. Preaches in Scotland, 115.151. Tried for heresy, 162, 165, 436-7. Becomes minister of the West Kirk, 237, 488. Harrison, James, embraces the reformed sentiments, and leaves Scot- land, 34. Account of, 391. Hay, Georsre, his answer to the Abbot of Crossraguell's mass, 242, 243, 466-7. Verses on, 561. , Andrew, joins the reformed preachers, 200. , James, convicted of heresy, 383. flebreiv lanffuage, Knox acquires the knowledge of, 2C, 97. Studied in Scotland, 215-16, 453-6. 572 INDEX ; Henderson, Henry, (master of the grammar school of Edinburgh,) suf- fers martyrdom, 382. Henry VJII. of England, presses the marriage of his son and the Q,ueen of Scots, 39. His partial reformation disliked by the Scottish Reformers, 42-3. Hepburn, John, prior, storms the episcopal Castle of St. Andrews, 25. Herries, Lord. See Maxwell. Herriot, Adam, a Friar of St. Andrews, joins the reformed preachers, 200. Hickman. Mr. 82, 518. Hooper, Bishop, 103, 407. Hope, Edward, 515. Hume, Mr. his remarks on Knox's account of the assassination of Beatoun, 397-9. His representation of the rudeness of Scotland, 217. His misrepresentations of Scottish reformers, 347-8. His ac- count of the conduct of Knox to Mary, 471-2. Huncan, (Duncan 1) James, convicted of heresy, 382. Huntly, Earl of, his insurrection, 240. Hutcheson, Sir John, convicted of heresy, 387. James V. refuses to proscribe the Protestants, 37. Persecution during the reign of, 379-88. Letter against heresy in Aberdeen by, 338-9. James VI. Knox preaches at coronation of, 295. His prejudices against the Scottish reformers, 345. Conversation between him and one of Knox's daughters, 362. Jameson, Margaret, convicted of heresy, 381, 386. Jerome, influence of his writings on Knox, 24. Jeivel, Bishop, his opinion of episcopacy and ceremonies, 408-9. Dis- approves of Knox's book on female government, 519. Johnston of EJphingston, 337. , John, writer in Edinburgh, 515. , St. See Perth. , William, advocate, an early favourer ot the Reformation, 36. Jonston, John, of St. Andrews, his verses on Scottish Reformers, 555. K. Kennedy, Quintin, his answer to Knox's defence before Tonstal, 406. His Compendious Tractive, 242. Challenges WilJock to a dispute on the Mass, ib. Dispute between Knox and, 242-7. Farther ac- count of his writings, 466-9, See Hay, George. suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379, 392. Ker, Sir Andrew, of Fadounside, marries Knox's widow, 359, 492, 494. Kethe, William, 478-9. Kilmaurs, Lord. See Glencairn, Alexander. Kmeanclmgti. See Campbell. Kircaldy, William, of Grange, an active agent of the Congregation, 180. Excommunicated for the slaughter'of Cardinal Beatoun, 382. Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh for the Regent, 310. His de- fection, ib. Knox involved in a personal quarrel with, 31 1. Offers Knox a guard, 314. Knox's dying message to, 334-5. Knox's tes- timony to Ills former zeal, 517. NDEX. 573 Knollys, Sir Francis, his account of the Protojxant worsliip in Scot- land, 43-2. Knox, , fatiier of tiie Reformer, his parentage, and situation in life, 17, 367-8. , Eleazer, son of the Reformer, account of, 326, 359. , Elizabeth, the Reformer's daughter, her fortitude at her hus- band's trial, 360. Conversation between James VI. and, 362. Her testament, 532-3. See Welch. , Margaret, the Reformer's daughter, 359. , Martha, tiie Reformer's daughter, 359. , Nathanael, son of the Reformer, account of, 326, 359. , Paul, 531. , William, brother of the Reformer, and minister of Cockpen, 69. of Ranferly, 17, 367-8. Kyd, Thomas, convicted of heresy, 381, 384. Kyllor, a friar, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379, 392. Laing, James, his calumnies against Knox, 474-5. And against other reformers 4/6-7. Lambert of Avignon. Patrick Hamilton studies under him at Mar- burg, 33. , John, degraded from the priesthood, 384. Langniddrie, chapel at, called Knox's Kirk, 41. See Douglas, Hugh. Lasco, John A. character of, 411 . His account of the foreign churches in London, ib. His account of Edw^ard VI.'s plan for the gradual reformation of the Church of England, 412-13. Latin schools in Scotland, 19. Latimer, Bishop, 67, 80, 414. Lawso7i, James, sub-principal of the University of Aberdeen, chosen colleague to Knox, 329. Knox's letter of invitation to, ib. Knox preaches for the last time at the admission of, 331. Teaches Hebrew at St. Andrews, 455. His exertions in establishing the High School of Edinburgh, ib. Verses on, 561. Leith, dneen Regent lakes possession of, 176. Fortified by Regent Lennox, 316. Convention at, 320. Lennox, Earl of, made Regent, 310. Is killed, 319. Leslie, Normand, 109, 382. Lethington. See Maitland, William. Level, George, 515. Lever, Thomas, 414. Letvis XIII. of France, interview between John Welch and, 361. Liberty, civil, popery unfriendly to, 188-9. Influence of the Reforma- tion on, 190. Knox attached to, 190-1. Lindores, Abbey of, 171, 514-15. Lindsay, Lord, 336, 484. ,"Sir David, of the Mount, an early favourer of the Reformation, 36. Influence of his poems on the Reformation, 45, 51, 143, 393, 396. Urges Knox to become a preacher, 47. Literature^, State of, in Scotland, 18-20. Influence of the Reforma- tion on, 213, 215-216. See Greek and flebretv. Liturgy, Ensrlish, Knox employed in the revisal of, 67, 406-7. Dis- sentibns at Frankfort about, 99-106. Opinion of early bishops concerninsr, 407. Whether used in Scotland at the beginning of the Reformation, 430-2. , Knox's. See Geneva, Order of 574 INDEX. Locke, -Mr. Knox lodges in the house of, 82, 129. , Mrs. Ann% Knox's letters to, 163-4, 513-18. Logic, Gawin, principal of" St. Leonard's college, an early reformer 34. Leaves the kingdom, 34, 388. , Robert, 388. London, Knox summoned to, 71. Preaches in, 72. Jyorn, Lord. See Argyle, young Earl of. Lovell, or Levell, George, 162, 381, 436, 515. , James convicted of hei^esy, 386. Lowett, (Lovell?) George, pursued for heresy, 381. Luther, Anecdotes of, 28, 74. His apologies, 180. Comparison be. ween Knox and, 354. M. Macbee, {MaccabcBus) John, embraces the reformed sentiments, and is obliged to leave the kingdom, 34. Made professor at Copenhagen, 390. His proper name M'Alpine, ib. Verses on, 556. Machray, (Macbraire,) John, an early reformer, 34, 391, 416, 454. Macdowal, John, an early reformer, 34, 391. Maitland, Thomas, author of a fabricated conference between Knox and the Regent Murray, 306. Insults over the Regent's death, ib. , William, of Lethington, attends Knox's sermons at Edin- burgh, 116. Reasoning between Knox and, 118,231,272-79. His conduct at Knox's trial, 263-66. Defends Knox's prayers, 285. His defection from the Regent Murray, 301, 334. Major, John, Knox's education under, 20, 370. Political and religious sentiments of, 21. Present at Knox's first sermon, 52, 370-71, 374-5 Mar, Countess of, 214. , Earl of, made Regent, 319. His death, 335. See Erskine, Lord. Marischal, Earl, suspected by the clergy, 37. Favours Knox, 122. Remains neutral in the contest between Q-ueen Regent and the Congregation, 168. Knox sends salutations to him, 522. MarsUiers, Pierre de, teaches Greek at Montrose, 373. Martyrs, Scottish, 379-88. Martyr, Peter, 63. Mury, Q,ueen of England, proclaimed, 81. Knox's prayer for, 82, 415. Her cruelty, 95. This promotes the reformation in Scotland, 114- 15. Manner in which the English Exiles spoke of, 416. of Guise, Queen Dowager of Scotland, her intriguing spirit, 39. Favours the Reformers, 114. The Protestant Barons petition her, 151. Her dissimulation, 158-60, 164-5, 434. Prohibits the Protes- tant preachers, 162. Summons them to Stirling, ib. Proclaims Knox an outlaw, 164. Advances with an army to Perth, 166. Vio- lates the treaty of Perth, 167, 513-14. Offers a reward for Knox's head, 185. Knox advises her suspension, 1.87. Reflections on this, 188. Her death, 198. Remarks on Dr. Robertson's account of her conduct, 434. ■ — , Q,ueen of Scots, her proposed marriage with Edward VI. de- feated, 39. Married to the Dauphin, 39, 61. Refuses to ratify the acts of Scots Parliament, 219. Arrives in Scotland, ib. Her edu- cation and prejudices against the Protestant religion, 220. Popular alarm at her setting up mass, 221. Resolves to punish Knox, 224. Interview between Knox and, 225. Second interview between Knox and, 234-6. Third interview between Knox and, 251-2. Her artifice, 253. Prevails on the Parliament not to ratify the reformed religion, 254. Fourth interview between Knox and, 257-8. Her •NDEX. 575 conduct at Knox's trial by the Council, 263-66. Writes to the Pope, and Council of Trent, 270. Knox's form of prayer for, 272. Mar- ries Lord Darnley, 281. Resolves on restoring the Popish worshij), 288, 4G2. Banishes Knox from Edinburgh, 290. Restores Archbi- shop flamilton, 291. Her alienation from her husband, 293. Her participation in the murder of her husband, ib. Her marriage with Both well, 293-4. Her imprisonment and resignation, 294. Knox vindicates his not praying for her, 313. Maxvjell, Master of, 262, 432. Melville, Andrew, 345, 374, 456. , Sir James, strictures on his memoirs, 435. On his account of Regent Murray, 483-4. , James, his account of Knox's pulpit eloquence, 324. , Sir John, of Raith, an early favourer of the Reformation, 36. Is executed, 110. Met/iven, Paul, one of the Protestant ministers, 151, 162, 436-7. Ex- communicated, 249. Mill, Walter, his martyrdom, 150. Milton, John, his eulogy of Knox, 446-7. Monasteries, Scottish, their number and degeneracy, 25-27, 376 Causes of their demolition at Perth, 165-70. Apology for this mea- sure, 171-5. Lamentation over, 437-8. Loss sustained by their de molition, 438-42. Munteith, Earl of, joins the Congregation, 168, 536. Montgomery, Robert, joins the reformed preachers, 200. Mi.ntrose, Greek early taught in, 20, 372. Early provided with a min- ister, 177. Morrison, John, 49. Morton, Earl of, accused of simony, 320. His interview with Knox on his death-bed, 335. Elected Regent, ib. His eulogium on Knox, 340. His attention to Knox's family, 359. Murray, Earl of, in favour with Mary, 240. Variance between Knox and, 257. Endeavours to intimidate Knox, 2f32. Defends Knox, 268. Is outlawed, 282. Returns from banishment, 290. Appointed Regent, 294-5. His favour to the Protestant Church, 298. Is as- sassinated, 302. His character, 303-4. Distress of Knox at his death, 30.5. Fabricated conference between Knox and, 306. Knox's sermon before his funeral, 307. Remarks on Dr. Robertson's char- acter of, 481-6. Epitaph, and verses on, 486. Prayer used by Knox after the death of, 523. Letter to General Assembly by, 524. See Stewart, Lord James. of Tibbermuir, Patrick, 436. ■ of Tullybardine, Sir William, 493. N. Newcastle upon Tyne, Knox preaches at, 65, 66, 72. Knox ol'lered the bishopric of, 74-5. Northumberland, Duke of, offended at Knox, 7C. O. Ochiltree, Lord, Knox marries the daughter of, 269. See Stewart \A alter, and Margaret. Ormiatvn, Laird oC See Cockburn. 576 INDEX. P. Parliament, Scottish, Protestant confession ratified by, 2U4-6. Their indifference about the security of the Protestant religion, 254. Knox prepares overtures for, 297. Receives a commission from, 297. See Bible and Reforniation. Pui'klmrst, Bishop, 115, 409. Puterson, John, convicted of heresy, 381, 383. , Robert, convicted of heresy, 381, 384. Patritz, John, 151. Pilloiir, Laurence, convicted of heresy, 382. PitmiUy, Laird of, 383. Perth, Demolition of monasteries at, 165. Q,ueen Regent threatens. 166. Violates the treaty of, 167, 513-14. A minister settled in, 178. Hebrew first taught at, 216, 45.5. Verses on the grammar school of, 455. See Shnson, Andrew. Pittarrow, Laird of See Wishart, Sir John. Poetry, its influence in promoting the Reformation, 35, 36, 391-94. Ponet, Bishop, similarity of his political sentiments to Knox's, 479-80. Pont, Robert, 359, 452. Extracts from his sermons, 452-3. Account of 488, 493, 525. Popery, state of, in Scotland, 25. Sanguinary spirit of, 222, 462-3. Preparations for its restoration in Scotland, 288. Portjield, , 525. Presbytery, early state of, 212. Preston, Dr. attends Knox in his last illness, 337-8. Prophesying: See Exercise, Weekly. Protestant Lords invite Knox to return from Geneva, 130. Repent of this, 131. Knox animates them by his letters, ib. His advice to them respecting resistance, 1 39-40. Renew their invitation to Knox, 147. Petition "the Queen Regent, 151, 433. Resolve on decisive measures, 168-9. Their aversion to the Book of Discipline, 210-14. Protestant Preachers summoned to Stirling, 162. Knox resolves to accompany them, 164. Outlawed, 165. Their exertions during the civil war, 199. Their increase, 200. R. Randolph, the English ambassador, his account of Knox's preaching, 224. His letterrespecting Knox's History, 495-6. Knox's confiden- tial commtmications with, 522. Readers, their temporary employment, 211, 448. Reformation in Scotland, urgent necessity of 29-31, Causes of its progress, 35, 36. Early embraced by nobles and gentry, 36. Spreads in the University of St. Andrews, 34, 38. Laws against, 38,111. Embraced by Knox, 38. Languishing state of 109-13. Causes of its revival, 114-15. Progress of 126, 147. Its influence on civil liberty, 188-91. Established by Parliament, 205, 206. Knox's His- tory of 495. See Church, Protestant. Reformers, English, approve of Knox's call to the ministry, 49. Dis- like many things in their ecclesiastical establishment, 76, 407-10. Their opinion of Knox, .343-4. Religion, corrupt form of it in Scotland before the Reformation, 25-31. Resistance to civil rulers, Knox's advice respecting, 139-40. Doctrine of the New Testament respecting, 193-4. Knox vindicates it before Queen Mary, 225-6. Debate between Knox and Maitland concern- INDEX. 577 ing, 273-8. Craig's account of a dispute on, at Bologna, 278-9 See Gover 11)11 tilt. Political. Richardson, llobeit, embraces the reformed sentiments, and is obliged to leave ycotlaiid, 34. Account of, 391. Ridley, Bishop, his testimony to Knox', 343. Rizzio, David, assassination of, 269. Robertson, Dr. remarks on his account of the Qyieen Regent's conduct to the Protestants, 434. On his character of Q.ueen Mary, 348. On his character of Regent Murray, 48l-(3. Robeson, .Tohn, convicted of heresy, 381. Ro/lock, George, 515. — — , James, convicted of heresy, 381, 382, 386. , Riciiard, convicted of heresy, 383-4. Rothes, Earl of, joins the Congregation, 168, 536. Rough, .Tohn, a friar, embraces the Reformation, 46. His solemn charge to Knox to undertake the ministry, 47. Knox assists hiu. in a dispute, 50. Summoned before the clergy, 52. Is martyred in England, 55. Verses on, 557. Roiv, John, account of, 216. Teaches Hebrew at Perth, ib. Farther account of, 453-5. Verses on, 560. , son to the above, his early proficiency in Hebrew, 455. His epitapii, 459. Russet, Jerom, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379. Rulhvcn, Lilias, daughter to Lord Ruthven, an early favourer of the Reformation, 36. , Lord, an early favourer of the Reformation, 36. , Lord, son to the former, joins the Congregation, 168. His son visits Knox on his death-bed, 336. S. Sadler, Sir Ralph, ambassador from Henry VIII. 42. Carries on the correspondence with the Congregation, 182. Greek motto of, 373. ^andilands, Sir James, an early favourer of the Reformation, 3o. Knox dispenses the sacrament in the house of, 118. A petition to the Q.ueen Regent presented by, 151, 433. Seutoun, Alexander, embraces the reformed sentiments, and is obliged to leave Scotland, 34. Account of, 388. ^Scotland, state of literature in, at commencement of the Reformation. 18-20. State of Religion in, 25-30. Scottish language, cultivation of, by the reformers, 217, 458-59. ; Srrimger, Henry, 374. '' Session, Kirk, what, 212. , Court of Robert Pont one of the judges of, 488. Simso?i, Andrew, master of the grammar school of Perth, 19. AneC dote respecting the scholars of, 393. See Dunbar. , Duncan, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, S'79, 384. , Patrick, teaches Greek at Spot, 374. Sinclair, the name of Knox's mother, 18. , Bishop of Ross, informs against Knox, 262. Votes fir his acquittal, 266. Smeton, Thomas, his learning, 374. His account of Kr ox's last illnesa and death, 333-4. His character of Knox, 342-3. His Hebiew lit- erature, 456. Somerset, Protector of England, his fdll lamented by Knox, 70. Somerville, Lord, his vote against Protestant confession, 20.5-6. 49 X 3 57S li\DEX. Spotswood, John, favours the Reformation, 118. Joins the preachers, 200. Made superintendent of Lothian, 211, 234. , Archbishop, his commendation of Knox, 346. His account of the Booi< of Discipline, 448. Steward, Archibald, visits Knox on his death-bed, 333. Steioa?-i, Lord James, Prior of St. Andrews, attends Knox's sermons, 119. Invites Knox to return to Scotland, 130. Joins the Congre- gation, lGS-9. Proofs of his loyalty, 443-4. Created Earl of Mur- ray, 240. See Mu7-ray, Earl of , John, «on to Lord Methven, an early favourer of the Refor- mation, 36. Convicted of heresy, 387. , Margaret, daughter of Lord Ochiltree, married to Knox, 269, 332, 359, 523-531. Married to Sir A. Ker of Fadounside, 359. Copy of Knox's letters in her possession, 503, 504. , Walter, son to Lord Ochiltree, convicted of heresy, 333, 384. , William, translator for the kirk, 493. Stirling, demolition of the monasteries at, 171. A minister early set tied in, 177. Story, Dr. his defence of Mary's persecution, 154. Straiton, David, suffers martyrdom, 34. Account of, 379, 381, 385. of Lauriston, an early friend of the Reformation, 36. Sudderland, Nicoll, 525. Superintendents, bishops so called in England, 408. Their office in the foreign churches in London, 411. Difference between diocesan bishops and, 448-9. Switzerland, Knox visits, 93. Syme, James, 116, 130. Synods, Provincial, what, 212. Testament of Knox, 528-532. of Mrs. Welch, 532-3. Throkmorton, Sir Nicholas, 178, 296, 442. Thou, De, his character of Regent Murray, 485. Tonstal, Bishop of Durham, character of, 64, 154. Knox's defence before, 65-6, 404-6. Tremellius, Emanuel, 63. Tulchan Bishops, 321. Tyrie, John, Knox's answer to, 325-6. t^utis, John, rector of the school of Aberdeen, 19. FenaWe, John, reformer of Dieppe, 134. Visiters of churches, what, 211. W Wallace, Adam, his martyrdom, 110, 454. Wannand, A.exander, convicted of heresy, 381, 384. Wedderhurn, James, author of satires against the Popish clergy, 392-3 Verses on, 557. , Gilbert, convicted of heresy, 381, 383. . , John, convicted of heresy, 381. INDEX. 579 Wedderburn, John and Robert, authors of Psalms and Godly Ballads, 394. Verses on, 558. Welch, John, marries one of Knox's daughters, 359. Is found guilty of treason, 300. Interview between Lewis XIII. and, 361. See Knox, Elizabeth. Whitlaw, Alexander, ofGreenrig, 178, 182, 517-18. IVhittirig-ham, Dean of Durham, ordained at Geneva, 49. A friend of Knox, 101, 105. Successor to Knox at Geneva, 131. Eulogiuni on him by the Earl of Warwick, 427. Williams. See Guillaume. Willock, John, returns to Scotland, 115. Preaches privately, 11 G- 17 Leaves Scotland, 117. Returns and joins the Protestant preachers. 151. Tried for heresy, 162-5, 436-7. Officiates for Knox in Edin- ourgh, 176. His advice respecting the suspension of the dueen Re- gent, 187. Made a member of the extraordinary Privy Council, 188. His stipend, 464, 493. Made superintendent of Glasgow, 21 1. Goes to England, 308. Calumny against, ib. Pretended conversa- tion between Knox and, 469. Verses on, 559. Wingatc, (Winzet,) Ninian, Knox's controversy with, 248-9. Winchester of Kinglassie, George, convicted of heresy, 1 iO, 387. Winram, John, Sub-prior of St. Andrews, connives at the Reformed opinions, 34. His cautious behaviour, 53. Joins the reformers, 200 Made superintendent of Fife, 211. His Catechism, 422. Verses on, 560. Wishart, George, banished for teaching the Greek New Testament, 40,372. Returns to Scotland, 40. Knox attends, 41. Is outlawed, 382. Account of him by one of his scholars, 395-6. Bears a fagot at Bristol, 397. Translates the Swiss confession, ib. Verses on, 537. , Sir John, of Pittarrow, brother to the former, Knox writes to, 132. Made comptroller, 232, 493. Knox's letter to, 521-22. David, son's dedication to, 541. Wood, John, Secretary to the Regent Murray, is assassinated, 302. Knox's letters to, 518-19. Z. Zuinglius, his influence with the senate of Zurich, 214. Comparison between Knox and, 354. THE CKD.